Chapter 114


    -Fae-


    “Get ready to move,” I whispered to Angie in my head as I bolted in her direction my agile wolf form


    slipping unseen through the dark. “He’s almost on you


    I was still reeling from what I had seen, but there was no time to think about that now. I spotted the


    shifter that Angie had warned me about, a guard standing a little too close forfort. To my left the


    vampire was making his way towards Ange a disconcertingly hungry look in his eyes.


    “We can’t make a scene!” Angie’s voice in my head was shrill with rm. “That crowd will be on us


    immediately What are you going to do2TM


    She needn’t have asked. A momentter I barreled into the unsuspecting shifter, closing my teeth on


    his shoulder and knocking him to the ground. Shifting on the spot, I brought my elbow down on the


    back of his head, knocking him unconscious before he could make a sound.


    I felt a pang of guilt at the sudden violence. For all I knew, the man could have been under some kind


    of spell or simply looking for a way out. I paused to make sure he was breathing and then turned to


    where Angle was hiding. “Alright, lets go-


    My words caught on my lips when I made eye contact with Angie, who was struggling in the grasp of


    the formidable vampire.


    He had moved faster than I thought possible, closing the distance between him and Angie, and


    wrapping long taon-like fingers around her throat in the seconds it had taken me to take down the


    shifter


    His face broke out into a wide grin when he looked at me, pointed teeth glistening ufortably close


    to Angie’s neck


    “What a lovely gift I’ve been given, he crooned closing his eyes and inhaling deeply


    Angie kicked at the man, but did no damage. He was clearly sturdier than he looked. Stronger too.


    Angie’s feet barely touched the ground while the vampire held her by the throat.


    “Let her go” With no other option. I ran straight at the man ramming into him with my shoulder in an


    attempt to knock him off his feet. The vampire stag gered slightly, hissing at me while I shifted. I caught


    a glimpse of his angry eyes up close.


    The irises I thought were brown in the firelight were actually a deep red. If our vague knowledge of


    vampires was anything to go off of this one was hungry, and possibly hadn’t fed in days.


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    I bared my teeth, growling before leaping at him again. My wolf form was small, but nimble. The


    vampire couldn’t keep his hold on Angie and fend me off at the same time. He loosened his grip on her


    throat and Angie used the opportunity to wriggle free, shifting as she hit the ground.


    The two of us attacked at once, with Angie closing her snapping jaws on his arm, and me tearing into


    his calf. We brought him to his knees, but even in that position, he was far from defeated. The vampire


    swiped a wed hand at Angie, tearing blo ody ribbons into her nk.


    I bit at the swiping hand, hard enough to hear bones crunching between my jaws. The man shrieked,


    an unearthly high- pitched siren that rang through the forest around us. If the gathering wasn’t already


    aware of our presence, they were now.


    But more cries of rm were surging through the crowd and I caught a glimpse of the podium through


    the treeline


    Moments after I had turned the vampire’s hand into minced beef Johan’s b*dy had copsed. His left


    handy disjointed from his forearm again and his severed head rolled right off of the stage.


    The vampire’s eyes widened in horror when he heard the screames erupting from the crowd. “You filth


    matt, what have you


    done


    He wrenched his bloodied hand from my jaws, tearing tendons and muscle tissue with a shrill shriek. I


    wasn’t sure how this vampire and Johan were connected, but I wasn’t about to wait around to hand out


    1105 Fri Jan 26 G.


    Before the man could get to his feet, I nudged the wounded Angle with my snout, pushing her away


    into the forest. “Let’s go.


    Now!


    As we ran, the vampire’s voice rang out behind us. “We’ll meet again, pretty things! I swear on the


    vampires of old. You will be mine!”


    Angie’s voice in my head was manic, spurred on by adrenaline and rage, “Go to hell, bloodsucker.”


    -Unknown-


    The womany in a decadent four poster bed. Her drawn, pale face was rendered almost skeletal in


    the flickering candlelight. From her sour expression, it was clear she would have preferred no light at


    all.


    1 approached cautiously, my robes stirring up the thickyer of dust that covered the marbled floors. I


    had to withhold my disgust at the state of the once-grandiose bedroom.


    Every ancient piece of finely crafted furniture was covered in cobwebs, and moths had eaten through


    the expensive silks. It was a symbol of her failings once grand andvish, now tarnished with age and


    neglect.


    “How are you fairing, mother?” I kept my tone cordial, but I couldn’t help the sneer that curled my lips.


    The woman coughed, a grating, hair-raising sound like nails on a chalkboard. “Let’s not bother with


    formalities.” She tried to lift her head but failed and sank back under the heavy sheets with a


    disgruntled groan Tell me, have we seeded”


    I paused at her bedside, sping my hands behind my back and twisting the sigil ring on my index


    finger. “Everything is going ording to n. The Bielke are losing allies by the day, and many are


    beginning to question their ability to protect


    the shifters.


    The woman’s expression curled into a sneer, her sunken eyes fixing on me. “And what of that idiot,


    Hardin? How can we be sure he won’t turn against us when the dust has settled?”


    “Haedin is loyal to House Tenebre. House Leshia would fall in an instant should he try and turn his back


    on Although, his most recent misstep at one of the gatherings almost cost us the element of surprise.”


    It irked me, having to confess my failings to this frail shell of a woman. Haedin was my head executio


    extension of myself. Any mistake made by my subjects was a failure on my part, as she so loved to re


    Much as I had suspected, my mother snarled at thatment and reached out a wed hand to grip


    my misstep would that bel


    1 swallowed my revulsion, and closed my fingers over her gnarled hand. “Haedin lost himself for a


    moment, n? himself to some Bielke spies. He is prone to unusual fixations, and those two seem to


    have sparked his interest.


    My mother seethed, sinking deeper into the mattress, swallowed up by theyers of bedding that did


    nothing to warm cold, unbeating heart, “We should never have executed this convoluted n! There


    are too many risks. We should kill the Beilke Alpha now. And that despicable Luna of his.”


    “No!” I snapped, nearly crushing her boney hand in my own. “The Luna is mine! Before long, everything


    that wretched man holds dear will belong to me.


    She watched me from under heavy-lidded eyes. Her pupils were a clouded white, her vision failing as


    the nights wore on. I could barely recall the woman she had been before her injuries got the best of her.


    The once-righteous House Lethia had been thorough in their efforts to cr ipple the Aventine bloodline.


    My mother had lived a long time after the initial war, before the Lethia poison began to take its toll.


    “You’re a fool,” She rasped, glowering under thin wisps of ck hair that segmented her face into


    gruesome, translucent patches.


    “We are not working to satiate you and your jealousy. This is about fulfilling the prophecy – your


    birthright is within your reach. Don’t squander at over a filthy mutt that could foil our ns.”


    11:06 Fri, Jan 26 G


    I stepped back abruptly: Fury burning through my veins. “Be careful Morgana. Your time is over, I have


    no use for you anymore. It would do you good to remember who the Lord of Tuchre is now.”


    Rather thais argue further, Morgana sealed her lips, eyeing me with animosity from her vulnerable


    position on the bed.


    I turned my back on the dying woman, striding out of the gloomy room before my anger boiled over.


    “I have a better grip on Haedin now. He won’t fail me again.” I sat over my shoulder. “You know nothing


    of my grander scheme. House Tenebre will reach further than even you and your sick ambition could


    care to imagine.”


    I mmed the heavy doors behind me, bristling with rage.


    The Bielke would be mine. I would rule over both vampires and shifters before the new moon. And I


    would have Ignatius Armoundt dead at my feet.


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