“Once again the vampires were trying to be slick. The werewolves will not be left out in the cold on this. All of us will partake of the royal’s blood equally or the royal gets destroyed and nobody takes her blood. The power must be divided between us equally,” said Hashaan.
“By the time you guys finish squabbling over the power of the Shadow Spirits, they will have killed us all. The royal female must be destroyed, so that there isn’t an imbalance in power,” said Axel.
“You have to look past your species dying out and focus on the here and now,” said Nicenzio.
Axel jumped to his feet. “I’m going to rip your throat out.”
Nicenzio stood. “You’re welcome to try.”
Grabbing his arm, I jerked him back into his chair. “The enemy is out there. We have to ban together if we’re going to survive the threat.”
“Maybe, I’d rather we all die out than help you vamps,” said Axel.
“Then so be it, but just remember you’ll be dying alongside us. The Shadow Spirits don’t care about any of us.”
The restaurant door flew open, and a sorcerer walked inside. It was the same man on the video. I balled my fist but looked at my men.
It was hard to recognize him as he was bloody, and his clothing was in pieces. His blue eyes were wild, and he looked spooked.
Tobias stood. “Matias, what are you doing here? What happened to you?”
He rushed over to the table and pointed at Tobias. “Don’t you dare play innocent with us. Your brother is the Shadow King.”
Tobias stood. “You have tried to get us to go against the council, now you accuse Torin of being the Shadow King. He’s away mourning the death of his fiancée. If you want power so bad, step up your fighting skills. You lost and nobody will follow you.”
“That was then, and this is now. If he were to fight me now, he’d lose,” said Matias.
Tobias laughed. “He offered you a re-challenge the other day and you backed down like a punk. You’re no match for our family. If you think to sully my brother’s name, I will destroy you.”
Matias spit on the ground. “I want to see you try it.”
Imaan stood. “Matias Machesky, we’re all familiar with the challenge you lost to Torin. If by some miracle you had won, you still wouldn’t be a leader. A leader must have people willing to follow him and you did not.”
Monica stood. “Do you have any proof of what you speak? The council’s time is not to be wasted.”
Tobias leaped over the table.
Imani lifted her hand and sent Tobias soaring into the wall. A purple dome formed around him, and he was lifted off the ground. “Hold on and I will have my answers.”
Matias held out his hands. “Pierre or Amelinda, do that mind thing where you search memories. I speak the truth.”
Amelinda stood. “Come to me, child.”
Matias strolled over and held out his neck. Her fangs elongated and she bit him. When she lifted her head, his blood ran down her chin.
“Today the Shadow Spirit showed up. He wanted to use Torin for his own agenda. Torin must be eliminated so the Shadow Spirit can’t use him.”
Tobias landed on his feet when Imani dropped her hands.
“My brother isn’t a Shadow Spirit. You’re the most powerful of all immortals; if the Shadow Spirit has done something to my brother, reverse it.”
“We aren’t as powerful as the Shadow Spirits. They use dark magic, and unless we kill the royal blood, we’re all doomed,” said Akida.
Matias smiled. “We should eliminate Tobias, too. He won’t stand with us against his brother.”
“Tobias has done nothing wrong. We are not here to further your efforts for power Matias,” said Simeone.
“His fiancé, Micheline Lambert, was murdered recently. I think she was the royal the Shadow Spirits were seeking. That must have been how they latched on to Torin.”
Tobias balled his fist. “We’re investigating her death. There is no evidence that she was a royal.”
Matias looked around the table. “You claimed Torin to be innocent as well. Your word means nothing to me and the council.”
“Matias you aren’t part of the council and you don’t speak for anyone here. Tread carefully, or you might not live long enough to gain the power that you seek,” said Simeone.
Pierre stood. “Silence. We have seen for ourselves that Torin has been compromised. It would make sense that his fiancée might be a royal and at the heart of Torin’s downfall. Micheline Lambert must die.”
“Didn’t you say she was murdered a few days ago. If she’s alive who turned her?” asked Axel.
Imaan stood. “That is what we will find out.”
Closing the door, I didn’t speak until the restaurant wasn’t in the rear-view mirror any longer. The council had sided with Matias too quick for my liking. It seemed like they only hungered for power. Things were definitely screwed up. I headed toward the Lambert’s house to check on Madeleine. That would be the first place the council members would send their assassins.
“When the council finds out that I turned Micheline, they will send the ancient imperial assassins after us, to wipe us out. If we’re to survive we need to form an alliance with the sorcerer and the werewolves.”
“Axel and his men genuinely didn’t like what went down today, but that doesn’t mean his pact would help us,” said Genziano.
Bartolome` sighed. “If the council will turn and order Torin’s execution, what’s to stop them from doing the same thing to all of us? We’re stronger together, and together we outnumber the council members.”
“Sounds good until you think about the fact that the werewolves and the witches plotted on Micheline, so we don’t know who we can trust,” said Nicenzio.
Glancing in the back seat, I saw Nicenzio frowning and texting. “What the hell is so important that you’re on the damn phone?”
Nicenzio frowned. “Madeleine isn’t answering my calls or texts.”
I swerved off the road and made a U-turn. “Call the house and make sure Madeleine’s there with Micheline. They need to be prepared.”
9
Micheline
“What do you mean Madi’s not there?” Closing my eyes, I leaned against the wall. The last thing I needed to hear right now was that my sister was missing.
“How could you let this happen, Quin? Search the attic, search everywhere, even the garage. She might get scared and harm herself again. If she’s not there, call me back.”
“The garage wasn’t checked. Hold on, let me do it now,” said Quin.
I listened as the garage door opened and closed.
“She took the car. I have a feeling she’s headed your way.”
“I’ll text you the moment she gets here. If she isn’t here in fifteen minutes, I’m going looking for her.” I hung up the phone.
There was no way that Madeleine would come here. She doesn’t know where Domenico lives, unless Nicenzio gave her the address. I dialed her number again, but it went to voicemail. Pacing, I started thinking of places she could be.
Where are you, Madeleine? You know it’s not safe. What would be so important that you’d leave the house?
The roar of a car engine interrupted my thoughts and I peeked out the window. My mouth flopped open and then closed as I saw Madi jump out of the car I stole earlier. Running to the door, I threw it open and yanked her inside. She flew into the coat closet.
“What the hell were you thinking leaving the house? You’re in danger, and you didn’t even tell Quin you were leaving.”
“Dang. Are you trying to kill me?” Madeleine stood up rubbing the back of her head.
She moved away from the closet, and I saw that the closet door was now caved in. I’m so angry, I don’t give a damn. I didn’t sacrifice my life for her to be so stupid. If she weren’t careful, she wouldn’t last a week before she was murdered too.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Quin. “She arrived here. I’ll have her wait until they’r
e back so that she can be escorted back home.”
“I came to show you this. I found mom’s journal.” She handed me the beautiful book.
“You know mom liked to write. You could’ve called me on the phone and told me this. You shouldn’t have left the house.”
She snatched the journal and flipped to a page and handed it to me. “Mom and dad were murdered. I went to Palace Cove just like mom said and I found out about the royal queens of New Orleans. The humans whose blood is special. We’re two of them. Did you know about this?”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I turned away from her. “Mom and dad explained it to me, and made me swear never to tell anyone, especially you. They wanted you to have a normal life. It’s rare that twins will both have the gene, but we did.”
Madeleine flinched. She gave a slow, disbelieving head shake. “You kept something like this from me, how could you? I’m a part of this family too.”
“I promised to protect you in this life and in the next. There was no reason for you to be a target too. I’m your big sister. It was my responsibility to protect you. I swore a blood oath to mom and dad.”
“I found out that there are eight other women who are of royal blood, besides us. We should get together and form a plan,” said Madeleine.
My phone rang. I ignored it. The ring tone was generic which meant it wasn’t Quin. Everybody else could wait. My sister had found out more than we wanted her to know. It seemed the more I tried to protect her, the worse things became.
“No. It had been agreed on long ago that we wouldn’t contact each other. That way if the Shadow Spirits find one, they don’t find all of us.”
The house phone started ringing. Frowning, I looked at Madeleine. “Did you tell the vampire you were coming here?”
“No. I didn’t tell anyone.”
The answering machine kicked on. “Hey, it’s Domenico. The council wants you dead, so the council might be on its way. Get to the basement. There’s a safe room. Go now, I’m on my way.”
Grabbing Madi, I rushed down to the basement. Closing the door behind us, I rushed down the steps. The basement was huge. There was a fully stocked bar, game room, and three bedrooms toward the back. This basement was big, but I didn’t see anything that looked like a safe room.
“Do you think the council wants us dead because they killed our parents?” Madeleine said, looking around the basement. She rushed over to the stone bar and felt along the wall.
I ran to the game room and ran my fingers along the wall. “I don’t know where to look for the safe room. We don’t have much time.”
“You don’t know where it is?”
“It wasn’t like they gave me a house tour. They just dropped me off and went to the council meeting.” I ran into the third bedroom. It had a king-size bed, and chaise lounge. There was a huge television mounted on the wall. I ran my hands along the wall and felt a cylinder-shaped button. I pressed it. The wall opened. There were several guns mounted on there. Grabbing two of them, I headed to get Madeleine.
“Madi, come quick.” I rushed out the bedroom, and my breath caught in my throat, as the window shattered, and three men wearing black outfits landed inside. One ran toward Madeleine, but I fired several shots. One landed in his head and the other in his heart.
Madeleine ran toward me. I tossed her one of the guns. She turned and fired on the assassin running at her.
I shot the other one, but not before he threw a dagger at me, which landed in my stomach. Falling to my knees, my vision became distorted. The wounds of the men that had been shot started to heal.
“Madi, they’re healing; get to the safe room.” I staggered to my feet and headed to the room and pushed the button. Madi ran past me inside the room.
“Come on.” She jerked me in just as I felt another dagger pierce my chest.
“Lock yourself inside now.” I fell to my knees as sharp pains sliced across my chest. Lifting the gun, I focused on the two men who had rushed inside the room.
Another man ran inside. He ran toward me and lifted his sword high.
“No.” Madeleine stepped from the safe room, with two guns. She fired on the man. He sank to the floor with the first head shot.
“Get up, Micheline. Come with me. It’s just a few steps.” She tossed one gun down and helped me to my feet.
Swoosh. Something soared through the air.
I turned just as I felt Madeleine’s body shake. She made a strangled sound in her throat before she collapsed to the floor. She had a dagger protruding from her chest. Her body hit the floor and I turned to see three more assassins enter the room.
Throwing back my head, I let out an ear-piercing scream, which shattered all the windows in the bedroom. Glass flew everywhere. Something snapped inside of me and I flew to the first assassin, ripping his head off. Taking his sword, I threw it at the other. The last assassin ran toward me, wrapping his hands around my neck. I slammed my head into his, and twisted around, flipping him over my shoulder. I slammed my knee into his windpipe, crushing it.
A dozen assassins ran into the room just as Torin flew through the window. He disappeared and reappeared, but there was a dozen of him. He was fighting them all. Crawling to Madeleine, I touched her cheek.
“Madi, you must live. Fight it.” I felt her carotid artery, but her pulse was weak.
I sank to the floor. My eyes closed as the pain became unbearable.
“Stay with me, Micheline,” said Torin.
“Torin, save Madi. Please. It’s too late for me, but not for her.”
10
Domenico
I slammed the car door and ran toward the front door. My heart plummeted as I saw shattered glass all over the sidewalk. Bursting through the door, I headed straight to the basement.
“I’ll take upstairs,” said Bartolome`. He flew upstairs.
Flying down to the basement, I saw more shattered glass. All the blood on the floor made adrenaline surge in my veins as I reached the third bedroom. Torin was bending over Micheline. There was a cobalt light over her body and the dagger-gaping wound in her chest was illuminated.
Running to him. “Don’t you touch her.”
“She wouldn’t be dead if you hadn’t turned her.” He lifted his hand and my body soared through the air. My back slammed against the wall, hitting my head against it.
Torin glared at me. His eyes glowing an odd shade of amber. “I’m healing her, and I don’t have time to deal with you. I want a reason to end your life. You turned my fiancée for your own lustful inclinations so please know that I will kill you without hesitation.”
Her hand reached up to touch his cheek. “Don’t kill him. Domenico was just trying to help me. Did you save Madeleine?”
Torin glanced away from her. A rosy blush crept over his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. “The council assassins stabbed her in the heart. She was dead before she hit the floor.”
Nicenzio and Genziano strolled inside the room.
Genziano attempted to prevent him from seeing Madeleine but he pushed him out of the way.
Nicenzio fell to his knees. “No.”
Closing my eyes, I attempted to block out the pain in his voice. It gutted me. We had arrived too late, and Madeleine had paid the ultimate price.
“Save her, Torin. I know that you have the power to do it. The Shadow Spirits are the most powerful beings. Please do this for me,” said Micheline.
His nostrils flared. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me. I don’t want to be connected to the Shadow King and bringing your sister back from the dead might make him more powerful and give him more control over me.”
Nicenzio snorted. “I don’t care. Bring her back. Now!”
Torin dropped the healing light from Micheline and stood. “Earth can’t fall because you want to save your sister. This could’ve been avoided if you hadn’t sacrificed yourself for her in the first place.”
“Torin, if it were Tobias you would’ve done the same as me.”
> Just then Tobias walked in. “Bring her back. You will find a way to defeat the Shadow King. I know you can, and I have faith in you.”
Torin pointed at Micheline, then stormed out of the room. “Look at what having faith in me got you. They’re plotting to kill you now that I’m dead. Our people and everything our family stands for hangs on the precipice of being lost, all because I fell in love with her, and she doesn’t give a shit about me.”
Nicenzio jumped to his feet. “What the fuck?”
Tobias held up his hands. “Give him a moment. Things haven’t gone his way lately. He’s entitled to a few moments of privacy to mourn losing his fiancée and his life the same night.”
Micheline sat up. “I’m not the most beautiful woman in the world and he can have any woman he wants, but I never thought he loved me.”
“Have you looked in the mirror?” asked Domenico.
Genziano smiled. “You’re a very attractive woman.”
“You’re not bad looking but Madeleine is the most beautiful,” said Nicenzio.
They may be twins, but Micheline’s selflessness and passion for those she loves makes her as stunning on the inside as she is on the outside.
I attempted to get up, but I still couldn’t move, even without Torin being in the room. “Damn, his magic is strong.”
Genziano sighed. “You do know that they are identical twins?”
Nicenzio rolled his eyes. “Yes, but Madeleine has a mole, a tiny one, on the inside of her upper lip. It makes her beautiful and endearing all at once.”
“I never thought I’d see the day Nicenzio Pasquariello would fall for one woman,” said Genziano.
She curled up next to Madeleine and wept.
Nicenzio moved to the door, but Tobias blocked him. “Don’t go out there,”
“I’m going to make him breathe life in her.” Nicenzio pushed against Tobias but he wouldn’t release him.
“Nobody, not even the Shadow King, can control Torin. I saw Torin back the Shadow King off. What do you think you can do?” asked Tobias.
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