Chosen by the Vamprie, Book One

Chapter Five

Cassian's eyes were a blend of teals and greens, changing like a raging storm. His unflinching stare never left me, fingers digging into my shoulders with desperation, like he might say something... do something, and I was frozen, caught in his gaze.

I watched his full lips, imagining him kissing me roughly, forcefully pushing me up against the wall, hands sliding over every inch of me. I swallowed hard, my heart racing. This raw desire... it was so wrong... and I hated myself for thinking anything but death for these monsters. For eleven years, I'd thought of nothing but this moment, when I'd reach their home, years filled with resentment for what they'd taken from me. Not years of planning to let myself just fall for their charm and make my parents' deaths a cruel joke.

He'd destroy me if I let him, all the Sinful would.

You stood in the way of my enjoyment, Asena.

Cassian's words rang through me. We were nothing more than entertainment for these savages. I had to remind myself of my mission, not fall for their lure, not let their looks deceive me. I burned up with embarrassment that I'd reacted so intensely to his touch, and I looked away, needing him to see he didn't affect me.

Hard footfalls hit the stone floor. I glanced over at an approaching Sinful guard, dressed in black pants and a tight-fitting jacket, gold buttons down the front, pale skin like the others, hair slicked off his determined face.

Cassian's grip loosened, and I pulled free, stumbling out of his reach.

"My Lord." The man bowed his head at Cassian.

Silence fell between us, as though they exchanged unspoken words, before the guard nodded and reached for me, his hand icy against my flesh, eyes dragging over my body, watching, studying, leering. Was he picturing what he'd do to me if Cassian wasn't there?

Vampire... I could tell it from his cold, stony eyes, his porcelain skin, his icy touch.

"This way," he commanded and pulled me down the hall. Cassian never said a word or made a move to stop him, and when I glanced over my shoulder, the hall where he'd been standing seconds earlier was now empty. How did they keep vanishing like that?

"Where are we going?" I stumbled after the guard.

He didn't respond, but we moved with haste. Around the next dark corner, we entered an open hall with black pillars. A statue of a naked woman stood in the middle of the enclosed area, arms crossed over her breasts, hair blowing in the wind, her mouth half open in a silent scream.

Was that how they pictured us humans? Vulnerable and always scared?

Clenching my teeth, I planned to change that perception soon enough.

The guard hauled me toward a set of doors, black and studded with gold. The double doors opened as if they had a mind of their own, and the guard's hand gave me a shove on my back. My feet flew forward and I stumbled into a grand room.

Elaborate candle chandeliers dripping in crystals lit up the study. Two walls held floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with books, and my insides swelled with excitement to explore every inch of this room, run my hands over the leather spines, discover their secrets. Books weren't easy to come by back home, and when they were available at the weekend market, I bought as many as I could afford, reading them several times over. But then my attention shifted from the books to the black rug that ran the length of the room and the grandeur of the rest of it.

I stared at the Sinful sitting at the rear of the room on dark thrones. Chairs carved of wood, crested with jagged diamonds around the edges of the seats. While the thrones were impressive, they were nothing compared to the Vampires.