Chosen by the Vampire, Book Three: Cruel Selection Vampire Series, #3

By Atlas Rose

The Sinful are my captors. 

But are they also my protectors? 

And I can't get them out of my head…

Or the things they want to do with me. 

My past is dragged to the surface…

But it's a past I don't know.

Someone else's memories invade me. 

The answers lie in the half-truths Arkyn whispers. 

I'll take care of you, Arkyn whispers as he kisses me.

I want to lose myself in them...

But fate it seems has other ideas. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlas Rose
• Release date: Aug 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201745547

Book preview

Chapter One

Lord Emin...

My father?

I stood in the middle of the foyer and stared at the stranger. A stranger who called himself kin.

Come with me. His dark eyes glinted as he stepped across the foyer and reached for my hand. "I can give you all the answers you seek. I can tell you everything. I am your real father, Asena. Let me prove it to you."

Rain pelted the shattered window, the storm relentless. I tried to find a flicker of anything for this man...but all I felt was confusion.

Black hair darker than my own glistened with rain. But it was his face that captured my attention. He was all jutting cheeks and hard-angled dark eyes, which were fixed on me. He looked too young to be my father, too harsh...too everything.

My gaze dropped to his sleeve. Silver cufflinks glinted as a crack of lightning brightened the room. But I was captured by the crest stamped into the middle of the stud. A silver shield and a battle axe sitting over two crossed swords.

For a moment, the present world wavered… the man in front of me shimmered, riding the ripples like a stone cast into the pond. Only as he stepped closer, I knew in my heart I was that stone.

I was sinking...down...down...down...

Shadows crowded the doorway. I raised my head at the movement as men invaded the foyer, flanking each side of us. In a heartbeat, Emin lunged and grasped me by the hand, sharp nails piercing my skin. The sting was enough to wake me, tearing me from the frozen state of fear.

My heart thundered, senses on fire, screaming...let me go! And the words bubbled up to the surface as terror kicked in. Let me go!

I yanked and twisted, trying to tear free from his grasp. I said, let me GO!

His face was a mask of savage horror, dark eyes impossibly wide, teeth bared to the blinding flash of white light as a bolt tore through the sky. Thunder followed, booming overhead as Chaska and Polaris screamed.

They were a blur in the fading light, all chiffon and lace whipping through the air, slaps and shrieks unleashed.

The sight of them drove me. My shoes skidded on the hard stone. I yanked my hand backwards and struck. But there was no open-handed slaps, and no raking of nails. I curled my fingers, knuckles finding his cheek. His head snapped to the side, as a look of surprise froze on his face.

Get her outside! he roared.

Hands grabbed me, lifting my feet from the floor as they carried me toward the doorway. I bucked and kicked, wrenching one foot free, only to lash out and strike a guard in the chest.

He stumbled...losing his hold. I saw it, pain...recognition. I was stronger than I was before. Energy surged through me. I wasn’t a victim, I could fight.

Fight. The word filled me, once again carried on the rippled pond.

I was sinking lower, but not falling anymore…

No, this time I dove.

Head first, arms flung wide. I screamed, twisting my body as my feet were carried through the door. My hands found the doorframe, nails clawing the wood, tearing so hard they buckled. Get off me! Get the fuck off me.

Four massive beasts waited for me out on the drive...glistening midnight coats, eyes so wide the whites were blinding. The horses snorted, flaring massive nostrils, and pawed the earth, jostling the carriage forwards and backwards.

My heart lunged at the sight as I was shoved.

No! Polaris charged forward, slamming into Emin, tearing free my hold on the doorframe. I fell, arms cast behind me before I hit the stairs, hard.

Air rushed from my body. Dark spots flared in my eyes. I tried to suck in a breath, but my chest refused to move, wedged in place... pain tore like fire through my lungs. But Polaris was like a banshee in the night, screaming and wailing. Her eyes mirrored the four black stallions waiting for me.

She whipped her head toward me as she landed on the stairs in front of me, lips curled, baring her teeth as she growled, Run!

My feet were heavy, my reflexes slow. I shoved against the marble stairs and stumbled to stand. White light flared across the sky, turning my world ashen gray. I stared at the towering horses, their slick obsidian coats gleaming like an oil slick as I coughed and gagged...and with a pop, air rushed in.

Bitter air filled with oxygen rushed in. I gasped in big gulps, easing the fire inside my chest, as a pale blur rushed toward me.

Asena. Willa grabbed my hand. She cast a terrified glance toward the intruders and shoved me forward. "You have to run...please...Asena...RUN!"

One of the stallions rose on its hind legs, its front hooves driving through the air. I stumbled backwards at the sight, barreling into one of the guards. Two more raced toward us. I caught sight of Polaris on the ground. She shoved her hands into the dirt and pushed upwards to stand. "You want to take her? Then you’re going to have to go through me!"

Her face was filled with savagery.

She’s a fighter.

She’d die if needed.

More came. Chaska stumbled down the stairs behind Polaris, her fists trembling out in front. She was timid and terrified, but prepared to stand and fight. To save me. Devika and Aislinn followed, heads raised high, lips curled into sneers.

Get in the carriage, Asena. Lord Emin swiped his hand across his mouth.

There was a line of blood on his cheek, a remnant from Polaris, no doubt. Still, he looked like he’d fight forever. He lifted his head and gave a nod to the guards behind me as thunder rumbled once more.

"No one needs to get hurt here. We only want you...we only came for you." Emin sucked in a breath and took a step forward.

The horses pulled the carriage, surging and ebbing, an endless tide in an endless storm.

She’s not going anywhere. Willa shook her head and bared her fangs. Not without a fight.

The guards behind me moved fast, sweeping my feet out from under me. Their jarring steps rattled my bones as Emin yanked open the carriage door. Hurry! he roared. Get her in!

Adrenaline was in the driver’s seat as I fought once more. My hands were heavy, fingers swollen, nails ripped down to the bed. Still I kicked and punched, desperation tearing through my throat in a guttural scream.

Blood followed, sickly sweet, slipping down the back of my throat. I couldn’t fight them, not forever...and they made ground.

Those massive horses loomed over me, so close I felt the hot gust of their breaths.

No! Willa lunged at one of the guards, slamming into his body and driving him to the ground.

I fell with them, hitting the hard pebbles beside mammoth hooves as big as my head. Willa and the guard were a blur of movement as they fought. She was savage and unbridled, opening her mouth wide before she struck.

My fingers curled around the biggest rock I could find. I did all I could, turning to pelt the stone into the stallion’s hindquarters as hard as I could.

Others followed, lunging forward to fall to the ground. Pebbles were hurled through the air in a shower of stones. The horses kicked and screamed, pulling against the reins.

Whoa! the driver roared as lightning coursed through the sky.

Stop! Emin howled, lifting his hand, but he was smacked in the cheek by a flying shard. "I said STOP!"

An iridescent bolt of energy curled downwards, throwing off veins of white through the midnight sky. I stumbled backwards, the rock falling from my grasp, as the lightning shot downwards into Emin’s hand, and then outwards.

The current was a weapon, tearing through the air before it smacked into Willa. Her hands few outwards as she was tossed through the air. Her mouth opened, although no scream came until she landed with a sickening crack, face-up on the ground.

Through the blinding glare, I saw the blackened hole where her chest used to be. Her skin, so pale in the glow, it was nothing more than eyes. She looked at me...and lifted her hand, her fingers curled toward me.

I’m sorry, her eyes screamed. I’m so sorry.

And as the white-hot light ebbed, she turned to ash in front of me...and was gone.

Horses howled, moving in a blur of blackness past me. Emin gripped the handle on the side of the carriage and, legs pumping, slammed his shoes into the ground, running alongside the carriage, then jumped.

In an instant, he flew through the air and the open door, landing inside with a thud. His face was a savage mask, staring back at me. The ground trembled with the pounding of hooves as a terrifying roar came from the manor...and in an instant, the Sinful were there.

Arkyn tore past me and hurtled toward the carriage.

Lorcan was a blur, stopping long enough to touch my hand. Did he hurt you?

Tears filled my eyes. I shook my head and glanced over my shoulder to the blackened mark on the ground. Willa… was all I could say.

Get inside. Lock the doors...we’ll protect you. The Vampire growled as he wrenched his gaze toward the clatter of hooves.

Cassian tore from the manor, meeting Lorcan on the pebbled drive.

They were gone in an instant, leaving me behind with the smell of ash lingering in the air.

Chapter Two

Blinding white light ripped over the unsuspecting sky. The woods came alive in a flash, revealing the Sinful moving with unimaginable speed, chasing after the intruders, the storm exposing a mere glimpse of their strength. In that shared moment, I felt something other than my fear in the brightness… a flicker of desperation, but not for me, for the Sinful. With it came a sliver of an image pulsing through my thoughts. Something I didn’t recognize: A savage storm tearing me away with violent intensity, carrying me into the air, and I screamed from the excruciating pain of being skinned alive.

Just as quickly as the vision came, it vanished,