They left the corridor and headed to Nicole’s office. Kayley and Valon stood at attention near the door as Nicole grabbed a handful of throwing knives. She turned to the remains of the target. She would need a new one. Perhaps she should get a portrait of the duchess and John commissioned for the purpose.
“I want to know who is training John’s militia and what he and the duchess have worked out,” Nicole threw a dagger and it landed just left of the shredded center of the target “I want to know who is on his side and what they offer him. Then, we start dismantling the entire operation. I plan to murder him myself.”
“And the duchess?”
“Either of you is welcome to sever her head from her shoulders,” Nicole threw another knife. “We have a bit of time before she will be able to make a formal appearance, but not much. Get going and be discreet.”
“As always, general.”
<Nicole closed the door behind them with a soft click. Relief blossomed in her heart. The blood bond had failed. They may have some connection, but it was weak and likely destroyed by Daphne’s show of aggression.At least, that was one less thing she had to worry about.“You need more rest,” Nicole said, as Daphne turned pale and stumbled. She guided Daphne down the hallway towards the queen’s wings with quiet steps.Daphne’s eyes darted around the halls, chasing every stray sound and echo like a newly turned vampire. She was quite impressed that Daphne was accessing her powers so quickly. There was a chance she could be trained to wield her magic with precision soon, but Nicole would have to wait until she was feeling better to test that theory.“I’m sorry,” Daphne whispered like a secret. “I… shouldn’t have reacted so harshly.”Nicole shook her head. She certainly had not los
Arthur and Blade led the group of alphas through the forest. Many of them weren't happy about it, but Arthur didn't care. Murmurs about going to their deaths rippled through the ranks behind him, but they were alphas under his command and as long as they wanted him on the throne, they had to obey him.He’d be happy to let them live out the rest of their days squabbling with each other as soon as he had Daphne back. It was taking everything in him to restrain the deep well of fury and madness that was boiling inside him. He was doing only slightly better than Blade who was a nervous, short-tempered wreck when he wasn't with his son.They reached the edge of the werewolf lands and look up at the canyon’s walls. The mists hadn’t appeared again and Arthur was starting to suspect that the mists had always been an illusion of some sort. What other powers did vampires have? Could Daphne do any of that? He looked up to the clear blue sky and sighed. It was cl
The path from the canyon back to the duchess’ manor was long, but it wasn’t exposed to the open air. It had taken a bit to shake the two who had followed him, but once they were gone, he ducked into the hidden passageway and ran as fast as he could through the dark and winding tunnels. He arrived at the wine cellar door and pushed it open to climb through it.“What happened?” The guard standing near the opening asked. “Where are the others?”“Captured by General Steward’s forces. Where is the duchess?”“In her parlor,” the guard said. He led him through the wine cellar and up the stairs onto the ground floor. He passed long tapestries and all the trappings of the duchess’ wealth and power. From down the hallway, he heard someone screaming in agony. They were getting closer to the screaming.When the guard opened the door, the screaming echoed down the hallway.He swallowed. The
Daphne watched John enter and refrained from wincing at the spike of pain that went through her mind. She tried to ignore it, but it only grew the longer she looked at him. John smiled at her. Part of her thought he was almost handsome, but there was a glint of duplicity in his eyes that corrupted his features, turning them just short of nauseating. The pain he caused her made her look away from him before looking at the duchess. The woman was beautiful and regal sitting in her seat with all the air of class and aristocracy, but her eyes were cold despite her warm greetings. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as if she was incapable of feeling anything.Daphne took a shallow breath. Her nose tingled with the scent of blood barely hanging in the air. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, which made sense since they were all vampires, but there was something different about the scent of blood barely drifting through the room.She didn’t know where it was
Three days passed quickly. Then, Daphne found herself in a carriage with Nicole riding to their destination in something like peace. She sat in the carriage looking around it. The carriage seemed familiar.“Have you remembered something?” Nicole asked, looking at her pensive expression.“I've been in this carriage before, I think…”Nicole nodded, “Yes, you have. You rode in this carriage back from the werewolf kingdom when we picked you up nearly two weeks ago.”“No word about the escort that came with me yet?”“No, but the werewolf king has confirmed that they never returned to his kingdom.”“What is the most likely scenario?”Nicole sighed, “From what I knew of the young women who came with you, it is more likely that they tried to leave early for one reason or another, fear most likely and were killed on the way… or worse.”&ldq
No one had time to react much more than to dive out of the way as figures leaped out of the trees. Their eyes glowed red like rogues though they seemed like vampires. They swiped at vampires and lunged at werewolves without discriminating between the two. A few werewolves in their wolf forms jumped out of the bushes from the other side. The humans in the area screamed in panic scattering as Nicole issued orders to get them away and defend Daphne.“Circle up! Get them a clear path and protect the queen!” Nicole called, gritting her teeth. “Kill them if you can and make your way back to the carriages and back to the castle!”“What's the meaning of this?” A general cried, drawing his sword as a small group of werewolves in their wolf forms rushed towards them. “Those traitorous–”Nicole drew her sword and swung in a wide arch cutting through another werewolf that had leaped towards her. She turned to cut through
Arthur leaped up from his place over Mamie and shifted into his wolf form with a flash of light. He roared and jumped back into the fray, struggling to push through the rabid werewolf whether they were in their wolf forms or not. It was the only hope he had to make sure that daphne made it out of here alive and safe.Nicole watched him tearing through the bodies and clenched her draw. He took after his father a great deal. It was a lot like watching Dean tear through the battlefield in a fierce streak of gold. She had fought him once and neither of them had walked away unscathed.The red light in Arthur’s eyes seemed more furious than Dean’s had been years ago. She looked at Daphne thinking back to what Daphne told her about Arthur’s control. Two weeks had probably pushed him to the limit, let alone the blood bond that John had tried to force on her.Based on Daphne’s words, he would fight until he couldn’t any longer so long
Daphne bent over and clutched her stomach. The scent of blood hit Nicole’s nose as Daphne began to cry in great heaving sobs. Nicole cursed as she approached and cast a spell over Daphne to get a sense of what was happening. Lights flickered and rushed around her, circling Daphne’s hands on her stomach, and fear rushed through her.There wasn’t a lot of time.As she thought, the strain had been too much. The baby was barely holding on to life as was Daphne from the rate she was losing blood. The twined violent red of John’s forced blood bond was cutting and tearing through her, causing havoc as it struggled with her bond with Arthur. Her magic was stronger now than it had been then, but it was so focused on preserving the baby’s life that she wasn’t healing herself. If it kept going, Nicole knew there was a chance that Daphne wouldn’t survive. She would be forced to murder most of the vampire nation if that happened.Not