BLOOD OATH: THE VAMPIRE'S CLAIM

Chapter 14

A Death Kiss

The battlefield was soaked in blood. The scent of iron clung to the air, mingling with the crackle of flames and the screams of the dying. Bodies littered the obsidian floor of the ruined throne room, but none of them mattered. Not compared to the monstrous woman standing in the center, her gown of bone-white silk now drenched in crimson.

Queen Seraphina. The Blood Witch. The immortal tyrant who had ruled with cruelty for centuries.

She laughed, her voice dripping with madness. "Is that all you've got, little girl?"

Selene wiped the blood from her split lip, her chest heaving from exertion. She had spent years honing her power, but against Seraphina, it was like throwing sparks into an inferno. The queen was more than a sorceress—she was a force of nature, a being born of death itself.

But Selene had something she didn't. Desperation. And a love worth dying for.

She cast a glance toward Damien, sprawled motionless on the ground, his dark hair matted with blood, his body unnaturally still. His pulse was weak. Too weak. No. Not him. Not like this.

A scream built in her throat, but it wasn't sorrow—it was rage. Selene turned back to the queen, her hands curling into fists. Magic surged inside her, darker and wilder than ever before.

"You don't get to take him from me," she snarled.

The floor trembled beneath her. Black tendrils of energy erupted from her skin, crackling like lightning.

Seraphina's eyes flickered with the first hints of fear.

Selene unleashed.

The force of her power shattered the walls, sending debris flying in all directions. A shadowy wind howled through the ruined castle, sweeping away Seraphina's illusions, her protective barriers. The queen screamed, but there was no escape—Selene's magic wrapped around her like chains, pulling her into the storm of dark energy.

"No! You can't—"

Selene didn't give her the chance to finish.

With a final, savage cry, she ripped Seraphina apart. The queen's body disintegrated into a storm of black mist, vanishing into the void.

Silence fell.

Selene collapsed to her knees, trembling, panting.

It was over.

But then she heard it.

A faint, wheezing breath behind her.

She whirled around, hope surging through her—Damien.

She scrambled to his side, hands pressing against his wounds, but there were too many. Too deep. His blood soaked her fingers, and his once-vibrant violet eyes were dull, unfocused.

"No, no, no," she whispered, shaking him. "You're not leaving me."

His lips parted. "Selene..."

Her vision blurred. She had fought gods for him. Killed queens. She wouldn't lose him now.

She thought of the old legends. The forbidden magic. The whispers of a blood-bound resurrection. A ritual so ancient, so dangerous, that even the darkest sorcerers dared not use it.

But Selene didn't care about the consequences.

She only cared about him.

She ripped open her wrist with her teeth, letting her blood spill across his lips. "Drink," she commanded.

He tried to turn away. "You can't—"

"I can." She pressed her mouth to his, forcing the blood between them. His body jerked, the magic taking hold, binding their souls together in a way no mortal bond ever could.

The ritual demanded more than blood.

It demanded flesh.

A surge of heat tore through her veins, an ancient hunger waking in Damien's dying body. His hands, once weak, suddenly clamped around her wrists. His breathing grew heavier, his eyes darkening with something primal.

Selene gasped as he flipped her onto the cold stone floor, his body pinning hers beneath him. His touch burned, his need as desperate as her own.

He wasn't just alive—he was starving.

His mouth crashed against hers, hungry, devouring. His teeth scraped her lip, his tongue tasting the remnants of her blood, as if drawn to it like a drug. She arched against him, her fingers digging into his bare back, feeling the strength returning to his muscles, the fire rekindling in his soul.

"More," he growled against her throat, his voice rough, commanding.

Selene shivered as his hands tore at her clothes, leaving nothing between them but the heat of their bodies. She didn't hesitate, didn't stop to question the magic weaving around them. All that mattered was the need, the connection forging between them.

Their bodies moved in sync, raw and unrelenting, magic sparking between their skin like wildfire. Every touch, every thrust, sent waves of pleasure crashing over them, deeper and deeper, until reality itself blurred.

The air pulsed with power.

Selene gasped his name as she shattered beneath him, her pleasure cresting into a blinding climax that sent shockwaves of magic through the room.

Damien followed moments later, his body tensing, his grip on her tightening as his release mixed with the ritual's dark magic.

And then—silence.

Their bodies were tangled together, sweat-drenched and breathless.

It was done.

Selene brushed damp hair from his forehead, her heart still pounding. "You're alive," she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

His arms tightened around her. "Because of you."

She smiled. For the first time in what felt like forever, everything was okay.

But then—

Damien gasped.

His back arched violently, his body seizing as an unnatural force ripped through him.

"No!" Selene grabbed his face, panic gripping her. "What's happening?"

His fingers dug into the stone floor, his entire form shuddering, twisting. His skin darkened, veins turning black, his once-beautiful violet eyes bleeding into pure gold.

Selene screamed as something ancient and monstrous stirred inside him.

The queen's final curse.

Damien wasn't just back.

He was something else entirely.

Something not human.

And as his golden eyes snapped open, the hunger in them wasn't just for her.

It was for blood.