The End of Hatred (Etherya's Earth #1)

From USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Hefner

Book 1 in the sizzling enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance saga

These are dangerous times on Etherya's Earth...

Slayer Princess Miranda has hated the Vampyres for a thousand years. Since the Awakening, she's fought to protect her people, choosing to be a warrior more than a royal. When a female Vampyre washes up on the shore of her compound's riverbank, she seizes the opportunity to take the offensive.

Vampyre King Sathan, distraught at his sister's captivity, agrees to travel with Miranda to extract the Blade of Pestilence, also hoping to change his people's state of endless war. Although the woman hates him due to the constant raids on her compound for the Slayers' life-giving blood, he can't help but admire the stubborn and strong princess.

Determined to fight their growing attraction, they forge a tentative truce while Miranda battles the constant yearning to feel the hulking Vampyre's fangs scrape against her neck...

Their faith in each other must remain strong or all will be lost...

The Slayer compound of Uteria, 1,000 years after the Awakening…

Miranda rode her stallion to the clearing by the river from where Kenden had radioed her. She probably should’ve stopped back at the main house and gotten one of the four-wheelers but she had already been riding Majesty and his large, black corpus felt reassuring beneath her. As she neared the clearing, she softly whispered to him.
“Whoa, boy. We’re here.”
With a caress of his silky mane, she jumped down and neared the few soldiers who were crowded around her cousin. Early morning light fingered softly through the clouds, and she could barely see his thick brown locks over the heads of the others.
“Kenden,” she called softly, “what do we have?”
The soldiers parted, and her cousin motioned to her with his arm. As she neared, she huddled down to kneel beside the girl. Hair, black as a raven’s wing, was down to her waist, wet and curled. Extremely pale skin covered her face except for the veins in her head, blue and angry.
“She’s a Vampyre,” Miranda breathed, struggling to keep her composure. “How did she come to be here?”
“She must’ve fallen in the river and hit her head,” Kenden said as he lifted the hair near her nape to show a deep purple bruise along her thin neck.
“How is she not dead? She’s been exposed to the sun.”
Kenden shook his head. “I don’t know, but she’s alive. We have to figure out what to do with her.”
Miranda nodded and stood, wiping her hands on her camouflage pants. “Get her to the castle and put her in the room by the gym. The one with no windows. No one is to see her, and you are to bind her hands and feet. Understood?”
Kenden nodded, reaching down to pick up the Vampyre. She was large, as all Vampyres were, but he lifted her as if lifting a feather from the ground. Such was the strength of the cunning Slayer commander. “Do you want to give her blood?”
“Yes.” Miranda’s eyes narrowed. “Have Sadie bring some up from the infirmary. No one else is to enter her room but you and Sadie. I want you there with me when she wakes.” Walking up to her cousin, she added in a low voice, “And whatever you do, don’t tell Father. He’ll have a conniption if he knows there’s a Vampyre on the compound. She may prove to be useful, and I want to question her before he has the chance to kill her.”
Kenden nodded and loaded the Vampyre woman into his four-wheeler as the soldiers piled in after him. Inhaling a deep breath, Miranda walked back to inspect the site where the woman had been found. The river flowed onto their lands from the main Vampyre compound of Astaria, which was located some forty miles north. It seemed impossible that she could’ve floated the entire way, but in the land of Etherya, these were strange times and peculiar things happened more and more often lately.
“Who are you, Vampyre, and why did you wash up on our shores?” Turning to Majesty, she nuzzled his mane and sighed. “Ready to go, boy?” she asked, jumping onto her saddle, which rested firmly on the horse’s back. “It’s time for me to nurse a f*cking Vampyre.”