“A truth for a truth then, mistress,” he murmured, tugging me against him, my body pushing flush into his. “If we survive this, I don’t want to be released. I want you. I want to hunt beside you. To mark you. I want your demons to dance with mine. I want to see what my blades look like as they trace over your skin, as my blood paints you and mixes with yours. I want to watch you kill and see if I’m strong enough to resist my desires for vengeance against you. I want to fuck you while we’re both stained with blood and wearing each other’s madness torn into our skin. I want to see which of us is more powerful in the end, even if it means we end up destroying each other in the process.” His words ended in a whisper as his mouth claimed mine, our hands clutching each other as if we were attempting to pour everything into this final meeting of lips.
A throat cleared beside us, forcing us to pull apart. Crowe’s eyes were sadly resigned, and Draven’s seemed almost jealous as he watched us embrace. “It’s time.” Crowe’s voice was solemn. We nodded in response. Sebastian turned me in his arms, pressing my back against his chest as he handed over the incantation we had translated. Crowe and Draven hugged quickly, their faces buried in each other’s necks, their arms wrapped tightly around one another in their own goodbye. It was as clear to them as it was to us that the chances of this working, of the magic they had wrought not tearing us to pieces, was almost nothing. We were running on wishes and luck, something none of us were counting on. We were realists, creatures of blood, death, and pain, and it was time for us to confront what was coming with our heads held high. They moved around the circle until they faced each other, and with a snap of their fingers, flames burst to life on the candles placed in the salt circle.
“I’ll find you beyond the veil, mistress,” Sebastian whispered in my ear, his hands stroking down the silver silk of my dress, molding it to my body as he pressed me against him, not allowing even an inch of space between us.
“Farewell, pet,” I murmured in reply, letting myself soak up his warmth, his scent, the feel of his body against mine, the taste of him that remained on my lips. Humans believed in a life after this one, a veil separating our worlds from each other. Vampires did not have any such beliefs. We believed our lives should be lived to the fullest while our souls resided inside us, every moment, every need, every desire answered as we had them, because when the life left our bodies, no peace would be waiting for us, no rest or respite or even torture awaited our soul, we simply ceased to be—cold, alone, and forgotten as we avoided being in life.
Crowe and Draven crackled with power, the air filling with energy as my hair was lifted away from my neck, reacting to the static that permeated the room. Their eyes glowed crimson, and lightning licked across their skin to sear marks into the floor, the ceiling, and the walls as they pushed their power to the limits. The pair tilted their heads to the sky, closing their eyes to begin their chant, their voices echoing with a power that bit at my skin, calling to the blood within me and making it roll in waves. The room around us trembled, the flames on the candles extending up past the twins’ outstretched hands as the words of the incantation tore from their throats.
Earth, air, water, fire, we call to that which we desire.
Through time, through space, this soul he stole we now will trace.
A vampire’s corrupted spell, harken to our blood-fueled knell.
With herb, with blood, with stone, with flame, we seek the place that has no name.
Release his binds, return his soul, wipe clean his pain and make him whole.
Return that which is ours by right, his blood demands him back this night.
His blood, his name, the final key, as we will it, so mote it be.
Their eyes snapped open, glowing so brightly they burned, before locking together. “Bran Hawthorne McCalmont!” Crowe and Draven called their brother’s name as the wind screamed around them. Pain blasted through me in a wave of agony, and my tortured shrieks joined theirs in a horrifying symphony. Blood boiled in my veins before dripping from my ears, nose, mouth, and eyes to stain my body and my clothes. My skin shredded into a million tiny cuts and burns that turned each abused piece into ash. Behind me, I could hear Sebastian’s answering bellow, could feel the moisture as blood or tears or a combination of both soaked my hair, shoulders, and hands as we writhed together, the throes of torment racking through us as our blood rebelled. Even Sebastian’s blood against my skin wasn’t enough to heal whatever had gone wrong with the spell, and I knew from the screams reaching my ears that Draven’s and Crowe’s lives were burning out along with ours. I squeezed Sebastian’s hands tightly in mine, a final goodbye for my precious pet. The candles extinguished themselves, and silence blanketed me until not even my own screams remained for me to hear, leaving only darkness and agony.
Epilogue
Elsie
I couldn’t decide whether humans or vampires were closer to the truth about what was waiting after death. There was darkness, silence, pain, and cold, but I still existed to feel them. It seemed that both of our species were right and wrong. Sebastian, my gorgeous, wicked demon would have approved of that, I was sure. I groaned into the silence, the sound echoing around me. So there was sound here too? And thought? Another groan rippled through my consciousness, but it hadn’t come from me. Not death, I realized, as the thrum inside me grew stronger as my heart beat inside my chest, tapping out an agonizing tattoo.
Sebastian. Crowe. Draven.
At least one of them was alive, I’d heard them. I tried to remember how to open my eyes , to force my body to move, but I was trapped, buried in this darkness and pain. Maybe it was hell, after all, to have them right outside of this shell, but never knowing which of them had managed to survive. Agony ripped through me as something shifted and light illuminated my eyelids, trying to force its way in to sear my eyes from their sockets. Another wave of pain, another movement, another groan as my exhausted and muddled mind attempted to process everything at once.
Someone was on top of me, blocking the light and forcing my body against the icy ground I lay on. I forced my eyes open, a whimper leaving my lips at the red tinged light that greeted me. I blinked away the blood in my eyes, letting them clear as I attempted to see around me. A large, tan hand rested on the floor beside me, speckled and streaked with scarlet in a macabre painting. I forced my own hand forward, swallowing the scream that wanted to rip from my mangled throat, and brushed my fingers across his. Warmth. He was alive. I forced myself to move, to submit to the pain until I could work with it rather than shy away from it. I slipped from underneath a body, and my hand sank into soft, golden brown strands.
Sebastian. Blood stained his throat and face, and hunger clawed at my stomach, but I swallowed against it, corralling the need to taste him, to feed until this pain was assuaged, chaining it away as I stroked a hand down his back. “Sebastian.” His name was a raw croak against my abused throat, barely more than a whisper of sound. “Sebastian.” I tried again. “Open your eyes, pet.” My voice cleared with every word I spoke, and I tapped his face, his neck, feeling the steady beat of his heart against my hand that assured me he was alive. I heard groans behind me, the sounds mingling together, and my pulse sped up. Crowe and Draven were both alive. We had another chance to do this right. Even as my body rebelled at the thought, I pushed Sebastian’s body, rolling him to the side until a moan left his lips and his eyelids began to flutter. Brilliant blue eyes, still blurred by pain and confusion, met mine.
“I told you I’d find you in the veil.” I read the words on his lips as he reached up to press a hand to my face.
“You’re still alive, pet. It’s why it hurts.”
He blinked slowly, taking a moment to process my words. “We’ve got to try again.” His voice was as rough as my own, but the fire was already returning to his eyes, my demon ready to fight at my side. I leaned down, pressing my lips to his in a frenzied kiss, tasting the blood that still coated his mouth, relishing in the pain as he moaned, as desperate for
the connection as I was.
“Bloody fucking hell,” one of the twins snarled, and I nearly laughed against Sebastian’s lips at the curse. It had to be Draven, I decided, even if I hadn’t heard the phrase on his lips before. I wasn’t willing to release my pet yet to turn and check on them, but if they were cursing and moaning they had to at least be functional. We’d try again, and this time we’d do it right. “You lot say I’m the reckless one. Who the hell fucked that ritual all to shit?”
Sebastian’s eyes widened and I whirled, my body screaming at the sudden motion as I took in the man standing in the center of the circle, swiping at the blood that marred his skin, the silver blade clutched casually in his hand as if it was an extension of himself. Dark brown hair hung in a sweeping curtain to his waist, and as he turned, a flash of silver was visible in his eyebrow. Draven and Crowe gaped up at their brother, shock, awe, and joy warring with the pain in their bodies as they struggled first to their knees, then to their feet. With a ragged cry, they swept each other into a hug, rocking side to side as they reunited. I shifted to the side, lifting Sebastian so I could cradle him in my lap as I kept the three brothers in my line of sight while stroking a hand down my pet’s face. My room was blown to smithereens around us, every piece of furniture demolished, every surface ruined with jagged holes or splattered in a gory display of blood, but none of them seemed to care as they clutched each other tightly, heedless of the pain I knew had to be racking their bodies.
“Hello, little warrior. I hope these boys have told you about me.” The man who could only be Bran looked down at me as his brothers moved to stand beside him, forming a bloody wall beside their returned triplet. His eyes gleamed red and lightning crackled across his bloodstained skin as he stroked his dagger in the same idle habit Draven had. His eyes were bright, and I could see a monster inside of him, a violent, insane form hidden just beyond his pretty face and teasing words. His head cocked to the side, that dark waterfall of hair flopping forward as he flashed a pair of pure white fangs in a brilliant, guileless smile. “Esmeralda won’t be happy you helped to release me, you know,” he said conversationally, his tongue stroking across the tip of his fang and drawing a drop of blood that glistened there before he licked it away. “Your sister’s a bit of a bitch like that.”
Author’s Note
I know, I know, I know… That was mean. I’m sorry! Bran insisted on crashing this party and introducing himself in the most dramatic way he could think of before this book ended—he’d missed his brothers too much to wait any longer.
Thank you so much for reading Reign of Nightmares and I truly hoped you enjoyed my first dark novel. None of this would be possible without you.
It would mean the world if you would take a moment to rate the book or leave a review for it as your reviews can make all the difference for an author.
Elsie, Sebastian, Draven, Crow, and Bran are all anxious to find answers, spill more blood, and start investigating these feelings they don’t want to have but can’t deny.
Book Two of Blood Throne is titled Reign of Misery and it will be releasing soon—I promise. Join my Facebook group Arthurs’ Assembly for more updates!
Quinn xo
About the Author
Quinn Arthurs is an international best-selling author of reverse harem books. She drinks far too much caffeine and is a complete nerd, jumping from one crazy fandom to another. She believes that words hold a magic inside of them, which is why her stories tend to involve the paranormal; so she can bring the crazy worlds in her head to life, even if just for a short while.
Also by Quinn Arthurs
Phoenix Rising (Complete Paranormal Series)
Born of Embers
Hidden in Smoke
Spark of Intent
Forged in Flames
Blaze of Wrath
Changed by Fire
Beauty in Ashes
Glimmer of Cinders (Companion POV Novella)
Lupine Hollow Academy (Complete Paranormal Series)
Flower Moon Rising
Strawberry Moon Climbing
Thunder Moon Ascending
Jeweled Wings (Complete Fantasy Series)
The Valkyrie’s Princes
The Valkyries’ Queen
The Faerie Wars (Complete Fantasy Series)
The Guardian
The Fae Witch
The DeWitt Sisters Series
Sliding Into Love
Reign of Nightmares (Blood Throne Book 1) Page 21