“What?” Daphne asked, coming up behind her.
“The tub,” Mamie said, “It should be heavy enough to break at least one of them.”
She turned to the other two, “You two lock the door and make as much noise as possible. Scream, argue, whine, whatever. Daphne, sit down.”
Daphne followed Mamie's instructions as the two started yelling at each other about being chosen to come with Daphne. The words were angry and spiteful, but she blocked them out as Mamie maneuvered her hands apart and flat on the floor behind her. Mamie stood beside her. She felt the leg of the tub strike one of the cuffs with a sharp snapping sound. She closed her eyes praying that no one heard anything over the sound of the two screaming. The tub struck her other cuff twice before she could pull her hands apart. She looked up at Mamie who grinned at her.
Daphne stood and went to get one of them to help get Mamie's cuffs off.
"Hey, come in
The secret passage led to the stables where three horses stood in stalls. Daphne figured it was luck. She took one horse, stroking its head to keep it calm before leading it out of the stables around the side of the building. Mamie shifted into her wolf form first. The other two followed suit and they crept around the building carefully until they reached the forest.“Which way do we go?” one of them asked.“West.” Daphne said, “We should be close enough to see the canyon. Help me up.”Mamie gave her a hand so she could climb a tree nearby. It made her think of her childhood in the forest. These trees were different from the ones near her cabin, but she found her footing and pulled herself onto the lowest branch before climbing higher as Mamie and the women kept watch. She pushed the branches apart and looked into the night, scanning the skyline until she found the dark figures, like a smudge of darkness against the star
Her breathing sputtered and stopped as the panic overtook her. How could anyone find this funny? She watched Mamie’s body move, stilted and jerky, like a crude imitation of the sharp, near unnatural movements of a vampire. The other two women turned and stood beside the vampires who turned them.“Mamie? Mamie, can you hear me?” Her body didn’t move, remaining still and unaffected by her cries. “Mamie!”“She can’t hear you,” the voice said, laughing. “Her body is there but that’s all.”Daphne’s jaw trembled as she looked toward the laughter.“Who are you?” Daphne asked. “How dare you laugh!”His laughter grew louder and slowly, the burning red of his eye cut through the darkness. He walked closer, coming out of the shadows. Daphne froze, shocked at the sight of the man. His face was familiar like an older slightly different version of Owen with a sc
Daphne expected Osborn and Owen to follow them, but she didn’t expect that earned corpses to follow them as well. Their gaits were unnatural, stilted, and stuttering behind the vampires who had turned them. They walked back towards the manor through the cool night. Daphne struggled in John’s hold the entire way, but he ignored her struggling. When they reached the manor, they parted from Owen, Osborn, and the others. John pulled her down a hallway at a deft pace.“What about them?” Daphne asked, her voice trembling as she tried to resist him. “Where are you taking me?”John scoffed, yanking her after him, “They’ll be disposed of as is proper, and you’ll see when we get there, Your Highness.”Daphne turned sharply, fearful and anxious. She dug her heels into the ground, making it harder for him to pull her along.“Let me go,” she said, yanking at his grip. He stumbled a bit as she pull
Blade wasn't sure what it was. It started like a pulling feeling before cracking and almost shattering the night before. The feeling had only continued to get worse. Their bond felt as though it was eroding with every passing breath. Was it the distance or something else? Something had happened to Mamie, but he had no way of contacting her. Their bond changed, but it wasn’t gone. He didn't know what that meant, and it only added to his anxiety.He kissed his son and left him with a servant before going to find Arthur. It was nearing the end of the two weeks and there had been no word about Daphne and her escort making plans to return.He went to the main hall and entered as Arthur let out of a ferocious growl. An Alpha and the young woman at his side stumbled back and away from him. Blade winced at the sight. It seemed they were still trying to entice Arthur to break his bond with Daphne and parading eligible women through the castle to meet him.When were
Nicole woke and headed to Daphne’s suite. She knocked but heard nothing inside. That was strange since Daphne tended to wake up early.She called through the door, “Your Highness? Are you awake?”There was no response. She didn't even hear her heart beating, nor the sound of her breathing. She opened the door and stepped in, finding the room empty. Trepidation filled her as she searched the room. There wasn’t much missing. Most of the things she’d brought with her hadn’t even been moved from their places. Perhaps she was off on a walk or in the library.A piece of paper called her attention from the small table in her parlor. She crossed the room and picked up reading the note before setting it back down. She cast a spell over the note and it revealed that Daphne had written the night before.If she’d intended to return by morning, she would have already been back.So where was she? What p
Nicole reached the queen’s suite quickly, hoping that what she would be dealing with wouldn’t be too bad. She knocked on the door expecting an answer, but none came. A servant she recognized readily opened the door with a grave expression.Mira had been with the August family for years. She knew about Nicole’s relation to Daphne and more than most about the August family. If she looked so grave, Nicole knew it was worse than she could have expected.“Mira?”Mira let her inside and closed the door behind her. Daphne’s scent had changed, leaning a little closer to the scent of a true vampire than before. Given the timing of the change, she was suspicious. They knew of plenty of half-human vampires who had never had the thirst for blood. There were also some who, for one reason or another, had taken on the full change. Those few had a bit of an advantage over born vampires in that they tended not to be sensitive to su
It had been days since Arthur felt the shift in their bond, but the anxiety about not knowing had only worsened. The end of the two weeks was approaching. Was she okay? The woman who had returned had nothing of use to say. If his fears weren’t bad, Blade seemed to be barely holding his peace together. He wouldn’t say much more than his bond with Mamie felt different, but Arthur was keeping an eye on him. Being with his son had seemed to help, so he’d lessened Blade’s time on duty.If only Arthur could step out of his duties until Daphne returned, maybe he wouldn’t be fantasizing about murdering every alpha in the hall for simply breathing.“We’ve lost ten more werewolves,” one of them said with a sigh. “No notes of why or when either. We’re considering increasing the patrol to keep people in the villages.”“They’re probably just worried about the oncoming war,” Diana
Valon watched them carefully waiting for Arthur to say something more. It was obvious that the man was struggling to accept what he was saying, but he was also curious about what sort of werewolf was attached to their queen. From what Kayley told him and what he remembered of Rose, she was sweet and even-tempered and much like Rose in that regard. They never met the human Rose had eloped with, but everyone had a feeling that Lily knew her daughter had never planned to return if things had been different.Was Arthur anything like that human or like his father, Dean?Arthur's face twisted in a feral snarl before he howled, “I don't care about any of that! I just want Daphne back!”Valon smiled, “I was curious after seeing you two in the forest. But you love her. It's good."Of course, Arthur loved Daphne. She was his mate. They were destined to be together. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her. He regretted agreeing to let Daphne go to