The Vampire King’s Captive

BRAN

“I can’t believe that when I finally step into this castle for the first time in many months, it had to be the dungeons.”

Bran looked up from the glass of blood he was holding.

To celebrate her return-a private celebration before the official one-she had requested for food because apparently, the blood Iris had been fed in the realm of Sorceri had been terribly stale and lacked taste.

Iris was at her third cup already, but Bran had not been able to take a single sip of his drink. All he did was stare at the clock on the wall of his study room, and count the hours until he could finally start to search for Maria.

While Iris had gone into her room to freshen up, Bran had gone into his own room, wrenched the bracelet away from his arm and tossed it out through his window, hating the damn thing for what it meant. How it had contributed to him losing his mate.

“Bran,” At the mention of his name, Bran blinked, only now realizing that he had been staring at Iris this entire time. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

Of course his sister had noticed the dark cloud that settled over his mood. He had tried to hide it as best as he could because it was her first day back and he wanted her to know that he had missed her, but some things were just impossible to hide.

He sighed, abandoning the glass of blood on the table and falling back to rest on his chair. “I’ve a lot on my mind.”

Iris sat up immediately, her eyes growing sharp. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Bran studied his sister, noticing how she had changed so much in the few months that she had been taken away from him. It was like she had matured more, her eyes sharper and much more intelligent for someone her age, her words more direct.

Before they had taken her, Iris used to be timid, running away from conversations, but she was different now. More outspoken.

He wasn’t completely sure if that was a good thing.

“Not really,” he told her.

“Why do I have a feeling that it’s about the sorceress?” Iris asked with light amusement in her tone.

“The sorceress has a name.”

One brow lifted. “So it is about her after all.”

“I did not say that, did I?”

Honestly, Bran did not want to talk about her with Iris. Well, it wasn’t really that he didn’t want to. He wanted to, but he wasn’t much of a talker and Maria had killed their parents after all. Iris could not be happy about that.

“I’m so sorry that she’s not who we want her to be, brother,” Iris sighed, her shoulders sagging. “I liked her. A lot. She was my first friend, I believe, and I thought that when we got out, I would get to know her more.” Bran was so surprised by Iris’ confessions, he could only watch her speak. “Imagine how surprised and elated I was when I saw that you let her out. I merely thought that you were helping her but then I found out who she was and… and it broke me.”

A lump formed in Bran’s throat and he felt an odd stinging sensation in his eyes that made him rub at them.

Hell, after Iris had freshened up, he’d told her everything. About Maria’s role and how she was Ariti’s daughter, but he hadn’t told her that she wasn’t really who he’d thought she was.

He hadn’t told her that he was head over heels in love with her.

“She didn’t kill mother and father on purpose, Iris,” Bran told her after a moment of quiet.

Lines formed between Iris’ brows. “What?”

“Those things she did…” Bran shook his head, frowning when his eyes started to sting even more. What the hell was happening to them? “Everything she did, her father made her do. He blackmailed her and tortured her until she had no choice but to do what he wanted.” When Iris’ jaws hit the ground, Bran repeated. “She never meant to do those things.”

With seemingly great effort, Iris picked her jaw back up, her eyes wide and shocked. “Wow.” She pushed her hair back from her face and it reminded Bran of Maria. His chest tightened and he turned to look at the time. He would give her another hour. “But… wow. Just wow. How could her own father do that to her?”

“Because he was an evil man.” Bran shrugged. “Maria would never do those things. She would never hurt anyone without reason. She’s too good for that.” He turned away from his sister, unable to look at her anymore. Not when he was so raw, he felt like he was cut and splayed wide open. “She’s the sweetest. The absolute best. Sometimes, I feel like she’s too good to be true.”

The room was silent for a while, then, “You love her.”

A quiet statement, not a question.

Bran didn’t answer because it was pointless. The fact couldn’t be argued.

“What are you going to do now?” His sister asked him.

“I’m going to go after her in the next hour.”

“You’re going after her?” There was surprise in her voice. “Why did she leave? Where is she?”

Squeezing his eyes close to fight back the burning sensation which was getting worse by the minute, Bran told his sister everything that had happened. About the bracelet and how he had planned on giving Maria back to her father.

About how he had refused to tell her that she was his mate.

He didn’t look at her but he could hear the tears in her voice when she said, “Oh, Bran. You must have hurt her so deeply.”

Fuck. That did nothing to help the burn in Bran’s chest-the gaping hole where his heart was.

“I’m going to make it right.” He hoped he sounded confident because he sure didn’t feel it. “I’m going to fix it.”

Iris sighed warily. “I’m sorry, brother, but you can’t go to her. Not now.”

Bran sat up immediately and glared at her. “Why the hell not?”

His sister’s eyes were soft and compassionate. “Because she’s still very much hurt right now and nothing you say is going to get across to her.”

“I know but-”

“No buts, Bran.” Her voice turned hard with authority, surprising him. “Take it from a fellow woman. She’s not going to listen to you right now. Give her a few days before you go.”

A few days?

He was already shaking his head. “No, Iris. Fuck no.” She’d been gone just a few hours and he already felt like his world was being torn apart, his heart shedding bit by bit in his chest. “I won’t survive a day without her. I won’t do it. I can’t do it.”

Iris shook her head slowly and reached out across the table to grip Bran’s hand, squeezing it. “Let’s wait a few days then you’ll go to her.” Bran was about to speak when she pushed on. “Even better, I’ll go to her and explain everything. There’s a greater chance of her listening to me than her you.”

Even though Bran hated it, he had to admit that she was right. Maria had just today learnt that her father had intended to offer her as a sacrifice and that he-Bran-had betrayed her in more ways than one.

Maybe she needed a few days to heal from everything and yes, there were greater chances of her listening to Iris, than her listening to him.

“It’s going to be okay, brother,” Iris said, squeezing his hand once more before she let go and Bran drew strength from the confidence in her gaze. “We’ll make it work.”

Fucking shit. He was going to be apart from Maria for days.

How was he going to survive it?