Her Heart or His Desire

Her Blood Vow

(Kazimir P.O.V.)

I woke up earlier than anticipated this morning. It was going to be a busy next few days making preparations to finally see Minka in person, but that's not what woke me up with the feeling of cold dread.

The last time I felt a chill that radiated deep into the marrow of my bones was when that last silver dragon vowed his descendants would rip my heart out. It was a dying vow so I paid no heed to it, but when it was made it was as if she knew something in the works already. Lucky for me, I am mostly undead at this point, so that's not something that's worrying me. The question still remains though, if, by some chance, there was still a living heir from her bloodline, they would be compelled to seek the one who slaughtered their hoard.

I mindlessly wandered the halls, a futile attempt at remembering the dragon's lair, and if there could have been any places I might have missed a dragon hiding. At this point, my guess would be that it was a youngling and small enough to hide in the shadows or be carried away in the madness.

I was betting it was the latter and that meant that by now it was a full-fledged adult readying itself for vengeance.

I walked back into my chambers and tapped on the mirror linked to Minka. She was training with one of her warriors. Beauty and grace all wrapped up in the lethal little package that she was still didn't arouse any affection for the girl, but when she lost control of all that power... my whole body would shiver in delight. Regardless of my personal distaste for her, I still needed to win over her affection and for that I needed to play the part of suitor.

I walked through the magical barrier to my treasury and lab and began rummaging through various vials. I needed some of my blood that wasn't tainted by black magic and decay, "I know I stashed some for the future," I mumbled to myself.

"Ah, here it is..." I said, holding up a small vial of a ruby red liquid.

As a red dragon, we were always lusting after more power and the longer one's life meant you could acquire more power and after 500 years, I decided I wanted more of it all.

This blood was when I was at my purest, long before I was tempted by a long life and more power. This blood would let me create an exact copy of myself, allowing me to win over the heart of the Alpha without actually being there and courting her in person. This shell will win over her trust just long enough to gain control of her power.

'Soon my little pet, soon.'

(Minka P.O.V.)

A shiver ran up my spine, my instincts telling me there was something ominous on the horizon, just as Nikolai landed another punch squarely on the jaw. This asshole wasn't letting up and wasn't joking when he said he wasn't planning on going easy on me just because I hold a position of power. I was barely able to keep up and hold my own. Luckily, I was able to keep up just enough to land a hit every few moves.

He swung his fist left then tried to run his knee into my stomach. This fight was getting on my nerves and I was ready to end it regardless of how I had to do it.

Nikolai used some of his vampire speed and got a few more hits, two in the face and one in the gut. I dropped to my knees and doubled over, the wind thoroughly knocked out of me. I dropped to my knees and saw red. I can feel my power start to surge uncontrollably. My chest started to contract like I needed to shift.

Nails dug into the ground as I began to partially shift. My hands shifted into claws and dug deeper into the dirt and sand. The ground began to vibrate with all the power I was pouring into it. Dirt dusted my body, clinging to my sweat like glue.

'Yes, yes!' a raspy voice whispered in my head.

The ground continued to shake more violently, power now oozing off of me.

I looked up from my kneeling position and saw the uncertainty and fear in Nikolai's eyes. He was a trained killer paid to take out hostile threats and at the moment, I was the threat and an unstable one at that. The voice in my head continued to urge me on and laughed wildly as I felt myself losing more control. Deianira and Genevieve came bursting onto the training grounds horrified at the scene unfolding.

Their fear was almost tangible and it tasted delightful.

Tears started to fall as soon as the thought had passed. I was enjoying their pain and fear...

I locked eyes with Deianira and silently pleaded for help. She gave a nod of understanding and grabbed something out from her pocket and recited an enchantment. The object in her hand started glowing a crimson red. She handed it off to Genevieve, who used her vampire speed and strength to run it as close to me as she could before tossing it the remaining distance.

The trinket skidded to my knees, scraping against them hard enough to cut them open. Once my blood stained the stone, an opaque red bubble started to form around me. Any magic that was outside of the bubble was now nullified, leaving the only active magic left, inside of the bubble with me. Just as fast as the bubble expanded, it began to contract and closing off my remaining air supply.

The ground beneath me finally stopped shaking just as I started to get lightheaded. The bubble vanished just as my vision began to blur. Genevieve and Nikolai caught me as I made a failed attempt at standing.

I grabbed ahold of Nikolai's hand, gently squeezing it, "I'm sorry for losing control," I said, before brushing them both off of me.

I took a few slow steps towards Deianira, who was already making her way towards me, "Are the twins here yet? I need to see them sooner than later."

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, holding out a steadying hand just in case I needed it.

"No. Far from it. I heard him in my head. Laughing and urging me to lose more control and it scared me. But when I saw the fear I was causing... I liked it and that scared me more."

Deianira bit the bottom of her lip with worry, "They won't be here for a few more days but we can create some magic nullifiers for you to wear in the meantime if that makes you feel safer."

"I'll feel safe when this bastard is dead. If I hurt any of you because he's trying to control me, I won't rest until my hands are stained with his blood, of this I vow."