Blood Vow: Kyn Warriors, #1

Chapter 1

C ome on, sweetheart. Verran’s a good man and he cares for you. You could do worse for a husband.

Maria rolled her eyes, doing her best to keep up the appearance of a cosseted but slightly spoiled noblewoman as she turned to face her father.

Garen Ravensford stood behind her, a long-suffering expression on his face. She bit back a sigh. He was just like all the other vampire males she knew—honorable, protective, and utterly insufferable. Just like all the rest, he was totally convinced all women were delicate little creatures that had to be protected at all times. To be fair though, most vampire women were. They knew their place in the world. Which was to stay locked up in their ivory towers, looked after and wrapped in cotton wool all their lives. Their sole duty was to find the right man, or the man their daddy said was right, marry him and give birth to the next generation. A generation the ailing kyn race desperately needed.

She knew dozens of them, the daughters of her father’s friends. Not one of them would say boo to a goose. She, on the other hand, had always been a tomboy, apt to rush headlong into any new adventure. Climbing trees and pranking their father’s knights had always held more appeal than playing with dolls or dressing up. As she’d gotten older, learning to ride and fight had taken over. They’d considered her weird then, and now they kept their distance in case her freakishness rubbed off on them.

And there was the problem. She was a dhampir, a half-vampire. Since most died in the womb or shortly after birth, they were rare. She herself only knew of three. She was one, there had been one a couple of hundred years ago, and her kid sister… Quashing the tide of anger and sadness that rose at the thought of Bella, she transferred her attention to her father, a set look on her face.

Don’t look at me like that, her father said sternly, even if his lips did quirk a little. "He would make a good husband."

She popped an eyebrow up. Verran was the perfect knight commander, polite and genteel… And very, very traditional.

Yeah? So he’s happy to marry a half-breed freak, is he?

Her father flinched. Just a little, but she caught it. That was the big old elephant in the room… At just over thirty, she was in danger of being left on the shelf. In the human world her mother came from, she was an adult, capable of making her own decisions, but in the vampire world, she was considered barely more than a teenager, one who needed guidance in any and all decisions. But that didn’t stop the practice of marrying girls off as soon as they were old enough. All her childhood friends were either married or planning their weddings.

Maria wasn’t one of them.

No one wanted a half-breed freak for a wife, especially a knight like Verran. They might as well try to marry her off to the king himself. Even if a suitor could look past the fact she was half human, there was the fact that she even looked different. Short and curvy, rather than tall and elegant like most kyn women, she stuck out like a sore thumb. What man wanted something like that on his arm? No guy in his right mind, that’s who. And certainly not Verran, not unless her father blackmailed him. There was a world of difference between caring for someone, like one would a sickly puppy, and true love. No bets on which Verran felt for her.

Shaking the bad thoughts off, she smiled brightly at her father. "It’ll all make right in the end, I’m sure. Now, if you don’t need me, I simply must go give Violetta a call. She was going over designs for the Marboroughs’ ball with her dressmaker and promised to give me all the gossip."

Rising on her tiptoes, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and sashayed away, her full skirts brushing musically against the polished floor. Sweeping through the door at the end of the drawing room, she turned and then immediately ducked into the shadows behind it. The kyn as a race eschewed modern technology, their houses lit by candles and lamps instead of electricity, which meant there were plenty of shadows to choose from.

Holding her breath, she waited. As she’d suspected, within seconds the door on the other side of the room opened.

She didn’t go for it then? Verran’s voice sounded so hopeful that she’d said no that Maria grimaced. She didn’t want to marry the guy, but a girl had some pride.

Her father sighed. Not yet, no, but give it time. She’s not getting any younger and all her friends are getting married. If they start having kids…

Maria closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool wood of the door in front of her. Of course, that was how he’d gotten Verran interested. All kyn males were hardwired to need to pass their genes on, but with fewer and fewer kyn being born each generation it was a goal that eluded many. The fact that she was half-human… She might just be fertile enough to bear a child. That might persuade him to look past the fact she was dhampir.

She shook her head quickly. Not that it mattered. Verran was cute and all, with a tall, muscled frame, and blond good looks, but she wasn’t looking to get married, or have kids anytime soon.

That had been her sister’s dream, not hers.

Determination filled Maria, her back straightening as ice filtered through her veins. Bella would never get the big wedding to her Prince Charming she always dreamed of. The perfect dress, flowers… The crystal carriage to take her to the temple. She’d never have the perfect little family she’d chatted so excitedly about.

Because Maria’s gentle little sister, the one beloved by all even though she was a half-breed like Maria, had been stolen by rogue vampires and slaughtered in cold blood.

As hard as she tried, Maria couldn’t stop the image forming in her mind. Bella’s broken body when they brought her back home. Blood in her blonde hair, across her delicate features. The… wrongness of the form hidden under the cloak her father wouldn’t let her unwrap to give her little sister one last hug.

Maria’s eyes snapped open, boring into the wood in front of her as rage built within. Pushing off, she stepped back into the darkness. She had a job to do, and it had nothing to do with gossip and certainly nothing to do with that spoiled brat Violetta. Maria’s jaw set, she headed back to her own rooms and locked the door tightly behind her. Striding across the room, she threw open her wardrobe, hitting the catch on the panel at the back to reveal a hidden section.

Her smile was grim as she perused the black leather and shiny blades within.

The rogues had stolen her little sister, and now she was going to make them pay.

Married? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!

Marak, King of the Kyn, grimaced at the sound of laughter as it rolled through the large room and carried on pacing. He turned, his gaze sharp as he looked at the chuckling man lounging in the chair opposite the roaring fire.

Really? Could you find my predicament less amusing?

His companion just shrugged, not at all fazed by the deadly look as Marak flopped down in the chair beside him. With a sigh, Marak raked fingers through his close-cropped hair and glared at the fire in frustration.

This can’t be happening. Freaking politicians, he muttered, not caring that Kalen heard the bitter note in his voice. Both warriors, they’d been friends since childhood.

Sorry, mate, you heard the man. Kalen was blunt as normal.

Earlier that night they’d sat in the Royal Hall as Elsveth, leader of the Lord’s Council, relayed the concerns of the council. It had been a lengthy list, covering everything from the cost of decent daylight shielding these days to local authority taxes on council properties. Marak had expected the complaint that the warrior caste were obsolete dinosaurs, but the attack over the fact that he still had no heir had been unexpected and unwelcome.

"They want an heir, which means you need a woman. I love ya, man, but not that much. Besides, I don’t have the right equipment." Kalen’s voice was full of amusement.

Marak fidgeted. His annoyance at the situation he was being forced into translated into movement. The rasp of leather whispered in the room as he shifted and crossed his leg over his knee, lounging in the large chair with the indolent grace inherent to all kyn.

So…the Lady Kassandria doesn’t catch your interest? Kalen stood up and strode over to the drink cabinet. He lifted a decanter and poured, swirling the contents in the heavy glass as he turned to look at Marak.

Leaning his head, Marak closed his eyes as a