Just A Kiss | BOOK 2 The Night Lords Series

Prologue

Vampires weren't supposed to feel cold.

An immortal could stand in the middle of an arctic blizzard, the wind biting at his marble skin, ice clinging to every lash and strand of hair, and he would not feel cold in the slightest.

But as Cassius knelt on the floor, his brow kissing the black stone, silver manacles burning his wrists that were bound behind his back, he felt a chill seeping into his body. His panting breath was the only sound to be heard in the cavernous space that's been submerged in a darkness not even a vampire could see through.

Time held no essence here, though, for an immortal, time never really did matter to begin with. Perhaps it was the reigning silence, the void of nothing, or the pain of being burned continuously, that drove him to count. Cassius ticks the numbers off in his mind, allowing the digits to revolve around a face with eyes the color of leaves on a spring morning. He imagined kissing those soft lips that trembled when he neared, squeezing the pale column that was her neck until it bruised, and tasting her tears as she cried.

Isabelle.

There was no point in calling her any other name. She was all he could think about, all that he could remember in this prison, and the only thing giving him reason to wait.

"Comfortable?"

The voice comes from right behind him. Cassius grits his teeth, the tips of his fangs pinching his bottom lip. He felt a twinge of annoyance. He hadn't even sensed his arrival. How long has he been chained up in here? Days? Weeks? It was doing something to his body, weakening him to a near mortal condition.

"It came as a surprise," the Shadow sighs. "Such
mutiny within the Reverend..."

Cassius lets out a hiss as his chains are yanked viciously. The manacles scald his wrists deeper but the vampire prince remains mute.

"What? The Siren has nothing to say?" The mocking words are like knives to his skull, digging and pushing to earn a rise out of him.

Cassius might be weak at the moment, but he wasn't broken. He snarls, attempting to lift his head but a boot sinks into the arch between his shoulder blades, forcing him to stay put.

"I considered many ways on how I should kill you. I thought of adding you to my collection, perhaps even cutting you up and mounting your head on a stake outside my door. Then, it occurred to me," The boot digs into his spine, causing a white spear of pain to cleave a scorching line down his back. Cassius stops breathing.

"Why kill you, when you're more useful alive?"
The boot is lifted and then the Shadow's breath is rustling the fine hairs along his ear. "You, more than anyone else, have the drive to bring her back no matter what. Among the Reverend, you can track the best and I have no doubt you would bring her right back to me."

Cassius opens his mouth but remains voiceless. Not only has this place ruined his senses, but it seems he was cursed into silence as well. No matter, the Shadow guessed what he'd been about to ask.
"Why would you bring her to me?" A blackish chuckle tickles his cheek. "Well, because if you don't, I'll kill you. Then, who would be left to protect your mate?"

Cassius stiffens, a jagged blade of ice piercing his heart. The Shadow lays a hand on his head, stroking his hair like a man would pet a lion he hoped to tame. "The rest of the Reverend have already been released, each of them escorted by five of my Consultants. The same will be done for you. Bring the Divine Angel to me, and I'll consider ignoring all your charges." The fingers in his hair scrape his scalp lightly.

"I believe in you, dear prince."