by CoraLee June
“We’re on our own,” I said brightly. I was really into this whole thing Diego and I had going, but I preferred that he wasn’t there. I wanted to earn my success, and that was going to be easier if Claire didn’t feel the pressure of having the king glaring at her.
“Can I get my budding entrepreneurs a glass of wine?”
“Nope,” I said, standing up from the couch. “We have a lot of work to do, and we won’t be able to concentrate with your sexy ass here. Plus, I need to get some actual sleep tonight.” I shooed him toward the door.
“Okay, okay,” he chuckled, throwing his hands up in the air. When we got to the door, he bent down to give me a kiss. “You’re going to be amazing tomorrow. I’ll see you after, and we can celebrate.”
I giggled as he emphasized the word celebrate and wiggled his eyebrows. Diego and I had been going at it constantly. He was attentive and sweet. I’d never felt this level of intimacy with anyone before, and it felt so sucking good. We hadn’t said I love you yet, but I knew it was coming. Our romance felt like a serendipitous whirlwind, and even though I still felt some level of uncertainty about our connection, he eased my worries by taking the time to get to know me outside of our strange connection.
Yesterday, he brought me brunch in bed. This morning, he had my favorite flowers delivered. And a couple of days ago, he took me to the park for a picnic when I told him the community center used to be my haven growing up. He got me. He truly got me. I was going to miss having him in my bed tonight, but tomorrow was too important to me and to Betty. I watched him walk down the hallway, admiring how good his ass looked, before closing the door behind him.
“How about that wine?” I asked, turning back to Betty.
She smiled, and it was the first time I’d seen her look…happy. “Yeah. Thanks. I’d really like a glass,” she said. But it felt like there was more there.
“Coming right up,” I replied with a grin.
I tried not to pick at the outfit Betty chose for me. She had T-shirts made with our new Lickity Spit logo on it, but mine was very tight. Too tight. “Stop fidgeting,” Betty said before swatting my hand. Rocky was marching behind us while carrying everything we needed for our pitch in a cardboard box. I’d caught him staring at Betty’s ass a few times.
“Here we are!” Betty exclaimed before stopping in front of the office building Claire told us to go to. Apparently, a lot of the vampires had offices here, and it’s where a lot of business was conducted. “I’ll take that,” she said before winking at Rocky and taking the box from his hands.
“Mind staying outside, honey? You’ll distract me otherwise,” Betty purred while petting Rocky’s chest. I averted my eyes to give them some privacy. Betty and I had discussed this last night. Even though Rocky was an awesome bodyguard, we didn’t want him sitting in on the pitch with us. We truly wanted to do this on our own.
“Diego said I have to stay with Lady Drew at all times.”
Betty clicked her tongue. “You’ll still be with her. Just on the other side of the door and a few floors down.” She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll do that thing you like…”
Rocky’s eyes widened, then turned dark. “Oh?”
I really didn’t want to listen to this, but I was letting Betty do her thing. She leaned in and whispered in Rocky’s ear. The tips of his ears turned bright red. “Okay, but I’m holding you to that,” he said to Betty. “I’ll be right downstairs if you need me.”
“Relax, Rocky. We’ll be fine. We’re meeting with Claire. Now scoot,” I said, waving him away with my hands. Rocky leaned down and gave Betty a kiss, and she smacked his ass as he turned to leave.
“Good luck,” he called over his shoulder and disappeared behind the door.
I took a deep breath and smiled at Betty. “Let’s do this.”
“Don’t fuck it up,” she replied, already halfway to the door to Claire’s office.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and sprinted ahead of Betty to open the door for her since she was still carrying our box of prototypes. I barely cracked the door open when I heard voices coming from inside, and it sounded like they were fighting.
“What are you waiting for, open the d—” Betty started to say. I held up my hand to silence her.
“Do you hear that?” I whispered.
“You made me look like a fool in front of the entire coven, Claire,” a deep voice boomed. “I’m tired of being your scapegoat. You want to take Diego down? You need to do it yourself.”
Betty’s eyes widened.
“These things take time, Graham. Diego trusts me. The future queen trusts me. I’m right where I need to be. Keep them focused on you so I can get things moving.”
“What is your plan exactly?” Graham asked. “I mean seriously. I thought I was going to be your right hand when this was over.”
“And you will be,” Claire insisted. I felt anger like I’d never felt before burn through me. My indignation on Diego’s behalf burned white hot. “I’m aligning the council. Once I’ve had Diego killed, they’ll realize that the monarchy is a dated practice. His mate is a disgrace. A fledgling queen? Please. Everyone will be thrilled to be rid of him. He must die before he can continue the royal line. It’s time to end this, Graham.”
“But my reputation.”
“Sacrifices must be made!” Claire screamed so loud that I jumped backward, jostling the box of prototypes in Betty’s hand, and in a cruel twist of fate, one of my vibrators started going nuts.
“Do you hear that?” Claire asked. Betty dropped the box, letting the contents spill on the floor, and she grabbed my wrist, jerking me out of there. We were halfway to the door that would bring us down to Rocky when Claire appeared in the doorway that Betty and I had been hunched behind just moments before.
Graham was only steps behind her. “Fuck!” he called out when he saw me. “This is fucking perfect.”
“It’s a pity you had to hear that,” Claire cooed. The twisted smile on her face contorted her normally beautiful face into something that nightmares were made of. Claire looked in the direction of the traitorous vibrator that gave us away, its buzzing amplified against the concrete floor. She crossed over to pick it up and switched it off. “Well now, we won’t be needing this anymore.”
If I didn’t have the crushing feeling that Betty and I were about to be murdered, I would have found the sight of Claire holding a vibrator and smiling like a maniac hilarious.
“Knock her out before she has a chance to mind link Diego or compel us.”
Oh shit. Yeah, that was a good idea I should totally compe—
Graham surged forward. His fist connected with my temple, and the world went black.
Drew
Help…me…
Where are you?
I don’t know.
“She’s awake,” Claire’s voice said. I blinked twice. My vision was blurred, and there was tape pressed over my mouth. She appeared in front of me and used the tip of her shoe to tilt my chin up so I could look at her. “You’ll have to forgive the tape. We can’t have you compelling us, hmm?”
I moaned against the tape.
“You cunty whore,” Betty growled. She was tied up with chains beside me, struggling against them in her pencil skirt and Chanel pumps. “I never liked you.”
“The feeling is mutual. I never wanted to keep you alive,” Claire said while dusting her hands off on her pant legs. “But I was hoping you’d go crazy and cause trouble for Diego. Too bad you aren’t nearly as insane as my informants told me.”
“Oh, I’m one crazy bitch, and you’re about to get a front row seat to just how sucking crazy I am.”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Gag her, please,” she said to Graham, and he placed tape over Betty’s mouth. She didn’t go down without a fight, though. She nearly bit his finger off as he struggled to restrain her wild mouth.
I took a moment to look around. We were quite obviously in a dungeon. The grime-covered bricks lined every wall, and
torches were the only source of light. It was like a crypt.
Drew…where…a-are you…
I could barely make out Diego’s voice in my mind. It was like driving through a tunnel and losing reception. I didn’t understand. “He won’t hear you. Not well, anyway,” Claire said while polishing her nails on her shirt. Betty was gagged and fuming. “We’re deep in the crypts below the compound. Witches spelled it long ago. Not even a fated pair can communicate down here.”
“Why?” I managed to croak out through my gag. Maybe if I could keep her talking long enough, I could come up with a plan to get us out of here. I hoped she would take the bait.
“Why?” Claire laughed. “I am one of the oldest vampires left on this planet. I have centuries of wisdom and experience, but all I will ever be is a council member because I wasn’t born to royalty.” She spat.
I watched her with wide eyes, willing her to keep talking. Betty was thrashing wildly against her restraints and making garbled noises that resembled curse words. I made a mental note to never get in a fight with Betty; she was one scrappy granny.
“Diego isn’t fit to be king. But because he has a penis and the right bloodline, the coven is automatically his. As a feminist, Drew, I would think that you would be inclined to agree with me.”
I cocked my head to the side and considered the words she said. I mean, she wasn’t wrong, I was all for smashing the patriarchy. But seeing as Claire was the one who had me tied up and gagged, I was going to stick with Diego on this one.
“Now, let’s put your fated bond to the test, shall we?”
Graham, who had been oddly quiet throughout this whole ordeal, took that as his cue and handed Claire an ornate dagger. I looked up at him, pleading for him to help me with my eyes. He bent down to meet my gaze and pinched my cheek hard, following the pinch with a stinging slap. “Those puppy dog eyes aren’t going to get you anywhere, Drew.”
I knew there would be payback for bruising his ego, but I never imagined that it would come to this. My cheek throbbed as I watched Claire approach Betty and slash a deep line into her arm. Betty cried out, her scream muffled by the fabric stuffed in her mouth. I struggled hard against my own restraints to no avail. I could tell by the amount of blood that flowed freely from Betty’s wound that it was deep, and it would take some time to heal.
“Yes. I think this is definitely sharp enough,” Claire said before bouncing the dagger in her palm as if to test the weight. What the fuck were we going to do? How was I going to get out of this? “I’ll try to make this as painless as possible, darling. It’s a shame you’re Diego’s mate. I probably would have liked to have you around otherwise.”
Hot tears flowed down my cheeks as I struggled to get free. I’d never felt so helpless. I cried against my gag, pleading with her with muffled words to let me go, but it sounded like pained moans and groans.
Claire crouched lower and looked me in the eye. “You understand, don’t you? Sometimes people must die for the greater good, hon.”
She pressed the blade to my jugular, the sharp tip slicing the skin with ease. What had Diego said about a vampire dying? Beheading? Fuck. What a way to die.
I closed my eyes and imagined Diego. His dark eyes. His playful smile. The confident way he walked. I had a lot of regrets in the last moments of my life, but my biggest one was not jumping in with both feet in our relationship. I should have told him I loved him. I should have given it my all. Now, I’d never get the chance.
Claire grinned as tears sunk down my cheeks. “Stop playing with her, and let’s do this,” Graham argued while licking his fingers. He’d dipped them in a puddle of blood on the ground.
“So impatient,” Claire argued. I held my breath, waiting for the swing of her dagger with my eyes sealed shut.
But the deadly blow never came.
A crash sounded, and I looked up in time to see Rocky climbing down the walls of the cave and soaring toward Claire. “Fuck,” the woman cursed the moment his body slammed into hers. All hell broke loose.
Rocky pinned Claire to the grimy blood-stained floors. Her dark hair fanned around her as she tried to swipe at his skin with the blade. He dodged the first attack, but when she swung again, the tip scratched his cheek, forcing ruby red blood to spill on Claire. She smiled. “You taste delicious,” Claire said while licking her lips. “Maybe I’ll drain you dry before beheading you.”
“No the fuck you won’t, bitch,” Betty screamed. How the suck did she get her gag off?
I struggled against my restraints. If only I could get my gag off, then I could glamour the room. Claire plunged the knife into Rocky’s shoulder as he pinned her by the neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Graham take in the scene, then run up the dusty cobwebbed steps and out of the room. Coward. I pushed harder, sucking in my gag to gnaw on it with my sharp teeth.
Claire was about to get another swipe at Rocky when a war cry echoed off the walls. Betty, although weak from blood loss and chained with iron, pulled at her restraints until the thick links broke from the strain.
Holy shit. Betty got free.
“Get off my man, you power hungry bitch!” Betty yelled as she ran full speed toward Claire. Claire looked up, caught off guard seeing Betty heading right for her. That gave Betty the opportunity she needed. She pulled Claire off Rocky and threw her across the room.
Rocky and Betty were on Claire before she had the chance to regain her footing. The three of them became a blur of bodies as Rocky and Betty fought to subdue her. Claire slashed the dagger in the air wildly, hacking at whatever she could make contact with.
I sat powerless as another flash of red appeared, and more blood streamed onto the floor. I couldn’t see who was hurt, but I knew the blood was Claire’s from the scent. The injury didn’t slow her down as she fought, though. Watching her hold her own against both Rocky and Betty, I understood why she was such a respected vampire in the community.
I was so invested in watching the scene before me that I hadn’t heard Diego creep into the room. His strong hands were on me, undoing my gag before I even realized he was here. “Shhhh,” he whispered, wiping the tears from my face.
Diego made quick work of the restraints and lifted me to my feet. “Are you okay?” he asked in a hushed tone. I nodded, and after doing a quick inspection to make sure for himself that I was unharmed, he motioned for me to stay put and then took off toward the fight.
Suck that. I followed on his heels, as I felt a sense of fierce protection for him.
“Claire!” Diego roared. “How. Dare. You.”
Terror spread across her face as Diego hurtled into her, knocking her onto the floor. The dagger flew out of Claire’s hand and clattered onto the concrete. I scooped it up and hurried to join Betty and Rocky, who were standing over Diego and Claire.
Claire was thrashing underneath Diego. He was straddling her torso and had forced her arms over her head, his fangs bared as he looked down at her with pure rage. Rocky and Betty stood at the ready, in case Claire were to somehow escape Diego’s grip.
An army of vampires came rushing in, pushing us aside to get to Diego and Claire. I recognized them as Diego’s guard. They stared at the scene in front of them, unsure of what to do. Diego didn’t move. He looked murderous, and I couldn’t even blame him. Claire whimpered, and I felt a rush of empathy for the woman who tried to kill me.
“Diego,” I said gingerly. “It’s okay, the guard is here. They can take her.” I reached out and gently touched his shoulder.
“She was going to kill us.”
“I know, but she didn’t.”
Diego turned to look at me, and he softened. He nodded to the guard and kept Claire pinned to the ground long enough for them to restrain her. Claire let out high, piercing cackles as she was dragged away.
Diego stroked my hair and kissed me before wrapping his arms around me, pulling me into him. “Why did you stop me?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “It didn’t feel right to ki
ll her.”
Diego nodded, even though he looked like he didn’t completely understand. I held out the hand that was still clutching Claire’s dagger. Diego took it from me and looked it over.
“You got this from Claire?” he asked, surprised.
“Yeah, well, I’m not completely useless.” I took the credit, even though all I did was pick it up off the floor.
“This is priceless, it’s from Claire’s bloodline. I’ll have it delivered to the coven safe,” he said, tucking it into his waistband.
Diego fussed over me, looking me over more thoroughly, making sure that I was okay. He gathered me into another hug, and I let him hold me. He enveloped my body with his, and it was deeply comforting.
“How did you know we were here?” I asked, pulling away from him.
“Oh, well...it turns out we aren’t as special as we thought,” Diego said with a chuckle. “Rocky and Betty are fated. She was able to connect with him before Claire brought you down here.”
Huh. How about that.
Diego
I couldn’t help but watch her sleep. The steady rise and fall of her chest eased the anxiety in my soul. She was here. She was safe. My enemies were taken care of.
A slight knock on the door drew my attention away from her. I slowly got up, careful not to disturb her, before making my way out into the living room where Rocky was.
Thank fang for Rocky. I didn’t want to know what could have happened had he not… No. I didn’t want to think about that. “Sir,” Rocky said the moment I entered the living room. He was still wearing his bloodied clothes and looked like he needed rest.
I sighed. “What’s the damage?”
“The council has been notified of Claire’s arrest. They’re requesting a formal unbiased investigation into her treason to find other sympathizers to her cause.”
“Good. And Graham?” I asked.
“Caught him at the airport, trying to flee the country. He has been brought back and is currently in a holding cell awaiting trial.” I sneered. I didn’t want a trial. I wanted him dead. Anyone that was a risk to my mate was worthless to me. But I knew that’s not how Drew felt. I didn’t know how she didn’t want them dead. First Lawrence, then Claire, and now Graham.