Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Domain

Voices. They wiggled their way into my mind as I began coming to. These weren't normal voices, no, they were rough and scratchy, speaking in low growls and gurgles. I forced my eyes open, the world was blurry at first and then it gradually cleared. I hung upside down, draped over the shoulder of a clammy skinned vampire, much to my disgust. My hand was covered in dried blood and my leg throbbed.

 I lifted my head, taking in my surroundings. Several hundred feet across stood a cliff of snow and rock. We moved over a bridge made of smooth ice that extended from the cliff, with no sides to stop anyone from falling into the depths of an endless void of darkness that lay below the bridge.

Enormous fire bowls stood on either side of a stone archway we passed under, holding flickering flames that danced in the wind. The ice bridge was now replaced by pebbles melded together to make slabs of stone.

Blood rushed to my head and I felt weak. My body hung limply, bouncing with every step the vampire took. There was a loud sound like stone scraping against stone and gears turning. The vampire carried me through a gigantic stone door with the symbol of what resembled a cross carved into it. The top looped in a half circle, as if to break the cross, rendering it useless.

The vampire suddenly bent forward, allowing me to place my feet on the stone floor. I tried to stand, but my leg gave out, a sharp stinging pain racing through it that caused me to cry out as I collapsed.

"What have you done?! You fool! We need her alive, not halfway bled out!" An enraged male voice reverberated off the carved walls, causing the vampire who had been carrying me to flinch back.

"Calm yourself, Nikolas."

I pushed up off the ground, wincing through the pain and my eyes met a pair of bright ocean blue orbs, "My apologies for the savage tendencies of the vampires, they don't think like you and me," A woman, seated in a center chair amongst others, smiled coolly at me, revealing razor sharp, canine teeth. She had pale blonde hair, almost white, styled in loose curls and such ashy white skin, I was sure she hadn't seen the sun in ages. Her eyes were surrounded by charcoal that streaked down her cheeks in three lines. Her lips were tinted blue like a corpse. She had porcelain, smooth skin and a crown of silver decorated her head, blue shards of ice fused to it. She wore a revealing silver top with a sapphire hanging from it by a chain, positioned just below her ribs. Her black skirt split up the side and trailed on the floor around her bare feet, silver chains draped across it.

"You are a vampire," I spat, coughing on the dry air.

She threw her head back, letting out a dark laugh, "Oh sweetie, I am not a vampire," She ran her hands down the arms of her chair, "I am a kindred. Kindred are the leaders of the vampiric race. Unlike the barbaric vampires, we prefer to maintain a humanlike image. Vampires have fallen captive to their blood lust, it controls them. We kindred manipulate their weak minds, they make wonderful minions for smaller assignments and are ruthless in battle." She straightened her back, tilting her head slightly as she studied me, running her pointed tongue across her blue lips, "Bring in the other prisoners, I wish to look upon them." Eight other kindred sat on the sides of her, their eyes trained on me.

A door slammed and several vampires entered, dragging three, bound individuals with brown bags of cloth over their heads. They forced them to kneel beside me in front of the nine seats. They yanked off the bags and my heart jumped, joyful to see familiar faces. Killian looked dazed as he gazed at me, his hair crusted with dried blood. West knelt beside him, his eyes alert as they flew across the room and to the other side of me sat Nigel, in human form with a sad excuse for an outfit thrown over his body, it basically consisted of a ripped shirt and a pair of black jeans. His left arm was no longer twisted in a sickeningly wrong position. He had sweat pouring down his face and a rabid look in his eyes. My guess was, a very untrained vampire popped it back into place.