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 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“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

BRAN “Vampire!”That was the last thing Bran heard before the creature dragged her farther up the cave and into the darkness, climbing father than Bran ever could while holding onto her.He stared after the creature, his thoughts in disarray. But he struggled to calm them down. To put them in their natural orderliness so that he would be able to think properly.But it was almost impossible.Maria, taken from him. By an incubus.Fuck.An incubus was a creature that fed off sexual intercourse. They got their nutrients while they had sex, so basically, without sex, they would starve to death.It didn’t take a genius to guess why they’d taken Maria. The major reason being that she was a female. Add that to the fact that she was an attractive one, it made her a prime target for incubi.Bran cursed.Another thing about incubi was that they rarely went alone. One would most likely find them in groups and Bran could bet on his life that there were more than two incubi up there. And they’d de

MARIA “You need to rest.”“No.”“Would it kill you to listen to me?”“Yes.”Maria was going to kill him. She was most definitely going to kill him.After she’d miraculously managed to push the rock off him—honestly, she still didn’t know how she’d been able to do that—they’d discovered that his leg bone had fractured. He was going to be okay, but he needed to rest in order for that to happen.And the man had absolutely no intention of resting.The moment she’d pushed the rock off him—after he’d stared into her eyes for long as though he didn’t know the kind of creature that she was—, he’d staggered to his feet, wrestled his sword out from under a rock, and after searching for the second one without progress, he’d given up and limped out of the remains of the cave with her following behind him, wincing with every step he took.It was crazy. He was the one in pain and although he grimaced as he walked, she was the one actually forcing him to rest and give his leg time to heal.“We’re n