The Vampire King’s Captive

MARIA

Forcing her eyes away from him, she looked for the other man in the room and saw him sitting on the couch opposite Bran. He definitely hadn’t miss the eye-lock between her and Bran, and honestly? Maria didn’t care.

Let everyone know. She had nothing to lose. Not like she had a golden reputation to protect anyway.

“Have a seat,” Corey gestured to one of the couches.

Well, at least he had manners. Loads better than his asshole friend.

She sat on the couch furthest from them, noticing the way Corey’s brow cocked at that but wisely, he said nothing. Not that Maria had expected him to anyway.

The man wouldn’t be speaking to her if he had a choice.

“I have a question. I hope you don’t mind.”

Corey was the one who spoke, yet it was Bran that captured her attention. She was staring fixedly at Corey, but Bran’s intense stare was making it impossible for her to focus on what he was saying.

The hairs at the back of her neck stood on end and she was fidgety, clasping and unclasping her hands.

She crossed her legs, hoping that it passed for a casual act. He was turning her on with his stare and her traitorous body was completely on board with the plan. “I don’t.” She bit out through clenched teeth. “Go on.”

If Bran didn’t fucking stop staring at her like that, she was going to walk over there and slap him. At least that would turn his head the other way, fucking bastard that he was.

Bitch.

Asshole.

Wait, bitch?

“Do you know if it’s possible for a person to have two mates?”

She blinked. Frowned. “I don’t think so. At least, it’s never happened to anyone that I know of.”

And how many people do you know exactly?, a little voice asked in the back of her head.

They had better chances asking a child than they did asking her. She knew nothing because she’d been barely let out, but she didn’t say that part out loud.

Corey sighed and ran an agitated hand through his hair. “The oracle said you might know.” He braced his elbows on his knees and dropped his face in his hands. “That’s actually why I asked you.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s what she meant.” Bran piped in and they both turned to him-at least before Maria remembered that she wasn’t supposed to look at him and she looked away.

“Then what?”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“I believe she meant that Maria would be able to help.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Not necessarily.” The words sounded like they were being pulled from Bran’s mouth forcefully. He was frustrated and Maria was loving it.

He was probably angry that she wasn’t giving him the time of the day and he maybe had a reason to, because Maria was staring at her nails as though they were more important than what he was saying.

What if they were?

“Is there any way you think you can help?” It was Corey and the question was directed at her.

She looked up from her nails immediately and focused on him once more. “Maybe I will be able to if you explain what’s happening.”

She could literally hear the sounds of Bran’s teeth as they grinded to dust.

Corey nodded. “Okay. Over the past week, I’ve been noticing my tie with my mate loosening.” That had Maria’s brows climbing high on her forehead. “The grief, the anger and the regret aren’t as overwhelming as they used to be. I mean, I still feel them, but they’ve dulled to a low ache. They’re bearable now.” He sighed again and looked away from her. It had to be hard speaking about his dead mate to the person that had killed her and that just proved how desperate he was. “The oracle said it could mean that there’s another mate for me, but she isn’t sure.”

Wow, that was alot.

So he didn’t feel the loss as strongly as he used to. Could that really mean that he had another mate?

It could be possible but she’d never heard anything like that. She wasn’t even sure if that was possible.

But there was something else…

“What if it means that your mate is severing all ties with you?” She wondered out loud.

The two men sat up straighter and since she was only looking at Corey, she saw that his face scrunched up in confusion. She could only assume that Bran was wearing the same look.

“Is that possible?”

“Just as possible as you having another mate, I’m sure.” Maria said absently, already deliberating on how she would go about the situation.

How would they know for real if his mate was severing all ties with him? Because there was definitely no way they could go around searching for his new mate-if he had one.

She wouldn’t lie, the idea of his mate severing all ties with him was crazy. The woman was dead for fucks sake. How could a dead person cut ties?

But the oracle had said that Maria could help and Maria was choosing to follow her gut.

Her gut was telling her to do the impossible.

She was screwed.

But she was going to attempt it anyway.

“There’s this feeling deep in my gut that tells me your mate might know what’s happening. I think she could be severing ties with you and that’s why you don’t feel things as strongly.”

Corey sighed raggedly. “But we can’t know for sure. There’s no way-”

Rising, Maria went around the back of the chair where there was enough space for her, and lifted her hands, her powers swirling to life.

“What is your mate’s name?” She asked Corey.

The man was obviously confused by the abrupt change of topic. “Ruth.”

Maria’s brow lifted. “Her last name?”

“Tobias.”

She nodded and focused on the task at hand. So she needed to search for Ruth Tobias, a certain demon’s dead mate.

Bran shot to his feet. “What are you doing?”

A sly smile formed on her lips. “You ever seen a dead woman come back to life?”

“No,” both men answered at the same time.

“Well, we’re about to find out if that’s possible.”

Maria concentrated, reciting a spell she hadn’t thought she would ever recite in her life.

It was risky.

So dangerous, that they’d put two red warning exclamation marks right under the spell in the book just to make sure that people knew what they were getting into before attempting it.

This could go so wrong. But it could also go so so right.

And as the feet of a woman formed in front Maria, she knew that the spell had chosen to lean toward the latter.