The royal city of Port Cressida has a new King.
Casper Ashe.
After spending years chained to the floor of a dungeon, haunted by visions of a beautiful woman, Casper is finally free. As Port Cressida's new King, he has two priorities: restore peace t...
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Sophie Reese
Royal Hunting Lodge
I was angry. It took all my self-control not to grab Rayne by the lapels of his fancy suit and throw him through a wall.
He had played with me by feeding me lies about prophecy, destiny, and being a great queen.
All this time, he had been feeding me lies to serve his purpose. First, he told me I was destined to become the next great Queen. He had spoken to me about destiny and prophecy, but none was true.
I was the result of a sick breeding experiment between demons and vampires. I had been bred to slay demons - but why? Surely, someone as powerful as Rayne could kill their own enemies. Why did they need me to do their dirty work for them?
"So, should I start calling you Uncle?" I asked dryly.
"I'm not your Uncle. Me and my sibling were made, not born. We have no parents. Each of us is unique," Rayne replied, pushing himself off the wall and taking a step towards me. "My brother Kain was the first to father a child. Kain was created from a vial of pure destruction my father stole from the angels. Luc is descended from Kain and carries that essence of destruction within him. However, we quickly found that the descendants of Kain were prone to madness and melancholy. They were unable to fight a demon without burning down an entire city. So we tried again."
As Rayne spoke, veins of black mould crept across the walls as Luc's power spiralled out of control.
"Hali was your Grandfather," Rayne explained. "Unlike Kain, his temperament was calmer. Hali was made from a single drop of angel blood mixed with a spattering of violence. He was war personified. A mighty leader who we hoped would sire the perfect demon-slaying hybrid. When his son was born, we thought that the experiment had failed. Gustave was a poet, not a fighter. However, imagine our delight when we discovered Gustave had a secret daughter. Sophie Reese, the girl destined to become the next great vampire queen."
Rayne drew uncomfortably close and skimmed his fingers across my cheek. I flinched away from him, and he smiled.
"You are Hali's granddaughter. You carry the element of war within you. That's why under the right pressure, you can destroy your enemies. You are more demon than Luc. So much stronger than the ordinary vampire."
I pulled away from him and asked, "What do you want from me?"
"For now, nothing," Rayne replied cryptically. "But there will be a time when I call upon you for a favour, and you will obey me."
I raised my eyebrows when he said 'obey'. Then, folding my arms across my chest, I replied, "And what if I refuse?"
A cruel smile crept over his face, and he said, "You can't. You owe me a debt."
