Page 1 of Pregnant By the Vampire King

Prologue - Vinir

The male fae's limbs were buckled to the torture rack, muscles tense and flexing uselessly against the bindings. Vinir took his scalpel and with medical precision, dragged the blade down the skin over the fae's breastbone. A thin crimson line followed the blade's cut. A rasping sound from the fae's tongueless mouth, a gurgle that breaks off into a sound resembling a scream.

"Shh, shh, it'll all be over soon," Vinir cooed without breaking focus. "All I need is to make a few adjustments to your body."

Vinir set to work, his fingers working quickly and with precision as he cut open the fae's body and peeled the skin back to reveal the still-living organs beneath his fleshsuit.

"Fae are inherently magical creatures in the way we vampires aren't," Vinir explained as he continued his work, implanting shards of glowing glass between organs and muscles. "One of you will be the key to lifting my curse. Maybe not you, hmm? But one of you ..."

When all of the runes were set in place, Vinir murmured the words the witches who'd given him the spell to convert fae into a living magical converter that he could, in theory, use to reverse the curse his enemies had inflicted him with. Each stitch to reseal the fae's body glowed with angry red magic, and since the fae man was still breathing raggedly when Vinir was done, the ritual seemed to have succeeded.

He peeled off his gloves and clapped the fae's shoulder. The fae gurgled when Vinir's touch burned and sizzled his flesh.

"Good work, my friend," Vinir said, whistling happily while he cleaned up. "You survived. Maybe you have a chance at helping me after all, hmm? Wouldn't that be great."

Vinir meticulously wiped down the stone slap where his tools and various torture devices rested. There was a chance he would be freed of his curse by the new moon, assuming this fae survived the night. Then life could go back to normal...

The door to his secret room opened, and Vinir glanced over his shoulder. "Who dare interrupt me while I'm working?" he snarled.

A blue-robed man cowered in the doorway. "It's urgent, sire—"

"Then get on with it!"

"It is your bride-to-be, my king. She's been found."

The elation Vinir had mussed up at the end of this procedure dulled to a pale memory. A scowl crept into his features.

"How is this possible? I thought she disappeared," Vinir said. "I'd hoped she died," he added with a mutter.

"King Sinnegard assured me personally that she's alive and well and fit for the wedding to take place immediately," the man said.

Shades of rage flickered and flared inside me, blazing into an inferno. I snapped and blinked across the room, grabbing the man by the throat and slamming him into the door.

"I won't be getting married, you incompetent old fool," Vinir snarled.

The man's wrinkled face squirmed beneath Vinir's grip, eyes bulging. A horse croak came from his suffocating lungs as Vinir's poisonous touch burned into him, flesh roasting in seconds.

"You—you swore an oath ... there are ... consequences," the man wheezed. "Fae king will ... be displeased ..."

Vinir released him, throwing him to the ground. "Fuck."

The man groaned and coughed, but Vinir ignored him.

Not only did he not want to get married, his bride-to-be was a fae princess. A whore, as far as he was concerned. No fae was good enough to touch his royal flesh unless it was to burn them.

A wicked smile curled the edges of his mouth. If his most recent fae experiment failed, then he knew exactly what he'd be doing with his fae bride. He would marry her, then, to fulfill his obligation to the fae king ... but he swore no obligations for what would happen once he had her in his possession.

If he had his way, he wouldn't be keeping her for long. There were many ways a foolish fae woman could die in a kingdom that despised her kind.

Chapter 1 - Aelwen

King Vinir stood tall and regal at the wedding altar, a slab of black, shining marble decorated with crimson roses. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows and illuminated his pale skin. Aelwen took her first step down the aisle, her stomach in knots, her fidgeting hands hidden only by the bouquet.

She couldn't deny he was handsome, with his sharp, elegant features and powerful jaw just made for kissing. His shiny black cape flowed down his back and over one shoulder, revealing only a hint of the ruffled white button-down beneath it. Rumor has it that Vinir is a horrible, ruthless man, and Aelwen could see the shadows in those dangerous silver eyes. The mark of a man who enjoyed inflicting pain.

Aelwen had never even met him before.

She had no choice about whether this wedding happened or not—could anyone blame her for spending years running?

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