Page 1 of Isabel and the Werewolf Beast

Chapter one

Isabel

The castle hummed. Music, dance steps, and chatter coming from the ballroom. Vampire parties were something to behold. We dressed in decadent gowns and wore intricate facemasks. We’d never truly hide our identities since our superior senses meant we’d scent anyone, but the small amount of mystery with the masks had carried on. A sentiment that had been before Lucian turned me into a vampire over a hundred years ago.

The one who’d turned me and introduced me to this life of beauty and darkness, danced across the ballroom. His back to me, he wore a tailored black suit that no doubt cost him a few thousand dollars. Lucian swept hispartner across the timber floor. Her resplendent gown of gold glittered under the golden lights of the ballroom. Rhythmic footsteps from all the dancers echoed inside my ears like the constant thudding of human hearts.

Moving through the crowd, I stopped and chatted to a select few. It was my party, after all, and everyone expected a conversation from me. The lace mask conformed to my friend Renee’s face as she talked. Her hands fluttered over the billowing fabric of the burgundy ballgown as though she couldn’t help touching the satiny fabric. Vampires were very tactile. My fingers curled into my hands, stroking the soft skin of my palms.

Humans were here too, as guests dressed in the same formal attire. They would later turn into sustenance to rejuvenate us from the party. Most would return home. Some might not be so lucky, but what my guests did with their dates wasn’t my concern.

The white ballroom doors opened in a burst of magic. Sparkling silver swirled inside black shadows around the door and slithered inside the ballroom. Those closest to the door stepped backward further into the room.

The black cloud of magic lightened as though a breeze blew the darkness away. Silas, a wizard, stood in the doorway, his hands aglow with an inky black smolder. He’d tapped into dark magic. Dark, forbidden magic. His cloak billowed behind him, the magical breeze floating the material up into the air. A shiver ran down my spine.

But this was my party, and I hadn’t backed down from Silas yet. I wouldn’t do it now either.

“What is the meaning of this?” I yelled, storming toward him.

This wizard would not take no for an answer. He hounded me every night to take him as my lover, but he wanted more. Silas wanted my vampire kiss of immortality. One I didn’t think he deserved.

An evil smirk crossed his face. “I hope you enjoy dancing because you’ll be doing it for eternity.”

His head flung back. Black light streamed from his body to the ceiling and circled the room. I ran toward him, but the blackness slammed into my body and flung me against a wall. I righted myself, placing a hand on my head, and struggled to my feet. The air was thick with blackness, making every movement seem impossible. I waded through the thickness, my arms and legs struggling as though I were wading through filthy mud. The sensation on my skin was the same. On and on, I struggled until I was within range of him. My arms snapped out, ready to end his life, but my hands reached straight through him. His body was there, but not there.

“What did you do?” I lunged for his throat, but my entire body passed through him. I stumbled on the other side of him. Was he an illusion?

“I cursed you. All of you.” The wind settled. His thick cloak clung to his body as though protecting him even more from me. He strode toward the front door of the castle.

“Silas,” I screamed.

What did he mean by a curse? He was the one who I couldn’t touch… or was there more?

He paused with his hand on the golden doorknob. “All you had to do was love me back and change me.”

“How can I love someone so evil?”

He scowled. “I’m not evil.”

“What do you call this, then? Why can’t I touch you?” I reached for the lamp to throw it at him, but my fingers flowed through the flowery base and out the other side.

What curse was this? I spun. Behind me, my guests stood inside the ballroom. Their pretty dresses and handsome suits faded. I stood outside looking in. They were ghostly figures trapped inside the decadent ballroom, filled with flowers and dainty lights. Still, theydanced as though nothing had happened. As though Silas and I weren’t arguing in the foyer.

“Change me and I’ll undo the curse.” He folded his arms over his chest. The cloak tightened even more around him.

I laughed. His curse made sense now, but his thinking was wrong. So very wrong.

“There’s a minor flaw to your plan. How can I change you when you’ve made me incorporeal?”

“Give me your blood oath that you’ll change me.” The evilness of his smirk sent another shudder through my body.

I narrowed my eyes. A blood oath was bound by more than words. Magic would seal me to this man. A man I realized was evil. I’d never shackle myself to him. Never put myself at his whims. I’d suffered at the hands of men before Lucian found me. He’d saved me from a life of torment. From being used and abused by men in power who’d thought I was their plaything. Lucian would be disappointed in me if I turned myself over to Silas, even if it was to save us from this ghostly fate. I’d find another way. There had to be another way out of this curse.

“Never,” I said.

“Then you’ll stay this way forever. Always here in this castle. Always less than you were.”

“And you’ll always be evil.”

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