#3 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 3: Love & War) (8 page)

There were loud bangs on the walls. “Good
thing we blocked the entrances in the hidden passages,” Xavier said as they
descended into the darkness. “The brick and concrete was reinforced with silver,
so good luck to those bastards.”

Tanya whimpered. Shit, she couldn’t see a
thing. Brant pulled her higher up against him and she wrapped her legs around
his middle. Right now she was liable to have them all falling to their deaths
if she tried to negotiate down the path. She looked up at the small square of
light above just as the desk slid shut.

Pitch black.

She doubted she would see her hand in front
of her face if she tried. Tanya wrapped herself tighter around Brant. “I have
you,” he said.

They levelled off onto what felt like flat
ground and Brant let her slide down beside him. She kept her arms around him,
afraid to take even the smallest step on her own.

“Zane was right, we have been compromised.
They will know about this cellar,” Xavier said. There were some clicking noises
and another sliding sound from above. “That should take care of the study
entrance.”

“Good thing I ordered for the passage way
from the fountain to be sealed. That only leaves the forest entrance,” Brant’s
chest rumbled as he spoke.

“I have our elite troops surrounding the
entrance and archers on the perimeter. Rest assured, I will head there myself
and will protect our king and queen with my life.” This was the first time that
she had been referred to as the queen and it felt good. “Your human did well
today. She is worthy of our people and will give you strong heirs.”

Tanya wished she could see facial
expressions, but it was just too dark.

Brant moved forward a step and then she
could feel the warmth of Xavier and the brush of fingers across her arm at
Brant’s back. They were embracing. Brant grunted.

“Have your female look at that.”

“I will be fine. You stay with Tanya, I
will—”

“No brother. You are the king. Without you
or the human female, our coven would crumble.”

Brant laughed. “Hardly. You would step in
to take my place.”

Tanya sobbed. “I know it’s selfish, but
please don’t leave me.”

Brant tightened his arm around her.

“You have a nose my lord. You need to stay
with her,” Xavier sounded stern. What did having a nose have to do with it? Could
Brant scent something?

“What is it?” she asked.

Both men ignored her. “Fine, but take care
of yourself brother. Our queen needs a guard,” said Brant.

“Nothing like a bit of target practice,”
Xavier chuckled. Retreating foot falls were her only indication that he was
leaving.

 “Right, there is a first aid kit around
here somewhere.” Brant moved and she stayed at his side as if glued.

“Um, Brant. Please tell me there’s a light
in here.”

A low chuckle caused another vibration
through Brant’s chest. “I’m sorry, I forgot that you can’t see in the dark.
There must be one somewhere, as humans designed this place.” He tucked her in
closer and moved in one direction and then the other. He reached and there was
a clicking noise as the room lit up. Although not all that bright, the sudden
blast of light caused her to scrunch her eyes shut while they adjusted. The
room was small with a double bed to the side and a free standing toilet in the
corner. Oh God, she prayed she wouldn’t need to go any time soon. Her cheeks
heated just thinking about it.

Brant released her and pulled a first aid
kit from the shelf. The walls were lined with shelves filled with blankets,
clothes and cans of food. There were vents in the ceiling and various other
items that one would expect to find on a camping expedition or during a siege.

Siege.

Panic rose up in her but she shoved it down.
They hopefully wouldn’t be trapped in here for long. Brant seemed tense, his
eyes had a worried look, they kept darting upwards. Maybe he could hear
something that she couldn’t.

“Is everything okay?”

“I should be with my men. There will be
casualties” His jaw worked.

She cast her eyes downwards, guilt burned
in her gut.

“No, Cenwein, this is not your fault.” He
brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “Xavier was right, my place is at your
side.”

“Give me that. Sit on the bed.” She took
the first aid kit and followed him, taking a seat next to him. Tanya opened the
latch and rummaged through the kits contents until she found a bottle of neat
alcohol and a pack of swabs. She opened the bottle and poured some of the
contents onto the swab using it to clean the wounds on his chest. The cotton
pad quickly soaked through with blood so she repeated the process several
times. Either the chest wounds weren’t as bad as she had thought or they were
already healing. She guessed the latter.

 Once she finished, she removed a tube of
antiseptic cream but Brant shook his head. “That won’t be necessary, I don’t
get infections.”

“Okay.” She dropped the tube back into the
kit. Next, she took the half empty bottle and moved to the puncture wound on
his arm. “This is going to hurt.”

Brant smiled, nodding once. If it hurt, he
didn’t give any indication, not so much as a twitch of a muscle. She poured a
second time over the wound, ensuring that the liquid went into the puncture.
Tanya used the swabs to mop up the leaking fluid and to clean the wound. There
was a crepe bandage in the kit that looked like it would fit well on a wound of
that nature. She pulled out the sealed pack.

“Don’t bother, I will be healed within the
hour. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She looked down and noticed for the first
time that the front of her robe was splattered with congealing blood. Tanya
made a gagging sound but managed to keep the contents of her stomach down. She
tasted bile. Her right hand was also covered. She’d been so busy with Brant
that she hadn’t noticed. The memory of the blood pumping from the elf’s wound
came flooding back.

“You did good, Cenwein. Don’t blame
yourself. He would’ve killed both of us without hesitation.”

“Actually, he would’ve killed you and taken
me to the alpha. I might’ve killed another one just before you came. It…he said
that I wasn’t the alpha’s type but he would take me to the beast anyway.”

Brant growled and his eyes glowed. “The
wolf is as good as dead. His people’s heads will roll and stakes will be
erected. Both the shifters and the elves will bleed for this.” He stood and
paced the small space. “He will not have you.”

“Leave their people out of this. Please
don’t harm innocent women and children. Please Brant.”

“By trying to take you, he puts this coven
and the future of our species in danger. Innocent vampire women and children
will die. I will not allow that.”

“Please,” she pleaded.

His demeanor softened. “Do not concern
yourself, Cenwein. I will do what is needed to protect you, to protect this
coven. I am not in the business of killing innocents and will do what I can to
avoid it, but those bastards need to be hit where it hurts. I will do what I
have to.”

A tear rolled down her cheek. Damn. She was
crying.
Again
. This was becoming an irritating habit. Brant pulled her
against his warm chest.

“Alone with the female for five minutes and
already she is balling like a baby. Can’t say I blame her,” Zane’s deep
baritone voice filled the small space. Brant tensed, the wall of his chest turning
to stone.

“You weren’t invited.” Brant released her.
He probably didn’t realize it, but he pushed her behind him. Tanya had to tip
her head to see past Brant. Leather clad, his muscles had freaking muscles and
his dark eyes blazed. Zane pulled a backpack from his shoulders placing it on
the ground.

Zane caught her staring and winked. “I
invited myself. Had an interesting chat with Stephany outside a few minutes ago.”

Brant growled and pushed her further behind
him.

“The female wants to choose both of us.”

Brant choked out a humourless laugh. “Not
happening.”

Tanya stepped to the side.

“Suit yourself.” His eyes landed on her
sweeping down the length of her. Damn, the arrogant jerk could have her hot and
panting without so much as a touch. She immediately felt guilty. Tanya was fast
developing feelings for Brant. He could be warm and tender, so thoughtful. He
was also a deadly warrior. Brant growled louder this time.

“The sun has risen.” Zane smiled looking
like a predator. “The female is mine.” He removed his jacket sniffing deeply.
“I believe she is coming into heat.”

Tanya gasped. She wasn’t even mated yet.
She wasn’t sure she even wanted children.

“Touch her and I will kill you.”

Zane locked his jaw, his eyes narrowed.
They stood like this for what felt like a very long time. “If we fight in this
small space the female will be hurt, is that what you want?”

“Bastard,” Brant spat the word. “You know I
don’t.”

“If our covens were to join, we would be
much stronger against the other species.” As Zane spoke, he removed a sheath
from his back and several other blades that were strapped to his body. He threw
the weapons on a pile next to the backpack. “My guard are attacking as we
speak. The battle will be over within the next few hours. United we would make
a terrifying force. Separated we may be defeated. Neither of us would have the
human.”

Brant’s hands closed into fists at his
side. “We are enemies Zane. It would never work.”

“We need to find a way. An arrangement that
would work for both parties.”

Tanya was sick of being treated like she
wasn’t in the room. “Three parties. I would need to have a say.”

Brant turned his eyes, moving them over her
face. “You will be queen. You will have a say in all regardless of how this
goes.” He turned back, his voice deepening. “I highly doubt it would work.”

“There is only one way to find out and
since we’re stuck in this room for the next few hours...forced to play nice…”
He threw a wicked grin her way. Zane removed his shirt, he moved to the bag on
the ground gracefully lowering himself onto his haunches and removing water.

Next, he pulled out a whole string of
condoms. “The choice is yours, sweetness. If one of us manages to impregnate
you, the alpha will no longer be interested in taking you as a mate. But if you
would rather wait…?” he tossed the string of silver foil her way and, to her
surprise, she caught it.

Part 4: Wild Heat is available on
Pre Order

Thank-you
for reading the third part of my vampire serial. Things are seriously starting
to hot up for two kings and their human.

The
serial consists of six parts which I will release at 3 week intervals. For
those of you who don’t enjoy the serial format or who have an aversion to cliff
hangers, I will release a bundle at some point in the future.

If you would like to be notified when the
next one is out, or want to know when the bundle is released, sign up to my
Latest Release Newsletter to ensure that you don’t miss out
http://mad.ly/signups/96708/join
.
I promise not to divulge your address or to spam you. I would love to hear from
you so please feel free to drop me a line
mailto:[email protected]

I live on an acre in the country with my
gorgeous husband and three sons and an array of pets including a ball python.

In my spare time you can usually find me
typing frantically on the computer completely lost in worlds of my making. I
believe that it is the small things that truly matter like that feeling you get
when you start a new book or a particularly beautiful sunset.

Liked it?

If you enjoyed this book please
review
it so that others can find it. Even
if just a line or two, every review is greatly appreciated.

Part 4: Wild Heat - 15 November 2014

Part 5 Red Lust - 6 December 2014

Part 6 New Moon - 27 December 2014