Curses and Crowns (Vampires of Crescent Cape Book 1)

by L. Danvers

  There was crashing and banging, and we heard Aiden shouting.

  Before he’d even finished calling out for us, we were at the door and then sprinting down the hall at incredible speed. We burst into the dining room, and my jaw fell open.

  Aiden

  Heart thrashing, I stepped back, palms up in surrender. I was getting Bianca to lower her guard—or, at least, I thought I was. But when we had finished our meal and downed our respective drinks, she’d slinked over toward me, her eyes filled with desire.

  It would have been the perfect time to attack, but I knew she had hybrids waiting on the other side of the door. I hadn’t figured out yet how to communicate that to my siblings, but I’d resigned myself to the fact that we were going to have to come up with an alternate plan.

  Bianca had drawn closer, and I’d risen to meet her, trying to play the part of the charming prince and keep up this ruse. I tried imagining she was Danielle, but to little avail.

  Bianca trailed her fingers down my suit jacket, fiddling with the buttons, and she pulled me in closer. It took everything I had not to throw her off of me.

  She lifted herself onto her toes, her lips searching for mine as her hands trailed down my chest and abdomen.

  Suddenly, she jerked away, flinging my suit jacket open. Before I could process what was happening, she grabbed the wooden stake I’d hidden inside. Her eyes widened with fury. “I knew it! I knew I couldn’t trust you.”

  “Bianca—please,” I said, trying to defuse the situation. But she wasn’t having it.

  “Am I a joke to you? Did you have fun—pretending to care about me? While meanwhile, you intended to kill me?”

  “No, you don’t understand...”

  “No, you don’t understand, Aiden.” With a sharp whistle, her hybrid guards burst through the door. She jerked her head toward me, and within seconds they had transformed at will, brown fur rippling across their bodies where their flesh had once been, eyes turning shades of glowing amber.

  I was fast, but with vampire and werewolf blood pumping through their veins, they were faster.

  One of them leaped toward me.

  In an act of self-preservation, I flipped the dining table over to slow it down. Plates and cups were sent flying across the room, shattering after thudding against the wall. Meanwhile, the chairs on the other side of the table had snapped beneath the overturned furniture’s weight.

  The table-toppling had slowed the hybrid wolf down, but only for a second or two.

  Desperate, I’d shouted out for my siblings.

  Within seconds, they were there.

  Julian, Xander, Charlotte and Natalie came to an abrupt halt, their faces twisted with confusion.

  I knew what they were thinking—Bianca’s guards had been vampires, so how were they now wolves? Being both was impossible. Or at least, we’d all believed it to be until today.

  I had no idea how Bianca had managed such a feat—turning wolves into vampires and giving them the ability to take either form at will.

  What’s more, even with our impeccable sense of smell, we hadn’t been able to detect the wolf blood running through their veins.

  Now, though, as they prowled on all fours, it was all I could smell.

  The wolves turned on my siblings, growling and snarling at them, padding their feet as they inched closer.

  Seizing the opportunity, I ran at full speed, winding through the castle halls, trying to lead them to an open space. The dining room was too small, too cramped. My siblings and I would be cornered there.

  As I’d expected, the wolves chased after me, and in seconds, my siblings and Bianca were there, too.

  Fuming, Julian ripped off his clothes and willed himself to turn. Silver hair rippled across his body as his bones twisted and turned.

  Once in wolf form, he lunged for Bianca, but one of her hybrids blocked him. Julian showed the hybrid no mercy, chomping into his shoulder and shaking his head, ripping the flesh from him. The hybrid fell to its side and let out a yelp.

  But then, the unthinkable happened.

  He started to heal.

  The vampirism in his blood must have given him that ability. Which meant that we were no match for these supernatural beings.

  Still, we had to try.

  If I could get close enough to one, I could try to rip out its heart. It was a gruesome way to kill a supernatural, but had proven to be quite effective over the years.

  But I had to figure out how to manage that without it biting me first.

  “Xander,” I called out. I jerked my head, signaling for him to do what had to be done. His eyes lit with understanding.

  Letting out a heavy exhale, I firmed my resolve.

  Yes, it was dangerous, but there was no other way. If we didn’t fight back, my siblings and I would be dead. And Crescent Cape would be left vulnerable. And I was not about to let Princess Bianca, of all people, take my kingdom from me.

  Xander whistled to draw the nearest wolf’s attention to him. “Hey, mutt,” he taunted.

  The hybrid wolf let out a slobbery snarl, padding toward him, amber eyes narrowed.

  “Good boy,” he smirked.

  And with that, the wolf sprang from its back paws.

  In that instant, I leaped toward it and landed on its back. Grimacing in anticipation of what I was about to do, I dug my hands into its back, my strong hands breaking through the creature’s bones as I dug around for its heart.

  The wolf let out a pain-stricken howl, but I didn’t stop. I felt around its warm innards until I latched onto its pumping heart. And then, without hesitation, I ripped it out.

  It still pumped for a second or two in my hand, making my skin crawl. This hadn’t been my first time ripping out a supernatural’s heart, but it was something that never got less disgusting.

  With the werewolf now dead, I dropped its heart on the floor. I’d hoped this would intimidate the other hybrids, but it only intensified their rage. Bianca was screaming in the background for them to attack.

  Charlotte managed to knock Bianca to her knees and hold her arms behind her back. Julian yelled for her to kill Bianca already, but the hybrids were under Bianca’s control—what if she was the only one who could call them off?

  In a fit of fury, Bianca called out, “Kill them all!”

  Two of the hybrids had cornered Natalie. She kicked one in the throat and whirled around to fend off the other. But the first one she’d fought had only stumbled back, not fallen. He was coming up behind her.

  I rushed over there to intervene, but even being as fast as I was, I wasn’t fast enough.

  From behind, the hybrid wolf sunk its teeth into her shoulder.

  My blood ran cold. Natalie arched her back, crying out in an earth-shattering scream.

  A bolt of lightning flashed outside the castle, its light bursting through the stained-glass window, casting us all in a red haze.

  Julian, Xander, Charlotte and I froze as we watched Natalie pass out from the pain. Her body thumped to the floor, and the hybrid wolf that had bitten her turned around, scanning the room as her blood dripped from its jowls, threatening us to make another move.

  And when things couldn’t get any worse, the grand oak doors swung open, the sounds of the pounding rain filling the castle. And in the doorway were Uncle Ben, Grace and Danielle.

  Danielle

  I questioned my sanity for thinking this was a good idea. In the open entrance to the castle, the blood heirs and werewolves stood cast in a reddish glow. A rush of nerves swept through me as I realized one of the siblings—Natalie, I assumed—was on the floor.

  Who were these werewolves? And where had they come from?

  One of them rushed toward us. My breath caught, and I stood like a statue, fearing for my life. I held onto my dagger, convincing myself to use it if I had to. But the silver-haired wolf stopped in front of us and turned around as if putting himself between us and the other wolves to protect us.

  He glanced back, and for a spli
t second, our eyes caught.

  There was something so familiar about them, and it was then that it hit me that I was looking at Julian in wolf form.

  Ben reached into his bag, his voice echoing throughout the castle as he ordered his niece and nephews to get out of the way. Without hesitation, they dispersed. Charlotte had grabbed Natalie’s limp body and taken her with her, leaving the werewolves and Princess Bianca vulnerable.

  With that, Ben flung a star-shaped object toward the supernatural beings. When it landed, silver bullets flung from each of the star’s points.

  One struck Princess Bianca’s arm, but being as that she was a vampire, it caused no permanent damage. And, to our horror, the werewolves had moved faster than Ben had anticipated, avoiding the bullets entirely.

  Ben dug around for another magical object, while between us, Grace widened her stance and held out her palms. She recited a spell she had memorized on the ride over here, and as she cast it, strong winds swept through the open castle door. The winds were so fierce, so powerful, that they lifted the supernaturals from the ground and spun them in a circle.

  Grace made a funny sound, and I looked over at her. Her face looked strained, like keeping up the spell was causing her pain.

  “Grace,” I said, my voice thick with concern.

  Ben glanced her way and, realizing what the spell was doing to her, encouraged her to release them.

  She fought it at first, but then her hands began to shake so violently that she couldn’t keep up the spell anymore. She dropped her hands, and the wolves and vampire princess fell to the floor.

  All of a sudden, someone was behind me. I whirled around and gasped in surprise when I saw Aiden there. I instinctively pressed my hand to my heart, drawing a breath. He was covered in blood. I didn’t see any wounds, so I figured it wasn’t his own.

  “What are you doing here?” He looked furious. “You have to get out of here, Danielle. Now.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I pressed. I wasn’t about to leave Grace’s side.

  Frustrated, he picked me up, flinging me over his shoulder.

  “What are you doing?” I yelled, beating my fist against his back. “Let me go!”

  He was running toward the door, with me in tow, when a brown-haired wolf darted in front of him, obstructing the exit.

  Dusting herself off, Bianca rose from the ground and ordered, “Forget Aiden for now. Kill the girl.”

  My throat tightened and my mouth went dry. Aiden made a run for it, carrying me on his shoulder, but the wolves were surrounding us.

  Julian was fighting them off, growling and snapping at them ferociously.

  One tried to lunge for me, and I let out a scream. Julian jumped between us and bit the werewolf, ripping its skin from its bones, showing no mercy. Charlotte came up behind it and, to my horror, dug her hand into its back and ripped out its heart.

  When she removed it, her hand was covered in blood. I couldn’t stop myself from gagging. I wondered if that’s why Aiden’s hand was bloodied, too.

  Now, there was only one wolf left. And by the looks of it, Julian was determined to take him on. I’d never seen anything so magnificently terrifying as two wolves attacking one another, enveloped in the flashes of scarlet light.

  A woman I had never seen before came running down the stairs, frantic. “What’s going on?” she shouted, her face as pale as the moon.

  “Where the hell have you been, Evanna?” Aiden demanded. He had put me back down on the ground now and slinked his hand around the small of my back to keep me close.

  “When I heard the commotion, I knew something had to be wrong,” Evanna said. “I gathered your servants and cast a spell to protect them.”

  “She has hybrids,” Aiden hissed.

  Hybrids? What was a hybrid?

  “That’s impossible.”

  He jerked his head toward Julian and the hybrid who were circling one another, daring the other to make a move. Julian reared back on his haunches and sprang forward, knocking his opponent onto its back.

  But this hybrid was stronger than the others had been. Not only had it escaped out from under Julian’s hold, but it had managed to pin him. Julian whipped his head around, snapping and snarling. He could be menacing enough in human form. But as a werewolf...

  Princess Bianca stood in the back corner of the room, watching the whole thing unfold. Her plump lips curved into a sinister grin of satisfaction.

  The next thing I knew, Grace was back at casting spells, her palms raised, her brow creased in concentration. Ben was sifting through his bag of magical objects, murmuring to himself as he tried to find one that would hurt Princess Bianca’s hybrid without causing the rest of us harm.

  Realizing that Grace was a witch, and a young one at that, Evanna rushed to her side. She interrupted Grace’s spell, which had apparently had yet to take effect, and instructed her to repeat after her.

  As they recited Evanna’s spell, something happened to Princess Bianca.

  She was clutching her chest, twisting down to the floor in agony. She landed face-down, her forehead pressed to the floor, her fiery red hair masking her face. She writhed there, slamming her palm against the floor as if it would make the pain stop.

  Using all the strength she could muster, she managed to lift her head.

  From across the room, she locked eyes with Aiden. “Kill me,” she said weakly, her voice strained, “and I swear you will regret it.”

  With her vulnerable and unprotected, as the wolves were still going at it, Xander swooped over to her in a flash, flipped her over, dug his hand into her chest, and removed her heart.

  In an instant, her eyes went glassy, and her head dropped back.

  When her hybrid realized what had happened, he let out a howl that echoed throughout the castle. He scanned the room, on the prowl, and locked his focus in on me. Aiden tried to move me out of the way, and Julian tried to stop him, but the brothers weren’t fast enough.

  The next thing I knew, the hybrid had me pinned. I was crying out, screaming for help, but it happened so fast. Dagger still in hand, I jabbed it upward into its chest cavity.

  That same instant, he bared his sharp teeth and sank them into my shoulder before collapsing on top of me. Dead.

  Shouts and screams filled my ears, and everything went blurry as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

  Aiden

  “Danielle!” I shouted, unable to fight back the tears. I bit my wrist, drawing blood. I cradled her head in my hand and forced her to drink from me. “Come on, Danielle. Come on.” I looked up at my siblings, pleading for guidance. “Why isn’t it working?”

  Julian shifted back into his human form, snatched up his clothes and hurriedly put them on while he rushed over to help. The others crowded around us, too. “I don’t know,” he said, catching his breath. “She’s human. A werewolf bite would hurt, but it shouldn’t kill her.”

  Pushing Julian aside, Grace knelt beside Danielle, taking her hand. She closed her eyes and, tears racing down her cheeks, recited a spell. Evanna knelt beside her, taking her other hand, and joined in.

  Nothing happened.

  I turned Danielle’s face toward mine. She was still breathing. She was alive. For now.

  She didn’t deserve any of this. She was kind and innocent and pure. I hated myself for how I had hurt her in the past—even though she still didn’t know the truth. But I hated Julian even more for bringing her into this mess.

  Anger consumed me, overwhelming my senses. “This is your fault,” I raged.

  His eyes flashed, daring me to cross him. But I’d had enough. “You’re the one who came up with the whole idea of the competition. Had you not meddled, Danielle would be fine.”

  “She’d be a slave, you mean. Thanks to you, I might add.”

  I clenched my jaw. I could feel my fangs starting to emerge.

  “Trust me, brother, you do not want to mess with me right now.”

  “Sounds like a challenge to me.”
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  “Stop it,” Charlotte cried. The whites in her eyes had a reddish tint to them. “Our sister is dead. And you’re fighting over some girl?”

  I gulped. Everything had been such a blur. I had been so focused on Danielle that I’d hardly realized what had happened to Natalie.

  She couldn’t be gone.

  She’d been with us for a thousand years. To think that she could be dead...

  My head dropped in shame. And even Julian looked overcome with sadness.

  “It’s not working,” Evanna announced, defeated.

  “Surely there’s something we can do,” Ben pressed.

  Evanna took a moment to think. Then, as if something had clicked in her head, she lifted her chin and said, “Maybe we’ve been going about this the wrong way. Maybe vampire blood isn’t healing her because she was bitten by a hybrid. Maybe she needs vampire blood and werewolf blood.”

  Julian stood and went over to the wall, pulling an ancient sword from the collection displayed there. He couldn’t bite into his own wrist to draw blood because he only had sharp enough teeth in werewolf form. And I couldn’t draw blood for him because the venom running through his veins would kill me. So, he held the sword up. The moonlight splashing in through the window cast the metal in the color of blood. Thunder thrashed overhead as Julian took the sword and sliced his wrist.

  Running back over to Danielle before the effects of his immortality kicked in and his body healed, he turned Danielle’s head toward him, pressed his finger to her lower lip to open her mouth, and allowed his blood to trickle into her before his wound stitched itself back up.

  Julian

  “Shouldn’t something be happening?” I asked. “Why isn’t she healing?”

  Evanna knit her brows. “I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s nothing about hybrids in the grimoires I’ve studied. They shouldn’t exist.”

  “Well, we have to keep trying,” Grace said, choking back tears. “Look at her. She’s dying! Look at her.” She ran her fingers along the hybrid bite. Danielle’s wound was turning dark shades of purple, and it seemed to be spreading. Her eyes had glazed over, yet somehow, the pain in them was evident.