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8__Home invasion

Maia gaped at him in utter shock, her mouth parted at the words he had just uttered.

Rogan let his mouth curve, satisfied by her reaction. That’s right. He was one of the biggest bastards to have ever walked the earth and it was best she knew that now. Before she pushed him too far.

Maia closed her mouth, swallowing to moisten her dry throat. No, she couldn’t show fear. No matter what, she had to pretend that she wasn’t at all terrified out of her mind right now. Drawing in a breath, she leaned over to look at his face as Rogan turned away from her.

“How… does it taste?”

Rogan paused. Slowly, he turned his head to face her, brow raised. Maia raised her own brows as she waited for his reply.

She tilted her head, pushing her lips out. “Well? Taste good? It’s got to taste good for you to crave it, doesn’t it?”

Rogan blinked. “I just told you that I drank a human’s blood. More than one actually. Well, drinking it isn’t a big deal, but by drinking their blood, I mean I killed them both.” Maia flinched and Rogan nodded. “That’s right. The second one was sheet white when I was done. Sucked her dry.”

She stared at him, trying to very discreetly hide the trembling of her hands. He’d… killed two?? “You…” Maia started. “…didn’t really answer my question about… if it… tastes—”

“Are you crazy?!” Rogan suddenly asked, pointing a finger at his head. “You should be screaming in horror, praying I won’t rip you to shreds and you’re asking me what? How it tastes?”

Her heart had leaped up and was now stuck somewhere in her throat so Maia found it difficult to breathe and talk. Dear God, would she survive being in this place? Gulping her heart back down, she lifted her shoulder in a shrug. “Well…” she began carefully. “It’s blood… and you are a Vampire. That’s your weakness, isn’t it? That’s what I heard.”

Rogan stilled, looking at her. She’d spoken the words so quietly, innocently and yet his insides roared up at them, hating the words with all he had. A Vampire. He was a Vampire, wasn’t he? Damn Darrius's genes within him.

Maia studied his troubled expression and puckered her lips in thought. “But,” she started. Rogan looked at her. “Why?”

“Why what?” he demanded.

“Why did you kill those two humans?” Maia looked at the ceiling as she thought it over. “I thought about it and if you’re struggling with the consequences of having human blood that makes human blood like a drug for you, which means it’s not good for you. You’re an adult, I’m sure you know what’s good and bad for you. So why did you do it?”

Rogan was struck silent at her questions. She dissected the matter with such perfect logic, it annoyed him.

“I killed them because I wanted to,” he told her simply. “I’m. Mother. Fucking. Evil.”

Silence followed his words during which Maia stared at him, her face void of expression, but her eyes filled with unmistakable curiosity. Her brows came together. Why did he sound like he was trying very hard to convince her that he was evil?

A ringing suddenly filled the house, the sound echoing through the silence.

Embracing the distraction, Rogan turned for the front entrance. “Wait here.”

He stalked through the front hall, reaching his front doors and thoughtlessly ripping them open.

Aiden grinned. “Hey, best friend.”

Rogan slammed the doors closed.

Stiffly, he stood with his hands against the closed doors as he looked over his shoulder in alarm. Maia was here.

“Hey!” Aiden yelled through the door. “Come on, you’re hurting my feelings! How do you close the door on the King of this Kingdom?”

Rogan made a sound of frustration. “Go away, Aiden!”

“No! You’ve been avoiding me and you’re killing my love for you, Rogan!”

Rolling his eyes, Rogan pushed a shoulder against the door. Aiden couldn’t see Rag-skins. She was not one of his subjects and Rogan bringing her into Geminor without Aiden’s consent gave the King the right to toss her out of his Kingdom. He had that right either way. Any other day, Rogan would be confident that Aiden wouldn’t do it, but with Maia, he knew the moment he learnt what Rogan was using her for, he’d kick her far away from Geminor to ensure Rogan never got those plants.

“Fuck,” Rogan muttered, a deep frown etched onto his face.

Aiden gasped as he was suddenly struck with enlightenment. “Oh, my Gemini!” he yelled. “You’ve got a woman in there, don’t you?! You scheming little…”

“No, I don’t!” Rogan denied with a snarl. “Don’t you have a Kingdom to run?!”

Aiden put his hands on his hips and smiled. “But, I mean, what’s so scandalous about having a lover? Let me in, you bastard, I wanna say hi!”

Rogan bit his lip. Aiden was so infuriating sometimes, Rogan wanted to summon a thunderbolt to strike him. It was only further infuriating that the thunderbolt would probably only strengthen Aiden since he had a Gemini soul of fire.

“Go away, Aiden! You’re not coming in! I’ll come see you at the castle—”

A sudden shove had Rogan struggling to keep the door closed. “Hey!” he barked. “Break my door and I’ll burn down your greenhouse, Aiden!” Another shove and the door cracked open, held back by Rogan’s hands. “You bastard!”

Aiden poked his head in, grinning like an evil goblin as he tried to push the door open wider. “Why’re you being so shy, best friend?” he snickered, his silver eyes filled with little flames of excitement. “What? Is it not a woman? You got a man in here?”

Rogan glared. “Fuck you, lighter boy!”

With a grunt and a burst of flames from his hands, Aiden shoved open the door, strutting in breathlessly. “Whoo! That was hard. You been working out?”

Rogan caught himself before he fell and glared darkly at Aiden. “You’re fucking annoying, I should just rip your throat out.”

Aiden nodded, looking around with suspicion. “Yeah, love you too.”

He turned in the direction of the kitchen before Rogan could stop him and hurried off to inspect.

“Aiden!” Rogan snapped, frustrated to the point of losing hair. He snatched off his shades in annoyance. You know what? To hell with it. He’d just leave the kingdom with Rag-skins.

He wasn’t here by choice anyway, Aiden begged him to stay because Geminor didn’t have a sorcerer or enchanter who could heal like Rogan could. They basically needed a doctor, since theirs ditched them long ago. Said doctor who ditched them was the same person that Aiden said could get Rogan the stuff he needed for his spell. In order to wait for this person who could help him out, Rogan had agreed to stay in Geminor.

That had been fifteen years ago.

“Where’s your lover?” Aiden asked from the kitchen.

Rogan paused. She wasn’t in there?

Hopeful, he slowly went to the kitchen where Aiden was looking at his potions. Rogan looked around.

Empty. Where did she go?


Maia sat behind the closed doors of what looked like Rogan’s chambers, trying to silence her breath. She hadn’t meant to go into his bedroom, but being an illegal alien in a foreign Kingdom kind of gave her few choices of hiding places.

If the king found her, who knew what he’d do. Maia hadn’t gotten get the impression that he would welcome her with open arms when the women and the Sorcerer had spoken of it last night.

She tucked her hands under her chin and shrunk against the door, for the first time, feeling a sense of fear since she came to this kingdom. Well, she didn’t expect them to welcome her. She wasn’t one of them.

There was a reason Maia preferred to live in the forest. Until she was abducted by the Zoars and made a slave in their tribe, the forest was home. It was peaceful and it was hers. The animals there were far friendlier than the people in these kingdoms.

Maia had learnt that the hard way.

Swallowing her sadness, she sighed and raised her gaze across to the other side of the vast room.

She saw it then.

Maia went very still, her heart seizing in her chest as she stared. A very slow thump slammed in her chest before her heart really took off, pounding.

The thing didn’t move.

Well… not the thing.

The face.

It was utterly still, its eyes staring right back at her.

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