“You’re very conflicted right now. I can see it. Tell me what troubles you?”
My eyes rose and I went from Marko, over to look at Hunter.
“Yes. Now I see. Hunter, come here.”
I jerked my head to Marko, frightened for what he planned to do. Now that Aetas was dead, he could kill Hunter.
I backed away, putting myself between the two of them. Hunter went to step around me, but I put out my arm, making him stay behind. It had Marko’s eyebrows raising. And then he did it. A smile pulled at the side of his face, throwing everything off even more.
“Do you plan to end his life?” My hand eased down, grasping Hunter’s. I had no idea what I was doing, but I couldn’t let him die. My heart … I could feel him in it again. Bond, no-bond—he had always existed within. Whether it was from betrayal or love, it was like Aetas had said, the two emotions stemmed from the same thing. Hunter was a part of me and my vampire was claiming him as her own. Just as I had done once before.
Marko clasped his hands, narrowing his eyes as he began to walk around us. “I could kill him. A large part of me wants to. Aetas,” he nearly growled. “He may have saved your life, Hunter. Oddly enough in the moment, I … feel something for you. In truth, I really don’t mind this,” he said, gesturing to us. “I know I should. I should be ripping him to shreds right now. But I don’t want to.”
An exhale left Hunter and he wrapped his arms around me from behind. All I could do was stare at Marko in shock as I numbly placed my hand over Hunters crossed arms.
“Why don’t the two of you lie down and rest. You’ve been through a lot today. I have to go take care of some things with the high members. I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t wait up for me.”
The emptiness inside only grew as I watched Marko walk out of the door. The tears returned. A mourning so great branched its way through my heart and all I could think to do was turn and hold to Hunter as I broke down and cried for reasons I didn’t even know.
Chapter 15
Hunter
I stayed focused on Tessa as she tossed and turned in her sleep. My mind wouldn’t stop spinning. Nothing about our meeting had gone as Aetas said it would. He said we were going to talk. That maybe there was a way he could convince Marko to accept me, concerning Tessa. We did share a past and two ties. He said with them now sharing one as well that Marko could possibly be open to it.
They’d arrived … and nothing. We were all together and the next thing I knew pain was shooting through my insides and I was springing to my feet. Tessa. God, I’d been on her. Bit her and somehow bonded with her and I couldn’t even remember it. I knew my wrist had been cut. It was barely healed when I came to. I’d forced my blood on her for the last tie and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I hated the action, but I didn’t regret the outcome. I loved her. That was obvious. But…then I saw Aetas. How was he dead? He once told me if he died, so would I. And Marko was alive. They’d bonded! From everything I was taught so far, it seemed impossible.
Another sob shook Tessa as she rolled back toward me. She’d been crying since Marko left. It was another thing bothering me. Was she so close to Aetas? She was loyal to him. That I knew in my heart, but to be so devastated? Perhaps it was the future she was so worried about?
“Shh. Everything’s going to be okay. I promise.” Softly, I stoked back her hair in a slow rhythm and she quieted. When I stopped, her features drew in all over again. I couldn’t stand being on guard from doing what I wanted to. Here I was in her and Marko’s bed and all I wanted to do was hold her. Should I? I fucking wanted to. But what would Marko do if he walked in and saw us in such an intimate position?
Aetas always told me to ask permission. He was very direct with how I should act around Marko. The king could kill me and Aetas wasn’t here to save my ass anymore. I had to be more cautious and learn better control. Tessa may have been bonded to me, but that didn’t mean she would stay that way.
A soft knock was followed by the door opening. My head lifted and Marie jerked to a stop at seeing me lying next to Tessa. My finger shot to my lips to warn her to be quiet. As I eased off the mattress, Tessa rolled over, sniffling.
“Marko knows I’m here … like this.” I kept my voice low so I wouldn’t wake Tessa.
“I would hope so or else you’re a dead man. Again.”
“Ah. The suicide. Aetas told me about it. Good one. Can I help you with something?”
She let out a breath, clearly uncomfortable around me. “I came to check on the queen. She’s upset. Is she okay?”
“Not really. I think she has bad dreams. I’m not sure.” I tried to read Marie as she worriedly watched over the queen. “You feel her from the tie the two of you have?”
Marie nodded. “She’s extremely upset. It leaves me unsettled. I worry for her. Especially since I’m not sure why she is so distressed. I can’t … figure out the reason. Such grief, but I don’t understand. Nothing makes sense right now.”
“Your dreams,” I breathed out. “What do you dream? What does the future say for us now?”
Marie’s features drew in. “I …” She got quiet. “How odd you ask that. I don’t know anything, anymore. Not with Tessa and not of tomorrow. My visions, they’re changing. Something is happening, but I don’t know what it is. Everything is so dark. It’s like I’m not myself. The same dream has come now for days, but I can decipher it. It’s the reason I haven’t said anything. Either something’s going to happen, or something already has. I’m so confused. This one is different. The air is so suffocation and stale. I fight to break free, but it’s like I can’t. I’m in something.”
“In something? You or someone else? Or all of us?”
Marie rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. It can mean anything, but Marko and Tessa are who my dreams mainly revolve around. Or you, I guess. I dream of you quiet often.”
“You do? What happens to me?”
Marie took a step back, twisting her black dress in her hands. “I don’t like talking about this to you.”
“Why? I’m not going to do anything. I’m not the bad guy, here. I wish everyone would stop thinking I was.”
She took a deep breath. “Today you’re not. Or maybe at all. It’s so hard to believe your good since you’ve always been bad. Your future changes more than anyone’s. I used to dream that you were the end of us. You lead a war of humans to kill us, then it was a war of vampires, then a mix of both. Just the last few days it’s warped once again. You …” Marie reached up, pressing her fingers against her temple. “I don’t know. The night of the coronation, your path altered yet again. It’s always changing. It baffles me to the point of madness.”
“What did you see this time?” I stressed. “Do you see Tessa and I together? Are we happy? Marie? Is she going to be okay?”
My voice grew louder and she jerked her arm away from me as I reached for it. The slap had me gritting my teeth.
“Don’t touch me. Never touch me. You once stabbed me through the chest with a holy dagger. I don’t trust you.”
“I did that?” Even as I asked, visions blinded me. My breath caught and I weeded through the emotions my human self felt in that moment. I was so desperate. So afraid of this world. I hated it. The need to kill vampires was there, but it faded the moment the pictures disappeared. “I did do that. I’m sorry.”
Her lids were lowered skeptically as she watched me. “Yeah … well, yeah.” She mumbled the words, dropping her wrinkled dress to hug around her waist.
“Tell me what you saw of me. Please.”
Marie glanced to Tessa and an uneasy sound left her. “I’m not one to judge on mates or bonded, but,” her stare returned to me. “You’ve bonded her, haven’t you?”
“I have.”
“You’re bonded. That’s what I dreamed of, but I didn’t dare believe it. What followed … what I saw …”
My head shook. “What is it?”
“Nothing. You’re bonded. But.” Her lips pressed together.
“Marko is … something is different. I can feel it, but I can’t see it. Marko and Tessa love each other. Their love is like nothing else. I don’t know what it means for me to see you with Tessa. Maybe the three of you are meant to be together, I just don’t know yet. The darkness. It all blurs, and I’m not breathing well.”
I frowned, turning as Tessa rolled back to where I was. “Go back to Marko. What do you mean he’s different? Is it a bad different, or is it good? Will he accept me and Tessa?”
Marie went to open her mouth when the door opened. Marko came to an abrupt stop at seeing us.
“Marie, what brings you here?”
She shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at me before addressing him.
“I came to check on the queen. She’s distressed. It woke me from a deep sleep.”
“Ah.” He walked forward, removing his suit’s jacket to place on the back of a red velvet chair. “No worries. I’m back now. I’ll calm her. Go back to your room and get some rest. I’m holding a meeting at sunset tomorrow. Aetas has passed, I’m sure you’ve heard. Tessa, Hunter, and I will be going to the ceremony in a few days so I want to make plans for the city to be on guard in case anything happens while we’re away.”
Marie’s mouth opened, only to close. “No. That can’t be right.” Her head snapped to me. “Why did you not tell me?”
“About Aetas? I thought you knew.”
“I was not aware of his passing. He’s … not dead. I would have known. I would have known,” she repeated. She grew quiet, moving her sights to Marko, only to drop them to the ground. “How did I not know? Why was I not made aware or woken up? My dreams, that’s why they’re changing.” Her hand pressed to her stomach while she swallowed convulsively. “What does this mean for us? What are we to become?”
Marko’s brow creased and he went to place his hand on her shoulder. The moment it touched, she scrambled backward as if he’d burned her.
“Marie?”
The color drained from her face while she began to side-step to the door.
“Marie.” Marko’s voice was deeper. “What is it?”
“N-nothing. Nothing, Your Highness. I … must go. I’m suddenly not so well. My sincerest apologies for Aetas.”
With that, she rushed for the door, closing it quietly behind her. Marko’s eyes were narrowed as he continued to stare at the barrier.
“Odd.” He turned to me, unbuttoning his shirt. “How is my queen?”
Marie’s words came back to me. “Distressed. She continues to cry.”
“Tessa seemed to take Aetas’ passing rather hard, wouldn’t you agree?”
I nodded, hesitant on how I should act. Marko did seem different. So much more easygoing than before. Where was his anger toward me? His hate?
“I’m tired. Have you slept at all?”
“No. Tessa doesn’t calm unless I soothe her.”
Marko’s lips pulled back on the side and I wasn’t sure if it was from anger or something else.
“Soothe her? How?” He stepped closer. “Do you kiss her? Hold her? How do you soothe my queen?”
I didn’t break eye contact as I stood taller. “Aetas made sure I treaded very light around you. I did nothing but stroke her hair. I didn’t hold her or kiss her. Not that I didn’t want to.”
Marko’s smile grew and he turned, walking to the bed. I stayed in place, not sure what to do as he continued to undress.
“Are you coming, or are you going to sleep on the floor?”
“You mean you’re okay with me being with the two of you in your bed?”
Annoyance flickered on his face as he let his pants drop. “You’re her bonded. You have almost every right to her that I do. But remember who she’s legally tied to. Me. If I want her, I can take her just as you do. We share her in a sense, but she’s still mine. You still have to ask.”
“What happened to you?”
I couldn’t move. Could barely speak at how flabbergasted I felt.
“Aetas blood, I suppose. It isn’t such a bad thing. Who knows, maybe this will work out for the best. Tessa gets her best friend and lover back, and I get to keep her too. I don’t mind sharing with you. For now.”
Chapter 16
Marko
The City of the Dead. I’d seen the underground tombs beneath Headquarters before, but never once had I thought I’d be here so soon. A part of me knew I’d make it to the status to be put to rest in this place, but not like this. Never still alive, trapped inside Aetas’ memorial. And I knew that’s where I was. The energy around me told me my location, and surrounded by darkness, it was a hard truth to deny.
The City was miles wide, housing thousands upon thousands of past members and enforcers who’d made it as high as Headquarters. Some lasted days in their position, others decades, even centuries. Only once had I walked through the large, opened space, taking in the elaborate, yet gothic memorials. But even then, I hadn’t scratch the surface on covering the distance of how big this place was.
The passing of Bercolot had been hard on me at the time. He was a dear friend, a member in our city, before getting recruited as an enforcer. He lasted all of four months before he was killed by a rogue vampire. I went to his ceremony with a heavy heart, but I didn’t neglect to take in the one place vampires whispered about. Or the place I longed to make a mark in. Each monument told of status, and wasn’t that what I had always dreamed of? It was my biggest fault. A curse, just as The City of the Dead was. The place was a ghost story to our kind. For all of its beauty, it held dark secrets.
It was told that when a vampire of worthy status passed, his greed—even in death—caused him to take over the life of the strongest vampire present during the ceremony. Some said it wasn’t greed at all that caused him or her to do this, but a sacrifice to our leader to once again return to walk amongst us. A transitioning in bodies, so to speak.
The entire story was shit. I didn’t believe in ghosts coming back from the dead, nor did I think it was possible. But if I wanted to be honest with myself, being turned into Aetas and locked in a casket in the middle of a large, marble monument sort of fit the bill. The sacrifice was real, for here I was.
The entire situation was starting to make my skin crawl. The energy here was different. Intense. It was as if, even though I was secluded in a pitch black box, I wasn’t alone. Clicking kept echoing from somewhere near me, and a slight hum was constantly present. I knew the sounds were connected, and were more-than-likely the machine keeping me alive, but what about the whispering voices that woke me from my dreams?
Insanity. And this was only the beginning.
“Dammit!” I tried to thrash for what had to be the thousandth time since I’d awoken in darkness days ago. It took forever to remember what had happened to me, or where I even was, but when the tightness on the side of my neck made itself know at my struggles, everything came back in a rush of memories. Aetas.
He was going to pay for what he had done. There was no way I was going to let him live my life and bring down our kind. As for what he was doing with Tessa, I couldn’t bear to think about it. The sickness that plagued me at the thought only made my mental state worse. I was panicked. Losing my mind to the point of here phantom voices. Years, possibly decades, or longer, I could be confined here … no, I couldn’t survive that. Not mentally.
“Aetas! Aetas, let me out!”
As for Hunter, his role to me was as clear as day. I’d seen through Aetas’ blood that Hunter hadn’t been in control of himself. Nor did he know Aetas’ plan. What was uncertain during the attack, was now obvious. And things were only becoming sharper in my mind. I may have been locked away, but my tie with Aetas was supplying me with information as if I were there, witnessing it all. I felt all three of them. Tessa’s heartbreak at losing me, even if she didn’t know it was me who was gone, and Hunter’s growing love for her. His protectiveness.
They were all close. So close, I felt as though I’d see them if this heavy marble top was lifted off of me
. There was only one reason for them to be at Headquarters—the ceremony. Grieving, for a leader that was determined to kill us all.
Chapter 15
Aetas
It wasn’t every day you got to witness your own funeral. The forlorn expressions, the ones of relief and eagerness, left an internal smile permanently etched within me. Fools. They were so clueless to what I had planned. They wouldn’t know what was hitting them until it was too late. Even now my plan was in motion and the distraction I was waiting for as I sat on the first row with Tessa and Hunter was just moments away.
“King Aetas will forever be remembered. He was our foundation. Our security and hope through times where we fought to survive. He took us from the bottom, to the top. We’ve come so far and it is all thanks to him.”
“As we sit here today, rulers and members of a vampire society greater than ever, we mourn a leader who can never be replaced. He was fearless. Brave in the face of what most of us would cower to. The centuries that I have served alongside him has been a great honor.”
Fantaza looked up through thick lashes, brushing back the short strands that fell into her eyes, continuing.
“Today we will not speak of the future, but of the past. I would like to tell you all a story of my first meeting with Aetas.” Her lips pursed and she took a ragged breath, wiping away what I knew to be fake tears. The female had no heart. Hadn’t, even before she was turned. It was the reason I chose her.
“The year was thirteen-forty-eight. I was but twenty-one, in human years, but far from a child. Times were not as they were now. To live as I did was an accomplishment of its own. But in Florence, where I had been born and raised, we suffered something far worse than any food shortage, or attack of our persons.”
“The Black Plague hit my home, hard. People were dying everywhere you turned. Bodies were littering the streets. My mother was the first to be taken. Then my seven brothers and sisters. I woke up just at sunset, feeling death approaching. It was only a matter of time.”
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