A Vampire’s Vow Read online

  A Vampire’s Vow

  Kayleigh Sky

  Contents

  Also by Kayleigh Sky

  A Vampire’s Vow

  A Vampire’s Vow

  THE ELLOWYN ROYAL FAMILIES

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  1. On The Way Home

  2. Celestine City

  3. True Hearts

  4. The Upheaval

  5. Ascent

  6. His Vow

  Don’t go yet!

  About the Author

  A Vampire’s Heart

  Backbone

  Pretty Human

  Doll Baby

  Trinkets

  Angel Dork

  Jesus Kid

  No Luck

  Also by Kayleigh Sky

  Backbone

  Pretty Human

  Doll Baby

  Trinkets

  Angel Dork

  Jesus Kid

  No Luck

  A Vampire’s Heart (The Ellowyn Found Series, Book 1)

  A Vampire’s Vow

  Book .5 of the Ellowyn Found Trilogy

  A Vampire’s Vow

  Kiss Drunk Books

  Walnut Creek, California

  The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Kayleigh Sky

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information, address Kiss Drunk Books in writing at 712 Bancroft Road, Ste 277, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.

  ISBN: 978-1-7329134-3-1 (ebook)

  Cover: Tiferet Designs / http://www.tiferetdesign.com

  Thanks go to Kiki Clark of Between the Lines Editing for beta reading A Vampire’s Vow / http://betweenthelinesediting.com

  THE ELLOWYN ROYAL FAMILIES

  In order of rank

  * * *

  Senera

  * * *

  Dinallah

  * * *

  Nezzarram

  * * *

  Orla

  * * *

  Gennarah

  * * *

  Lotis

  * * *

  Wrythin

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  In alphabetical order

  * * *

  Abadi Nezzaram, a vampire witch, mother to Rune and Mal, former wife of Qudim Senera

  * * *

  Bettina, vampire, the Senera’s cook

  * * *

  Dawn Senera, human mother to Jessa, second wife and fated love of Qudim

  * * *

  Fritt, vampire, the Senera’s butler, Bettina’s husband

  * * *

  Jessamine “Jessa” Senera, half human, half vampire, three years old, a prince and brother of Rune and Mal Senera

  * * *

  Lem Goran, vampire, Zeveriah’s uncle and father of Moss

  * * *

  Malia “Mal” Senera, vampire, a princess, intense, spoiled, and protective of her little brother, Jessa

  * * *

  Moss Goran, vampire, cousin of Zeveriah Dinallah

  * * *

  Owen, young human boy rescued by Rune

  * * *

  Protis Crinnian, vampire, artisan, and glass blower

  * * *

  Rune Senera, vampire, a prince, and future King

  * * *

  Squy, vampire, servant of the Seneras

  * * *

  Uriah, vampire, an enforcer for Qudim, and cousin of the Seneras through the Nezzarram family

  * * *

  Zeveriah “Zev” Dinallah, vampire, Rune’s best friend

  1

  On The Way Home

  Hunger ate at Rune’s gut and burned through his veins as he made his way to the open car at the front of the train. The noise of the wheels on the tracks clanged and clacked as they rattled through a tunnel of rock. He wasn’t usually claustrophobic. No reason to be. Vampires lived underground, but his hunger…

  It tore at him.

  Nerves raw, he dropped to a seat and eyed the neck of the vampire in front of him. His mouth watered at the thought of filling himself with somebody’s blood, and he dug his nails into his palms to hold himself still. What good would feeding from another vampire do? The blood would only fill his belly, not sate him. He needed a human… or my fated.

  “How long?” he rasped.

  The train operator sitting at the front of the car glanced back. “We reach Fantasia in ten minutes, Prince.”

  He nodded. They’d be home in Celestine City tomorrow, but he had to find blood soon. It had been six days, twice as long as usual.

  Some of his mother’s people had gone to the surface to hunt during his visit, but he’d stayed behind because he hadn’t trusted them not to stab him in the back and leave him there.

  Tonight though… tonight he’d feed.

  As the train slowed, he reached for the bag under his seat.

  Up ahead, a mix of gold, green, and red light suffused the tunnel and burnished the edges of a cavern. Inside this space stood the Fantasia Inn, which took its name from the iridescence of the rock that surrounded it. It sat on a small lake fed by a waterfall that glowed in the light like liquid jewels.

  After the other passengers disembarked, Rune turned to the train operator, who dipped his chin low. “I’m going to the surface. I’ll be back by morning.”

  “Yes, Prince.”

  The urge to run rushed through him like panic, but he clamped down on it.

  Lamps set in niches in the tunnel wall lit his way to the Perilyth Portal, a steep shaft that led upward through layers of rock.

  Stepping through the portal entrance, Rune climbed into one of two carts that sat side by side on a pair of tracks.

  A pulley system dragged his cart upward and deposited him a half mile from the surface. From there, he continued on foot until he strode through a grimy subway tunnel and crept out onto a hillside, following the tracks through a grove of trees and down to the lights of a city, where the rush and roar of cars on a freeway filled his ears.

  Human scents—bitter exhaust, rancid cooking oil, and reeking garbage—assaulted him. The street he was on fed into a commercial district lined with stores and cafés. He wove through the crowds and skirted tables set out on the sidewalks.

  A few stares latched onto him—drinking in the flow of his dark hair, his burning eyes, and his full lips—but he ignored them, though his gums ached and his head swam at the smells of blood swirling around him. A growl of hunger swelled in his throat, but he strolled on, dodging pedestrians and bicyclists.

  At the end of the block was an intersection beside a busy shopping center where he waited to cross over. On the other side, a long stone wall stretched along a sidewalk and the shapes of trees rose in the dark behind it. He followed the wall until he reached the entrance to the neighborhood behind it. A bronze plaque read Hidden Parks Cove.

  Parks were good. That’s what he was looking for. Someplace quiet and private. He swallowed saliva, and his legs shook. Maybe it was stupid not to have fed with his mother’s people. But…

  Would they really have led him into danger? His mother’s loyalty to him wasn’t anything he had much faith in, though he thought she loved him. Still… she was a prisoner, and his death would call
for vengeance and a war that might free her from her exile. Would she risk it? Give him up to her cause? His thoughts filled his mouth with bile, and his head swam.

  Hungry…

  Food scented the air, his food, sweet as honey.

  He quickened his steps, soon climbing a soft, grassy slope that led into thick trees. Small sounds broke the quiet, leaves crackling, a branch snapping, whispers and kisses.

  He followed the babble of water and found a path into a deeper thicket of trees. Here, the blood scent was strong, hot and sweet. He chewed his lip, hunger rising from his belly and singing in his veins.

  The path spilled from the shadows and circled a lake with a fountain in the center. Colored lights around the fountain’s base danced in the water drops, and tiny waves rippled to the shore. On the far side, houses with golden windows climbed into the hills.

  Rune followed the blood scent away from the houses. Deeper into the park, the lamps dimmed, hidden by the trees, and eerie shadows darkened the path. The pitter-patter of someone’s heart reached Rune’s ears.

  He inhaled, filling his lungs with the aroma of blood. It belonged to somebody young, rushing with every slam of the heart.

  Rune glimpsed a human male before the path curved away and picked up speed. The guy sensed him, walking faster, acrid sweat joining the sweetness of his blood on the air as his heart pounded, waking a clench in Rune’s belly and the eruption of his fangs.

  He drew closer, his eyes picking up flashes of light, movements on every side of him, the stirring of leaves and branches in the low bushes. Cars hummed in the distance, and a laugh shattered the stillness. It wasn’t near, but the human veered toward it anyway, and Rune broke into a run.

  Now the guy bolted, the thunder in his chest as loud as the breeze in the leaves. The scent of the blood surging under the human’s skin raked across Rune’s nerves like claws. He leaped as the guy swung around, clapped a hand over his mouth, and drove him off the path. As he forced the human onto the ground, he tightened his grip and whispered, “Shush.”

  Struggles erupted beneath him.

  The guy bucked and gnawed at his palm, the scrape of his teeth sparking a pleasure that raced all the way to Rune’s balls. He groaned, and the eyes below him widened. Terror flooded the irises with a ghostly light, and Rune’s excitement died.

  Despair fell over him like the weight of rock. He took blood because he was made for it. He lusted for the spill of it over his tongue, as woodsy as fern and fungus, as sweet as figs and dates, but the flavor of fear sickened him. Taking it was the part other vampires relished. But not Rune. He wanted what his father and stepmother had. The mythical romance. Fated love and true passion. But here and now, he had no choice, so he sank his fangs into the human’s neck.

  Hot sweet blood gushed into his mouth and down his throat, thawing the cold inside him. It tickled his palate, tingling, biting his sinuses like spice. He took deep, sucking swallows, and the guy beneath him sagged. Quiet moans escaped with his breath.

  A fire consumed Rune’s body now, and a part of him longed to keep drinking, to drain the guy to nothing and carry his essence inside him, but he’d barely sated his hunger when he took his last swallow. He retracted his fangs and licked the oozing holes. They would heal and disappear within seconds, only staying if he drank too much.

  Whimpers whispered in his ear, wrapping around him like a lover’s arms. He melted onto the guy’s chest until a jangling alarm shot through him and dragged him back into the still, dark night.

  He lifted his head and held his breath.

  Another of his kind was near. The vibrations fluttered against him, but there was no threat. He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against the human’s before rising and ducking deeper into the dark brush.

  Would he ever do more then take? Rune longed for passion and companionship. He longed to give. But the guy was prey, and he was a predator. And the son of a king.

  A vampire king.

  2

  Celestine City

  A few stray lights twinkled in the dark down a long stretch of tunnel. The aromas of vampire delicacies and a faint murmur of voices floated on the air.

  Rune sat up front in the roofless common car. Tomorrow, he’d make his vow of obedience to Qudim, but now he gazed down at the steel bracelet he wore. His mother, Abadi, had given it to him, stroking the rubies with her fingertips…

  “Does the design mean anything?” he’d asked.

  She’d pursed her lips, a thoughtful frown on her forehead. “I don’t think so, but rubies are the stones of power and love and will secure your throne.”

  “That’s a mighty bracelet,” he’d said with a smile.

  She had smiled back, flashing him a glimpse of her fangs. “Never take it off.”

  Her command had frozen him inside, though he wasn’t fool enough to trust her. The bracelet was beautiful, but not special. One of her birthday gifts to him. The second present was a book and the third was a fortune telling.

  Letting Abadi read for him had tickled every nerve, though he’d hidden his worry from her. He wasn’t afraid of his future, but secrets and intrigue lay under everything she did. And everything she did served her. But she was a witch of much standing among the Ellowyn, so he’d sat with her in the eating hall and watched her lay out a gold cloth, a small metal cup filled with ghost fern seeds, and pieces of spirit quartz.

  She’d taken his wrist and laid his arm on the table...

  “You get your hands from my side of the family. They project power. Your father is an interloper, you know.”

  “The Seneras have been the first family for thousands of years.”

  A flash of something that might have been love had surfaced in her eyes. “And before that the Gennarahs were first.”

  Then she had smiled, picked up a knife and slashed through his fingers. He’d jerked back and hissed.

  Some of the color had drained from her face, but her eyes glittered brighter.

  “You can take a little cut,” she’d said.

  “Nobody tells fortunes like this.”

  “Were you expecting tea leaves?”

  “I’d have preferred it.”

  She’d studied the spatter of blood on the table, eyes rising slowly. “The cycle of your life will be long, Rune. You will return to the thing you most love. What you dream of.”

  His dreams, sweaty and lonely, had been dreams of somebody he didn’t have. Of the soft small voice calling to him from somewhere far away.

  Then she’d said, “Your lover,” and he’d stiffened as she’d laughed at his shock. “Your secret is not so secret, my sweet one, and it doesn’t matter. He isn’t for you.”

  Rune had assumed he was to marry a woman one day and pass his kingdom to a son, but he’d said, “I love him.”

  Her dark eyes had probed his. Her wry smile had remained, but for a moment, she’d appeared almost tender. “He is not your fated.”

  No. Much as Rune loved him, he was not.

  Now, as the train slowed, he pushed his thoughts away, picked up his bag, and half fell off his seat at the lurch of the earth. The ground shook, and the train rattled back-and-forth. He dropped his bag and grabbed the rail in front of him. A passenger behind him gasped, and another muttered, “Oh, shit.”

  A loud rumble vibrated through the tunnel before something cracked above Rune’s head. A hand grabbed his shirt and yanked him sideways off his seat before a large rock smashed into the spot where he’d just been sitting.

  “Oh, my god,” he said.

  “Humans,” commented the vampire holding on to him.

  When the ground settled, Rune stepped away. “It almost hit me.”

  His voice was strangely flat, but inside, his heart drummed like the wheels of the train on the tracks. He’d turned eighteen only two days ago, and now his death was an echo of terror inside him. Was this the panic that had surged through the guy in the park?

  His stomach rolled, and he gritted his teeth.

&nbs
p; The vampire patted his shoulder. “A little too close, yeah?”

  “These quakes come all the time now,” said another vampire.

  “It’s the humans,” said the first one. “I heard from my family. They live on the surface, and they know these people.”

  “There’s no proof of that,” said Rune. “We’ve always had earthquakes.”

  The vampire laughed. “A rock on the head is pretty good proof. But you, Prince, have a good heart.”

  Rune smiled and picked up his bag.

  The train, which had picked up speed again, now slowed to a crawl. Up ahead, the tunnel opened onto a massive space, and Celestine City emerged from the rock out of which it was carved.

  Lights glittered from the ceiling and walls and buildings. People crowded the streets, children danced, and music played.