Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 129: A Warning to All

The pungent smell of burnt hair filled the room and for a moment, no one in the den moved. Mouths hung open, eyes wide with disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

"No—no! Forgive me!" Kiera shrieked in panic as the last strands of her hair caught fire.

When Lucian finally released the vampiress’s neck, she stumbled away from him with a scream. Her hands moved to her burnt face and then frantically to the top of her head, only to freeze there in horror when her fingers found nothing but scorched skin.

Across the room, Orpheus tried to flee and as he rushed toward the doorway, the dark barrier that sealed the entrance remained intact. He searched for a handle, a doorknob but the black smoke had turned into a hardened wall.

Meanwhile, everyone in the room had grown eerily quiet.

When Lucian turned back towards the gathered vampires, unease and regret settled heavily among them. Many wished they had never come tonight.

"Lucian..." one of the vampiresses began cautiously, her voice betraying the unease in it. "Most of us had no part in this. Let those who did answer for it. The rest of us will leave."

Lucian looked as though the answer bored him. He spoke,

"If you wanted to be uninvolved, you would have sent her away." He bent slightly and lifted one of the iron stokers resting beside the fireplace. "Instead... you stayed to watch."

"Surely you cannot mean to punish everyone here," another vampire wore a strained smile. He gestured across the room and said, "Your quarrel lies with Orpheus, Bowen, and Alanna. They were the ones who wanted the girl."

Bowen rolled his eyes, unimpressed and undeterred by Lucian’s words. He shrugged and said,

"Belmont is not your property, Slater. Until someone buys her, she belongs to whoever takes an interest. That is the rule for every groundling."

Not wanting to face Lucian’s wrath, Alanna tried to reason by saying,

isn’t uncommon for elites to bring humans to their

flickering where it caught against

she

shiver ran down Ruelle’s spine, settling low in her stomach with her cheeks beginning to burn as she sensed people’s

hers, then there remained another way to settle

expression, which

my drink." Alanna’s face immediately turned pale as everyone’s eyes shifted to

of murmurs filled the room,

to feign innocence, but

lord’s son you think you can do whatever you want, Slater? We are vampires too," Bowen mocked Lucian with a glare. "The girl will come with

motion, Bowen seized the coffee table and threw it into the air.

came down like a hammer, Lucian stepped aside at the last second. The table crashed past him while Bowen’s blow

hand out and was ready to punch again, Lucian blocked it with the iron stoker. The next moment, Lucian caught hold of his peer and landed

room while Lucian sat just above him with the stoker embedded deep into the Halfling’s shoulder

wasn’t because of the iron stoker that the Halfling was glaring.

into Bowen’s flesh and the vampire growled, "that anything under

to kill me?" Bowen sneered, though he remained pinned beneath Lucian, pride still blazed in his eyes. "I didn’t realise you were

was heard in the room when he seized one of the bones and wrenched it free. The rib tore

raw, strangled cry ripped from his throat. A couple of gasps escaped from the lips of the spectators and some took a step

his hand, blood dripping

her stomach twist as she had never seen violence like this before. Her pulse thundered in her ears. Earlier when Lucian had mentioned gathering people, she had expected mostly words and punches. The metallic scent of blood thickened in the air, making her throat

vampire scrambled along the wall, desperately searching for a window to escape the horror unfolding

to get in and out of here. Windows were never built into such places. They were meant

teeth. He demanded, "You think this makes you untouchable? If not me, there are