Every year, the harvest comes. And every year, the vampires choose.

Eighteen-year-old Isla never paired, never bred, never followed the path carved out for human girls. Instead, she was drawn to the cold, to the mist, to the forbidden castle on the hill. 

Now, she knows why.

It's him. It's always been him. Prince Aeron, the first of his bloodline. He is ancient, devastatingly handsome, and cruelly dangerous. He chooses her to be his human. His pet.

Or so she thinks.

Isla is more than just another toy. Marked by a forgotten rune, bound by a curse older than the vampire throne itself, she is the only one who can break the darkness that's creeping up on Aeron.

As Isla descends deeper into the quiet shadows of Aeron’s world, where pain is worshipped, obedience is pleasure, and desire can be more dangerous than death, she begins to question everything she’s been taught about the masters who rule her world.

Chosen by Darkness

Chapter 25

**Isla**
My mother hugs me and holds me tightly while she weeps. I look over her shoulder at my father who is regarding me with a disgusted scowl. I know he never approved me, it’s why he rarely acknowledged me as his daughter, but he never looked at me this way - like I’m a slimy bug on the bottom...

**Isla**

My mother hugs me and holds me tightly while she weeps. I look over her shoulder at my father who is regarding me with a disgusted scowl. I know he never approved me, it’s why he rarely acknowledged me as his daughter, but he never looked at me this way - like I’m a slimy bug on the bottom...

CHAPTER 20