Blind Love( Completed, Kings Series, Book 4)

New Race

(Diana's POV)

My eyes snapped open as if there was an urgency, a desperation inside me, a need to wake up. I blinked my eyes, I had a difficult time in remembering where I was.

The last time I checked, I'd been lying on the ground, sleeping with Samuel. I craned my neck to find him, but I cried out with the pain. All the muscles around my neck and shoulders were stiff, but why? Wherever I was, it wasn't even as comfortable as the bed of leaves on the ground and that said a lot.

"Samuel?" I croaked, knowing full well that I no longer had his warmth with me. In fact, I was horrified to see that I was securely tied to a chair. I did what any sane person would do, I struggled against the ropes, tried to break free. As if I could. I was kidnapped. The first lesson in such situations was not to panic. But, the first signs of panic were already with me, pushing through the barriers. I was alone. I was in trouble.

"Hello, Diana. It's nice to see you again," a male voice said.

The sound was very familiar, in fact, it was a voice I was having difficulty in forgetting. Every encounter I had with him had been unpleasant. Please tell me I'm wrong and it's not him, I muttered to myself.

But, there he was. Right in the flesh. He was no dark shadow. His aura was black, tainted, but he was something else. I knew what he was.

"Ruan," I acknowledged him. Ruan...Cian's younger brother, the one who had betrayed and deceived his kin when he'd started working with the Ferox, the rogue Vampires. The one who had killed his own friends. The one who had faked his own death just to keep the suspicion off him and had eventually escaped the premises. No one had heard from him again. Especially not after Riley had destroyed the Ferox species.

I shivered at the memories. He had almost killed me and would have succeeded, too if not for Samuel. His friend and accomplice had pushed me off the cliff. Thereafter, he had used me as a bait against Samuel. And, here we were again. What was he playing at now? How had he got involved with the dark shadows?

Worry crept in. My manipulation of colors was useless against him, he was a vampire. How would I get away?

"Why am I tied up like this?" I asked.

I noticed that the stiffness of my neck was partly because I had slept like this, tied to the chair, but partly because of something else. Bile rose up in my throat. "Did you drink from me?"

He smacked his lips. "Yes. It was delicious."

"You jerk," I said, tried to rise up but I forgot I was not free to move. The chair lifted up and I was partly suspended in the air as I realized the chair's two back legs were the only thing carrying my weight. I heard it. The sound of creaking. The sound of my beating heart. The moment in which I wondered whether the chair miraculously would right itself. Then it fell and toppled on the floor, I could barely turn to the side to avoid hitting my head backward. The air brushed against my face and I knew the pain was coming. The time rushed fast and yet hung in there for a few seconds as my breath whooshed in dread and then it happened. The moment of impact. My cheek hitting the ground. I could hardly draw breath. It hurt like the devil.

"Look at what you did to yourself, Diana," Ruan said, calmly. "Was it worth it?"

I doubted it was. Still the idea that he had drunk from me made me nauseous. "You had no right," I said.

"I did. I am the leader of the new Vampire species and I had every right, a right given to me by Lucifer."

"Lucifer, huh? What a joke. He is sleeping, he can't help himself, let alone help you." I wanted to believe those words, oh how much I wanted to. But, whether I was speaking the truth or not, first and foremost, I wanted to goad him into some action, into making a mistake. Lying on the ground, letting him drink my blood, and carry out whatever plan he had...nope that wasn't an option. Anything but this.

He laughed like a maniac. "He may be now, but he had already given the dark shadows under my command. They were to be our new Vampire race. And when Hell kinda exploded, things got speeded up a bit. I have everything I need. And, now I have your blood, the only ingredient I'm missing is Samuel's body. And, I will possess it. And your blood will keep his body alive while his ancient blood will keep the hosts alive. Lucifer ensured me of that. That's the only way the bodies for my army will not perish."

Oh, no, this wasn't happening. "What nonsense is this? You are not even a shadow!"

"I will kill myself and then my soul will pass onto his. I have the magic for it."

"Bullshit!" I said, but his words scared the hell out of me. What is he was saying the truth? I had to make sure Samuel didn't come in here. He'd be possessed by Ruan. He'd lose his men forever. He'd be forever drinking from me, but it wouldn't really be him. It would be Ruan. I couldn't really imagine anything worse. He was crazy and if what he said was true, he was a powerful crazy.

"Just try to sleep, Diana. Samuel will come soon enough. In the meantime, I think I'll take another sip from you. I feel like I'm getting addicted."

I screamed with my whole body. It was a scream intended to put everything else on hold for bystanders, but the agony of getting away from it. It was a scream that sprayed angry violets like a poisonous gas to anyone who bothered to be around. The scream was dread, it was torture. Lying on the floor like that, my face hurting from the bruise, my brain hurting from all that he'd said, screaming was all I could do. And, I did a beautiful job of it. I was proud.

"Damn, you are no siren, that's for sure," Ruan said, as he started to walk away. On the last few steps, he could no longer take it, he ran. And, then I heard the slam of the door. Relief pushed away everything else.

I couldn't lift myself up. So I pushed myself, kicked my feet and pulled my upper body, inch by inch. I had to get to the door. I had to get to Samuel.

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(Samuel's POV)

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. My eyes were open, yet I couldn't see anything. It was as if I was hypnotized. Who was powerful enough to hypnotize me? I didn't know. But, I had to break it. I had to reach for the ancient power inside me. I could no longer see the colors like Diana did, but I had seen my own violet, my own core, my own essence. I focused on the thought, on the color, on its presence, on its strength. I asked for it. I begged for it. Over and over again. And, then I felt it, the warmth of power, trembling, vibrating, coursing through my body. An energy so strong that I thought my body would be lit on fire. The power zigzagged inside me trying to find the source. Impatience ran through me. Time was running out. Why I didn't know. "Speed up," I ordered. And to my surprise, it did. It was suddenly everywhere, searching every crevice, every hidden corner to find it. Then I felt it. The moment of discovery. Of the whereabouts of an alien magic holding me under its thrall. And, then my violet reached for it, and just like that, the threads of that magic snapped. I was free. And, I could see, once more.

I wish I hadn't. Because I knew. They had taken her. They had taken Diana. 

Once more, happy holidays to everyone!

Alena