UNTIL DEATH WE DO PART
PROLOGUE
Romania, 1476
He was coming for her. She knew it. Esperetta of the house of Dracul could hear him out in
the cold darkness. Unseen. Fearsome. Threatening.
And he was getting closer.
Closer.
So close, she could feel his breath on her skin. See his evil eyes as he relentlessly stalked
her through the night while she ran from him, hoping to find some way to escape.
He wanted her dead.
" Esperetta …"
There was magic in that deep, sultry voice. It'd always had a way of making her weak. Of
lulling her into a stupor. But she couldn't afford that now. Not after she knew him for the
monster he really was.
She stumbled through the darkness as the fog seemed to wrap itself around her, slowing her
down, pulling her back toward where he waited to devour her. The cry of wolves echoed on
the wind that sliced through her dirt-stained gown and cloak as if she were naked in the
woods.
Her breathing labored and painful, she tripped and fell against a wall of solid black steel. No,
not steel.
It was him.
Her hand was splayed over the frightening gold emblem on his armor of a coiled serpent
that mocked her with its venom. Terrified, she looked up with a gasp into those deep, dark
eyes that seemed to penetrate her. But that wasn't what scared her. It was the fact that she
was in her white burial gown. The fact that she'd clawed her way out of her own grave under
the weight of the full moon to find herself alone in the church cemetery. She'd stared down at
the tombstone that had held her name and death date for almost an hour before she'd found
the courage to leave that place.
No longer in Moldavia as she'd been when she went to sleep, she was in a small village
outside of Bucharest. In the churchyard by her father's castle, where she'd been born.
Needing to understand what had happened to her, she'd made her way toward her father's
home, only to find an even worse horror than waking in her own grave.
She'd seen her husband kill her father before her very eyes. Seen him gleefully hand her
father's head off to his Turkish enemies. Screaming, she'd run from them, out into the night.
And had run without stopping until now. Now she was in the arms of a man whose black
armor was covered in her father's blood. A man she'd sworn to love for all eternity.
But it wasn't this man she'd loved. This was a coldhearted monster. A liar. He might bear the
same imposing height. The same long black wavy hair and sharp, aristocratic features, but it
wasn't Velkan Danesti who held her now.
It was the devil incarnate.
"Let me go!" she snarled, wrenching herself away from him.
" Esperetta , listen to me!"
"No!" she shouted, moving away as he tried to touch her again. "You killed me. You killed my
father!"
He scowled at her and if she hadn't seen his darker side for herself, she might even believe
the sincerity he feigned. "It's not what you think."
"I. Saw. You. Kill. Him."
"Because he killed you."
She shook her head. "You lie! You're the one who gave me the poison. You! Not my father.
He loved me. He would never have hurt me."
"Your father stabbed you through the heart when he saw you dead to make sure you weren't
feigning."
Still, she didn't believe him. He was lying and she knew it. Her father would never have done
such a thing. When Velkan had given her the sleeping balm he'd told her that it would make
her sleep so soundly that no one would know she was alive. He'd promised that no one
would bury her, since that had always been her fear. Side by side, they were supposed to
awaken from their sleep so that they would be free to stay together forever.
But she hadn't awakened in her bed. She'd awakened in her grave.
Now, she knew what he'd planned all along. To kill her and her father so that he could
avenge his own father and take their lands for his family. Velkan didn't love her. He'd used
her and like a fool, she'd played into his hands and cost her father his life.
She
PROLOGUE
Romania, 1476
He was coming for her. She knew it. Esperetta of the house of Dracul could hear him out in
the cold darkness. Unseen. Fearsome. Threatening.
And he was getting closer.
Closer.
So close, she could feel his breath on her skin. See his evil eyes as he relentlessly stalked
her through the night while she ran from him, hoping to find some way to escape.
He wanted her dead.
" Esperetta …"
There was magic in that deep, sultry voice. It'd always had a way of making her weak. Of
lulling her into a stupor. But she couldn't afford that now. Not after she knew him for the
monster he really was.
She stumbled through the darkness as the fog seemed to wrap itself around her, slowing her
down, pulling her back toward where he waited to devour her. The cry of wolves echoed on
the wind that sliced through her dirt-stained gown and cloak as if she were naked in the
woods.
Her breathing labored and painful, she tripped and fell against a wall of solid black steel. No,
not steel.
It was him.
Her hand was splayed over the frightening gold emblem on his armor of a coiled serpent
that mocked her with its venom. Terrified, she looked up with a gasp into those deep, dark
eyes that seemed to penetrate her. But that wasn't what scared her. It was the fact that she
was in her white burial gown. The fact that she'd clawed her way out of her own grave under
the weight of the full moon to find herself alone in the church cemetery. She'd stared down at
the tombstone that had held her name and death date for almost an hour before she'd found
the courage to leave that place.
No longer in Moldavia as she'd been when she went to sleep, she was in a small village
outside of Bucharest. In the churchyard by her father's castle, where she'd been born.
Needing to understand what had happened to her, she'd made her way toward her father's
home, only to find an even worse horror than waking in her own grave.
She'd seen her husband kill her father before her very eyes. Seen him gleefully hand her
father's head off to his Turkish enemies. Screaming, she'd run from them, out into the night.
And had run without stopping until now. Now she was in the arms of a man whose black
armor was covered in her father's blood. A man she'd sworn to love for all eternity.
But it wasn't this man she'd loved. This was a coldhearted monster. A liar. He might bear the
same imposing height. The same long black wavy hair and sharp, aristocratic features, but it
wasn't Velkan Danesti who held her now.
It was the devil incarnate.
"Let me go!" she snarled, wrenching herself away from him.
" Esperetta , listen to me!"
"No!" she shouted, moving away as he tried to touch her again. "You killed me. You killed my
father!"
He scowled at her and if she hadn't seen his darker side for herself, she might even believe
the sincerity he feigned. "It's not what you think."
"I. Saw. You. Kill. Him."
"Because he killed you."
She shook her head. "You lie! You're the one who gave me the poison. You! Not my father.
He loved me. He would never have hurt me."
"Your father stabbed you through the heart when he saw you dead to make sure you weren't
feigning."
Still, she didn't believe him. He was lying and she knew it. Her father would never have done
such a thing. When Velkan had given her the sleeping balm he'd told her that it would make
her sleep so soundly that no one would know she was alive. He'd promised that no one
would bury her, since that had always been her fear. Side by side, they were supposed to
awaken from their sleep so that they would be free to stay together forever.
But she hadn't awakened in her bed. She'd awakened in her grave.
Now, she knew what he'd planned all along. To kill her and her father so that he could
avenge his own father and take their lands for his family. Velkan didn't love her. He'd used
her and like a fool, she'd played into his hands and cost her father his life.
She
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