Redemption: My Vampire Lover Part #2 (A Dark Realm Novella Series) (10 page)

“No, she has said the words, but I have not.
What if I can’t protect her? I didn’t protect her family. They are
dead because of me. I did nothing. I looked away. I don’t deserve
Caroline’s love. I know that, but I want her safe. I’ll give my
life if I have to.”

Mother pressed her index and middle fingers
to her lips. Her light blue eyes darted about as she thought. Then
she heaved a great sigh. “Hush that silly talk, my son. You act
like you don’t deserve happiness. Sweetheart, we all deserve
happiness if our hearts are pure. Just because you are the child of
a demon does not mean you should deny yourself love, not the kind
of love your father and I had, but the kind of love that is real.
True love. You must seek it out always and if you have already
found it, then you must hold on to it and never let it go. I can
tell by the look in your eyes, Raphael. You have found it. I’m not
going to let that shit of a father of yours rob you of it. Remember
you are the son of a goddess, not the son of a demon. Stop letting
him control you. Those burdens you hold on to. Set them down. Great
things are in store for you, my divine warrior.” She chuckled
softly which was a laugh of hers I loved to hear. It was a quiet
sound that lodged in the back of her throat when she knew she
risked all by vocalizing a response in front of my father or one of
his brothers, but she did it just the same. The sweetest of
threats.

My heart soared. Perhaps Caroline and I did
have a chance. She patted me on the hand, as I had done to hear
previously, almost in a mocking manner. Perhaps it contained
motherly love with the advice only a caring parent could give, but
her tone reminded me of the elite air of a god, something she
probably already possessed and it made me immediately understand
that I did not completely know this side of my mother. This old
woman before me was a source of unknown power like all the
celestial goddesses.

“Amore. I couldn’t wish anything more for
you, my son. I’m so pleased. You’ve done very well, Raphael,” my
mother mused.

Once we made it to the sands of the beach,
she paused for a moment as she looked at her feet. “I miss the
beach,” she muttered. “It’s been too long.”

I stood by, collecting my thoughts as my
mother danced about in the sand. The moonlight rays reflected the
gems lined in her dress and she sparkled amid the night. Visions of
her past beauty haunted me. A savage desire to kill my father rose
up in me again.

My mother reached out and took my hand in
hers. “Raphael, my son, you must move on.”

“I’m sorry? What do you mean?”

“You can’t keep hating your father. He’s
angered the gods. He will pay. I have it on good authority. You
will have your revenge, but it will not be by your hand.”

Throwing my head back in a roar of laughter,
I let my voice reach to the heavens and then listened as the echo
returned to us from across the water. Finally I asked my mother in
a low, thunderous voice, “I’ll stop hating him when he’s dead and
gone. What do you mean I will not have revenge? He will pay for
what he has done to you, what he’s done to us. He will pay.” I
clenched my fists over and over, glaring down at her, forgetting
the small creature in front of me had given birth to me, not as a
man, but as a vampire.

I felt a soft and familiar warm touch on my
elbow. Caroline.

“Raphael,” she whispered.

I recovered and, like a statue, I introduced
the women, getting the distinct impression they already knew one
another.

“Let us sit down.” Caroline motioned for me
to escort my mother to the wooden bench under the palm trees.
Gently Caroline touched my arm and my angry mood lifted. “Who will
have revenge on the demon of the Dark realm, Moon Goddess?” She
uttered, directing her question to my mother after the ladies had
settled on the bench and I stood nearby. The moon bathed us all in
its light.

When my mother answered her, I nearly fell to
my feet.

“You know the answer to that, Caroline,” she
began. “You’ve already tasted Asmodeus’ blood. It flows in my son’s
veins. And you have tasted Raphael’s blood, have you not?”

Caroline nodded.

“Then you know the rest. I can inform you
that you will be allowed to seek revenge for the deaths of your
family members. There are more than just your aunt and brother
unfortunately. If you are strong enough, my dear, then you will
have your revenge.”

I watched stunned as Caroline faced my
mother, the Moon Goddess, her angelic features almost turning to
stone. Fear suddenly took hold of Caroline. The color drained from
her tanned face.

“No, Mother. You can’t do this. I’ll go. I’ll
go instead,” I argued.

“I see love has found you as well, my dear.”
She motioned to Caroline, reached out, and wiped her face. Caroline
was crying. I knelt by her and gathered her hands in mine. “I won’t
let you go back. I’ll go instead. Mother, Caroline is not going
back. You can’t do this!”

“Raphael?” My mother addressed me as Caroline
looked at me.

Suddenly Caroline’s face was gloriously
radiant and refreshed in the moonlight as if my mother’s touch had
taken away all her discomfort. Her eyes glowed with a new life, a
new fire.

I struggled to fully understand the events
unfolding before me. My own fear and anger threatened to consume
me. The earlier conversation with my father hit me square in the
face. His words flew through my head and I realized their full
impact. I realized Caroline’s secret, even unknown to her possibly.
If she’s a Livonian werewolf, Father, that means she’s bound to
the Moon Goddess and she’s a threat to us. Do you really want the
Moon Goddess showing up and blasting us to Kingdom Come or exiling
us to the Land of Intolerables?

My mother’s voice turned my blood cold. “My
dear husband, Asmodeus has invited a Livonian wolf into his realm
and by Zeus’ law he must face the consequences. If Caroline finds
her courage, you both will have your day of reckoning, Raphael. No
force can stop a Livonian wolf in its true werewolf form. And you
have seen only a glimpse of this jewel’s real Wolfen magic. Heaven
help your father and his brothers.”

Caroline squeezed my hand and brought me back
to my senses. Her amber eyes glowed and she smiled at me with an
expression of confidence and defiance that I wanted to claim as my
very own. But didn’t she understand? The Dark realm was not like
going to a garden party.

“We’ll face challenges you can’t begin to
imagine. Do you understand that, my love?”

The moment I said ‘my love’ her face changed.
Tears brimmed in her eyes and spilled forth. She chewed on her
bottom lip and looked back with a questioning glance at my mother,
the Moon Goddess.

Orlando’s words filtered into my head and I
found my courage again, the real courage to take back my life
instead of going through the motions as I had done for so long.
Going into battle is scary enough. Knowing you’re not going in
alone, that’s key to victory.

“I want you with me, Caroline,” I announced.
“Not just now, but forever. If we don’t survive the wrath of my
father and his brothers, I want to do this now.”

My mother and Caroline both eased in and
looked at me intently. I had their attention.

I bent down into the sand on my left knee. I
held my right hand to Caroline.

She took my hand.

“Caroline, with the Moon Goddess as my
witness, will you be my bride?”

Seeing Caroline’s emphatic nods as new tears
of happiness streamed down her face and hearing my mother’s screams
of delight as she danced around the palm trees like she was
twenty-nine-years old reminded me of the one thing I had been
searching my entire existence to find, that of a soul-mate, a
partner, someone to share every moment of my life with, good or
bad. And here she was, the woman who had inflamed my undead vampire
heart, my werewolf bride who would help me rain Holy Hell down upon
my father, the dark lord Asmodeus, the asshole.

###

Coming Soon

Caroline and Raphael’s story continues in
Day of Reckoning: My Vampire Lover Part #3
.

Fanged to English Translations

The
following are English translations for any words spoken in the
language of the Fanged world which is very similar to modern day
Italian. Each is organized by chapter.

Chapter 1 – Raphael’s Unexpected
Delivery

Una bellezza come nessun altro. Così
bella. Calmati. Calmatevi, mio dolce. Io non ho intenzione di
permettere a nessuno di farti del male.
= A beauty like no
other. So beautiful. Calm yourself. Calm yourself, my sweet. I’m
not going to let anyone hurt you.

Chapter 3 – Raphael’s Offer

Con la luna e le stelle, deve essere così
testardo mia bellezza? Cosa c'è di qualche goccia di sangue tra
amici. Siamo amici. Non siamo?
= By the moon and stars, must
you be so stubborn, my beauty? What's a few drops of blood among
friends? We are friends. Are we not?

Chapter 4 – Caroline’s New Sense and
Sensibility

Riesci a capirmi?
= Can you understand
me?

Sì, posso capire.
= Yes, I can
understand you.

Dimmi di nuovo nella tua lingua. Sei un
lupo mannaro o no?
= Tell me again in your language. Are you a
werewolf or not?

Mia bella lupo
. = My lovely wolf.

Chapter 5 – Raphael’s Declaration

Al di là, al di là, la dea della Luna,
fatemelo sapere di mia madre.
= To the beyond, to the beyond,
Moon goddess, bring me word of my mother.

###

My Vampire Lover series by Victoria Embers
includes:

• Conquest (My Vampire Lover Part #1)
  

• Redemption (My Vampire Lover Part #2)
  

• Day of Reckoning (My Vampire Lover Part #3) –
  Coming Soon
  

Conquest (My Vampire Lover Part #1)

Caroline, a werewolf and princess of the
Golden realm, has discovered a new love in her vampire captor.
She’s willing to risk everything, even her life, to prove to him
she loves him and has forsaken all others including her family and
her pack.

Redemption (My Vampire Lover Part #2)

Before Caroline, the werewolf princess, fell
for her vampire lover, Raphael, she met him in the Dark realm under
difficult circumstances. Raphael's father, the dark lord Asmodeus
is killing off her family and presents Caroline as a pet to
Raphael. Caroline has secrets of her own and wonders if the vampire
willing to help her escape an enemy or friend? Realizing he must
take action, Raphael works quickly to persuade the werewolf beauty
who has claimed his heart to leave with him at once if he has a
chance of setting her free.

Day of Reckoning (My Vampire Lover Part
#3) –
Coming Soon

Caroline has been granted permission by the
Moon Goddess to seek revenge on Raphael's father, Lord Asmodeus.
But Raphael is not about to let his werewolf beauty he loves return
to the Dark realm without him. Both must assume certain roles while
they plot their actions and protect one another from the dangers
awaiting them as their love blossoms in the most unlikely of
places.

***

About the Author

Victoria
Embers is a stay-at-home mom who believes good romance should make
you purr while good steamy romance should make you scream, but in a
good way of course. She loves embracing her obsession for vampires
and werewolves and the naughty situations they find themselves in
by writing steamy hot romances with a blend of paranormal romance,
fantasy and erotica.

Contact Victoria Embers

Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/victoria.embers

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https://twitter.com/victoriaembers

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