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The Kingdom of Jeradua, nestled perfectly between Heaven of Hell, serves as a haven for all creatures alike; supernatural and human. Creatures inherently evil have a place within the kingdom's gates regardless of the quiet uproars and unapproving stares from the Heavenly beings. The citizens of Jeradua have had to calm and silence their morals along with their religious beliefs when Julius Sinclaire, known for his ruthless conquering and destruction of realms and cities adjacent to the kingdom, forced his way into their tranquil monarchy.

Through his tumultuous rule and tyrant-like behavior, he took a wife that wanted nothing to do with him, leading to further actions that would send the kingdom into impending doom. The most profound being the birth of two sons created out of infidelity and betrayals within the palace walls. One son softened the stone heart of Julius SinClaire. Whereas the other brought certain darkness amongst them all that could only be attributed to his father, sending the entire now complacent Kingdom into fierce rebellion.

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26 Years Ago

I should've known he was a weaver of tall tales when he introduced himself to me as a writer. Instead, I clung to his rope of eloquent words and the flawless way in which his tongue would mitigate my doubts and worries.

Despite his beautiful diction and false promises, it didn't take long for the hard truth to set in; people were liars...and I had awful taste in men. I realized my writer wasn't just a writer, and his rope wasn't just a rope. It was a chain. A chain dragging me into his well of lies so much so that I had no way out besides a teasing ladder of hope he'd dangle in front of me before snatching it away and laughing in my face.

"Fuck. Julius. SinClaire," I cursed through gritted teeth, stabbing at the salad in the brown wooden bowl crafted by one of the servants as a gift for me. Yet another two things Julius managed to destroy without touching; my favorite bowl and my love for chicken caesar salads. He ruins everything. The meal was no longer my go-to when I was feeling down. Instead, it was a reminder that he picked it up on his way home from meetings in the kingdom and sent the servants home early so he could be with his mistress...in our bed.

Feeling disgusted at the thoughts and insecurities running through my mind, I pushed the bowl away from me, making it slide down the barren mahogany table where I sat alone every night unless we had guests over. Yet, even then, I would prefer the company of myself to the superficial characters Julius called his friends.

No longer distracted by the sound of my eating, my ears began to catch onto the distinct sounds around me. The small pitched voices of the giggling fairies outside made me roll my eyes, and I sunk into my chair. Of course, they would be the ones to laugh at someone's despair; it only fueled their scheme-driven minds.

My heart descended lower and lower as I listened to their teasing, but then my ears became alert to another sound. A sound that was much closer to me. I focused on it, but as my ears began to fill with the sounds of moans, I immediately covered my ears and groaned.

It was bad enough that he was sleeping with another woman, but to not have the decency to do it discreetly just further proved that he had zero respect for me. None at all. The now muffled sounds began echoing in my mind until I began to have no reaction to them.

This. This was where I felt safe.

A blank space created by my mind where I was utterly sheltered and numb to my surroundings. In here, I wasn't the wife to a king. I didn't have the responsibility of an entire kingdom on top of my shoulders...I was just me. A me before I met him.

The amount of time I remained in that corner of my mind was unknown to me until light filling the room made me wince, uncovering my ears. My hands fell into my lap as my eyes moved to the rude disrupter of my thoughts, and of course, it was the same perpetrator as always.

Julius.

His arm was firmly planted around Tara, his mistress, and she giggled with her hand over her mouth as she looked at me. "Why are you eating in the dark?" She questioned, adjusting the silk sheet around her body-MY sheet.

The handle of the fork in my hand dug into the table, chipping at the glossy finish as I plastered a plastic smile on my face. "It's not dark. There are candles on the table if you can't see for yourself."

"I can see just fine. Thank you."

We both exchanged a set of forced smiles all the while staring daggers into one another. My gums began to ache, and I felt the piercing tip of my fang emerge as it stabbed my bottom lip. Oh, how badly I wanted to let my instincts take over and snuff the life from her useless body, but I had more to lose than a pitiful husband. Who knows how Julius would react if I killed his precious diamond, as he called her.

Julius released his hold on her waist before taking careful steps to the table towards me. A bold smile played on his lips, and his expressive white brows arched in a challenge for me to show any reaction to the display he exhibited in front of me.

His slow, calculated, and taunting steps circled the table until he was at my side, a crooked smile on his face the entire way. A smile I once used to crave seeing in the morning, now being one I wanted to eradicate from my memory. He perched himself in front of me on the table, making me, in turn, push my chair back, creating a loud screeching noise that made his jaw tick. Of course, he'd be one to get upset at such a tiny thing.

"How did you enjoy your salad?" He asked, making no effort to hide the edge in his voice.

"Well, I didn't eat it, did I?" His eyes moved off of me to the barely touched meal, and he sighed, running his slender fingers through his snowy hair.

"I went out of my way to pick this up for-"

"Don't bother next time," I snapped, my fingers digging into my palm and tearing my skin. A pain minute compared to the rage bursting within me.

He sighed once again and glanced at Tara before studying me. Under his stare, my anger momentarily settled, and I shifted in my seat, avoiding his eyes. I hated how perceptive he could be in the worst moments. Instead of paying any attention to what I had said, his gaze shifted to the fork in my hand, and he gently set my arm on his lap.

He removed the fork from my hand, throwing it aside with a loud clatter, and rubbed the now red spots on my palm. "You need to be more careful, Genesis."

He lifted my hand to his mouth, placing a tender kiss onto my sore skin. Why couldn't he stay like this? I remembered this version of him luring me in with his tender kisses and comforting smile. If he had stayed this way, I would've looked past all of his lies and his past. Regardless of how reckless it may have been.

I moved my hand away from his before he could do anything else and I immediately stood up from my seat to leave. "Wait." Julius gripped my arm before I could walk past him and turned me in his direction. "Tara and I have news."

"What is it?"

His grip on me remained as they exchanged looks, and my frown deepened. Tara remained standing a few feet away from us, but I could distinctively see her glances directed at where Julius was holding me. The wrinkle in the fabric from her grip was enough to see how affected she was.

"You might want to have a seat for this," Tara said as her eyes made their way back to mine. As if springing into action, she pulled out another chair on the long table for me to sit; a chair a few seats from where Julius was.

Denying her gratuitous offer, I sat back down in the chair I was previously in and crossed my arms, silently waiting for their news. What could they possibly have to tell me...and why was it together?

"Well," Julius began, sneaking another momentary glance at his precious diamond, who looked like a rabid raccoon wrapped in white silk. Her silver hair was flying in every direction, but the one leading to the exit... "Tara is pregnant."

I froze at his words, and my throat began to heat. I looked between them in confusion as my ears became fiery, but neither of them seemed to care much. They celebrated in front of me as if they hadn't already done it in private and weren't just rubbing it in my face.

A needle, followed by another, and another...pierced my heart as their news replayed in my mind. She's pregnant. She had been able to give Julius the one thing I had been trying to for years.

My eyes moved back to Julius to see a giant grin on his face as he kissed her hand, just like he did mine.

Tears stung my eyes as I watched them, but I didn't dare let them fall for fear that he would enjoy seeing them. "We're naming him Felix!" Tara said as she bounced up and down in her spot, a pig-like scream escaping her lips.

As if I couldn't be broken anymore, there was yet another needle-no, not a needle...this was an ax. Sure, Tara wanted to name the child Felix, but I did first. It was the name Julius and I discussed after my grandfather's death.

"Are you serious?" I directed at Julius, my voice not much higher than a whisper.

"Very." He sighed. "Unfortunately for you, this is bad news. I need to marry Tara, and you are aware divorce will make me lose support from your people."

That it definitely would. One of the focal reasons Julius targeted me was because I was already the Princess of Jeradua. After marrying me, the Kingdom calmed their pursuits of trying to dethrone him. So long as I was happy with him, the kingdom was delighted...I wondered what they'd think now if they knew the truth.

"You deserve to lose support," I spat. "After all you've done to me and my family..."

"Your family is fine, and they will remain fine," he assured me as his eyes focused on mine with seriousness and intent. "So long as you remain in order."

"Julius-"

"Genesis." His voice was stern and held no room for argument, making me bite my tongue. "You don't understand. For me to marry Tara, I need you to be gone."

"You're asking me to leave?!"

"No, I'm asking you to die."

"What..."

"You heard him-"

"Tara," he called in a softer tone than the one he used with me. "I'm speaking to my wife. She won't be here much longer, so I urge you to hold your tongue."

Her face fell at what I could only assume the word "wife", and if I weren't so shocked about everything else, I would have laughed. She firmly held her lips together and looked back to the ground, obeying his request. What a tool.

"You want me to die..." I sniffled, still not allowing myself to shed any tears in front of him.

"It's not that I want it, but it is necessary. Think of your family, my love. How would you feel if they were to die because of your selfishness?" He tucked a black strand of hair behind my ear, and I flinched away from his touch.

"The Kingdom wouldn't allow it. Heaven would ally with Jeradua, and you would surely be destroyed if you were to harm them or me."

"Not if they believe that you took your own life, my love."

"I would never..."

Julius's hand flew to his face, his shoulders immediately slouching as weeping noises sounded from him. "I had no idea she was feeling this way...I-it's my fault that my wife's beautiful soul no longer belongs to this realm." His hand dropped, the previous sad facade now gone, and now looking straight at me with a blank expression. "I should've paid attention to the signs..."

"No one would believe you."

"I think I'm believable." He shrugged. "Wasn't I, Tara? The precious woman who nurtured me back to life after my wife's untimely death."

"It's very believable."

Kiss ass.

As annoying, pathetic, obtuse, man steal-...she was right in a way. Julius was a writer. Meaning he could concoct a story from the top of his mind and make anyone believe it. It wouldn't take much brainpower from him to spin a narrative such as this one to the kingdom.

He was just good at what he did.

"After you die," he spoke. "Maybe your family was in such despair that they one by one...took their own lives as well?"

"Don't bring my family into this." My mouth ached once more to attack the both of them, but Julius, being a much stronger vampire than I was, would kill me even before I got the chance to stand.

"Your family is very much in this," he said, leaning closer to me until I could feel his warm breath against my cheek. "Your family is the only thing tying this kingdom to a world before me. With them gone, I could create a new legacy. A new era. One where-"

"I don't give a fuck," I whispered, stopping his overzealous monologue before it had a chance to bore me to death. "Kill me if you must, but leave my family alone. I'll tell them to leave Jeradua and you can have your legacy. Just-"

He sighed. "That's not good enough for me. I consider you all a package deal, meaning when you die, they die."

"Why? I don't even speak to them anymore because of you."

"I'm aware. And how sad that must be for you." His small smile was full of sympathy, but he was the only person I knew that could switch it off as quickly as he wanted. "Such hatred for my kind-well, our kind now..." he chuckled. "...leading them to abandon their only daughter."

My eyes looked to the floor and all the life drained from my body at the mention of my parents. We were no longer in contact, but I still loved them more than words could explain. Even if they didn't feel the same about me anymore. Like most of the kingdom, they were vehement followers of God and the angels and didn't have any room in their hearts for an Underworlder such as myself. It took me years to earn back the hearts of the kingdom, yet I couldn't do the same with my mother and father. Even if I was their only child.

Regardless of their feelings for me and how much it wounded me, they wouldn't be dying any time soon. Not so long as I had any power in it. Julius was a spinner of lies, but that wasn't a title that was exclusive to him. Just as he mimicked my actions to lure me into his web, I could do the same.

"You cannot kill me, Julius." I stared at my hands in my lap, pushing down my nervousness.

He bellowed, throwing his head back dramatically. "And do tell me why that is."

"I'm pregnant," I lied. His laugh came to a halting screech and a loud gasp from Tara echoed in the large dining room.

"She's lying!" Tara yelled.

"I am not."

"It's not a coincidence that she's saying she's pregnant after I just did. She's only saying it so you won't kill her!" I was truly surprised by her quick deductive skills, I never believed she could be so smart. My mind began to mentally praise her for how quickly she figured it out until I remembered whose baby she was pregnant with.

Stupid girl.

"I'm pregnant," I repeated, in a clear and stern voice this time. A voice lacking any doubt or room for question. "I would have told you sooner, but I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Julius questioned in a small voice, crouching on the floor beside me in the chair I was seated. He looked up at me with inquisitive eyes and I cleared my throat before meeting his eyes. I knew he was only doing this to fluster me and find out if I was truly lying or not, but he wouldn't succeed. This time I had more than just his anger to fight against.

I needed to fight for my life, and the lives of the people in my family.

"Afraid that you'd be upset?" I looked deep into his eyes. "You've been busy with Tara and I-I didn't want to interrupt."

His eyes shifted as he searched mine for a few long moments, and I kept my eyes on his. "Shit," he cursed. I ignored the swell of victory in my chest that I had been convincing enough and exhaled my nervousness.

"She's lying to you!"

"Tara, that's enough."

"We had a plan, Julius," she whined.

"Tara, enough!" He snapped at her. "We will go to a warlock tomorrow and check on her pregnancy. Until then, your fate remains undetermined, Genesis."

"Wait, a-a warlock tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yes, is that an issue?" He interrogated, taking a step towards me with a raised brow. "If you are pregnant as you say, then it is no issue at all, right?"

"Right."

"If you are lying to me, I won't hesitate to kill you and everyone you love," he threatened. "You know this, correct?"

"Of course."