The Broken and Sinned © 2020 G. Bailey

All Rights Reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental and formed by this author’s imagination. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Design by Amalia Chitulescu

Edited by Polished Perfection

Created with Vellum

CONTENTS

Description

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Epilogue

About the Author

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DEDICATION

For all the stars in the sky that inspire every word I write.

There is no place for love in a world of vampires who own your soul.

On Riona Dark’s twenty-second birthday, being kidnapped by strangers in the night was not the surprise party she was expecting.

Riona is taken to the hidden world of vampires, a remote island called The Onyx, where being human means you are less than nothing. Locked up with other humans, Riona finds out that she will soon be sold at The Auction.

When two vampire princes, with dark eyes and even darker souls, come to view her and the others, Riona knows the vampires here are just as dangerous as they are gorgeous.

Once sold, Riona is told that her life belongs to the vampires who own her. They will own her soul, mind and body. Resisting means only death.

Riona won’t be sold without a fight, and the only power in The Onyx is blood, desire…and death.

Warning: This book is a dark romance, and it contains themes not for the faint of heart.

CHAPTER ONE

L ast night, I dreamt I was the darkness of a cold winter’s night, and he, a man I’ve never seen before, was the death of everything good in the world. Together, we turned my dream into a nightmare.

And I remember none of it. The suncatcher above me spins in the light breeze, catching beams of light and reflecting them in a million different strands of colour all across my dorm room and waking me up far too early than should be allowed. That goddamn pretty thing was a gift from my brother, and he rarely gets me anything nice, so I have to keep it.

“It’s your goddamn twenty-second birthday, and you’re still in bed!” my roommate, aka Miss Noisy and Perky First Thing in the Morning, shouts across our room as I squeeze my eyes shut. I groan and pull my covers over my head, hoping that she will bugger off, but there is no such luck as I hear her footsteps coming closer. Snatching my quilt from me, she flicks on my bedside lamp to make it that much brighter in here. I peel my eyes open and glare at her as she leans over me, hands on her hips.

“Can your birthday present to me be a lie-in? Please, Sophie?” I grumble with the best impression of puppy dog eyes I can give. Sophie Devert is one year older than I am, about four levels crazier, and overall my best friend in the world since middle school. Pushing her bright autumn red hair behind her ear, she steps back and stretches, showing off her slim and toned body. That’s what you get for being a pro swimmer. My short ass body reflects my art major all too well. I slide out of bed and make my way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. After a quick shower, I towel dry my waist-length, mousy blonde hair and then wrap myself in the towel before heading back out. On my made-up bed is a present box with a big pink bow. It must be my birthday if Sophie is cleaning anything at all.

I chuckle as I sit down and open up the box, pulling out a short, light pink dress and matching light pink heels in my size. I might not be the girliest girl out there, but I love pink as much as I love dressing up for one night. Sophie is practically jumping on the spot in excitement, waiting for my response. She knows she did well; the girl knows me better than I know myself.

“I love them! Thank you so much, Soph!”

“I knew you would!” She gives me a brief hug. “Now we just have to wait for that brother of yours to call and tell you the next gift,” she replies as she picks up her bag with a cheeky grin. “See you at lunch?”

“Same place as usual?” I question as I place the dress back in the box and the heels too.

“As always,” she confirms with a wink before leaving the room. After she is gone, I get myself dressed in skinny jeans and a white top with criss-cross patterns cut into the shoulders. As I pull my boots on, my phone rings with the damn cat screeching noise my brother put on it as a joke and I haven’t been able to change. I jump, like I do every single damn time, and answer it without looking, popping it onto loudspeaker.

“Happy birthday!” my mum and dad shout down the phone at the same time. Just hearing them makes me smile, the cat ringtone forgotten. “Can we FaceTime?”

“Sure!” I answer, finishing with my boots and switching the call to FaceTime. When the camera comes on, I can only see my reflection for a second, my big doe-like blue eyes and round face that Sophie always says makes me look like a Barbie doll. I’ve always taken offence to that…but she is right. Eventually, the camera catches up, and I get a close up of the side of my mum’s nose. “Mum, you need to hold it away. I can’t see you, remember?”

“Oh right,” she grumps, not liking to be called out for her terrible tech skills. She pulls the camera back, and even though they are very close, it’s good enough. My mother’s grey hair is perfectly styled in curls around her wrinkled face, and she has a cream cardigan on with her pearl necklace she never takes off. My dad is in one of his classic sweater vests, and his greying brown hair is swept to the side. He smiles at me and pushes his glasses back up his nose.

“Where is your brother? Has he not come over with his gift yet?” Mum asks, well, demands to know.

Being the overprotective sister I am, I lie. “Of course he has. Austin just had to get to class.”

Total lie.

“Well, I’m glad he is looking after you there. I do worry about you,” Mum says with her usual overly worried tone. “Did our gift get to yours yet? It’s not much, but we never know what to get you.”

“No, but I will check my post in a bit,” I reply, drifting my gaze to my dad. “How are you, dad?”

“Happy to see my little girl,” he replies with soft eyes. Mum is the tough one, and my dad is as laid back as it comes. Together, they really do make the best parents. “I struggle to understand how you are twenty-two. It feels like yesterday that you were just a baby who slept in my arms, sucking her thumb.”

My cheeks light up.

“We will let you go and try calling Austin again. Honestly, that boy never answers his phone,” she huffs. Yeah, that’s because he is a dick and likely hungover once again. I don’t say that though, not wanting my parents to know the truth, and I just smile before saying my goodbyes. Deciding to find my twin brother and give him his gift is the best idea this morning, as I’m totally skipping class since it’s my birthday, so I head out of my room after grabbing my hoodie and bag. I pull my hoodie on and swing my bag over my shoulder, running down the stairs to the post boxes. Finding my key in my bag, buried deep under all the very important shit I keep in there, I open up the letterbox and find three letters. I open them on my way to my brother’s dorm room, not surprised to see a birthday card from my parents with three hundred pounds inside. Awesome. I push that letter into my bag and open the second one, which is another birthday card with a red rose on the front. Inside, I quickly read the long paragraph.

“My sweet niece, Riona,

Ri-Ri, it’s been a long time since I’ve written to you, but as always, I ask for you to follow my advice. Do not leave your dorm tonight, it is not safe at Aberdeen University on this particular night. They are out hunting, and they will not be able to resist your blood.

Trust me for once, and have a good birthday.

I will come when it is safe to do so. It is time we spoke.

As always,

Your uncle

Another card from my father’s particularly insane brother, who I’ve not seen since I was eight. I only remember overhearing a conversation my parents had with him, something about blood and sacrifices. Either way, I overheard enough to know he had lost his goddamn mind. I push the letter back in and find the third one isn’t addressed to me at all, it’s for Austin. Finally I get to the guys’ dorm and head around the back, knowing I can’t just walk in, thanks to their stupid rules. No girls allowed…even if there are, no doubt, quite a few girls in this place with their boyfriends. Two trees climb the side of the building, and I climb the left one, pushing myself onto a branch. Bracing myself, I jump to the next tree and keep climbing up until I’m near the top of the tree and the single branch that is close to the ledges of the windows. Ignoring the fear of falling, because damn that would hurt, I carefully crawl across the large branch and onto the ledge of the window. The cold winter wind whips around my body, and I’m thankful there is no ice on the ledge as I push the window up and climb inside, knocking off a pile of books.

“Nice to see you as always, Ria.”

I pause and turn my gaze to the half-naked guy in his bed, sheets pooled around his waist, the flickering sunlight from behind me kissing the skin of his chest. Arlo O’Dargan. Aka my brother’s best friend and my long-time frenemy since first school. His deep voice is annoyingly perfect, much like the rest of him. Sun-kissed blond hair, bright topaz-green eyes, and a jawline any model would be jealous of, he could be classed as the perfect guy. Just not to me. I don’t see him like that, not even as I glance at his rock-hard abs and big shoulders. Nope.

Dammit, I got the wrong room again.

I glare at him. “I wish I could say the same, Arlo. I’m surprised you’re even in your own bed and not in some poor girl’s.”

“None of the girls’ beds I join are poor or unhappy, Ria-banana-llama,” he teases and stands up, not giving one shit that he only has boxers on. I sharply turn away and blindly stumble to his door, grabbing the handle.

“And don’t call me that!” I shout back.

“Make me stop then!” he hollers to my back as I slip out of his door and slam it hard behind me, hearing his laugh in the corridor. Taking a few steps, I find the right door and bang on it a few times before opening it up. I flick the light on as I walk in and see my brother snoring in bed. The shower is on, so he isn’t alone (unlucky girl), and I walk right up to him, stepping over messy clothes and empty beer bottles.

“Asshole, wake up!” I shout, kicking his leg that’s hanging out of the bed. He jolts up, brushing a hand through his dark blond hair and relaxing when he sees it is me. For twins, we are pretty different. For one, my brother is well over six foot, and he has brown eyes. He looks like he got all the good genes and I was cut short at some point with my height. And generally, I’m not as popular as he is, mostly because Austin could charm his way out of a lion’s den even if he was a gazelle. I’d definitely be eaten by the lion in under three seconds flat.

“Happy birthday, twin sis!” he holds his hand up for a high five.

“Happy birthday right back to you. Did you forget our plans for breakfast today?” I ask, and his sheepish grin says it all as I high-five him. “Oh, and answer your phone. Mum and dad have been calling and then nagging me because you didn’t answer.”

“Of course,” he replies with a wave of his hand like it isn’t an issue. “Wanna get breakfast now?”

I glance at the bathroom door and back to Austin, arching an eyebrow. “What about your guest?”

“I don’t even know her name, to be honest with you, sis,” he answers, and I pull a face at him as he shoves his shoes on. He writes a quick note for shower girl before hooking his arm around my shoulder and guiding me out of his stinky room. After a short walk to the cafeteria, we both sit down with our coffees and relax.

“The party is at eight. I did remember it’s my year to host,” he states, crossing his arms. One good thing about being a twin? Sharing the responsibility of hosting the party. Last year, I spent months planning a massive rave in an abandoned castle. I damn well hope Austin has come up with something good, or I’m having our next party next year in a farm with pigs. “It’s going to be the most epic party.”

I grin. “Where is it then?”

“On the beach, the left side, you know where there is that cavern?” he questions, and I nod, feeling excited. “Well, be there at eight, sis, and I’ll give you a gift then.”

“I will be there,” I reply, knowing the lazy ass hasn’t been shopping yet and plans to the second he leaves the cafe. I reach into my bag and hand him the small box and the letter that came to me. He pops open the box and pulls out the silver and black bead bracelet I made for him in class. The beads are all made from quartz, our birthstone, and the middle one has his initials carved into it.

“This is seriously fucking awesome,” he tells me, sliding it on his wrist and doing it up. “Did you make it?”

“Yup. Now go and buy me something pink and expensive,” I say, climbing to my feet. “Oh, and make sure there is wine at the party. White wine, I don’t like red.”

“You got it,” he replies, and I chuckle as I leave and head for class. Tonight is going to be epic, that’s for sure.

CHAPTER TWO

F or some weird ass reason, my uncle’s warning comes into my mind as I look at myself in the mirror. My pink dress fits my body like a glove, emphasizing all my curves, and my heels make me seem taller than I am at just five foot five. I’ve taken a ridiculous amount of time curling all my hair, only to brush the curls out to make it seem like my hair is naturally wavy. Girl Problems 101. As soon as someone invents a quicker way to get this effect, the better. Still, my uncle’s warning makes me halt and actually almost want to stay in. I mean, he is old and literally insane, but his warning has still creeped me the hell out. I wonder if Austin got one of those cards. I really should have asked him today.

“Are you finally going to live out all the brother’s best friend romance novels I’ve read, and hook up with Arlo?” Soph asks with a small grin, coming out of the bathroom, looking ready to kill in a short leather skirt and a yellow crop top that hides pretty much none of her. Her bright hair is up in a ponytail, and her makeup, although light, is bang on. I can never get my makeup that perfect.

I screw up my face. “You’re gross. Arlo is—”

“Ridiculously hot and single,” Soph interrupts. He might be all those, but that wasn’t what I was going to say. “And he only has eyes for you.”

“You’re just talking out of your arse now,” I mutter, picking up my phone. “Come and take a selfie with me before we leave.”

She chuckles and rushes to my side, and we take several photos before posting them on Instagram. While I’m on there, I find several photos of my brother at the party and the dozens of bottles of white wine he has left on the beach for me. That alone makes me grin as we grab our bags and head out. The dorm is pretty empty of other students as we head down the stairs and out the front doors. The air is cold now, and I instantly wish I had brought a coat, but then again, I will be in front of a bonfire soon, by the looks of the photos. Soph hooks her arm in mine and rests her head on my shoulder as we head down the pathway towards her car. She has rich as hell parents, and their idea of a gift was the shiny new red Land Rover, and I’m the lucky bitch who is her bestie, so I can take full advantage of the heated seats. Soph opens her bag and searches for her keys, and then keeps searching, looking more frustrated by the second.

“Crap, I forgot my phone,” she mutters and pauses, closing her bag with her keys in her hand, the glittery elephant keyring I bought her shining from the street light. “Why don’t you drive my car there, and I will grab an Uber.”

“I can wait for you,” I say, even as I glance at my own phone and see that we are ten minutes late to my own party.

“Nope. Just go,” she says, passing me the keys. “I want to call my mum anyways, check and see how she is doing today.”

She looks down, and I place my hand on her arm, wishing I could help. Her dad buys her cars, and her mum is one pill away from forgetting who she is half the time. Money doesn’t bring happiness, that’s for sure. Soph’s life makes me happy for my middle-class upbringing, everything from the pound ice lollies I loved from the shops to the budget beach holidays in a tiny caravan in Wales.

“Okay, see you in a bit,” I reply, leaning forward and kissing her cheek.

“Don’t jump Arlo until I get there! I wanna be there when I’m proven right!” she shouts over her shoulder as she walks away. Bitch. My cheeks are still red as I glance around, seeing no one in the parking lot. I laugh as I climb into Soph’s car, pushing a bag of gym clothes into the passenger seat and closing the door behind me. After doing my seat belt up and, most importantly, putting the heated seats on, I head straight towards the beach. I’m thankful there is no traffic around at this time of day. By the time I park in the beach car park, I’m half an hour late, and I know Austin is going to be mad.

Thank god it is our birthday.

Climbing out of my car with my bag, I lock up as I hear the distant music of the party and smell a bonfire mixed in with the smell of the sea. Austin knows me well, this is the perfect party for me, considering the beach is my favourite place in the world. There is something so calming about looking at the sea, watching the waves wash in and out across the sand. Even when there is a storm, there is always the peace right after. The sea is my happy place, it always has been since I was a kid. It’s the only place I feel myself and safe. That’s why when I’m older, I’m buying a house as close to the sea as I possibly can get.

The rickety wooden steps eventually give out to just sand, and I slip off my heels, sinking my toes into the soft damp sand.

“Goldilocks, goldilocks, are you lost?”

I spin around to find the man who spoke, but there is no one here, just the sounds of the party and the waves of the sea.

“Dance for me, goldilocks. Spin and spin and spin until your head comes right off.”

I turn around again and search everywhere, not hearing or seeing anyone as my heart starts pounding in my chest.

Run, Ria.

Hearing my brother’s voice in my head like he is right next to me, I take off down the beach path, rushing towards the party where I know I will be safe. I drop my heels and bag so I can run faster, and just as I see the party, the crowd of shadows around the bonfire in the far distance, I breathe out a sigh of relief.

Then hands wrap around my waist and a hand grabs my throat, arching my neck to the side with a jolt that takes my breath away. Something sharp suddenly bites into my neck, digging in deep, and I scream when I realise it’s teeth. I don’t stop screaming, the pain indescribable, even as I go into shock and almost numb to what is happening to me. The world becomes fuzzy, and my screams fade into cries as my legs go out from under me. The man biting me, holding me, holds me up by my waist, and the world begins to spin.

“Don’t kill her!” I hear another man shout. “That’s enough!”

The man holding me seems to grumble into my neck, seconds before his teeth leave my neck, and he spins me around, grabbing my chin. Even as I black out, I hear his words and see my blood dripping down his chin as the last thing I can focus on.

“Yes, my masters will love you. You taste like heaven.”

CHAPTER THREE

“Wake up before you fall over!” a girl’s voice drags into my mind, and I groggily blink my eyes open, feeling a sharp pain in my neck as I breathe in the smell of saltwater, sweat and the metallic tang of blood. It’s freezing cold and damp all around me, and with only my small pink dress on and no shoes, my toes feel close to falling off. My lips are dry, but my wet, cold clothes cause me to start shaking almost immediately. My hand shoots to my neck where the pain is, only for me to realise I have iron cuffs wrapped around my wrists, with a chain going through the holes, connecting me to the floor and stopping me from lifting my hands above my waist. Fear renders me silent as I search around the room, seeing other faces in the darkness but not being able to make out much about them. The same girl who woke me up speaks again. “Don’t scream, no one comes, and if they do, it’s those men who took us, and they aren’t nice. They just bite.”

Every vivid memory of the beach comes back to haunt me. The screams, the pain in my neck, and the overwhelming sense of fear that crawled into my system like a drug.

“Where are we? What the hell is that thing that attacked me?” I question, wriggling on the wooden crate I’m sitting up on, my back plastered to the side of a curved wooden wall. The room seems to slightly rock, I notice, in the silence that follows as the girl doesn’t answer me back. I don’t hear anything outside this room, but the smell of saltwater and the rocking movement suggests we are on a ship or boat. I wonder how long. “Please answer.”

“I was at a party on a beach, invited by some other friends even though I don’t go to many parties…,” she starts, her voice ringing with fear. That was my party, the one I never got to. Oh my god. My parents must be going mad with worry, and Austin? Was Austin taken? “The men…no, monsters, attacked the party and killed so many of my friends as I tried to run. One caught me and bit my neck, and I passed out. I woke up here the same as you but a few hours earlier. There was another girl in with us, but she wouldn’t stop screaming, and one of the monsters came in here… He bit her neck and dragged her out.”

They killed everyone at the party bar a few. What if they only kept women?

They might have killed Austin. The thought lingers in my mind like an unwanted visitor, repeating itself again and again until I can’t breathe with pure panic. If the girl with me notices my panic, she doesn’t say anything, just leans back and looks up at the small bits of light shining through the planks of wood on the ceiling. Austin. My twin brother. He might be gone. And Sophie? What if she got to the party when it was still being attacked? Did they take her? Or kill her too? No. I can’t think like that. If they took me, they might have taken them, and then there is a chance we will all survive wherever we are going to.

I’m going to make sure of it. Clearly, these monsters who took me live on blood, and mine seems to have delighted the guy who bit me. I bet they won’t expect their food to bite back. Wherever they take us, there must be a way out, and then I only need to find a normal person and scream for help.

I straighten in my seat, yawning a little, and my breaths come out like puffs of smoke. “They must be vampires. You know from movies and books? I mean, who else would drink blood?”

“The blood-sucking did kinda give that hint,” the girl replies with a small laugh that soon dies away into pity for our situations. “I didn’t even read paranormal books, I much prefer contemporary. Now this?”

We both stare at each other, the fear and horror of the situation hitting home. I did read paranormal and fantasy books because I prefer the escape from reality that contemporary doesn’t usually give me. But I didn’t expect to be right smack in the middle of one of the many books I read. I wonder what these vamps are like. Are they the bad guys in the books? The monsters?

Does that make me a captive? My heart starts pounding as I begin to panic, and I suck in air, trying to think of anything else other than where I am.

“Tell me something before I freak out,” I ask her, my hands starting to shake. These vamps could kill us, or even worse, torture us. They might only collect young women for reasons I can’t even imagine. Oh my god, vampires are real. They are real, and I’ve been kidnapped by them, bitten by them, and I’m likely never to go home. Never see my parents again.

What if they have my brother? What if they have killed him?

She is silent for a second or two, letting me freak out before she clicks her fingers, getting my attention. “It’s normal to have a panic attack or ten. Try breathing slowly and counting to ten. Then count to twenty. And so on.”

I do as she asks, even when it feels like each breath hurts more than the last, but I say each of the numbers. Eventually I calm down enough to rest back, my hands still shaking, but I don’t feel seconds away from passing out anymore.

“My name is Riona Dark, and my friends call me Ria. What’s your name?” I eventually question. We are stuck here together, we might as well get to know each other.

“Ann Hellerud,” she replies, and I wish I could see what she looks like, to have some connection to normality out here. But it’s too dark, I can only make out the shape of her head when she moves and maybe dark brown hair. “And, Ria, I hope we survive whatever is coming next.”

“Same,” I whisper back, though my voice carries across the room. “Do you have a family? Someone who would be looking for you?”

“Two little brothers and my dad,” she replies, and I can hear the affection in her voice. “I was the first one in my family to go to university, and I wanted to get a good job, show my brothers they could do it. My mum died a few years back from cancer, and she so desperately wanted me to make a difference in the world. So I was going to be a social worker, help anyone I could. Now…”

“You will get back to university,” I firmly reply, though I have no way to make that happen, but it doesn’t harm anyone to hope. Hope might be what gets us through this. She is a strong person, I can tell from her voice alone. “Just like I will find my brother and somehow escape whatever these vampires want with us. Did you hear them say anything that might give us a clue?”

“Yes…,” she admits, but that fear is back in her voice. “They said something about auctions and food. I think they are going to sell us to other vampires.”

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, and I close my eyes, resting my head back. “I’m not being some vamp’s long-term snack, that’s for sure.”

Ann doesn’t reply to me, not that I blame her, as the mood is sour at best now. I stare up at the top of the ceiling, through slight gaps in the panels of wood, and I can make out the moon and stars in the sky. I shiver from the cold as my eyes drift shut, and sleep soon lulls me into a false sense of safety.

“Time to get them up!” I hear a man bellow outside the room we are in, many days later from when we were taken. The cold has well and truly seeped into my bones, and I’m clueless how Ann and I are still alive and not dead from frostbite. Ann mentioned that the blood taste in our mouths might mean they gave us vampire blood, and perhaps it is somehow keeping us alive and healthy. I prefer not to overthink on that subject. Other than throwing bottled water and stale bread at us, this is the first time we are actually going to leave the room, by the sounds of it. A part of me is excited as much as I am terrified. The ship is still rocking slightly, but it seems less harsh now, and I wonder if we are anchored somewhere.

The door swings open, and a bulky man with green eyes, dark tanned skin, and a mixture of tattoos all up his chest and arms looks in at us with a flashlight, the light filling the room. The rapid change in light makes my eyes water and sting to hold open, but I force myself to. His clothes are old fashioned and remind me of what a pirate in a fairy-tale book might wear, and he looks between the other girls and me. Getting a good look at my new friend, I see she does have long dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin with tattoos down her arms from her shoulders. With only cut-off denim jeans and a white tank top that is covered in her blood, she must be as freezing as me. I hear dozens of other footsteps nearby, more doors opening, and the distant sound of the ocean waves as Ann’s wide brown eyes fall on me before we both look at the vamp, who lets out a long sigh.

“Ladies don’t like to wear much clothing anymore, do they? Not like in my time, with the big dresses,” he states, disgust and pity in his voice. He lowers the flashlight in his hand.

What century are these vamps from?

The man doesn’t say another word as he eventually walks in and goes to Ann first. Even in the darkness, which I’m now realising these vamps must be able to see in, I hear Ann’s relief as the man undoes the cuffs, and they fall to the floor. I can’t wait to get mine off; they are digging harshly into the skin on my wrists, and I think they are bleeding a little bit.

“Behave or you will regret it,” the man warns, his accent very unfamiliar to me the more he talks. It almost sounds Scottish, but it’s not, and I’m unsure where I’ve heard it before. Ann and I don’t reply to that threat, mostly because what can you say?

I’m hardly going to enthusiastically say yes and be a good little girl, now am I? The man undoes my cuffs next, and instantly I sigh at the relief as I rub my sore wrists, feeling the cuts and bruises those cuffs left as I stand up next to Ann. I place my hand on my neck, running my fingers over the two bite marks I find there and the dried blood stuck to me even though it’s been days.

The man shoves me hard in the middle of my back, and I stumble out into the corridor, the light hurting my eyes from the fire sconces lining the walls. Eventually, I settle my eyes and look to Ann, who staggers to my side, her arm brushing against mine. I’ve never seen her around the university, but it’s a hella big university, and I would guess she is a first-year anyway, as she looks younger than me but not by much. I never thought to ask her age in the days we have been trapped here. In fact, we haven’t spoken much about anything serious or real.

“Keep moving!” the man shouts behind me, and I trip with my bare feet across the wooden floorboards, almost slipping on some of the wet parts until I get to stairs at the end. I climb up them, hearing screams behind me that make the situation so much more petrifying. I’ve always been a strong person, and I don’t intend to let this break me. But it’s hard not to scream, to not freak the hell out. Every step feels like I’m walking to my death, and I likely am doing just that. I wrap my arms around myself, my pink dress doing nothing to curb the sheer cold wind as I step out onto the deck of a ship, my feet sticking to the deck panels, and into the crowd of people dressed in party clothes and smothered with blood. A few of them are openly weeping on the floor, others are shaking from the cold and huddled together. I can’t hear much over the weeping and the sound of the sea, and the odd laugh from the vampires at the front of the group, talking together. The ship is a mixture of old and new, by the looks of it, with old floorboards and a glass top above us, stopping the pouring rain from soaking us to the bone. There are modern lights on the sides of the walls, and overall, I’m more freaked out than ever.

But as much as the ship is distracting, it’s nothing compared to the island in front of me in the distance. Even at night…I know this place is nothing like anywhere on earth. Or nothing I’ve ever seen before. Three mountains tower into the sky in the middle of the island, disappearing into the clouds, and red snow pours down them like a fog, moving softly. Around the mountains is a vibrant city, and I can just make out the many, many lights of the buildings. The edges of the island look like thick forests, and one side seems to have beaches and the other just sheer cliffs. Several ships, like the one we are on, line the harbour of the beach, and I can see piles of people being herded like cattle into the forest line off the beach.

Ann moves close to my side, her arm hooking into mine as she stares with me at the vampire pirate things. I’m no geography student, but I know this place isn’t on any human map, but then again, I hardly got kidnapped by a human. These are vampires, and it doesn’t surprise me they have a secret island to live on. Not one thing about them could pass as human. They are too perfect, too shiny, and they stand too still. Humans are flawed and imperfect, something these monsters are not.

And I honestly think we are the winners. Being flawed is what makes us human.

“Welcome to The Onyx, the island of vampires and many, many human slaves,” one of the vamps shouts out, stepping in front of us all and clapping his hands. The crying and weeping doesn’t stop, it only gets louder. I search the humans, so many of them, for my brother, Sophie, Arlo or anyone I recognise, but I just can’t see them all in this group. There must be a hundred people, easily. My brother could be here, and unless I move around, which might piss off the vamps and end with my head being torn off, I can’t see him.

Onyx. This island has a name and a whole race of supernatural beings that belong in movies and TV shows. Not real life.

“This is your home now, and you will be looked after if you behave. The Onyx has a saying, and you will do well to listen to it. There is no power in The Onyx except for blood and death.”

Ann looks at me, and I carefully hide my fear, knowing it’s pointless to make her more afraid. I have a bad feeling blood is the only reason we are here. The vampires need food, and we are just cattle they have rounded up. “You have two of the most coveted things on The Onyx. Blood and the ability to die. But make no mistake, from now on, you are a slave to your masters, and if you wish to survive, you must follow the rules. We aren’t all that bad.”

“Bullshit,” I whisper to Ann, who nods with a little tilt of her lips. But they want us to act like sheep? Then fine.

At least until they realise the sheep aren’t all the same, and there is a wolf here waiting to bite back. I’m not going down without a hell of a fight, that’s for sure, but first I want to make sure my brother isn’t on this goddamn island with me. Or Arlo or Sophie for that matter. Part of me suspects Sophie is okay, but Austin and Arlo? I’m not too sure. The vamp seems done with his shit speech and clicks his fingers. The other vamps start grabbing the people near the front and pulling them with them to the end of the ship, and they climb down into awaiting boats, I assume.

The one vamp, who I recognise from the beach, searches the crowd until he finds me. With dark tousled hair, muck-covered skin littered with scars, and almost black eyes, he is hard to forget. I only saw him briefly, but he is memorable. I know when he finds me as he walks through the screaming group, who part quickly, and he stops close so I’m forced to smell his dirty clothes. God, he stinks. Do vamps not need to shower? He reaches out, cupping the back of my neck and pulling me to him, turning my head to the side. I smack my hands against his chest, trying to pull away, but he is too strong. He doesn’t even notice my efforts.

“I will buy you and keep you, pet,” he coos, leaning down and pressing his nose into my neck before lifting his head. “I can still taste your sweet blood on my tongue. You smell like the angels themselves sent you here.”

I sneer at him, even when I know it will get me nowhere, but I won’t let him bite me again. “Your friend said in The Onyx there is no power but blood and death, so that means my biggest power is my blood and my decision when to die. I would rather kill myself than be your plaything.”

He laughs and it’s bitter, cruel. “Who says you get to die in The Onyx?”

“I do,” I bite out.

He leans closer, and I try to fight his grip on me once again. “No, you don’t. Your freedom is gone, but keep fighting me; I do like it when my prey fights back.”

I scream and try to hit him, but he picks me up like a doll and carries me to the edge of the ship before dropping me. I scream as I fall and land harshly on my side, hearing something snap in my arm. I cry out as hands pick me up and pull me down to sit as I cup my arm, trying not to cry. But tears fall down my cheeks as I look up, seeing the bastard vampire who bit me looking down from the ship. Bastard. Before I die, I’m finding out how to kill vampires and taking as many of them as I can down with me. I turn away, knowing he will keep staring, and the sick freak probably likes the attention. I glance around me, seeing a large wooden motorized boat full of people hiding in every corner of the boat but Ann is not one of them. The engine starts up, and I look up at the vampire who bit me and dragged me here.

He is going to die before I do, even if it’s the last thing I do. Everyone has a weakness, and I bet vampires aren’t all that different.

Either way, I’m not going down without a fight.

CHAPTER FOUR

I t’s cold. Not that annoying sort of cold, but the temperature that worries me that frostbite is a real issue, and I like my toes where they are. The vamps don’t seem to give a monkey’s arse about us as we walk through the red snow covering the sand, away from the docked boat. My clothes are still wet, and it is odd they don’t care about keeping us alive, considering all they went through to kidnap us. Maybe they do this a lot, and it’s not odd at all. I think of my uncle for a moment…he was right. He said they were out hunting, and he was dead bang right about it all. But how could he have known that?

The dock was empty, with nothing more than a rocky, snow-covered beach and a few trees to be seen after we got out of the boat. There are twenty-four of us in this group—I counted on the boat—and three vamps. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t the silence of the island in the dead of the night. The forest seems endless, as does the snow freezing my toes off, until we come to a house in the middle of it. The house appears normal, nothing odd about it at all, but it feels all kinds of wrong. The house itself is attached to the bottom of the mountain, and its white-framed windows and brick walls look almost out of place here. There is nothing personalised about the house, and soon the vamp opens the door, and we are ushered inside.

All of us are crammed into this tiny house, and I wonder if there are others like it? There was certainly more than one ship. I consider running away for a brief second…but then the thought comes…where would I go?

How am I going to escape this damn island?

I follow the guy in front of me into the house, which is warm, and my toes are thankful for it as I stand shivering in the hallway, nothing but several doors and a staircase to look at.

“Send one of them up!” a woman shouts down, her very British and almost Cockney, aka London-sounding, voice familiar to my ears. Please pick someone else. Please pick—I’m jolted from my thoughts as a vamp man grabs my elbow and leads me to the stairs, giving me a slight shove up the first two steps.

Pushing down my fear, I walk to the top of the stairs, which opens to one massive room littered with four wardrobes and two dressing tables. Shelves of boxes fill the corner of the room, and there are several white doors. The house creaks in the wind, and it smells like expensive perfume in here.

A woman stands in the middle of the room, and I stare at her as she looks right back. She is pretty and strange all at the same time. With her long black hair, dark tanned skin, and stylish brown leather dress, she almost seems normal, but then I see the tattoos on her cheeks. Two sigils, if I guess right, and they are completely different. One is a circle shape with birds making the circle, and in the middle is a sword with wings behind it. The other one is a dragon wrapped around a dagger with fire in a circle around it. They look burnt on, like she was branded many years ago, as they are fully healed. Why would anyone do that to themselves?

I don’t know how I know it, but this woman is a vamp. I think it’s the way they hold themselves, no crouching or movements like breathing. She is just still, and the more she stares, the more uncomfortable I get, but I still hold eye contact. Her sharp green eyes are a clear challenge.

“Oh, they will like you, girl,” she eventually states, breathing out the sentence in a husky tone. “I can smell your blood from here, and it is different. Delicious.”

She licks her lips. “I might bid for you myself, seeing as I’m not allowed to feed on the new stock.”

“Were you ever human?” I question, crossing my arms. I’m done being frightened of these monsters if they are going to kill me anyway. “Are you all born vampires with no ounce of humanity left to save you?”

She laughs and walks across the room. “Humanity is overrated, as are your emotions that come with it.”

I don’t reply, unsure what to say to that. Humanity would be overrated to someone who clearly has none. “But humans are as cruel as we are, make no mistake about that. The Onyx owns its crimes and doesn’t hide them. Can you say the same of your race? How many terrible things have you humans done and hid?”

“Why am I here?” I question instead, hating that she might be right.

“To prepare you. I will run you a bath and dress you, and then you will be taken. It is the way of things around here,” she casually comments. “My name is Merethe.”

“My mum always said it was rude to play with your food. Why don’t you just kill me and get it over and done with?” I ask her instead of giving her my name.

She tilts her head to the side. “Do you want to die? Is there no one you want to go back to?”

“My family would rather see me dead than in constant suffering,” I counter.

She leans down close, shaking her head. “Not everything in The Onyx is about suffering. Pleasure is just as much a desire as blood is. Both can be enjoyed at the same time. You will see, you are very beautiful.”

I turn away, sickness filling my mouth. That is a fate worse than death in my books. “I will be no one’s.”

She laughs like that is impossible here. “Are you a virgin?”

“What does that matter to you?” I snap. She keeps laughing and steps close to me so quickly I can’t track her movement. Her hand cups my face, and her eyes stare into mine. “Tell me the truth, are you a virgin?”

Something indescribable takes hold of me, forcing me to want to tell her the truth, but I push it back, gritting my teeth. It hurts to resist, and the more she stares at me, the more pressure I feel until it suddenly disappears. “Fuck. Off.”

Shock fills her eyes, and she lets me go, stumbling back. “How…how did you do that?”

“Do what?” I question, not understanding how freaked out she is. Rather than answer me, she starts to pace, muttering to herself, and I catch some of it.

“Must tell…princes…they will pay more.”

Princes? Don’t tell me the vamps have a royal family.

“Hello?” I wave my hand, and she finally stops, plastering on a very fake smile and breathing out a long breath. Her eyes stare me down like I’m a prized pig at a Texas BBQ.

“Let’s get you dressed up. You look cold,” she replies, pretending like our whole conversation didn’t just happen, but she looks at me differently now than when I first came in here. It’s almost like I suddenly turned into gold. “Everything will be better once you are warm and dressed in auction house clothes of a neutral colour. Can’t have any arguments about you that are blamed on me.”

“Why does the colour matter?” I question, holding my ground. She walks away and into another room, and I stand still, wondering if I should follow her. Every inch of me wants to run away as fast as I can, but I know running isn’t going to work well for me until I come up with a decent enough plan.

My brother always said I was the smart one of us both. And he was damn right.

Steeling my back, I keep my arms crossed as I walk to the room Merethe last went into and head inside. It’s a small bathroom with a white tub, a modern one with its own shower head. Merethe is running the steamy water into the tub and pouring something that smells like lavender in.

“Get undressed,” she commands and pauses to look at me. “Not that you’re wearing much to begin with,” she tuts. “Humans.”

I scowl at her as she turns back, and I awkwardly stand there, not wanting to get undressed in front of her. Merethe sighs, turns the tap off, and comes to me.

“Nudity is not a care for vampires or d’vampires on this island,” she firmly tells me and grips my dress. In one smooth motion, she rips it off me, and I gasp at the slight pain that caused. I cover my bra-clad breasts and panties with my hands, and she rolls her eyes at me. “You can keep them on if you like.”

“Yes,” I answer and tip toe my way to the tub. I climb in, my feet stinging from the sheer difference in heat and the tiny cuts I can feel on the base of them. Sitting still, I nearly jump when Merethe leans over me, grabs the shower head, and turns it on. She washes my hair like we are old friends, pouring in shampoo and conditioner by the feel and smell, and I just sit there. I feel numb. Shocked into staying still.

“What is the difference between vampires and d’vampires?” I question, needing to understand the creatures on this island more if I have any chance of surviving this.

She sighs. “Vampires are born, like humans are, and d’vampires are humans who have been turned. D’vampires cannot turn humans, but they are just as strong as born vampires. Honestly, there is not much difference.”

“When can I go home?” I quietly ask. Merethe turns the shower off and squeezes out the water from my hair before stepping back. I look up, meeting her eyes, and I see some pity there.

“Most ask that first, and then they freak out when I answer them,” she comments, her voice lacking human emotion of any kind. “Then they threaten to kill themselves, which some do anyway, or they try to run. Running gets you nowhere, by the way. I was surprised you didn’t ask any of these questions.”

“How do you keep us under control then?” I ask.

“Compulsion, plain and simple. Compulsion is my art, I am the best at it, and that’s why I see the humans first and…soothe them,” she replies with a smirk. “And you’re the first human I’ve ever seen resist it. Are you sure you’re not a witch or something else?”

“Are witches real?” I question back, my mouth popping open. Vampires are bad enough. Witches? Nope. I still remember that film I watched as a kid where the witches turned kids into mice. I shiver. Standing out from the other humans was not the game plan. I need to go unnoticed to escape, and I have a sinking feeling that isn’t happening here. What is wrong with me? I should have just pretended to do what she asked.

“Very real and dangerous. But you can’t be one; you don’t have the markings, and you are human. I smell it,” she replies and offers me a towel before turning around as I take it off her. I wrap myself up and climb out, the cold air brushing against my skin. “Get changed into that dress and blow dry your hair over there. Don’t do anything rash, I am listening. We vampires have excellent hearing.”

With that, she walks out of the room and leaves me alone. I walk over to the small dressing table with a hair dryer, a small and old one by the looks of it, and a weird brown dress hanging up nearby on the wall. The dress is more of a sari with woven feathers all at the base of the dress, and it’s made from soft silk in three different shades of brown. It feels expensive under my fingers, and I hate that. I’m a prisoner, nothing more, and now I’m being dressed up for them to ogle. It takes me more than a few attempts to get the dress on and to work out that the design of the dress leaves my shoulders free and is tight around my waist.

Which makes sense with the whole biting of the neck thing. They wouldn’t want fabric in the way.

I quickly blow dry my hair and brush the knots out before standing up, looking at myself in the small foggy mirror.

I don’t look like me. I feel like the person in the mirror has aged a million years in only a few days. The beach, the party and my innocence seem like an old memory. My eyes catch the water in the tub, seeing it has turned pink from my dried blood.

I don’t think pink is going to be my colour anymore…it seems like blood red might be the colour I need to get used to. Cooling my shaky hands by plastering them to my sides, I walk out still in bare feet to the main area. Merethe turns around and smiles.

“You remind me of my first day here,” she comments, her eyes fixated on me. Something changes as she looks away and points at three boxes by the wall. “Take any shoes you like and meet me down these stairs. Be quick.”

She disappears before my eyes, and I only hear the creak of a floor panel to let me know she went that way. So the vampires can move fast, and Merethe was once human. More things to figure out later. If I manage to survive.

Peeling myself from where I was standing, I walk to the boxes and pull the lid off the first. It takes me a little while to find any shoes that fit my tiny UK size four feet, but eventually I find some worn leather boots. I slide them on, grimacing at the feeling of the leather against my cut feet without socks. I stand up and fix my eyes on a shelf above the boxes and what looks like a knife resting on the edge. Quickly, I put the lid back on the box and stand on it, reaching up and skimming my fingers across the edge of the shelf until I grab the blade handle. I pull it down, smiling to myself about my little find. The knife is sharp, and it has a black leather handle—nothing special, but it might get me out of here. I tuck the knife into my dress, using the many layers of fabric to secure it to my chest.

Feeling a little less nervous, I go to the stairs and walk down to the bottom, finding the place full of people sitting on the floor and Merethe waiting for me. She instantly grabs my upper arm and starts dragging me through the house until we get to a metal gate. Merethe places her hand on it, and it glows red for a second before the gate opens, revealing row after row of cages which are full of people, their desperate eyes cutting into me. Then I hear the screams and cries, the pleas that echo around the place.

“W-what was that?” I whisper.

Merethe laughs. “Witches built this island, and vampires took it, keeping every little spell they ever did. Welcome to your new life, Riona Dark. I have a feeling you won’t be leaving any time soon.”

CHAPTER FIVE

A ll night, there are screams. Screams of people who want to escape, screams of people in pain, and so many different types it’s impossible to do anything but listen. The screams are worse than the cries and pleas for help, for death, for anything or anyone to save them. My cage is a damp brick room with holes in many places, rat droppings in every corner, and one large arched metal gate with thick iron bars. The ceiling is pure stone but littered with tiny holes, and in the middle, there is a dim lightbulb on its own, every so often flickering. Even if I could somehow reach up, I doubt the broken glass of a lightbulb would help me much as a weapon. There are four other women in here with me, and we each sit in our own space, no one saying a word.

Because what is there to say? We all know we are screwed.

I do notice all the women must be under twenty-five, and they are all wearing brown clothes like I am, but theirs don’t seem to be as nice as mine. Basically, I somewhat stand out compared to them, and I don’t like that. Morning light flickers in even as my eyes threaten to close, but my body is awake, too wired up to rest. Three of the other girls here are fast asleep, two blondes and a black-haired woman. The only other person awake sits still, her gaze empty as she stares at nothing.

“Hi,” I say, as lame as it is. The girl doesn’t move or react, it’s almost like I’m talking to a ghost. I try again. “Hello?”

“Don’t bother, she has been here longer than any of us, and she doesn’t talk. They cut out her tongue and used their blood to stop her bleeding,” one of the blondes speaks up. I turn to look at her, her tanned skin and accent making me think she is from California, or near enough. There was a family that moved to my town when I was seven, and they were from California, moved for work. “What’s your name, and where you from?”

“Riona Dark, and I’m from Aberdeen, well, a village nearby it. I was taken from my university,” I loosely explain. Talking about the beach, the fact my brother and friends might be here and hurt, is too raw. I clear my throat. “What about you?”

“Lucy Denlake,” she replies cheerily, but I suspect that is just her nature coming through. “And I lived in a beach house in California. Damn, they took us from thousands of miles apart. Look, these girls don’t speak, or they are shit scared, but you seem like me. You’ve accepted your bad luck, and I think that might mean we are more likely to survive. Can you promise me something, and I will do the same for you if you want?”

“Why not?” I answer. I know I shouldn’t be making promises to strangers, but what could the harm be?

“If you escape this place, hopefully killing a few vamps on the way out, will you tell my boyfriend that I love him and have since third grade? His name is Rowan, and he will be looking for me in California. It shouldn’t be too hard to find him on Facebook or something,” she replies, breathing out a long exhale of cold air. “Do you have someone you want me to tell something to if I get out?”

I stare at her for a moment, seeing the desperation in her eyes.

“My brother is here somewhere, I’m sure of it…but my parents—” I gulp. “You could tell them I love them, and tell my uncle I wish I had listened to his letter,” I whisper, looking away at the floor. “I promise to pass on your message if I can.”

“Same,” she softly replies, and I look up, meeting her eyes. We both smile a little. “And if Rowan doesn’t believe you, tell him that tattoo on my butt is our secret. He will then.”

I chuckle a little. “What’s the tattoo of?”

She laughs and shakes her head. “You’ll never know.”

I laugh with her, and then I hear footsteps nearby, close enough to be heard over the distant screams and cries. Two pairs of them, and never before have I feared the sound of someone walking towards me as much as I do right now. I stand up, as does Lucy. The other girls all cower together in the corner, and Lucy moves to stand in front of them. I place my hand on the dagger under my dress, knowing it has to be the right time to use and not a second too soon. If one of these assholes tries to bite me, I can at least stab them and see if they bleed.

“Here is that one Merethe talked about,” an Irish-sounding man states and chuckles after he speaks. “Though Merethe might be going senile. I doubt she is as great as she made out, sir. Maybe she is losing her touch.”

There is silence for a reply for a long while. Tension fills the cell, even when they aren’t inside it. When he speaks, his voice seems to suck the light from the room, and his dark, deep and cold voice takes over it. “Open the door and leave.”

I shiver from the sheer coldness and power in that voice that unsettles me right down to my core. A man in an old suit, with a pocket watch hanging out of his pocket, steps in front of the metal cage to the door, pulling out keys from his brown trouser pockets. He has grey hair that matches his bushy grey beard, but there is no doubt he isn’t human. He quickly opens the metal cage door and steps back, though his eyes fall on me for a moment.

My heart pounds as a man walks into the room and stops. I know for certain he is the one who spoke, he is the one that I should fear.

He is six foot easily, towering over me, and he is gorgeous in a way that can only be described as inhuman.

Immortal.

And so very not human. Sharp black eyebrows rest above his dark eyes. He has thick brown, almost black hair that falls around his face and stops at his shoulders. Several strands have been braided with red crystals, and silver rings clipped into the braids catch the sunlight. His jawline could make any god weep in its perfection, and his narrow lips seem soft almost, even with a light scruff of a beard gracing his jawline. His cheekbones are high and look strong enough to cut glass, and everything about him seems…cold. Empty. Lost.

Then his dark eyes lock onto mine, and I suck in a deep mouthful of air. Dark is a small word to describe his eyes, which are half black and half a deep red, the colour of blood. The black and red mixes together effortlessly, and it’s memorizing to stare at.

“Come to me,” he commands, and it’s a command mixed with magic, to say the least. Whatever the magic is, it pushes into me like a storm against a shore, and it hurts. God, it hurts to stop it taking over me. I grit my teeth through the pain, refusing to cower, refusing to back down. The seconds tick on and on until he stops and walks right up to me, grabbing my chin. His nails are sharp and completely black, curved into points that dig into my skin.

“Will you scream if I sink my teeth into your pretty neck and drain all of that courage right out of you?” he almost purrs. “Will you scream my name and beg me to stop?”

“Considering I don’t know your name, it’s unlikely. Unless you like being called Bastard, in which case, I can definitely call you that,” I growl right back at him, even as his grip borders on painful.

He could hurt me if he wanted. He could break me.

The vampire’s eyes widen with what I think is amusement and shock. “I will buy you and keep you as mine. Mine to bite, mine to fuck, and mine in fucking general. Get used to the idea.”

“I’d rather die,” I bite back.

His eyes narrow, and he digs his nails into my skin, enough to make several cuts. He drops me quickly, and my back scratches across the wall as I fall, managing to stop myself tumbling onto my ass. Damn. Effing. Vampires. My blood coats his nails as he slowly licks each one, his eyes closed shut, but I think he likes what he tastes.

One of the girls behind Lucy makes a small noise, and the vampire swiftly turns towards them, noticing they are there for the first time. He moves quicker than I can track, and then he has Lucy in his arms, and she screams as he bites into her neck. I don’t know how long I stare, paralyzed on the spot in fear as he drains her, but her screams slowly fade, and eventually her body goes limp before he lets her drop to the floor.

“Riona Dark, I will enjoy your company and your blood, I’m sure,” the vampire tells me, walking to the cage door like nothing happened and he didn’t just kill someone. He is fucking insane. “My name is Prince Maddox Borealis of the Vampires, and everyone calls me the Mad Prince.”

I stay silent as he leaves, never looking back once, and the second the gate shuts, I fall to my knees and throw up everything in my system, which isn’t much more than stale bread and water. After I stop heaving, I break into sobs, which I stop escaping my lips by holding my hand over my mouth. Tears fall down my cheeks endlessly as I resist the urge to scream and scream. Crawling over the stone floor, I pick up Lucy’s head off the ground and brush some of the hair from her eyes, her vacant eyes that stare up at nothing above me.

My mum’s words come to haunt me as I close Lucy’s eyes and say a silent prayer. “When everyone dies, they look at peace. So there is no need to fear what comes after death, because I have seen it is a better place than life. You may rest and god will watch over you. You’re with the angels now.”

Of course, she doesn’t reply, and it doesn’t make me feel better, but I hope she heard me somewhere. I close her eyes shut, giving her the peace she deserves, before resting my forehead against hers.

“I hope you’re at peace, Lucy Denlake, and I will keep my promise,” I whisper to her. The three other girls never move from the wall, and one starts screaming not long after, the screams mixing with those in the distance.

Hope is an easy thing to squash, apparently. All you need is death.

CHAPTER SIX

I  don’t know how long it is until the Irish man comes back to our cell with a bed on wheels and a plastic body bag resting on top of it. He unlocks the cage and comes in, pulling the bed with him as his keys clatter on his belt where he clips them. I am half tempted to try to steal the keys, but I figure the vampires would hear me a mile away, and where would I go? No, I need to make a better plan. Those ships have to leave at some time, for something more than humans.

“Shame,” the Irish vampire mutters to himself as he leans down and picks up Lucy’s body with more care than I expected of him. “Too young.”

“Then why do you do this?” I question. The Irish man looks at me as he places Lucy down on the bed, like he just noticed I am here. “Does life mean nothing to any of you?”

“We all have our debts to pay, little one,” he replies and pulls out a breakfast bar from his pocket. “The stealers always get me these when they collect humans. Want one?”

The stealers, that’s what the vamps who kidnapped me are called. Good to know.

My aching stomach screams yes, even as I shake my head and grit my teeth. The Irish man sighs and comes over to me, placing the bar in front of my feet.

“The name’s Eachann,” he introduces himself even though I didn’t ask. “And I won’t hurt you. I simply look after the auction house prizes and work with the stealers.”

“So this is an auction house? We are going to be sold off?” I question. He pauses before nodding his head.

“Don’t suppose telling you is going to do much harm,” he sighs. “The rich and powerful will come and buy whoever they want. Anyone still here after four weeks is sent to the whorehouses or bloodhouses on the island,” he explains, and my gaze drifts to the silent girl no one has bought. I gulp. “You’ve attracted more attention than most, little one, so you shouldn’t worry.”

“How is this place hidden from humans?” I question him. I might as well dig up as much information as I can from this vamp. Eachann straightens up and goes back to the bed.

“That’s a long story,” he starts and scratches his head. “But seeing as you are popular and likely to be sticking around, I will tell you it. See, long ago, before humans even walked this earth, there were vampires, witches and sirens. Always at war, the witches made several islands like this one, and on them, they cloaked the island with powerful magic. The magic was held in objects, and one family was given the responsibility of protecting the magic for their lives. Each island has its own magical objects, and each race lives on them.”

“Are vampires immortal then?” I question. “And what are the magical objects?”

And importantly, can I steal them and use them to bribe my way off this island?

“To a human, it would seem so, but no. Vampires can live for two thousand years before needing to sleep for a thousand and be reborn for another two. And so on,” he replies. “Therefore, immortality can be achieved quite easily. As for your other part, they are orbs of magic.”

So, not immortal, and clearly the sun doesn’t bother them. What could the weakness be?

“And witches? They are real then?” I question. “And sirens?”

“Extremely so and very powerful. There are ten witch covens and most live on their own island. As for the sirens, there is one clan, and they are secretive,” he tells me before doing the zip up on Lucy’s bag, shutting her away. “But I think that’s enough of story time for today.”

“Wait.” I make him stop as he goes to push Lucy out. “What will you do with her body?”

His eyes are soft, making him almost seem human, and it’s strange. “We bury the dead in the sea as we have much dead around. I will be gentle with her and wish her our god’s protection.”

“How can you believe in any god when you are all blood-sucking monsters who kill so easily and without guilt?” I demand.

His eyes find mine. “Not all of us feel no guilt, nor do we take life. Can you say humans are without faults?”

“Kidnapping and murder is illegal for humans. Is it here?” I question as he wheels Lucy out of the cage door.

“No, because humans are not at the top of the food chain on this island,” he warns me and shuts the door, locking it as he meets my eyes once more. “The auction is tomorrow. Good luck, little one.”

“Wait!” I call out, rushing to my feet and running to the gate as he pulls the key out.

“Why does everyone scream if you can simply use compulsion to calm them? Make them think they are okay?” I ask. The question has been bothering me.

He meets my eyes. “The only ones powerful enough to use that amount of magic on so many are the royals, and they would not waste their time on calming food. After all, you hardly sing to a chicken before you chop its head off, do you?”

I fall to my knees when he leaves, sucking in the cold air around me, like it can make any difference to how I’m feeling.

I’m going to be sold tomorrow and likely to that mad as fuck prince. I highly doubt I will live long under his care; he doesn’t seem to think of us humans as more than a snack. The image of that beautiful and undead prince with blood trickling down his chin will haunt me for a long time, and I doubt that’s the last person I will see him kill.

The screaming starts again in the distance, and I clap my hands over my heads, begging for it to stop, begging to get the hell off this island before it becomes impossible to leave any other way than Lucy did.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“A nother visitor for her? Well, just in time, as the bidding will start soon,” Eachann’s voice drifts to me, and I straighten up, realising I must have fallen asleep at some point. My body aches, and my ass is numb as I climb to my feet. I hear another man reply, but I can’t make out what he said, only that his voice is deep and his accent reminds me of the prince. “I see. Well, she is quite lovely.”

Both Eachann and the other man come into view at the same time, and I immediately hear my heart pick up speed. The man is the mirror image of Prince Maddox in his face, but everything else is so different. His eyes are redder, like rubies held under a light, and his black hair is much shorter, locks falling into his eyes a little bit until he wipes them away. I’m pretty sure he is the same height, if not a little taller than Prince Maddox, and he is far bulkier. His thick arms and chest fill out the grey sweater he has on, and his dusty jeans are tucked into heavy black boots. A blue cloak is tied around his shoulders, falling down onto the ground around him. The mixture of old and new fashion is a strange mix that somehow works for him.

I hold my head high as he walks into the cage, while the other girls run to the back, some of them screaming so loud that it hurts my ears once more. The endless screams and damp room are becoming normal in the hours that trickle by. Thankfully, I feel numb from the shock of everything that has happened. Numb to my very core. The man’s glowing red eyes leisurely trail over me, before he finally meets my own gaze. I keep very still as I hold eye contact, refusing to give him what he wants. Fear. The other prince killed someone to see it in my eyes, and I don’t know what this man will do, but I won’t give him what he wants.

I refuse to do so.

“You don’t run from me. I have to admit it is a surprise from a human,” the man purrs. His voice is almost as seductive as his appearance, but the word human sounds like an insult. Like my kind is nothing.

“That is what you are used to and what you want me to do. You want me to fear you as the monster you pretend you are, but I will not give you my fear,” I protest, clamping my shaky hands on my elbows as I cross my arms. The man—or quite possibly creature—chuckles, walking until he is right in front of me and I have to breathe in his musky sweet scent. His long tail flies up around his side from his back, and the sharp tip slides under my chin, lifting my head a little. Wait, tail? My body shakes a little as I take in the tail, which is black and spiked at the end, matching his black nails and hair.

Vampires don’t have tails in the movies, that’s for sure.

“Your heart pounds in your chest, and your body lightly shakes. I am not sure if it is fear or desire making you react so…but I do look forward to finding out,” his silky-sounding voice replies.

“I would rather die than let you find out anything about me,” I spit out. These creatures may have stolen me in the night, taken me to this goddamn island to sell like cattle, but I won’t die giving them anything they want.

“Careful what you wish for, Riona Dark,” he murmurs, and at the same time, his tail quickly moves, cutting me just under my chin, and I flinch from the pain. I hold my hand to my chin to stop the bleed, glaring at him as he walks to the door, stopping just before it. The man licks the end of his tail, his red eyes flashing brighter as he tastes my blood and looks at me once more. “Delicious. I can’t wait to buy you in the auctions. My name is Prince Reign Borealis of the Vampires, and you will be mine to buy.”

After yesterday…he might have to get in line.

“How many royals are there?” I question, making him pause at the door. Is he really going to walk away without trying to kill me? Or killing someone here?

“Just my brother and me,” he drawls, turning around and leaning against the door frame. “I believe he has met you, Riona.”

“Your brother wants the world to believe he is mad, when he is lost, and you…” I pause, seeing how his body tenses. “You want to be seen as perfect and strong, but you do not have a violent heart like your brother. You’re like a ticking time bomb, and he is your fuse.”

“How can a human see so much in such a short amount of time?”

“It’s simple really,” I reply. “You are both easy to read. Who fucked you both up?”

“Magic and blood,” he smoothly answers. “Both are alluring and disastrous. Much like I suspect you are, Riona.”

“Why is your name Reign? Why are there two princes and not one king? Is there a king?” I question as he stares at me.

He doesn’t immediately answer, instead he steps out of the gate into the corridor of cages full of screaming and desperate people. “I was chosen to reign, and my brother was chosen to destroy.”

He walks away…but I know it isn’t the last I’ve seen of Reign, and I hope he wins, because I think there is a chance I could escape his grasp.

His brother? That’s a whole other topic. I don’t think anyone could escape the Mad Prince.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I  know the second the auction begins because of the cheers and shouts that outweigh the screams that have haunted me for hours, merging into a noise that I can’t block out. Eachann opens the cage door and waves me forward and none of the other girls who cower in the corners of the cage. I should feel a little bit relieved to be leaving the cage, but what is ahead of me seems much worse.

I’m about to be sold to a vampire. Of all things I had planned for my future, being a vampire’s snack was not one of them. Trying to find humour in the darkness doesn’t work, not when every step I take feels like I’m walking into a nightmare.

I follow behind Eachann, who never looks back or seems to worry at all about me running away, which would make sense with how fast and strong these vampires seem to be. I make the harrowing mistake of looking into some of the cages we pass, seeing the desperate eyes of so many. Hearing their screams is one thing, seeing their faces is another. And I want to save them, to break them free…but saving myself is impossible enough right now.

We turn around a few corridors, the sound of crowds cheering getting louder until we come to a large red wooden door with silver spikes around the edges. Eachann pushes the door open and holds it for me, waving for me to walk out into the night. The sun set hours ago, leaving only the night sky full of stars and the moon as I step out onto a wooden platform. The stage is a square shape with hundreds, if not a thousand, vampires crowded tightly in the space around it on a plain field. We are in a rocky, circular area with large gates letting more vampires in and out. So many of them, so many faces to look at. They cheer and call out names I mostly don’t recognise, but I’m sure I hear the princes’ names every so often. Red drops of snow fall across the sky, mixing with bits of white until they fall into the crowd. It smells like blood out here, that metallic tang I never thought I’d be getting used to smelling. My feet feel weighted down with each step across the wooden platform until a hand rests on my shoulder, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I didn’t even hear anyone step close to me.

“The humans are delicious this time, don’t you think, everyone?” Merethe shouts, and the vampires, as bloodthirsty and insane as they are, cheer back with delight. I feel so many of their eyes on me, like their gaze is ripping me apart. I pull my shoulder from her hand, and she smiles at me, her eyes crinkling in annoyance. “Do sit down, and don’t be an ungrateful bitch. I helped you stand out so you won’t become some whore. You will be sold last, and I want them to stare at you for a long time, so do smile.”

“Why does it matter? Won’t they just bite and kill me? Why would I thank you for that?” I counter.

“Watching you will make them desperate,” she replies, mostly ignoring my questions, and pushes my shoulder down until I fall to my knees. She turns away from me. “This one is not only beautiful, but a virgin! Virgin blood is so tasty after all.”

My cheeks burn red as Merethe walks away, and Eachann brings another girl out from the door. This girl must be about the same age as me with dark brown hair cut into a bob, a white tatty dress and worn-out black shoes. Her eyes meet mine, and I gulp from the sheer terror in them. Then I witness how a human is sold on this island.

Merethe grabs the girl, and with a knife in her other hand, she makes a small cut across the girl’s wrist. The crowd goes silent as the girl’s blood drips onto the wooden platform.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

“One hundred dollars!” a man shouts out. Another shouts to outbid him, and it goes on for a while until they get to five hundred dollars and Merethe announces the winner. Five hundred for a human life. The vampires here really do think we are nothing more than food. Assholes.

The vampire man, a fat man with a big belly and a giant, bald, round head jumps onto the stage and grabs the girl. She screams and fights him as he hands Merethe the money from his pocket. “Don’t kill this one right away, won’t you? Or you’ll always be back here paying me. Make sure you mark her when you’re home.”

“Of course,” the man replies with a grin that makes me feel sick. He nods once before he moves in that vampire way, and they both disappear. The next person is a guy, and the next another girl. The auction goes on and on, and each of them screams as they are bought. The endless horror never stops, and I try to switch off, to pretend I am anywhere other than right here.

Anywhere.

“Ria?” a familiar voice whispers, and I shoot my head up, staring as the next guy is dragged onto the stage. Arlo.

“No!” I harshly whisper, seeing the many bites covering his bare chest and the dried blood marking his skin. His cool green eyes find mine as he fights Eachann’s hold on him. I rush to my feet and try to run to him, but two vampires appear at my sides and grab my arms. Merethe pauses, looking between us.

“It seems our virgin blood has a friend she wants to save, how sweet,” she calls out, but I ignore her and the cheering crowd, looking at Arlo.

“I will get you out of here, Ria! I promise you that!” he shouts at me, struggling to escape with every moment. My heart pounds in my chest as I cry out and struggle to get to him.

“Please let him go! Please!” I scream at Merethe. “Please!”

She coldly looks down at me as I’m forced to my knees once more, held in place this time. “Love has no place in The Onyx.”

“NO!” I yell as she grabs Arlo’s hair, arching his head up, and rather than cutting his wrist, she bites into his neck. Arlo grunts, but he doesn’t show how much pain he is in other than how his hands tighten into fists. I struggle and scream until my arms feel numb from how tight the vampires hold me, but I don’t give in. I won’t.

“Delicious, and a stunning example of a human,” Merethe claims, licking her lips free of Arlo’s blood. Arlo slumps down in Eachann’s grip, and I can only stare at his back, tears falling down my cheeks. “Bids start at a thousand dollars for this one.”

To my horror, the bids never seem to stop, more and more of them shouting out. I ignore them all, focusing on Arlo. “Arlo! Wake up!”

He doesn’t move, and I start to sob a little, realising that I can’t help him and we are both most likely going to die here.

Austin and my parents will never know what happened to us, that is if Austin isn’t here.

The crowd goes silent, and I know a bid has been accepted, even before a man jumps onto the stage. The man has brown hair cut short, a big beard that is braided at the sides, and he has a flannel shirt on over jeans. He seems so normal… though he just bought a friend of mine.

“Another one for your daughter?” Merethe asks, and he inclines his head. “Another toy for her to break? Do tell her that addiction to human men is going to get her in trouble.” I scream at them, gritting my teeth as the man nods and briefly looks my way.

“Perhaps I will stay and try my luck for my own treat?”

Knowing he means me, I sneer at him, and he only laughs.

“Mark him and do stay. She is coming up next as she so clearly can’t behave.”

“Fuck the lot of you!” I shout, and I start screaming again as the man picks up Arlo by his arm and drags him across the stage, leaving a line of blood. “Arlo! Arlo!”

The vampire holding me makes a mistake and lets my arm go, thinking the other man can easily hold me. I reach into my dress and pull out the knife, and before I can overthink it, I slam the knife into the vampire who is holding my stomach, and pull it back out with a lot of effort. He roars and lets go, and I run to Arlo as fast as I can. Merethe catches me just as I get near, and I kick out, hitting her knee, and I spin around, my knife burying itself in her shoulder before I pull it out. Hot blood splatters across my cheek as the vampire who caught me grabs my arm holding the knife, and he snaps my arm like a twig.

I gasp before I scream, the pain immediate and so strong that I can do nothing but collapse to my knees next to Arlo, holding my no doubt broken arm. Everything goes foggy from the pain as I collapse on my side, seeing Arlo lying right opposite me.

His eyes open and widen, just before his “owner” drags him away from me.

“How did she get that knife?” the vampire demands as I watch Arlo being taken away, having no strength to get back up. To chase after them. I just watch him go.

“She is a little thief, that’s how,” Merethe snaps and picks me up by my hair, dragging me to the front of the stage. She shoves me down, jostling my arm, and I cry out. Before I can recover from that, she turns my head to the side, and with the knife I stabbed her with, she makes a long cut down my neck as I scream. My blood feels hot as it drips down my neck and down my chest, the sharp pain making everything blurry.

“As you can see, she is a wild one, and her blood is that of gods themselves, I am sure,” she shouts out, and the crowd cheers. “Who wants a bite?”

“One hundred thousand dollars!” a man shouts out.

“Four hundred thousand!” another one replies. As I feel close to passing out, they keep bidding, and I stare across the crowd, wondering if anyone decent is going to stop this. If there is even a god in this world anymore and if anything is fair.

“Ten million,” a man’s voice shouts out, and the crowd goes silent. I recognise the voice even before I look down to see Reign standing beneath me, right at the front of the crowd. They all stare, whispering to themselves.

“My, my,” Merethe replies, her voice full of joy. I would be if I just made that kind of money. Not by selling humans though. “You’ve never played in our auctions before, and now you come with such a high bid!”

“I will double my brother’s offer,” the man I didn’t want to hear talk states as he steps out of the crowd. Maddox, the Mad Prince, stops a good distance away from his brother. Looking like a dark angel in the crowd, he wears all black like he is attending a funeral. But the smile on his lips says something else entirely. He meets my eyes, and he smiles wider, like seeing me in pain and covered in blood is pleasing to him. The crowd drops into further silence, almost a fearful silence. The distance between the brothers is clear in many ways, more than just where they stand.

“I will triple his bid,” Reign counters, his eyes flickering with annoyance at his brother.

Maddox smirks at his brother.

“Money is no object,” Maddox replies with a wave of his hand. “Have what you wish, Merethe, but Riona Dark is leaving with me.”

“Like fuck she is,” Reign coolly replies, and they turn to each other. It’s very clear these brothers do not like each other, and everything feels tense and awkward.

And ever so perilous.

“Perhaps it should be the girl’s decision?” Merethe suggests, winding them both up so she can get more money. “Seeing as money is no issue.”

“The girl doesn’t know us, and it would be impossible for her to judge which monster she wishes to live with the least,” Maddox replies with a devilish grin. “Although, Riona, I’m the fun one.”

I gulp.

We most certainly have different ideas of fun.

“I have a counter offer,” Merethe hums, pulling on my hair a little tighter when my head starts to drop and I didn’t notice it. My blood is soaking my dress now, and I’m smart enough to know dying from blood loss could be an issue soon. “She should spend alternating weeks with one of you at a time, and in six months, she can make a choice. It would be a fun competition and make this fair.”

“I do like a competition,” Maddox smoothly replies, sounding like he has won before he has started.

Reign looks me dead in the eye. “I agree to these terms, and my brother can go first. Once she sees the horrors of his home, I have no doubt my house will be a relief.”

With that, Reign disappears using his vampire speed.

“Brilliant!” Merethe says while Maddox looks pleased as he looks up at me. “She will be marked by both, and one can be removed if needed.”

“Understood,” Maddox replies and jumps onto the stage. Just before I pass out, I see and feel Maddox catch me.

In the arms of a monster, I am owned, but I will escape.

CHAPTER NINE

Slowly I come around; harsh light beams flickering across my eyes every so often does just that. I dreamt I was taken by vampires and sold at an auction…wait. As I open my eyes, I know it wasn’t a dream at all. I shut them straight away, wishing I could go back to sleep and pretend everything didn’t happen. My arm throbs, not nearly as bad as before, and my neck is sore as I look up at a glass ceiling above me, the sun high in the cloudless sky with the red mountain in the distance, covered in red snow. I think that is where we are heading by the looks of it. We are in something that is moving as I slightly rock every now and then, but not in the way a boat would. Gradually I become aware of the sounds of horseshoes against stone and wheels creaking every so often in a strange rhythm. Wherever I am smells of blood and something almost sweet, and for a moment, I want to pretend I don’t have to acknowledge where I am.

Then he talks.

“I was concerned for your well-being,” Maddox states in his deep and seductive voice, almost like the very thought of being concerned about someone is insane to him. “It would be a shame if you died and the chance to beat my brother at something was lost.”

Ah, he cares about the competition, not my life.

There’s my sadistic vampire owner.

I sit up, grumbling at the movement of my sore arm, to see we are in a carriage of some kind with black leather walls and an outline of a door on the left side. Above me is a glass roof that floods the small space with bright light, and opposite me is Maddox, sitting with his legs stretched apart, his arms up, and the back of his head resting in his hands. His eyes swirl with power, the mix of red and black reminding me constantly that I’m trapped with a monster and not a man.

A “man” could never be used to describe what he is, the word is too weak. Everything about Maddox, the Mad Prince, is power.

I rub my arm, noticing that it’s hardly swollen anymore, and it was just broken. When I touch my neck, the cut is nothing more than a scab. “How am I…okay?”

Maddox yawns. “Vampire blood heals humans, and I fed you some. If you drink enough of it and have your heart turned cold, you will become a d’vampire. I like that idea.”

He healed me? I drank blood. Sickness fills my throat at both of those ideas. “Don’t do that again.”

Maddox turns his head to the side, and quicker than humanly possible, he is leaning over me on my seat, his face buried in my hair. I freeze. “I will do as I please. You belong to me now. Your blood, your body, your soul and, most importantly, your death. I command you.”

Turning my head to meet his gaze as he leans back, I watch him carefully. “I belong to no one, and you may forcibly take my blood and body, but you will never, ever have my consent, my willingness to be yours.”

“Is that a bet, Riona?” he softly asks, his eyes sparkling with a challenge. Not many people call me by my full name, mostly because they call me Ria. But when Maddox says my name, it’s like he owns it. “I think it is.”

“It’s a promise, Prince Maddox.”

He laughs and leans back, and I finally feel like I can breathe now he isn’t so close. I still don’t relax, because like it or not, I’m on an island of vampires who clearly have no respect for human life. Or morals, while I’m thinking about it.

“Where are we heading?” I question after a brief pause of silence.

“To my castle at the top of the mountains. The royal castle of The Onyx,” he answers me, still sounding bored, and it gets on my nerves. “It is mine, and my brother did live there until he decided to move out.”

He yawns again.

“Am I boring you?”

“Mildly.” He waves a hand at me. “I’m waiting until you get to the bit where you beg for your lover boy to be found and brought to you. Or will you beg for someone else? Women can be so fickle with their love.”

“His name is Arlo, and I know better than to ask you for anything, Mad Prince,” I counter, crossing my arms to stop him seeing how much he is affecting me, even as I shake with anger. All I want to do is attack him, hit him hard and see if he bleeds. If the devil can bleed at all. “I will ask Reign to help me.”

“My brother is a fool for blondes,” Maddox responds. “I’m sure he will help you, or he will kill the competition. It’s hard to tell. I may be mad, but he is nothing if not fickle.”

Turning my head away from him, I bite on my lip to stop myself saying anything that will get me killed. The carriage turns silent, and I’m thankful for it, a moment to collect my thoughts and plan my next action. Realistically, I know that Maddox’s castle, being at the top of a mountain of blood-red snow, isn’t the best place to try to escape. He must have other humans working for him, or at least there for food, so I could try to find out as much as I can about how to actually hurt a vampire. From there, I think the best plan is to reason with Reign, he seems the more logical one of the two princes.

I have a feeling Maddox is just going to use me as a pawn in whatever game he is playing with his brother, and I want nothing to do with him. He is the devil. I’m sure of it. The carriage eventually comes to a stop, and Maddox opens the door, jumping out. I stand up, feeling a little wobbly (likely from blood loss), and walk to the edge of the carriage. Before I can climb out, Maddox is in front of me and grabs my waist, picking me up and lowering me onto the red snow-covered stone path. His hands stay on my waist for a second, both of us extremely close, and I stay very still, unsure what he is thinking. His hands feel like they burn into my skin, and he is so warm to touch, much more than a human is.

We stare at each other for a long time, and I wonder if he knows I’m planning to find a way to kill him for good and escape.

I wonder what he sees with those demon eyes of his.

He lets me go, looking at me like I just burned him as his eyes scorch with what I think is annoyance. He spins around, his black cloak brushing against the snow.

“Make sure she rests today and joins the staff tomorrow. Nothing extreme!” Maddox barks out, walking away down the path to the giant building in front of me. Holy shit, this is a castle and a half. Looking like something straight out of a Disney movie, nine strong and solid square towers pierce the clouds in the sky. They are connected by reinforced, heavy walls made of gold stone and brown-framed windows. Around the castle is a wall pressed into the mountain, and between that and the castle are thick gardens and a maze on the one side. A massive gate is right in the centre of the castle, and it is circle-shaped with birds flying around the edges, hundreds of them until I can just make out wings. In the middle is a sword with wings behind it, and I know I’ve seen this before. It’s one of the marks on Merethe’s cheeks.

It must be a royal crest of some sort.

“Are you ready to go inside, madam?”

I turn and meet the gaze of the guy who spoke…a human just like me. I don’t know why I was expecting a vampire, but I was.

“When is anyone ready to walk into the home of the devil himself?”

The guy doesn’t answer me, instead choosing to stumble ahead, and I have no choice but to follow.

For now.

CHAPTER TEN

T  he human I’m left with stops the second we get through the door into what is the biggest entrance hall I’ve ever seen. Talk about over the top. Literal gold pillars line the walls, and in the middle of them are paintings of, well, vamps of course. Vampires biting people or fucking people. There are a whole lot of painted cocks in this room. I turn my gaze away and look up at the plain white ceiling with a massive glass chandelier in the centre. Rather than white crystals, this one has dozens of red crystals that are shaped like drops of blood, reflected in the shiny hardwood floors. There isn’t a bit of dust to be seen, so someone cleans this place up well.

Footsteps draw my attention as a man rushes down one of the two gold staircases, brushing a hand through his dusty red hair. He is a giant, well, at least in terms of his size. The human, which I’m assuming he is, has wavy but almost spiked-up red hair, and his hazel eyes almost seem to be the same colour as his hair from this distance, but as his huge steps eat up the space between us, I realise they are definitely more hazel. Like pools of honey. A light stubble of ginger hair graces his firm jawline.

He is model material. Maybe Irish or Scottish model material as he has that certain look about him. His long and thick thighs are held in old, worn jeans, and he wears a simple dark blue shirt over his wide chest. With Skechers trainers and an old watch on his wrist, he looks like a normal human.

In a place of monsters, lest I forget.

The guy stops in front of us, his eyes swiftly moving over me before turning to my companion. “What did he say about this one, Paul?”

“Only that she rests today and light housekeeping tomorrow,” Paul, apparently, replies. “I-I must tend the horses before they get cold.”

“Go,” the guy tells him, almost softly. Paul all but runs his skinny arse out of the room, the door shutting behind him.

“I’m Cross McGowan, twenty-four years old, and I can tell you’re scared—”

I cut him off. “I’m not scared any more than you are. I’m not going to pass out or be a silly girl about this place, that’s not who I am. Now, Cross, I want to know everything about vampires.”

Cross raises his eyebrows. “It might be good if I know your name, lass.”

“Riona Dark, and I’m twenty-two,” I say and offer him my hand. “I was studying at Aberdeen University, and I might not have a Scottish accent, thanks to my very British parents, but I think we come from similar places.”

“My family are nearer Inverness,” he replies, taking my hand. His feels warm, comforting almost after such a long few days. “And I did not mean to offend you. But usually, everyone is scared.”

“Fearing them is feeding them,” I answer, moving my hand from his. “And I don’t intend to help them feed.”

Cross watches me closely for a long second, and I can’t guess at what he sees. “Follow me then, Riona Dark. Come and see the house of horrors.”

I cross my arms as he walks off, purposely keeping his pace slow for me as we get to the stairs and walk to the top. The space up here tiers off in four directions, dozens of rooms in each one, and at the end of two of them, I can see further stairs. “Right, to our left is the way to the kitchens and washing. You need something cleaned or cooked, you go down there.”

“What is the point of a kitchen for a vampire?”

“They eat the same as we do and drink wine, with no hangover. I wish I could do that fecking shit with whiskey,” he comments, making me smile, and points at the next corridor. “This one is for guests, and I wouldn’t recommend heading down it. The middle corridor is full of useless rooms; we don’t use them much, and the final one is our living quarters. The humans the prince owns, that is. There aren’t many of us.”

“How many?” I question.

“Ten in total, ever changing. Five of us are constant and rarely leave, so you should know them. You’ve met two of us, and the girls, I will introduce you to when I can,” he cryptically replies. “There is one vampire he lets live here as well. I’m sure you will meet him.”

“Where does the prince sleep then?” I ask, wanting to be as far away from that room as possible.

“Downstairs, there is a ballroom, many living quarters, and he uses them all. Don’t venture in there unless you are invited, lass,” he carefully warns me. “Out of sight, out of mind works well with the Mad Prince.”

“I have a feeling that won’t work for me and him,” I tightly reply. But I am sure as hell going to try hiding. This castle is huge, and I bet he wouldn’t find me right away.

Cross doesn’t reply to me, instead nodding his head to the side and walking away. I follow after him down the corridor to the far right, and when we get near the end, Cross pulls out a load of keys from a keychain and takes one off. He slides it in the door, and it clicks as it unlocks.

“The bed isn’t made up, and the shared bathroom is next door to this room, but I can do that—”

“I can make a bed,” I reply, and he hands me the key. “Thank you for the brief tour.”

Cross steps back, and he lifts his arm, rubbing the back of his neck. His hazel eyes stay on me. “Do you have a family to get back to, Riona?”

“Parents and a brother…if he isn’t on this island, that is,” I reply, a tightness building in my throat. I very well know a vampire might have my brother now and may have killed him for supper. Arlo could be dead too…and the thought of either of them gone is devastating. Cross must see the pain in my eyes as he steps closer and places his large hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t know if I believe in any god anymore, not since I was taken and brought here, but there is magic. That’s real, and if it is, then possibly there is good magic to counter the bad here. There is hope…,” he drifts off and clears his throat. “Hope is a good thing to hold onto. It’s what we all do to survive this.”

“I don’t want to simply survive this,” I say, stepping away, and his hand drops. “I want to beat them. I will ask you everything I want to know tomorrow about vampires as I did notice you avoided my question.”

“You can’t kill them easily,” he warns. “Unless you happen to have enough strength to cut their heads off or have a certain weapon that is very rare. Trust me, even if you did manage to kill one, dozens would kill you in unimaginable ways right back. Vampires are loyal to each other, and they worship the royal line.”

“I won’t give up,” I counter, holding my head high.

Cross chuckles and steps away, looking over his shoulder. “No, I don’t think you will.”

I watch him walk away before going into my new room and shutting the door, locking it for good measure even though I’m aware a vampire could break the door in seconds to get in here. Sunlight beams through the window in the small room, which has a double bed, a dark wood cabinet with a glass lamp on top of it, and a wooden wardrobe with silver handles. The window has no curtains, and nothing about this room is personal, which I almost like. I can pretend no one lived in it before and died, because I know someone must have. I slide my boots off, noticing how my arm is fully healed. Even my feet have no more cuts on them. Vampire blood heals quickly, and I’m slightly thankful for it, even while being disgusted that the Mad Prince’s blood is in my system. I lie down on the bed, and even though I don’t feel safe, and never will on this island, my exhausted body gives into sleep quickly.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“She’s pretty enough, but I still don’t get the uproar over her.” Waking, I blink at the female voice and sit up, staring at two women standing at the foot of my bed. They stare down at me, and one of them tilts her head to the side, her long black hair falling like a wave around her darkly tanned skin.

“There must be something in her blood, something that makes her tasty,” the woman replies with a wistful sigh. “At least he will be distracted with her for a little while.”

The other woman, who is younger and I would figure near enough my age, blinks once. She has freckles all over her pale skin, and blonde hair so light it looks like snow. Both of these women are absolutely beautiful, and there is no doubt they are human. Their dresses? Well, they are old and strange, much like the one I am wearing. Cross and that other prince seem to be the only ones in the twenty-first century. “Maybe he will kill her and we don’t have to explain everything once again. It gets boring after a while.”

“Who the hell are you two?” I demand, having enough of their debate over me.

The blonde laughs, and it’s a sweet sound. Sweet but filled with a vindictive bitterness I don’t like. “I’m Marcella,” she introduces herself and lifts her hand, looking at her nails. “Cross sent us in here to wake you up and hand you some clothes. He will meet you in the kitchen, don’t be late.”

With that, they turn around and walk to the door, not looking back once.

“How am I meant to be on time when there is no clock?” I shout, but the only reply I get is the door slamming shut. I climb out of bed and pause, lifting my arm and feeling how it doesn’t even ache anymore. After touching my neck and finding nothing but smooth skin, I try not to freak out. I mean, I’ve read about vampires in books, but they aren’t nearly as dark and deadly as they are in real life. And I can’t just shut the book on my life.

A mixture of my parents’, my brother’s, Arlo’s and Sophie’s faces come into my mind, and I wonder what they are each thinking right at this moment. Are my parents and Sophie looking for me and possibly my brother? They must be thinking the worst, I know I would be right about now.

Then there is Arlo, who has no one but his adoptive mother to look out for him, and she worked abroad so much Arlo was always alone. I doubt she would notice him missing for a long time, I didn’t ever think they were close. But my parents would notice. They have always loved Arlo like their second son, which makes their pain so much worse. A small part of me is in Denial Town, pretending there is zero chance Austin is on this island, and the rest of me, the part that isn’t stupid, knows he has to be here somewhere. One thing my parents taught us was to survive even when everything feels lost. I never thought much of their advice until now. Until everything is more lost than I ever thought imaginable.

Back to my plan. The only thing keeping me going. I climb out of bed and walk to the window, looking at the sun high in the sky and realising I must have slept all the way through the day and night and into the next day. No wonder I feel a million times better. Or at least my body does. My mind is another subject altogether.

There aren’t going to be enough therapists on earth to deal with me when I get back. When. Not if. I blow out a breath and walk to the door, pick up my boots and the pile of clothes at the end of my bed, and step out into the corridor. It’s empty, and the castle is silent, at least from what I can hear. Knowing the devil could be around any corner, I quickly open the door Cross said was the bathroom and head inside, thankful for the glass lamp lit on the counter and a tiny circle window for light in the dim room.

There is a modern enough bathtub, grey counters with mirrors above it and one toilet. The counters have three sinks, and piles of stuff line the wall, everything from deodorant sprays to perfumes to piles of hairbands. Hoping the girls don’t care, I pull my hair up into a messy bun, and then I just stare. There is still dried blood on my neck, the dark colour a vivid splash against my pale skin. Blood drops speckle against my cheek and nose, and my dress is crusty, the blood dried to make it rough and horrible now.

But that’s not what I stare at. It’s my eyes and the sheer difference in them from the last time I looked in a mirror the night of my birthday. That night, that pink dress, seems a lifetime ago. With shaky hands, I wash in the sink before drying off with a towel I find on the counter. I hang the towel over the bath when I’m done and quickly get changed into my new dress, a duplicate of the first sari I had, but this one is red in colour, a deep thick red that reminds me of blood, and it fits the same way the other did but tighter around my chest and heavier below the waist. I tug my boots on, wishing I had socks, and straighten up.

I can do this.

The monster in this castle isn’t going to break me. I’m going to break him.

Walking out the bathroom, I remember my steps to the main part of the upstairs and down the corridor Cross said the kitchen was in. As I get closer, I start to smell food and hear pots and pans clashing around, and male voices. The last door seems to be the one with the most noise behind it, and I knock before stepping through into a big kitchen. Cross is half sitting on a stool right in front of a massive, modern steel kitchen with at least three cookers that I spot right away. A large man, clearly a vampire, moves around the room in a chef’s white coat with many, many stains littered upon it. He pauses in whatever he was doing, turning to me and meeting me with his big blue, almost kind-looking eyes. He has a bushy white moustache that curls at the edges and gives me a French vibe right away, even before he speaks with a thick French accent that makes him hard to understand.

“Ah, oui, she is beautiful indeed,” the man comments.

“That’s the second time I’ve heard that on this island, and I have to say, it’s rather sexist for my beauty to be the only thing you find to comment on,” I reply, placing my hands on my hips. “I have a brain if you aren’t aware.”

The vampire barks out a laugh, a laugh that goes on and on, and my cheeks burn red a little. Cross chuckles and pats the empty stool next to him.

“I do apologize. I am more impressed by your quick tongue than your beauty,” the man tells me as I slide into the seat. “I am Hector Passereau, at your service, madame.”

“I’m Riona Dark,” I reply with a small smile. “And you aren’t as scary as most of the vamps I’ve met so far.”

“Not everything is black and white, Miss Dark,” Hector states with his warm eyes watching me closely. “Now, what is your favourite food for breakfast? Or perhaps brunch, as it is quite late in the morning.”

“I like to sleep in every now and then,” I say, feeling the need to clarify. “And I will eat anything. I’m not fussy.”

“Anything it is, madame,” Hector proclaims, and he does a dramatic wave before heading to the fridges at the back of the room. Feeling Cross’s eyes on me, I turn to him just in time to see him look away. He picks up a cup of something warm, and I smell the coffee. Before I can say anything, I feel a change in the room. Cross goes tense, his eyes moving behind me, and I look back, finding the prince right behind me.

“You need to be marked.”

“Well, good morning to you too,” I say, clearing my throat and stepping off the stool, all the while keeping my eyes on the Mad Prince. “And honestly? Fuck off.”

He stills. I just told a bloodsucking monster to fuck off.

I’m so dead.

To my surprise, Maddox’s lips turn up into an intense smile, and it’s scary. No, not just scary, downright petrifying. He takes two steps, and before I can move away, his hands move to my upper arms, holding me in place. He feels as strong as a rock as I try to move away.

“Get the mark ready, Cross,” Maddox instructs. He devotes his time to confining me, staring me down, and I don’t dare look at whatever the hell Cross is doing. “I spent a lot of time thinking about where to mark you.”

He moves quickly, titling my head to the side and leaving my neck exposed in his grip. He leans down, my heart pounding in my chest as I swallow the scream I want to let out, and he presses a soft kiss on my neck. His kiss feels like a promise, like a claim. “And I decided this would be the perfect place. Then every time I bite into your soft skin, I will see my mark.”

He lowers his voice, and my heart beats like it is trying to do its own dance. “And so will my brother or anyone who dares to touch you.”

“Mark me all you want, but you can’t own my soul. No one ever will, and I mean that,” I reply, even as my hands shake.

“I will have your body and blood willingly soon. I will wait,” he counters, breathing the words against my neck, his hot breath making me shiver. Cocky monster.

“My body isn’t my soul. Take what you want, but you won’t break me,” I all but growl back. His hand tightens in my hair, and his grin never leaves his lips as he straightens up.

“This is going to hurt.”

That’s all the warning the monster gives me before something burning hot slams into my neck from behind me. I can’t hold back the cry that leaves my lips, and even though whatever it was that burnt me is gone quickly, the pain never leaves. My legs feel wobbly as Maddox lets me go and dark spots fill my vision. I stumble back, seeing Cross walking away with a hot poker with a burning hot circular end. Maddox lifts his hand and bites into his wrist before stretching his blood-soaked wrist out to me.

“Drink to heal.”

“I want the pain,” I state, straightening my back, feeling drops of my blood dripping down my neck. “I don’t want your blood.”

For the first time, the prince’s smile drops, and fury fills his expression. He walks past me, stopping purposely when he gets to my side. “You will regret this, Ria.”

I hold my head high as he walks out, and I suck in a deep breath, feeling nothing but the pain from my neck as Cross comes over. He hands me a tea towel with ice in it, and I reluctantly take it from him.

“Is this your way of saying sorry?” I ask, flinching as I place the towel onto the burn. I grit my teeth, refusing to let out a sound.

Cross meets my eyes. “He is the wolf, and I am the slave. Don’t forget who leads the misery, Riona. It will never be me.”

Oddly, I believe he isn’t just the slave he pretends to be.

“Pancakes and waffles. Perfect healing food,” Hector calls out, like nothing happened at all, his attitude still jolly. This castle is full of lies, brooding hot monsters, and trapped souls. And I’m not sure which is worse.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“A h, you’re awake,” Marcella, or I think that’s what her name is, comments as she freely walks into my room. Hello, boundaries? I turn away from the mirror and my stare down with the mark on my neck, wishing it would vanish and take me with it. The mark is a dagger with wings behind it, and birds making the circle around. I try to remember Sophie’s advice, the one where she told me to see everything in a different light because it might not be that bad. I don’t know how being marked by a lunatic vampire can be seen in a different light.

I doubt even Soph could make a good thing out of this entire mess.

But she would be proud of me for not being scared. I’m sure many people who were stolen must freak out, they must have mental breakdowns over all of this. But I refuse to. Glancing at Marcella, she stares at me and taps her foot on the ground. I guess there is no privacy in this castle, not now that I’m owned by him. Marcella is in a pink sari today that suits her complexion, and her arms are crossed tightly against her big chest. “The prince wishes to see you. Alone. Go down the stairs and through the doors under them.”

“Thanks,” I dryly reply, standing up and taking a deep breath.

Another day, another nightmare, I’m sure.

Marcella walks out the door, leaving it open, and I follow not long after, heading down the corridor. So far I’ve learnt nothing about this place, choosing to stay in my room with only Hector’s pancakes for company all yesterday and last night. I was surprised no one came and forced me out, or the prince didn’t come and literally eat me when it hit midnight.

No Prince Charming came to save me, that’s for sure. It’s time I stop believing in fairy tales and learn how to save myself. The spiralling castle is rather beautiful, and although it’s full of monsters, I still want to learn everything about it. I want to learn about the supernatural race of vampires. That nerdy side of me that loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Disney movies is geeking out about this place.

Heading down the giant staircase, I spend my time looking at the paintings one by one. For a while, they are all of men I don’t know, each of them with a crown on their heads and wearing old-style clothing. The final painting at the end of the corridor is of a man who looks like Reign and Maddox. The man has long hair that falls to his chest in wisps, and he has a silver crown on his head with three glowing circle orbs held in the silver metal. He is handsome, clearly a vamp, and I wonder if this is Maddox and Reign’s father. The rest of the paintings show a history that I could never read in the books at my high school, full of ancient battles and wondrous creatures that fill the skies. I wonder how old this island is and where exactly the vampires came from, when all this history happened. The only answers are going to come from the man who apparently owns me. The prince. The monster inside the castle I’m now locked in.

My footsteps are loud, and they echo throughout the castle with every step. There is a faint smell of cooking and some kind of cleaner like bleach, and I shiver from the knowledge that they are most likely cleaning up human blood. Crossing my arms, I walk towards the double doors that I have not gone through before. The doors are solid wood, and they are heavy as I push them open. Eventually, I make a big enough gap for me to slide through and come into what must be a sitting room, the door slamming shut behind me and echoing through the room.

Floor-to-ceiling dark wood bookcases line the one wall, stuffed with various coloured books. There is a large fireplace in the middle of them with a huge mantel made of pure black stone. That royal crest which is on my neck is also in the middle of the mantel. My eyes eat up the room, taking in all of the intricate features and sconces on the wall. The floor is made of tiles, deep blue and black tiles that spread all around the room in rows of circles, and some of the circles are cracked, almost like the broken parts were done on purpose when the floor was made.

Four dark brown leather sofas and many matching chairs are in the centre of the room, and the other side is simply three narrow windows that look at nothing more than the side of the mountain. I walk through the room to a slightly open door where warm light from a fire glows through the gap. Despite looking welcome and warm, I still tense when I slip through the gap and come to a halt.

There, in a chair that could easily be a throne, is the Mad Prince. A woman is on his lap, her head bent at an odd angle, the prince’s teeth buried in her neck. I can’t see his face, his dark hair is like a blanket covering him, the tips of his hair brushing against the woman’s pale chest. Stuck in a trance, I freeze as I watch her chest heave as she breathes in and out. Slowly she starts to go still, and there is nothing I can do as Maddox kills her.

“Good morning!” Maddox proclaims, letting the black-haired woman fall from his lap onto the wooden floor, the thud of her body making me jump. Sickness fills my chest, and I clamp a hand over my mouth to stop the rising sick. Maddox stalks towards me the whole time, and I get the instinctive feeling to run. To run and never stop, even if I fall off this goddamn mountain.

“Why did you kill her?” I demand, dropping my hand from my mouth and holding it in a tight fist at my side. “You bastard! Why?!”

Maddox, the silent monster, simply wipes blood from the corner of his lips and tilts his head to the side. Almost looking confused.

“Was she a friend of yours?” he asks. I cautiously watch him, unsure of his next move.

“No, I did not know her, but that is hardly the point.”

“But, alas, it is,” he counters and steps closer. I hold his gaze, refusing to acknowledge how he smells or how close he is to me again. “She could have murdered dozens of children, and you would never have known. Why care for a stranger?”

“Did she kill anyone?” I ask, and before I’ve thought about it, I poke a finger into his chest. “How many children have you killed? How many are dead because of you?”

He roughly catches my hand, clamping it inside his much bigger hand. “Children are innocent, and I do not take the innocent lives. Every adult human is tainted just as much as the vampires are. Are you really so good, Riona Dark?”

I try pulling my hand away from him, but it seems impossible. His grip is so tight, but he doesn’t actually hurt me. He moves closer, breathing in a long breath. My voice is shaky at best as I reply. “Did you demand me here to test my morals?”

Whatever I said makes him let me go, and I stumble back. I keep walking back until my back hits the door, and I try to reach for the handle. I’m so done playing whatever game this lunatic wants to play. Maddox simply watches me, a cold appearance drifting over his features once again.

“My friends are all curious about you. Tonight, there will be a dinner and dance,” he claims, turning his back on me and walking back to his throne.

“I’m not going.”

As he steps over the woman’s dead body like she is nothing more than a stool, and sits at a lazy angle on the chair, his eyes find mine. I shiver with the malice I see there. “Your attendance isn’t optional. Now go, unless you wish to amuse me.”

“Fuck you,” I snap and swiftly leave the room, hearing his laugh follow me all the way back to my room.

And even there, in my room where I feel a slight bit safe, is another reminder of my monster in the form of a silk red dress.

The very colour of blood.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“I ’m sure he picked this dress to annoy me,” I mutter to myself, even as my hands ache as I try and fail to do up the lace on the back of my gown for a third time at a weird angle. I spin sideways in the mirror, trying to get a good look at the lace bindings and working out that there is no way in hell I am going to be able to do this myself. I find my own eyes in the mirror, the pale blue colour a big contrast against the red of the dress. My blonde hair is wavier than usual, and being in a dress reminds me of my prom night at high school when I last wore something this fancy. It seems so long ago, but the happy memories still flash across my mind. My brother, Arlo, Sophie and I shared a limo that my parents bought for us, and we snuck whiskey into it in the pockets of my dress. I don’t remember much after a few shots of whiskey, but I know it was a brilliant night.

The hangover the next morning was not so brilliant.

Deciding I need help or I’m going to be walking into this dinner with no clothes on, I hold the dress in place firmly at the front as I pop my head out of my door. In the distance, I see Cross heading down the corridor.

“Cross!” I shout for him. He pauses and looks back, frowning when he sees me before jogging over, his red hair flapping around in the wind.

“Everything alright, lass?” he asks.

“Can you please do up my dress for me? This isn’t me hitting on you or anything like that. I just need help.”

Cross twirls his finger around with a frown, and I turn. I somewhat expected him to be confused by all the lace and general difficulty of the dress, but he soon has the dress all done up, and I step back.

“It suits you. Red, I mean.”

“How did you know how to do dresses up like that?” I question, going over to the bed and sitting down, pulling on my boots, ignoring the high heels Maddox had someone leave with the dress. There are too many steps in this castle for heels, that’s for sure, and even though I really like the red heels, it feels like wearing them and the dress would be letting Maddox win.

Cross leans back against the wall as he speaks. “Maddox has had many women and many dresses for them to wear.”

Disgust fills my stomach. “How can you stand it?”

“I want to live,” he coolly replies. “And if you want to as well, be careful.”

I don’t reply to him, not wanting to promise him anything. I pull open the door to my bedroom and step out, hearing voices behind me. I turn to see Marcella and the same woman with long black hair, who I haven’t met yet, walking towards us, whispering. I turn to Cross as he steps out behind me. “Thanks for the help.”

“Anytime,” he replies with a small smile that helps calm my nerves a little. I want to ask him what tonight will be like, if dinners with the Prince’s friends are dangerous and if I should be scared. But the reality is: I already know the answer. If the prince’s friends are anything like him, then tonight is going to be a nightmare.

“Are there any ways to resist compulsion?” I ask Cross, carefully avoiding telling him that it doesn’t work on me.

Cross frowns. “If there is, the vampires have not been keen to share that information. Although…”

He pauses and looks around, seeing the women getting closer, so he lowers his voice. “The witches can fight the compulsion to an extent, but not without extreme pain. I’ve witnessed it before. Sirens can sing and lull the compulsion out, turning it around on the vampire who tried it.”

So maybe I have witch blood? How the hell do I find that out? And if I do, surely the vampires can taste the difference in my blood? I definitely don’t sing.

Seems like my question has just brought up more questions without actual answers.

“Seems like she is fucking the help as well as the princes. What a whore,” the woman I don’t know whispers loudly as she walks past me and then deliberately shoves her shoulder into mine. I stumble and spin around. “No wonder they paid so much. No wonder half of The Onyx wants her.”

“What the hell did you just call me?” I shout, having enough of…well, everything. I don’t need bitchy bullies to add to my list of problems. I wouldn’t put up with them in school, and I won’t put up with them now. Knowing I’m angrier at being stuck here than I am with this girl, it still doesn’t stop me from shaking from head to toe. It doesn’t stop me from wanting to slam her into the wall and take out my frustration.

“Riona, leave—” Cross tries to stop me, but I step around him.

“Daphne was just—” Marcella tries to explain, looking worried, and she steps back as Daphne walks right up to me, her brown eyes burning with hate.

“You heard. You’re just another one of his whores, but this is even worse because he has to share you with his brother!” She spits out a laugh. “Don’t you realise the whole island is laughing at you? Judging you? Hoping one of the princes kills you before you cause chaos?” She shoves her hand into my shoulder. “He will be back in my bed. Back inside me and not you soon enough. You won’t last.”

She pokes me hard in the chest, and I just snap. That’s it. I scream as I jump on her, punching her hard across her cheek and falling on top of her in the same move. Nothing but rage and anger control me, smothering any rational thoughts that might try to calm me. She hits and whacks me back as we both roll across the floor, her sharp nails scratching my arms, and I pull at her hair until clumps are in my hand. Cross picks me up like a doll, pulling me away even as I push and wiggle to get away from him, but his arms clamp down on me with incredible power.

Daphne climbs to her feet and opens her mouth to spew more hate when something sharp slides through her throat like butter. I scream, my legs feeling weak as Daphne’s eyes go wide, and she coughs on blood, so much blood, until it is pouring down her chin. Everything feels so unreal, so slow as she falls to the floor, and I see her killer right behind her.

Prince Maddox. He smiles at me, like nothing is wrong, and pulls the tip of his dagger from her neck. In a damn fitted tux, he looks more human than I’ve ever seen him, even as he wipes the blood on Daphne’s dress and slides it back into his jacket.

He is cold and dead inside. He is broken.

A pretty picture with a rotted frame, and painted with sinful blood.

The silence becomes damning while I watch Maddox as his eyes run down my body, and I feel every bit of his gaze.

“Are humans all as violent as you are? If so, where do you come from?” Maddox finally speaks, and Cross lets me go. “I think we should claim more humans from your home, as you are quite amusing.” Quickly I look back at Cross, but his eyes are on Maddox, a blank expression on his face; however, the slight tightening of his lips gives him away. He doesn’t like that Maddox killed Daphne. I don’t like it, and I pretty much hated the woman from the second we met.

Still…it doesn’t mean she needed to die.

I narrow my eyes at Maddox, whose lips tilt up in amusement. His stupidly perfect lips. “There is that violent side of you I like. It’s burning in your eyes like fire.”

“Give me something sharp that can kill you and find out for yourself how violent I can be. And no, they aren’t all like me.”

His laugh fills the corridor, even while Daphne’s body lies on the floor between us. I doubt Maddox even knows her name. She is no one to him, like so many he has killed.

“Come, my violent little human. Our guests are waiting.”

“Your guests,” I correct him, walking around Daphne and trying not to look at her. “And I’m not hungry after what you just did.”

I try not to react as Maddox places his hand on the middle of my back, the lace doing nothing to protect my bare skin from his hot touch. “Shame, as I’m ravenous.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

P rince Maddox’s hand stays firmly on the middle of my back as we walk through the castle, heading back past the living room with the bookcases I was in earlier and through another door to the side. This leads to a long corridor that must stretch the entire back of the castle. One wall is pure stone from the mountain with gold old-fashioned fire sconces placed evenly down the wall. On the other side is a wall of mirrors with dark wood doors in the middle of them every so often. I try not to look at myself in the reflection, but my eyes are drawn to the mirror, and what I see is very strange. Maddox and I seem normal, like two people off to prom or something similar. He doesn’t look like a monster, he just seems like a guy. A handsome guy that would attract every girl’s attention, but a guy nonetheless. Maddox, feeling my eyes on him, turns and I quickly look away.

“We do look very fitting together.”

His comment only makes me shiver. Mostly because he is right. But what does that make me? Little Red Riding Hood standing next to the very wolf who would eat her?

And enjoy it.

“Who is here tonight?” I question, needing to fill the silence. Needing sound before my nerves get the very best of me and I run.

He doesn’t reply for a second, and I almost think he is going to annoy me. “My friends. Four of them, to be exact. I will let them introduce themselves. Tell me about you.”

“No,” I curtly reply.

He looks down at me, never pausing in our walk. I meet his gaze. God, why are vampires so alluring? Why is it fair a monster gets to be as attractive as he is? “Tell me something. It was not a request.”

I smirk. “Fine. I fucking hate vampires. Are you happy now?”

His deep laugh surprises me all the way down to the doors at the end of the corridor, and my cheeks burn brightly the whole time. “I have not laughed this much since I sacrificed all those male humans for my birthday for the bonfire. They did scream for mercy. Like that is a word I know so well.”

“Sacrificed?” I mumble in shock, but he pushes the wooden doors open and heads in, pulling me along at his side into a massive dining room. A long table takes up most of the space. It’s one large slice of white wood from what must have been a huge tree. The walls are dark red, with carved symmetric patterns on the layered ceiling. A huge fabric banner hangs on the one wall, displaying Maddox’s mark, as I’m now calling it. Two fireplaces are on either side of the room, roaring fires lit in them, and the doors we came through are the only entrance and exit I can find. There isn’t even a single window.

But there are other people. No, they aren’t people exactly. Vampires. The word still sounds foreign in my mind, and a part of me still thinks I’m going to wake up soon, and this all will be over.

Two men sit on one side of the table with a space in the middle of them. Both of them are stunning in a way I am figuring out only vampires are. Both blond, with similar features and matching brown eyes. They look like Vikings with their build and height, much more similar to the size of Maddox and his brother.

On the other side of the table are two women, again with a space between where they are sitting. One of them, I can only see the back of her red head, while the other slides out of her seat like a fox, but a black-haired one. Her long black hair touches the floor as she walks over, a silky black dress clinging to her body. When I meet her bright blue eyes, a strange feeling washes over me. Like I know her from somewhere. If she feels the same, she hides it well as she walks to Maddox and kisses both his cheeks.

“My dear prince, it has been too long,” she states, a thick French accent coming through. She turns to me and cups my face. Her hands are freezing cold, unlike how hot Maddox’s touch is. What is with that? “Ah, you are very beautiful as claimed. Yet I sense nothing special about you at all.”

Thanks a lot, stranger. She lets me go and sighs, turning to Maddox. “Have you tasted her blood yet?”

“A small amount tells me she is magical and something new to the island. I presumed the sirens would recognise her as one of her clan,” he replies somewhat truthfully. So he doesn’t bite his siren friends. Interesting.

“Sirens are real?” I blurt out, looking at the woman with new interest. They both turn to me.

“So very new to the magical world,” the woman rolls her eyes. “I am Natalia, and I am a siren if you must know.”

“How very lucky she is to meet not only a vampire and a siren in her first week here, but a witch as well,” one of the guys states, his voice easily carrying across the room. “Do bring her to the table to sit next to me. I wish to see her closely, my friends.”

For whatever reason I can’t make out to myself, I look up at Maddox. He smirks briefly before nodding once.

Like I need his permission.

Maybe witches aren’t as evil as vampires. Maybe. They are still friends with Maddox though, and I doubt they are highly moral.

Feeling like a goldfish in a bowl, I nervously walk past Natalia towards the table. The witch who spoke stands up and pulls a chair out for me. I sit down, looking at the gold plates and empty crystal wine glasses on the table. Everything looks perfect. Enough to make me nervous.

“My name is Alviero, but my dearest friends call me Vero,” the witch introduces himself. “My brother who sits next to you isn’t one to speak, but his name is Vindonio. I always do all the talking.”

“Out of your arse most of the time,” Maddox adds in, sitting down in the seat opposite me, next to the woman who is looking down, hiding her face with her long red hair. When she looks up, I try not to jolt. Black markings, like symbols but made of swirls and lines, are drawn onto her forehead, cheeks and down her neck. They are hard to look at, the way they are raised makes me think they were burnt on. The woman stares me down, her expression unreadable, but her brown eyes reflect the redness of her hair.

Vero clears his throat. “Ah, this is Sabina. The head witch of our coven.”

“Do witches live on the island?” I question, looking away from Sabina, but of course, she is the one who has to answer me.

“Our ancestors made all five of the hidden islands on earth. One for the witches, one for the sirens and one for the vampires,” she coldly tells me. “Humans such as yourself have taken the two other islands and everything near them as they spread around the globe, destroying as they went.”

Her distaste for humans is clear.

“Oh, Sabina. If they didn’t breed, we wouldn’t have our magic today. Human organs are vital in our spells after all,” Vero claims. Sick fills my throat once again, and I have to think of happy things, force myself not to react to that.

“Perhaps Riona might wish to discuss something less…revolting,” Natalia cuts in. “Unless you wish to see her vomit all over this table.”

“Ah, I forget her human ways,” Vero exclaims. I stare down at the gold plate in front of me as they carry on their conversation, and I try to cut myself off from being here, pretend that I’m anywhere else.

Pretend that I’m at home, and my brother is there making his jokes. My parents cooking and laughing with each other, and I sit there watching it all.

I nearly jump out of my skin when the doors open in the room and eight people, in two lines of four, walk into the room with plates. They place the plates in front of us all and then move to stand behind each of the chairs. The two remaining people go and stand by the door.

“To new friends,” Maddox lifts his empty glass. “And to finding out more about our guest, Riona.”

Maddox clicks his fingers, and the servant behind him lifts a knife and cuts a line down his arm, filling Maddox’s glass. I look away only to see Natalia’s eyes glowing white, and a small whisper leaves her lips. The sound is nothing more than a brush against my skin, pushing at me like the feeling of a paintbrush grazing me.

But the other servants in the room don’t seem to feel the same effect. They all walk away and start dancing around the room to no music, each of their movements exactly the same. The servant who cut his arm dances too, his blood dripping across the floor, and the other people whirl around in it, until the floor is covered in bloody footprints.

Natalia watches me very closely before smiling softly. “Ah, I see.”

“I assumed she would resist your magic as well as ours,” Maddox replies.

“Look, it’s very nice. You must eat,” Vero whispers to me, his voice too close to my ear, and I move away across my seat as he lifts the silver covering on my plate to reveal some posh cuts of meat and veg that no doubt has a fancy name. I much prefer cheese on toast or pizza over this crap.

I play with my food, having no interest in eating as they all proceed to eat like nothing is wrong.

“So is that issue still coming up?” Natalia asks Maddox, and I notice all of them look to Maddox for his answer. Using a code word means it’s something she doesn’t want me to know. The others seem to understand though.

He chews his food before drinking the blood (that I’m mentally pretending is wine) and folding his hands. “Yes, two more have arrived this month. My brother has found another as well. Same condition.”

“Are they still alive?” Natalia asks. “Perhaps I can take one and run tests.”

“I have one, and we have found nothing. The magic, if it is that, is unlike anything we have seen,” Vero cuts in. “But if you think sirens can find something witches cannot, please take ours. It is a bother to contain.”

“I do not want the—” Maddox looks at me and pauses. “It must not be killed, any of them, or you will face my wrath.”

“You do have a heart after all,” Vero jokily chuckles in a teasing manner, and Maddox simply says nothing, his eyes on me.

“Do you have a hobby, little human who does not speak?” Natalia asks me after a brief moment of silence. Business talk over then.

“I like to paint and play the violin,” I answer. I can’t see any point of saying nothing, not when it’s clear my silence isn’t making them trust speaking around me. “I hate dancing, love white wine and calling my mum for long chats. I hate cooking but love baking cakes. My ideal day out is sitting at a beach, feeling the waves brush against my toes while I read a book. What else do you want to know?”

“Oh, I do love music and the sea of course. It’s a siren thing,” Natalia explains with a big smile. Any other circumstance, I think we might get along. “I will bring instruments for us to play together when I am next here, and maybe Maddox could show you the sea. The magic in the waters around the island is enchanting.”

She seems so lost in her own mind with every word that I almost feel myself wanting to smile at her.

I turn to Maddox. “What does the prince of all evil like to do?”

He smirks. “Fuck women, paint women and in general murder pretty things. Anything else you want to know?”

Nope.

“Have you shown her your paintings, Maddox?” Vero asks, cutting into my staring match with my plate as I feel all their eyes on me.

I raise my eyebrows as I look at Maddox. “Can you actually paint anything other than naked women?”

“Yes. Painting is not a talent simply for humans,” Maddox counters with a cruel smile. “And after this, I will show you my work.”

I really, really don’t want to be alone with him. And he damn well knows it. I’ve just managed to dig myself into a corner.

“Do you have family, Riona?” Natalia asks me as she drinks some water.

“Do you?” I reply, crossing my arms and leaving my food as I’m not eating it. The people continue to dance around us to no music, but by this point the floor is covered in blood, the metal smell of it filling my nose, making me want to be sick.

“I have no family, it is the way of the sirens,” she almost softly explains. “When we are young, our parents give us to another clan, and they give a child up of their own in return. Therefore all clans are at peace. It is our way. No one family, everyone is family instead.”

I frown at her, feeling sorry for her a little bit.

I’m sure sirens aren’t all nice, and they must do terrible things, but that is a cruel thing to do with their children.

“At least they don’t carve your face like they do our females,” Vero chuckles. Sabina lifts her hand, and it glows red for a second, and then a burst of hot air hits me, Vero and his brother. Screaming, I fly across the room and slam into something hard and warm, taking my breath away and hurting my back a little. Blinking a few times, I feel his hands around me, holding me close to his chest even as I realise it’s him. Maddox.

He caught me.

Maddox lifts his eyes above my head. “Careful…friend. Riona is mine.”

“Ouch,” Vero grumbles nearby. I look over to see him and his brother standing still, like nothing happened.

I turn my head back to see Sabina stand up off the chair and hiss, like a frigging cat, but it’s downright scary. “I was proving a point to Riona. We women witches may not be beautiful on our outside, but we are far superior to our male counterparts. I must be leaving.”

“Leave and take with you my warning. Anyone touches Riona, and they will face me,” Maddox replies, his cold voice making the room feel freezing. Sabina bows her head, as does Natalia even though she seems quite shocked.

“I should be heading out also. But I will go and see Reign before I leave,” Natalia claims, standing up. The way she says Reign’s name is with a slight bit of affection. She looks directly at me. “May the sea bless your way, Riona.”

A whirlpool of water appears around her, spinning so fast, and then she is gone. Sabina just steps back and disappears like she was never here. Becoming rapidly aware Maddox is still holding me, and how I don’t like how I didn’t notice, I try to get out of his arms. He chuckles and eventually lets me go. Screaming, I stumble back when I see body parts all over the wall behind Maddox, blood pouring across the ground like a wave. Dots of it are scattered everywhere, and it’s a miracle we aren’t covered in it. Vero is standing in front of the bodies, and he winks at me before disappearing.

Then I notice the people aren’t dancing anymore, they aren’t anywhere to be seen because they are all dead. They are smothering that wall, the witches nowhere to be seen after they caused this destruction. This time, I can’t hold it in, I turn and puke all over the floor, not caring when hands hold my hair back. Even when I know exactly who it is.

When I’ve stopped, Maddox lets my hair go and walks to the table. He pours a glass of water from a jug near the edge and brings the glass to me.

“Here,” he offers, and I reluctantly take it, drinking enough water to get rid of the taste of sick. Maddox takes the glass from me and throws it across the room where it smashes into pieces before walking to the door. “Follow me.”

Wanting to get out of this room, I do just that, heading out into the corridor and across it, the only door in the mountainside of the wall right at the end. Maddox holds the heavy wood door open for me, and I slip in after him, into a small room with a spiral staircase bathed in a bright light coming from the top, enough to light the steps down here. He walks up, and I follow after him, walking up and up, even as I start to feel a little breathless.

How many bloody stairs?

My cardio needs work, that’s for sure.

The stairs eventually come to an end, and I step into an attic type room with a triangle window pouring in light from the sun setting in the distance over the city. Having never seen the city like this, I walk past all the covered-up easels and white canvases lining the wall to the window, taking in the view. The city is so much more than it looks, especially lit up at night like this.

“How is this hidden from the world?” I whisper.

Maddox steps behind me, moving silently, but I feel the heat of his body to warn me of his presence. “Because we kill all those who escape with our secret.”

“Would you kill me if I left?” I breathlessly question, my voice huskier than I meant it to be.

I gulp as his hand slowly drifts down my bare arm, making me shiver. “No. Not because you can resist my compulsion, but because I find you interesting. Nothing has been interesting to me in a very long time, Riona.”

“What do you want from me?”

“What any man wants from a beautiful woman,” he breathes into my ear as his other hand snakes around my waist, pulling my body against his. “My name breathlessly uttered from your lips as I’m buried inside of you. Your sweet moans that I can claim as my own. The sound of you completely giving yourself to me.”

I can only stay still, even as his words do things to me that they shouldn’t. He is a monster. Plain and simple.

“I think you want me because it would hurt your brother. I’m a game,” I reply. “You could have any woman, choose someone else.”

He hums. “No, I saw you first, and you refused to give me your fear. You were strong in the face of everything. That alone decided your fate. My brother is nothing more than a nuisance.”

His answers make sense to a crazy person, I guess. “Why are there two princes and not one king?”

“My father was the last king,” he murmurs into my ear, like the devil whispering all his secrets. “And when he died, he hid one of the three things needed to take the throne.”

“And the other two?” I question quietly, as if not to break the strange trance we are under.

“Two princes. Two orbs of indescribable magic that hold this very island together,” he replies and swiftly lets me go. Orbs? Like the magical ones I was told hold the island’s magic. If I can just get one of them, I might be able to bribe my way out. In a split second, he moves in front of me, so quick I didn’t see him. Maddox places his finger under my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. “You hate me so dearly, don’t you?”

“I don’t know you enough to hate you, but if you keep killing, then you will make me,” I admit, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. His eyes drop to my lips for a second before drifting back to meet my gaze once more.

“I want you to hate me. Everyone else does,” he replies.

I search his eyes. “Hate is a strong word.”

“It’s perfect for us.”

“You’re messed up, I get it, but doesn’t a small part of you want to be a better person?” I ask. “Didn’t your mother teach you to be? Your father?”

“My father was a monster, and my mother was an angel in every sense of the word. I am like my father,” he tells me. “My father preferred to beat me senseless for being kind, I soon learnt that to be mad is how to truly stay in power.”

“Making people fear you isn’t true power,” I reply, “because, at the end of the day, it’s only the ones who love you who save you in the end.”

“Power saves me,” he replies. “And who says I want to be saved?”

“I think you do.”

He leans down, and I suck in a breath. Run, Riona. Goddammit, run before he kisses you.

The common-sense part of my brain finally kicks in (screw you, lady parts), and I turn and run to the stairs. His laugh follows me, haunts me as I run as fast as I can in this dress.

“Run all you like. Before you go to my brother, you will be mine, and you will know it.”

I’d rather burn in hell, thank you very much. Even if my body doesn’t totally agree.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Y ou seem so sad, are my pancakes not nice enough to make you smile?” Hector asks, rubbing his hands dry with a tea towel that has little dog patterns on it. He is too normal for this place, too nice for a place filled with monsters. Even though he is a vampire. After a night of tossing and turning, and a certain vampire being in my dreams a little too much, I finally gave up and came in here. Hector, who never seems to leave this kitchen, was all too happy to make me breakfast.

“They are delicious,” I reply with a sad smile. Hector seems to know not to ask anymore; he must understand the horrors of this place. “How did you end up here, Hector? Were you born a vamp or bitten?”

“My story is long and sad, and you are too young and beautiful to hear it right now. But understand I choose to stay here, to serve the young prince as I did his father, the king, once upon a time,” he tells me, placing the tea towel on his shoulder and leaning down. “Fathers do teach their sons everything they know, even if it is not who they really are.”

“Are you trying to suggest I should give the murdering bastard of a prince a chance to be my friend?”

He sighs. “Hope is easy to kill, much like humans. Perhaps you should not stomp on it so hard, oui?”

“Morning,” Cross interrupts, walking into the room. “Just the girl I wanted to see.”

“Me?” I question, turning on my stool. Cross has overalls on today, making him look like a weird ginger cowboy from a guy calendar like the fireman ones my mum always buys every year “for a good cause.”

He nods his head to the door. “You need a job, and it’s about time the walk around greenhouse was looked after by someone.”

“I’m not good at gardening,” I admit.

“Everyone starts somewhere. I was never good at most of the things I do here to begin with,” he tells me as I climb off my seat and walk to him. “We adapt.”

“Is that what you have done to stay here?” I question, rushing to walk at his side as he leaves the room. The corridor is empty as we head down it, but I hear people talking and moving around behind the many doors. “Adapt to the prince and his murderous ways?”

“Are you ever going to stop asking so many questions?” he asks, looking down at me for a second.

“Nope, so you might as well tell me the answers now,” I smoothly suggest. He laughs low as we get to the stairs and go down them.

“Yes, I have adapted to my new environment with the prince,” he replies with a grim look ahead. “When the king died only twenty years ago, both the princes near enough destroyed the island looking for the lost orb to make themselves king. When neither could find it, it became clear that they would be stuck. So they divided the island after a big falling out. One half belongs to Prince Maddox and the other Prince Reign. They don’t work together, they barely talk for years usually. Everyone finds the situation with you very strange.”

He pauses as we head through a door on the right by the staircase and into a cold corridor. Light flickers in from the small windows and outlines a door at the end of the corridor. “The stealers got me when I was fifteen and brought me here, where I fought and ran away on the beach. I ran straight into a very drunk Prince Maddox, and he decided to keep me for whatever reason.”

“And then he never tried to kill you?” I question. “Does he feed on you?”

“No, I came here, and it was empty. Just me and the prince. Slowly he has let me take on a cook that worked for his father, Hector. Then a bellboy, and finally some other people to clean. Unfortunately, the only ones he doesn’t kill are Hector and me,” he tells me, both of us stopping in front of the door. He pulls out a set of keys, their metal clanging noise filling the silence. “I never knew Maddox’s father, but I have heard he was a cruel and unforgiving man, and that Maddox was the son he never wanted. Maddox is angry and bitter about the cards he has been given, but it doesn’t mean he is altogether evil. A part of me wants to hope he will change, and no, he doesn’t bite me. Plenty of human women come here willingly, begging to be bitten by the prince. He never needs to look for food.”

“And the other parts of you?” I question as he slides a key into the lock and turns it, dust sliding off the door. No one has gone in here in a long time.

Cross looks down at me. “The other parts of me want to escape, like all of us want to who have known the world outside of this island, but this is the right place for me now.”

I hope he sees the understanding in my eyes, even if I don’t know how to word it exactly. Cross opens the door, pushing it hard as it scrapes across the floor, and some ivy, I think, snaps from it being open. The room is hard to see, even though it’s bright from the wall of glass stretching all the way to the ceiling in a curved effect. It’s a massive dome shaped walk-through greenhouse with a high glass ceiling, and every other window is stained red glass, plastering the room with a mixture of light colours from yellows to oranges. The inside isn’t as nice though, not anymore. Overgrown plants and ivy litter the floor and crawl up every bit of brick and glass it can find, smothering what looks like statues and a waterfall in the middle.

“Hector said this place used to be the queen’s private garden,” Cross explains to me. “And it has fallen into disrepair over the years. What do you think?”

“You want me out of the way down here, don’t you?” I question, slightly stepping away from him.

“You make the prince madder than he already is,” he replies, tightly crossing his arms. “And many of the others are jealous of his connection to you. This place is safe, and you are better off in here, as not many know it exists. Maddox doesn’t like to come here.”

I watch him carefully. There is something he isn’t saying, but how exactly do I figure it out?

I clear my throat. “I will need tools to cut all this to start with, and gardening gloves. Later on, I will need soil and fresh plants.”

He smiles and steps back before walking to the door. He pushes it shut, revealing another door at its side, and he tugs it open. “Hector said everything you need is in here, and he cleaned it all for you. I will bring you lunch if you wish. There is also a toilet just down the corridor.”

Cross opens the other door slightly and slides out, leaving me in the ruined and ancient greenhouse alone.

I wrap my arms around myself as I walk to the cupboard, finding there are shelves of equipment in here, all covered in cobwebs except for a bunch of tools on the floor. Those must be the ones Hector cleaned. Gardening gloves on, I grab the cutters and get to work.

My dad said tired minds can’t worry or stress. So time to wear me the hell out.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“I  heard this has been your hiding place.”

Prince Maddox’s voice makes me jump and nearly drop the cutters in my hand. I spin around, dropping the ivy I had just pulled off, to find Maddox near the fountain. He runs his finger across the red stone fountain at the top, where the water is meant to pour down, but I have no idea how to turn it on. For ten days, I have successfully dodged the prince and his every attempt to flatter me. I threw the hundreds of red roses he left in my room out of the window. I didn’t eat the several iced lemon cakes he had made for me, but it was creepy that he knew it was my favourite.

Overall, I’m not being romanced by the evil prince.

“It’s looking better, I think,” I carefully reply. Everything I say around Maddox has to be careful, I don’t trust him not to flip a switch. He stares at the fountain for a moment longer, and I wonder if he is remembering something. This was his mother’s garden once, and she might have brought him here, but I don’t know when she died. Or how old he was. I get the sneaking suspicion he was young.

“I had forgotten about the greenhouse gardens until Cross told me you were down here,” he admits, holding his hands behind his back as he walks over to me. “And here you are, with another sharp item. Are you feeling violent today, Ria?”

“Not now I know I can’t kill you with this alone unless I get the strength to cut your head off,” I mutter, lifting the sharp cutters up in the air.

He flashes me one of his deceptively evil smiles. “It would hurt me though. Are we past that?”

I point the cutters at him, touching the middle of his chest with the sharp tips. “Are you past killing humans like they are toys?”

“Never,” he breathes out and clamps a hand over the cutters. Like my grip is nothing but a nuisance, he throws them away from me, and I stumble back into the glass. He keeps moving, slower than he needs to, until he is cornering me into the glass with nowhere for me to go. “I have dinner ready for us in my room.”

“I’m not going to your room, Maddox,” I warn him, narrowing my eyes.

He laughs and places his hands around my waist, harshly pulling me against him. I jolt and try to pull away, but he easily picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. Screaming in frustration, I smack my arms against his back and kick out my legs, but he doesn’t react, not even bothering to use his other arm to clamp my legs down. He carries me through the castle, past the sitting areas and into that corridor behind them, and through the first door on the right. Disoriented, he drops me onto a soft and bouncy bed, and I glare up at him.

“Welcome to my room,” he sarcastically states, walking back to the door and slamming it shut. “Don’t scream in here, you will give my bird a heart attack.”

“Your bird?” I question like a fool, and he nods his head behind him. Next to the door is a huge aviary with a massive eagle inside of it. The eagle is pure white, not a drop of colour to its feathers, and it must be the size of a small child. The eagle watches me as it perches on a long branch that is spread across the aviary that is the size of a room on its own. I pull my eyes from the eagle to the rest of Maddox’s room, and not surprisingly, it’s as grand as you could get. The king-sized, or bigger, bed I’m on has black sheets spread across a mattress that sits on a flat wooden platform. White cushions and pillows line the giant black stone headboard that stretches to the ceiling. In one corner of the room is a door to a bathroom no doubt and a big closet, which has a frosted glass door. One chest of drawers sits under the only window in the room at the back, and it is empty of anything personal.

“So, you paint like a pro, and you have an eagle for a friend-slash-pet. Anything else I should know about you?”

Maddox walks over to me, and I try not to run when he chooses to sit next to me on the bed, his body brushing against mine. My heart beats ridiculously quick, giving away my reaction to him no doubt.

“I want to know about you, Riona Dark,” he murmurs seductively, picking up a strand of my hair. I hold my breath on instinct and force myself to breathe when it becomes clear he isn’t going to drop my hair or move away. “I’ve researched you extensively and found nothing more than a regular human upbringing, and yet, you are so very unique.”

“Have you met other humans who can’t be compelled?” I question.

He meets my eyes. “No. That’s why you are perfect for me. Even if I weren’t extremely attracted to you, I would not let you go. I need a queen at my side who cannot be controlled by magic and can be my true equal.”

“You like the idea of an equal who hates you for who you are?” I ask, almost softly, damn my soft heart.

“It apparently worked well for my parents,” he replies and sharply looks away, dropping my hair. “I will make no apologies for who I am and neither will I change.”

“Then you will never have anything real or true, Prince Maddox,” I angrily reply, narrowing my eyes at him.

He glares right back at me and cups the back of my neck, his touch burning my skin like he is on fire. “I will have you, and that is all I want. Screw the rest.”

Then he kisses me. Every inch of my mind begs myself to fight back, to push him away, to remember that he is a monster, but my body doesn’t react the same way. I kiss him back on instinct, letting his soft lips devour mine with a passion I’ve never experienced, sucking me deep into a world of torment I wasn’t aware existed. His tongue slides into my mouth just as someone knocks on the door.

And I realise what the hell I am doing. I all but fall off the bed, crawling my way backwards as I climb to my feet.

If Maddox looked at me with desire before…it’s nothing like he stares at me now.

My heart pounds as Maddox walks to the door and pulls it open with a scary ass look on his face.

“You are dead unless this is important,” Maddox all but growls at the poor bellboy.

“Cross s-sent me to tell you another issue has come up, and it’s more than one this time. He needs you to urgently come to help as several are bitten and dead,” he sputters out. “They burned from the inside out from one bite, like the others.”

What the hell can do that?

“Fuck.”

Maddox looks back at me, turning his frown into a smile, but I can tell he is still annoyed by the interruption and whatever is going on. I’m thankful for the interruption before I did anything else downright stupid. “Seems like our last night is going to be cut short. I won’t see you tomorrow, but be sure I am waiting for your return.”

Maddox leaves the room without another word, the door hanging open, and the eagle makes an almost coo-like noise. I walk up to the aviary and run my finger over the gold plate on the door, with the name Amity.

Another word for friendship.

I guess I was bang right, the eagle is the only friend to the Mad Prince.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Blasting music fills the castle behind me as I sit on the steps, my arms crossed tightly against my chest to protect me from the cold. Whatever happened last night between Maddox and me is clearly forgotten, which I’m totally thankful for, as I woke up to some kind of party. The castle is full of drunk women and men, loud music, and blood everywhere. I all but tripped in the blood as I escaped and came to sit here, waiting for Maddox’s brother to come.

“Here,” Cross says as he lays something on my shoulders. I pull the soft red material around me and push my arms through the cloak and clip up the five silver buttons. “Maddox bought you it.”

“Surprised he remembers who I am with his party going on to celebrate that I’m leaving,” I mutter. I don’t know why I’m pissed off, but I can’t deny that I am.

“Is that what you think?” Cross questions with a furrowed brow. “And not because he is wallowing that you have to leave?”

Pulling myself to my feet, I think about Cross’s words as we wait in the snow-ridden ground, watching the city at the base of the mountain. It’s nothing more than lights and shapes, but I can make out a certain structure to the city. It’s five squares, thick walls separating the squares, and a river runs down the left side with one bridge going to big houses on the other side of it. As much as I want to escape, I also want to see this city.

“What is the city like? I mean compared to say London, Edinburgh, Paris or New York?” I question, rambling off the cities I have been in.

Cross clears his throat, looking at the city. “It reminds me of history books when they talked of Edinburgh in the 1600s. It’s rough in the city, and many are born there with no understanding of what is outside this island. The Onyx breeds mayhem and pain.”

“Why do you say that?” I question, just as I hear the sound of a car in the distance. A large car if I’m hearing right. How the hell do they have cars here?

Cross sighs. “Without rules or real life to live for, what else are they to do? They know the vamps could kill them, their children, their families and ruin their lives on a whim. They work for nothing more than scraps of food or a chance to be a vamp, which means they would have to leave their families alone. Why would they strive to be better?”

Everything is so wrong on this island.

And I have no answers for him.

“Who makes the rules and laws? Who enforces them?” I ask instead.

Cross shrugs. “Apparently there was more order when the king and queen were alive. When the queen died, the king went into a depression and took the island down with him. The princes haven’t changed much since the king died.” He lowers his voice. “They have their own problems as you well know.”

Frowning, I look away as a big black Jeep comes up the stone path driveway fast, skidding across the snow until it comes to a quick stop sideways in front of the steps. The passenger side door swings open.

“Get in.”

I raise my eyebrows at Cross, who mouths good luck. I take my time getting down the steps and to the door.

Prince Reign sits in the driver’s seat, the passenger seat empty, and looking as uninviting as he can be. Even though he looks so similar to Maddox, it’s so clear they are very different. Maddox looks one switch away from turning into a total psychopath, and Reign? He seems uninterested in the world around him, just here for the sake of it. He stares back at me, his jaw locked tightly in anger, and his eyes drift to the passenger seat and back up again. Getting the hint, I climb into the car and pull the door shut. Before I’ve managed to pull my seat belt on, he takes off at full speed, and I nearly slide off the seat. I shakily snap my seat belt on and look up just in time to see Reign swing the Jeep around a corner, narrowly missing the edge.

“Watch it, some of us are human and wouldn’t survive a face-down dive off a mountain in a car!” I angrily snap.

Reign’s eyes leave the road for a second to meet mine, nothing but contempt shining in them before he looks back, and he actually slows down. “I do apologise. I am used to escaping my brother’s home as quickly as I possibly can. I did not mean to frighten you.”

“Thank you for slowing down,” I say, my hands still gripping the side of the seats like my life depends on it. The ride down the mountain is silent and freezing, and I itch to turn the heating on in the car, but I stay silent, unsure about my new captor.

When I start shaking, I forcibly pull my hands off the seat and wrap them in my dress, trying to keep them from getting too cold. Reign looks across and mutters a string of curses under his breath before pressing the switch for the heating to turn on.

“I don’t have humans in my house, and I am not used to understanding their needs,” he starts off, and I watch him carefully, seeing how uncomfortable he is. “You must tell me if you are cold or hungry, whatever it is you need, and I will accommodate you.”

“Why?” I question. “Why did you bid for me if you don’t like humans or have slaves?”

He doesn’t answer me for a long time. At least half an hour ticks by, and we are near the end of the mountain when he finally does. “I heard of your unique gift, and it makes you powerful. My brother doesn’t need any more power at his beck and call. A possible d’vampire with a gift to resist compulsion would be disastrous in his hands.”

A power grab. I get it now.

“So you need me to choose you in under six months’ time?” I question.

He looks over at me. “In my house, you will not be hurt or forced into anything. You will be free and protected by my name. We both know my brother cannot promise you that.”

But he can damn well kiss like a god.

Even though he is a monster.

I breathe out a long breath. “I will choose you if you help me find out if a few people are on this island, and if they are, save them and buy them for your house. One of them is definitely on this island, his name is Arlo O’Dargan, and he was sold right before me. The other is my brother, but I don’t know if he is here.”

“I don’t want more humans in my house. You are bad enough,” he tsks, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

“Then I will choose Maddox,” I tell him plainly. “If he turns me, I will have enough power to buy them myself.”

I bluff all of it. Total bullshit. I’m not letting Maddox or Reign turn me into a d’vampire and some kind of weapon. I like my ass human. Thank you very much.

Reign suddenly stops the Jeep in the middle of the road, not that there is another car anywhere to be seen. I keep my eyes on Reign as he stares right back at me, his creepy eyes glaring right into mine. “You are quite something, aren’t you, Riona Dark?”

“I’ve been told that before. My professors and parents called me determined,” I reply. “My brother just said I was a smartass and that my mind mixed with what comes out my mouth would get me in trouble one day.”

“You just tried to blackmail a vampire prince,” Reign coolly replies. “Your brother was right.”

I lift a shoulder. “He was, yes. Only I’m braver and more reckless now, thanks to being stolen and shown things I never thought I’d ever see.”

“Death is something you will get used to,” he replies and sighs once more.

“I will agree to your terms,” he states. “But you and your friends will not disturb my life.”

“Agreed,” I say, offering him my hand to shake. He lifts my hand and presses a single kiss to the top of my knuckles, and while it’s sweet, his touch doesn’t do anything for me like it does his mad brother.

He lets my hand drop. “I know where your friend is, and we can head into the city now to buy him, if you wish it. As for your brother, my research suggests he is not on the island.”

I nod, feeling tears of relief pricking my eyes.

Arlo. “Yes, please.”

“Hold on then,” he instructs and drives off faster than he did at the top of the mountain. Only this time, I don’t complain.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A t least an hour drifts by as Reign takes the car down country roads, past many houses and through a forest before we break into view of the city. We approach the city on the left side, if my sense of direction isn’t wrong, and down here this place does look like a different time era altogether, but mixed with bits of the modern world. The women all dress in saris or Victorian style dresses, and the men are in suits. I don’t spot anyone who looks like how Reign dresses; he clearly likes the modern clothes. The tiny houses make way for bigger ones with thatched roofs and brown brick walls with glass windows. There are newer street lights, suggesting the island has some sort of power going through it. A few children, which I have no idea if they are human or vampire, run past the car, staring in. I smile at them, lifting my hand and wiggling my fingers, their giggles rising above the noise of the engine for a second. A second enough to make me smile.

“Are you the only one with a car on the island?” I question.

Reign turns down a street, and people move out of the way, not that Reign even attempts to slow down. “Mostly. I prefer the outside world’s choice of transport and clothing. What about you?”

“I can’t say I’m a fan of the dresses,” I admit, picking at the sari I have on. “I envy your jeans and shirt.”

“I will find you suitable clothing to keep,” he replies just before slamming the brakes on the car, and I jolt forward, the seat belt hurting my neck. Not making any apologies, he flips up the handbrake and opens his door, climbing out and disappearing with vamp speed. Swiftly, I undo my seat belt and climb out my door, my boots smacking against the stone. Several people stop to stare, a mixture of vampires and humans, I think. I try to ignore them and head around the car, seeing that Reign hasn’t waited for me, but a door is kicked open. Taking a wild guess the prince has gone that way, I gingerly walk into the house and into a front sitting room. Reign stands in the middle, easily commanding the space, and there is a very pretty vampire woman on her knees in front of him, bleeding from her nose. Did Reign punch her?

The woman has long, almost white-coloured hair and bright grey eyes that watch over me.

“Of course, your majesty. It would be a great honour,” she is saying to Reign. Reign turns his head back, meeting my gaze and pointing to the door at the back of the room. I don’t give the vampire woman a second glance, running to the back door and pulling it open. The smell hits me right away, the metallic tang of blood and just an awful stench of god knows what. I hold my nose as I walk into the dimly lit room, and I stare in shock at the sight of Arlo chained up at the back of the room. His wrists and ankles are chained to the brick wall, and dozens, if not hundreds, of bite marks litter his bare chest and legs. In fact, every part of him looks bitten, and he looks so pale.

A sob leaves my lips as I run over to him, picking up his fallen head and checking for a pulse on his neck. When I feel it, I breathe out a shaky sigh.

“I’m going to look after you,” I whisper and kiss the top of his damp hair. I look over my shoulder and raise my voice. “Reign, I need your help!”

Reign is in front of me in seconds, his vampire speed making it impossible for me to have tracked his movement. He looks me over before turning to Arlo, frowning for a moment. He lifts his arm and bites harshly into his wrist, blood pouring out all over his mouth and dripping onto the floor in front of us.

“Will your blood heal him?” I question. I’ve gathered as much, but I don’t know for certain.

“I’m surprised my brother has not forced you to drink from him to heal you,” Reign replies. “He usually likes to break his toys and put them back together, unaware of the internal damage wreaked.”

“He offered me blood when he marked me, which I refused, and he fed me when I passed out on the auction stage, but otherwise, no,” I explain.

Reign doesn’t seem happy with my answer, but he gives no comment, only lifting Arlo’s head and forcing him to drink the blood, even unconscious. After a few seconds, he lets Arlo drop once more, and I look at his wrist, seeing he has already healed. Damn, they heal quickly. Reign grabs the chains around Arlo’s ankles, snapping them off like paper and doing the same to the ones on his wrists before picking Arlo up over his shoulder. Following Reign out of the horrible room and back into the posh living room, the vampire woman stands up and bows her head.

“I hope he makes a brilliant new addition to your home, Prince Reign,” she states, licking her bottom lip. “I enjoyed my time with him.”

I grit my teeth, clamping my hands into fists and begging myself not to try to punch a vampire. Arlo needs rest and to get the hell out of here; otherwise, I would most likely lose it. My anger and temper have never been something I’ve gotten used to.

“You speak a word about this to my brother, I will kill you when you least expect it. Do you understand?” Reign coldly states to the woman. She looks between Reign and me before falling to her knees.

“I serve only you, Prince Reign. This is your territory, and I chose to come here, to serve you. May the true king of The Onyx live,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. They really do love their royals here.

“Be true to your word,” Reign replies and walks out. I glance back at the woman, who hasn’t lifted her head. I know she did terrible things to my friend. A boy I grew up with. Someone I love as family.

“Learn to be better than the monster you were created to be,” I tell her. “Because in the end, someone will judge you, and that judgment is one many wish to pass.”

I turn away and leave, gulping down the sickness I feel in my throat, mixed with a tiny bit of hope because I have Arlo now and a deal with a relatively safe Prince. The street is now filled with vampires and humans, and all of them are on their knees bowing. So many of them fill the street like a silent wave as Reign dumps Arlo across the back seat of the car. I climb in the back with him, pulling his seat belt on as best I can before doing my own. As Reign gets the Jeep going, I lift Arlo’s head onto my lap and brush some strands of his blood-soaked hair away.

He looks in turmoil, even as out of it as he is. If we ever do escape this island, I know what happens here will forever haunt us either way.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A rlo sleeps the entire journey out of the city and into the thick forest on the opposite side of the city, away from the mountains and Maddox’s castle. The forest is full of trees so high that I can’t see the tops, and the ground is littered with fallen branches, leaves and bushes. There is no clear path, but Reign seems to know his way through the trees, never once stopping the car, but it’s clear why he has a Jeep. It might have been lightly snowing on the mountain, but there isn’t snow here, it’s just freezing cold outside, making the windows foggy. Arlo stirs a little bit, and I softly brush my fingers across his forehead, which seems to make him settle down. The car ride is bumpy for a few minutes, and I hold onto Arlo tightly to make sure he doesn’t fall off just before we come out onto a smooth road. I peek out the window, wiping some of the condensation away, to see a cliff with a modern house built onto the edge of it. The house looks like something from LA, with tall glass windows, white brick pillars, and black outlined doors. Perfectly cut bushes line the road to the space in front of the door where Reign comes to a stop.

“I will carry him in and show you where you will live,” Reign announces like he has overthought the idea. “Other than a housekeeper who comes twice a week, there will be no one else here, and I don’t want my privacy interrupted. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” I quickly reply. I don’t want to be around him any more than he does me. I smile tightly at Reign as he scowls and pushes his car door open before walking around the Jeep. Opening the door, he looks in at us and unclicks Arlo’s seat belt before picking him up over his shoulder. Arlo groans but doesn’t move as Reign kicks the door shut. I quickly escape the car and jog to keep up with Reign, who speed walks to his front door and kicks it open.

He really loves kicking stuff.

I don’t get much of a chance to see the inside of the room before we are heading up the glass staircase in the middle of it and around a corner. Kicking another door open, Reign heads inside a bedroom that is covered in white sheets. He unceremoniously drops Arlo on the bed and walks back to me.

“He will need rest, and I will go to get your food for a few days. What do you like?”

Raising my eyebrows, I didn’t expect that. “I like a lot of Mediterranean food and pasta. I know Arlo likes anything with meat in it.”

I also love pancakes, but they remind me of Hector…and the Mad Prince.

“Understood. I will cook for us tonight,” he replies, moving around me. I watch the prince go, a little confused by his nature, and walk to the door, shutting it behind him. There is no lock, but even a shut door can make me feel that little bit safer.

“Ri-Ri?” Arlo groggily calls for me. Spinning around, I run to his side and sit on the bed, seeing him look around the room in confusion before his gaze rests on mine. I pick up his hand and hold it tightly.

“It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now,” I gently tell him. He doesn’t reply, his eyes falling shut and his breathing steadying out almost instantly. Running my eyes over his chest, I see most of the bite marks are already healing, turning into closed wounds before my eyes, and he’s turning less pale, more of the golden complexion he usually has. Gently letting his hand drop, I search the cupboards in the room and find bedsheets and pillows. It takes me a while to get Arlo comfy in the middle of the bed and then place a sheet on him and a pillow under his head. When I’m done, I pull off the coverings on two wardrobes and a chest of drawers. All of the furniture is new and from IKEA, if I’m not mistaken.

I wonder why Prince Reign makes the effort to have all this new stuff when his half of the island and his people live in the dark ages pretty much. Another set of questions I need to ask the elusive prince over dinner.

Grabbing my own pillow, I place it next to Arlo and lie on the bed, curling up into a ball at his side.

One of my friends saved, for now, and I have to hope Arlo has good answers about Austin when he wakes up.

“Ri-Ri?” Arlo’s groggy voice wakes me up, and I open my eyes to see him sitting up on the bed, staring down at me. “Am I dead? Are we dead?”

“No,” I say around a yawn, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. “I promise you we aren’t dead. It’s a long story.”

“Tell me everything,” he firmly states, his eyes narrowed. The playful Arlo I’ve always known is not here right now. I didn’t know he had a serious side until now. I gulp before blurting out everything from when I was taken by the stealers to rescuing him. “And then Prince Reign healed you and left us here. I don’t know if he is back, but he said he was cooking dinner.”

Arlo doesn’t say a word, just staring at me. “Why would you make that deal for me? You should have asked him to get you away from this island.”

I frown. “Because we’ve known each other since we were kids and you’re Austin’s best friend. I was never leaving this island without you.”

He seems to accept this and rubs his face. “I got to the party early with Austin to sort shit out and start the bonfire. Everything was fine until Austin noticed you were half an hour late, so he left me to go and find you. The last time I saw him was then, and I don’t think he came back.”

My heart pounds in my chest. “So he and Sophie might have met up and realised where I was. Given it’s half an hour back, they might have missed the attack.”

“Possibly. I never saw him on the ship or in the cells. But I never saw you until the auction,” he replies, and he reaches over, picking up my hand. We stare at each other, all our jokes and defensiveness we usually mess about with seems to wash away. “Thank you for saving me. I owe you big time, Ri-Ri.”

“Save my life if you can,” I reply, pulling my hand from his. “How are you feeling?”

He clears his throat before climbing off the bed, looking over his body. “Like nothing happened on the outside. The inside is a little different.”

“What happened with her? The vampire who bought you?” I ask, climbing off the bed myself and picking up the green cloak I found on the bed and handing it to Arlo. “Here, you should put this on. It’s cold in here.”

Arlo takes it and wraps it over his shoulders, then he pauses. He walks up to me, and I almost flinch as he touches the mark on my neck.

“I have one as well, not on my neck though,” he tells me and pulls up his trouser leg to reveal a mark just like mine on his calf, but it’s Prince Reign’s symbol. A dragon wrapped around a dagger within a circle of fire.

“Our marks to who we belong to. But Reign hasn’t marked me,” I reply. “But I suspect he will do.”

“Be careful about making any more deals with him. Vampires are evil, through and through,” he warns me.

Footsteps make us both go still, and the door flings open. “I should be insulted, but you’re both lucky I understand your hate for my kind. I am not a fan of yours.”

“Reign, I presume?” Arlo asks, crossing his arms tightly and stepping in front of me to protect me. But we both know nothing Arlo can do will stop Reign if he wanted to hurt me. I just think he doesn’t.

“Prince Reign in public, but behind closed doors and in my home, Reign is fine,” he replies, his eyes drifting from Arlo as I step around him. I notice the bags in his hands, and he places them on the floor. “These are for you both. Dinner is ready in half an hour.”

“Thank you, Reign,” I call out, even though Arlo gives me a sharp look. I’m thanking one of my kidnappers. I’m sure I look crazy. Reign doesn’t give away that he heard me as he leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.

“They aren’t human, Riona,” Arlo tells me.

“You never call me my full name unless I’m in trouble. I know you’re angry and hurt by them, I get it. I don’t want to be here any more than you do, and if they gave me half a chance, I would be on the first ship home, but we have to be smart,” I explain to him. “Smart enough to survive until we find a way to escape.”

He looks away. “Part of me just wants to kill them all.”

I place my hand on his upper arm, and he looks down at me, at my hand on his arm particularly. “I want the same. I’ve seen things… They have hurt me. I get it.”

“Good.” He covers my hand with his. “Because they are going to pay for everything.”

Arlo lets my hand go and walks to the bathroom, going inside and shutting the door, the lock clicking seconds later. What the hell did that vampire bitch do to Arlo?

Knowing that staring at the bathroom door, even as I hear the shower go on, isn’t going to help, I head to the bags. Two pairs of jeans, one for me and one for Arlo in the perfect size, are in one of the bags. In the other are a few plain T-shirts and underwear. Again all the right size. Well, I hope Arlo’s is, but if Reign got my size eight right, I’m sure he got Arlo’s. I pull out an outfit and place Arlo’s clothes on the bed for him before slipping into the walk-in wardrobe. I shut the door and get changed out of that dress, which I wish I could burn, and back into clothes that I actually like. The skinny jeans fit me like a glove, and the T-shirt is a little baggy, which works for me. I slide my boots back on and find a hairbrush to comb out my hair. When I go back into the bedroom, Arlo is dressed in the blue T-shirt and grey washed denim jeans, looking so normal and familiar that it hurts. He doesn’t stop staring my way, his green eyes running over my body.

“Even in hell, you make it beautiful.”

I stay there like a total idiot, unsure what to say or what I’m suddenly feeling when I look at him. It’s different. Something about us is different now from what it’s ever been. Maybe because Austin isn’t here, maybe because we have been through the trauma, we both understand. Whatever it is, something has changed.

Arlo realises he isn’t going to get a reply and nods his head to the door. “Let’s go. Hopefully, the vamp prince can cook.”

“He lives alone. No humans here but us, so likely he can,” I reply, thankful that the subject has been changed. I glance down at Arlo’s bare feet after he follows me out of the room. “And maybe we should ask for shoes for you.”

“One step at a time. We both already owe him,” Arlo mutters. “And I know vampires enough to know they won’t ever forget a debt.”

“Did you ever imagine there was a world like this? Vampires? Witches? Sirens?” I ask as we slowly find our way to the top of the staircase.

“No, and I wish the fuckers had stayed in the books and films where they belong,” he growls out before walking down the stairs. Every step is filled with anger, it’s bursting out of him, and I don’t know how to fix whatever is going on in his head. But I have a sneaking suspicion the sooner he is away from vampires, the better.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“T  his way,” Reign commands, waiting for us at the bottom of the staircase. The prince of the vampires looks nothing but moody at best, lethal at worst, as he turns around. Arlo doesn’t look back, but his shoulders tense as I step off the bottom step to his side. Like Arlo is being dragged, he follows Reign around the glass staircase and to the back of the property, which is one large room with one hell of a view. A large crescent-shaped room is pure glass on the one side, looking over the sea from its place on the cliff, and the sun is setting slowly in the distance, bursting lights across the blue sky.

Right in the middle of the room is a dining table for four, with a dark green runner spread across the table and steaming food on plates in the middle. The rest of the room is plain, nothing more than a white piano on one side of the room and several doors leading off. Reign sits on one side of the table, and I sit with Arlo on the other. There are four pieces of steaming salmon on a gold plate, a bowl of vegetables, and a bowl of sweet potatoes.

“Thank you for cooking. It all looks good.”

He inclines his head but doesn’t say a word, even when my stomach rumbles aloud. We serve ourselves, and I try to pretend Reign doesn’t have a glass of blood as a drink, a big difference to the glass of water I have. The salmon is amazing, and it doesn’t take me long to eat everything before I place my knife and fork down.

“The kitchen is behind me through that door.” He points at the door for me. “Do not let yourself go hungry, you may help yourself.”

“Why are you so fucking nice?” Arlo cuts in. “She won’t fuck you, you know that?”

I cringe at his blunt statement. Reign slowly looks at Arlo. “I am aware my kind has impacted your judgment of us, but we are all the same. Yes, we are dangerous. Yes, we need blood to survive, and humans are our food source, but we are not all cruel.”

Arlo, who hasn’t touched a bit of his food, stands up. He sneers. “Yes, you all are.”

“Arlo—” I try to reach out for him, but he dodges my touch and walks away, heading up the stairs. I awkwardly sit back, looking at the bottom of the stairs like Arlo is going to come back. I am well aware he is not going to.

“The damaged need time to heal.”

I turn back to Reign, watching the casual prince. “Why do you have such a modern home? Why do you have so much respect for human life while your brother has none?”

Reign purposely picks up his drink and takes a long sip. “Who says I have respect for human life?”

“It’s clear you do,” I counter. “Tell me why.”

He sighs. “My mother was taken from the stealers, not born on this island. She was a brilliant and kind woman, who loved humans even when she was turned into a d’vampire by my father before he mated her. She taught me to respect human life because we are not that different from them. I remember those ten years I had with her vividly. But Maddox never had that, she died within a year of his birth.”

That makes a lot of sense. Maddox only had a grieving family to bring him up.

“And your father? What was his opinion?”

He sighs. “Humans were food, end of. Maddox is more like my father than I am.”

I turn my head to the side slightly. “Can I ask how your mother died? And your father, the king?”

His hand tightens on the glass. “I’m sure if you ask anyone, they will tell you, so it might as well be me.” He pauses and takes another drink, this time his bottom lip is coated in red blood, which he licks away. “My father only ever wanted one heir, me, and that’s why he named me Reign, but my mother wanted more children. For vampires and d’vampires to become pregnant, they need a potion made by sirens and blessed by witches, and she took one—unknown to her, a witch had placed a curse on it. See, my father hid all the potions, making sure that he would need to be asked for a vampire to have a child and therefore always being in control of the vampires.”

“Can vampires or d’vampires not have children with humans?” I question when he leans back in his seat, pausing his explanation.

“No, that is impossible and never has happened as far as I am aware,” he explains. “Back to my story. The second Maddox was born, my mother got sick, the curse was simple and effective. A year of pain and suffering, which built up and took her mind in the end. The everlasting curse, it is called, and it attached itself to Maddox for him to bear one day, when he falls in love.”

“I don’t understand. Will the curse kill him like your mother?” I question with a frown.

“No, the witch who cast the curse claimed it would kill the woman he loves, and that’s why Maddox never lets anyone close. It is why you must choose to come here at the end of all this. Even if you have to lie and say you are in love with me,” he coldly tells me, his voice empty of emotion. “The curse will kill anyone who loves him if he loves them back. And no one should die the way my mother did. No one.”

I believe him.

“Is the witch dead?” I ask.

He smiles. “Yes.”

One word but, damn, it scares me down to my bones. I dread knowing what was done to her, but she clearly deserved it. We drift into dead silence, and another question burns into my mind.

“Why did the witch curse your mother and brother?”

Reign crosses his arms and looks out over the sea. “That, we have never known. The witch never said why she did it, no matter how much she was tortured. We never found a cure or a way to end the curse either. I will find a way, somehow.”

“You look for a cure?” I ask. “For your brother?”

Reign looks down at the table. “No one deserves the death my mother bore. No one, especially not my brother.”

I stare at him, realising for the first time that he loves his brother. They don’t hate each other, not one little bit. I gulp and drink some water just before someone knocks on the door. I jump in my seat, confused at who might be here when Reign made it clear he likes to be alone. Reign looks even more confused.

“Come in, whoever the fuck it is!” he bellows, his voice echoing around the room.

The door slides open, and even the footsteps of whoever it is sound bossy before a woman comes into view. She is in modern clothes, black tight trousers and a white silky top, with pretty impressive knee-high boots. Her black hair is braided on one side of her head and falls to just under her chin, and she is pretty.

The vampire kind of pretty.

“Why the fuck do you never answer your phone?” the woman asks, placing her hands on her hips, glaring at Reign. “You’ve made it clear not to come up here, and then you don’t answer? Like, what the fuck?”

“Katy, your reason for being here best be important,” Reign eventually replies, glaring right back at her.

“Two more of the demented kids popped up and killed three humans. We have them cornered in a house, but as usual, we need your help. I’m not letting any of our vamps go in there with them,” she states.

“Kids?” I ask as Reign looks even more pissed off. Katy turns her gaze to me, like this is the first time she noticed I was here.

“A human date, Reign?” Katy arches an eyebrow at me. “Unlike you, but alright.”

“This is Katherine Chathair, and she is the head of my royal guard who runs the island and keeps it safe,” Reign finally introduces me. “Katy, this is Riona, the human from the auctions I’m sure you’ve heard about.”

Reign gets up as Katy looks down at me. “I didn’t know she was blonde.”

“Does that matter?” Reign mutters. “Take me to the kids.”

“I’m coming too,” I say, climbing up off my seat and chasing after them. Reign picks up his keys off a glass side table and looks back at me, but Katy walks out of the door.

“No, this isn’t safe,” he tells me.

I snort. “Nothing on this island is safe, and I want to see what is going on.”

He shakes his head. “Fine. But only if you tell me something.”

“What?” I ask, crossing my arms.

“Did my brother get called away for anything odd while you were there?” he asks.

The memory of Maddox’s lips on mine flashes into my mind, including the interruption I was thankful for. “Yes, the night before I came here, he was called away to something. Another one of something that bit someone, and it burned them from the inside out.”

He nods with a grim look. “They keep coming.” Without waiting for me, he walks out of the house, and I jog to keep up with him. Outside, Katy is waiting by the Jeep, and the second Reign unlocks the car, she climbs into the passenger seat. Reign opens the back passenger door for me, and I climb in, doing my seat belt up as Reign gets in the Jeep himself. Seconds later, we are heading fast down through the forest, and I look up to see Katy staring at me, her bright blue eyes like cut diamonds in water.

“Why is the human here?”

Reign ignores her question. “Tell me about the children this time. Everything you know.”

“As usual, no one claims they are their children or has ever seen them before. The kids this time are a boy and girl. The boy looks about eight and the girl about ten. They both have modern human clothing on them, but vampire teeth and witch powers. Anyone they bite literally burns inside until they die or the kid drains them. They are as rabid as the other ones.”

“Other ones?” I echo in shock.

“There have been thirty of these children, who appeared all over the island in the last year. We don’t know where they are from or what they are,” he explains to me.

“You don’t kill them, do you?” I ask, remembering what Maddox said at the meal about not harming children. I know why he made it clear to me now. “I know Maddox doesn’t.”

“No one is allowed to harm the children or any children on this island under eighteen. It is a law we will kill vampires or humans alike over,” Reign firmly states. “These children are innocent and too young to be held accountable for their actions.”

“If they are wearing modern clothing, then they aren’t from the island. How are they getting here?” I ask.

Katy looks back at me with a little disgust but answers. “They appear out of nowhere, much like a witch can do. These children are controlling elements, like witches, but they don’t smell like witches. Their blood is like nothing we have seen.”

“Could they be half witch and half vampire?” I suggest.

“One: it is impossible to create such a being. Mixing our races has been tried before, and each time, the child has died before a year is up,” Reign explains to me. “Two: we have taken blood samples, and there are no vampire or witch blood cells. They are something new.”

“And evil. The kids aren’t right,” Katy adds in. “They brutally murder anyone in their way except for the royals, and they laugh about it. The children are demons, and I think—”

“Enough!” Reign growls. Katy glares at him but goes silent.

Demons?

“They don’t attack Reign or Maddox?” I gently ask.

“No, they listen to them,” Katy tells me. “It is strange.”

Not just strange, but honestly, terrifying.

Reign follows Katy’s directions through the empty streets of The Onyx, and I spend the time looking out my window, spotting the lights in the houses that are silent otherwise. News about the children must be out, that’s the only reason I know of as to why they are all hiding. But then again, I don’t know much about this island to begin with.

Why I care about Reign and Maddox’s problems is a box I’d rather not try to open anytime soon.

“Stay outside,” Reign very clearly tells Katy and me before slamming the brakes on. Katy closes her eyes and rests back in her seat as Reign climbs out the car. Ignoring his warning, because there is no way I’m staying in the car, I undo my seat belt and grab the door handle.

“That’s not a good idea, newbie,” Katy warns as I pull the handle. “Actually, no, go. The demon kids can kill you and stop the war you’re going to brew between the princes.”

“Nice to meet you too,” I mutter, rolling my eyes when she chuckles. I climb out the Jeep, my boots sticking to the stone floor, and I glance down, lifting my foot to see there is blood everywhere, dripping down between the stone. Swallowing the nausea in my throat, I walk around the Jeep and look up at the row of terrace houses. None of them has a single light on except for the house right in the middle, and the lights of the Jeep luminate the trail of blood going up the steps to the open front door. Cold air whips around me, the silence of the night eerie to say the least, and then Reign appears.

He isn’t alone.

Holding one of his hands is a little girl of about ten, and holding her hand is a boy who must be about eight.

And they are covered in blood. It is sticking to their clothes, dripping from their hair, and I can just make out their cute faces and bright, bright green eyes.

“No!” Reign roars as the girl lets go of his hand, and both the children kick him hard in the chest in the blink of an eye. Reign crashes through the house, and then the children are in front of me.

“Hello…,” I whisper, taking a step back, and they just move closer, looking up at me. “Can you speak?”

“Yes,” the girl states, a thick British accent coming through loud and clear. “And you are like us. Aren’t you? Did they send you here like us?”

“What—” I pause as Reign gets to my side and pushes me behind him. He looks back at me in confusion before turning to the kids.

“Why didn’t they hurt you?” he demands. “No one is safe from them except Maddox and me.”

“I-I…” My mumbled words don’t make Reign any happier. He doesn’t face me, keeping his eyes on the children like a switch might flip any second. “Did they actually speak to you? They have never spoken. None of the ones before.”

“Yes,” I carefully answer. Wow, the demon kids have only talked to me? Why the effing hell do they think I’m like them? “They are British, and they said someone sent them here. I can tell you that much.”

The girl looks at me in clear confusion, and she then turns to the boy. I would guess they are siblings from their similar features.

Reign shakes his head and looks around, seeing curtains flickering and lights turning on. “We should leave. Katy will drive you back home. I will take the kids to the others.”

Reign takes both of their hands, which they happily offer. Then they are all gone in a moment, moving in that incredibly fast way they do.

“Get in, newbie, and tell me how you did that!” Katy hollers from the car.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“A rlo, come on, it’s been three days,” I shout through the locked door. Arlo doesn’t reply, not that I expected him to. For whatever reason, he has locked himself in the bedroom and only comes out to grab food and water in the middle of the night, never speaking to me. Reign never came back after the incident with the children, but Katy came by to pass on the message that he will be away for a few nights. “This big mansion is boring on my own.”

Nope. Nada.

Sighing, I leave him to his moping, because I’m not sure what else I can do for him. The vampires messed him up, and clearly he isn’t coping with it very well. I think I’m the odd duck for being able to cope and wanting nothing more than to escape or kill the vampires who kidnapped me. When Arlo is off this island, he can heal, and Austin will help with that.

If Austin isn’t here.

I shiver, wrapping the blanket I found around my shoulders and heading back into the main area. It’s got the best views of the entire house, which I’ve explored and found isn’t as big as it looks. Other than two living rooms, three other bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms, this place is empty. There are two massive garages with only two cars in them. One is a black Jeep, and the other is a vintage red Jaguar in perfect condition by the looks of it. Like the entire house. Nothing is out of place unless I do it, and I’m bored out of my mind. Without planning it, I make my way to the garage and stop in front of the Jeep, seeing the keys in the ignition. I gnaw on my bottom lip for a moment, thinking of all the many ways this could go wrong before deciding to just do it. Reign said I wasn’t a prisoner, and I’m never going to escape this island by being trapped in this mansion like a damn princess.

No, I need to go into the town. Talk to people. Find out things the princes will never tell me. Maybe someone is already planning a way to escape the island. There must be a way. I clip my seat belt on and stare at the closed garage doors. Bugger. Undoing my seat belt, I quickly search around the edges of the garage door before finding a switch and pressing it. The garage door slides up, and I grin as I run back to the car. Climbing in once again, I do up my seat belt and turn the engine on after raising the seat a little bit. Once the garage door is fully open, I press down on the gas and get the hell out of here. It feels amazing to be driving, and the small amount of freedom brings a smile to my face. Clueless which way to go, I follow the road down through the forest and turn left at the end. The windy path is harder to navigate than I thought, and I only now realise Reign is a much better driver than he lets on. Strangely, I think under different circumstances, Reign might be a good person. The same can’t be said of his brother, who is always popping into my mind. Why I can’t stop thinking of his lips against mine, the way his hard chest felt under my hands…

How I felt in his arms.

“Dammit,” I mutter just as the engine cuts out on the Jeep, and I harshly slam on the brakes, jolting my whole body forward. I gasp, sliding back in the seat and rubbing my shoulder where the seat belt jabbed in. Turning the key, I try the engine, and all it gives me is a limping whine. “No, no, no, no.”

I try it a few more times, not wanting to accept my sheer dumb luck, before I look outside, just as it begins to snow. Fuck my life. At this point, the vampires should eat my stupid ass. I search the car and find a leather jacket two sizes too big and pull it on before leaving the stupid car and walking back the way I came. I don’t know how long I walk before I realise I’m lost, and the road drifts off into a dead end in the middle of the forest. Gritting my teeth against the falling snow, which has made my trousers and boots soaked and the leather jacket stick to me, I keep walking in the direction of the sound of the sea. If I can find a cliff, maybe I can trace my way back to the house and explain to Reign what happened to his car.

Kicking a stick across the ground, I wrap my arms around myself as I keep walking, the forest trees keeping some of the snow off me the deeper I head into it.

“Well, what is a girl like you doing out in the prince’s forest?” a man asks. Rather than feeling relief about someone else being here, I feel nothing but dread as I turn around to see two vamps a few feet away from me. They move silently, and I jar back a little bit. Dressed in camouflage clothes, one of them has a deer on his shoulder, its blood dripping down his clothes. Both of them have deeply tanned skin, bright hazel eyes, and muddy brown hair.

“I live with Prince Reign, and I’m lost. I’m sure he will thank you if you could direct me back to his home,” I answer, projecting as much confidence as I can into my voice.

They don’t answer for a long time, the only sound is the wind, and all I can smell is the deer’s blood mixing with the earthy scents of the forest.

“Do you think she is the blonde the princes are sharing?” one of them suggests.

I turn to the other. “Yeah, she must be. The princes could have any pussy on the island, why do they want to share this one?”

“Must be special,” the other answers, and a new fear starts to sink into me. They might do worse than just bite me. Oh god. Before they can even reply to each other, I turn and run on instinct. The vampires’ laughter is the only noise that follows me for a long time, and I know it’s because they could let me run for hours and still catch up to me within seconds.

It’s a game to them.

And I’m so fucked.

Swallowing down the fear, I focus on running and jumping over fallen logs, hoping that someone will come to save me. That they won’t get me.

But what feels like seconds later, I crash headfirst into one of the vamps, and I scream as I try to fight his grip as he wraps his arms around me.

“Let me go!” I scream over and over. He just laughs at me, like I’m nothing more than a toy, and roughly grabs my neck, turning it to the side. His teeth sink harshly into my neck, ripping my skin as he drinks from me. “No! Help! Please…please.”

Everything starts to fade, even as I feel the vamp ripping at my clothes, his hands running over my skin. Dark spots attack my vision, and I feel helpless. I feel alone.

Suddenly the vamp lets me go, and I collapse onto the floor, my legs feeling like jelly and unable to hold me up. Screams fill my ears, male screams and not my own.

And I laugh. I just keep laughing until my laugh turns into sobs.

“I prefer the laughing, if I must say,” Maddox claims, standing over me. He takes off his cloak and wraps me up, picking me up into his arms. The fear and loneliness drift away as I look at him.

I feel protected. Protected by the Mad Prince.

“How are you here?” I groggily question, feeling myself slipping away into the darkness, unable to hold myself awake much longer.

As I drift off, I swear I hear him reply to me.

“I could never force myself to be far from you. Damn my soul and yours.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

F or the third time, I wake up with blood in my mouth and feel tired before I’ve even opened my eyes. Sensing eyes on me, I turn my head to the side to see Arlo lying on his side, his big eyes watching me as I reach for my neck, feeling the torn skin is nothing more than scratches now with dried blood cracking as I touch it.

“Why did you run without me?”

Keeping my eyes on Arlo, I frown. “I didn’t run. I just went for a drive.”

“I can’t lose you. I’m sorry, I should have been there,” Arlo whispers, reaching over and cupping my cheek. I freeze for a second, unsure of what he is doing. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

“What the fuck were you doing out in the woods without my mark?” Reign all but shouts. Sitting up sharply, I watch Reign storm over to the bed and stand over me, his arms crossed. His tail flickers behind him in the air, looking as angry as he is.

“I went for a drive.” I pause. “And your car broke down. I wasn’t planning a stroll through the woods in the snow. Nor did I expect for two of your people to attack me or Maddox to save me. It just all happened.”

“You were so fucking lucky Maddox was there, or you’d be dead,” Reign growls. “I didn’t want to mark you so soon, but you can’t leave this house without protection or my mark. Do you understand?”

“I don’t want your mark,” I firmly state.

He narrows his eyes at my neck where his brother’s mark rests. “I see. Then I will hire a bodyguard to follow you when you leave. Same for you, Arlo, unless you will wear my mark.”

Lifting his trouser leg up, he shows Reign. “I am marked by you.”

Reign looks back my way and I turn to Arlo, pleading with my eyes alone. I don’t want another mark on me.

“The bodyguard will be better for us. We seemed to have attracted unwanted attention,” Arlo emotionlessly answers, and Reign nods, his lips falling into a grim line before he turns and starts to walk away.

“Wait!” I call after him. These damn vampires keep walking away from me all the time before I’ve gotten a word in edgeways. “What happened to the children? Are they alright? Has there been more?”

“Children?” Arlo asks, but I ignore him. He should have damn well answered his door when I tried to tell him what happened. Reign stops at the door and turns back, his eyes falling on me.

“They keep calling out a name. All of them, again and again, between eating, drinking and sleeping,” he tells me, dread leaking into my core. “Your name, Riona Dark. Why is that?”

“I have no idea,” I honestly tell him.

“The problem is, I believe you do not, and that worries me because someone knows why you’re here and why you can resist compulsion. Why these demonic children call for you and talk to you,” he replies, and if I weren’t scared before, I am now. “My brother and I have called a truce to find out where these children are coming from and what they have to do with you before they cause more havoc than they already have. Every inch of your personal and family history is being pulled up. We have even asked the stealers why they chose the beach party they stole you from, to make sure it was just a random choice.”

“And what did they say?” I ask.

His eyes narrow, anger seeping into his voice. “Not much before Maddox murdered them for talking about you. My brother will not have anyone speak of you, about you, or still breathe if they have touched you. He made that clear.”

I shiver as he slams the door behind him, and I lie back on the bed. Arlo wordlessly slides his hand into mine and locks our fingers.

“I’m not hiding anymore. I’m here for you, Ri-Ri.”

I roll onto my side and press my head onto his shoulder, something I used to do when we were young kids in the fields behind my house. That was before we became enemies because he cut all the hair off my Barbie dolls when I was six. We would sneak out at night and watch the stars. He, Austin and I would lie together for hours. “Good, because I need a friend.”

He doesn’t reply, leaning down and kissing the top of my head, but he is here for me, and that is enough.

“Hello, Princess Runaway.” Katy’s sarcastic voice makes me jump, and the glass of water I was holding slips out of my hand. Somehow she moves fast across the room, catching the glass just before it hits the ground, and smoothly stands up, offering me it. “Princess Clumsy is a better name perhaps.”

“My name is Riona, and thanks,” I reply, taking the glass. She grins at me. “Why are you here?”

“Aren’t you bossy, Miss Perfect?” she asks with another nickname. “I’m here because Reign asked me to babysit you.”

“You mean you’re the bodyguard?”

“Babysitter, but sure,” she answers around a yawn. “Where’s the fucked up friend Reign mentioned?”

“His name is Arlo, and don’t be a bitch,” I snap. She turns back, arching an eyebrow.

“I could kill you in a second,” she warns.

“But you won’t,” I reply with a smirk.

“Don’t you acclimate well to the situation you’ve found yourself in. How many times have you been bitten? How much vamp blood have they given you?” she questions, walking right up into my face. “Why aren’t you screaming and running away at the terror your life is sunk in right now?”

“Because Riona is the bravest woman I’ve ever known,” Arlo answers for me, walking into the kitchen.

“Being brave is stupid,” Katy replies, her eyes on Arlo. “You must be the recluse.”

“Arlo O’Dargan,” he introduces himself, his eyes drifting from me to her. “You are?”

“Katherine Chathair, but I like being called Katy. I’m a vamp and your new bodyguard. I’m moving in for now, and I will be a scream away. Don’t fucking leave without me, or I will personally gut you both myself and then heal you before doing it all over again,” she warns, knocking Arlo’s shoulder on purpose on her way out the door.

“She’s a bundle of kindness and light, isn’t she?” Arlo jokes, walking over to the fridge and opening it up. “Has Reign or any of the vamps heard of milk before?”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” I say, pulling a grim face. “No tea either. They basically live like savages.”

Arlo laughs with me and grabs an orange juice bottle instead. I watch him as he takes a long drink, his top riding up and clenching around his muscular arms.

Shaking my head, I ask, “Were you here when Maddox brought me back?”

Arlo frowns. I don’t even need to hear his answer to know he was now. “Yes. The vampire prince threw me down the stairs when I tried to get close to see you.”

“He did what?” I question with wide eyes.

“I’m fine.” Arlo waves it off. “I’ve been fed vamp blood for a long time, Riona, I think it’s changing me. I was knocked out by the fall, but I woke up fine. Not a bruise in sight.”

“I don’t think it’s safe for us to keep drinking their blood to heal,” I point out as the toaster dings, and my toast pops up.

“I’m not the one who keeps getting seriously hurt and needing it. I have no intention of drinking any unless I’m forced,” he tells me. I ignore his almost accusing voice and carry on the conversation.

“So Maddox, did he talk to Reign?”

“Yes, Reign came storming in the house and woke me up. When I told him about you, we both ran up to find Maddox sitting with you in his arms on the bed. He looked…” Arlo drifts off, and I see his hand tense. “Maddox is protective of you. Reign was shocked, more so when Maddox offered a truce to sort out the current problem involving you.”

“He offered Reign a truce?” I ask. “I thought Reign would have made a bargain with him, to be honest. Maddox doesn’t seem like the truce sort of man.”

“He isn’t a man, he is a monster, Riona,” Arlo snaps. “Don’t forget that because he saved your life. He would just as easily destroy it.”

“I know,” I admit, turning my back on Arlo and spreading butter over my toast. I won’t be forgetting monsters exist anytime soon. Even if they save my life and kiss me in a way that is unforgettable. “I’m going to walk around the house, see if I can find a TV anywhere.”

Arlo doesn’t reply as I bite into my toast and head out the kitchen door into a corridor. I check the first two rooms, finding nothing in them, and the third one down is a different door. It’s a steel door, and it takes me several pushes to get it open before I stumble in. The lights automatically go on, but they don’t need to, as on the floor is a glowing orb under a floor of glass.

The orb spins on its own, floating on nothing, and I stare at it, feeling strange. I don’t notice my feet walking to it or when I lean down, seeing my reflection in the glass. My eyes are glowing the same green as the orb, so brightly that I can’t look at myself for long.

For just a second, I swear my body glows a bright blue, and I stumble back, reaching for the door. I rush out of the room as quickly as I can, letting the heavy door slam shut behind me.

I just found one of the orbs, and I never want to go near it again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Why is he sitting on a horse, and why is there a horse with no rider?” I question no one in particular. Reign sighs, the noise drifting over to me from his chair. Arlo lifts himself off the bottom step and comes to take a look through the window at the Mad Prince. Despite the fact it is strange he is on a horse, he does look the part. His horse is pure black, matching his thick and high-necked cloak and black trousers. Heavy boots rest in the stirrups, and bits of snow blow around the handsome prince. He looks like the devil. All things you shouldn’t stare too long at but you can’t help yourself. No doubt feeling my eyes on him, Maddox turns my way, locks of his black hair flickering in front of his dark eyes. His lips tilt in an amused way, and he lifts his hand, curling his fingers towards him.

Damn if that isn’t sexy.

Arlo clears his throat, and I turn to him, seeing him searching my face before he wraps his arms around me, pulling me against him. “Be careful and keep your distance.”

“Are you going to be okay?” I ask him, hugging him back.

“I’ll be alive,” he whispers. “And that is down to you. I won’t ever forget that, and I need you back.”

“Here,” Reign interrupts, and I’m a little bit thankful for it, as Arlo choosing now to be serious isn’t the best idea. I turn to see Reign hand me my cloak, the red one Maddox gave me. He helps me slide it over my T-shirt and jeans, and I do up the buttons. Arlo opens the door, looking like he would rather be doing anything else. I try to give him a reassuring smile as I walk out and right up to the devil on a horse.

“Good morning, Riona. How is my violent little human?” he asks me, his voice thick with amusement. “I take it you haven’t stabbed anyone recently? I would hate to have missed that.”

“I’ve told you once before, Prince Maddox, if you wish to see me stab someone, give me something sharp that could kill you,” I counter.

He laughs and slides off his horse, taking a few steps towards me. “Your lack of respect is refreshing. I usually kill those who speak to me as you do, but for some reason, I like how you speak to me.”

His eyes drift over me when I don’t reply, and whatever he sees makes his smile drop, and he suddenly looks less than impressed. “Who is the human man who looks at you like you are his?”

“That’s Arlo, and he doesn’t—” I cut off as Maddox starts walking towards the house. I step in front of him, placing my hand on his chest, which makes him pause. His eyes trace my arm and up my neck, roaming across my face until he meets my eyes. “Don’t. Please.”

He stares at me for a long time, and my heart beats so fast through every second of it. I don’t expect him to listen to me, I don’t really even know why I stepped forward when it’s clear Maddox does what Maddox wants to do. So when he takes a step back and my hand falls, only for Maddox to catch it, I couldn’t be more surprised. He lifts my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss on my palm. “For you.”

Holy. Shit.

Maddox doesn’t let go of my hand, tugging me over to the grey horse with no rider. “The last time I rode a horse, I was ten.”

“Good, so you won’t fall off, seeing as you have learnt,” he replies, letting go of my hand.

“No, I didn’t mean—” I end my sentence on a squeal as Maddox picks me up by my waist and lifts me onto the horse. I slide into the saddle, not really having a choice unless I want to fall off the other side, and grab the reins. “Maddox, I am not a good rider. I don’t remember how to be!”

“Then the ride should be amusing to say the least,” the jackass replies, pulling my left foot into the stirrup and adjusting the length for me. I narrow my eyes at him, which only makes him laugh as he walks around the horse and adjusts the other stirrup before walking off to his own horse. He effortlessly jumps and lands on the horse’s back, grabbing the reins and clicking with his tongue. His horse instantly goes into a trot, and my horse follows suit without a word from me, and I hold onto the reins for dear life.

I don’t think I ever liked horse riding as a kid, but my mum taught me everything she possibly could from piano to riding to gymnastics. But my heart settled on art, and now I remember the reasoning for it.

Maddox clicks his tongue again, and his horse breaks out into a much faster gallop, and of course, my horse does the same. This time, I keep my head down, my hair whipping around in the air as we speed through the forest and down the roads. I lose track of time, even as my hands start to feel frozen to the reins, and my thighs burn from the ride. But not wanting to be a laughing stock, I hold on all the way until we get to the edge of the town where Maddox slows down. My horse slows down at his side as I hear music playing.

“Why are we here?” I ask with some nervousness. For all I know, this could be a mass murder party, and knowing Maddox, the chances are high that it is. Or something worse.

“I have to collect something here before we return home,” he answers as we get to the first row of houses. Anyone we pass immediately falls to their knees on the street, even the few human children I spot around. Maddox doesn’t even notice them, steering his horse through the streets and past a party. The party music is so loud, being played on several loudspeakers, that they don’t notice us. The humans are dancing in a tight group of at least a few hundred, and their laughter makes me smile for a second. Other than their dresses being so different from anything I’ve seen people wear, it is almost normal. I feel myself aching for that life I once had, where going to parties and dancing like this with Sophie until the sun came up was normal.

My horse comes to a halt, and I look over to see Maddox is jumping off his horse. He comes over to me and nods his head to tell me to get off before he pulls his hood up over his head.

“I can stay on and wait for you,” I suggest, because I’d rather sit here watching the party than join in collecting whatever he is here for.

“Off,” he instructs. I glare at him, which only makes his lips tilt up, and let him wrap his hands around my waist and pull me off the horse. He purposely slides my body down his, making me feel every hard inch of him, then lifts my hood up, tucking a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear. My cheeks are bright red as he gives me a devilish grin and takes my hand in his, tugging me along with him. I jog a little to keep up with his long strides all the way into the crowd of humans, and I shortly realize there are a few vamps in the crowd, dancing with each other or humans as we pass them. All the air leaves my lungs as Maddox wordlessly pulls my body against his and cups the back of my neck, arching my head up so he can look at me.

“What are you doing, Maddox?” I all but breathe out. My heart pounds as I stare at him, noticing how inhumanly beautiful he is. His soft black locks of hair float just above his shoulders, the silver rings and red small crystals catching the light, and his eyes are so strange, but there is no other word for them except enchanting. The red and black mix together like a hurricane meeting land, and yes, he might be the most insane person I’ve ever met, but I will admit to myself that he is hard not to think about. Not to stare at. Not to notice how good he smells, a mixture of cedarwood and almost cinnamon-like smell. It reminds me of home, of my mum’s cooking.

In Maddox’s arms, as he forces us to dance like two lovers, I feel safe.

And that is more frightening than anything on this island.

“Maddox…what are you doing?”

I repeat my question, needing to know his answer. His hips move in time to the beat, and his hands move my body along with his. Damn, he can dance.

“I am not sure,” he answers, breathing the words into my ear. “But I will never regret this moment with you.”

“But I might,” I whisper back.

He laughs, the deep throaty laugh making me shiver. “Dance with the monster, Riona. Just dance.”

And goddamn my sinful soul, I do. Pushing all thoughts aside about how wrong this is, I wrap my arms around his neck, his soft hair brushing my wrists, and I let him control the dance, our bodies plastered together. We fit. So perfectly, so naturally, and it feels so good to be this close to him. I close my eyes and move closer, resting my head against his shoulder, and his hand circles my waist under my cloak, his fingers brushing against my bare skin, making my skin break out in goose bumps. If anyone knows it is the prince, they don’t seem to care; they are all lost in themselves and their partners, in the music, in the dance. I watch them for a long time in Maddox’s arms, and I realize they are happier than I thought they might be. Yes, they are trapped and used as food, but their spirit is not broken.

“We must go,” Maddox reluctantly tells me as a song comes to an end, and he pulls away from me, his expression turning cold again. “Come.”

“What are you getting?” I ask once we are out of the dancers, and I try to pretend none of that happened even as every bit of where Maddox touched me is burned into my memory. Of course, he doesn’t answer as we head down street after street and around tiny corners, under archways, and finally come to a stop in front of four houses with their own little gardens around them. Maddox pushes the white picket fence gate open and walks down the path towards the house, but before he can get to the steps leading up, the door opens and a man walks out.

“This will get you what you wish, Prince Maddox. I do hope you keep up your end of the bargain,” the man coldly states, and in front of Maddox’s feet, a tiny red box appears.

Maddox picks the box up, sliding it into his pocket and turning around, walking away without saying a word, dragging me along by my hand. “Maddox, what was that? Is it to do with the children?”

Maddox shakes his head, pulling me into a nearby alleyway, pushing me against the wall with his body. “Careful what you say in public about that subject. Too many ears are listening.”

“Then tell me what was in the box,” I counter.

He leans closer. “Are you bribing me?”

“Trying to. Is it not clear?” I sarcastically reply.

His laugh almost, almost, makes me laugh with him. My lips pull up though, even when I can’t stop it. “For that little move, I am going to make us ride back up the mountain instead of taking the carriage. Don’t think you have any power over me, little human. I am always going to be the prince, and you will always be the human.”

He lets me go, roughly taking my hand and dragging me through the streets. I try to fight his grip, but it’s impossible, and all I do is hurt my own hand when he won’t let go. “You’re a bastard!”

He laughs. “I know.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“A h, oui, madame, I missed you this week,” Hector claims when I walk into the kitchen, my legs still sore from the hours of horse riding up the frigging mountain yesterday. I barely remember walking into the castle or finding my way to my bed. After a warm shower this morning, I feel a little bit better, but I’m still pissed. Hector slides a cup of tea and a plate of pancakes with fruit over to me. “Make you smile, oui?”

“You’re too good to be working for Maddox,” I tell Hector, and he winks at me before going back to cooking.

“You should eat with me,” Maddox says as an introduction as he walks in the room, Cross at his side. Cross softly smiles at me, and I vaguely remember saying hello to him yesterday and him handing me a hot water bottle to take to bed. “This is the kitchens.”

“Maybe I prefer to eat alone and not with the man who forced me to ride up a mountain yesterday,” I reply, cutting up my pancake. I place a bit on my fork, and Maddox steals the fork from my hand, shoving the pancake in his mouth before handing me it back. “You’re an asshole.”

Cross coughs, hiding a laugh, and Maddox shrugs his shoulders as he sits, chewing his food. I cut my pancake up one more time, and he lets me eat it, making sure to watch me the entire time.

“We are going out for the day,” Maddox claims.

“No,” I answer, putting my fork down. “What makes you think I want to go anywhere with you?”

“What makes you think you have a choice?” he counters right back and slides off his seat. “Hector, make us lunch to go with whatever Riona likes and my usual.” He turns his eyes back to me. “Be downstairs in twenty minutes.”

“Have you heard of saying please?” I call out, even though he has used his vampire speed to leave and is likely too far away to hear me. Rolling my eyes, I turn back to my pancakes and eat them, feeling Cross staring at me from across the room.

“What is it?” I ask him, turning around on my seat. Cross has a notebook in his hands, and he is writing in it, but his eyes swiftly turn up to me.

He smiles, but it’s a tense smile at best. “Nothing for you to worry about. Perhaps you should get down to Maddox. He isn’t a patient man.”

“I think everyone on The Onyx knows that,” I point out, sliding off my seat. Hector pushes a picnic basket over to me, and I pick it up. “Thank you for breakfast and this. See you both later.”

“Have fun, madame,” Hector calls to me as I leave the room. Hearing Cross walk across to Hector, I pause by the door for a second, out of sight.

“Do you think she can be trusted?” Cross asks.

Hector instantly replies. “The only part of that girl I don’t trust is Maddox’s obsession with her and how clueless she is.”

“I doubt it is more than lust. Once it plays out, he will forget about her,” Cross replies. “The sooner the better for what we have planned.”

What the hell are they planning? And why does it have anything to do with me?

Hearing Cross move across the room, I quickly run down the corridor, something in the basket making a noise as I run, no doubt giving me away. Knowing I need to watch my back in this place, I make a mental note to dig for information on Cross and Hector, and what they could be planning. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that, but I will figure it out like everything else. Maddox is waiting outside the castle, next to a horse and carriage this time. He gives me one of those terrifying but sexy as sin smiles as he opens the door to the carriage and waves me in. I shove the basket into his chest, ignoring his outstretched hand, and climb into the carriage, sitting on one side. Maddox chuckles as he climbs in after me and places the basket on one side before sitting right next to me, his whole body pressed into my side.

The carriage takes off a few minutes after a man shuts the door, and I rest back, watching out the window at the red snow trickling down the mountain.

“Can vampires feel the cold?” I question. “I know you feel hot to touch, but do you feel that?”

“We feel everything humans do,” he answers. “Cold, hot, pleasure, and everything you can think of.”

He purrs the word pleasure.

I roll my eyes and cross my arms, which only makes me brush against him further. “What did my boring as fuck brother do with you the entire week?”

My lips twitch. “Nothing much other than saving my brother’s best friend and earning my respect.”

“Reign is always the saviour, and I am the snake,” he replies, and for a second I want to tell him he doesn’t have to be the bad guy all of the time. He could change. But then I think better of it, remembering vividly all those I’ve seen him kill. “This Arlo, is he your friend or your brother’s?”

“Both. We all grew up together,” I tell him. “And if you kill him, I will find a way to kill you.”

He looks down at me, a dangerous glint in his eye. “Don’t say things like that, my violent little human. You make it sound like a challenge. And I love a challenge.”

“Just don’t, Maddox,” I warn him.

“I find it amusing how you think you have power over me,” he replies with a cool laugh, and he looks away. My cheeks burn as I glare out the window at the mountain like it is the reason Maddox is such a dick. Of course, it isn’t, and I rest my head back as the carriage takes us down the mountain and through the forest. We stop suddenly, and Maddox kicks the door open, climbing out with the basket and offering me his hand once again. I laugh, pushing his hand away and jumping out on my own. My black jeans and light pink T-shirt do little against the cold of the air, and I almost wish I had the red cloak Maddox gave me.

“This way,” he instructs, pointing at a bunch of bushes and trees in the distance.

“Where are we?” I question as I walk alongside him. I don’t see where else I could go at this point.

“I found this place when I was a kid. I used to run through the forests a lot to escape my father and brother,” he tells me, his voice void of emotion. “I don’t know why, but I wanted to show you this place.”

“Like a date?” I question.

He gives me a malicious grin. “Ah, you’ve seen through my master plan. Now I have you all alone. All mine.”

I don’t respond to that as we get to the bushes and he climbs through. I follow, a few sticks and leaves sticking to my hair and scratching my skin, until we come out on a small beach. The sound of the waves must’ve been hidden by the thick trees surrounding the beach, as I never heard it. I would never have guessed this was here.

Thick waves brush against the nearly white sand, and it’s warm, oddly so when it was cold a second ago.

“How is it warm here?” I ask.

“This island was created by magic. This place is always warm, and the sea is as well, up to a point,” he explains to me, but his eyes stay on my face, watching me so intently. “Can you see why I like it here?”

“Do you bring every girl you’ve wanted here? I can see how it would charm them,” I counter. “But not me. A beach won’t make me forget who you are.”

He brushes off my comment. “No one knows of this place but you and me. Oh, and I guess the driver I compel, but he forgets everything I say after an hour.”

I meet his gaze, feeling the truth in his words. “I have nothing to swim in.”

His eyes burn with something else, a desire I’ve seen more than once there. “I like to swim without clothes. You are welcome to do the same.”

“No, thank you,” I mutter, walking onto the beach and away from the very, very tempting prince. I eye lots of seashells as I walk along, and I lean down, picking up a curved one before sitting down. Maddox sits next to me, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the sun. His golden skin looks almost luminous under the light, and it’s stunning, but another sharp reminder of who he is. “Reign told me about your mother and father, and the orbs. He told me about the children, and you must know they talked to me.”

“I do not like that my brother took you to them. They could have killed you, and it was reckless of him,” Maddox replies. “You are human, and he forgets it.”

“I’m sorry about your parents, Maddox,” I say, getting to my point. “And I might be human, but I am never safe on this island. I won’t stay locked in a room.”

“My mother did just that after I was born. The curse took almost a year to kill her, and she never left the room, worried somehow that the curse would affect my father or brother…or me. We only found out what actually happened and what the curse was many years later,” he answers, and I hurt for him. “I can’t remember her, but Reign and my father told me of her beauty, stories of her kindness, and I wish I had met her.”

This is a new side of Maddox. One I didn’t know he had. “Reign told me he looks like his mother, and you follow your father.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Maybe in personality, yes. My father taught me my place in the world.”

“So he made you cruel?” I question. Maddox turns towards me, swiftly moving with one jump and landing on top of me, pushing me back into the sand. My heart pounds as he looks down at me and very slowly brushes his body against mine. His knee forcibly parts my legs and pushes against my core, making me gasp as sparks of pleasure fly through me.

“I can be cruel,” he softly speaks, leaning down closer. I stay still, not fighting him, not even sure what I am doing. All I know is I shouldn’t be under him, and I certainly shouldn’t be feeling any of the things I am. “But.” He pauses, his minty breath blowing across my lips. “I can be yours.”

“I will never be yours, Maddox.”

His lips press against mine. “We will see about that.”

Then he pushes his lips harder against mine, his tongue sinking into my mouth and swirling with my own. Pleasure blasts through my body as he presses his knee harder against my core, controlling my mouth with every single movement. His hand slides down my chest, cupping my breast over my top and brushing his thumb against my hard nipple. Before I can stop myself, my toes curl in my shoes, and I crash into an incredible orgasm as I’ve never felt before, tightening around nothing and crying out against Maddox’s lips. Waves of pleasure don’t stop for a while as Maddox slows down the kiss and pulls me up onto his lap. He cups my cheek with his hand, gripping my hip with the other.

“You will be mine. That was only the start, Riona Dark.”

In a daze, I can only stare, wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I just let a literal monster get me off, and all I can think about is how I want him to do it again. How I want him buried inside of me.

I shake my head and quickly climb off his lap, stumbling backwards, and he laughs as I walk away to the sea, needing some space. The sea only seems to judge me as much as I am.

I’m addicted to a monster’s touch, and what exactly does that say about me?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Stupid betraying body.

Silly hormones that don’t understand that hot guy is a vampire who kills people for sport and food.

I grab another set of weeds and pull on it hard, tugging the roots from the ground like I wish I could tug feelings from my chest. I’ve spent years in college and all that time in high school dating idiot boys and never letting them have more than a kiss because I wanted something special. Sophie could never understand it, and honestly, at high school, it was easier because Austin scared half the guys into never pushing it with me. College, there was so much opportunity, but I buried myself in work and lived for Sophie’s stories of guys rather than experience it myself.

Then I’m forced out of my comfort zone into a world of vampires, blood and pain. And this is the point I choose to lower my guard to a sexy vampire prince who has no morals and is more dangerous than I could possibly imagine?

He has literally murdered people in front me, and yet my body still lights up like a Christmas tree the second he walks into the room. The betrayer.

“If you rip those weeds out any harder, you might end up pulling the whole bed up,” Cross warns me as he comes into the conservatory. I sigh, dropping the weeds into the wheelbarrow, and wipe a layer of sweat off my forehead.

“Morning,” I reply, standing up and turning around.

“Prince Maddox wanted you to join him for breakfast,” he tells me, explaining the reason he is here.

I huff. “Tell him I’m not hungry, thank you, and I want to get this section done today.”

Cross sighs. “You really want me to be punched today, don’t you?”

“Tough luck,” I answer, turning around and getting back to work. I dig my hands into some weeds as Cross comes over and sits on the edge of the water fountain near where I’m working. He watches me silently for a long time until I can’t take the weirdness of the situation much longer.

“Do you want to leave this island?” I ask him.

He nods once, clearing his throat. “That is a subject we shouldn’t speak on in a castle with many ears.”

“If you’re going to stay here with me, you need to talk about something. The silence is just…well, I don’t like it,” I tell him, “unless I’m alone, but even then I would have music on back home or at uni.”

“What is your favourite music?” he enquires.

“I like a bit of everything, but my heart lies in indie pop,” I explain, chucking the weeds in the wheelbarrow and grabbing another one. “What about you?”

“I like a bit of rock, if I’m being honest,” he replies with a deep chuckle. “I should tell you there is a guest coming tonight for dinner. A witch I’ve not met or heard of before. Maddox doesn’t invite any strangers into his home unless he plans to kill them, and he won’t kill a witch because it might break the truce.”

“There is a truce?” I question.

He picks at the cotton shirt he has on. “Yes. The witches and sirens made a truce after the vampire queen passed and everyone found out what had happened. They all worked together to try to find the witch who made the curse, but no one could find her for a long time. Then she just appeared, like a gift and none of us knew who sent her. She was destroyed, but they still meet every month for dinner, the one you attended, and keep the truce for their people.”

“So why is this witch coming here then?” I ask.

“I am unsure, but I know Maddox has a dress on its way for you,” he answers. “I thought you might like to be aware in advance.”

“Thanks,” I tell him as he stands up. He pauses, looking down at me. “Don’t give up hope, Riona. I believe our fate is not on this island.”

“You believe in fate?” I ask.

“Do you not?” he counters.

“No, I believe we all make our own way in life, and even though I’ve seen magic is real, I struggle to believe there is some higher power guiding our lives and there is nothing we can do about it,” I say.

He stares at me strangely for a second before walking away, leaving me in the cold greenhouse once more. I spend the next few hours ripping out all the weeds and using the cutters to sort out the edges of the plant, which I’m not sure what it even is. Now it will have a chance to grow at least. I grab the broom and tidy up around the bed, proud of myself for having one-quarter of this place done already.

My stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten or had anything but a glass of water since I woke up. Knowing I can’t avoid the whole castle, I head up to the kitchen, seeing no one on the way. Hector isn’t in here, but there is a plate covered in foil with a note on top with my name on it. I unpeel the foil to find jam and peanut butter sandwiches and some strawberries and a banana. I quickly eat the food, not realizing how hungry I was until I take the first bite. When I’m done, I find a bottle of water and clean my plate before going back into the corridor.

Walking to the bottom of the steps, I look at the doors to Maddox’s rooms, and I start walking towards them without giving myself a reason why. The two reception rooms are empty other than the roaring fires in the fireplace and little else. Slowly I walk through into the corridor, past Maddox’s closed bedroom doors and to the room with the paintings. Walking up the winding staircase to the top, I expect Maddox or Cross to find me, but the castle is silent. The floor creaks as I walk up into the dimly lit room full of canvases in piles and dozens of them on easels. But right in the middle of the room is a plain canvas on an easel, and written on it is:

For you, Riona.

My cheeks burn in the cold room, and I sigh, looking at the canvas and wishing that I could accept the gift, but it came from him. I try to ignore the gift and look around at the paintings. Most of them are abstract and plastered with red, white and black paint. I drift around the room, wondering what he was painting, fearing what the red in most of them actually is, until I come across a painting in the corner under a spotlight built into the roof. It’s a blonde woman from the neck up, lying on a red blanket, and she is looking away at something in the distance. I recognize the woman’s slanted nose, the bow-shaped lips and dimpled cheeks. I recognize every inch of the woman because she is me.

And Maddox has made me look beautiful in a way I know I am not. If he sees me like this, no wonder he kissed me. In the painting, I am flawless and almost glowing, and I spend what seems like a long time staring before I force myself to look away and suck in a deep breath to calm myself down.

If I didn’t know better, I would bet Maddox is after more than sex from me, because of this painting alone. But I do know better, and I have to remember he is a monster.

And monsters can’t love. Right?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

He is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

And he looks like the devil. The hottest devil I’ve ever seen, but still. Prince Maddox, aka the Mad Prince, is in a black designer tux that is well-fitted. The suit looks like it was made to shape the body of a god, and boy, does Maddox wear it well. His long black hair is straighter than usual, and the crystals all look as exotic as always. Maddox’s eyes drift up and down my body in the tight red dress he clearly had made for me. The red dress is simple enough, a princess shape falling to my feet from a sweetheart neckline, but it has a slit all the way up my leg, making the dress and me far more revealing. When I get to the bottom of the steps, right in front of him, he meets my eyes.

“There is no one as beautiful as you in this moment, Ria.”

My breath halts, even as I force myself not to react, force myself not to show how I think that is the best thing anyone has ever said to me. I don’t know what his game is, or if it is just desire, but he is clipping away at my heart, and I don’t like it.

I turn away and walk around him, even when I sense he doesn’t like it. “Who is here tonight then?”

Maddox storms past me, not answering, slamming his shoes onto the tiles with every step, and I sigh. I’ve well and truly pissed him off now. This dinner is going to be fantastic, I can just tell. I struggle to keep up with Maddox on his mission down the corridor, and he pushes the doors open, heading inside the dining room and letting them swing shut on me. I push them open and head inside to see a woman standing by her chair. And the woman is definitely a witch, the markings on her face and arms a clear indication. They aren’t black like Sabina’s were, these ones are yellow almost.

“And you are?” the woman asks, a slightly American twang to her voice. Almost southern, possibly Texas.

“Riona Dark, this is Gillian Brack of the Crow clan of witches,” Maddox introduces us. “And perhaps we all sit down as not to be rude guests.”

“Careful, Prince, I am here only to make a trade and not as your friend like my sister clan leader is,” Gillian warns him, and he arches an eyebrow at her. They both stare each other down, and I get the sneaking suspicion Maddox might snap at any moment, and it’s kind of my fault for being a bitch to him earlier. I clear my throat and walk past Maddox, gently placing my hand on his shoulder as I pass. He turns from Gillian, watching me instead as I sit down, and I gently smile at him.

“So how many clans do the witches have?” I ask as Hector and two human guys I have never seen around the castle come into the room. They place plates down in front of us all and fill our drinks. Well, I have water and so does Gillian. Maddox, of course, chooses something a little more red. “I’m sorry if that’s rude to ask. I’m just new to…well, everything magical.”

Gillian crosses her hands in front of her. “I do not mind. There are five clans, four are in alliance with each other and follow one leader. I believe you have met her. My clan is separate for many reasons, and I lead them.”

“What are the reasons?” I question, well aware I’m being more than nosy at this point.

Gillian tensely smiles, her eyes drifting to Maddox in what I think is slight fear. “My mother, the previous clan leader, did something terrible and cruel. We pay her price.”

It was her mother who cursed Maddox’s mum.

What the hell is she doing here? I turn to Maddox, who is sitting sidewards on his chair, his legs kicked off the side with a zero fucks attitude on his face. I don’t believe it though.

I tuck into my food, knowing at some point, this night is going to go bad, and I want to have at least eaten the steak and potatoes for Hector’s sake. Gillian eats with me, but Maddox sits in his chair, drinking his blood and staring at nothing on the wall behind me.

“Tell me, do you enjoy your new life on the island?” Gillian asks when she finishes her plate.

Well, other than getting an epic orgasm from an insane prince, it’s been pretty shit. I don’t say that, mainly because she might think I’m as mad as Maddox. “Yes, but I miss some of my hobbies. Like playing the violin or painting. But I’m learning to be a good gardener.”

“Will you play for me?” Gillian questions and holds her hands out. Smoke appears all over her hands in the shape of a violin case, and then it’s suddenly there. My eyes widen, and I reach out, touching the case to see if it is real, and it is. “I would very much like to hear you play. Don’t you agree, Prince Maddox?”

I look down at him, expecting anything but the answer he gives. “Yes.”

Damn, I’ve got to stop expecting the worst from the Mad Prince. I take the violin case from Gillian and set it down on the table in a spot clear of dishes. Undoing the zip, I find a beautiful dark wood violin and bow inside. I pick them both up and step away from the table a little before resting the violin on my shoulder, holding it with my chin. I lift the bow and close my eyes, thinking of a song I’ve always loved called “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels. Kinda fitting for this situation. I slowly play the notes, the music taking me away and making me feel like I’m not actually here. I’m just back in uni, playing in my room or at practice. It’s just me and the violin, the music, the song that makes me relax in a way I haven’t ever felt before. The song speeds up and then is over too soon, and I lower the violin, tears in my eyes as I look at Maddox, needing to see his reaction.

And he looks…amazed. Maybe even more than I hoped he would be.

“You are truly talented, Riona!” Gillian tells me, clapping her hands, but I stay looking at Maddox as his lips part a little. His eyes burn with a desire that almost makes me want to close the space between us and kiss him.

He watches me, his eyes feeling like they are burning a hole through my head as I sit back down and place the violin carefully in the case. When I close it, I try to offer it back to Gillian, but she shakes her head. “It is a gift. Your talent should not go unpractised. I hope to hear you play once more in the future.”

“I would love to play for you again. Thank you,” I tell her with a real smile.

Then Maddox ruins it.

He wipes an arm across the table, spilling drinks and food onto the floor in a massive crash, parts of food splashing onto my dress. I sigh and cross my arms as Maddox pulls out the small red box that he got the day we danced together, and places it in the middle of the cleared table. Gillian stares at it as Maddox opens the box, and inside is a gold ring with a clear blue crystal in the middle. I might not be a witch or vampire or siren, but I know something is weird about that ring.

“I almost did not believe it was true!” Gillian exclaims, her eyes staring at it with nothing but longing. “This was lost so long ago to us, I assumed the ocean had washed it away.”

“Nothing lost cannot be found,” Maddox smoothly replies and snaps the box shut. He makes a show of leaving the box on the table and looking at Gillian. “Now do we have a trade?”

“I want ten human virgins of good stock and one other thing,” Gillian replies.

“What on earth would you want ten humans for?” I blurt out and turn to Maddox, who looks at Gillian, no doubt ignoring me. “You can’t give her ten of your people.”

“Vampires are his people, sweet girl, humans are not,” Gillian replies, and I glare at her. For a moment, I liked this crazy bitch, but it turns out she is just as insane and heartless as the rest of them.

Maddox sighs. “What is this extra thing you wish for? I only agreed to the ring and humans.”

Gillian smiles, her eyes flickering between the ring and me. “If you wish for me to tell you the whereabouts of the orb and an answer to what the demonic children are and where they are from, I want Riona to come with me.”

“No. Fucking. Way.” Maddox’s answer comes swiftly, and his tone is without argument.

My cheeks burn at the possessive and protective way Maddox looks at me for a moment, and we both stare at each other.

“I see,” Gillian coldly replies, distaste thick in her voice. “Then we will have no deal.”

Despite what she says, her eyes flicker to the ring with clear longing. Maddox picks the box up and pulls the ring out as he stands. He moves to the back of my chair, grabs my hand, and slides the ring over my index finger. It fits perfectly, and I bite back the urge to pull my hand away. Maddox looks down at me as Gillian stands up, pushing her chair over as she does. “Do you like your new gift? I’ve heard it’s priceless and one of a kind.”

“Maddox,” I carefully warn him. He might be able to escape a witch’s attack, but I’m a sitting target with this ring on, and he damn well knows it. Plus, the ring just gives me the creeps.

“Our clan is not one to be messed with, Prince Maddox. I knew coming here to trade with you would be a mistake,” she hisses out.

He lets my hand go but stays put at my back. His laugh fills the room. “The only mistake you made was believing I would trade what is mine.”

“I shall leave,” Gillian claims, and she looks directly at me. For a second, nothing happens, and then a screeching noise fills my head. I cry out, slamming my hands on my ears, closing my eyes. When I open them, the room is frozen. The first thing I notice is the flames of the tealight candles are still, and then I glance up at Maddox, seeing he is frozen, his mouth open to shout.

“What did you do?” I ask Gillian, knowing it was her. Her body is frozen, but her lips move as she speaks. It’s seriously creepy.

“When you leave his side, and you will, come to my clan. We will tell you the truth of your parents and who they really are. I will teach you what is in your blood and how to control what will come,” she promises, speaking like we are dear friends and I should believe her. “The vampire prince will not last the years to come; he is weak at heart, and you are not. Leave soon and find us.”

The screeching noise suddenly comes back, and I scream once more, even as it drifts away, and I find myself in Maddox’s arms. I gasp, a small sob coming out of my lips as I lower my hands and see my blood coating my fingers.

As my hands start to shake, Maddox pulls me to his chest, tucking my head under his chin. In the arms of a monster, I feel protected and safe.

And my soul is damned.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“L ong day, madame?” Hector asks as I walk into the kitchen, soil stuck to my clothes and hands. I shrug and head to the sink, washing my hands as my stomach grumbles.

“I finished two more parts today. I’m slowly getting ready to ask for more plants to build up the areas I’ve cleaned up,” I answer. “What about you? Busy?”

His expression changes for a brief second. “The prince has not been in the best of moods today. I’ve kept myself busy by staying out of the way, and I suggest you do the same, madame.”

“Why is he moody?” I ask, wondering if it was because of the meal last night. I know he was pissed off, but he carried me back to my room and said goodnight. He seemed…strange but not moody. Not moody enough to have clearly freaked Hector out. “And is Cross hiding? The girls?”

“Cross was sent to the town today for supplies,” Hector answers. “As for the girls, I believe you are the only girl in this castle alive at the present second.”

“What?” I blurt out. Before Hector can stop me, I run out of the room and head down the stairs and into the living area, freezing at the sight in front of me. Blood coats the floor like water, sticking to every inch, and dotted around are bodies. I count five before I have to turn away, sickness rising in my throat.

“Ah, you’re here!” Maddox shouts, sounding drunk. Swallowing the sickness in my throat, hating that I’m somewhat getting used to seeing dead bodies and blood, I face the Mad Prince. He is shirtless, wearing only tight black leather trousers, and blood is smeared all over his chest.

He lifts a bottle of wine, toasting me almost and taking a deep sip. “Want some? I’m afraid there might be a little blood in it, but I find it adds to the taste.”

“Why? Why, Maddox?” I ask, waving at a few of the dead bodies. I don’t recognise a lot of them, but two of the girls I do. I have to look away, even as tears prick my eyes.

Maddox doesn’t answer as he stumbles over to me, frowning. “You look upset.”

“Maddox, I am upset!” I all but scream, slamming my hands against his chest, not caring about the blood that marks me. “You killed these innocent people! Why? Why would you do that?”

He smiles at me as I hit his chest, again and again, burning out all the anger and frustration I can possibly feel towards him and myself for ever liking him. For getting close to a monster that will never change.

Eventually, I give up, stumbling back and staring at him. He shrugs and takes a deep drink before throwing the bottle across the room where it smashes into pieces, making me jump. “I kill because that’s what I do. Do you think because I kissed you and made you come you could change me?”

He keeps walking closer, and I stand my ground, refusing to cower. “You could be a good man; you choose not to be, Maddox.”

“I think you have me confused with someone else, Riona,” he states and tips my chin up with his blood-covered hand. “I am not good, I am not a man, I am a vampire. I am a monster, and I take what I want, when I want it.”

Before I can tell him how messed up that is, he kisses me. His wine tasting lips move across my own with pounding desire and lust, making it impossible to think straight. He picks me up, spreading my legs around his waist, and then we are moving. I gasp at the sudden pounding of air against my body before Maddox drops me onto his bed.

“Maddox…,” I warn him as he leans down and grabs my dress. I might hate the dress, but I suddenly miss it when he rips the dress off me in one smooth movement. Only in a bra and panties, none of which are sexy, he stares down at me in a way I didn’t expect.

“You are so beautiful,” Maddox breathes out. “You were made for me, I am certain of it.”

“I told you once before, you don’t get to have me,” I breathlessly reply, even as my body all but begs me to shut the hell up.

He smirks as he climbs over me on the bed, pressing his body into mine on purpose. “And I know you were only hoping I wouldn’t take you, but we both know you want this. We both know I will take you as you are mine.”

The second the word mine leaves his lips, he kisses me harshly, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and grazing his teeth across it. My body comes to life under his, betraying my every thought, even as I’m aware this is so wrong. But he feels so good on top of me, his body pressing into mine, his lips devouring my mouth. Those lips begin to move down my body, and he unclips my bra, pulling it off me. His hand cups my breast, and I gasp into his mouth as he flicks his thumb across my nipple. He takes my nipple into his mouth, grazing his teeth roughly against the hard tip. I moan despite myself, and I feel his smug grin as he kisses his way down my stomach with more urgency.

“Maddox, we shouldn’t—” my breathless warning escapes my lips as he presses a kiss to my core over my panties, and then he hooks his fingers into them. Ever so slowly, like he is unwrapping a damn present, he pulls them down my thighs and my legs. He stares down at me, his eyes fixed on my core, and then he dives in, parting my thighs with his large hands. The world feels like it spins at the first touch of his hot tongue against my clit, waves of pleasure crashing into me. His tongue licks up and down my clit, twirling around as he holds me in place with his hands on my thighs. The sensation is too much, too powerful, and I can’t stop myself crashing into an orgasm that he controls with every movement. My body is shaking with pleasure as I hear him undo his trousers and push them off. Our eyes meet for a second and I get the impression my monster of a prince is waiting for me to run away. To walk away while I have the chance. But I can’t. I’m swimming in hell and he is the only devil I want to save me. I only get a chance to see his large and thick cock before he is climbing on top of me and pushing at my entrance.

He looks down at me the entire time he slowly inches inside of me. Maddox looks in heaven. In pure pleasure, and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. He cups the back of my head and presses his lips to mine just before he slams all the way into me, and I cry out from the sharp pain. He groans against my lips, a masculine groan of pleasure, and I gasp, trying to calm down from the pain. He doesn’t move, letting me get used to the feeling of him stretching me, filling me.

“Fuck, you are too perfect,” he groans against my lips, and he pulls out of me, pushing all the way back inside, but the pain slowly drifts away as he picks up speed, and pleasure takes over. Maddox slams into me again and again, pounding into me like he wants me to never forget him, and I know I never will. His lips descend on mine again as I start to feel myself tipping over the edge of another orgasm, every thrust of his cock pushing me closer to the edge.

“Come for me, I need you, Riona,” he whispers against my lips. And that’s it.

“Maddox!” I cry out his name as I come hard around his cock, tightening around him and feeling him spill his come inside of me, a pure groan of pleasure escaping his lips.

He stays inside of me for a while, staring at me in a way I can only think is shock as we both get our breath back. When he pulls out of me, I already miss him, and I hate myself for it. I grab the blanket and pull it around myself as Maddox lies back on the bed.

“Do you have any morality, Maddox?” I question, forcing myself to walk to the door.

He doesn’t look at me, staring at the ceiling. “No, not since the curse took every chance of truly living. Not since my father beat every bit of good out of me. I have nothing good for you to save, Riona. You should leave and pretend this never happened.”

“I am going to,” I whisper, feeling tears prick my eyes as I leave his room and rest my head against the cold wooden door the moment I shut it behind me. I just lost my virginity to a Mad Prince.

I pull myself from the door and head towards the study.

“You should wait a few minutes.” Cross’s voice makes me jump, and I nearly drop my blanket. He steps out of the shadows and walks past me, glancing at Maddox’s door as he passes it before getting to my side. He stands too close, and peeks into the study. “Hector was the study a second ago, and he doesn’t use vampire speed to move around. I’m sure you don’t want anyone else to see you.”

“Right, thanks,” I mutter. My cheeks are burning red as Cross looks at me.

I walk past him and stand by the door to the study, expecting him to leave as he no doubt silently judges me. “I heard the girls and some of the guys were planning on killing you in your sleep to get back at Maddox for killing their friends. I see Maddox found out the same rumour at some point while I was out.”

I freeze in shock, realising that Maddox killed all those people to protect me. They were going to hurt me, so he killed them, and it wasn’t just a mad choice he made. It wasn’t selfish. It was protective.

It makes what just happened oh so much worse. Cross leaves me with my thoughts, though his judgment sticks to me like wet feet in quicksand.

But the only one who is sinking is me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Returning to Reign’s home feels like I’m a teenager again, and I got busted sneaking back into my house at three a.m. after drinking at a friend’s house. Reign is silent the entire car ride back, and I’m thankful for it, especially after yesterday. My skin remembers Maddox’s touch ever so well; I feel his lips on my skin even now, even hours after he was inside of me. I don’t know if I ever will be able to forget last night or if I am ruined for every man now that I have Maddox to compare to. I sigh, leaning back on the seat as we travel fast through the forest.

“I am taking you to see the children. Two more arrived last night and killed fourteen humans including a child of just eight,” he coldly explains to me. “I don’t give a fuck how you can get them to talk or if you’re hiding secrets from me, but I need to know how to stop them arriving. I need to know who has sent them.”

“And you want me to ask them?” I ask, even though I am sure that is his point.

He grips the steering wheel harder. “Yes, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell Maddox about this. He is adamant that you go nowhere near the children.”

Reign’s eyes flicker to my ring and back, and this time I don’t mistake the anger in his jawline as it tenses. I don’t know why I haven’t taken the damn ring off, but now I wish I had before Reign saw it.

Considering I haven’t seen Maddox since I left his room, not telling him shouldn’t be an issue. “Sure. And, by the way, I am not keeping secrets from you about the kids or anything to do with them.”

He doesn’t answer me, not that I blame him. I do look suspicious. I change the subject before I say anything I might regret. “How is Arlo?”

Reign turns off on a dirt track in the middle of the forest. “Watching out the window for you like a lost puppy.”

Frowning, I lean my head on my bent arm against the window. “I’m sure that isn’t true.”

“I have no need to lie to you,” Reign states. “I care little about your feelings or his. But I answered your question. If you were to ask about the mental state of your friend, I would give you a much different answer.”

“What would that answer be?”

Reign pulls the car up in front of a clearing with storm drain in the middle, and nothing else around. “Arlo is one of those many people in life who cannot handle the chaos sent their way. He needs something he won’t get on this island or with friends like you.”

He turns the car off and looks me in the eye. “Arlo needs peace.”

“Your vampires broke him. He wasn’t always like this,” I explain. “And he will get better. I’m going to make sure of it.”

“I doubt it, but I will watch you try,” he replies before climbing out of the car. I follow suit, jogging over to his side and up to the storm drain, which appears to have doors. Reign places his hand on one of the doors, and it glows red before setting on fire. The fire spreads, making a large enough gap for Reign to step through. I pause for a second before stepping through the gap, and then turn around to see the fire snap shut, leaving a red glow for a second before it disappears. Reign walks down steps, automatic lights turning on the deeper down the stairs he goes. Watching my step, I head down the many, many stairs and into a big warehouse of some kind. The room is full of plastic boxes on one side and a row of cars on the other, all of them new and expensive by the looks of it.

“If you have all these cars, why doesn’t everyone use them?” I ask.

“They belong to my brother, not me. Only the vampires are rich enough to import what they like, and most prefer to run everywhere. Maddox included,” he comments, and I’m shocked to learn Maddox knows anything about modern life, let alone owns enough expensive cars to buy another island if he sold them. I shouldn’t be surprised they have a lot of money, the auction made that one very clear. Reign leads me through the boxes and past the cars to a big open plan space, and the children are all here. Some are sitting on the rows of bunk beds or on the floor. Others are on the many sofas, staring at children’s toys but not touching them. The kids are silent, which they should not be. Children are never silent, not a massive group of them like this.

A shiver runs down my spine.

I take a step closer, and at the same time, all of the children look towards me and Reign. They focus on me, and I watch as a small blonde girl walks over. She must be about six, and she has bright blue eyes.

“We will talk to Riona Dark alone.”

Her voice, although childlike, sounds much older than she is.

Reign tenses and leans down, facing the girl. “No, you will speak to her now, or we will leave. I do not allow children like yourselves to make demands.”

The girl looks back at the others, and suddenly they all move, making a circle around us. The girl steps back into the circle, turning her head to the side. “We will make you leave then.”

“Wait!” I shout before any of them can move, holding my hands out. I don’t want to see Reign fight these children, because at the end of the day, they are kids. I keep my hands held out. “Reign has done nothing but help each of you and help me. He is not the enemy, and neither am I. You said I am like you, but what are you all?”

“Vampires cannot know our secret,” the girl replies, looking between Reign and me. “You should know this. To speak to them is forbidden. They are cloaked in sin and broken.”

“Even humans are a little broken and sin a little too much,” I reply, leaning down in front of her. “What’s your name?”

“We are not given names, only told what to do and sent here,” she replies, and I sigh.

“By who?” I ask next.

“The one who speaks your name. They told us you would be here and that you could be trusted,” she replies. “That you would know.”

“I don’t know, that’s the problem. Can you remind me?” I gently ask.

She shakes her head. “No.”

I go to ask her another question when a phone rings out, and I turn to Reign. He looks pissed off as he pulls out an iPhone from his pocket and answers the call. There’s that phone Katy mentioned. I need to get hold of it, and then I can call my parents. A little hope fills my chest, but I know it won’t be easy to get it off him. “Got it. Be there in ten minutes.”

He puts the phone down and shoves it away in his pocket. “We have to go. Now.”

“Alright,” I answer, looking back for the girl, but all of them have silently moved back to exactly where they were before. “Do they ever do anything but sit there?”

“No, they seem clueless about how to act. How to be themselves,” Reign answers. “It’s almost like they have never seen toys or people. They always seem shocked at food, making me wonder what they were fed before.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” I tell him as we head back, and part of me itches to go back to the kids and give them each a big hug. They need love and guidance, and I think maybe then they could all be saved. “Please promise me you won’t hurt them. I know there is good in them, they are just confused.”

“You can see their confusion in action; we have one more to pick up,” he tells me, not promising a single thing, and a sinking dread fills my chest for what I’m about to see next.

And for the fate of these kids.

I stand in the crowd by the Jeep, watching as Reign walks over a pile of bodies to pick up a child sitting on top of a woman’s back, her blood and so many others dripping down his chin. The woman is clearly not alive, nor are any of the people lying around, by the looks of it. No one in the crowd makes a move towards the child except for Reign, and I wonder what exactly they have been doing to calm the kid before Reign got here. This kid is maybe eight or older with curly red hair and bright brown eyes. His shirt has a famous pig on it and his shorts match the blue top. He doesn’t have shoes on, but he does have yellow socks, which are now smothered with blood. Reign leans down and offers the boy his hand, and he looks at him for a long time before standing up off the woman and taking Reign’s hand.

They both walk back to the car, and I turn around, heading for the door when I feel something smooth slide into my hand. I feel the paper in my palm, and I turn around, searching for who it was, but no one is looking my way. Feeling like I should keep this a secret until I’ve read it, I pop the note into my jean pocket and get into the car. Reign is putting the seat belt on the kid in the back seat, and the kid stares at me.

“I want to go home,” he tells me. Not in a pleading kid way, but like an adult telling me they want a coffee or something similar. I open and close my mouth once, unsure what to say, feeling Reign’s eyes on me.

“Where is your home?” I eventually ask. He cocks his head to the side and then points at the ground.

“Underground?” I ask, and he nods, turning his head away, clearly done with talking to me. Reign slams the back door shut and climbs into the driver’s seat, pulling the car away through the streets as I clip my seat belt on. I lower my voice. “What do you think he meant by underground? Is there much under this island?”

“The tunnels and room you saw is the lowest I am aware of, but witches built this island. They might know more than we do,” he replies. “I will contact Maddox to speak to his witch friend.”

“Which one?” I ask, and Reign looks sharply towards me for a second, confusion in his eyes.

“Only one witch clan leader speaks to us, her people are not allowed on this island. Who else did my brother see?” he demands.

Feeling like I’ve just said something I shouldn’t have, I sink back in my seat. Too late to go back now. “A witch called Gillian. She was here to make a trade with Maddox for this ring. He wanted to know where the third orb is and why the children keep appearing.”

Reign doesn’t speak for a long time, not until we are out of the city and driving through the forest. “We do not deal with that clan.”

“I understand why,” I reply.

Reign frowns. “So my brother does talk to you a lot. I hope you are not changing your mind about our deal. I have noticed how you smell like Maddox much more today than ever before.”

My cheeks burn as I look away. “I have not changed my mind.”

“Good, because once you live with me, I will not let you see Maddox. It is for your own good as much as it is his,” he tells me, and something in my chest hurts at the idea of not seeing Maddox ever again and living in Reign’s house for the rest of my life. But somewhere along the way, this island has made me forget my true plan.

To escape.

Vampires and whatever I am feeling for Maddox be damned.

“I understand,” I reply.

His voice goes sharp. “No, you do not or you wouldn’t wear that goddamn ring! You wouldn’t fuck Maddox!”

My voice raises a little. “There is a kid in the car, watch what you say!”

“He is a murderer. I’m sure a swear word won’t hurt him,” Reign snaps back.

“God, you and Maddox are alike in some ways. You both know how to be a total ass,” I growl.

“Ass is a swear word,” Reign cockily points out.

I smirk. “Technically, it’s a donkey.”

His laugh fills the car, and I find myself laughing with him, shaking my head at all of this. We both drift into silence, and I look back at the kid, finding him staring at me like I’m his long-lost mother or something. It’s creepy, and I awkwardly smile back at him before turning away. The car journey seems long, and the paper in my pocket feels like it’s burning as Reign pulls up at the house and stops outside.

“I will take the kid to the others. I don’t think it’s a good idea you go there,” Reign remarks. “Plus, I don’t want the hassle from Maddox if he found out.”

“Gotcha,” I reply, opening my door. I actually don’t want to be around the kids right now; I’ve had enough for today with Mr Redhead back there. I climb out, and as I’m about to shut the door, Reign speaks.

“That ring was my mother’s and the only thing my father ever gave Maddox from her. Do you understand why I am bothered that he gave you it?”

“Yes,” I whisper and close the door before he can hear the catch in my throat. Reign speeds backwards and spins the car around before driving off, leaving me with my own treacherous thoughts about Maddox, the curse and this damn ring I still can’t force myself to take off. When I can’t hear the car anymore, I quickly glance around me, not seeing Arlo or Katy anywhere in sight. Pulling the paper out, I unfold it to find a note.

Riona Dark,

At midnight this night, walk outside to the cliff if you want to escape this island alive.

Your friend and watcher.

I read the note a few times before slipping it back in my pocket, making a mental note to flush it down the toilet later on tonight. The last time I snuck out of this place, I was nearly killed by vamps, and I don’t have a good feeling about doing it again.

But this offer might not come twice, and I need to get off this island, or I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life.

And on The Onyx, I think that life will be short.

Especially when Maddox finds out about the deal I made with his brother.

“You’re back,” Arlo calls out, and I jolt, looking up at the door. Arlo jogs over, leaving the door open and pulls me into a hug. “You look in one piece. I’m guessing being in the vamp castle wasn’t too bad.”

Something like that. Definitely something like that.

“I need a favour.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“F or the record, I don’t believe this is a good idea,” Arlo whispers to me, wrapping his hand around my upper arm as I walk away. “But…look, just be careful.”

I turn around and wrap my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I will do. We both need to get off this island.”

“I’m glad you still feel that way,” he whispers to me, rubbing the top of my back. “Austin and Sophie are out there waiting for us. Your mum and dad must be going out of their minds. We need to get back.”

“Why would you think I’d want to stay?” I ask, even as a single name pops into my head, followed by so many feelings I am ignoring that threaten to swallow me whole. Pulling away from Arlo, I clear my throat and force myself not to think about Maddox. I can’t tonight. I have to do this for me and Arlo, for the future. And being real with myself, I doubt Maddox wants a future with me anyway. He kicked me out of his bed, and for him, that was just sex. He had been drinking and murdering, and that seems to make him happy. I was just another notch on his bedpost. Nothing more. But something in my chest doesn’t believe it, the betrayer. “I want to get back to uni and my life. I need to.”

“Good,” he softly says and crosses his arms. “I best go and distract the psychotic vamp babysitter while you escape through the garage.”

I chuckle and wave him to the door. He straightens his back and walks to the stairs, looking back at me once with a strange expression before he jogs down the steps. Knowing there is a second staircase at the back of the house, I jog down the corridor, past Reign’s room and Katy’s, even though they are both not in there. Reign hasn’t come back from the children, and I bet he is still with them now. Part of me suspects it’s because he has a kind heart and he doesn’t want to leave them alone, even though I don’t think he would admit to that.

I find the door in the corridor Arlo told me about and open it to see a small winding staircase, most likely used in case of a fire. I rush down the steps and come out into the garage. Seeing as Katy hasn’t jumped out from anywhere, Arlo must be doing a pretty good job of distracting her. Being as silent as I can, I run across the garage and slip out of the door into the night, breathing in the cold air and scent of the forest.

The sound of the waves crashing against rocks fills my ears as I walk through some trees and out onto a clearing on a cliff a few seconds away from the house. The waves are harsh tonight, blowing sea water into the air every few seconds, and I wipe a few drops from my cheek as I stare out. The moon hangs high in the sky, a full moon, fitting for this night.

I hear the bike first, the engine noise just about exceeding the sound of the waves, and I turn to see a man riding an all-terrain vehicle through the forest. He comes to a halt right in front of me, kicking up sand and dust around us as he takes off his helmet.

“Cross? You sent me the note?” I ask the second I recognise the red hair and grumpy face. “You have a way to get off the island?”

He offers me the helmet. “Get on and trust me, Riona. You have two minutes to make the choice.”

I grit my teeth, unsure if I can trust him, but I’m desperate enough to have no real choice in the matter. Taking the helmet from him, I slide it on and do up the clip before climbing on the quad bike behind Cross, wrapping my arms around his chest. “Hold on.”

I close my eyes and do just that, remembering my sixteenth birthday party when Austin and I rented out a dirt track and several of these bikes. Our parents paid for us to have lessons with our friends, and then we all raced. Austin beat me by a second, Arlo somehow got lost on the track, and many of my other friends gave up, knowing Austin and I were always the most competitive ones. He won a football match, and I would win a violin competition. He would break a record for the fastest swimmer at our school, and I went and did a painting of the school they hung up and celebrated. But that was us, always competing, always in each other’s shadow. I know some people might not have liked that, but we did. That’s why we chose the same university, why we were always close, and since coming to this island, I feel like a ship without an anchor. Arlo is my only real reminder of home, and when I’m around him, I ache more than usual for the things I miss.

Cross drives us for a good hour before slowing down and pulling into the clearing. There is a fire lit in the middle with at least thirty people standing around it. They all turn to watch as Cross climbs off and I take off the helmet.

“Everyone, this is Riona Dark, the one we discussed,” Cross calls out. “Of course, you are aware of her, Hector.”

“Hector?” I question, jumping off the bike, and he walks over to me.

“Oui, madame, not all vampires are free to leave the island, and this is my one chance,” he tells me, the flames flickering light across his features. He waves towards the group. “It is yours as well, Madame Dark.”

I take a wild guess that everyone here is human from the way they are crowded around the fire, the way they stare and move every so often in a nervous manner. I join Cross’s side with Hector on my other, looking around at the people in the group. Most of them are young and men, but there are three women on the ground. One is an old lady, I would guess in her seventies, and she smiles at me.

“Never before have we had a chance to escape like now. We do not know the exact time, but there will be a ship coming to the island that is not with the stealers, but with a vampire who owns it. He rarely comes back to the island, but I have heard from Prince Maddox he is visiting soon to see Riona Dark, the famous human who can’t be compelled,” Cross shouts out, and my cheeks burn as they all stare at me.

“Want to tell us how you can do that, kid?” the old lady calls out.

“I have no idea. If I did know, I’d bottle it up and hand it out like candy,” I reply, making a few of them laugh.

“Deborah, please let me finish,” Cross chuckles and clears his throat when everyone is silent. “With Riona’s help, I believe we have a shot. Nothing about this plan can go wrong. Deborah, would you explain your part?”

“Of course,” she states, stepping forward. “I have spent years of my life finding just the right ingredients to make a powder to knock out a vampire. We all know that only a blade enchanted by a witch’s death can kill a vampire.” She pauses. I did not know that. “But if you scrape the iron of the blade and mix it with several other ingredients, it does knock them out without seriously hurting them.”

“Thank you, Deborah,” Cross takes over. “I’m sure many of you would wish to see your captors dead, but many of us do not. We just want to escape.”

There are dozens of murmurs in the crowd. “When it is time, I will get the powder to you, and we will meet at the docks at midnight. Be ready to leave.”

“What if they find us?” I question. “What will stop them from murdering us all?”

“The orbs,” Cross replies. “You’re going to steal Reign’s orb after knocking him out, and that is your payment onto the ship. I will take Maddox’s as I know where he keeps it. If the vampires find out, we can bribe our lives with the orbs.”

“Arlo is coming too,” I tell him. “And you must search for my brother, Austin. I need to know for sure that he’s not on this island. I also want a girl named Ann found; she comes too. She was on the ship with me.”

Cross stares me down, and he sighs, nodding once. He looks towards a man in the crowd, a dark-skinned man with several long cuts down his cheeks. “Will you find them for me, Simeon?”

“Yes,” Simeon replies and looks towards me. “I work with Merethe as one of her slaves, and she records all the humans that come in and out of The Onyx. I will be able to search the records for the day you arrived.”

“Thank you,” I tell him, a little bit of hope filling my chest. “Has anyone ever escaped The Onyx before?”

“No,” Cross is quick to answer. “Not alive, anyway. We will be the first and forge the pathway for all the humans trapped on this island as slaves. We will show them we are not theirs to own.”

“For our children,” Simeon calls, and many repeat the saying as I look up to Cross. He calls for everyone to leave and directs me back to the bike.

“Why didn’t you just tell me this at the castle?” I ask.

“Because Maddox is always close to you. Always watching,” he replies. “You’ve become an obsession, and in some ways that has been good. There hasn’t been a murder party since you’ve come, and I haven’t buried as many bodies as usual.”

“He isn’t…” I pause, shaking my head. “Maddox could be better. I know it.”

Cross laughs. “Don’t fool yourself, Riona. He is a monster, and nothing you can do will change that. One day you will beg for your life, and he will rip out your heart. That’s why you must leave with me.”

“I’m leaving because I want to see my family, not because I fear Maddox or anything on this island. They may think they own my body, my blood and soul, but they don’t. I am free no matter where I am because I make it that way,” I counter, climbing on the bike. “Maddox is broken and sinned, but I don’t believe he is truly evil.”

“Then you’re more of a fool than I already thought you were, Riona,” Cross coldly states. “Just keep your deal and get the orb. Then we can both get off this fucking island.”

I shove my helmet on as he starts up the bike, and hold onto Cross as he rushes through the trees.

Even though I hope to escape, I know a part of me will be stuck on this island with Prince Maddox Borealis no matter how far I run.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Since explaining to Arlo all about the escape plan, Arlo has been a different person. He smiles and laughs, makes breakfast and even the occasional joke. He feels like the Arlo I knew before we came here, but then, just sometimes, I see him pause like he is right now, staring out of the window.

I fold my feet underneath myself on the sofa and gently put my hand on his shoulder. “Will you tell me about what happened with the vampire woman in that house?”

Arlo picks my hand off his shoulder and slides our fingers together. “Her name was Durya, and after she bought me, she was actually kind. I was surprised after seeing the brutality of the vamps in the auction and on the ship; I thought she would be the same. Two nights after I was there, she made it clear she wanted more from me when she climbed onto my lap and took her clothes off. I said no, but she looked me in my eyes and…”

“She used compulsion?” I gently question.

“Yes. Part of me knew I didn’t want to sleep with her or let her bite me, but I couldn’t fight what she was making me do. I was a slave from that point on, doing whatever she wanted, with whoever she brought over. Her friends treated me like a toy they could borrow when they wanted, but oddly Durya wouldn’t let them have sex with me. I was only for her.”

The disgust in his voice makes me shiver. I move closer and gently place my head on his shoulder, feeling his whole body shaking. “I’m so sorry, Arlo.”

“When you came, she had just had her friends over, and I don’t remember all of it. They just drank a lot,” he tells me. “So many bites, so many mouths on me. How can I ever move on and just be normal? How can I ever forget?”

Then he cries. I’ve never seen Arlo cry in my life, not even when he broke his arm at seven years old, or at any other point. I pull him into my shoulder and rub his back, humming a song under my breath in the hope it will calm him down. When he finally relaxes and wraps his arms around me, he lifts his head and meets my eyes.

“That vampire was evil. Pure and simple,” I softly tell him. “But you, Arlo? You are full of light and kindness. It makes me laugh now to think back to how much I used to think of you as an enemy, when the truth was, you’re family. You’re the sweetest guy I ever knew, when you want to be, and a brilliant friend to my brother. Even when you wound me up something silly, I knew for certain you would be there in a heartbeat if I ever needed you. I trust you, and Austin does. You’ve always been my family, Arlo. Always.”

I wipe some of the tears off his cheeks, grinning at him as he stares at me. I don’t see the kiss coming or even notice until his lips meet mine. I freeze, which he takes as a sign to kiss me more, and before this can go further, I all but throw myself off the sofa onto the floor.

Arlo looks confused as he watches me stand up, holding my hand out. “Arlo, you’re upset and you didn’t mean that. I think we both should pretend that didn’t happen.”

He looks shocked for a second. “I did mean that. I’ve liked you for years, Riona. Didn’t you know that?”

“No…,” I whisper, crossing my arms against my chest. “Look, Arlo, it’s just not the right time for us to be even talking about this. At all.”

Arlo doesn’t say anything, he just looks away, and I take that as my cue to leave. Just as I’m getting to the door, he calls over. “How do you feel about Maddox? What exactly is going on there?”

I answer in the only way I can. “He owns me, and I won’t be free until I leave this damn island. Neither will you.”

I slam the door on the way out and run right into Katy standing in the main area, looking over at the sea. She turns her dark gaze my way and slowly drifts her eyes to the door. “The Onyx breaks a lot of people, and they do reckless things.”

“It’s rude to eavesdrop.”

“I’m a vamp, it’s hard not to hear,” she replies with a wave of her hand. “Arlo isn’t a bad person, and I find that interesting.”

“He isn’t,” I agree, walking to her side and following her gaze out to the ocean. “Whereabouts is this island anyway?”

“In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, pretty much,” she tells me. “That’s why it’s always freezing cold.”

“Were you born here?” I ask next.

She loops her fingers in the edge of her jacket pockets. “Born and raised for fifty-two years. I spent ten years spying on the humans recently, though, and I found I like their clothing more than the style of The Onyx.”

“I can see that,” I say. “Thanks for all the clothing you’ve found for me and Arlo.”

“I like clothes,” she replies like it’s nothing. “Now tell me, why are you sleeping with the Mad Prince?”

I nearly cough on thin air, not expecting her to blurt out that. I lower my voice, checking the door to the living room where Arlo is. “How did you know?”

“Vampire sense of smell,” she explains with a wave of her hand. “Now, why?”

Isn’t that the question of the year?

“I have no idea,” I murmur. “But when I’m around Maddox, he makes me feel safe and in danger all at the same time. It’s overwhelming to be near him.”

“There is no place for love on The Onyx, Riona,” she whispers to me. “Be careful with that heart of yours or it will stop beating in Maddox’s hands.”

“Why are you giving me advice?”

“Call me stupid, but I think you and I will be friends. It’s what friends do,” she replies. “Plus, you bring much-needed drama to this island and its princes. They are finally talking after ten long years, it’s impressive the effect you’ve had.”

“They are talking because of the demonic children,” I reply, and she shrugs, looking like she doesn’t believe that. “Why do you call them demonic? I mean, I’ve just picked up on the nickname from you, but is there a reason?”

“When the first kid arrived, a vamp told me she saw the kid in flames. Sounds like a demon to me,” she replies. “Reign said it must be bullshit, which is most likely right because demons don’t exist. The title is just a rumour made by vampires to give them a name. It’s what humans outside The Onyx used to call us many years ago, and people remember it.”

“What do you believe?” I ask her.

She looks down at me. “It doesn’t matter. One way or another, the secrets those kids are keeping are going to come out. I would be careful if I were you; people are talking, and they know you have something to do with them.”

“I don’t know why they talk to me,” I reply.

“Yeah, I guessed that, but those kids have killed vampires and humans. Their friends and family will want revenge,” she warns, and we both drop into silence after that.

“Katy, why are there no vampire children on the island? I’ve not seen one of them,” I ask.

This time her smile drops. “The last king banned all children after Maddox was born, because of the curse. Without the witches’ elixirs, vampire women cannot get pregnant. Neither Maddox or Reign will overthrow that decision until they are king.” She pauses. “And the orb has been missing for twenty years. Twenty years of no vampire children on this island. You can imagine how much people despise you for having a connection with the first supernatural children seen for a long time.”

“I get it,” I whisper, my eyes widening. “This island and its laws are messed up.”

She laughs as she walks away. “Finally figured out you’re in hell, have you? Congrats. You’re not a newbie anymore.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Stepping out the car, I resist the urge to puke all over Cross’s shoes. On the walls of the castle are four men’s bodies, their heads missing and their blood dripping down the walls and into the red snow.

“What happened?” I whisper, shutting the door behind me and hearing Reign take off instantly, wanting to get the hell out of here. I don’t blame him right at this moment.

“I solved a problem and had fun,” Maddox answers me, his voice coming from my back, his breath blowing against my ear. Cross bows his head and turns around, walking into the castle, but I stay very still.

“What was the problem?” I ask him, feeling the heat from his body warming my back. His fingers reach out and trace my lower back, drifting around my hip as he walks to my side before dropping his hand. I can’t help the sigh that almost leaves my lips. “Why did you kill them, Maddox?”

“I like it when you say my name,” he informs me, amusement in his voice. “I like many things about you, Riona.”

“Maddox, why did you kill them?” I repeat, trying to ignore the effect his seductively spoken words have on me.

Rather than answer me, he starts to walk towards the castle. I jog and catch up to his side, grabbing his arm, and he stops. He could easily throw my grip off him, but he doesn’t. “I need to know you’re not a monster, so give me a reason why you killed these four men. I know there is a reason, this isn’t you.”

He steps into my space, his face drifting into the cold heartless monster he pretends to be. He roughly grips my neck, pulling me against his body. “We have barely known each other, Riona. I’ve been alive for nearly a hundred years, and you are only just twenty-two. We can’t know each other, and you should be running as fast as you can away from me. Haven’t I made it clear I am a monster?”

“Yes,” I bite out, even as this very moment reminds me of how we met. “But I don’t believe you.”

He growls as he lets me go, just like I suspected he would, and then he grabs me, holding me to his body. He uses his vampire speed, the force of the movement plastering my body to his and stealing the air from my lungs. When we stop, I dizzily stumble back and breathe in the cold air surrounding us before I see the view. We are on top of the castle in a tiny circular room, and the views are just of clouds. I’ve seen this view from an aeroplane, but it is nothing like this, this is out of this world. I grip the stone brickwork around the window, staring out at the clouds for a long time before I turn back. There are no doors, no other way to get up here unless you are a vampire, I suspect.

Maddox stands in the middle of the empty room, his eyes never leaving mine as he lifts up a strange dagger. The blade of the dagger glows white, hurting my eyes to look at for too long, and I can’t see the hilt from the brightness of the light. Very slowly, Maddox walks up to me and picks up my hand, curling it around the handle of the dagger as my heart pounds away in my chest.

“This dagger killed a witch and trapped her soul inside of it. There are only two of these on the island, and they are the only way to truly kill a vampire,” he somewhat softly tells me, letting go of the dagger. He moves the blade around and places the tip over his heart. “I’ve done nothing but think since the night I took you. I’ve done nothing but think about you and what I should do. I’ve never done the right thing in my life.” He laughs and picks up a strand of my hair, running it through his fingers. “I’ve never wanted to do the right thing by anyone, but then you turned up and, fuck, I wanted to push you away for your own good, but I couldn’t. I’m a selfish bastard.”

“Maddox…”

“But I’m giving you this one chance. You can kill me here and now, I won’t fight you. You should kill me, Riona, because I am a monster. I am a killer.” He leans into the dagger a little, and a trickle of blood starts blooming onto the white shirt. “And I can’t resist you. I can’t stay away, because you are mine.”

“I c-can’t do this!” I exclaim, my hand shaking around the handle. “Just tell me why you killed those men?”

“I’m a monster, Riona, and I won’t change. This is the only chance you will ever get to escape me, because if you let me live, I will never stop. I will never let you go. I will never stop claiming you as mine,” he firmly tells me, his voice rising with each word, anger spilling into the space between us and forcing one of us to make a decision. He looks me dead in the eye. “Do it, Riona!”

Suddenly I realise he wants me to do it. He knows it would be the best thing for me and him. We are destructive towards each other, two people who really, really shouldn’t be together. We both know it.

But I don’t think either of us feels like this is something we can walk away from. I just can’t.

I could tell myself a million reasons why I should stab him in the chest and let him die.

But I can’t.

I let the dagger fall to the floor, the clanging of the metal is the final bit of resistance gone from my chest, and I lean forward, kissing him with everything I’m feeling inside. He groans and picks me up, pushing my back into the brick wall and ripping my top off. I tug at his shirt, and he pulls it over his head, pushing his trousers down as he kisses my neck. Maddox puts me down long enough to pull my jeans, boots and panties off before picking me up and thrusting into me in one long stroke.

“God,” I moan, throwing my head back at the sheer pleasure coursing through me.

“I prefer the name Maddox,” he teases against my neck, sucking and nipping on my skin as he thrusts in and out of me.

“Maddox…I…can’t…” My words are a jumbled mess until his lips claim mine once more, his tongue slipping into my mouth. The mixture of my nipples rubbing against his hard chest with every thrust of his hard cock inside me sends me over the edge in seconds. I moan into his mouth, and he swallows the sound as I contract around his cock, and he thrusts harder, staring into my eyes as he stills, his hot come filling me.

We both stare at each other as he holds me against the wall, his hand buried in my hair, his other holding my ass. “You’ve just signed your soul to the devil.”

“I know,” I whisper, and then I kiss him again. I might as well get my soul’s worth.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“I ’m surprised to see you outside Maddox’s bedroom or the conservatory with him,” Cross states, making me jump out of my skin. I spin around, nearly dropping the plate in my hands, and glare at him.

“How did you get in here so silently? The door was shut,” I mutter, putting the plate down. “And for your information, Maddox is sleeping, and I was going to make us breakfast. Then I burnt the toast, so I’m starting over.”

Cross shuts the door behind him and walks over, lowering his voice. “Be careful.”

“I always am,” I whisper back, ignoring the fact that I’m totally and completely lying. The last four days with Maddox have been nothing more than orgasms after orgasms. I mean, he did feed me and showed me more of his paintings. Maddox explained each one of them, and it was like looking into his mind, understanding a part of him I didn’t know about before. He is a tortured soul, I can see that, and for some reason, I think I make him better. Cross is right, we have gotten a lot closer in this last week. He walks over, flicking on the tap, and the loud water noise fills the room.

“I don’t think you are,” Cross replies. “Are you in love with him?”

“If I was, wouldn’t I be dead? The curse and all,” I say, waving a hand. “Clearly, I’m fine, so that answers your own question.”

“The curse is for Maddox. I know he doesn’t love you, because as you put it, you are alive,” he replies, and a sinking feeling hits my chest.

“I’m not in love with him. I still want to leave,” I snap back with a little too much emotion than I should have. Cross raises an eyebrow but says nothing. “It’s just sex. Nothing more.”

“If you say so,” Cross replies, switching the tap off. “Perhaps you should go to Maddox’s living room. He just ordered his own breakfast,” Cross suggests, waving at the door.

Furrowing my brow, I leave my half-arsed attempt at breakfast on the side and go out of the door. Cross doesn’t follow me, and I pull my red cloak around my shoulders to ward off the chill in the castle. I take the steps two at a time until I get to the bottom and head to the doors. One of the doors is open, and I hear heavy breathing before I step through the gap. Maddox has a woman in his arms, a red-headed woman in a brown sari, and he is drinking from her neck. His black hair covers his face, and her eyes are wide, almost parted in pleasure as she heavily breathes.

I don’t move, not for a long time, and he doesn’t notice me. If he does, he doesn’t make a move to stop feeding on her. I know he is going to kill her and I turn around. Angry tears fall down my cheeks as I storm outside the castle, ignoring the bellboy’s attempts to talk to me. The red snow pushes against my boots the further I walk away from the castle, down the pathways.

I’m so stupid.

Of course he hasn’t stopped feeding on people. I just pretended he wasn’t doing it and convinced myself that he might change, he might not be the monster I know he is. I’ve been playing with the devil; I don’t know why I didn’t expect to get burned. I find a rocky ledge to the cliff, a smooth piece of rock, and I climb off the path and sit down with my back to the rock. Part of me knows it is dangerous to sit here, but another part of me doesn’t care all that much.

I could do with advice from Sophie, but even then, I don’t know what she would say to me about all this. She was always team Arlo and Riona, but I never was. I know for certain from that kiss, because I felt nothing.

Nada.

It was like a family member kissing me. It didn’t rock my soul or make my heart jump or give me butterflies.

Not like someone else does. And all he has to do is look my way.

But he isn’t good like Arlo, he is fifty shades of fucked up.

My thoughts drift away when I hear water dripping. I look up, seeing the clouds all look white and clear, and I can’t feel rain on my face. The water dripping sound gets louder and louder, and I follow it to the edge of the rock where water is appearing out of nowhere, slowly building up and up. Suddenly the water spins around like a hurricane and then disappears, leaving Natalia standing on the edge of the rock ledge. Her black hair falls around her, and it’s the only bit of cover she has on. As the wind moves her hair, I pretty much see everything.

“You are difficult to get alone, Riona Dark,” Natalia claims, with her French accent. Wiping some of my tears away, I stand up as she walks over. She reaches across, touching my cheek with the tip of her finger. I freeze, wondering what the hell she is doing. “Did you know sirens were once human? We are created in the ocean, and the sea takes our feelings away with our memories of our human life.”

“You were once human?” I softly ask. Strangely, I don’t feel like she is going to hurt me. Maybe it’s the effect sirens have on people as, even though I’m aware she is a magical being with great power, I always feel unthreatened in her presence.

She lowers her hand, looking away for a second. “I was, and I wish I could remember my past.” She turns back to me. “But you could choose the way of the sirens, wash all those feelings of pain away in the sea. I would help you.”

“The good feelings come with the bad,” I reply. “So no, thank you for your offer.”

“Shame. I believe you would make a beautiful siren in my clan,” she sighs. “But the offer will remain there.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

“No, I am here to show you something very special, and I want no one else to ever see it,” she tells me. “But perhaps some knowledge on sirens will explain this better.”

“Maybe,” I reply with a small smile.

She smiles back. “Sirens can channel the sea’s energy, the energy the sea receives from the humans and animals who die in the waters, to see the future for a few seconds. I dived down into the deepest oceans to use this power, to see what is in our future, and it was about you.”

“Me?” I ask with wide eyes. She steps even closer to me and places both her hands on the side of my head.

“Let me show you,” she asks. Curious, I nod. She closes her eyes and suddenly her hands feel like ice, and I scream as pain shoots through my head. I close my eyes, and then I see a blurry image. The image slowly comes into focus, and I see myself. I’m standing on a roof, and the city is on fire around me. Flames touch everything in sight, and I’m holding a ball of light in my hands, staring down at it. The image fades and blurs once more. This one slowly comes into focus, and it’s me and Maddox. His forehead is pressed against mine, and this time we are on a ship. The ship is on fire, but neither of us seems to notice. The image fades once more, and I suddenly feel sick as I start to hear my heartbeat in my ear. My heartbeat sounds slower and slower as one more image comes into focus.

This time I’m on the floor, a man standing over me, but I can’t make out more than his jean-covered legs and folded arms. I’m dead, that’s clear. Five glowing white daggers are plunged into my body.

I gasp as I suddenly drop to the ground, my head ringing and a headache there that wasn’t before.

“You didn’t mention how much that would hurt,” I mutter, climbing to my feet.

Natalia simply laughs and shrugs her tiny shoulders. “Great knowledge always comes with a painful price.”

“So I’m going to die?” I ask.

She turns away, looking over the city I just saw on fire in her vision. “Yes, but death is not always the end in this world. Stay on the island, Riona, embrace your fate.”

“Staying isn’t as easy as it sounds,” I reply.

She turns back to me, turning her head to the side. “Love never is, not true love. Not the kind of love you would burn the world for.”

Natalia starts walking away. “I thought sirens couldn’t feel, so how do you know so much about love?”

Her laugh echoes around the mountain as water starts spinning around her feet. She looks over her shoulder at me. “I feel because I choose to, and I know love because I’ve seen it in my future. Our futures are linked, Riona Dark. Stay on the island, and may the sea bless your way through fate.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Staring at the ceiling, I barely flinch as the door flies off the hinges and slams onto the floor.

“I’m bored of this.”

“Hello, Prince Maddox. Can I help you with anything?” I question, sitting up in bed. I cross my arms as Maddox leans against the door frame, his arms crossed tightly against his chest, his dark navy shirt stretching over his muscular arms. Black leather trousers make his thighs look thicker than usual and outline certain things very well. I gulp and force myself to plaster a fake smile on my face. “You broke the door.”

“I am aware, Riona,” he spits out, walking over said door. He leans down, placing his fists on either side of me on the bed, his face inches away from me. Damn, he smells good. “Why are you avoiding me? Why aren’t you in my bed? Why the fuck haven’t I been inside you for an entire day?”

His crude words make me blush, but they don’t wash away my anger. Or the memories of that woman in his arms and his teeth buried in her neck. “I saw you with that woman. The one who seemed to really enjoy your teeth in her neck!”

His eyes widen in realisation, and he slowly smirks. That dangerous smile I have grown to fear and enjoy all at the same time. “You were jealous of my food?”

“Humans aren’t food!” I shout, slamming my hands into his chest, but he doesn’t move. “Is that all I am to you? Food?”

He still doesn’t stop smiling as he grabs me, pulling me against his chest. His lips fall onto mine as he moves us out of the room fast, and I can’t pull away from the kiss until we are in another room and he lets me go. Maddox steps back, and I quickly take my eyes off him to see we are in the dining room with pasta and various breads on the table. Two bottles of white wine sit on the table, and it is set for two, the seats right next to each other. “I am hungry. Are you?”

“Yes, but I’m not playing nice with you when you haven’t said sorry,” I counter. Maddox sits down and shrugs before clicking his fingers. Five human men walk into the room in a perfect line, and then they just stop. Maddox picks up a knife off the table and flings it through the air. I scream as it lands in the first man’s throat. He coughs out blood, his brown eyes widening before he collapses with a thud.

“One,” Maddox coldly states, picking up another knife. “Shall I count to two?”

“No,” I bite out, walking on shaky legs to the chair and sitting down.

Maddox clears his throat and puts the knife down. “Shame.”

“You’re a monster!” I bite out as Maddox picks up a piece of bread and uses the knife he was about to kill someone with to spread butter on it. “Are they compelled? Would you compel me to love you? To not care about your actions if you could?”

He narrows his eyes at me, resting back in his seat. “No. I don’t compel women I want to fuck.”

“Oh, so you do have some morals?”

“No, but I prefer to see the fear in their eyes when I bite into their necks or thighs. Or wherever I want. I like your fear,” he comments, watching me slowly. Oddly, I feel jealous that he has never done that with me. “I like how you know fucking me is wrong, and that’s why you are always so turned on.”

I gulp. “That isn’t true.”

“It is, and it is also true that you want to know why I haven’t bitten you while we have been fucking,” he smoothly replies, and I narrow my eyes at him. He leans closer. “I am waiting for the perfect moment, the moment where you trust me so much that you never see the bite coming.”

My heart beats fast in my chest as I stare him down. He wants to hurt me. “You bit that girl in front of me to remind me of my place in your life, didn’t you?”

“No,” he grits out, but the way his jaw tightens and he looks away tells me I’m bang on. “You are saying this all now and killing more people because you need to push me away because you worry I’m going to hurt you.”

Silence drifts between us, and I never stop looking at him. Eventually, he turns to me, the rage and anger in his eyes only proves my own point to me. “I pushed you away because I am fucking bad for you. I will destroy you, Riona.”

“Isn’t that my choice to make?” I ask. Part of me knows I’m leaving this island, leaving him soon, and I want to take every second we have and embrace it. He doesn’t know that though, but I struggle to see how he plans on destroying me. He did that the first moment he kissed me, destroying me for any other man. “Maybe I like you, Maddox. Maybe that sheer fact scares you.”

“Fuck,” he mutters and moves quick, picking me up off my seat and shoving everything off the table before he kisses me, sitting my ass on the edge of the table. His lips devour mine with every moment, his tongue exploring my mouth and driving me crazy with every stroke.

I feel alive when he kisses me. I feel perfect.

And that is so dangerous for my betraying heart.

But Maddox doesn’t give me a second to think about us, he only makes me want him, want everything he can give me. He kisses down my jaw, digging his hands into my hair at the same time he grinds into me.

“Make them leave,” I breathlessly plead. He pauses and pushes me down on the table and looks up. He doesn’t say a word, but I hear them walking out of the room, and the sound of dragging lets me know they are taking the body with them.

“I’m still hungry,” he murmurs, running his hands down my body, cupping my breasts. He rips at the dress, splitting it down the middle and leaving me completely bare to him.

“Then bite me. Just me, Maddox. No one else,” I demand of him. “Promise me.”

His eyes find mine as he runs a finger up my slit, and I moan as he gently presses on my clit. He lifts his finger, licking the wetness off. “Agreed. Recently I’ve been thinking you’d make a good queen. You know how to bargain.”

“I will never be your queen, Maddox,” I whisper, meaning every word as he undoes his trousers and pushes them down. He grabs my hips, pulling my ass to the end of the table and lining himself up.

“We will see,” he groans as he pushes inch by inch into me, filling me perfectly as he always does. I moan, arching my back as he thrusts hard into me, and each thrust feels like a punishment for resisting him, for not giving him everything he wants. Maddox lifts me up, staying inside me as he carries me to his seat and sits down. “Roll your hips.”

Following his instruction, I roll my hips, and he meets my thrusts, both of us slowly losing control. Just as I’m getting close, he turns my head to the side and places his lips against my neck. I speed up my hips, grinding harder against him as his thumb moves to my clit. At the same time, he sinks his teeth into my neck and rubs my clit, the mix of pain and pleasure sending me over the edge into a blinding orgasm. Pure pleasure courses through my body as Maddox groans against my neck, the pleasure indescribable as I moan, digging my nails into his biceps. He thrusts harder into me with every second, stretching the pleasure, and then I feel him still, his hot come filling me.

He softly pulls his teeth from my neck and leans back, cupping my cheek. He kisses me, forcing me to taste my own blood as he is still inside of me.

“You taste like a goddess,” he whispers to me, brushing the words against my lips. “You were sent here to destroy me. I know it.”

“Maybe we were meant to meet to save each other,” I counter. He shakes his head, slipping his cock out of me but keeping me on his lap. I touch my neck, feeling the bite mark, but it isn’t as bad or rough as the others I’ve had.

“The bad can’t be saved.”

“I don’t think you’re all bad,” I counter. “You have family, you have friends. Bad people are not respected, and I think you are by your people even though you don’t particularly rule them.”

“I have no interest in ruling them. My brother was born for the crown, and he would make a better king,” he replies, stroking his fingers through my hair. “I don’t know why I was created.”

I frown, stroking my fingers down his chest. “Maybe it’s not for us to know why we were created but to find a way to make our lives worth it.”

His eyes search mine for a moment. “Tell me something about you that I don’t know,” he softly asks me, changing the subject.

“My favourite colour is pink or red, but then I came here. I think I need a new colour,” I reply.

“I think green suits you,” he replies. “If it wasn’t my brother’s colour, I would enjoy seeing you in a green dress.”

“I prefer jeans.”

“Dresses are easier to rip,” he states. “Tell me something else.”

Even though I’m not sure why he wants to know things about me, I start talking. “I love dressing up for nights out, but I also adore movie nights in. I love my best friend, Sophie, and I miss her here, but I’m glad she isn’t here. She would judge me so bad for this,” I tell him, waving between us.

“I care little for other people’s judgment.”

“Lucky you,” I say, making him laugh. “I was studying art to become a teacher. Painting has always been an escape for me, and I wanted to give that gift to children. My twin brother, Austin, is a wonder child, always the one who did everything right the first time. I guess that’s why I love painting, because if it’s not right, I can just brush it away and start over.”

“Yes, I understand this,” he replies. “When I’m painting, I can pour my emotions into the paint and wipe them away, making something beautiful.”

My heart pounds as I look at him. My tortured prince. “Are you close with your brother?” he asks, clearly changing the subject.

I nod. “I was.”

“I am not sorry you came here, but I am sorry he did not,” he replies. “I would have liked to meet your twin brother.”

“I wonder if he has the same gift as I do,” I ponder even though the thought of Maddox and Austin meeting scares me. Austin is protective, always has been, and Maddox is insane alongside possessive as hell.

“I have found no vampire ancestors in your bloodline, or witch or siren. Your family are very human, but you taste like magic. You taste better than anything I have tasted before,” he replies, cupping my cheek. He brings my lips down to his, softly moving them against mine. “I will never let you go.”

He keeps kissing me, possessively showing me how certain he is I won’t leave.

But I have to. Even if it might break my heart.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

A  scream clogs in my throat as I step out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, and find Cross laying out a strange sort of coat on the bed. He turns to me, his eyes widening a little as he looks at me before he swiftly turns away. “Inside this jacket is the powder. It’s hidden well inside a pocket.”

I walk over, keeping my eyes on him as he steps back. The jacket has long sleeves, is made from a thick blue material, and it has gold leaves designed from the neck down to the breast. It will fall to my knees, I suspect, and the collar is high with no hood. The buttons are thick, and the material is soft to touch with silk inside. Black leggings, a white T-shirt, underwear and black socks are folded next to the jacket, and my boots too, which have been cleaned. The underwear is lacy and black, and I’ve never seen it before. Cross answers my unsaid question. “These were made for you. Maddox’s order. Maddox isn’t here right now; he has gone to meet his friend who just arrived in his ship.”

The ship we have been waiting for.

My heart pounds in my chest as I realise the chance to leave this place is finally here.

“I doubt I will see him before I go, he doesn’t do goodbyes. I’m actually glad he isn’t here,” I reply, my mouth feeling dry. I fold my arms across my chest, holding my towel tightly in place. My wet hair drips water onto the floor; each drop is the only noise as Cross stares at me.

“Are you sure you can go through with this?” he sternly asks.

My instinct is to say no. That I can’t leave Maddox because I damn well know I feel something for him, something dangerous and addictive. Every second I spend with the Mad Prince makes me see him in a new light and understand his actions a little bit better. If I stayed, maybe, just maybe I could rein in some of his crazier tendencies, and we would love each other.

But…the curse.

But…he is a monster.

And if I stay, I fear there is a chance he could turn me into one too.

“I want to leave. My feelings for Maddox aren’t going to interrupt our plan,” I reply, lifting my head high. “I was stolen from my family. My parents and twin brother need to know I’m alive, and I need to see them. I miss my best friend, and I need to get Arlo off this island. It is destroying him.”

“He might come for you. You can’t just go home,” Cross softly warns. “You will have to stay hidden.”

“Arlo and I have a plan. We just need to get off this island,” I reply. The plan is to go to France, to a cottage my uncle owns in the middle of nowhere, and no one knows he owns it. He made sure to tell me that once, and after his letter…he will understand. He is the only one in the real world I think has a chance of hiding me and keeping me safe.

He rubs his chin. “Tonight. At midnight, be outside Prince Reign’s house with the orb, and someone will come and pick you up. They will bring you to the harbour, and we will leave.”

“How are you going to control the harbour?” I ask.

He just smirks and steps back. “If I wanted, I could take down The Onyx, Riona.”

I frown, wondering how the heck he could manage that. “But we just need the orbs and our freedom. That’s it.”

“What do you know of sirens and their prophecies?” I ask before he gets to the door. The visions of the future that Natalia showed me are glued in my mind, and every time I go to sleep, I see them.

All three of them, and how in each one, everything was so broken.

“Be wary of the sirens and their visions. The sea only shows you the way they wish for the most, not all the possible rivers the future could take.”

“Thank you,” I reply, and Cross inclines his head before stepping out of my room and pulling the door shut behind him. I sit down on the bed, wishing there was someone I could tell all my secrets to without total fear. I can’t tell Maddox anything about the sirens or what I saw, and Arlo would never understand because I’d have to explain my relationship with Maddox.

After Arlo’s kiss, I know it’s better he never finds out and I keep my distance from him. Arlo is sweet and a good man, but my heart is staying locked up after I leave this place. All I want is to be free.

That’s it.

Reign nods his head at me as I open his car door and climb inside, pulling it shut behind me. Sensing eyes on my back, I look out the window as I pull the seat belt on to see Maddox on the steps, and Cross is right behind him.

Watch the man who will stab you in the back.

My warning never leaves my mind as I keep my eyes on Maddox, and he takes a step forward. I shake my head, even as a part of me wants him to come closer.

But I make him pause. I make him stay in this castle, and I hate myself for it as I turn away, pushing down a sob that threatens to leave my lips as Reign takes off. Tears fall down my cheeks, my body mourning for the man we have to leave behind in the mission to be free.

I have to put Maddox and this island in the past.

I have to.

“You seem upset. Why?” Reign questions. “Has my brother hurt you?”

I almost laugh. No, it’s me that is going to hurt him, and he won’t see it coming. I’m going to hurt you as well. “Maddox is many things, but he isn’t a monster, and you shouldn’t expect the worst from him. You will never fix your fucked up relationship with your brother until you see that he is a good person who thinks everything he touches dies or turns to shit. He blames himself for your mother, for your father’s bitterness and anger, and for your hate of him.”

“I don’t hate him,” Reign spits out. “I never have done.”

“What made you walk away then?” I demand. “Can’t you see he needs you?”

Reign speeds up, zipping around the corners of the mountain. “He killed a woman I loved!”

Breathing out the shocked gasp that leaves my lips, I stare at him. “She was human, fragile, and a fight between my brother and me ended in her death.”

“Did he do it on purpose?” I ask.

“Does it matter?” Reign retorts. “I will always love my brother, but when I look at him now, I see the woman I love, dead on the floor.”

“Then you both will spend eternity sad and alone,” I reply, crossing my arms. “Personally, I think you both have lost a lot and only have each other left. Why you don’t work together and build a better world, I don’t know.”

“Humans forgive easily because their lives are short. Vampires have forever,” he replies. “And my brother is a monster. Wait and see what happens when he finds out about our deal.”

I don’t say another word for the rest of the journey back, not until we come around the corner and see Reign’s house.

And the six people in front of the door. Katy and Arlo are unconscious lumps by the side of the road, and my heart pounds as I take in the six people. Five of them are kids, maybe eleven or a little older, and they all stand behind an adult. The adult doesn’t look like a vamp or a witch or a siren. I don’t know how I know it, but I am certain this man is like the children.

He looks like the kids with his long fangs slipping out of his mouth, his glowing brown eyes and how he is dressed in a modern suit.

“Does he smell like the kids?” I ask Reign as he slams the brakes on the car and I jolt forward, my seat belt holding me in place.

“Yes, and I’ve never seen an adult one of them before,” Reign replies, and he looks at me, a grin on his lips. “Finally, one I can torture for answers. Stay in the damn car!”

“Torture?” I mutter as Reign gets out of the car, and using his vamp speed, he is right in front of the man in a second. The man says something that makes Reign tense and look back at me. Then the man attacks with magic.

I’ve seen siren magic, I’ve seen the witches a little bit, but this is like nothing else. Flames spread across the ground in a wave before stretching up into the sky and turning into a dragon shape before diving down straight towards Reign. He moves quickly, dodging the flames, and punches the man straight in the face. The flames jump and spin like they are alive, and I almost scream as the five kids walk into them and disappear. Reign and the man are nothing more than blurs thanks to vamp speed, but occasionally they crash into the glass house, and I see them. Blood leaves trails behind them, and I can’t do anything but watch.

I can’t fight a vamp or whatever these kids are. The kids reappear in more of the flames, one of them so close to Arlo, and without thinking, I push the door open and jump out of the car, running right towards them.

“Stop!” I scream at the kid in the flames. The kid looks towards me, and I come to a stop, digging my feet into the leaves. The little boy runs over, the flames staying with him the entire way, and stops near me.

“Come into the flames. You will be reborn as your true self like your brother and parents,” the boy says, offering me his hand. “They are waiting.”

“My brother? Austin?” I question, looking at his hand covered in flames. “How could you know that?”

The boy just offers me his hand one more time, and I shake my head, taking a step back. My brother is at university and waiting for me, not in flames or wherever the boy thinks I should go. “If you know my parents, then you should know they wouldn’t want me or Arlo hurt. So tell your friends to go.”

“As you wish. We came to invite you, and our keeper came to warn you,” the boy replies and turns around. The flame-covered children all look at him, and at the same time, they all disappear.

“For a vampire prince, you are too easy to beat!” I hear the man shout right before Reign is thrown over my head and into the far distance. As his body crashes down somewhere, I turn back to see the man walking right up to me.

Knowing running is pointless, I dig my hands into my pockets and walk to meet him in the middle of the driveway.

“Why did you refuse to come into the flames?”

“What are the flames?” I question.

He cocks his head to the side, his long blond hair moving with him. He is really pretty, too much for a man, and I struggle to see a single flaw. “You live a half-life.”

“The boy said he knew my parents and brother. Is that true?” I ask. The man doesn’t reply to me, stepping closer and breathing in a long and dramatic way. “I see why they hid you now. Your twin brother is not the one.”

“You’re not making any sense,” I reply.

“It is not time for you to come with us, Riona Dark, but it is time for your death,” he replies. I step back as he roughly grabs my throat, lifting me off my feet. I scream, the noise never leaving my lips, and I dig my nails into his hand. Nothing works, he is so strong against me, and I gasp for air.

All I think of is Maddox, how I want him here. How I want him to save me.

The man jolts suddenly, and I scream as he throws me into the air. The whistling air only lasts a second before I slam harshly onto the car roof, hearing a cracking noise in my chest. Pain shoots through me as I roll onto my back and touch the side of my chest where the pain is from. Hot, sticky blood drips down my left eye as I struggle to sit up as Katy jumps on the hood of the car and looks at me.

“You alright?” she asks with a frown. She lifts her wrist to her mouth, but I hold up my palm.

“No vamp blood. It’s a broken rib at the worst and a cut. Check Arlo and Reign,” I mutter. Katy is gone instantly, and I climb to the edge of the car roof, looking down to see the man’s head on the floor and his body a good distance away. Blood pours around his body, and it seems to move, making the shape of a flame for a second just before I feel myself pass out.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

I  wake up feeling fingers brushing something against my forehead, and I open my eyes to see a woman I don’t know leaning over me. She backs up, taking a white cloth away from my head that is dotted with my blood. The woman is human, with a short grey bob of shiny hair and bright blue eyes that look paler than her skin. Her clothes are nothing more than a dark brown sari dress that has seen better days.

“Who are you?” I groggily question. My chest hurts instantly, and I reach down, picking up the small blanket I’m covered in to see I’m wearing my bra and leggings, and my chest is wrapped tightly in a white bandage.

“I was a doctor before I was taken,” the woman explains to me. “Turns out the people on this island needed my medical skills far more than the hospital I worked at before. A lot of people die out here from lack of modern medicine, did you know that?”

“I guessed. I’m still confused about why you are here, and did you do this?” I question, pointing at my chest. The doctor helps me sit up on the bed, and she starts putting things into a leather bag at the end of my bed as Arlo comes into the room, followed by Reign.

“You’re okay!” I exclaim to them both. Arlo smiles, a little tense considering how we left things, but Reign just looks pissed off.

“Katy made sure to force me to understand your desire for no vampire blood, so we needed a human doctor,” Reign answers my question, even though I didn’t ask him.

“Will you keep our deal? Will you get the medicine I need for your people?” the doctor asks. Reign pulls his eyes from me and nods once to the doctor. “As long as Riona doesn’t die, then yes, our deal stands.”

“Thank gods,” she breathes out, and I swear I see a bit of guilt in Reign’s eyes, but it’s gone quickly. “As for Riona, as long as she keeps that wound clean, rests and doesn’t do any exercise for a few weeks as her ribs heal, she will be fine. I would like to check on her in a week to make sure there is no infection.”

“Come when you wish,” Reign replies. “Riona will not be leaving until she is healed.”

“Brilliant,” she replies and turns to me. “Stay in bed and heal up. I will see you soon.”

“Thanks,” I reply. “I don’t even know your name.”

“Doctor Fost, at your service,” she replies with a smile before stepping around Arlo and Reign, and leaving the room. Arlo comes over and sits on the edge of the bed, picking up my hand. I quickly glance around the room, seeing my coat hanging on a nearby chair, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I haven’t lost my chance.

“So when’s dinner?” I ask.

Reign frowns. “I will bring it up to you.”

“No, I’d rather eat downstairs. I’m honestly not feeling that bad,” I say. Total lie. “Whatcha cooking?”

Reign stares me down. “I would like to speak to you about the attack, but I was going to give you tonight to rest. If you would prefer, I will have dinner ready in half an hour.”

“I would like to talk about that too,” I reply with a smile that hides how much pain I am in by just moving a little in the bed. Reign leaves the room, slamming the door shut behind him on the way out, and Arlo frowns at me.

“I want to use the bathroom and shower the blood from my hair. Will you help me?” I ask Arlo, who looks confused.

“Are you sure you want to get out of bed?” he asks. “You look pale.”

“I’m sure,” I reply, glancing at the blood marking his own hair on the side of his head. “What happened today before we got there?”

“I don’t remember,” he admits, leaning down and pushing his arms under me. I didn’t mean for him to pick me up, but I don’t have the strength to stop him as he gathers me up in his arms, keeping the thin blanket wrapped around my chest. The jostling movement hurts like no tomorrow, but I bite down on my lip. “I remember sitting with Katy and someone knocking the door. Then nothing.”

“Does Katy remember?” I ask, breathing out the pain as Arlo gets to the bathroom and gently places me on the toilet seat.

Arlo looks down at me. “Nothing either, but I heard Reign say we both stink of the magic that the kids have. He thinks the man made us forget, and he has never heard of any creature that is able to invade a vampire’s mind and make them forget. It’s impossible.”

“The longer we are on this island, the worse it gets,” I admit. I look at the door, and Arlo follows my sight. I know we won’t have long to talk, and I have to hope vampire hearing doesn’t stretch over the sound of water all that well. “Can you switch the shower on?”

“Sure,” Arlo replies and switches the shower on, pulling the door shut. He comes and kneels in front of me. “What is going on? If this is about the kiss, then I—”

I stop him by reaching out, placing my hand on his shoulder. Even that small movement hurts. “Tonight we are escaping, and I have a powder in my coat that I need to pour in Katy and Reign’s food or drink. Better the drink, to be honest. Then we can escape at midnight and get off this island,” I tell him. His eyes light up, and a big smile fills his lips. I grin back at him, even when part of me doesn’t want to leave Maddox.

It’s going to hurt him.

“You look sad suddenly. Why?” he asks me.

I clear my throat, plastering on a smile. “It’s nothing. Anyway, we need to get the orb when Reign and Katy are out of it.”

“There is a lot that could go wrong here,” he replies, running a hand through his hair. “But the end goal is worth the risk. We will need to make a plan and hope to god it works.”

“So this is the plan,” I say before starting to explain my idea as steam fills the small room, looking like smoke as it wraps around us, protecting us from vampires’ ears.

I hope.

“Looks delicious,” I say, glancing at the jacket potatoes, various fish, and vegetables on a platter in the middle of the table. The pain in my ribs is more than an ache now, it feels like I’m being stabbed with every little movement, and I can feel the pressure on my stitches. Arlo glances down at me as he pulls a chair out, and I sit in it before he carefully pushes the chair in.

Turns out sitting down hurts just as much.

“For gods’ sake, take these,” Katy mutters, slamming a packet of pills onto the plate in front of me. “They are good shit and will take the edge off that pain. That’s what the human said.”

“Did you go and get these for me?” I ask her in utter shock as she sits down opposite me. Reign sits next to her as Arlo takes the seat on my side.

She waves a hand as I pick up the pills, seeing they are very strong painkillers. “The doctor mentioned you needed them. Don’t read too much into it.”

“I am,” I reply, popping out three of the pills even though I think two would be the recommended amount. I’m going to need more than that tonight. I swallow them with some water, praying they kick in quickly. “And I’m thankful.”

“You were brave in the face of that man,” she replies. “I respect that.”

“Now the girl bonding is over, what did the man say to you?” Reign interrupts, and I flash a little smile at Katy before I look to Reign. Arlo wordlessly starts serving himself food and placing some on my plate for me.

“Nothing that makes even a tiny bit of sense. Did you get his name?” I ask.

“One of the children called him Halvor,” Katy remarks. “Shitty name for a bad guy.”

“Depends on what it means,” I reply. “Well, Halvor claimed to know my parents and brother, but anyone with google could have found out my basic family history. He sniffed me and then said he was going to kill me.” I pause to lean back in my seat. Reign and Katy start moving food onto their plate. “But Katy stopped him, and he threw me back.”

“He told me this island would burn,” Reign claims, and the vision of the future that Natalia showed me flashes into my mind. I’ve seen the island burn, and I was right in the middle of it. “It’s clear Halvor was wrong about many things.”

“It seems so,” I reply, pushing my food around my plate. I glance up at the clock on the wall, seeing it’s nearly ten p.m. and we need to get a move on with our plans. Katy and Reign dig into their food, and I almost sigh in relief, even as I feel a little guilty. We made a great plan earlier tonight with me distracting both Katy and Reign by pretending to fall off the bed and Arlo pouring the powder into the food.

Then all we had to do was not eat.

I see the moment Reign realises something is wrong. Katy gasps, clawing at her throat before she falls off her chair.

“Wha-t you-done?” Reign manages to gasp out, reaching a hand across the table for me.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t belong on this island, and I need to get off it before I end up dead. This is the only way,” I tell him, leaning away. He stares at me in shock before he suddenly collapses headfirst onto the table.

Then there is silence as I turn to Arlo and smile softly. He is grinning, which bothers me a little bit. Reign and Katy have done nothing but look after him, and they have never bit him or used him for food. They don’t deserve this, but they needed to be out of the way. I just don’t seem to enjoy this as much as Arlo clearly does.

Possibly because I don’t hate vampires as much as he does.

“Let’s go and get the orb,” I say, knowing I can’t get distracted right in this moment with anything other than the plan ahead and dealing with the pain in my ribs. Arlo helps me up off the chair, despite me telling him I’m alright. We head straight to the room with the orb, and Arlo picks up a hammer he found just this day from the kitchen cupboard.

“I will grab it, you can just stay near the door,” Arlo explains. “I’m going to smash the glass.”

“Alright,” I reply tensely, just wanting to get this bit over with. We get to the door, and Arlo opens it, heading inside. Staying in the door frame, I watch as he walks over the flooring to the glass. Without waiting, he lifts his hand with the hammer and smashes it down on the glass. It cracks a little bit the first time, and the second time, big cracks spread across the glass like a spiderweb. When it shatters, the noise is so loud it hurts my ears, and then I feel like I’ve been hit by a train dead in my chest, and I fly across the corridor, landing harshly on my back. Wheezing, I stare at the ceiling, unable to focus because of the pain as I realise the glass must have been magically protected.

“Arlo!” I call out, struggling to sit up as the room spins, and I see nothing but a green light floating towards me. The orb slowly comes into focus, and I reach out to it, drawn to it like I was before.

The second the orb touches my fingers, it explodes into a cloud of dust. The dust floats around me for a second, so many different and vibrant colours of green, before it all suddenly slams into my body and disappears.

“What was that?” Arlo asks, limping out of the room. “Where did the orb go? What was that dust?”

“The dust was the orb,” I all but whimper. Arlo moves quickly to my side and helps me stand up, letting me lean on him as I hold my ribs. “Let’s—”

I pause as the ground starts shaking. Just slowly to begin with, nothing more than a small vibration, and then it gets worse. Screaming, I fall away from Arlo in the shakes that rock the walls and make the floor jump with every movement. I can do nothing but hold my head, begging for it to stop until it suddenly does.

I only get a second to look up before the ceiling cracks, and dozens of bricks fall onto me, knocking me out for good this time.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

G entle rocking wakes me up, and then I hear screaming like no other, the sort of screaming that comes from pure pain and nothing else. Above me is nothing but stars, and I can smell saltwater and hear the gentle waves a little bit under the screams. I sit up, tasting blood in my mouth and realising I’ve been given vamp blood right away. I’m not in pain anymore.

“RIONA!” I hear my name being screamed, and right away I recognise it as Maddox. But I’ve never heard him in so much pain before. My heart pounds as I climb to my feet and see I’m on a ship, the gentle rocking should have given it away. I don’t see anyone but Cross, who steers the ship at the back, and he doesn’t look my way as I rush to the back of the ship.

Maddox is at the end of the dock, fighting humans that come at him with everything they have. They die left, right, and centre like nothing more than bugs he rips apart, covering him in blood from head to toe.

He sees me right away, and I can almost taste his pain like it’s mine. Because, in a way, it is.

“I know you can’t hear me, but goodbye, Maddox. I’m sorry,” I whisper, crossing my arms against my chest. Maddox never stops fighting or screaming my name on repeat as the ship takes me away from this island.

Away from him.

I turn away when the island becomes little more than a dot, and nearly jump out of my skin to see Arlo right behind me. He hasn’t taken any blood, guessing from the cut on his head.

“What happened?” I ask. “How did we get here?”

“You nearly died under the bricks, but I managed to get you out, and I had to cut Reign to get his blood and give it to you,” he quickly and quietly explains. “Then I waited with you for Cross. If he was surprised about the orb, he didn’t show it and took us to this boat. There is only us humans on board, no one else but a knocked-out girl in the rooms. Something is wrong, and I think Cross is a witch. There are other witches here.”

“I don’t understand,” I mutter, confused. “I thought this was the way for all of us to get out. Cross isn’t a witch! He can’t be!”

“Yes, he is, because he is my brother,” a familiar voice claims. Arlo turns around, stepping out of the way so I can see Sabina standing next to Cross, and a line of witch women are right behind her. They have all their heads bowed, all of them have red hair, and I realise straight away Sabina looks like Cross. They have the same hair, the same features, and I’ve been stupid to trust him. She hisses at me, and I step back.

The urge to jump into the sea is high right about now.

“Sister, we could not retrieve the third orb, but she has taken one of them,” Cross tells her, almost lovingly. I glare at him, wishing I hadn’t been so stupid to fall for his lies.

“How could you lie to me!” I scream at Cross. “All I wanted was to go home!”

“That island is not your home,” Sabina replies, taking a step forward. She seems to think better of it and holds her hand up. Like a snake wrapping itself around me, I am jolted forward, the toes of my boots scraping across the floorboards as I try to get myself free. “Don’t think about moving, little boy. I will kill you and the other human on board. Both of you are useless to me but serve to make Riona play along.”

“Play along with what?” I breathlessly demand.

She turns her head to the side. “Your parents kept many, many secrets. Especially your sweet dear mother. My sister.”

“No…,” I whisper. “My mother isn’t a witch!”

“Oh, she is, and she was meant to be head of our coven,” Sabina sneers. My aunt sneers. “Then our mother sent her to this vampire island to work with the old king, to make sure our alliance still held when he died. Then she disappeared, along with an orb that decides the next ruler of the vampires and gives them incredible power.”

“My parents wouldn’t do that,” I reply, gritting my teeth, trying to fight the invisible hold on me. Sabina walks up closer, so close I can smell the deaths she has caused stuck to her skin like a perfume. “They just wouldn’t lie to us for years!”

“Oh, they have lied to you for a long time. I don’t know what happened on this island or what your father did to convince my sister to leave everything she ever knew to run away with him, but it happened, and now I’m finally understanding it. When I met you, I saw why.” She pauses and looks at Cross. He tensely smiles at her before they both look at me. “The king gave the orb to your mother, and she did a spell to absorb the magic when she was pregnant.”

“So my mother had the orb?” I ask.

She smiles at me like I’m stupid for not knowing this. “Yes, and that is why you can’t be compelled, and it’s why you feel at home on the island. The orb might have even made you feel out of control, uncomfortable, because it drew you in. The orb seeks its counterparts, and now you have successfully taken the second orb. When you have the third, which will be soon, you will die by my hand, and I will rule the vampire island, taking back what is rightfully ours.”

I shake my head. “One small problem with your plan.”

She steps closer, grabbing my chin roughly with her hand. “What is that then, my niece?”

“Maddox will never give up the orb,” I laugh out. “He would rather kill every witch in his way.”

“But the mad prince has never been in love before,” she softly replies, forcing my hand into the air with her magic. I stare at my hand with her, seeing white root-like veins crawling all over my hand.

“What is that?” I question, tears pricking my eyes as I already know.

“The curse of being in love with the Mad Prince. You have a year, Riona Dark, and one way or another, you will die.”

EPILOGUE

PRINCE MADDOX

Wiping blood from my mouth and eyes, I lift my foot and kick the door open. My brother is slumped on the dining table, his arm hanging off the side of the table. Bricks have fallen from the ceiling, destroying most of the room. The vamp girl he is always with is collapsed on the floor under a wooden beam, and I ignore her.

“Wake the fuck up!” I growl, moving to Reign’s side in a second and kicking his foot. He jolts awake like a lion, roaring as he looks around and finds me.

“Your human poisoned me!” he shouts in frustration, and then he sees the room. “And she fucking destroyed my house!”

I wait for him to finish his meltdown. “The human girl is more destructive than you, and that is saying something.”

“Yes, I am aware,” I bluntly state. “And I need to get her back. Now. We are leaving to murder an island of witches and start a war. Grab your swords.”

“I’m not helping you get her back if the witches have her,” Reign calls after me. I come to a stop. “Let her go, Maddox. She isn’t safe around you, and you will only lose her. Starting a war over a woman is not a good move.”

I told myself the same thing a million times as I ripped apart every human in my way on that port, but when I saw her on the edge of the ship, it felt like my heart was leaving with her. I’m fucked up and cruel. I’m a monster, but she is my redemption.

I can’t let her go.

“I love her.”

I’ve never said that about anyone, not my mother, or father or my brother. I never knew I could feel what I do for her so intensely. But I realised it the second I woke up, the second I read Cross’s note explaining who he is, how he has lived with me for so many years as a spy, and how Riona is theirs.

His.

Fuck no.

Reign sighs, leaning back on his table. “Then Riona Dark is a dead woman walking.”

“The witches have her,” I explain. “And I need her. I want her. I love her. Fucking hell, are you going to make me force you into helping me?”

“Perhaps begging will work,” he coldly responds. “It didn’t work for my human who you killed.”

“Fuck you,” I snap. “That was an accident, and I am sorry.”

He slowly smiles. “I never thought I’d see the day you asked for my help or apologised. Alas, I promised our father I would help you if you ever asked for it, and I promised my mother to always forgive our family.”

“Help me burn them all down and make them respect our rule,” I respond. He inclines his head, and I slowly smirk.

The witches are going to pay.

And I’m getting what is mine back in blood and fire. The witches are going to burn.

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G. Bailey is a USA Today and international bestselling author of books that are filled with everything from dragons to pirates. Plus, fantasy worlds and breath-taking adventures.

G. Bailey is from the very rainy U.K. where she lives with her husband, two children, three cheeky dogs and one cat who rules them all.

A few random facts about her…

She loves tea. (She may be a little obsessed but what Brit isn’t?)

Chocolate and Harry Potter marathons are her jam.

She owns way too many notebooks and random pens.

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HER GUARDIANS SERIES

HER FATE SERIES

PROTECTED BY DRAGONS SERIES

LOST TIME ACADEMY SERIES

THE DEMON ACADEMY SERIES

DARK ANGEL ACADEMY SERIES

SHADOWBORN ACADEMY SERIES

DARK FAE PARANORMAL PRISON SERIES

SAVED BY PIRATES SERIES

THE MARKED SERIES

HOLLY OAK ACADEMY SERIES

THE ALPHA BROTHERS SERIES

A DEMON’S FALL SERIES

THE FAMILIAR EMPIRE SERIES

FROM THE STARS SERIES

THE FOREST PACK SERIES

THE SECRET GODS PRISON SERIES

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Table of Contents

Full Page Image

Copyright

Contents

Dedication

Description

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Epilogue

About the Author

Other Books by G. Bailey

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