by Erin R Flynn
“Always, I will always renew my pledge and love to my princess, praying she accept my oath one day and I can be hers forever.”
That sounded amazing, and I wanted it too. And soon.
19
Kristof
I hated to leave Inez, but the spoiling she gave me was everything. Here I was beside myself that we hadn’t been what she needed when she’d needed us the most, and she didn’t blame us one bit. She was amazing and taking such a leap in even trying with me after all my missteps.
I would not fail her again.
She slept half sprawled on me that night and woke giving me a worried but needy look that had me begging to touch her. She let me, even making sure she was fully naked so my eyes could have the delight of seeing her. When she asked me to wash her back, I felt like the luckiest man in the world to be able to shower with her.
And then she pretended to drop the soap, giving my dick a quick kiss when she retrieved it. The look of promise in her eyes made me finish in no time when she used that soap to please me. She was so nervous when we went to the airport, giving me another long kiss and drawing a heart on me with her blood.
I hated to leave her when she felt so fragile after what had happened, but this needed to be handled to keep her safe. It also meant I had about zero patience for any of them or it as it took me from her.
Which was why we didn’t land at Galway and then head to York. No, I had already scouted ahead and found a safe landing strip with fuel and everything needed north of York. Trisha had wanted to fly us in, but James had more combat experience just in case, so he made the call.
“Well done, Admiral,” I praised him when we landed safely.
“Sorry I’m going to miss the fun,” he muttered, shooting me a look that he fully knew I wasn’t going to wait for everyone else and jump through the normal hoops.
Nope, wasn’t my style.
And I had also wanted to make sure we left early in the morning, as it would put us at just after dinner and the nightly fun at most courts. I told him to be safe and went right for Dennis.
“Shit,” Sebastian hissed, realizing this wasn’t going to be calm or a lot of dancing.
Not. Even. Close.
I blurred to the coven and breezed past their security, making it into the main dining hall before most could even realize I was there. And then I threw the piece of shit at the feet of his princess.
“It is out of respect for Matilda that I did not kill this spy and dog who dared insult my princess, so take that as a warning going forward, Olivia,” I greeted, smirking at the instant rage in her eyes.
“Princess Olivia to you,” she seethed.
I snorted. “No. You aren’t worthy of that respect. Hell, I respect your mother, but I still call her Matilda, and she accepts it as I’m that much older and from the house Priest, so learn from your elders, child.”
Her pretty ocean eyes that were the same as Cerdic’s were brimming with rage, but she did a good job of holding it in even as she gave me what I was sure was a seductive look. Physically she was gorgeous, there was no denying that, but what was inside of her tainted it and not just because of the power I had, but the selfishness and more was like a thick perfume around her.
“If you have such a low opinion of Dennis, then you should take his place at my side,” she offered, running her fingers along her low cut neckline. “Surely I can offer you more than a brat who didn’t even grow up at court and changed her last name because she wouldn’t take over her house court or could rally support to take over another coven?”
I threw back my head and laughed. The audacity of her and how much she actually thought that a viable offer, a generous one even, made me have the rare and uninhibited laugh. It even went on for a few minutes.
“Oh, it has been a long, long time since I have laughed so hard.”
“I’ve certainly never seen it,” Matilda said pleasantly, but I knew it was more a warning to Olivia to be careful. “Lovely to see you doing so well, Kristof.”
“I wish I could say the same,” I replied, noting the lack of power and state the coven was in as were most places. I focused back on Olivia. “You are a brat. You are a spoiled, entitled, and narcissistic brat that I would never, not ever stand next to. My princess is simply young. That will change though, and you will still be a brat.” My amusement left me when she opened her mouth. “Do not disparage her again.”
“Of course not,” she chuckled, clearly swallowing what she wanted to say. “I’m shocked that this is the response to my accepting her kind invitation to be allies.”
I didn’t need to look at Dennis to know he was shocked. Idiot. Of course she would hang him out to dry and lay it all at his feet if it hadn’t gone to plan. Backstabbers only knew one way to be and how to handle situations.
By stabbing people in the back.
“So you had no knowledge that your noble would come and declare they were there answering Inez’s desperate request for aid she didn’t make?” I purred.
“Olivia, no,” Matilda whispered in horror. “Is this true?”
“Yes, it is, My Princess,” Jacob answered, most of them having caught up by then. “And Sebastian undersold what Princess Inez has even. She has engineers that can fix power. Military personnel and weapons. Over a dozen knights that serve her faithfully and more hoping she’ll accept them. They have power, food, water, and more. And Dennis and his party planned to steal it all and have Inez swear to Olivia.”
“It took my princess seconds to figure out your plans,” I taunted Olivia when shock filled her eyes that Jacob knew. “She let them stay to use them to help and fuck with what he’ll tell you. Her power is already vast, and he was taunting her that she was broken as it stabbed her back as she is so young, and she finally told him the truth. He was there weeks spying, and he couldn’t even figure that out.”
It was a bluff, but a good one and a smart one for Inez to have laid out that I would gladly push as well.
I glanced at Matilda and almost felt bad for the distress I saw in her eyes, but she had let Olivia take over. Clearly she hadn’t been ready or able to not ruin the Wessex coven, and that wasn’t on anyone but herself.
“Jacob has more specifics as to what Inez has still offered your court, making it clear she wouldn’t be dealing any further with Olivia or anyone from her court even if she’s in charge of the coven. But let me make it clear that if anymore dogs come to North America saying it’s not part of her coven and that makes any of the raiding fair game, I will end them, not just bring them back broken.”
She closed her eyes, understanding that was one of Dennis’s threats. She let out a slow breath and met my gaze again. “I understand, thank you for traveling this far and delivering the message yourself as well as explaining the situation.”
“What?” Olivia hissed. “You’re thanking him for beating up my noble?”
“Oh, some of that was from Inez herself,” I chuckled, glancing back at Olivia. “And my princess asked me to deliver a message for you—she owes you a bitch slap, and she plans on giving it to you when you meet. Not for Dennis or any of that she brushed off as petty and stupid, as it’s the apocalypse. No, for ordering Cerdic home like your dog. She’s not having any of that, as he’s courting her. That’s loyalty.”
“It is,” Matilda agreed, smiling softly. “I’m glad his princess would be so good to him.”
“She is,” I promised. “She knows no other way but to be true to her feelings and her heart pure, but if you take that as a weakness, you are a fool.”
“No, as clearly it was the one thing that could win you over,” she chuckled, not hiding her shock as much as she might have wanted to.
“Apparently it took one who didn’t care about all the reasons others have wanted me in their court,” I admitted, scrubbing my hand over my head and not able to keep a grin from forming. “She was definitely worth the wait, and I wish to return to her side as soon as possible.”
I couldn’t even
blame her for the way her eyes widened.
I simply shrugged.
“She threatened to send the aircraft carrier, fighter jets, and destroyer if anyone so much as touched him,” Jacob added. “After how Princess Olivia treated her older brother, Princess Inez wasn’t trusting our alliance with Princess Nora’s coven would be enough to protect Kristof from trouble.”
I shrugged again when Matilda looked like she might burst out laughing, as she knew I could level most of the coven without blinking. “She’s young and not used to nobles as old as I am. But she would absolutely do it. Her heart is pure, but she has a princess’s wrath for sure.”
“Yes, she’s wonderous, so sweet and kind clearly,” Olivia bit out. “Well, as we’re—”
“I wasn’t done speaking with your mother,” I cut in, not even sparing her a look. She insulted my princess. It was taking all I had not to punch her. “I plan on asking to progress to engagement with her the moment she lets me know she’s ready. So does your son from what he’s told me.”
Matilda’s eyes flashed shock, but she smiled. “Is he happy?”
“Yes, and treated unlike I’ve ever seen a princess treat her nobles,” I answered honestly.
“He was in excellent spirits besides his distress at the situation with Dennis and the Wessexes,” Jacob added.
“Well, we’ll have to work out this misunderstanding Dennis accidentally started with your princess while we work on negotiating that alliance,” Olivia cut in, clearly thinking she had a play left. “Given our other alliances, of course, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Sebastian cleared his throat and dipped his head to both of them. “My apologies, but Princess Inez was quite clear none of the goods she allowed our coven to raid or gave directly be offered to any Wessex coven. Nor to the princess who has Cerdic’s twin at her court. I haven’t spoken to my princess yet on this, as we arrived here first, however, I know she was shipping back coven assets to be fixed and more.”
“And before you start trying to play the hand you think you have with selling your older brother, you should see his message to you,” I told Olivia as I pulled out a phone and slid it to her, smirking at Dennis. “Before you get all indignant at Olivia betraying you, let’s be honest that you ‘dropped’ the message Cerdic sent his sister after you saw it first.”
“Where did he drop it?” Olivia seethed.
“Under the tire of an electric SUV he was getting into so it was smashed when they drove off,” I answered. “I was able to retrieve the memory card and bring you another phone.”
“They’re able to use electric vehicles?” Matilda asked curiously.
“Yes, My Princess,” Jacob answered. “They were rather evasive as to how, but they’re all fairly clear it’s a team effort.”
“If you had to guess?” she pushed.
“One of her nobles has a way to channel her power,” he answered after a moment. “She has the ghost gift and not just her corrupted kills but all her knights.’”
“Her kills?” Olivia asked, turning up her nose. “She kills them?”
“Long before I met her and when she was on her own,” I answered, my tone full of pride. “She’s an excellent shot and very well rounded, as she believes we all need to be after the apocalypse. She regularly says anyone who’s not deserves to be eaten. She survived even given how corrupted race for her.”
“They do?” Matilda asked, and I saw shock from Olivia as well. “Truly?” She glanced at Sebastian. “Do they for Nora and Ciara?”
“Not that I have seen, but I assumed that might be because of how we’ve gone out to them when they’re close and never let corrupted near them,” Sebastian answered carefully.
“They act no different from me to any in my court when I’ve been out around them,” Matilda informed me. “They dislike us, but if we’re close to the pack, they’ll try to take a bite.”
“They are frenzied around Princess Inez,” Jacob told her. “They’ve started using her blood to lure them to Los Angeles that was decimated and blow up a bunch of them at once. It’s ingenious, but I thought it odd they react to her that way.”
“I assumed it was all princesses,” I admitted, worried they might start coming up with theories we didn’t want. “My guess would be because of her having the ghost gift. I would think that tie to their souls after would be what they hunted for, but they’re not alive for higher reasoning.”
“Logical but interesting for sure,” Matilda muttered, bobbing her head. She studied me. “You’re waiting for her to listen to the message, aren’t you?”
“Yes because I want her to understand how much the play failed and cost her.” I glanced at Olivia. “Please, see the message Cerdic recorded for you in response to what Dennis did, which was not an isolated incident. I punched his face in a few times for disparaging my princess while he was a guest there.”
“And Cerdic was not surprised at the behavior, My Princess, so clearly Dennis has hidden his true nature from most and this was not simply a misstep.”
“You should watch it, Olivia,” Matilda agreed, her annoyance and upset simmering over the top as she reached for her glass. “By all means, as you brought this on our coven when we agreed on how to handle Sebastian’s visit and generous offer to include us that Princess Inez agreed to.”
Olivia ground her teeth but nodded. It was then I noticed she was wearing makeup. I hadn’t seen her since she was but a babe, but most vampires didn’t need to wear foundation or blush. Something was going on that she was, and I almost asked, but she played the message and distracted me as she tried to hide her feelings.
She failed. The message made her ill.
Good, it should have. She was horrible.
Matilda took over while Olivia digested the message. “You started paving the way for an apology and real alliance of course, Jacob?”
“Yes, My Princess, and Princess Inez was pleased with what those of us from your court accomplish.” He moved over to her and laid out a copy of the map of the rail network he’d found at the office of the shipping company.
“Fuck, Jacob, you can go into detail later,” I growled when he took twenty minutes to tell her what Inez was offering and more specifics on what we had available to us.
“In a rush, Kristof?” he teased me. “I heard you have something planned when you return back to your princess without even a scratch.”
“Fuck,” I groaned, not even having thought about that. “You mentioned the Costco, and I was annoyed I lost out on that raiding date we were going to have there and she was going to let me chase her. Why did you bring that up too?”
“What did she offer you as a reward for handling this?” Matilda asked, amusement dancing in her eyes.
I chuckled, scrubbing my hand over my head again. “Not for handling this. She didn’t want me to go, content with flipping Olivia the bird and none of this court bull interesting her, only saving people and giving us better lives. I get a moonlight picnic at a gorgeous hot spring she likes there just for coming back to her safely. I want to enjoy all my princess offers, and I still have to stop by Nora.”
“You do?” she pushed.
Sebastian cleared his throat, and I sighed, waving for him to answer then. “Two of our vampires that came to help were rather miffed Kristof chose Princess Inez over my princess and were petty. I’m certain my princess is educating them on how they should behave at other courts no matter how young the princess or unconventional the times.”
“The only reason I didn’t gut them was Nora is dedicated to her punishments, but I want to check with my own eyes, as my princess deserved none of that.” I felt my blood pressure rise just from thinking about it, especially how much I’d upset her as well. “Fuck, now I’m not sure I won’t kill them or Dennis. She kept me calm.”
Dennis snorted. “Yes, she’s so stable.”
I launched for him but crashed into two of Matilda’s nobles who held their hands in surrender but blocked me. “Get him out of here b
efore I kill him.”
“Go lick your many deserved wounds in private, Dennis,” Matilda seethed. “And next time I would let him take your head for disrespecting a guest in the Wessex coven. You may sit next to my daughter who is in charge, but you took our name and should remember that going forward.”
“Yes, Princess Matilda,” he grumbled.
I waited until he was gone. “Inez is powerful and was not tended to as she should have.” I met Matilda’s gaze. “She didn’t grow up at court nor with all the pieces she needed. You know how hard power is when young and how it can lash back at us. She has the ghost gift.”
“It eats at the princess,” Matilda whispered, giving Sebastian a look I didn’t understand.
But then I remembered somewhere back along their bloodlines someone shared an ancestor. Probably. They might be thinking of the same person.
“And she doesn’t produce minerals from the ghosts but seeds; her house name was well chosen,” Jacob added. “She is very, very young. Anyone would expect her to stumble, but she certainly isn’t unstable or mentally ill. She’s ridiculously intelligent, and her grasp of strategy and battles is uncanny for her age. It will be needed if the remnants of the US government come for her.”
“As they might us here,” Matilda muttered, sharing a look with Jacob. “Yes, that is a concern if we should get back power and water, but still worth it.”
“Why don’t you go ahead,” I told Sebastian when they started talking again, trying not to sound that put out. “James needs to get the plane to Nora to unload. I’ll get across on my own.”
He was quiet a moment but then snickered. “I’d tease you, but your princess will undoubtedly be worried for as long as you’re gone. I saw it with my own eyes when I came back with Jaxon, and he was gone only a day.”
“Yes, I would like to be received the same,” I ground out, trying to remind my body it would be at least nine hours before I saw Inez again. At least. “Fuck, that’s too long left. I could swim and run it faster back. I only came on the plane this way because of the fucknut, but I could get back faster on my own and crawl into bed with her.” I did the math in my head. “Yeah, I could get back before bed if you go now.”