Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
“When I was trapped in the box, a powerful, dark curse was placed upon me. As long as I was imprisoned, my body would not need nourishment. My bodily functions were paused. It even preserved my clothing. It was meant to extend my suffering. My captor wanted to torture me by keeping me alive as long as possible, frozen in time, alone with my thoughts.”
“Holy shit.” It was the highest level of abuse I could think of, which made me wonder, “What sick fuck put you in that box?” Maybe it should have been my first question to him, but I had been knocked out from blood loss and wasn’t thinking clearly.
Viggo sat back and his gaze fell to his lap. His voice was laced with agony when he answered, “My father.”
“What? My father has done some shady shit to me, but it pales in comparison to that!”
His eyes found mine again, and they were nearly glowing with fiery rage. “What did your father do to you?” His concern warmed my heart; even with everything he’d been through, I was his priority.
“Let’s put a pin in that, because what he didn’t do is put me in a box and bury me for a fucking century.” I squeezed his hand and requested, “Please tell me what happened.”
He lifted my hand to press a kiss to my knuckles before taking a deep breath. “My father is a very old, very proud vampire. He revels in the power and status of our kind. Throughout my youth, he would preach to me and my siblings about the importance of growing the numbers of our pure-blood race, and cementing our family legacy.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was headed, but I didn’t interrupt. “I was able to escape his scrutiny for centuries, as he was distracted by his other children finding their mates and procreating perfect little vampires. But when they grew up and had children of their own, his focus turned to me.
“At first, he was sympathetic; he suggested that it was taking so long to find my mate because Fate had someone very special in mind.” He paused to smile at me, his hazel eyes sparkling. “He was right about that.” My heart skipped a beat until his grin faded.
“Soon, his sympathy turned to frustration. He accused me of ‘hiding from destiny’, or not making myself available to Fate’s chosen woman. Of course, the truth was I was unavailable to any woman, but I was too afraid of my father’s reaction to tell him about my desires, so I kept them secret. He grew tired of waiting and took matters into his own hands.
“One day, he summoned me to his home and when I arrived, I found that he’d also invited a female vampire from a neighboring city. He explained to me that he had worked out a deal with her family, who were also growing impatient from her lack of offspring, given she was their only daughter.
“They decided the two of us would join to give them descendants; that our true mates would understand the decision, and that bringing more of our kind into the world was never a negative thing.”
My face screwed up with disgust. “Your families decided to breed you guys?”
Viggo nodded and continued, “I was furious with my father, and mortified by his actions. I couldn’t go through with his wishes and decided to tell him everything; that I had no desire for this or any other woman, that my true mate would be male, and that I could never give him descendants. My father flew into a fit of rage. He killed the young lady so that she could never tell anyone my ‘filthy secret’.”
I gasped as I slapped my hand over my mouth. I knew how this story ended for Viggo, but I wasn’t expecting the murderous twist. His eyes filled with guilt once more when he insisted, “I tried my best to stop him, but as strong as I am, he is even more powerful. He subdued me when I attacked him, and all I could do was watch in horror as he drove a stake through the lady’s heart.”
I couldn’t imagine living through the terrifying moment, and I couldn’t find the words to comfort him. All I could do was squeeze his hand as mine trembled.
“I thought he was going to kill me as well,” Viggo continued. “I expected him to turn the stake on me, or to remove my head - the only two ways for vampires to be killed.” I shuddered at the thought, but nodded my understanding.
“With any other injury, vampires heal quickly. But before my body could regenerate, my father placed me in the wooden box and wrapped silver chains around the outside, weakening and trapping me. He called upon an old friend; a mage who cast the dark spell on me. Then they buried me in the cemetery. Though I was still alive, I was dead to him.