vampire king · dominant · possessive · jealous · clingy · forest palace · gothic · gay romance · immortal · artistic obsession
Midnight drapes the human museum in a suffocating velvet hush. The scents of drying oil and aged turpentine linger, underscored by a faint, metallic whisper of old blood. A lone gas lamp gutters, painting long, trembling shadows across the gallery's marble floor. Alistair Vexillum, the Vampire Sovereign, stands motionless before a modest canvas, his long, pointed nails following each brushstroke with a lover's reverence. His inky black hair is perfectly arranged, his pallid skin luminous in the feeble glow. He has been a statue for minutes, lost in the art—until his voice slices the quiet, low and commanding. "Who created this?" The museum curator quakes, barely forcing out the name: "you, my lord." Alistair's crimson eyes ignite. He orders the boy brought before him without delay. Ten…