Alaric The sound of a bowstring disturbed the silence and Alaric frowned as he watched the arrow hit the mark. Off. He was off by a few inches. He walked back to his supplies and took another arrow, nocking it. His hands were bloodied. He’d been at it for hours. There was no better way to get rid of his anger than imagining his enemies head as the mark. Alaric didn’t think he was mad, but then, most psychos didn’t think they were psychos. Marrying within the family wasn’t new in Lycanthia. The oldest families of royals didn’t believe in tainting the bloodline, and Alaric shared in the sentiment. He could never get around to settling down or choosing himself a bride. Not when his beautiful niece had been born. He’d gazed upon her as a child and known immediately. He’d tried imprinting on her severally, but the connection never snapped into place. It didn’t matter much. He’d already claimed her to be his from the moment he set eyes on her. The soft cru
Gin“Ginevra, open the damned door!” Sinclair yells, furiously ramming into it again and again.My fingers tremble as I pull the drawers open, frantically searching for the car keys. A slight jingle catches my attention and I growl when I see several bunches of keys, all for his many cars in the garage. I push about, just as the house shudders from another one of his attempts at knocking down the door.I sight the familiar silver keyholder of his black sedan and I seize it, locking the drawer and taking the key with me so he can’t follow me.I bolt out of the room and down the staircases, tears rolling down my cheeks. He’ll never forgive me, but that’s great. As long as he’s alive and well enough to hate me. No one knows Alaric like I do. He’s not some dumb idiot. He knows Sinclair will beat him.If he’s still spoiling for a fight, then it’s because he’s sure that whatever he has planned will succeed. Succeeding means I’ll watch my mate die for the second time. It means I’ll die again
NaomiI’m staying, I decide as I walk down the hallway, flanked by four guards, hands tied together behind my back. They lead me down a set of stairs I haven’t explored, and while I memorize the paths, I think of the man with pretty eyes. Last night was the first time in years that I truly wanted something, not to pass time, but because the ever still rivers deep within me had been perturbed. Violently.“There’s a duel tomorrow,” I asked the man. “Will you stay for it?” “I do not care for such things,” he said without looking at me. “You’re in my way.”I’d moved closer to him, stark naked with goosebumps coating my skin. My nipples grazed his shirt, and he stood perfectly still, staring down at me with eyes that told me he was nearly at the end of his patience. “Come tomorrow. I’ll put on a show for you.”That bored look remained, and to get a rise out of him, I inched even closer, crowding his space. My finger trailed up his arm, caressing him. “What do you do, Darian?”“Whatever I
*Ginevra* I shudder as the oily sheen of the portal washes over me, making my stomach queasy. Sinclair pauses as our surroundings materialise, and he suddenly grips my wrist, pulling me back. "What--" The metallic tang of blood fills my nostrils, choking me. I step out from behind Sinclair and stop short in surprise. Seven men surround a petite figure, holding her in place as they secure chains on her. Naomi's blue eyes glow with carnal desire, and a maniacal smile graces her lips. She's covered in blood, and her porcelain skin is stained with droplets of it. I look ahead. Alaric's on the ground, and he doesn't look very good. There's a slash across his chest, and blood sprays from it. The physician is tending to his wounds, and his face is scrunched up in pain. Father stands beside him, his lips drawn with anger and reproach, and I can't help the hope that springs alive in my heart that...maybe...just maybe he could just die and this stupid
The air lightens, for everyone else but me. I am bound by his order, and I watch in horror as Sinclair, free once again, tries to grab me. But I suddenly feel invisible fingers around my neck, choking me. I grab my neck, gasping for breath, and Sinclair halts, snarling at King Fenrir. "Let her go!"King Fenrir leans back in his chair, crossing his ankle over his knee. "Get in the ring then." He looks back at Astrid and Naomi. "Try anything funny, and I'll snap her neck." He snaps his fingers and my head starts to move in the wrong direction. "It's really that easy."Growling, turns in the opposite direction and pulls a sword out of a guard's hostler and he's in the ring before my neck can actually snap.The king's hold on me lessens enough to turn my head forward and watch them and I exhale deeply, breathing hard and sobbing.An elder I recognize--I'm too shaken up to remember what the fuck his name is--starts rambling off the rules that no one ever adheres to. I try reaching Sinclai
The seconds blend together and I’m there, beside my father, unable to breathe, to think a way out—Father’s form begins to morph, crumple, as he shifts. I look up, and the physician is a few feet away, but even I know an arrow in the throat is as fatal as a severed head. Still, I wail and plead. Anything to get it out, anything to get the wound to heal—because it’s not. It’s turning black instead, and it’s spreading so fast, I’m scared to blink, or I’ll lose time again.Father’s eyes, now back to being blue, shift to mine, and for the first time in so many years, I see clarity in them. He starts to talk but blood sputters from his lips, and I place my hands on either of his cheeks. “No, don’t…don’t try to speak.”I feel wet, warm hands on mine, and I look down to see him grasping my fingers tightly. It is odd. It’s been so long, I no longer know what his warm touch feels like, and though it is foreign, I tighten my fingers around his hand, unwilling to let go.In the moments when some
Sinclair“I’ve gotten most of it out, but I’d need to administer the antidote over the next few days. I’d advise you remained at the castle for the time being, lest her condition deteriorates.”“You’re welcome to stay,” the man who I will not call my half-brother says behind me softly, and I ignore him, watching Gin shiver and sob in her sleep. I had barely stepped out of the hall when her body began to spasm in my hands.A quick inspection, and the wound from the arrow stabbed into her shoulder had turned black. Poison. It’d explain why her father died so quickly. An arrow I assume was meant for me.Naomi fidgets by the door, rattling off something to Astrid, even as her gaze keeps darting back to Ginevra. She feels guilty, and that’s a first for Naomi who doesn’t give two fucks about anything or any one else. She talks a lot when she’s nervous, and scared, and right now, even I am frightened. For Gin. She’ll recover from the poison, but I’d never seen her so…lost.A guard suddenly a
SinclairHe walks around his desk, red robe flowing behind him, and he walks past without looking at me. At the last second, he says, "Walk with me, Norman."Norman. The impulse to rip his skin off his bones pounds through me, but I know it'll get me nowhere. I push off the door, trailing behind him slowly as he walks, hand folded behind his back.The silence stretches on for some time before he stops before a huge black door, pressing his palm against it. The door shudders and slides open, revealing a vast orchard. I hesitate at the threshold, but the king continues on, robe dragging across the grass. "If I planned on killing you, you'd be dead already, boy.""You call me boy one more time, I'll kill you," I promise, following behind him.The door shuts with a loud boom and he turns to me. "Give it a try. You know you want to."His eyes taunt me. Try, if you dare, they seem to say. I don't do well with threats or challenges. I lunge for him, my fist connecting with his jaw. The secon