arielynn24

For the first time since he had met Damien himself, Elian was rendered speechless. “Good evening, Mr. Tepes. I hope I wasn’t intruding on both of your rendezvous?” His mouth sputtered and stirred. If his tutor were there to witness his epic fumble of english vanaculor, she would have slapped a ruler on his wrist until he spoke correctly. “But. . . how did you—” “You think you need eyes and ears to know what goes on in the world? These very walls have souls, Mr. Tepes. With

A voice told Elian to have breakfast in the dining hall that morning. He himself wasn't expecting anything different, but the hunch feeling that he should kept gnawing away in the lining of his stomach alongside his hunger that he could not ignore any longer. After putting on his attire, he followed Maureen into the dining room as usual. A few attendants in the corridors greeted him along the way, which was strange. Usually, they paid him and Maureen no mind. The energy within the manor

"I'd like to visit the greenhouse today. Maureen." Maureen had just been about to escort Elian back to his room after breakfast. For today, they served him week old salmon, and watery rice with fruit spread around his platter. All he cared for to eat was the fruit and three bites of the salmon, so his stomach did not die of starvation before his next unsightly lunch and dinner. It had been three whole days since Elian's last talk with Damien. He did not show up to dine with him as Elia

Elian hadn't thought much of what he'd say or do once he finally crossed paths with Damien, and the situation was so unorthodox that he severely wished he had. Damien's eyes scanned Elian top to bottom as if he were reading text on a page. They finally landed back on Elian's face, though something was different about them. The pupils were wide and full of something intimate, before relaxing once more. Damien stood just a bit shorter than Mr. Quinby, but no less ruling. H

Elian believed that after the debacle of yesterday evening, he would finally get the chance to court Damien Pearce during breakfast the next morning. Only that did not happen, because Damien Pearce did not show. "No matter", he thought. Breakfast wasn't his preferred meal of the day either, even if the meal was blood. Elian forced down half a stale, overcooked biscuit and buttermilk before taking his leave prematurely. By lunchtime, Maureen presented Elian with a br

The air turned colder. Elian blinked, all the warmth of his imagination draining at once, replaced by a name that settled in his stomach like a stone. "Their name... his name, is Damien?" "Yes, that is the young master's name. Weren't you informed that the master's offspring was a man?" He caught himself from gnawing at the beds of his nails. "No, I was not informed of this. . ." "I see. So, as your ambitions changed then, Elian Tepes? Shall I se

"Remember, Elian. When you arrive, you are to do everything they ask of you, understood?" Elian nodded, "Of course, Father." "I mean it. It doesn't matter what they ask of you; you do it. Even if they ask to have their way with you, or . . . want to feast upon you. Under no circumstances are you to refuse them." "Yes, father. I have already made peace with this fact many moons ago. I understand this sacrifice is for the sake of Emily." Mr. Tepes steered his eyes outside the c

"My Lord, the carriage awaits you." His attendant's voice felt like someone was scraping a cheese grater against his head and kept sawing away. His eyes peered towards the long, lavish corridor that ended with a tall mahogany door decorated in purple wisteria, Emily's favorite. The smell floated over his nostrils like the cows that jumped over the moon in the storybook he'd read her back when she was a young babe. Their voices would entwine in song, as though the melody had alwa

In a plague-ravaged duchy, Lord Elian must convince Damien Chamberlin to offer and accept his hand in marriage before their engagement ball on the night of the first blood moon of the century. This union could save his people and his younger sister, who has been in a coma for nearly two months. Damien rarely appears, sending doll-like servants, but Elian soon discovers he is not the monster he feared—beautiful, strange, and hiding something… familiar. Bound by duty yet drawn to each other, Elian must choose between love or the lies he tells himself.

In his final year of college, Kian Munoz is a driven film student desperate to land a prestigious Manhattan internship under his idol, legendary director Samuel Gray. The opportunity requires a glowing recommendation from someone with elite status in his school’s production group. When Kian learns that Samuel’s son, Jonah Gray, is also a student, he sets out to befriend him. Jonah’s known for being warm and sociable—so this should be easy. It isn’t. After one long night out, Jonah’s first words to Kian are simple: he hates him.