Chosen by the Vamprie, Book One

Chapter Six

Cassian haunted my dreams through the snatches of sleep I was able to get. So I forced myself awake, testing the locks throughout the early hours of the morning. But no one came to set us free...or sneak into our room. Willa and Chaska slept fitfully, snoring and muttering.

At one point, Willa woke with a start, panicked, with a scream trapped in her throat.

"It's okay, you're safe," I murmured from the end of the bed and glanced toward her. "I'm right here."

She said something I couldn't understand, and then lowered her head to the pillow once more, snoring a heartbeat later.

But we weren't safe at all. We were in a castle in the middle of nowhere. Our hosts were Vampires that wanted to test us. They play with their food. The old woman in the hills had told me months ago. Now I knew what she meant.

But we were more than just food to them. We were a source of enjoyment, a purpose. A game. Selected.

The word resounded as the shadows blurred. Selected for what? To be free? To be one of them? To be bitten...

Cold crept along my spine with the thought. I'd never let that happen. I'd stab, and cut...and kill before I let them sink their fangs into me.

"Just you fucking try," I whispered as the room slowly spun.

I closed my eyes and tried to force sleep away. But the emptiness surrounded me. The corridor was silent. Soft whimpers and sobs from the other girls had faded, and through the window behind me, the sky started to brighten.

The rising sun gave us some protection from the Vampires at least. The Sinful and the guards would've gone to ground, leaving us locked in here. But there were other beasts out there...beasts that hunted through the day just as well as they did at night. Chaska mumbled and then turned, throwing her arm across my middle. I closed my eyes and shifted higher on the bed, until I lowered my head to the pillow and let sleep drag me under.

Darkness moved in like a predator, taking me past the fear, to where my best friend waited. Jacob smiled and held out his hand to me.

Hurry up, he urged. Figure it all out so you can come back to me.

I tried to understand what he meant, tried to reach out to him, until a deep, threatening snarl slipped from the shadows to surround us. I turned my head toward him as the Vampire, Cassian, stepped out of the shadows.

Tall, powerful...I couldn't look away.

His pale skin shimmered through the open neckline of his shirt. I was captivated by the hard swell of his chest and the predatory way he moved.

Don't look at him, Asena. Jacob urged. He's a monster...a beast.

Cassian smiled at the words, revealing the tips of his pointed white fangs. He lifted his hand to me as he neared. I swallowed hard, fear rooting me to the spot. But a quake raced through my body, one that almost broke the spell...one that urged me to go to him, and do all the things the glint in his eyes promised.

I jolted awake with the panicked boom...boom...boom of my heart filling my head.

"There you are," Willa muttered from across the room. "Thought for a while you'd turned into one of them...you know, an undead."

I ran my tongue along my teeth, trying to find enough moisture to speak. Still, my voice came out raspy and raw. "What time is it?"

"Late," Willa said with a sigh. "And we're bored."