Free Blood Redemption by Tessa Dawn

few days in the fresh air before he met his final
     demise.
    Right now, there was only one thing burning a hole through his curious mind: Who the
     hell was the female?
    And where was she?

    Vanya Demir stood in stunned silence, her fingers still wrapped firmly around the
     outside handle of the door to the Chamber of Sacrifice and Atonement. On one hand,
     she could hardly pull her eyes from the sky, the magnificent splendor of the stars
     and the unmitigated power of the gods. On the other hand, she could hardly look away
     from her wrist.
    A feeling of overwhelming excitement…and dread…enveloped her.
    It couldn’t be.
    It just couldn’t be!
    Had the celestial god, Serpens, chosen her , an original female from a time so far removed, to be the mate of one of Napolean’s
     males? Had this been her fate all along? Had she been chosen that long ago to be the
     mate of a vampire? But how was that even possible? She had been born before the Curse
     even happened.
    She released the door handle and clasped her head in confusion. And then she held
     her arm up once again to stare at the strange, enigmatic symbols etched into her flesh.
    Serpens .
    The god of rebirth.
    There was simply no denying it. But how? Who? Where was the male?
    Was he a Warrior, a Healer, or a Justice?
    Surely, in her case, he would almost have to be a Wizard. She wasn’t sure what she
     felt, and her body began to sway from the overwhelming emotion and confusion.
    She reached once again for the door handle, this time using it to maintain her balance.
     She was just about to tug on the handle, when all at once, a terrifying voice cut
     through the silence like thunder. “Do not open that door, Princess!”
    Vanya spun around. She would know that alluring tone anywhere. The voice belonged
     to Napolean Mondragon. She released the handle and squared her shoulders to face the
     ancient king, her mouth dropping open. “Milord,” she uttered breathlessly.
    “What are you doing out here…in the night…all alone?” he asked, his tone revealing
     his disapproval.
    “I…I was—” She stopped short, preferring to query the ancient king instead of being
     interrogated by him. “I believe, the question, milord, is what are you doing out here
     in the night, all alone?”
    Napolean frowned, clearly having little patience for her diversion. “Marquis called
     me when you arrived at the airfield to let me know you would be coming to the manse.
     When you didn’t show up, I became worried. Then I tracked you here.”
    Vanya sighed. Of course. She should have known that her family would alert Napolean,
     and the king would keep careful track of the time. As was his right, the sagacious
     ruler carried the blood of every member of the house of Jadon in his veins in order
     to maintain a connection with his subjects, and Vanya was no exception. In fact, he
     had practically demanded the blood offering as a concession in order to allow her
     to travel to Romania. As if she could not have pulled rank and insisted. She absently
     turned over her wrist, remembering the day Napolean had drunk from her vein, and she
     was immediately reminded of the sky—and the Serpens Blood Moon. She glanced upward.
     “Have you seen the moon, milord?”
    All at once, Napolean looked as if someone had slapped him across the face. Indeed,
     as if someone had murdered his firstborn child. In a rare moment of unrestrained emotion,
     he reached out, grabbed her arm, and rotated her wrist. His touch was not at all gentle.
    “Your Grace!” she exclaimed in admonishment. “Please.”
    He dropped her arm as if she had burned him, and then he took an unwitting step backward,
     his usual calm and regal demeanor disturbed. “Dear gods, Vanya.”
    Vanya placed her open palm against her chest and fought to collect her breath. “What
     is it?”
    When he didn’t answer—looked as if he couldn’t even maintain eye contact, let alone answer—she knew something was wrong.
    Really,