Prologue
Sabel removed the steak from the vampires chest, blood splattering along the way. She wiped her cheek, causing the sticky fluid to smear. The rain washed away most as it poured down.
Thunder clapped loudly, and lightning flashed across the dark skies. In the distance, Sabel stared at the castle that sat on a cliff. It was her next target, but not tonight.
Limping back to her cottage, she had barely dodged fallen branches and mud puddles. As she opened the door, her body tensed, seeing him sitting at her dinner table. Sabel's eyes darted from him, and the door that looked untouched.
"I didn't welcome you into my home."
"Oh, but you have, my love, plenty of times." He grinned, wide like a cheshire cat.
Sabel sighed, body exhausted as she dragged her feet over the threshold. With each limb feeling heavy as lead, she pushed herself. In a swift motion, she pulled the dagger from her boot and slung it in his direction.
The blade embedded itself into the back of the chair.
Kael stood behind Sabel, his arm draped over her shoulder and hand gripping her throat, not tight but snuggled.
"Your aim is getting better, I imagine that you'll kill me in the next hundred years." He teased.
A tense beat pass.
"I could make that happen." His leaned closer to her ear as his voice lowered.
Sabel gritted her teeth, pulling away from his grasp. "I am an hunter, I'd never be like you, never."
Kael chuckled, his hands tightening around her throat ever so lightly. His crimson red eyes glowed, Sabel's breath caught, and he released her roughly, flinging her to the dining table. Barely holding herself up, she mustered a glare that warned Kael that his next move could possible be his last but they both know, she wouldn't be able to hold her own against him while those weak.
"Never say never, cause you once said you'd never fuck someone like me. Or what were your exact words?" He hummed.
Sabel narrowed her eyes, "I'll kill you." She snarled.
"Well, yes, you said that as well, but I had you changing your tune soon after." Kael chuckled to himself.
Sabel's hand slowly snuck underneath the table, peeling the dagger off before charging at him. The blade sliced through the air, Kael dodging each attack effortlessly. His feet barely touched the floor.
"Die." Sabel cried out as the pains in her body reminded her of their existence.
Kael pushed his hands out in front of him, and Sabel's body flew back against the wall of her cottage. She struggled to move, but her entire body was held down by nothing. Realization struck her quickly, eyes wide as the moon.
"You're controlling my blood?" She frowned, thrashing against the wall in a failing struggle.
"I know, I promised I'd never do that, but you're not making things easy for me." He approached her slowly.
Kael caressed Sabel's face, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. While her chest heaved up and down rapidly, he shushed her as she glared onward. He smiled, unsure that his next move was one that needed to be played.
"I do enjoy our silly little game, if only it could last a lifetime." He mutters, leaning in and brushing his lips against her neck.
"Don't you fucking dare," she hissed, thrashing harder. "I promise you, I'll end you."
Kael smirked as he pulled back, just enough for Sabel to see his glowing red eyes. Her blood chilled. It wasn't the same as usual when his eyes glowed. A deeper shade, almost as dark as fresh blood being spilled.
"I've been holding myself back for so long," he inhaled her scent, her blood.
Sweet and smoky.
"Don't you want this to continue? Our predator and prey game. The back and forth. The passion and intoxicating thrill." He grinned.
"You've lost your mind," Sabel spat.
"Perhaps so, but it's all because of you. Let tonight be the night of our chase truly begin."
Kael leaned forward, ignoring the cursing and cries of Sabel as his fangs sunk into her tender flesh. Her cries gave way to a blood curling scream from the depths of her frame. As Kael detached himself from her neck, blood dribbled down the corners of his mouth.
"You would've been a delicious blood bag," he muttered, slashing a sharp nail across web space between his thumb and index.
He lifted Sabel's head, forcing her to feed on his blood. As her eyes fluttered, Kael laid her down on the floor, he knelt beside her quietly. He stroked her hair for a moment, watching as the transformation begin. It's only subtle, nothing drastic to a mortals eye.
"I'd love to be here to care for you during this time, but with the surge of power you're getting, you might actually kill me." He smiled, pulling away.
Kael stood just as the floorboard creaked beneath him, a dagger whirled right past him. He undid his cufflink and rolled up his sleeves. A man, no more in his early twenties and barely out of his teens, approached Kael, another dagger already drawn.
"Did you...Did you just kill her?" He stammered.
Kael smirked, "Something like that," he gave a short shrug.
The younger man lunged at him, but Kael disappeared into black smoke, then materialized again behind him. Kael's nails grew sharper before plunging into the man's throat, ripping it to shreds. Blood sputtered around the compact room of the cottage.
He watched the body drop to the floor, a puddle of dark blood surrounding it slowly as it ooze from the gape of what was the neck. Kael turned away and stood at the door. The first sign of destruction had already begun.
A burst of a faint purple smoke disbursed next to him, revealing a woman, pale skin with purple veins. Her eyes are a lighter red than his and annoyance clear on her face. She folded her arms over her chest, watching the village begin to burn, and the villagers struggle to fight off their clan.
"All this for a mortal," she scoffed, barely hiding her detest.
"She won't be mortals for long. Besides, I want her to come after me." Kael smirked.
"And you expect me to raise her? I hope she does success in destroying you."
"Sister, you wound me with your words. But I can not trust her to come after me on her own. She needs to learn the ways." He insisted.
Kael looked to his sister. She rolled her eyes and reluctantly nodded in agreement. He wanted their game to last forever, being prepared for the hatred and the battles ahead was just part of it all in his mind.
"Make sure that she doesn't try to off herself though, poor thing is going to wake up to the unimaginable." He snickered.
"If she attacks me from the surge, I won't hesitate to kill her myself." His sister warned.
"Then I'll kill you, sister, don't tempt me."
"You're very...easy, to tempt, little brother." She muttered, glancing back to sole cottage still standing throughout the blood shed of the night.
