MARIA Surely, she had not heard him correctly.“What?” She asked, expecting him to say something totally different. Her ears had probably decided to play tricks on her, or perhaps the fever had affected them.Was that possible?“You’ll be spending the night here.” He repeated, pushing away from the doorframe and taking several steps towards her. “The same for the next couple of nights until the physician thinks it’s safe for you to go back.”Oh.Her eyes darted to Edgar, who was walking into what looked like a closet. “There was a physician?”“Yes. He thinks your cell should be cleaned and aired before you go back in there.” Her captor said with a stoic expression, standing with his legs planted wide in a stance so blatantly male that she was left with no choice but to ogle him. “It is being cleaned as we speak, but seeing as the room isn’t very… open, it might take a while, which is why you wouldn’t be going there until later this week.”So he was letting her stay in this room for t
MARIA “What are you doing here?” It was the second time she was asking him that question and like the first time, he ignored her, staring at her with a blank expression that somehow managed to make her feel like she had done something wrong. She really didn’t know what his issue was. He’d come into the room, took one look at her, stormed outside, then stormed back into the room, parked his ass on the bedside table and proceeded to stare at her with that eerily blank expression. He was really starting to creep her out. There was something seriously wrong with the man. She didn’t know how he could stare at her and then pretend that he wasn’t hearing a single thing she was saying. The physician that he’d spoken about never showed up and she didn’t know why. She didn’t bother to ask because she already felt loads better than she did yesterday and gods, she couldn’t explain what it felt like to sleep in an actual bed after so long. It had been surreal. She’d slept like a baby throug
MARIA She took longer in the closet than she should have and that was because after wearing her clothes—another sundress, but this one was shorter—she stayed in there for a bit, trying to calm herself and get over the humiliation of the rejection she’d just faced.She knew that he wanted her—at least he had wanted that kiss. She had seen it in his eyes, but then it was like it disappeared the next moment and instead of pulling her to him, he was pushing her away. Of all the things he’d done, that was perhaps the worst thing he had ever done to her.How ever was she going to face him?Well, with her head held high and her shoulders shoved back because she had stalled long enough in here and it was only a matter of time before he came in here and hauled her ass out. He wouldn’t even care if she was naked. The man was that cruel.Now, if only she had her powers, she would have easily woven a glamour over her face. The look would be one of nonchalance, one so perfect that it would have hi
BRAN Bran shot out of his throne seat, lunging towards Maria as if he could break her fall and catch her before she hit the ground, but she was already on the ground. He’d been too angry to notice the way her eyes were fluttering and the red haze that covered his vision had stopped him from catching the little movement where she swayed on her feet.He turned accusing eyes on the oracle. “What the fuck did you do to her?”“Watch your tone,” The oracle warned, her creepy eyes flashing in what he assumed was anger. “I didn’t do anything. You were sitting right here.”That was true. He had been sitting right there and the oracle had not touched Maris. But it didn’t mean she had not done anything to her. Why else had Maria fainted?“Then what happened?” He wondered out loud.“I don’t know. She looks a bit pale.” The oracle drew closer, her head tilted appraisingly and a curious look on her fcae. She stopped when she was just in front of him where he was crouched in front of Maria, then sh
BRAN Bran never thought the day would come when he would witness the castle under attack.The vampires didn’t have much enemies and even the few they had wouldn’t dare launch an attack on the king’s house directly. Bran was known far and wide for his ruthlessness and unforgiving nature—people knew better than to cross him. At least smart people did.But perhaps he had underestimated Ariti.Other than the sorcerer messenger he’d sent to strike the exchange deal with him—the one Bran had refused—, he hadn’t shown any interest in getting his daughter back.Until now.Bran was in the throne room having a discussion with the commander of his army when one of his men had rushed in, gasping and shaking with fear.“What is it?” The commander asked, sitting taller, every fibre of his being now at alert.Bran watched silently. He was now at alert too, but he didn’t show any reaction to the man’s sudden presence. No one would dare burst into the room in such manner if what they wanted to say wa
MARIA She staggered, dizzy rom the tracing. Her vision was blurry and she held on to her captor’s arm for a few moments longer, before she could finally see well, then she let him go.She pointedly ignored his gaze because she knew that if she looked at him, she would probably see eyes full of anger.When she looked around, she saw that they were in the middle of a forest. Right I the middle of a forest. Was that his intention or had they somehow landed here by mistake?“What is this place?” She asked when she finally turned to him. “What are we doing here?”He didn’t answer her, as she had expected. He merely looked at her then looked away, sweeping his eyes across the thick masses of trees as if he was searching for something.The path where they were standing was a thin one, as if it had been cleared specifically for just one person to pass through. And he’d traced here, which meant that he had been here before. For what reason? She didn’t know, and she was not sure that she was i
MARIA“We’ve been walking for hours, where exactly are we going?”Maria’s words from before had come back to bite her in the ass and she seriously regretted uttering them now.They’d been walking in the forest for over two hours now and despite how far they had come, all she could see in front of them was mass and masses of bushes. It was like they had not made any progress at all, which was just crazy because they had been walking for over two bloody hours!Two bloody hours of being bitten by mosquitoes—and who knew what else—two hours of walking and her feet were aching her, two hours of the branches and twigs digging into her flesh—some had succeeded in cutting her—and two hours of her captor ignoring her.She was fed up. “Talk to me.” She hissed.“I’m not your entertainment, princess.” The asshole finally spoke, using his sword to cut through the next set of clogged branches they came across, his shoulders heaving with force, swiping and hacking, until it was open enough that they
MARIA Maria supposed she should be glad that she was not going to be sleeping out there underneath trees or in between grasses where anything could get to her, but her other option wasn’t that great either.She couldn’t see anything inside the cave because of how dark it was. How the hell were they even going to find their way inside, not to talk about spending the entire night sleeping here?Her captor took note of the fact that she was stalling at the entrance—which was funny considering how she’d walked ahead of him until they reached the cave—and walked into the darkness. She spied two stones in his hand and although she didn’t quite remember him picking them up, she said nothing about it.She hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to follow him or not because of the darkness, but it was not like she could continue standing there so she decided to push her fears to the back of her mind and walk closely behind him.Maria couldn’t explain how much she hated the dark. She’d been stu