Vampire's Promise (Book 8)

Gwen, a battle-hardened guardian, is left feeling out of place and solitary in a world at peace. Her fellow guardians have all found companionship, while she craves the adrenaline of battle and the taste of blood. Her only solace lies in her role as a bouncer at Roxie's bar. However, her life takes an unexpected turn when her visions reveal something she believed to be impossible.

Kian, a young man struggling to unravel his true identity, is haunted by doubts about his lineage. His mother, the Goddess of Destruction, has woven a web of lies around him. Whispers about his enigmatic father drive him to seek the truth. As he steps into a different realm, he uncovers a web of deceit. Yet, before he can uncover the mystery of his origins, he is unjustly imprisoned by Khedeus, the demigod, solely for the "crime" of his birth.

Fate intervenes to bring Gwen and Kian together, despite the demigod's initial wariness and distrust. To him, Gwen may be just another falsehood, but Gwen senses an unbreakable bond between them from the moment they meet. As the world teeters on the brink of peril once again, this battle is not Gwen's alone to fight. To save her beloved mate, she must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in a tale of destiny, deception, and sacrifice.

Gwen eyed the crowd from a stool at the corner of the bar. Roxie’s was jam-packed and every bead of sweat and obnoxious perfume filtered her way, causing her eyes to burn. She needed to dial down her acute senses in order to make it through the evening. As she scanned for trouble, she made a mental note of every non-human in the place. Now that things in the world had finally calmed down, everyone was letting loose. The demigod Lowan––whose ego was befitting of the grandson of Hades––and his minions had created Hell in the mortal realm, and it had been all the guardians could do to fight the evil and protect humanity. Still, many had perished, but thankfully Lowan was now nothing more than dust, his soul in a special prison deep in the underworld where Hades could exact vengeance for eternity. Humanity deserved this time to relax, but without a war to fight, Gwen found herself in a genuine struggle. Especially since many of her brethren––her brother included––had found their mates. Marcus and Cassie had been the first to bear a child and Gwen’s niece was now a very grown up six years old. Seth mated a goddess and their daughter Hannah was now three. While she was ecstatic her friends and family had grown, there was a part of her that felt broken. So, to alleviate her boredom and help keep her mind on other things, she had taken on the job as a bouncer during the weekends. Now that humans were used to mingling with immortals, it sometimes led to them getting into deep shit. Give a mortal several drinks and they became both brave and stupid at the same time. Case in point, the male currently hitting on a dragon’s mate. 

“Jesus, didn’t these people learn anything from the past?” she muttered under her breath. One would think after the devastation they witnessed during Lowan’s reign, it would have been enough to have them giving immortals a wide berth. Focusing on the human male who was about to have his soul handed to him by a dragon shifter, Gwen rose from her stool, smoothed her hands down her black leather pants and checked the blades strapped to each thigh. With a sigh, she strode toward the stupid males, prepared to knock some skulls together. Stopping in front of the swaying human, she arched a brow.

“Don’t you know dragons are not to be fucked with? Ever. Rule number one in the immortal handbook.” Seriously. The guardians had handed out said handbooks themselves that identified immortals and included a what-not-to-do list.

Mr. Idiot focused glassy eyes on her, then grinned. “I used it for fire starter.”

She rolled her eyes. He truly was an idiot. “Not a very bright thing to do.”

“You should mind your place little thing.”

Oh he had not just gone there. Fuck diplomacy. She dropped her fangs and stared straight into his bloodshot eyes. “Don’t fuck with me tonight or the dragon here will be the least of your worries.”

He stared at her fangs, his mouth unhinged. She rolled her fingers and shoved her hands on her hips, focusing on the shifter. “You know, he didn’t really mean to insult you. Let it go or you will be cleaning up the mess.”

“It might be worth it to teach these humans a lesson,” the shifter growled.

Stubborn-ass males. She looked between the two and contemplated her next move. Part of her wanted to walk away and let these two hash things out. But the human would be dead in a matter of seconds and even though she thought him a complete ass, her job was to protect humanity. The simple thing to do would be to use compulsion on the human and send him on his way. She focused on him again and slipped into his mind. Ick. It was a drunken mess inside his brain, but she shoved past his obsession with her biting him while she fucked him. Seriously? With all the alcohol, I doubt the thing between your legs actually works right now. She hurried and sent a compulsion for him to call a friend and get a ride home where he would crash until he was sober. The man nodded and walked away from them, so she placed her focus back on the dragon.

“Let it go.”

“You probably just saved his life,” he grumbled.

“I’m sure I did.”

His mate slid in next to him, placing her hand on his chest. “We should go.” She moved her gaze to Gwen. “Thank you for stepping in.”

She nodded. “Just doing my job.” She watched them walk away, jealousy causing a sharp pain in her chest. What would it be like to have someone to go home to instead of her empty apartment? Most of her brethren had moved back to Vandeldor, a realm the guardians and dragons had occupied until the war with Lowan had destroyed it. When their king, Aidyn, had resurrected as the Phoenix god, he had rebuilt their home with the help of his daughter. Gwen had tried to move back into her old home but found it difficult to stay there for more than a few days at a time, so she lived in the human realm. The thought of watching her closest friends with their mates and children tore at her. She was happy for all of them, but the loneliness left her hollow. She didn’t want to feel this way, but it was hard to escape. Especially after the let down with Chaval. They had been friends for many years, and she had a terrible crush on the Sumari warrior. Had even thought he might be her mate, but after the war with Lowan the two had met up and Chaval had referred to his feelings for her as those of a brother. The last of her resolve had shattered, and she came back to New Orleans with her tail between her legs and her heart in tatters. She looked to mortal men for comfort, but they were afraid of her or she was nothing more than a challenge for them to brag about. She had given up. Figured she must have angered the gods at some point and a mate would not be in her future. 

Walking back to the bar, she once again shrugged off her desires. She didn’t need a man. What she really needed was a good fight. Scanning the large room, she spotted two valkyrie at a booth. One of them eyed Gwen as she grabbed a male walking by and dragged him into the booth with her. While he looked more shocked than uncomfortable, it was still Gwen’s job to make certain he wasn’t being detained against his will. Lifting her chin, she headed for the fight she was looking to have.

* * *

Gathering his power, Kian opened a window that allowed him to peek into this curious world the goddess of truth had told him about. She had told him it was one where mortals lived, and they were ruled by gods that no longer lived here in Edala. The goddess of truth, Ardea, had pulled him aside late one evening and regaled him with a story that was too bizarre to believe. She had gone on to explain how he needed to locate the god of vision, Argathos. When he’d asked why, she had answered.

“Because he is your father.” She then glanced at the long empty temple on the hill and told him how Argathos and his three brothers had fled this world and started new lives elsewhere, and while it wasn’t her story to tell why they left, Kian needed to seek the truth. 

“Your father believes you are dead,” she had whispered.

Her words had left him stunned, and for a moment he wondered if that was the reason his mother refused to speak of his father except to call him a lying bastard. Netasis, the goddess of destruction, had ordered Kian to never ask of his father again. When he pressed Ardea further, she had told him the god who sired him had no clue he was alive, which at first seemed unimaginable until it was explained that Kian’s real mother was killed before he was born. The goddess said that his true mother had been mortal and murdered while he was still in the womb. Whoever her assailant had been had likely used magic to switch him with another infant. Ardea did not know who or why, and he would have questioned the validity of her story, but the goddess could not lie. The story explained why he was different from his mother. He held none of her destructive tendencies and when he questioned her about the matter, she simply replied he would one day come into his power. He was fucking one hundred thousand years old. That day had come and gone. What he seemed to have was some abilities to see the future, which now made more sense considering who his father was.

That conversation with Ardea was why he now stared into a new world he hadn’t known existed. Somewhere out there, he would find answers to questions he didn’t even know he had. Had his mother… Netasis––he must remember the goddess wasn’t his birth mother even though she had raised him and had been there his entire life. Had she been involved in his mortal mother’s murder? Was that the reason the goddess of destruction considered mortals useless creatures that were well beneath her time and energy and had told him as much for the last fifty thousand years? She had always kept him close to her and on a short leash and seemed to control every aspect of his life. For now, he couldn’t bring himself to think how she might have played a role in his life’s events.

Focusing on the mortal world, he experienced a tug that had him wanting to leave this very moment. Was it his father he felt? Now wasn’t the time to make his trip, so he snapped the portal shut, confident in the plan he had in place. A plan where he would wait until the goddess of destruction headed out into the galaxy to create her havoc, and then he would make his move.

“Kian?”

He turned and met Diara’s questioning gaze. The goddess of deception was the female his mother insisted would make a suitable match. There was only one––well maybe more than one––problem. He didn’t love Diara. He liked her. She was a beautiful woman with long silky locks of golden hair and bright blue eyes. Her body was certainly one to be worshipped, and she was a more than adequate fuck, but she was deception, and rumors filtered to him of her infidelities. There had also been the visions––something he’d never had until recently––that showed him with someone else. This union his mother kept pressing between them was only so they could produce her a grandchild, but how could he even be certain any heirs were from his seed? No, he had been firm with his so-called mother that while he would take Diara to his bed, she would never become his wife. It was a subject that had become volatile at times. Especially when he had stated that he was very much capable of finding his own wife should he choose to have one.

“What are you up to?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing?” She looked past him. “I swear I saw you with an open portal. Are you planning a trip?” Her eyes widened. “Can I come with you?”

Shit. No way was he going to reveal to Diara anything he had learned. She would run right to Netasis and blab. A game of deception was required here. “I was peeking into another realm.”

“Whatever for?”

“I was told there are other immortals there, and I was curious about them.”

“They are beneath you, Kian. You should put your mind to more useful things.” She patted his chest, flashing deep blue eyes at him. 

“And what do you think is more useful?”

“You need to act like the king you will one day be.”

“Don’t you think that learning more about what lies out there is what a smart king would do?”

“I suppose you are right, but other immortals can’t be of concern to us. We are gods, therefore more powerful than them.”

He shook his head. “You are not thinking. Who do you think rules them if not other gods or goddesses?”

A frown came over her pretty face. “You think the stories are true, then?”

He thought they deserved an investigation. Ever since he was a small boy, there had been whispers of the sleeping goddess. She was so ancient that no one even knew her true age. It was said her husband had gone mad, and she had been forced to kill him. The pain of it sent her into an eternal slumber. It was also said she had four sons, and they had been involved in a war that had torn their universe apart. Some thought the gods had perished, while others speculated they had started over in another world. Was this mortal realm their doing? If that were true, then did that mean he was a descendant of the sleeping goddess? Everything inside him said the answers he needed would be found by going on this quest.

“I think the stories have merit. Don’t you?”

“I’ve never given it much thought, but I understand your concern. If there are other gods out there, then you certainly should make them bend their knee to you as their king.”

Diara was clueless. He was no king if his true mother was mortal. Sure, Netasis claimed herself to be the queen over all in their world, but she was not his birth mother and even if she were, if the stories about an ancient sleeping goddess were true, it stood to reason that goddess might be their true queen. Something in his gut told him there was so much he didn’t know and a lot here the gods refused to speak of. If the story of his parents were correct, was the goddess of destruction the one who killed his real mother then tore him from her womb? To what end? He had to have answers.

“Does your mother know of this plan?”

Figures she would ask that question. He’d known Diara since they were children and she was forever getting him into trouble. Time to pull his so-called rank on her. “No, and I forbid you to speak of this to anyone, including her.”

Her eyes flashed from blue to near black so quickly anyone other than a god wouldn’t notice. Diara didn’t like being told what to do. “You forbid me?” The air thickened with power around her.

If she wanted to press this matter, then he was going to use everything at his disposal. “As your prince, I forbid you.” 

She shoved her hands on her curvy hips “Your mother is queen and her word law, not yours.”

Of course, she would use that card. In an effort to squash this rebellion right now, he pulled out his big guns. “You would disobey me and yet still expect me to marry you?”

She gasped. “Do you mean to marry me? You have been so hesitant on the matter.”

“I promise nothing right now but thwarting my authority will not endear you to me. Consider this a chance to prove your worth.” He disliked sounding harsh, but that was the one thing the gods and goddesses understood. He decided while he was pushing her, he might as well go all the way. “And you will stay here. At least until I know this realm is safe for you.” His last words seemed to appease her.

“It pleases me you think of my safety. Very well, I will obey, Prince Kian.” She smiled, then kissed him on the cheek. “But you must promise to tell me everything upon your return.”

“I promise.” She might not like what he had to say once he came back. If he ever came back. If the story held any truth and he was simply a demigod, Diara, as well as the other gods and goddesses, would look down their noses at him. Oh sure, there were other demigods here, but their mother or father were also immortal. To be half mortal would place him in grave danger as well as remove him from the throne his mother hoped he would one day sit upon. Then there was this sense of something he longed for… Someone other than his father was in this other world and everything in him needed to find this soul.