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Chapter One

I am Isabelle Ravana, future queen of vampires.

It didn’t matter how many times I tried to sell myself on that line, it didn’t quite work. First off, no one called me Isabelle. That was my grandmother’s name. So, ever since I was little, I’d made them call me Izzy. It didn’t sound as uptight as Isabelle. My life was one big formality as it was, so I would stick with Izzy until they made me change to something more sophisticated.

As soon as that crown was placed on my head, I’d have to becomeherthough. This mythical person who thought, looked, and acted like my mom.

Ariana Ravana was widely known as the best queen our world had ever had. She’d fought in battles and saved our people more times than anyone liked to count. She united us from the beginning, changing the world as she went until it became as it is today. Could you believe that humans were once thought of as lesser? That they were basically kept only for our protection?

That seriously boggled my mind. Now, vampires were sent to the same training humans were. We were no longer put in glass houses and whisked away at the first sight of harm. We were out there fighting our own battles beside the humans who lived among us. We were all the same…

Except for me.

I was one-of-a-kind. There was no one like me. My mother was human when she had me. The first known vamp-human hybrid, only allowed to live because my fathers were the Ravana Princes and my mother was changing the world as they knew it. If I’d been born into any other family, I would’ve been terminated before I even took my first breath. That was one thing our kind didn’t like: the unknown. We were still like that, in a way. That’s why my plan to unite the clans was being whispered about in vampires’ sitting rooms all over the world.

I couldn’t care less that everyone was talking behind my back. I knew it was the right thing to do. Since I was little, I had visions of the future. I didn’t get them frequently, but when I did, I’d best listen to them or things didn’t turn out right.

I’ve always wanted a “harem” of my own. That was the word thrown around when my mother was up and coming. Others treated it like a dirty thing, but I didn’t think my mother ever minded. She had my fathers, and she’d given those four fathers to me. There was Papa Nic. He was surly on the outside, but the one you wanted in your corner when you were passionate about something. And Papa Stephan, he took care of me. Though it was practically impossible for me to get hurt, he kissed my “bruises” and made everything better. I’d taken on more of the vampire characteristics in that way. I healed fast and had thick, almost impenetrable skin. Papa Christian? He was the disciplinarian. The father that would catch me sneaking out of the house and punish me, but he was tender-hearted too. I only disappointed him once, which I’d be happy to forget about. Disappointing Papa Christian was like throwing your heart in a blender and watching it get torn up. And Papa Connor… Just thinking about him made me smile. When I thought about the fun times I had when I was young, Papa Connor was right there spreading his cheer around with a goofy smile and a personality bigger than life.

I loved them all, and they all loved me. When I’d had the premonition I’d be the one to unite the clans once again, it was a no-brainer to decide what to do. My mother had done it before in her own way. Now it was my turn, and I’d always done things my way.

The invitations had already been sent to the ruling clans. Some thought it a political move, and it was—to a degree. But I wanted what my mother had. I wanted the love and protection of not just one man, but multiple. I hadn’t thought about how many I’d take out of my possible choices. I would lead with my heart. The only thing that kept me up at night was hoping I’d find my true mates among the invited vampires. I had nightmares of not liking any of them. Of this whole thing ending in a mess.

I’d already made my declaration though. There was no turning back. From these clans, I’d choose my princes.

They didn’t know the real reason why I’d chose this route. They didn’t even know me yet. I was still a mystery to the vampire world at large. For all they knew, I hadn’t taken on any of the vampire characteristics. Some thought me more human than vampire because my mother was human. There were those who doubted my strength and abilities. A vamp-human hybrid had never been allowed to live let along grow to nineteen years old. They would see soon enough though.

The event of the century wasn’t just for the potential mates to show me what they could do. For the first time, I was coming out in the limelight to show the world what I could do. To show them their future queen could help them.

I was no longer their mysterious little princess. I would be queen, and I had more than enough skills to back it up.

They would need the reassurance once my visions started to come true. Fire and ruin. Bodies lying like heaps of forgotten men on the floor. The tormented cries of loved ones. I’d seen these images in my head before when my parents were forced to talk about the past.

There was war. There were fights to the death. Sharpened stakes. Weapons that maimed.

Now, the present would repeat the past. Only this time, it was me who was destined to do all I could to save us.

Chapter Two

Lightning streaked across the darkened sky.

I sat on the windowsill watching the ground beneath me light up in short bursts and then go dark again. Rain was heavy in the air though it hadn’t fallen yet. Any minute now, the sun would break over the horizon. The brilliant light threatened like a ticking time bomb. It was now or never. I needed to be some place safe before then.

I turned back, looking at my nice, comfortable bed behind me.

Not today.

I looked right back outside. This wasn’t the day to hide in my room and stay in bed. Today was the most important day of my life. Today I would meet my future mates for the first time.

At that thought, I jumped from the second story window and landed on my feet, knees bent in a perfect crouch before straightening and kicking into my vampire speed. I whisked across the front lawn and scaled the stone wall before again jumping to my feet on the other side of the estate boundary.

Stopping momentarily, I took a quick peek behind me and stared at my open window. Then I checked the other windows for any signs of life. The plan was to go and come back before Mom or any of my Dads came to wake me up. I had time. I could do this.

I stayed just off the streets. Though we lived in a predominantly vampire inhabited area, we also lived near humans too. They didn’t need to see me running down the road at full speed looking like Sonic the Hedgehog, so I kept just to the outside of the tree line. When I heard a car coming behind me, I side-stepped into the forest and darted under branches and leapt over rocks, successfully avoiding wooded obstructions like I was running the obstacle course at The Fort the day before graduation.

Today would be a whole new obstacle for me. Something far less physical, but one that would have a permanent affect. Today, I didn’t want to leave anything up to chance.

When the car sped past, I dodged a tree and ran out onto the open grass again. The Fort’s perimeter walls came into view and I pushed harder. The first rays of sun were appearing, lighting up the Rajyvik Training Facility from behind, making it as majestic as I always thought it to be. Maybe it was because Papa Nic had worked there all my life, so I remembered being there as a child whose head was filled with fairy tales. Maybe it was because I’d heard the stories of my mother saving the students there from one of the rogue clans. Whatever it was, The Fort always felt like history incarnate when I was beyond its walls…even when I was going to school here—especially when I was going to school here.