The small banter between the circus crew as the day passed was a welcomed melody to Despoina's ears. A part of her heart felt revived as if she were a soulless body walking among the living until this moment. Their laughter, their joy engulfed her in a blanket of warmth, held her close like she was one of them even though she was an outsider. 

Never in her sister's home did Despoina feel so at peace. The Duke would give her snide remarks about her passion to continue her father's work or if she questioned the mechanisms of everything. Not even her nephews saw her as a suitable aunt. 

For the past few weeks, she left the house early to assist Marius in his newest inventions. He valued her opinion and constantly urged her to provide feedback as he worked. Not once in his presence did Despoina feel undermined or low.

His scarlet eyes brightened when a new idea popped in her head or if she fixed one of his.

The more they worked, the more she felt the ice around her heart melt as if his ruby eyes were the flame to ignite her hidden passion, her thirst to experience the wild thrills that surrounded the Twilight Circus.

For the first time since her parents' passing, she was home. She belonged here. She belonged with Marius, with his crew, with these misfits that somehow were perfect together. 

"How is the magician's box coming along?" asked Marius as he stepped into his workshop tent, loosening the few buttons of his white shirt. "I would like to use it for tonight's show. Perhaps I am being too ambitious, but with your abilities, who wouldn't be?"

Despoina fixated her attention on her current assignment. The plan was to create a box that allowed Luna to slice through whoever was in it. Marius wanted it to be more thrilling than just separating the bodies. He wanted it to seem as if they were separating entrails and putting the person together again, no stitches, no scars. 

On top of this request, both were working on an escape chamber for any of the twins to use. They would create a see through vessel full of water and chain the twins up with heavy locks. The goal was to escape before they drowned.

According to Marius, such a performance could stop the beating hearts of the audience and scare them into a panic until the twins resurfaced. Their flexibility would allow for an even greater show.

So much to do, so little time. 

Marius was pressed behind her, arms around her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder. 

Despoina tensed. "Is something wrong?"

"There is nothing wrong about you, love."

Heat crawled up her body, a tingling sensation curving down her spine. He only used that endearment with her, and whenever he did, her heart palpitated beyond her control as if he manipulated her bodily mechanisms. 

His voice was deep, a husky tone to lure even the purest creatures, the call of a devil trailing closer and closer until she was left defenseless to his charms, a simple pawn in his game. The chase, the hunt, it all thrilled her, and she wanted more. She wanted him to experience the same excitement, to swallow his pride and be at her mercy. 

A devious idea struck her mind like lightning, the crackling of a genius seduction paving a path to this man's damnation.

She gazed down at her silk, off shoulder gown, the pale blue emulating the sea of her eyes, and a sweetheart neckline plunging a suggestive amount of cleavage. 

Despoina had a shawl when she arrived, but the heat inside the tent forced her to remove it. If she was not so spellbound by the vampire behind her, then she would have felt the scalding of shame course through her. 

"Is that so?" taunted Despoina, biting back her smile as she placed her equipment on the table. "Your flattery compels me to assume that you have ulterior motives, sir."

"I haven't the faintest idea." There was a playful purr in his voice, the hum of his chuckle acting as a vibrato across her nerves as if the tune he played would be on her body. His finger tapped her hip bone. "Though you are proving to be more of a temptress as the days pass on."

Inhaling a small breath of confidence, Despoina pressed her backside against the only heated region of his body, welcoming the sharp intake of his own breath as she dragged his hand to where she wanted. 

Recovering from his momentary shock, he did his own exploring with his hands, pushing hers away as he traced over the outline of her waist to the curve of her ample breasts, lingering over the exposed skin above. Cold, deliberating fingers brushed against the warmth of her pale skin, a tantalizing touch that drove her mind to insanity.

She wanted him to feel the same. 

She wanted to drive him crazy with need. 

And so, Despoina turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck as she tipped her body forward. Instinctively, he held onto her hips, a brilliant gleam rippling through his gaze, desire igniting between their bodies.

Lord, his eyes.

They were just like her dream, a bleeding rose, the bright scarlet mixed with the smoke of darkness, intense, alluring, and hypnotizing all sense away from her. When his lips tugged into a small, controlled smile, she knew that she was a goner. 

Closing her eyes, Despoina captured his lips into hers, pressing against the soft, gentle press of a vampire. Though his body was cold, she felt the heat of their kiss travel down to her more intimate parts, the burning sensation causing her to grasp his shirt tighter into her hands, being more forceful. 

Marius groaned at the fervor of her kiss, pulling her closer as he devoured her mouth into his, a duel between them for power and control, for desire and decorum. They lost themselves in each other's arms, unraveling like balls of string until they were left panting. 

He gently bit her bottom lip, voice a husky whisper fanning across her coral cheeks. "We should stop," he offered before trailing his kisses down the length of her neck as a moan escaped from her lips. "Fates, you are a wicked temptation."

"As are you," she breathlessly replied. 

Every kiss, every lap of his skillful tongue pulled her closer to an edge of no return, to forcing images of her dream back into her mind until she felt an urge to beg him to stay. She hated when they were separated, and the past few days were torture to not feel his lips on hers. 

She had no idea where this uncontrollable desire was coming from, but she did not want it to stop, not when it felt this good.

Her gown felt too tight for her body, too constricting of her panting breaths. 

Pulling his head back to hers, she angled her lips, catching his bottom lip between her teeth, tender, soft, velvet lips molding to hers. His impetuous tongue slipped past, swallowing her moans in the vicious flame between them. 

"Sir Marius, where are you?" asked a muffled voice from a distant. "We had a question about tonight's performance."

Marius growled lowly from deep in his throat, the sound vibrating against Despoina, who was still clinging onto him. He broke the kiss, fangs dropped and crimson eyes glowing like rubies, dark, seductive eyes that were hooded with the layers of desire he struggled to free himself of. His control was below the surface.

He buried his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. 

"Sir Marius!" the voice that sounded like the werewolf shifter, Nathan. 

Despoina trailed her hands to his chest, rubbing softly. "I think you are being summoned," she whispered, still out of breath. 

He briefly pulled back, fangs still poking through and his gaze a deeper shade of red than wine. Marius was reluctant to leave, and she wondered if he enjoyed their heated session as much as she did. 

Oh my Lord. I kissed a vampire. 

The realization shook her as images of her dream from before pounded against her skull, images of their naked bodies entwined, his teeth sinking into her skin as she writhed with pleasure, the sensual passion that coursed between them. Her head strung images of a fragmented dream like the parts to a century old tale as if she had read it before. 

Her eyes widened. Her father's library. The book. 

Marius's rough voice called out to his crew. "Give me a few minutes. I will be out soon," he told them before his gaze settled on her again, this time without sharp fangs and glowing eyes. "What happened? You look as if you have seen a ghost."

"I-I have to go," she scrambled, ducking out of his arms. 

He grabbed her wrist as he pulled her crashing back against his solid chest. "No," he growled. "Not until you tell me why you seem so scared of me."

"We kissed."

"So what?"

"A vampire's kiss, the glowing eyes, the fangs, this is the mating ritual," she recited from the book she had read as a child. "I remember reading it. I remember my father telling me it was folklore, but it wasn't, right?"

His grip loosened, so she turned in his arms to face him. A defeated sigh left his lips as he shook his head. 

"How long have you known?" she dared to ask. "Is that why you approached me?"

"The Fates can be cruel," he muttered to himself before clearing his throat and fixing the ruffles on his attire. "I did not know until now."

She scrunched her features in confusion. "How is that-"

"My powers are limited as well. I lost a great deal of my vampire senses, which include finding my destined mate."

"So, am I... your destined mate?" she asked with a careful tone, a sea of blue observing his hesitation and frustration with himself. 

Marius tugged at his loose, inky black locks of hair that was a tousled mess from her playing with it earlier. He looked so disheveled and confused, veins popping at the neck at the anger he felt for not realizing sooner. 

Once he locked gazes with her, the fight left his body, the uncertainty that circled them dissipated into a slight breeze, tranquil, calm, and the fury simmered to the heated adoration he had shown her before, the molten look that melted her insides with his rich voice. 

Marius took a few steps towards her, cupping her cheeks in his cold hands. Bringing his lips to her forehead, he mumbled against her skin. "You are, love. You're my mate."

"Is that why I keep getting dreams of a vampire bite?" she asked. 

Marius froze, unnaturally still as if she delivered bad news to him. "Dreams?" he questioned her, searching the ocean of her eyes. "Are you positive?" 

"Before we met, I had the recurring dream of you and it always ended in a vampire bite."

"Sir Marius!" yelled a new voice from faraway that she deduced to be Luna. "This is serious!"

Marius released Despoina as he stormed towards his crew and out of the tent. She followed after him in a hurry, wondering if something about the moment between them caused such an uproar. 

If the dreams were not from the mating ritual, then why did she have them, and why did Marius have a sense of fear at her mentioning them?

When they reached the crew inside the main circus tent, Despoina gasped at the half-shifted Nathan growling and roaring as Dakini struggled to keep the leash she had on him.

Luna floated into the air as an aura of purple mist surrounded her while the tengu twins, Akio and Atsuya, had rope tied at her waist, pulling her just as the mist pushed her further away. 

"Is this normal?" asked Despoina. 

Marius shook his head. "These powers are limited. Luna can't fly and Nathan's primal instinct should be locked away," he said more to himself than to her. "What is going on?"

"Sir Marius, Nathan sensed danger before he shifted and then he went out of control!" yelled Dakini. "His strength is no match for me anymore. I cannot... hang on."

Something sparked within Marius as he raised his hands, eyes that glowing ruby again along with the silhouette of his figure, an outline of scarlet piercing through her vision as if a galaxy of stars imploded against her eyelids, stardust bursting into a thousand glimmers, illuminating the cloak of night. His visage was contorted with concentration, lips mumbling Latin until the spark grew and grew. 

With a shout, light flashed across her eyes like a heat wave wrapping around her, forcing Despoina to close her eyes, the luminous spell too vibrant, too strong for her to see through. A breeze swirled around them, spinning out of control until she heard Marius's deep voice ringing in her head. 

Then it was silence. Absolute silence, not a single person moved. The air was tight, suffocating with the weight of what the ominous unknown was implying. 

When Despoina opened her eyes again, she saw a weakened Marius stumble backwards, his eyes losing their hypnotizing glow as his body shook with exhaustion. She lunged forward to help steady him, grabbing a hold on his strong arm. 

"Careful," she said, offering her support. "What was all that?"

Marius blinked, rubbing his temples. "It was an old vampire spell. It should keep all your powers at bay for a short time while we figure this out." His body shuddered again. "My head," he groaned, clutching it in one hand. 

Nathan panted in his human form now, dark eyes becoming a molten bronze as his wolf backed down. Dakini gave him a blanket to conceal his naked form while Akio and Atsuya pulled Luna down. 

Atsuya's gold eyes fell on the joined hands between Despoina and Marius. "Could the prophecy be true?" he asked his twin. 

Akio shook his head in disbelief. "That was a myth we were told as children."

"But look at the power Sir Marius used," pointed out Atsuya, being the more observant twin. "If our powers are coming back, then his is too."

Marius scrunched his brows together. "My powers? They were locked away along with yours when we made the oath." His voice faded into another groan of pain, hands clutching his head again as he fell to his knees. 

"Marius!" exclaimed Despoina, coming to his aide. She turned to the crew helplessly. "What's happening to him?" 

Atsuya bent down to their level, examining his leader with meticulous study, aurous gaze drifting between Marius's clamoring pain as he hissed and to Despoina's worried expression as if she felt a fraction of the agony the vampire was undergoing. 

In some way, she was. Her heart clenched painfully as the mating bond that tethered them grew until her heartbeats were palpitating against her chest.

Every time Marius made his ache known, a part of her body stung with fever like a lightning striking her at varying intervals. Something was very wrong, and she did not know enough about the supernatural world to make a fair deduction. 

That was when Atsuya's eyes lit with a sudden realization, a spark of knowledge that dropped like dew onto his luminous eyes. "You both are mates," he said. "If the mating bond is causing our powers to awaken, that means the oath is being broken." 

Marius was leaning against Despoina fully, head on the soft pillow of her chest as the pain subdued every now and then, his red eyes weary with fatigue. She grasped his hand, holding it tightly as if her life essence would give him the jolt of energy he needed. 

Akio rushed to his leader's side. "Sir Marius, stay with us," he pleaded, looking at his brother for support. "What do we do to help him?"

Atsuya's gaze softened. "We cannot do anything. Only his mate can."

Before anyone else could fuss over Marius, he struggled to sit up on his own, pinching the bridge of his nose. His other hand was still clutching onto Despoina's as if she might disappear if he released it. 

"Stop whining," he demanded to his crew. "Atsuya, you mentioned the oath being broken. Explain your theory."

He nodded. "The oath the Vampire Council made was sealed by their power, which is told to be the strongest of its kind and can only be challenged by the witch coven or a mating bond."

"Why a mating bond?" Despoina broke into the conversation. "How can a bond break the power of a supernatural oath."

Dakini's voice was a mere whisper of awe. "Because the Fates determined our soulmates and the Fates overpower all else."

"Sir Marius, that must mean our imprisonment is broken by your mate bond," added Luna in childish excitement, her glacial eyes gleaming with joy. "We will be free again!"

"Hold it," said Marius, a stern expression crossing his visage. Concern lined his claret gaze, softness of roses dissolving into a hardened gem of disbelief. "A mating bond alone cannot break the seal on our powers. Only the mate of a strong vampire could do such an act," his voice trailed off as he met Despoina's eyes.

Despoina was taken aback. "Are you saying I did this? With what power?"

"You said you read a book about the supernatural bonds that you dismissed as fiction," stated Marius. "Do you still have it?" 

"I think the book is among my father's stuff," she said.

Atsuya cut in. "Was there a prophecy in the book?"

She nodded. 

Marius brought her hand to his lips, kissing it softly. "Love, we need to see that book. The fate of this circus may be resting in your hands right now."

"But what about you? The show will start soon, and you seem unwell," she protested in a whisper, voice lacing with fear. 

He smiled at her, pearly white teeth catching a glimmer of reflection, eyes warm with roses of love. "I have my crew here," he winked. "No need to worry, love. Just hurry on back."

She stood on her feet, rolling her eyes at how Marius could be playful even with his weakened state. Reluctance held her like the mate bond that tethered them into a perfect fit, wrapping them in the ropes of passion and desire. 

But she also knew that the book her father showed her had more relevance than she ever imagined. If her suspicions were correct, the book could have been the very reason her parents were murdered and why their death was shrouded by mystery. 

* * * * 

Sealed by the Great Fates, the king of the vampires was forever locked away for his bloodthirst, sentenced to an eternity of servitude to the Vampire Council. 

His only hope would reside in true love, a blessing bestowed upon him by the Fates. When the moon is aligned with the stars, the king of the undead will rise again, more powerful than before his exile. 

Those who threaten his existence will be extinguished in flames. 

"Despoina, is that you?" called out her sister, Lilith. 

She immediately closed the book, breathing heavily. "Uh... I'm just taking a book out," she responded back as she tucked the book into her satchel. "I will be on my way then."

Lilith walked into the library of their home, her husband's library now. He took the wealth of her father, and her sister blindly followed her husband in the dark, not caring that their father's memory was slowly being erased. 

"Are you leaving the the circus again?" questioned Lilith with disappointment lacing her tone. 

Despoina nodded. "I like it there."

"What about our lives here?" 

"This is your life, Lilith," she sighed. "My life ended when your husband took away Father's research."

Her sister frowned, not appreciating her disobedience. "You know Andrew loves you like his own sister. Do not make him the enemy here," she warned. 

Despoina walked towards the door, tired of the conversation already. "I never made him what he already was," she whispered over her shoulder. "I would appreciate some support for my passions, Lilith. If you are unable to grant me that one wish, then I don't belong here." 

I never did.

Without waiting for a response, she gathered her skirts in a tight grip as she sprinted out of the Wright mansion. There was a prophecy she still had to analyze before Marius succumbed to an unfathomable pain. 

* * * * 

By the time Despoina arrived at the Twilight Circus, the show was cut short due to Marius's growing headaches. They managed to pull in strings in their performances that left the crowd dazzled by their stunts. 

Once the curtains were called and the audience had safely left, all crew members gathered around Despoina and the book. As she read the passage from earlier, she noticed the way Marius tensed and turned a shade paler than he already was. 

She decided to interject through their worrisome thoughts. "The prophecy mentions a powerful vampire, someone they deemed the king of vampires," she said, pointing at the line. "Does this reference Marius?"

He began muttering to himself. "How could I be king? But then again, it would answer why a mate bond would break the oath."

"Sir Marius, do you remember what happened right before the oath?" asked Atsuya, stroking his chin. "I think the key to our questions would be in your memories." 

That was when Marius's eyes widened, gaze becoming a glowing red again and a groan escaping him once more. He clutched his head, panting as something internal took possession of his thoughts. It was as if the mention of memories triggered a response from his subconscious mind. 

"Marius," whispered Despoina, reaching out to hold him as he shuddered at the onslaught. "I'm here. Shh."

When her skin touched his, she felt the power as well, felt the tendrils of crimson rising from the ashes of an oath that stole from Marius. She began to feel his burning pain and her eyes flashed with the dreams that tormented her, but in more detail as if she were replaying scenes. 

"What's going on?" she heard Luna scream as a wind engulfed them. 

Growls and yells were heard around them, but it seemed as if no one could impede the circle of wind around Despoina and Marius. They were a mere whisper compared to the roaring. 

Her visions saw a vampire king being dethroned, forced into an oath by those who were envious of his strength, framing him for the mass murder of villages. She saw the agony that Marius writhed in as shadows stripped him of his powers and shackles were placed on his arms. 

It had to be the Vampire Council. They imprisoned them in the Twilight Circus, took away Marius's memories to avoid the prophecy. 

That was when the violent wind fell, a eerie calm ringing in her ears. 

The truth. It was in the open now. Marius wasn't in pain because of a curse. His powers were coming back and so were his memories. Once he met Despoina, their kiss must have broken the shackles of the oath, giving the Twilight Circus their abilities back. 

Marius began to sit up, shaking his head as he stared into Despoina's eyes with deep sadness. "They're coming," he said with a raspy voice.

"Who?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer. 

"The Vampire Council." 

----

Those vampire bastards. Thinking they can hurt our Marius. 

Next chapter will probably be the last one for the short story (maybe). Yes, I know this is very different from what I usually write even in historical fiction. Hope it's still giving you a range of emotions ;) 

What do you think the vampire council has against Marius? 

Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!