The Vampire King’s Captive

BRAN

His eyes popped open suddenly and he saw Maria in the next cell, sitting on the bench with her arms around her legs, staring at them with a lost expression on her face.

She looked sad and small sitting in the corner like that, looking lonely and abandoned, and Bran saw a look of longing fleet across her expression as she stared at them hugging.

A strange feeling filled his chest, his lungs tightening until he could barely get any air. He didn’t know whether it was because he’d dreamed her memories and seen first hand what she went through that made his feelings for her so acute and strong, but he could not bear to see that look on her face for another minute more.

How abandoned she must feel. How lonely.

She needed to know that he’d come here because of her. She had to know that she was important. He would tell her, but not now. He would tell her when they were back safely in Corey’s home.

He pulled away from Iris softly and backed away so that he could break into Maria’s cell. Her eyes widened as he broke the lock and wrenched the gate open.

Slowly, she rose from the bench, her expression skeptical. “You’re… You’re letting me out?”

Had she thought that he was just going to take his sister and leave?

Yes. Yes, she’d thought so.

Because he was cruel to her. Because she believed him to be just as heartless as her father was.

Little did she know that he’d dreamed her memories and his perception of her had done a complete one-eighty.

“Yes,” he said simply and he had to force that single word out of his mouth. His throat was clogged with emotions-regret, tenderness, self-hate and a few that he couldn’t name at the moment.

She stared at him, unable to believe that he was actually letting her go and that made him wonder just how much of an asshole he must have been to her.

She nodded and stepped out of the cell, halting suddenly when she saw Iris. Bran could almost feel the charge in the air as they stared at each other, the expressions on their faces unreadable.

Maria knew who Iris was but did Iris know that this was the woman who had killed her parents?

Bran watched the women with bated breath, at a loss for what to do. Dread filled him as he waited for what would come next even when at the same time, he was curious to watch how it would play out.

Suddenly, Iris crossed the small space between them in three quick strides and engulfed Maria in a hug, burying her face in the older woman’s neck.

Bran blinked.

What the hell?

Maria’s eyes were wide as saucers as she slowly wrapped her hands around his sister, hugging her back tentatively. Almost immediately, her eyes flew to Bran, a silent question in them.

She was asking him if it was okay to hug her back. Bran’s throat worked on a swallow and he gave her a sharp nod, looking away quickly.

He now had an answer to his question. Iris didn’t know who Maria was-at least what she’d done-and from the tense lines of Maria’s shoulders, she didn’t know how she was going to handle it.

Bran almost felt bad for her.

Together, the three of them crept out of the dungeon and made their way back to where the portal waited for them.

Just a few feet away from the portal, their way was blocked by a group of guards and Bran unsheathed his sword, telling Maria and Iris to stay behind him.

The men were much and as he struggled to fight them, he saw one run towards Maria, his intentions clear.

Panic seized Bran and he shoved the man in front of him away, narrowly missing the man’s sword by mere centimetres. The man leapt at him again, preventing him from getting to Maria and frustration filled him.

Just as he finally fell the man and turned to help Maria, he watched her shove something into the man’s neck and the man froze, shock filling his face as he crumpled to the ground.

Bran, too, was shocked as hell. “How?”

“I had… wood.” She muttered.

He bent and turned the man over. It was then that he understood what she meant. A sharp splinter of wood protruded from the dead man’s neck.

“Where did you get it?”

She held his eyes when she said, “I made it.”

His mouth gaped.

He quickly turned to his sister, wondering how she was dealing with witnessing such brutal killing, but she merely shrugged. “He deserved it.”

He almost laughed. Almost.

His sister was apparently tougher than she’d been before.

“Come on,” he urged guiding them towards the portal.

They were so close, he couldn’t believe it. He was so close to getting both his sister and Maria out of here, more than he bargained for.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

He could almost taste the beginnings of freedom on his tongue.

“Bran!” His sister screamed suddenly. Bran turned sharply and saw her floating in air and away from him as though being pulled away by an invisible force.

A roar tore from his throat as he ran after her. He caught her hand and tried to pull her back but the force was just too strong. No matter how hard he pulled, she kept going away from him.

“Vampire!” He heard a voice call from the other side of the portal. “You have to come back now. I can’t keep the portal open for much longer.”

Ignoring the voice, he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip, his legs skidding across the floor as moved with her.

He couldn’t just let her go after trying to get her back for such a long time. He just couldn’t.

But then she seemed to be wrenched out of his hands and his grip slipped.

“No!” He shouted as she flew away from him just as Ariti and a woman in a flowing blue gown appeared a few feet away from them.

“How wonderful it is to see you again, vampire,” Ariti grinned coldly and Bran felt unholy rage course through him.

“Let her go!” He yelled.

“How about I strike a deal with you?” Ariti asked, all calm and collected, not the least bit bothered. “You bring my daughter to me and I’ll give you your sister.”

Iris landed on the floor next to the woman, her hands pressed to her sides as though she was bound. Her eyes widened in shock as they darted between Ariti and Maria, and hurt filled her eyes. “Daughter?”

Then the woman in the blue gown lifted her hand and launched a blast at Bran that landed directly on his chest, blew him a kiss, then they dissapeared into thin air.

Bran shoved his fingers into his hair, yanking hard on the strands. “Fuck!”

“Vampire!” The voice called again with more urgency than the first time. “You have to leave now.”

Bran’s heart was heavy with the realisation that he was going to leave once more without his sister. This time it was worse because he’d seen her with his eyes.

He stepped through the portal, knowing that there was no way he could find Ariti and try to fight for his sister and the thought made every step he took harder.

With one last look at Ariti’s house, he stepped through the portal with Maria.

It wasn’t until he was on the other side that he remembered that he’d been hit by that woman, but nothing had happened to him.