On the second jump, Claire's bad leg gave way and she felt herself tumbling forward. A cry of surprise escaped her and Claire was certain she was about to topple off the side of the train. Alek, however, moved quickly, catching her mid-fall and keeping her upright, and alive. Claire lifted her eyes to meet his which were wide with alarm. The expression was fleeting, lasting for only a moment before it was replaced by a frown. "You could have fallen," he said pointedly. "I know," Claire breathed, finding her thoughts drifting to the strong arm wrapped around her waist. A flush rose to her cheeks and she was grateful for the biting wind that masked her reaction. "Thank you." "You need to be more careful," he continued, his eyes locked on hers, bright and haunting in the silver glow of the moon overhead. "I will," Claire assured him, her heart skipping in her chest. "I promise." ------ 1st Place in the Chaos Awards 2nd Place in the Mystic Awards 2nd Place in the Stella Luna Awards 2nd Place in the Talent Awards 2018 Highest Ranking #1 In Steampunk Found on the official Wattpad Fantasy account featured reading list "Wintery Worlds"

The world had gone to hell long ago, taken over by the vampire race. In order to keep some sort of peace in our land, the Vampire Lords made a consecutive agreement. The rich and powerful humans could survive just as they had been, untouched by the vampires save for the occasional blood collections, or so they thought In reality, we were all under their control. Castles spread out throughout our land, one landing in each city. Each castle varied in the number of vampires residing there, but all of them carried a Lord. The Lords were the ones in charge in every city, whether we liked it or not. The vampires often roam through the city, making sure that everyone was in order and no one stepped out of line. If you stepped out of line, you died, end of story. Even if the rich were still under their control, their lives were still better than the poor. The poorest lives held a much worse fate. The men were to be put to work as slaves, whether that meant serving a specific vampire, or just building their castles, they were slaves. The women were to be pets. Pets were the lowest rank you could have. They were forced into cages that were too small to stand in with collars around their necks. They spent their lives in pet shops, just waiting for the dreadful day that they'll be bought. They were treated like animals, trained into what their master wanted, and punished if they misbehaved. Those who were lucky enough to live through that, we're to be slaughtered for their blood at age twenty-five in an act to make sure that our population would stay steady. I was born into this world. Born into this world full of blood-sucking monsters. Except, I was one of the lucky ones. Was. It all ended for me when I was 12, when I was taken away from the last bit of hope and family that I had left. Ever since then, I've lived in a cage, just rotting away, waiting, dreading for the day that some monster would make me his. This is my life. I am a pet. ~~~ Cover by: @mshacake