Page 1 of Marked for Execution

PROLOGUE

“Have her executed by the end of tomorrow.” Her commanding voice was devoid of emotion. It sounded as if she asked him to make sure dinner was done by the next hour—if they were creatures that ate the normal way.

Clan Corrus had always been one my father told me to be wary of.

I missed my father. The smell of his blood still lingered in my nostrils…or was it my own?

I wanted it to be over. I was tired of it all. I should have never crossed the path to the East. The human encampment with burning bodies on crucifixes drove me into a fight or flight response. My eyes never witnessed anything as horrendous as the bodies of vampires that shrieked in their sorrow and pain while flames consumed their very being. Their suffering burrowed itself under my pores until it became a part of me—as if I were one of them, charred for the pleasures of men and their ‘retribution’.

Hung on this wall by the shackles at my wrist, I pondered the stupid probabilities of my past decisions. Running seemed easier at the time, but now, I wondered which would have been the better choice, if death was imminent no matter the chosen path.

The smell of burnt skin buried itself into my memory like a horrible aftertaste that refused to be washed away.

The voice of one of my tormentors broke me from the memories. The images of skin peeling off bone faded into the background, now replaced by his wicked smile.

“Darius, don’t play too much. The queen wishes for an audience in her final hours, if you please.” As if it was a request and not a requirement, her voice lingered in the air like the devil’s advocate. “Remember that she will be used for Queen Cassie’s peace treaty with Clan Disaris.”

“Yes, of course, Mistress Tiara.”

Tiara. The vampire with short white hair, eyes as blue as ice, and pale skin gave me one last glance before she exited the torture chambers without another word. Her air of superiority told me she was one of the few close to the Queen’s side.

Purebreds were all alike, I quickly came to find. The chosen among the elite in a world that was beneath them, and they wished to eliminate the unworthy.

Purity, indeed. More like a holocaust among a pathetic excuse for existence, a world already brought to its knees. Was there no mercy to ever be found again in this wretched place? Life should have been obsolete forallof us.

Clan Corrus was everything I heard it to be, down to the gritty fact that they were barbaric in their agenda to find peace. It was just my bad luck that I ran across the wrong group on my run to ask for water…

Peace was for fools who still believed it existed. Hope was an infection that didn’t discriminate.

My torture master sliced my ribs once more to bring my attention back to him. My skin itched from trying to heal itself. His wicked smile made my gut churn with bile that threatened to spew in his face.

Perhaps I should let it.

I watched as he licked his lips in anticipation of the ‘fun’ he’d be privy to before the night ended - the night before my final execution.

It was always going to come down to this, wasn’t it?

“Pretty little thing, aren’t ya? What were you doing out on the streets, hmm? Were you playing bait for Clan Disaris?”

His mouth hovered around my neck and naked breast, his eyes that of a devil who waited to devour the soul brought forth before him. Little did he know that Clan Disaris knew nothing about my existence, so their offer of a peace treaty would be for nothing. I made sure to keep that little tidbit to myself.

With a harsh inhale, he pulled back and gathered himself. “Your lack of enthusiasm bores me, hybrid. Good riddance. We do not need abominations like yourself running around, anyhow. At least you will prove your purpose in a larger plan now.” His fingers brushed my skin with a false sense of reverie. He teased my sense of touch until I wanted to claw my own skin off to rid myself of his breathing before me.

Unable to help myself, I spat blood in his face, smiling with crimson-coated teeth.If I am to die this day, let it be known to the world that I died with my pride still intact.

The image of my father’s eyes haunted me. He would have blamed me for this, told me I should have prepared for the possibility. A different kind of hate lurched in my gut. If hiding me wasn’t enough, his disapproval for my own downfall would have killed me anyway.

I lifted my head with a smirk, watching my undertaker wipe his face off with the back of his hand. He smiled back and undid his buckle, and I lifted a brow in challenge. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing did.

He brought down his metal belt in rapid successions on my front, drawing a hiss through gritted teeth.

I felt my skin filleted off the bone by the time Mistress Tiara came back with the intention of escorting me into the court before the Queen. Grabbing my arms, she broke my wrists with a crack to slip them out of the shackles. I stifled my moan, lips pressed tightly together. My body was tossed onto the floor and kicked one last time for good measure.

Clan Corrus can burn in the depths of hell.

Groaning, I buried my face and hands away from her lest they see how quickly I heal. I’ve never compared it to a normal vampire, but today was not the day. No, I’d rather takeallmy secrets to the grave.

Father would at least be proud of that…if he knew what I was capable of.