Prologue
1845
Claremore Monastery
Abloodcurdling scream tore through the sulphur infused air, loud enough to slice through the chaos of battle. Alexander swung his sword with all his might, the blade cleaving through the demon before him. He snarled in its twisted face as the creature staggered and slowly collapsed to the ground.
He watched in disgust as thick, dark blood spilled across the cracked ground. It began to smoke where the blood touched it, hissing faintly before the soil seemed to swallow the blood whole, drinking it down until nothing remained but scorched dirt.
He shouldn’t have been disgusted.
He lived on blood too.
But this place—the hellish plains stretched beneath a red sky, within the veil yawning open between the underworld and the living world—was something far worse. It made even him, a creature who survived on the lifeblood of others, feel almost tame in comparison.
“They keep coming!” Drago shouted over the deafening clash of battle.
The air rang with the sound of swords striking bone, demons roaring, and supernatural beings screaming as the fighting grew more desperate. The demons kept coming, driven by a single relentless purpose to escape hell and invade the world of the living.
They were going to lose this fucking war.
Alexander’s gaze swept over the battlefield. Fallen vampires littered the scorched ground, their pale bodies scattered among the twisted remains of demons. Too many of them.
They were done for.
His eyes lifted to the veil—a colorless sheet suspended between worlds. It throbbed faintly, its edges shimmering with unstable magic.
Were the witches and fairies managing to close it?
He had no way of knowing.
The moment the war had begun, all who had gathered for the fight had crossed through the opening, choosing to fight in the underworld rather than risk the battle spilling onto earth. Everything the demons touched rotted. If they were allowed into the living world, destruction would follow.
Every supernatural race had come to fight for their survival.
Alexander had come for the same reason.
But there was another reason too.
It had been foretold that somewhere in this war, amidst the blood and chaos, he would find his bride.
He didn’t know how.
But Alexander had lived long enough to trust fate, even when it sounded absurd.
His gaze moved across the battlefield again. Vampires from every corner of the world fought in the carnage. Among them he spotted several female vampires moving through the chaos with deadly precision.
Alexander frowned slightly.
How exactly was he supposed to find his bride here?
It was madness.
There was no way he would…
“Look out!” Drago shouted.
Alexander barely had time to lift his head before a massive claw came swinging toward his face.