Chapter Seven
Damien was waiting further in, with a smug smile on his face, as he lay back against the comfortable plush of his throne.
“Did you enjoy my gift?” he asked, the smirk on his face grew when he saw the pain that he had caused Garrett, “I thought it was so thoughtful, Rett,” he said.
Garrett’s eyes darkened.
“You bastard!” he snarled. “She was the love of my life, and you knew that! How could you?”
“It was something I had to do,” Damien said with a chuckle, “She was yours. So I had to have her.”
Garrett launched himself at Damien, and delivered blow after blow to his face.
“Come on, is that all you've got?” Damien said, with a laugh.
Garrett picked Damien up, and slammed him hard against the far left chamber wall. He extended the full wall of his razor-sharp teeth, and sunk them into Damien’s neck. He then began to drink, pulling back after a few minutes with his entire mouth drenched in blood. Looking at the man in front of him, Garrett cocked his head to one side.
His lips then curled into a smirk, “So brother, how does it feel to be the underdog now?”
Damien’s arrogant expression vanished for a moment, only to be replaced by a look of amused disbelief.
“You think you're overpowering me?” he asked. “Oh brother, do you really believe that?”
“I do, yeah.”
Damien laughed and tightened his grip on Garrett’s collar, flipping both himself and Garrett so that it was he who was straddling his younger brother.
“So who’s the underdog now?”
Damien looked down at Garrett, “I always end up on top, brother. Which must have been why Hayley was so willing,” he added.
Garrett flipped Damien and then right hooked him, sharply, “I am going to take so much pleasure in ending you, Damien.”
“Really? And how do you propose to do that, Garrett?” Damien asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You’ll see, little brother.”
“Oh come on, brother,” Damien replied. “Share please, I'm curious.”
Garrett thought for a moment and then said, “You know so many ideas, each more appealing than the last.”
Damien’s face paled at Garrett’s words, wondering what it was he could have possibly thought up.
He wet his lips and muttered, “Please brother, mercy.”
“Mercy?” Garrett asked, “Did you have mercy on my wife when she begged you for her life?” he asked. “Did you? No, you simply took your pleasure and ended her life, Damien.” His tone laced with contempt.
“Please brother,” Damien said.
Garrett shot back, “You are no brother of mine! You lost that right when you took what mattered most to me. And when you conspired to take my son,” He moved closer. “For those crimes, you will be punished.”
Xavier came over and stood by Garrett’s side, his face morphing as he did. Hayley had been Xavier’s good friend.
“So, Garrett, where shall we start?” Xavier asked.
“You know, Xavier, I'm not sure,” Garrett replied. “What do you suggest for such scum?”
Xavier himself wondered what they could do to the man that was crouched against the wall in front of them.
After a few minutes, Garrett said, “For starters, we can tie him up so he doesn't get away? But what else?”
“Im not sure, he's your brother,” Xavier said. “It's up to you.”
Garrett turned back towards Damien, a grin on his face. “Let's bleed him out.”
Xavier took a rope from his canvas pack, and wrapped it around Damien’s slighter frame.
Garrett elongated his fangs, then lunged forward and bit into Damien’s neck.
Moving back, he grinned at his younger brother.
“What do you plan to do?” Damien asked.
“Why, Damien, the possibilities are endless,” he said. “But I'll settle with simply ending your miserable existence.”
He grabbed Damien’s hair, and exposed his throat. He lunged forward and tore into Damien, until he decapitated him.
Chapter Eight
“So what do we with the body?” Xavier asked.
“How about we leave him to the Lycans?” Garrett said. “The bastard doesn't deserve a proper burial.”
“Do you want to take him, Theo?” Xavier asked.
“Of course, it's probably best, anyway,” Theo replied. “What with our hierarchy and all.”
“Exactly,” Xavier said.
“I'll go now,” Theo quickly shifted into his wolf form, grabbed Damien’s body in his jaws and ran off towards the nearby woods where the Lycans had made their homes.
Garrett turned back to face his men. His eyes zoomed in on Ronan.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, walking over to his son.
“I've decided that I'd like to assume the throne,” Ronan replied.
“Are you sure? You know what a big responsibility that is,” Garrett said, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course,” Ronan replied, “But as you see, circumstances have changed.”
Catching his son’s snide tone, Garrett’s expression grew angry, “I don't appreciate your tone.”
“I don't care,” Ronan shot back, “First, you insinuate that I have to. Now you tell me otherwise? Why?”
“Because the circumstances have changed, and you now have a choice in the matter. I should not have been insistent at first,” Garrett said. “I apologize.”
After a few moments, Ronan said, “Apology accepted. So when do I officially become king?”
“In three days time, we'll have a coronation ceremony for you,” Garrett replied, with a smile.
Nodding, Ronan walked away and began helping with the cleanup.
♦♦♦
The next morning, Garrett’s men started to rebuild the castle to its former glory. The work would take months because of the sheer size of the structure.
Theo returned to the compound and approached Ronan. “So Ro, what happens now? I mean, you'll be the new vampiric king after all.” He shuffled his feet, and avoiding his friend’s eyes.
“Just because we're too different species, and I have a kingdom to rule, doesn't mean we're enemies,” Ronan said.
Lifting his head, Theo’s eyes held Ronan’s and he nodded.
Ronan lifted a hand and clapped it on Theo’s shoulder. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever come between us.” he said, “You're like a brother to me. There’s no way that will end, okay? You'll always have a place here.”
“You mean that?” Theo asked.
Ronan nodded.
“Of course, I do. In fact, I was thinking of assigning you the role of minister representing the Lycan sanction.”
“Ronan, I'd be honoured.”
“So you'll do it? Fantastic.”
Five Years Later
It had been exactly five years since my father, King Garrett, had avenged my mother’s death. It had also been one year since Dad had passed away from a broken heart from losing her, I had become ruler long before then, but it still stung even now. My best friend became minister representing the Lycan sanction. And Xavier? Well let's just say…
“Uncle Xavier!” screamed my daughter, Clara. “Cole won't leave me alone!”
“What? Me? I did no such thing,” my son, Cole said, “I swear, uncle.”
Xavier sighed and suppressed the chuckle that I knew would escape my lips.
“Is that true? Are you bothering your sister?” I heard Xavier ask Cole.
“Maybe…” he said. “It's so much fun!”
“I don't care Cole!” Xavier said, “She's your sister. You should protect her, not bully her!”
Figuring we remained silent for long enough, my wife Alexa and I stepped in.
“Are you teasing your sister again, Cole?” I asked, teasing my children.
Bowing his small, dark head, Cole nodded, shyl
y.
Crouching down to my son’s height, I looked Cole in the eyes. “You know that you're not supposed to tease and bully your sister.” I said, “What kind of example are you setting for her?”
“A bad one,” Cole replied.
I nodded, “That's true, don't you think you should apologize, Cole?”
Cole nodded, looking over to where Clara stood.
Getting to his feet, I smiled as he watched my son run over to his sister and apologize to her.
“That was a nice thing you did for them, honey.”
Turning to my wife, I smiled gently, “It's the least that I could do to help, he shouldn't bully her.”
“You're right, he shouldn't. It's good that you nip it early on.”
I nodded.
Just then, we were joined by Theo, who had a pleased expression on his face.
“Brilliant Ronan, I'm glad I caught you.”
“Yeah, I just stepped in to deal with some things and check on the kids,” Ronan replied.
“We were just about to have lunch. Would you like to join us?”
“Yes, I'd be thrilled to. What are we having?”
“I made us a delicious seafood medley. You know how the kids love it,” Alexa replied.
“Fantastic, shall we sit down, then?” I said, with a smile.
Smiling, we sat down and began our meal. We had a seafood medley as Alexa had said, that was particularly delicious. The kids were playing around by the end and I was relieved to see my family so happy. I hoped that my kids would never experience what I had as a boy. That they would be forever happy.
The Daywalker Chronicles Page 5