The Vampire King’s Captive

BRAN

He opened his mouth to explain to her that he had never intended to let her go but his mouth wouldn’t open and his lips wouldn’t move. His lips were sealed together and no matter how hard he tried to open them, they remained firmly shut.

A thought entered his head and he turned to the sorceress, understanding dawning on him when he saw the amused glint in her eyes.

She had taken away his ability to speak so that he wouldn’t be able to deny what Ariti was saying.

That wouldn’t deter him.

He faced Maria and his eyes pleaded with her to understand. To know that he would never have given her back.

He could never.

But her eyes were filling with tears and she just kept shaking her head from side to side, her expression both one of disbelief and immense hurt.

“Come now, child,” Ariti crooned. “You didn’t expect him to choose you over his sister, did you? Do you forget that you were the cause of his parent’s death and his sister’s capture after all?”

The impact the words had on Maria was visible. Her body lost all strength and she sagged into a defeated kneeling position, her head lowered.

Bran’s frustration damn near killed him. He needed to get to her and explain everything. She would understand. She had to. She had to know what she meant to him. How could she even believe what they were telling her?

“The destruction of the castle’s walls could have been avoided, of course, but after waiting for several days and the vampire still hadn’t reached out to me, I thought maybe he was merely… enjoying you before he said goodbye and, as always, I was right.” He paused. “If you think my words are lies, then ask him what the bracelet on his hand signifies.”

No. No.

Fuck no.

Please not that, but he was helpless to stop anything. Not when he was bound and made dumb.

But it was the sorceress that spoke. “Oh, I like this part.” She smiled, gliding over to Maria to cup her cheek. “He asked a witch to make him that bracelet so that he wouldn’t bite you.” When Maria’s face filled with confusion at that, the woman smiled. “Crazy, I know. They’re usually in a hurry to bite. But, my dear child, if he bites you, then he’s marking you his forever because…” She smiled cruelly at Bran, enjoying his torture. His demise. “Because you’re his mate.”

Bran’s heart stopped beating in his chest.

Both Elizabeth and the guard gasped. Maria probably would have too, but she looked too weak to do anything at this point.

With her hand on Maria’s face, the sorceress turned her to face him. “Look at him. He can’t even deny it.” She clicked her tongue. “To learn that a man would rather go this length than be mated to you? It must be truly devastating.”

Bran had never wanted to kill a woman more than he did the sorceress.

And he had never wanted to die more than he did now.

When a single drop of tear fell from Maria’s eyes, heartbreak itself written over her features, Bran shook his head, desperate to tell her that it wasn’t what she thought it was. That he had a perfect explanation.

But he couldn’t fucking speak and the words remained trapped in his throat. She was hurting and he was hurting. He wanted to hold her so bad, he vibrated with the urgency.

“I’ll tell the remainder of the story.” Ariti spoke up, pushing away from the wall he had been leaning on. He glanced at Maria. “I have told you before that love is a fickle notion, have I not? You refused to believe me.” Then to the room in general, he said, “I do not really care about my daughter this much, I must say. I just need her blood.”

“Blood?” Elizabeth asked, puzzled.

Maria said nothing.

“Yes. Do you seriously think I would go this length to get you back?” He scoffed. “Some while back, I found out that my powers are being withheld by the Sorceri permanently. They weren’t going to tell me, can you believe that?” He shook his head as though he really couldn’t understand why they would do that. “So I meet the queen and she tells me that she knows a way to get my power back. But I would need a sacrifice of the queen of Sorceri and a female vampire from a royal bloodline.”

The whole room was pin-drop silent now.

“If I’d taken your mother,” this one was addressed at Bran. “Your father would have killed himself anyway. And if I had taken your sister, I would have had the whole kingdom after me. I had to kill your parents, then take your sister. It was safer that way.”

Bran’s vision turned red with anger. That Ariti dared speak about his parents that way…

“You must have done the calculations already, but just incase, I’ll do it for you. Your sister is the female vampire from a royal bloodline and Maria, my clueless daughter here, is the Queen of Sorceri.” He smiled. “Shocking, I know. I was shocked when I found out too.”

There was a gasp, and when Bran turned, he saw that it had come from Maria. Her grey eyes were two pools of pain, the waters, tears, running down her face unbidden.

Queen of Sorceri?

He didn’t know exactly what that meant but he didn’t have to. Ariti planned to sacrifice his sister just so that he would get his powers back. Fucking hell, Maria must be carrying so much pain right now. How much more could she take before she broke under the weight?

“Imagine how envious I was when I heard it,” The queen said with a small, absent smile.

“So there you have it.” Ariti clapped loudly. “I never intended to give your sister back to you. Both her and my daughter are going to have to die in order for me to get my powers back.” He waved to the queen, his movements hurried. “We have to leave soon. I am excited to begin the process. But before we do, please end the vampire.”

The queen smirked. “My pleasure.”

Bran was completely helpless. He had no way of explaining himself, no means of fighting back. No one would come to their aid.

Maybe it was time to accept his fate. He deserved it for all the pain he’d caused Maria.

The sorceress lifted her hand to deliver Bran’s death blow, and Bran turned to look at Maria one last time, memorising her features, committing them to memory when suddenly, Maria, with her eyes locked on his, squeezed her eyes shut and gave an ear-splitting scream.

A white light burst from her, spreading across the room and shrouding it in brightness until it was too bright for even Bran to see.

Then suddenly, he heard pained groans, terrified cries, and finally, felt the pressure in his body giving away.

Even in his blinded state, he kept asking himself one question; What just happened?