Adrian (The Dark Shadows Book 4) (14 page)

V
ladimir jogged
up the stairs of the royal mansion in search of his mate. The queen was a strong vampire, a dedicated queen, but at the end of the day, she was a mother, and one of her children were missing. Vlad knew that it didn’t matter how old their children were. Alin would kill for their children. And right now, his queen demanded necromancer blood.

And she will have it.

“Alin, my dear,” Vlad called out as he entered their bedroom suite. She sat in her high-back chair next to the window that overlooked her favorite gardens.

His mate of over four hundred years was still as beautiful as the day they met. Her light blue eyes, the same eyes that each of their children inherited, bore into him as he walked toward her.

“How are Angel and Adrian?” she asked quietly.

Too quiet.

“Angel is resting now, and Adrian is hovering around her, not letting her out of his sight.”

She nodded, her eyes glancing in his direction. This was not like his mate to shut down. He knew that her rage was brimming; he could feel it. He was damn glad he was on her good side. He had always been known as the strong and vicious vampire king, but the world had yet to see the vampire queen out for blood.

“Any word?” she asked, turning to stare back out the window.

“Not yet.” He knelt down on one knee in front of her. “Toma is in charge of the search for Nicu.”

She nodded, knowing that Toma would not stop until he found his brother alive, or he killed every necromancer, versi, and rogue vampire that existed to avenge his death.

“Nicu is the heir to the throne. Aside from me, he is the strongest vampire alive. He will survive whatever the necromancers do to him.”

Alin’s head snapped to him, her eyes burning crimson. He instantly felt a tightening in his pants at his wife’s fierce look, but knew that now was not the time for lovemaking.

“This war has gone on too long, Vlad. It is time to end this.” Her fangs flashed from beneath her top lip. He stood quickly, backing up as she jumped up from the chair, advancing toward him. “We have toyed with our enemies long enough. They are to die! We are the king and queen of this vampire nation, and it is time the council stop fucking around. They
will
send every vampire warrior, and we will destroy—”

He crushed his mouth to hers, unable to stop himself. His wife, fierce as she could be, was sexy as hell, and he had to have her now.

They would plot out how they would take down the necromancers in about an hour or two. Alin ripped her mouth from his, tearing his shirt open. The sound of buttons dropping to the floor filled the air.

Her hands flew to his belt buckle, and he knew that his mate would scold him later for interrupting her fierce vampire queen speech. But for now, all he wanted to hear was his fierce vampire queen scream his name.

T
he rage
that was festering inside of Nicu Olaru was barely contained. He grunted from the twinge of pain in his shoulders from having his arms bound behind him while being dragged along by two rogue vampires. Without even looking, he could tell they were rogues by the smell that permeated the air around them.

Rogue vampires were an abomination; lower than the scum of the Earth. The need to consume blood was where the similarities ended between vampires and their rogue counterparts. Rogues did not abide by the vampire laws, and were currently sided with vampires’ mortal enemy, the necromancers.

Necromancers were powerful, mystical beings that practiced black magic. The necromancers were creatures who fed on life forces and needed to consume human souls and energy. As one of the strongest magical beings on the planet, they were known to use their powers to raise the dead. Versi, as they were called, were the dead controlled by the necromancers.

Necromancers and vampires had been mortal enemies since the beginning of time. Earth was just not big enough to house both powerful beings. It was a little over fifty years ago, during
The Battle
, when vampires defeated the necromancers.

The necromancers disappeared from Earth, never to be seen again until recently when they reappeared out of nowhere and set their sights on Nicu’s sister, Nadira. The necromancers were relentless in their pursuit of Nadira, but the Shadows again defeated them.

With the reappearance of the necromancers, the war has continued. Vampires everywhere refused to bow down and be defeated by the necros, who were being creative in their ways to defeat the vampires by unleashing one of the most powerful black magic witches, Rowena.

It was said that Rowena held the key to killing vampires everywhere. She hated vampires just as much as the necromancers, and was imprisoned for centuries for the havoc she had created. The necromancers hunted her down and located the black magic witch in her undisclosed prison, and released her. In her blind rage to extract revenge on the vampire king and queen, Rowena was killed at the hand of the vampires’ alley, the Valkyrie.

Again, the vampires prevailed.

The necromancers refused to give up their pursuit of extinguishing vampires. In their next attempt, they finally unleashed their rogue army that they were building, pitting vampires against their rogue counterparts. It was at this battle that Nicu was captured.

Nicu was the commander of the Dark Shadows, vampire warriors that were charged with the responsibility to protect the vampire nation against any enemy. It was Nicu who was bred to lead the Dark Shadows, who were the most dangerous entity on the streets in order to defeat any foe.

Being the eldest son of the ruling vampire king, Nicu was one of the strongest vampires to exist, aside from his father. One day it would be Nicu who would rule the vampire nation, but until that day, it was his responsibility to ensure that the vampire nation was protected.

His Dark Shadow warriors consisted of his younger brothers Adrian, Toma and Teague, along with five other vampires who were sworn in by the Olaru family.

Each member of the Shadows were sworn to protect the vampire nation with their lives. It was an oath that was not to be taken lightly. Not only did that pledge extend to protecting the innocents, but other Shadow members as well. The Shadows would never leave a vampire behind. They would come for him. Nicu knew that the Shadows would not rest until they had rescued him.

And when they arrived, they would kill every fucking being that drew breath in this building.

Nicu’s feet dragged behind him while the rogues struggled to move him. He refused to be of assistance. Nicu made himself dead weight, and he knew he was one large vampire. All six foot five, three hundred pounds of him, made it difficult for the rogues to transport him. The fuckers ambushed him during battle and rendered him unconscious.

They would pay for it.

F
irst
, I would like to thank every person who has downloaded and read my Dark Shadows series. I just want you to know that I am still amazed that you choose to read my books! You don’t have to read them but you do!

To my editor, Dana, thank you! You rock. I love your feedback and insight that you offer. I just want you to know that I appreciate you for taking me on!

To Natasha, my cover designer. Thank you! You are one talented lady and I wish I could hug you for the amazing work that you do!

To my Beta team, you gals are amazing. You actually offer me good insight and help catch things that my tired eyes just overlook and I appreciate it.

To Ariel Marie’s Screaming Siren, you all are an awesome street team and I can’t be any more thankful for everything that you all do! I have so much fun getting to know you all.

And last but not least, my family, I love you to the moon and back! Thank you for your unconditional love and support in allowing me to follow my dreams.

Until next time,

Ariel Marie

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A
riel Marie is
a an author who loves the paranormal, action and hot steamy romance. She combines all three in each and every one of her stories. For as long as she can remember, she has loved vampires, shifters and every creature you can think of. This even rolls over into her favorite movies! She love a good action packed thriller! Throw a touch of the supernatural world in it and she’s hooked!

S
he grew up in Cleveland
, Ohio where she currently resides with her husband and three beautiful children.

Follow Ariel Marie online!

• @the_ArielMarie
  
• authorarielmarie
  

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