Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter One

Grace

“I can’t have ruby blood.” I looked down at my phone on my knees, checking the time.

4:30 pm. The officials from the Estone Testing Facility were supposed to call me with the results of my blood tests by 5 pm. Time flew by excruciatingly slowly when one was waiting for important news.

Mom turned on the old chandelier, brightening our living room. The five imitations of candles set in the structure lit up, easing the darkness of the October dusk just beyond the windows.

Rain clouds had been gathering all day, creating an atmosphere of doom and gloom. The world waited for rain just as I was waiting for information that could change my fate.

“Love,” Dad clapped his hand on his knee, taking my attention away from my anxious thoughts. “Any human can have ruby blood. So it is possible that your blood is special and has the ability to ward off the insanity vampires suffer from when they live for over a hundred years.”

“I’m not special.” I shook my head, the bangs of my long black hair falling into my eyes. I tucked the unruly strands behind my ears. “There hasn’t ever been anybody outside the twenty Families who has tested positive for ruby blood – the blood most delicious to vampires. That reality won’t change today.”

My head hung low, my gaze landing on the gray skirt I was wearing. I gripped a handful of the fabric. Just as the weather was bleak today, so too was the outfit I had chosen to wear.

I wasn’t happy; anxiety and fear were eating at me. Did I want to test positive or negative for ruby blood? My feelings were a storm. I wasn’t even sure what I felt.

The fabric of the skirt was so thin, nearly threadbare from years of wearing the outfit almost every day. My gaze wandered to the old-fashioned carpet that took up our whole floor, marked with holes and frayed edges. I next looked at our mismatched furniture, all acquired from garage sales.

“You are special, my child.” Mom plopped down next to me. The sofa groaned, as if complaining about still being used despite the fact that it was broken and damaged. “You will always be our daughter – the most amazing child in the world.”

I sighed but squeezed her hand as she rested it on my knee. “I love you too.” I put all the warmth I felt towards my parents into words. “I’m afraid of testing positive, but at the same time a part of me wishes I had ruby blood. If I did, a rich vampire noble would take me as his wife and we would never have to worry about having money for food and bills ever again.”

Mom shook her head. “I’d rather you marry someone you love; a good human boy who will help you run the shop when Dad and I are gone.”

I nodded, imagining the future she pictured for me: a good guy who would work alongside me at my parents’ grocery store, a group of happy children to inherit the store from us one day when we were ready. That future didn’t sound bad. Was running the store with that imaginary man and our kids the life I was destined to have?

Would I finally stop feeling like a piece of me was missing if that future came true?

My parents ran a grocery store, a business they loved just as much as they loved me. After graduating from school, I had started working with them as a shop clerk.

The business barely paid for itself, but my parents would never dream of closing the place. They had dedicated their whole lives to the store. They loved chatting with clients every day and selling everyone exactly what they needed. The shop was their pride and joy.

I had recently turned 21; the age at which every human in the Estone Kingdom had to be tested for having ruby blood, a special kind of blood that was highly sought by the vampire nobles. Its magical properties showed up in humans only when we reached that age.

“Of course I want to stay with you and have a life here at the store more than anything.” I straightened the wrinkle I had made in the fabric of my skirt. “But don’t you think it would be good if I had ruby blood? If I married a vampire and solved our monetary problems?”

“We just want you to be happy,” Dad said. “If you have ruby blood and need to leave us, we will accept that outcome. You must find your own path, Grace.”

“It’s not like I’ll have much of a choice. If I test positive for ruby blood today, I’ll have to marry a vampire noble, a stranger, and make the best of things. If I test negative, then my life can just continue as is,” I sighed.

“Don’t worry about us.” Mom squeezed my hand again. “Even if you have to leave us, put your happiness first. You may not be able to marry for love, but love can come to you regardless.”

What was she talking about? Did she really think I could fall in love with a vampire, a man much older than me and so different from a human?

Falling in love with a vampire sounded so bizarre.

I opened my mouth to ask her to elaborate, when the doorbell rang – a screeching sound that made me jump up in my seat. One of these days I would have the hellish device changed to something with a soothing melody. Right now the bell announced every guest that came to our house like they were an enemy to be feared and avoided.

“I’ll get the door,” I rose before anybody else could, putting my phone on the coffee table.

I ran to the front door, the floorboards creaking under my feet.

I peeked through a slight crack in the door that would just barely let me see who stood on the other side.

My eyes widened at the sight of a tall man in a black leather jacket and black pants. I opened the door further to get a good look at him.

He had to be the largest man I had ever seen – easily 6 feet 4 inches – and the most muscular one, his bulging muscles clearly visible under the black leather jacket and tight-fitting black pants. However, the most important feature of note had to be his hotness, which was beyond words. The features of his face were made harsh by a hawkish nose and pronounced cheekbones. This face was not one many would call handsome, but to me he looked incredible.

I felt immensely drawn to our guest; there was a pull I had never experienced towards anybody else before.

I got the feeling that I had seen this person before. I couldn’t place where though. Curious.

The man’s skin was pale, but only when he opened his lips and I saw his fangs did I connect the dots. This wasn’t an ordinary human man, but a vampire.

“Grace Milton?” A baritone voice asked me.

I loved the timbre and the way he said my name. He had a voice I could listen to for ages.

My mind fuzzy with the attraction and lust towards this man, I could only nod.

“You’ve tested positive for ruby blood,” the vampire said as if the news were the most obvious thing in the world.

My mouth gaped open. I had ruby blood? How was it possible? I was just a Milton, a girl from a poor background – not a member of one of the prominent human Families of Estone. How could I, of all people, be the first commoner in decades to test positive?

The vampire’s expression didn’t change. He had an aura of calmness to him but also darkness with his deep gaze and the lack of a smile. His demeanor pulled me towards him like a magnet yet warned me of danger at the same time.

He waited patiently for me to calm down and process the information, not bothered by my shock one bit.

“Wait, why did you come with this information in person? Wasn’t the Estone Testing Facility supposed to just call me?” I arched my eyebrows. “The nurses didn’t tell me the procedures would be different if I tested positive. Who are you?”

He had come to my doorstep, and knew my name… however, he didn’t look like a member of the facility’s staff. I hadn’t seen anybody like him when I had gone in for testing. I would have remembered this man who was making such a strong impression on me.

Also, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d seen the vampire before? My mind went through faces of people I knew, but I couldn’t connect him to any name.

Why did I think I had met him before? I had never dealt with any vampires while leading my quiet life. The only opportunity when I might encounter them was when they passed me on the street, but they didn’t frequent this area of the capital where poor and average humans lived. Our blood wasn’t of any interest to them, and they didn’t need groceries from us either.

“I’m Silas Hoyt,” the man said in the same baritone voice, his expression not changing.

I yelped, covering my mouth.

He was the Silas Hoyt – the first prince and heir to the throne of Estone? A royal vampire stood here before me? Now I knew where I had seen him before – on the covers of magazines and on TV. The realization froze the blood in my veins.

He was a hundred-and-twelve-year-old vampire and a hero of the last war between Estone and the neighboring country of Rosworth; a brutal, cold and ruthless man who had no mercy for his enemies – a dangerous killer.

He stood in front of me, unfazed by my reaction. This man was the richest person in the country, followed everyday by paparazzi who wanted to learn every single detail of his life. I took a look behind him but all I saw was a black limousine that looked brand new and another vampire, dressed like a butler, standing in front of the passenger door.

No photographers in sight. No cameras. So I wasn’t on some prank or reality show titled ‘A Poor Human Woman Meets the Richest Vampire in Estone’.

Here I was lusting after the worst man I could possibly want to pursue. I couldn’t long to be intimate with a person who ruthlessly killed his enemies.

So then why, when I took another look at his face, did I suddenly realize that his identity didn’t change the attraction I felt towards him at all?

I must be going insane.

“Alright then, Mr Hoyt,” I put my hands on my hips, trying to show a brave front. He still hadn’t explained why he had come to my doorstep.

The vampire raised a hand, interrupting me. “Just Silas will do.”

“Okay, Silas,” I felt strange addressing his royal highness so personally, but I couldn’t refuse his request – not with our social status difference. “For some reason you know I have ruby blood, and you have come to my home to… do what, exactly?”

“I want you to marry me.”

Even when he said these words that tilted my whole world on its axis, his tone and expression didn’t change.

I blinked once, then twice. I looked past Silas again to make sure there really wasn’t anybody filming this moment. Nobody was there though. It was just me and Silas and that butler standing at the door of his car.

“You just… proposed… to me…” I mumbled, trying to process this turn of events.

Silas – the most important person in the country after the king, a vampire much older than me – wanted me for his wife.

People with ruby blood weren’t that rare. Every month at least one new person was identified as having the special quality. The prince could have chosen a bride from one of the elite Families instead of coming here to wed me – plain, simple Grace.

What the hell was going on?

“Why me?” The words were barely a whisper, though they still carried the weight of the storm in my heart.

“I saw your photo in the report I got from the Testing Facility. I took a liking to you,” Silas shrugged, like his explanation was the most obvious thing in the world. “And I have to marry someone with ruby blood to ward off insanity.”

Might as well be you – he didn’t say those words, but he might as well have.

He hadn’t put much thought into this decision, had he? He had merely seen a photo of me and liked me… and that little incentive was apparently enough for him to propose?

I was of medium height and had a slim build, my body not very curvy. I had long, straight black hair that fell down my back, and a petite face with large, light blue eyes. I had never considered myself much of a beauty, though I knew I wasn’t ugly either.

I was just myself, yet for some reason I had attracted the attention of this rich and hot royal vampire.

Since he was one of the most important men in the country, I couldn’t refuse his proposal. I couldn’t risk the wrath of the royal family falling upon my parents and myself.

As I had told Mom before, if a vampire lord wanted to marry me, all I could do was accept his proposal and make the best of my arranged marriage.

When Silas had chosen me as his wife, my fate had already been sealed. Now all I had to do was follow him to the altar blindly and live the rest of my life serving him as his partner.

I held back a grim chuckle. Mom had said I could fall in love with my vampire husband, but I couldn’t see myself falling in love with Silas Hoyt. Sure, I was attracted to him, and that fact would make… serving him in bed easier. The thought didn’t appall me as much as it would have if someone who I found disgusting had chosen to marry me. Silas was at least easy on the eyes.

I would become his wife. This fate was my reality now. I couldn’t do anything else but say yes.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I accept your proposal.”

Gasps came from behind my back, and I turned around to see my mom crying and my dad holding her in his arms, whispering that everything would turn out alright. They must have come to see who was at the door after waiting for me to return to them

“Pack your things. The wedding will be tomorrow. The limousine will take us to the royal palace.” When I turned back around to face Silas, he gestured to the car behind him.

One corner of his lip was slightly raised. Silas smiling, even so subtly, was a sight I had never seen before – neither on TV nor on the covers of magazines. He was always pictured with a grim expression, a dark and brooding aura around him.

He was actually pleased that I had agreed to marry him. Well, why did that fact surprise me so much? He had chosen me after all, and I had given him no resistance to accepting his proposal.

Why did my heart feel so warm at the sight of him smiling?

I shook my head, pushing away the strange feeling. I walked into the house and up the stairs to my room, hearing my parents inviting Silas to the living room behind me. I tried not to think, not to panic, as I packed the few possessions I had and wanted to take with me to the royal palace – the place which I would soon call my new home.