A Crown of Blood and Ashes

by Elle Middaugh

  "What's wrong?" Darren asked, hovering above me with tightly knit brows. He must've read something on my face.

  I sighed. No use in lying. "I hate the thought of you being with Princess Bitch."

  His sudden smile almost lit up the room. "I didn't sleep with her, Autumn. But I do love your possessive side. It's fucking hot."

  "Wait, you didn't?"

  He shook his head. "I refused her advances, but she was so drunk anyway that she just passed right out."

  I couldn't hide the pleased grin that overtook my entire mouth. I hated the idea of sharing Darren with anyone. It tickled me pink to know I didn't have to... yet.

  "We need to get another vial of that potion," I said in all seriousness. "This one's so tiny, there are probably only a few more doses left. And we need enough for both of us this time. I don’t want you screwing her. Ever."

  He ripped the shirt off his back and flung it across the room.

  "Right. Like I'll be able to trick the Princess of Potions with a potion."

  I might've growled. He had a point, but it was fucking annoying.

  "We'll figure something out," he added, unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them off. "I definitely don't plan on fucking her. Not when all I can think about is you."

  I might’ve purred then.

  Gliding my nails along his sides, I hooked my thumbs in his boxers and pulled them down. When we were both blissfully naked, he leaned down and kissed me.

  Everything in the world felt right when we were together. Especially with his mouth on mine and his body pressed tightly against me.

  I couldn't imagine not being with my vampire. How any of the mixed couples had survived it before us, I couldn't fathom. It would have driven me mad. Being married to his maker was bad enough. Not being with him at all would be intolerable.

  We were hot and bothered in a matter of minutes. Taking the lead, I sat up and pushed him down onto the bed.

  "My turn to be up top," I said. I bent down and reached into his jeans on the floor to grab a condom from his wallet. The fire in his eyes at my dominance was catching. It gave me a reckless confidence that seemed to turn us both on even further. I slid the latex down his shaft, never breaking eye contact, then slowly lowered myself on top of him.

  He let out a pleasured groan, and grabbed my hips as I rocked them back and forth.

  "You are so fucking sexy," he muttered.

  His eyes took in every movement I made. Watched the smooth writhing of my body, the gentle bounce of my breasts, the straining muscles of my abs. His worshipful adoration had me convinced his words must be true.

  A soft buzzing rattled Darren's cell phone from somewhere in the pile of clothes on the floor.

  My motions stopped.

  "Leave it," he growled, leaning up to take my mouth in his.

  I smiled against his lips. "What if it's important?"

  "There is nothing more important than being inside you right now, trust me."

  It was an incredibly sexy thing to say, but I leaned down and picked it up anyway.

  When I saw the number, my heartbeat picked up and all the color drained from my face.

  "Why do you have Lyra's number in your phone?"

  He frowned in confusion. "I don't."

  "Then why is she texting you?" I flipped the screen around so he could see.

  He swiped the lock and read the message out loud.

  “Remember what I said about your treachery being lucrative...?”

  We shared a nervous glance before the bedroom door burst open. Carter DeLong stood in the doorway, smiling ear to ear. He snapped a few burst-shot pics on his phone.

  "My, my, my," he mused. "What have we here?"

  24

  Darren

  "Oh, Varek is going to love this," Carter said raptly.

  I quickly switched positions with Autumn and covered her naked body with a sheet.

  "Carter," I shouted, sliding on my boxers and jeans, "Don't you dare send those pictures."

  "Oops." He put a hand up to his mouth dramatically, and flipped the phone around so I could see it'd already sent. "Too late."

  "Damn you!"

  He chuckled. "Good luck with that inheritance now."

  My mind was whirring a mile a minute. According to the text I'd just received, it was Lyra who'd tipped him off. But didn't she realize she'd essentially damned herself, too?

  Unless... had she somehow figured out the escape route I told her about? She'd have had to pull thousands of books and objects before finding the proper lever to open the secret passage. But even if she’d succeeded, I doubted the king and queen would welcome her back with open arms. Not after sealing their daughter's death sentence.

  Autumn and I might have to take our chances on running away, after all.

  Without taking my eyes off Carter for even a moment, I said to her, "Get dressed. Quickly."

  Carter threw his head back and laughed. "Doesn't really matter anymore, does it? Everyone who's anyone has seen her naked by now."

  With zero thought, I completely fucking snapped. I lurched forward, took his arm in one hand, and smashed down with my other, breaking it with a loud crunch. Then I spun it around behind him, essentially pinning him there. My vision pulsed red. I grabbed the first thing I could find—a damned clothes hanger from the closet by the door—and wrapped his hands with the wire. Once he was secure, I grabbed the collar of his T-shirt and tore it off.

  Carter's brows squeezed together. "What the fuck, man?"

  I punched him in the mouth just to shut him the hell up. Then I grabbed the hem of his jeans and yanked those off too. The denim split loudly.

  This time, it was Autumn who was the confused one. She pulled up her own jeans and buttoned them with a frown. "Darren, what are you doing?"

  I tried to give them both a sarcastic smile, but I'm pretty sure my gritted teeth made it look more like a snarl.

  "Carter, here, wants to sexually objectify you. He wants to diminish you because of something he did. It's not your fault that he took pictures of you against your will, and I refuse to allow him to mock you for it. Not without a price.”

  I grabbed his briefs near the hip and ripped them off too, turning my head before I had to see any nasty bits.

  "So," I said, staring at Autumn, who looked surprised as hell and mildly amused if the curve of her lips was anything to go by. “Now everyone who matters has seen him naked."

  Her eyes moved over to mine and locked on. Silent words and emotions passed between us.

  I nodded.

  Yes, I just said you're the only one who matters. Because you are, Autumn. I hope you'll understand that soon.

  "Carter! What the fuck is taking so long?" Varek's voice bellowed from down the hall. “I ordered you to bring Darren and Autumn to me immediately!”

  Carter rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know, I'm just a little tied up!"

  A loud growl echoed through the hall then. He would be coming for us.

  I reared back and smashed Carter's face hard enough to crack bone. As a vampire, it wouldn't kill him. But it would knock him out long enough for us to escape.

  I pulled the shadows tightly around my body, fighting to make the darkness wrap around Autumn too. But it refused.

  "Don't worry," she whispered in a hurry. “I've been practicing.”

  One minute, she was there, the next, she'd disappeared into thin air. I couldn't help the huge-ass smile that poured across my face, but since I was shadowed too, she couldn't see it.

  The sound of footsteps echoed abruptly in my ears. Varek was much closer now. We were running out of time and options.

  "Through the window!" I whispered. "Quick!"

  I dropped to the ground and rolled, hoping like hell I didn't accidentally squash her at the bottom. I mean, I couldn't fucking see her. How could I possibly avoid her?

  Luckily, we somehow missed the collision.

  Unluckily, Varek somehow met us at the bottom.

  A swarm of his mos
t loyal cohorts surrounded us. Knowing there was no way out, I reluctantly dropped the shadows. Autumn followed my lead after a few hesitant seconds.

  Varek smiled wide and shook his head. "Darren, Darren, Darren... you're far too predictable, my son. When Lyra told me what you two were up to, I of course sent Carter to investigate. When he replied with photographic evidence, I knew you’d try to escape the manor. That’s why I had my guards ready and waiting.”

  All I could do was close my eyes. I had nothing sarcastic to spew at him, nothing profound to say. We'd been caught. It was over. Simple as that.

  When I reopened my eyes, his head was cocked and he was staring at Autumn.

  "And you.... You swore to the gods to be loyal to me forever... just yesterday. Why the sudden change of heart?"

  He didn't seem upset, really. More curious than anything.

  Autumn, who was usually quite compliant, looked furious. “I never wanted to marry you. But I wasn’t given a choice. Not by my parents, not by you, not by anyone.”

  Varek bobbed his head. “Okay, yeah, I’ll give you that. But I thought you were happy, nonetheless. You seemed happy.”

  "I won't lie, Varek," she said, and I watched her features soften. "You've been very kind to me ever since I arrived, and for that, I thank you. But I can't do this. I can't play this game."

  He chuckled. "Obviously not. The game's already over. You just lost."

  He flicked his fingers, and in milliseconds his lackeys had us bound.

  "Take them to the cells."

  "No!" she cried, while I silently thrashed and pulled on my restraints.

  But it was no use. We ended up in cells directly across the hall from one another. It practically killed me to see her like that. Caged. Criminalized. I wanted nothing more than to bust us out of there, but the cells were built by vampires, and therefore they were vampire-proof.

  I punched the stone wall, venting my frustration in the only way I currently could. Blood seeped as my skin split. The sting barely held a candle to the flame of my anger, and it healed all too quickly.

  For the past hundred years, I'd been biding my time, dutifully waiting for my turn to rule the coven. To break the rules in a way my predecessors never would have dreamed. To lead with open-mindedness and acceptance, mercy, and maybe even a little goodness.

  But I had missed the whole damn point. I was never supposed to sit back and wait for my turn. I was supposed to rebel in the face of injustice. To take control when the coven needed it most. Doing nothing was almost as bad as doing evil. It was neglect, at least. Willful endangerment to the fate of my coven, and perhaps the entire world.

  I was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt.

  I needed to apologize to Autumn for being such a pussy. For allowing her to marry another man. For subjecting her to a life without freedom or choices. For getting us locked in a cell when we should have been reigning together.

  But Varek beat me to speaking. He must've been waiting just outside the cell block this whole time.

  "I need to know something, Autumn," he said quietly. There was a sadness to his tone that actually kind of scared me. He was never vulnerable.

  She moved to the door and squeezed the bars. Her eyes met mine briefly before sliding to Varek down the hall.

  "Yes?"

  He scrubbed his hands over his face, then into his hair. "Why Darren? Why my heir, of all people?"

  I watched Autumn take a cleansing breath. Her expression solidified into a peaceful determination. She even smiled. I’m not gonna lie, it irritated me a bit.

  "It's always been Darren," she said simply, but her words wrecked my heart, making me fall even harder. "I met him, and... fell in love with him... before the competition ever came about."

  Varek's eyes fell shut, and he leaned his head back against the wall. For a long moment, he said nothing at all.

  Then he sighed. "So it wasn't to spite me? To embarrass me, undermine my authority, and make me look weak? Because... I definitely feel betrayed."

  She leaned her forehead into the bars. "I'm so sorry, Varek. I swear we never meant to hurt you. Darren just refused to disobey you, so it made our options extremely limited."

  He scoffed. "There's a fine line between disobeying and flat-out betraying. But I'm pretty sure you two crossed it."

  "No," she said, offering him another soft smile. "You crossed it when you claimed me for yourself. You just didn't realize a line had already been drawn."

  "You could have told me."

  This time I scoffed, cutting in. "No one tells you to do anything, Varek. You make the rules. You are the law."

  He nodded, owning my words with a casual agreement that irritated the fuck out of me.

  "I suppose you're right, Darren," he said with another sigh. "That's why you're locked up, and I'm the one holding the key."

  At the mention of the word, he spun a key ring around his index finger.

  "But I think I'll make you two a deal."

  Autumn's eyes widened, their blue depths full of hope.

  Varek spun the key ring again. "I'll marry Princess Yasmin instead. I'll set you two free, and you'll leave Wells Manor and never return. Darren will forfeit his inheritance on behalf of his treachery, but you two will keep your love and your lives. Sound good?"

  Good? Compared to what I was thinking—an eternity locked in a cell, or a sudden death—this deal sounded like a godsend.

  "Yes, sir," I said, keeping my voice carefully even.

  He glanced at Autumn.

  She nodded. "Yes, thank you."

  He strolled closer with a defeated grin on his face. He'd lost, but he was handling it gracefully. I didn’t think he had compassion like that in him, but I was certainly thanking my lucky stars for it.

  Just as he was about to put the key in Autumn's cell lock, a winded vampire rushed down the stairs.

  "Sir!" the vamp shouted. Fear lent his eyes an electric brightness. "The witches are attacking!"

  Varek's eyes hardened. He withdrew the key and pocketed it.

  "So this was the plan all along...."

  "No!" Autumn cried, clinging to her bars. "I swear we had nothing to do with this! It must've been Lyra! She disappeared earlier today!"

  Varek reached through the bars and grabbed Autumn's throat.

  My grip tightened painfully on my own bars. I gritted my teeth and pried as hard as I could, but the metal didn't budge.

  "Lyra?" he asked her mockingly. "The girl who alerted me to your affair? Now you're trying to blame her? This lie just keeps getting better and better."

  "It's not a lie!" I shouted, realizing Autumn couldn't speak for herself. "Now fucking drop her!"

  He smiled at me, a wild thing that lit his eyes with hellfire. "Or else what, Darren? You never did anything when you were free; what are you possibly going to do from behind bars?"

  The truth of his words slugged me in the gut. He was right. I hated him more in that moment than I ever had in my entire existence.

  Finally he threw her and returned his attention to the vamp who'd brought him the bad news.

  "Get back to the fight. If there are any high-ranking witches or mages, bring them to the cells. Everyone else, bleed them dry."

  The vamp nodded and sprinted back up the stairs.

  "And as for you," he growled, sneering between us. “Once I've slaughtered my other enemies, you two will be next."

  25

  Autumn

  Darren was losing his shit. Pacing back and forth, bleeding all over the walls as he destroyed his fists on the stones, growling like a beast about to turn.

  "Hey!" I shouted, snapping my fingers at him. "Calm down. We need to get out of here."

  He stopped midstep and stared at me. "Yes, I'm aware of that, Princess. But unfortunately these cells are vampire-proof. Varek designed them himself. So unless you can somehow melt steel—"

  He suddenly rushed to the bars with wide eyes.

  "Can your magic melt steel?"

  If
I looked half as bewildered as I felt, then it must've been discouraging.

  "I don't know. But I'm damn well going to try. You never said anything about these cages being witch-proof."

  Darren seemed to contemplate that thought. "Why would he put you in a cage you could break free from?"

  I called my magic into my palms and shook my head. "Maybe because he never intended to keep us here. He was going to set us free until Lyra and my parents ruined absolutely everything. That must have been their grand plan from the beginning.

  Darren nodded. No arguments there. He'd clearly judged Lyra correctly all along.

  But I'd wasted enough time contemplating the motives of evil people. Before I could get distracted again, I grabbed the bars and flared up my magic. They melted like candy, dripping like sugar to the cell floor. Then I shot a ball of it at Darren's cell, and in seconds, we were both free.

  He grabbed my hand and kissed it. "How long can you hold the shadows?"

  "I have no idea. But based off earlier, I'd say at least five to ten minutes."

  "That'll have to be enough, then.” He moved his hands to the back of my head and pulled me in for a quick but desperate kiss. It spoke louder than words ever could. It was a temporary goodbye, just in case this whole thing went ass-up.

  He shadowed, I followed suit, and he took my hand once more.

  "Don't let go," he told me. "If you do, we'll get lost and be forced to break shadow, and that won't bode well for either of us."

  I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me. "Okay. Got it."

  We ran up the stairs and into the throngs of the battle. It was surreal. The violence and hatred, the blood and destruction, was almost more than I could bear. These people were just normal, everyday souls I'd seen walking down the hall of the manor, or down the streets of Delphina. They weren't supposed to be stabbing each other with random objects, breaking each other’s bones, or spilling each other’s blood. They were literally killing one another for the sake of some ancient vendetta that had nothing to do with them.

  I ducked a punch that a mage had thrown at a vampire's head. Darren's hold on my hand tightened. He twisted us through the violent crowd, deftly avoiding fists and stakes and writhing balls of magic energy. I trailed after him, waiting to find some safe place to gain the upper hand, to start taking control of the chaotic situation. But before I could blink, we were out the front doors and on the brink of the woods.