Pure: A Paranormal Romance

by D. L. McKinsey

  The bedroom door opened, and one of her ebony complexioned men came in carrying a card or something. He was dressed the same way she required all her male-only servants to dress: black briefs and white bow tie only. I loved to look at their rock-hard bodies. It was one of my three requirements to be in my employ.

  1.) Always follow my orders. 2.) Have an amazing body and face. 3.) When in doubt, refer to rule number one. If the human I chose did as I said and more, I rewarded him with immortality.

  “A letter came for you, mistress.” The ebony man announced. His name was Kellan. The only reason I even knew his name was he’d been with me for almost two hundred years now; much longer than any of my other servers. I never forced the men to stay, but should they want to leave, all they had to do was find a replacement of equal or greater value. This ensured I always had plenty of men around for my many needs.

  “Out.” She demanded. The servers attending to her immediately scurried from the the plush bronze poster bed. Kellan shut the door behind us before having a seat next to his mistress.

  I stared at Kellan with his bald head and bulging muscles, desire shooting to my core.

  “This is for you, mistress.” Kellan’s voice was deep and husky; no doubt he feeling the same desire she was. The best part of being in hype was being able to feel the basics: blood lust, sexual desires, and sometimes anger. If you’re not experiencing one of the three, then you are just simply content; no happiness, no sadness, no guilt or longing. Hype was a vampire stop button. It keeps out all the things that lead to pain which is why for the last three hundred years, I chose to live my existence this way; to stop all the emotions.

  I smoothly took the black envelope from him and flipped it over. The gold-embroidered lettering caused my fangs to rip out of my mouth. Written on it was my full name: Cassandra Le’Vinalli. There wasn’t a return address, but it wasn’t necessary. I knew exactly where this came from. The King.

  Not wasting any moment, I ripped into the letter and scanned the inner contents. It was one card with the same gold fancy lettering and the King’s crown stamped on top; in blood, of course. The further I read, the angrier I became. By the end, I ripped the card apart in hundreds of little pieces in a rage-filled fit.

  “What’s the matter? What’d it say?” Kellan asked, concern etching his handsome face.

  I shot up from the bed and began pacing the soft white carpet.

  “They’re executing him!” I shouted. My long red hair cascaded down my back. The locks moved in sync with my quick steps, swaying angrily.

  “Who’s being executed mistress? And by whom?” Kellan asked, confused.

  A mangled growl erupted from my throat as the anger took over.

  “Marcos! The king is killing Marcos!” I screamed through my fangs. This didn’t make sense to her. Marcos wouldn’t have gone back to the blood castle only to get captured. He surely learned from his mistakes three hundred years ago. We all did. Marcos, Acacia and Cassandra were all severely punished by the King for their attempt to flee. It was half the reason I could only live in hype. The other reasonwas the betrayal of my mate, Maximus.

  I quickly shook off any thoughts that would lead to her mate. Those thoughts lead to emotions and pain; a place I refused to visit. Instead, I wondered how the King captured Marcos, and on what grounds did he have for execution?

  Kellan standing in front of me cut off my movements and thoughts.

  “What can I do to make you feel better, Cassandra?” Kellan gently took my hand in his; his eyes shining with an emotion I recognized but could not feel.

  Kellan was in love with me even though he knew it was a waste of time. I would no sooner burn alive than feel love again. The only man I loved destroyed me.

  That’s when a new thought occurred to me.

  There was only one person that could have aided in the capture of Marcos. And thinking back to my last conversation with Marcos, I sent him straight to the traitor, Maximus, my mate.

  “Gather the men. Vampires only.” She ordered

  Kellan removed her hand from his. Disappointment flared in his depths, but he only nodded.

  “Tonight, we’ll be making a little trip to the blood castle.”

  “Aren’t you banned from the kingdom?”

  “Yes, but I was specifically invited to this execution, and I know by who,” I said as I walked towards my massive closet.

  Only one vampire basked in the misery of others, and that was the spoiled rotten princess. Catalina also played a huge role in my downfall. And tonight, I would give the princess exactly what she deserved: a slow painful death.

  The execution was scheduled for midnight, California time. That didn’t give me much time to fly from Paris and come up with a plan, but I wasn’t worried about that now. Marcos was the last ally I really had from my time in the kingdom. If he was going to die, I was going to take someone down with him even if it turned out to be herself or her mate.

  ***

  Ana

  I felt like I was burning alive.

  The King had just shot a red blast of light into me. The force of it alone sent me spiraling across the room where my body forcibly crashed onto the hard door. I lay on the ground, gritting my teeth against the fiery pain. Ferox was a lot more powerful than I gave him credit for. I tried to reach for my own power, but along with the heat, my body felt like it was being stabbed by thousands of pinpricks; similar to the feeling when your leg falls asleep times ten. Footsteps approached me as I withered on the ground in pain.

  “Impressive. I figured you would be screaming in pain.” Ferox taunted.

  I wanted to give him the finger, if only I could feel my hand. I only felt pain this bad when I died and turned.

  “She’s strong, this one.” A feminine voice said, stepping next to the King. It was the woman in the black veil. So my guess was right. It was a woman, but that still didn’t answer my question about her purpose. And why did she hide her face?

  Ferox noticed my eyes on her.

  “Where are my manners? This lovely lady is Raven. She is the most powerful dark witch to ever exist, I would say.” Ferox stated cockily.

  He was boasting now, probably because he’d so easily taken me down. Damn! I’d never make the mistake of not being prepared for him again. But then it occurred to me he had just given me some very useful information. The black veiled woman was named Raven. She must be the dark witch casting the cloaking spell around the castle. If I managed to get out of here alive, I was sure her name will mean more to Jace than me. My body continued to shake on the floor. With all my might, I couldn’t stop it.

  “Hm-mmm, I take it you haven’t heard of her. Oh well. After this, you’ll never forget her.” Ferox promised.

  I didn’t have to wonder long what he meant because Raven dropped to her knees next to me. I tried to scoot away, but my efforts were useless. Instead, I focused on my kinetic powers; trying hard to gather as much as I could. If she was going to kill me, I would at least get a blast in.

  “Don’t worry, dear. I only want to access some memories you don’t know you have. It should only hurt a bit at first.” Raven may have spoken softy, but her voice did little to ease my tension. What I didn’t understand was what she meant by memories I had but didn’t know.

  She didn’t give me the chance to ask. Raven knelt behind me and clasped both her pale hands on the side of my head. The coldness countered the previous heat inside me, but that wasn’t the worst part. I could feel her…in my mind. It felt invasive and unwelcomed. She was flipping through my memories like channels, except it was not in any sort of order.

  One glimpse was of me and Kim playing at the park as kids. The next was of Simon and I as teenagers having a Star Wars movie night at his house. I remembered that day; we played and fought with brooms and broke his mother’s vase. She was pissed, and she punished us both by making us clean the attic. Suddenly, I realized that Raven was seeing all this, and I wanted to stop her. She was trying to move on to anothe
r memory; one of Jace. It was the first day of freshman year, and he looked so handsome in his sky blue polo shirt. I had to shut her out. The only thing I could think to do was build a door, so to speak, in front of the memory and slam it shut! It was hard, but I was finally able to. Raven moved on to another, but I shut her out again with more ease this time.

  “Clever girl. But the memory I want is far deeper than you can block me from.” Raven remarked, pressing her hands harder.

  The coldness became more intense. I released a breath that came out in a white cloud. Raven was scanning through my memories so fast, I could barely see which ones they were. If I couldn’t tell what I was seeing, I was certain she couldn’t. Then she began to slow down. Only, the images she was viewing were of things I’d never seen before.

  “A woman of power like your mother could do many things. For one, she could allow her unborn child to see though her eyes. You have many memories from your gestation that you don’t even realize.” Raven explained, pausing on one particular memory.

  I didn’t know what it was, but I tried to block it. Whatever it may be, I didn’t want her to see. But for some reason, I couldn’t build a door. It kept slipping from my grasp; the way water does through your fingertips.

  “It’s useless. You can’t block a memory you’re not consciously aware of.” Raven replied to my failed attempts.

  The image sharpened and cleared until a crystal clear view of Celeste was all I could see.

  She looked just as beautiful and ethereal as she did the last time I saw her in the vortex. Celeste was standing in front of a mirror dressed in a long delicate lilac-colored gown. The dress flowed lightly and gracefully around her. It looked too big but very elegant. Half of her long hair was pinned back and the remaining draped down her back in long thick waves. Celeste had the type of beauty every one dreamed of.

  However, as I looked at her closely, I could see the deep sadness in her eyes. It was enough to make anyone’s heart clench. It hurt me just to see the pain there. Celeste slowly glided her hand down her stomach and stopped. That’s when I noticed the small bump there. She was pregnant.

  Somewhere behind her, a door opened and closed. Celeste didn’t bother turning to see who had entered her bedroom. She never took her eyes and hands off of her swollen stomach. The person standing behind her was someone I also knew from my time in the vortex. She, too, looked the same with her wise eyes and long white hair in a single braid. Hildegarde smiled sadly behind Celeste.

  “She’s due any day now.” The old crone commented.

  My mother met her eyes through the mirror and nodded.

  “I know.” She mumbled “I wish I could keep her in here longer just to have her close to me.”

  Celeste rubbed her belly once more

  “There is still time. We could try other ways to stop him…” Hildegarde pleaded, but my mother raised her hand up and cut the old woman short. At this point, I knew it was me they were talking about. I was the baby she was carrying andcausing her this great sadness.

  “Erebus is too far gone. His power is too great now. In order to kill him, I’ll have to use my crystal heart powers and that would endanger my daughter. She must live above all else. It’s too late for my son. He’s a man, a warrior, and he will refuse to run. No, Arc will fight until his death just like his father…”

  A single tear dropped from her eye. That one drop was filled with so much sorrow, it was like a blow to my chest. Tears escaped my own eyes. Celeste finally turned from the mirror to face Hildegarde.

  “We will stick to the plan. After her birth, you’ll remove my crystal heart and place it in my daughter. Then take her through the portal to the mortal world. Make certain that when you place her in the slumber, you will spell her so that when she is awakened, she will be human. If only for a short time,” Celeste said

  “The longest I can give her as a human would be eighteen years. On her eighteenth birthday, she’ll die unless the spell to turn her back into a vampire is performed or she drinks vampire blood.” The old crone responded, stepping closer to my mother.

  “I know. It will be eighteen years of peace for her before she has to deal with all the challenges coming her way because of who she is and what she must do. Just make sure you teach Helia everything she needs to know for my daughter’s awakening and turning at eighteen.” Celeste turned again to the mirror. Her eyes showed tears that were yet to fall.

  It all made sense now! How I was able to live a human life even though I was born a thousand years ago. It also explained why Verna sent me to Chance Harbor. When I ran away at age sixteen, I threw off my own fate. Verna must have had a vision of my dying two years later because the spell would have worn off. So she interfered and sent me in Marcos’ direction. She knew he would kill me and my survival instincts would kick in which explained why I bit him and drank his blood! Without even knowing what I was doing, I had somehow called on a part of this memory and saved my own life. The witches were right. I was always meant to be a vampire. Being human was just a gift from my mother; a small chance at peace until the problems of her past became my present. Too bad, Kim made sure my human life sucked almost as bad as my vampire one was.

  “I will, my Queen. Your daughter will live on.” Hildegarde took her leave after that. My mother gently stroked her tummy as if she was actually holding me in her arms.

  “I’m so sorry, my daughter.” Celeste spoke, and I knew it was me she was talking to now. “I’m sorry I won’t be there to watch you grow. More importantly, I’m sorry I’m asking you to do something I can’t even do. Erebus will rise again and he will come for you, mainly because you’re my daughter. Please be strong. Believe in yourself, and you’ll be the most powerful creature to exist―even more powerful than me. I love you, my daughter.” Celeste closed her eyes and the memory closed with her.

  Raven still held me and I was so full of rage that she saw something that my mother only meant for me to see. Ignoring the pain in my body, I pushed all the energy out from my core.

  A huge blue static boom shot through the room, blasting Raven off of me.

  I couldn’t see where she landed, but I heard the crash. As soon as her hands were removed from my body, a coldness like no other seeped into my head.

  This time, I did scream.

  “AAHH!!” I cradled my head in my arms to stop the unbearable pain. It was like eating ice cream really fast and getting a brain freeze times a hundred.

  “Did you get the information I wanted?” Ferox asked impatiently. My ears ringing made listening a challenge.

  “Not exactly. I was able see how Celeste shielded the girl but nothing about what she did to your father and his body. The brat pushed me out. I told you she was strong.” Raven answered somewhere behind me. I couldn’t see a thing. When I tried to open my eyes, all I saw was white and all I felt was cold.

  “Well, try again!” The King demanded.

  “I can’t. That blast from the power she used just wiped me out. I need a few days to gather more energy for another mind bridge.” Raven snapped back.

  My vision started to clear but my head still throbbed like crazy! Holding it was all I could do not to cry out again.

  The doors bursting off the hinges got all of our attention. I slowly turned my head to see who was causing all the ruckus and there stood Cassius. He looked pissed and dangerously beautiful. His eyes scanned the room, and when they met mine, they softened a little. He turned back to his father and the witch, his red eyes igniting in flames.

  “What the hell is going on here?!” Cassius’ voice was so deep and angry, I would have been scared of him had he been speaking to me.

  Ferox looked unfazed.

  “Just gathering information on the prisoner, son.” The King replied casually.

  “Never and I mean never touch my mate again.” Cassius spat in disgust, meeting his father’s hard gaze and then Raven’s.

  No one spoke. Satisfied, Cassius turned back to me and scooped me up into his arms
. His touch was warm and surprisingly gentle. He held me close to his chest and his smell and heat eased my pain. Cassius stepped through the broken door, intent on leaving, but Ferox wasn’t done yet.

  “She will only betray you, son! Just like her mother. History will repeat itself.” Ferox called out. Cassius halted his next step but didn’t turn to face his father.

  “Maybe history already repeated itself with you, Father” Cassius replied in a cold, detached voice. I didn’t know what he meant by that, but as I heard Ferox’s sharp intake of breath, I knew whatever Cassius meant hit its mark with his father.

  ***

  Jace

  “Mom! I’m eighteen, and I’m on the phone with you right now! You can’t report me missing!” Simon screamed into the iPhone. He had been on the phone for twenty minutes with his overbearing mother, trying and failing to convince her he was safe.

  We had arrived on the beach a half hour ago and Seb had woken the others to prepare for the search of the castle. Before we ventured around the area, Lily, Bobby and Simon had to check in with their parents. Simon was the only one still on the phone. I pulled out my cell and checked the screen again for any missed calls but nothing. I knew my mother wouldn’t call. Helia was sure to have already talked to her about my whereabouts which is probably why she wasn’t checking on him now.

  My mother turned her back on magic before I was born. She never told me why exactly, but if I wanted to practice magic and not live as a human, then my mother wanted no part in it.

  “How’d your parents take it?” Lily asked, popping up beside me.

  I stuffed the phone back into my pockets and began busying myself by searching through my bag.

  “It was fine.” I lied.

  “Cool. My dad didn’t answer so I just left a voicemail that I was alive, and I got his last deposit in my account,” Lily said.

  I noticed for the first time there might be more to Lily than she let on.

  “Have you learned to make food appear yet because I’m freaking starved!”