1. Worst Nightmare

“Are you a virgin?” she asked, gazing at him calmly. The kind of voice she had was pleasant to hear, but the way she spoke made it sound threatening.

Lanver was stunned by the question. He had never heard any woman ask a man that bluntly. And what was with the place and this woman? Why did it seem like he was in another time and world? Was he dreaming?

It was easier to believe that he was. He had never seen such beauty in reality before, and it was worth noting how she looked so different with her red long robe with golden embroideries. It must be a dream, he thought with conviction.

Or if not, it could be that he was abducted to participate in a theater play. But the first sounded more convincing.

“This is a dream, isn’t it?” Lanver asked with a smile, but his smile shortly vanished when he realized he was on his knees with his hands tied at his back.

He was kneeling in front of this strangely beautiful woman in an oddly gothic room with huge chandeliers on the ceiling.

“No, this is not,” she replied without any hint of humor.

Wait. What if she was from that talent agency who kept on wooing him to be an actor? Maybe they were the one behind this and they wanted to test his acting skills.

“Look, ma’am. If you are from that talent agency, I’m telling you this. I will never pursue a career in acting no matter what.”

“I am not playing with you, Lanver. Answer me before I lose my patience,” she spoke in a manner that sent shivers down his spine.

But he was not a man if a woman’s words were enough to scare him.

He tilted his head on the other side and smirked. “Why do you want to know if I’m virgin or not, anyway?”

“I only want pure men to taste that’s why I’m asking.”

Lanver’s jaw dropped.

How can this woman say that so nonchalantly?

“You…” he trailed off, not sure what words to use. “That is inappropriate to say for a woman, you know that?”

She sat on the sofa, crossed his legs and arms, while he was in front of her kneeling like he was some sort of prisoner or slave. She raised a brow, obviously disagreeing on what he said.

“And in this place, offending a royalty is a crime punishable by death, you know that?”

“Royalty? Are you kidding me? America is democratic. I think you’ve lost your mind somewhere, ma’am—”

“Your Highness.”

Lanver was confused. “What?”

“That is how you address a princess.”

“A princess?” he muttered in disbelief. “Is this part of the script?”

She closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her narrow nose as if the whole situation pained her.

She shifted her weight and leaned over him. He felt the air in the room getting thicker as she drew her face close to his. He felt like stepping back but he couldn’t. All he could do was remain on his spot until the woman’s face was an inch far from his, and her index finger on his chin, pushing it up so he would have a better look of her.

“There is no fucking script, you fool. This is real. You are neither dreaming nor in a stage play.”

As he stared at her dark amber eyes, he couldn’t move nor speak. It was like they were compelling him to look at her and give his soul.

Her face looked much better with this proximity, he thought. Her skin was ivory white that seemed so soft and delicate to touch, her long brown hair cascaded down her chest, and her narrow nose gave the sophistication her face needed. She was indeed a beauty every man would want, but not a man who had seen her eyes this close.

Because when you look at her eyes, you would see the darkness behind those bright orbs. She wasn’t as soft as she looked. She was dangerous. Lethal.

“Still not convinced? I’ll show you the evidence, then.”

Right that second, her amber eyes turned to glowing red. Something he had never seen before.

His lips parted, and for several seconds he wasn’t able to speak.

“What are you?” Lanver asked seriously when he recovered. He could tell she was no human. He refused to believe in supernatural beings before despite the strange things that happened to him and his constant nightmares, but now that he was here right before one, there was no way to deny that fact.

The side of her lips lifted a bit.

“What do you think?”

He didn’t say anything. From all the mythical books he had read, only dark creatures had red eyes, and the most famous were… vampires.

What was more peculiar was he had dreamt about them before. In his dreams, everything felt real. It was like something about them kept on haunting him.

“A demon or a vampire?” He didn’t want to know but he needed to.

“Both.”

His jaw clenched. He wanted to believe that this couldn’t be real, but although the woman looked ethereal as if she came straight from heaven, she looked so real in front of him.

She moved away and went back to her prior position. “I can see that you believe me now. So answer my first question.”

“Where are we? Why did you bring me here?”

“Answer my question,” she demanded firmly.

“I don’t think I am obliged to tell you that.”

“You are.”

He looked at her sharply. She was more capable considering she was not human, but he wasn’t scared of her. She was intimidating but not enough to make him bow before her.

“If you keep on resisting, I’ll have to do something you won’t like,” she warned.

He felt that suffocating feeling again when she leaned over him. Only this time her hand was around his neck. He felt how soft her palm was when it touched his skin, and although it was cold, he felt burning.

“Fine. If you won’t tell me, I will discover it myself.”

Her lips curved evilly as she moved her head closer. Lanver didn’t know what to do. What was she doing? Will she bite him? Suck his blood?

He could feel his pulse racing when he felt her breathe on his neck. He tried to move and resist, but her hands were on his nape and shoulder to keep him in place. He wanted to at least fight for his life but the damn rope in his wrists and ankles were too tight for him to free himself.

“Your blood smells so good to me, you know that?” she asked in her bedroom voice.

Lanver cursed himself at the back of his mind. He was in the middle of life and death situation, yet here he was, noticing how his predator’s voice sounded so good. He must be insane. Or maybe he was under her hypnosis so he couldn’t resist?

“Get off me, bloodsucking monster.”

She chuckled in his ear. “Yes, of course, for humans I am a monster. But don’t you think I am too beautiful to be called a monster?”

To be able to feel her this way, he was more convinced that this wasn’t one of those many nightmares he had.

However, it was still a nightmare. The worst one he ever had.