The royal city of Port Cressida has a new King.
Casper Ashe.
After spending years chained to the floor of a dungeon, haunted by visions of a beautiful woman, Casper is finally free. As Port Cressida's new King, he has two priorities: restore peace t...
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The Royal Hunting Lodge
Sophie Reese
When dawn arrived, a hundred guards were combing the forest for clues and the whole estate had been locked down. The wedding guests were told not to leave their rooms until the guards had checked where they were last night around the time of the attack. Anyone unable to explain their whereabouts was placed under house arrest. The servants were ordered to stay in their rooms as well. This hadn't gone down well with either the guests or staffs who were desperate to leave the estate to get away from the ticking time bomb which was Luc.
Luc stayed by Mia's side, refusing to take blood or leave her. As her body weakened, so did his control over his powers. From time to time, his darkness caused the whole grounds of the estate to tremble and shake - as if the land itself was afraid of Luc.
When day broke, there was little left to do. The guards would work through the day to search the forest and the surrounding countryside, while Casper and I slept. I had wanted to stay with Nico and his team, but by the dawn had arrived, I was already falling asleep on Casper's shoulder.
"You're too young to stay awake through the day," Casper explained to me.
"I'll be fine. I just need some coffee," I yawned.
"Coffee is not going to work, you need to sleep. Go with Christie and get some sleep. I'll stay with Nico and make sure we gather the evidence needed to find out what the hell that thing was out there."
I shook my head in protest, desperately fighting the tiredness that was slowly overwhelming my body.
"Look, why don't you take a five-minute nap in the SUV?" Jacques suggested, taking my elbow and leading me away from Casper.
"Like a power nap?" I asked.
"Yeah, like a power nap," Jacques replied.
I liked the idea of a nap. It was a good compromise between staying awake or going to sleep for the whole day. I nodded my head wearily in agreement and followed Jacques down to the SUV. He opened the door and I saw Christie sitting in one of the seats, her head rested against the blacked-out window, fast asleep. I climbed into the seat next to her and leaned my head against her shoulder.
"I'll wake you up in five minutes," Jacques told me and slammed the door.
Of course, Jacques never woke me up. Instead, Nico drove us back to a heavily guarded guest lodge and he had one of his guards carry us into the lodge while we were still sleeping. I woke up hours later after the sun had gone down to find Christie kneeling beside me with travel flask of blood.
"Good evening, Your Majesty," she smiled, offering me the blood.
I lifted my head off the pillow and asked, "Jacques duped me, didn't he?"
