Ravana Clan Vampires: Complete Series

by Moore, E. M.

  Sandwiched between Stephan and Christian, I felt whole and complete. There were only a handful of times I’d ever felt that way in my life and most of them were when my mom was alive. Now that I had the princes, and a chance at a long life with them, I hoped those moments weren’t as scarce.

  I giggled into Stephan’s chest, trying to hide my glee. Christian ran a hand down my arm. “What is it?”

  “I was just wondering how I’m going to be able to function now when I know we could be doing this.”

  He kissed my back. “Now you see my dilemma about being in class with you.”

  Stephan chuckled. “I don’t envy you there, Christian. That would be a nightmare.”

  I snuggled down into both men and closed my eyes. There was a lot to do tomorrow and the upcoming days. Tomorrow would probably mean an early morning wake-up call. Gregor would want to hear what happened with the three men straight from the princes’ mouths, and I would once again talk to Soren. More than ever, I wanted the threat of Dumont squashed. The princes and I needed to settle down and live our lives. Nights like this, in the arms of one or perhaps many of them, was what made a life. A future that was so bright lay ahead of us. I yearned for it, as if all the suffering I’d been through in my past was only preparing me to live this beautiful life I was destined to with these four amazing princes.

  I was being selfish now. I didn’t want to wait. The sooner I had all of them—all the time—the better.

  9

  The next morning was filled with embraces and touches and kisses by all four. Nicolai and Connor ended up in Christian’s room on the floor sometime during the night, so that when I woke up, I almost tripped over Nicolai on my way to the bathroom to freshen up. He pulled me down and kissed me before letting me go about my business. I closed the bathroom door and leaned against the other side, a smile tilting my lips. How perfect was it to sleep in the same room with all four of them? When we moved into the Ravana Estate, maybe we could have our room be the library and just all sleep in there regardless of the five separate rooms that already waited for us. It seemed more realistic to live that way considering the depth of my feelings for all four of them, and their shared feelings for me. Maybe we could build an extra wing for just the five of us. But here I was, making plans for something far too early. There was a lot more to do before we got to live at the estate together.

  I showered quickly. When I stepped out, I realized someone had placed a pile of black clothing on the lid of the toilet seat. I smiled at the thoughtful gesture and slipped the clothes on before braiding my hair. When I walked out, Christian was the only one in the room. I looked around, seeing no evidence of what had transpired last night. No sleeping bags, no mussed sheets… I lifted my eyebrows and he chuckled. “They’re all getting ready. I was just waiting to use my shower.”

  I stalked toward the bed and knelt down on to the mattress next to him. “Thank you for last night, and letting Stephan in with us.”

  He cupped my cheek. “The four of you are the most important people in the world to me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  I kissed him briefly, and then he rose to get into the shower. “Breakfast?” I called out after him.

  “Yeah, we have time for it. I know there’s cereal down there, at least. If we’re lucky, maybe one of the others will have cooked something.”

  Ha. That seemed unlikely. I’d never seen either of them lift a finger in the kitchen before, but that wasn’t a problem. I loved cereal. I bounded down the stairs and came to a halt in the dining room when I noticed five bowls were already set at the table along with multiple boxes of cereal and a glass jug of milk. I looked up to find Nicolai, his broad chest naked as he stood in front of the table. “You did this?”

  He nodded, his smile growing. I could tell he was proud of himself.

  I walked up to him and lifted myself to my tiptoes to give him a peck on the lips. “Thank you.”

  A ruddy blush crept up his cheeks and then into the shadows of his face. He sat down at the head of the table and pulled a box of Shredded Wheat toward him. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  It was my turn to blush now. “Wonderful…” I hedged, not knowing how he’d take not being involved last night.

  His lips peeled apart. “I bet.” He looked at the doorway and then dropped his voice to a whisper. “I think what you did was perfect. With Stephan, I mean. Not that I’m not disappointed that I didn’t get in on the action yesterday, but—”

  I scoffed. “Didn’t get any action yesterday? What was that in the backseat of the Jeep, or in the dressing room?”

  “Oh, right. I guess I did make out, didn’t I?”

  “I’ll say,” Connor said as he came through the doorway. He kissed me on the forehead and then moved to sit in the chair opposite me. Nic tried to punch him on the way through, but Connor escaped it, chuckling to himself. “We’ll have our turns. Maybe we’ll abscond her sometime today so she won’t even see it coming.”

  My eyes rounded. “Abscond me? You make it seem like a kidnap attempt. Again.”

  “Oh, it’ll be better than that,” Connor promised.

  Heat flooded my cheeks. He winked at me and then poured himself a bowl of Fruit Loops.

  Stephan came in next. He kissed the side of my temple and sat next to me. “Which cereal do you want, Ariana?”

  I smiled at his generosity, always making sure others were taken care of first before himself. I eyed my choices and pointed at the Lucky Charms box. We had cereal at The Fort, but most of it was the healthy stuff. We hardly ever had the sugary stuff, so I wanted to get my hands on it while I could. Stephan filled my bowl and poured the milk in before handing me my spoon. We all chowed down, and Christian joined us as soon as he came down the stairs. I winked at him. “Nic made breakfast.”

  “I see,” he said, clearly surprised there was anything on the table.

  “One of us should probably learn how to cook…” I paused for a brief moment before shouting, “Not it!”

  Connor was the first to say it back, then Nic, then Stephan. Christian was the only one left staring at us as if we were crazy. “Seriously?”

  Connor laughed deep in his chest. “Genius, Princess.” He turned to Christian. “Not like you have to start now.”

  “Isn’t that what we have maids for?” Christian asked.

  I shrugged, not loving the idea of having people serve us. When Gregor and Isabella moved on, I wanted to go maid-free, but I supposed that was a conversation for another time. “What’s the plan for today?” I asked.

  Christian eyed his brothers. “Father wants to see us as soon as we get back to The Fort.”

  I nodded, knowing that would happen. “I’m going to see Soren in his cell, see if I can’t get anything else out of him.”

  “I really wish you would take one of us with you,” Christian said. “I know Lex will be there, but—” he squirmed in his chair, “—I’d just feel more comfortable if one of us were with you.”

  “Agreed.” I looked at Nicolai. “Want to join me today?” He was the best choice considering he also liked the idea of training and becoming a guard even though his position as a prince forbade him to do such a thing. Regardless, he could still surround himself with guards for the time being until he could convince Gregor otherwise. We would have an easier time convincing Gregor of Nic’s wishes to become a guard if there wasn’t so much going on right now, if the threat wasn’t so big.

  Nic nodded, sending me a thankful smile when the rest of his brothers continued to eat.

  Within a half hour, we were all loaded into the Jeep and headed back toward The Fort. At the front gate, Connor scanned all our ID’s and the iron fencing swung open. The guard in the booth waved at us before looking back down at his security cameras. Connor parked the Jeep in the back of the main building. We said goodbye, and then Nic and I entered from that entrance before Christian, Stephan, and Connor made their way toward the Rajyvik main house. Once we were inside, Nic sa
id, “Thanks for thinking of me, Ri.”

  “It wasn’t entirely selfless,” I told him, pushing my shoulder into his arm. “I thought another pair of eyes and ears might be good, especially someone who’s more attuned to guardianship than the others. I need to figure out why Soren is willing to talk to me and then hopefully exploit it.”

  “He probably just thinks you’re hot.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make me regret asking you to come with me.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll be on my best behavior. Unless of course T.J. will be there, then all bets are off.”

  I scratched the back of my neck. “That’s probably going to be a problem because I bet he will be there. He works very closely with Lex on all this stuff. I actually don’t know why he wouldn’t be there.”

  Nic’s jaw clenched. He pushed the door open for the dungeon area where they kept all the cells and stayed quiet until we’d descended halfway down the stairs. “I’ll do my best,” he ground out.

  For Nic, I knew that was as good as it was going to get. I trusted that he wouldn’t do anything to sacrifice the intent though. We needed Soren to talk. If we couldn’t get him to talk, we were flying blind, which wasn’t a good scenario, but it particularly wasn’t good since we were always a step behind when it came to Dumont. We were a step behind when it came to them taking me. We were a few steps behind when it came to them trying to take over The Fort. This was the first instance in which we could have the upper-hand, and I wasn’t about to let it slip out of our grasps. If we wanted to defeat him once and for all, we needed Soren.

  These thoughts floated through my mind as we made our way down the rest of the stairs. The lone light bulb shone again above the singular table in the middle of the room. T.J. sat in the chair in front of Soren, and they just stared at one another. Nic stiffened.

  When Soren’s gaze flicked to me, T.J. turned. A smile lit his face when he recognized me, but when he looked beyond me and found Nicolai, his gaze narrowed. “Hey,” I said quickly, trying to diffuse the resulting tension. “I was wondering how our prisoner is doing this morning.”

  “Ah,” Soren said. “The young guard missed me.”

  “Don’t count on it,” T.J. said at the same time Nic almost growled.

  Soren laughed. “You certainly do have a devotion of fans.” He peered behind me and then his eyes glinted as Nic and I moved into the light of the room. “Well, if it isn’t a Ravana Prince. How nice to see you young Nicolai.”

  Nic scoffed. “You want to overthrow my entire family. I can’t say the same for you.”

  “Overthrow?” Soren said dismissively. “More like take you out entirely. Isn’t that what your ancestor did to my family?”

  “Obviously not. Dumont’s still alive. How old is he now again? Five hundred?”

  “Not a day over 333, actually.”

  Nic stalked forward. “And you wonder why no one wanted your family in power anymore. Times are changing. Your family is stuck in the same old purist ways. In order to keep surviving here, we had to adapt and your family refused. You say my family took you out? I say you did that to yourselves.”

  “Well, since only one of us was actually alive when it happened, you won’t mind if I keep my own opinions on the topic, will you?”

  “You just keep proving my point again and again.”

  Soren rocked back in his chair, the front legs coming off the ground. A pale hand swiped over his chin before folding over his chest. “Tell me, Nicolai. What is it like to know that you brought this guard to your world only to die?”

  Nic and T.J. both growled, but Nic charged the cell, his finger closing around the bars in a fierce grip.

  “Oh,” Soren said, the chair dropping to all four feet. “Well, this is interesting.”

  I rolled my eyes and pulled Nic back from the cell by the back of his shirt. I waved T.J. away from the chair and sat in his place. His gaze flicked between me and Nicolai, scrutinizing until a deep-seated fear started to take root. Nic’s reaction may have just tipped the enemy off as to my relationship with the princes.

  “Tell me, Ariana. Do you plan on becoming a vampire?”

  T.J. openly laughed. “Guards don’t become vampires.” His lip curled in disgust. “Vamps like you and—” his gaze flicked toward Nic, but he didn’t say his name, “—would never condescend to make someone like us someone like you.”

  Soren tapped his chin, not bothering to even look at T.J., but his gaze staying on mine instead. He leaned forward. “But let’s say that you could. Would you do it?” He paused, the question sinking into me like a dead weight. It was a question I often asked myself. If I wanted to be with the princes forever, that was literally my only option. I could be with them until I died, or I could be with them, youthful, forever. Truth be told, that was one of the only selling points. Sure, being a vampire would be cool. Superior strength and abilities, but they also led a very limited life here. At least, that was what I’d witnessed so far. They were constantly in fear of being found out, and I learned a long time ago that living your life in fear was not any way to live. “You don’t have to answer,” Soren said, getting to his feet. He clasped the bars in front of him and rested his head between two. “A word of advice though. A word to tell you all how ridiculous it is that I’m even being kept here. When you’re turned, the blood of the vampire who turned you becomes your everything. I won’t give Dumont up, because his blood is mine. I’m loyal to him only. You’re wasting your time trying to drag answers out of me because it’s literally beyond my ability to answer you truthfully.”

  “So death is your option then?” T.J. asked, a dangerous hint to his voice.

  Soren spared a derisive glance toward the other guard and then stared back at me. “So be sure when—if…” he shrugged. “…that you have chosen your sire appropriately. You will be bound to them for eternity.”

  “And how’s Dumont for a sire?” I asked, trying to take the emphasis off me. Warning bells were going off in my head that Soren had already gleaned too much.

  “He has sired many like me.”

  “An army,” I said.

  “I suppose you would call it that.”

  “Well, I did see others in the alleyway, and then most recently at The Fort. They were all sired by Dumont? What about free will? What about—?”

  “Free will? Even you do not have free will, Young One. I told you before that by them bringing you here as their guard, they’ve literally sentenced you to death.”

  “I’m still standing. No one’s told me to come here and talk to you today, I did it on my own. Last night, I was at a party with my friends. That sounds an awful lot like free will to me.”

  “I hope you live like that while you can. Soon, there will be no more parties. When Dumont takes over, he will let the vampires take their proper places in this world. We will feed off humans, become stalkers of the night again instead of encapsulating ourselves into small pockets throughout the world. The humans will again learn to fear us. There will be no more uprisings such as the one you dealt with yesterday. Tell me, were you the one who killed him? Did you start all this?”

  I looked at T.J. who shrugged. “He probably heard Lex and I talking about it. We had to fortify the grounds last night with extra guards to make sure none of them got in.”

  Soren sneered. “And you say you have free will? Stuck in The Fort, nowhere to go because you are at the whim of those who will guard you and keep you safe. When Dumont is in power, the+ humans will not dare such a thing because they will know their place as our meals.”

  Nicolai’s teeth clenched. “Dumont will never be in power. We’re not going anywhere.”

  “You are no closer to figuring anything out. While you waste your time here with me, he is gaining strength again. His ‘army’, as you put it, is far greater than you can even imagine. He has been dormant for hundreds of years. How do you think he spent that time? Preparing for this one moment. You’re all but dead.” His eyes flicked to me. “I did w
arn you. I do wish there was something I could do for you. I suppose if you let me out, I could turn you myself. You would be a prize to Dumont.”

  Nicolai lunged forward again, peeling one of Soren’s hands from the bars and yanking him forward until his face smashed into the bars in front of him. Nic hissed, his fangs coming out in full force. Soren mimicked him. His fangs lengthening to needle-like points as he hissed back at Nicolai.

  T.J. moved forward a second before I jumped up. The vampires all moved too fast to keep up with. He pulled Nic away. Nicolai still attempted to get Soren, nails sharpening from his fingers as he clawed the air. Soren laughed deep in his throat as my stomach bottomed out. T.J. had a hell of a time pulling Nic to the exit while I just watched, surprised by his outburst. Both of theirs actually. I’d never seen two vampires try to fight before. It set a tingle of fear down my spine. Both beasts, more agile and strong than any human. They were fierce, and the very looks on their faces cultivated a panic inside me. I stepped back, almost blown away by the outpouring of pure hatred until T.J. wrestled Nic into the other room. I knew I should help. Nic didn’t like T.J. under the best of circumstances and this was bound to piss him off more, but I was stunned.

  “The offer stands,” Soren said, his eyes still bloodshot as he stared at me. His pupils were thin slits but regaining normalcy by the second.

  “I’ll pass,” I said, my voice hard.

  I turned to walk toward the exit when Soren chuckled. I spun toward him, done with all the games and word puzzles. “What?”

  “He is not long for this world, Young One. Better to pick a different sire.”

  I swallowed, my throat like sandpaper. I turned and walked as fast as I could from the room, hoping it didn’t look like fleeing, which was all I could think about. How had Soren been so easily able to connect the dots? There was something different about him. Something almost human in his reactions, yet so vampire in others. He was a mystery, which just made this task all the more difficult. He said he wouldn’t give up his sire, but I needed him to. I just had to figure out how to get him to do it. Otherwise, his last threat was probably right. Nicolai—along with the rest of my princes—probably weren’t long for this world. And that very thought, froze me to my core.