The Vampire King’s Captive

MARIA

She turned to face Ariti, giving her back to Bran. She felt different. Her hair, which usually stopped at her waist, was brushing against her backside. She didn’t know how that was possible, but she knew that was what she was feeling. Her movement was also different, her thighs brushing against each other more than they usually did. Even her breasts felt heavier on her chest, straining against the material of her bra.

Something was different and she didn’t quite know what it was. She would take her time to check, but later.

For now, she had more important things to do. Namely, putting an end to the evil that was her father.

A force drove her, prompting her to go towards him. She didn’t understand it. When she moved, it was like it wasn’t her moving, more like it was her powers driving her forward and had her crouching low before Ariti.

“For so long you have treated me wrongly,” she began, her voice a harsh whisper that had Ariti struggling to look up at her. “You used my love for my mother against me, making me do all your dirty work while you stood on the sidelines, watching and smiling like the evil bastard that you are.”

“M-Ma-” he struggled to say her name but she hushed him.

“You took everything away from me,” she snapped, fighting the tears that wanted to fall from her eyes. “My freedom, my innocence, my childhood, my mother, and now this.” She whispered that last part so that Bran wouldn’t hear if he was paying attention to them. “You took this away from me too. You took too much from me, father, and I am done letting you take.” She rose to her feet and stared at him lying down there beneath her. Exactly where he ought to be. “The time has come for you to pay.”

Ariti gasped and rolled over onto his back with great effort. His breaths wheezed in and out of him through his teeth. “B-but I a-am your f-f-father.”

A cold smile settled on Maria’s lips as her decision solidified in her mind. “No. You never were a father.” Then she lifted her hand, static purple light flaring to life in her palm and forming into an orb-like shape before she launched it straight into his chest.

She had thought that she would feel satisfaction, relief, freedom, anything at all when she killed him. But as she stared at his body depleting of whatever life was left in it, she felt nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Launching another blast into the Queen of Evil’s chest, Maria turned around and faced Bran. She would not touch either Elizabeth or his man. Let him do whatever he wanted with them.

She just needed… closure before she took her next step. And Maria already knew what her next step was.

Not only did she feel different, she felt driven. Like she had a purpose. And the longer she stood here, the more time she wasted.

The look of wariness mixed with desperation on Bran’s face told her that he had been waiting for her to acknowledge him for a while now, which did not add up considering all that Ariti had told her.

Why did he continue to pretend like he cared for her when all she’d been to him was just a woman that warmed his bed?

“Maria.” He took two quick steps towards her but she warded him away with a lifted hand, and he halted.

“The things he said…” She forced herself to swallow. Her throat was tight, like there was a rock the size of her fist lodged in. “Were they true?”

“Maria, you have to understand-”

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His hands went to his hips, dropped to his sides, then went to his hips again and he looked away from her. “Yes, but not for the reasons you think. I can explain-”

“You don’t have to.” She shook her head and stepped away from him, wanting to put as much space between them as possible because suddenly, being near him hurt. It hurt so bad. “I perfectly understand why you did them.” Her heart was aching and her body started shaking. “I was nothing but a warm body to you, was I? You knew all along that I cared about you, you knew how I felt and yet…” A sob escaped her lips as her decision to keep her feelings in check shot to hell. “And yet you hurt me this way. You’re no different from him.” She pointed at Ariti’s dead body and Bran lurched forward, wanting to hold her. She yanked her hand back.

He growled. “Don’t ever compare me to him.”

“But you did the same thing he did, didn’t you?” A clip of her memories with him seemed to flash before her eyes in slow motion. Him kissing her, telling her how beautiful he thought she was, love shinning in his eyes, him smiling at her, letting her see those little parts of him that she had never seen before. They were all fake. “You used me. You tricked me into believing that you cared about me, even if a little.”

“Goddamn it, Maria. Let me hold you.” His eyes were filled with torment, his voice laced with pain. His hands were fisting and unfisting by his sides, legs planted on the floor.

Maria was sobbing uncontrollably now and she couldn’t think past her pain. She’d thought that her heart had broken before but now that he’d confirmed that everything Ariti said was true, it was like a chunk of her heart had been removed, and it was never going to be whole again.

Her heart was never going to be the same again.

“I gave you everything. My secrets, my virginity, every single thing I hold dear.” Her voice broke when she said, “You made me fall in love with you.”

She watched, through eyes blurry with tears, as his whole body jerked with that confession.

“Please, Maria, let me explain.” He begged, the words ragged.

“No!” She yelled. “There is no excuse for what you di-”

“I had no choice!” His outburst took Maria by surprise and it silenced her. “I wasn’t going to do it. Fuck, I didn’t even want to. But Ariti had killed over a hundred villagers already and they all knew why he was doing it. He told them that I had you.” His breathing was harsh, his hands fisting his hair and pulling at the dark strands. “I had no choice,” he repeated. “The only way to save my people was to give you back but I swear on my life, I vowed to come back for you. I was not going to rest until I had you back.”

It was like the words had been wrenched from the deepest parts of him and they made Maria want to believe him. He sounded like he was saying the truth and she wanted to believe him so bad.

So fucking bad.

“What about the bracelet? Why did you do it?”

His breath left him on a sigh and when he looked at her, his eyes were filled with guilt. “With everything that was happening, I couldn’t risk marking you and having the people know that you were my mate. The collar reduced the urge.”

Maria nodded as her heart took another hit. She wouldn’t be surprised if the organ stopped working completely after today.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” His eyes flew up to hers. “Were you ever going to tell me that I was your mate?”

His eyes darted away and that was all the answer Maria needed.

“Wow.”

He rushed forward and reached out to touch her but she glared at him with tear-filled eyes and he cursed, running his hands through his hair instead. “You have to understand. How will I tell the people that the king’s mate is the same person that had killed the late king and queen?”

Maria stumbled back as another wave of hurt crashed into her. He would never stop thinking about her past, would he?

“So what was your plan?” She asked him, more angry than hurt now. “To make me your mistress forever? Did you seriously think that the bracelet would work that efficiently? Everything has an expiry date, for fucks sake.”

“I know! Fuck, I know. But I just needed time to sort things out…” He trailed off at the sight of her shaking her head.

“There’s no justifying what you did, Bran.” Forcing strength into her spine, she lifted her head and wove a glamour of indifference over herself. She had never needed one with him before but he wasn’t the person she’d thought he was. “You hurt me far more than my father ever could. Gods, I feel so fucking stupid right now for believing that you had truly changed. You treated me like a dirty little secret and you were just going to keep what we had that way, weren’t you? A dirty little secret.” His face contorted in pain but she pushed on. “I should have known that a cruel person would always remain cruel and I should have known better than to believe in love. In men.” She smiled, the smile as hollow as she felt. “Of course my father told me but I didn’t believe it. Thank you for proving it to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Bran pleaded with panicked eyes. “What I did was stupid and selfish, I see that now. Please-”

She turned away from him, unable to bear the sight of him begging her. It was making her weak and causing her heart to hurt more.

She needed to leave here. She needed to leave so badly.

“Princess…”

That endearment hurt even more right now.

With her back to him, she said, “You said you were torn over choosing between your kingdom and me.” Pressing her eyes shut as a lone tear slid down her cheek, she said, “Now, you don’t have to choose anymore.”

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that she was standing in Ariti’s house. She didn’t understand how she had appeared here but she knew why.

This was the next step towards her future.

Wiping her eyes, she put one foot in front of the other and began to walk, wiping the tears from her eyes.

She knew what she had to do.