Princess of Darkness (The Dark Prince #3)

by Autumn Winchester

  “I’ll make sure you get there, Fayth,” Sebastian said, his voice light. He was just happy he didn’t really need to hide any longer. “I know where they live. I have a few things here to finish up anyways. That way it’ll give you enough time to pack things up, too. And find someone to help your grandparents run the animal shelter.”

  “Why do you have to be the voice of reason,” Fayth said sadly but knew he was right.

  “Someone has to be,” Gabriel said with a smile. “Let’s get a gun over to the blond bitch so her fingerprints are on it.”

  “You just happen to have one that doesn’t have any of our prints?” Chases asked, but not entirely surprised.

  “Of course,” Gabriel answered in a snort. “The gun John was holding, plus our prints can be wiped off.” He spoke the words in a way that said everyone should have known that already.

  “So there was a struggle? Valerie got the upper hand by getting John’s gun, shooting him, then turning the gun on herself?” Chase asked. “There won’t be any gun residue on her, though. Are you sure that will work?”

  “It will,” Jackson said.

  He had been the one masked man that took out everyone else before they had seen it coming.

  “I’ll be a witness for my dead girlfriend,” he sighed, faking his sadness. “I’m a good actor. As long as the FEDS have a witness, they tend to not look into every little detail so much.”

  Jack had been a witness for a number of crimes, some he was part of, some not. Most of the stuff was small petty crimes that he happened to be placed at, at the wrong time on purpose.

  “If they do?” Summer asked, not wanting to cause Jackson more trouble.

  “Then I’ll handle it,” Jackson said with a shrug. “Nothing I haven’t done before.”

  “We got it all covered, lovebirds,” Gabriel said, sparing a glance at the two people who really weren’t helping in the cleanup process, not that he expected their help right now. “We are more than capable of getting this all taken care of. We can always fire the weapon with Valerie’s hand.”

  “Even when the cops show up at your door?” Fayth asked out, knowing it was a likely possibility. “You did plant those pictures here somewhere, right?”

  “What pictures?” Chase asked out. What the hell had he missed out on?

  “Oh, just some pictures of who all is in the trafficking business in compromised positions,” Gabriel answered with a smirk. He was going to make everyone involved in selling and purchasing humans pay for their lives. Killing them all wouldn’t be justice. Those men and a few women deserved to rot in hell, forever.

  “I’m not gonna ask where you got them,” Chase mumbled with a shake of his head. “I’m just going to take my wife outside and wait for you to finish up here.”

  “Shouldn’t take us too much longer,” Sebastian grunted, moving one of the bodies that had been taken out near the door. At least they were all dead, unlike last time he had a shootout. That time was a tad bit messier, and he ended up just blowing the place up afterward.

  Chase took a hold of Summer’s hand, then lead her outside, leaving the huge door opened. Maybe by pure luck, a wild animal would wonder in.

  The air outside was chilly as the wind still blew, causing Summer’s hair to whip around her face and even in her mouth. She couldn’t help but shiver.

  Chase saw, and quickly wrapped his arm around her, bringing Summer close to his side to give her any warmth he could. He hadn’t worn a jacket, as he wasn’t the type to wear a complete suit for a shoot down. It tended to get in the way more often than not.

  Luckily, the car was parked not far away and left unlocked. Sebastian’s black car with tinted windows was just behind the building, and out of sight from anyone that would happen to drive by. Not that there would be many people that would drive out this way on a blustery day.

  By the time Chase was able to help his wife into the car, the rain began to fall from the overcast sky. He slid into the car next to her, where Summer instantly leaned into his side, soaking up his warmth. She had missed this, just time to be together.

  “You doing okay?” he asked with a kiss to her head.

  “Yes, I am,” Summer said. “I feel . . . . lighter somehow. I know he can’t get to me now. And this little one,” she covered her stomach bump with her hand that wasn’t holding Chase’s arm. “This little one will get to grow up in a world that won’t have threats over its head.” This baby would grow up in a world of never knowing what kind of pain ugly people out there could cause.

  “There will still be threats,” Chase said, his voice low. “But nothing like this. Ever. I promise that there will never be life-threatening threats. If there is, those people will not see many more days much longer.”

  “Together, we will make it through,” Summer said, kissing the underside of his jaw.

  “Together, always,” Chase repeated.

  Together, they’d live as a family. No more worries, no more stress. They would make it for years, and nothing would ever pull them apart. The entire family would be there, helping to keep them all together. No matter what.

  “So you wanted to wait to find out what it is?” Chase asked. He laid his hand over Summer’s feeling the little kicks. Chase was ecstatic to experience everything with his wife. They really hadn’t talked about it yet, and although he desperately wanted to know, he could wait. Only a few more months to go.

  “I would like to, yes,” Summer said with a tender smile. “I’m sure we’ll be overrun by everything whatever gender he, or she, is before we need anything important. Just some blankets, a bed, and diapers.”

  “All of which it sounds like between Fayth and Sebastian, you already have,” Chase stated matter of fact. He wasn’t the least bit surprised that they were on top of everything. His Princess was really taken well care of.

  “When will we head back home?” Summer asked after a few minutes of quiet. She didn’t want to move from her husband’s side. Hopefully, she wasn’t being too clingy to him either.

  “Tomorrow sometime,” Chase said. “But first, I have to get someone to deliver that bassinet that Fayth kept going on about.”

  “It would fit good in our room. I don’t want the baby too far away, you know,” Summer said. “I don’t need something that fancy.”

  “Honey,” Chase said, using his pointer finger to lift her chin. “This little one will have everything it possibly wants and desires. I’m not going to spare any price. You should know that by now.”

  “I know,” Summer said sweetly. “What if I found a different one I liked?”

  “What if Fayth talked to me and had it ordered already for you?” Chase countered back, knowing that his wife hadn’t looked at anything more.

  “Then I guess I’ll just have to get the shipping details set,” Summer said, not surprised one bit.

  “Then it’s all set,” Chase said, bringing his lips to hers once more.

  Unlike the last kiss that was softer and sweeter, this was filled with desire and hope.

  Summer could feel it all the way to her toes as his lips molded to hers. One hand went to her head, supporting it as she leaned back somewhat, giving him all the access he needed.

  His mouth dominated her, coaxing groans of want, of need, from her chest. He’d never tire of her, just like she’d never tire of him.

  Pulling back to catch his breath, Summer whined in the back of her throat. She wanted so much more.

  Chase couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics. “Soon, honey. Soon.”

  Summer simply looked at him in want, knowing that soon would not be soon enough.

  Chapter 35

  The sun was starting to set, creating a beautiful masterpiece in the low-lying clouds on the horizon. Summer’s heart was filled with love as she took in the huge house before her. At one point over the past few months, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get to see it again. So many things had been out her hands, and the outcome was never set in stone.

  She was fi
lled with happiness that everything had gone smoothly. She had feared, more than she really needed to, that something would have gone wrong. It hadn’t. It may not have gone exactly like Gabriel had planned, but it had all worked out perfectly in the end. John was dead, and he would never be able to cause problems again for the Marcel family.

  Between Gabriel and Chase, anyone that had been working under John’s command had been taken care of. Summer chose to stay out of the loop, on how those men were taken care of, as long as they were.

  No one knew that Chase and Summer were due back yet, so it would be a surprise all around. Only the people still in Colorado knew, but Chase wanted to be back, and hopefully get his wife back home in time for Clare to arrive home too, or shortly after. It would certainly be a happy surprise for the young girl who had been worrying way too much.

  Ryder had texted him late the night Chase had flown out, letting him know that Clare was in labor and that the OBGYN was not going to try to stop it this time. Since then, he hadn’t heard anything, so he gathered everything was going okay. Chase would be sure to call his mom once they both settled back at home if she didn’t show up first.

  A few lights were still on the inside, but it looked to be empty as Chase shut off the engine. He wasn’t worried about parking in the garage just yet, because he was certain that if Clare wasn’t home yet, Summer would demand to go see her. He’d do anything to she wanted.

  “It doesn’t look like anyone is home,” Summer mused, taking it all in. It was such a drastic change to where she had been living in the mountains with Sebastian. While his house was more cabin styled, Chase’s was a mansion compared to that.

  Chase’s house was still an awe-inspiring place and fit him just perfectly. Elegant, but yet not so standoffish next to other high priced homes. It also fit Summer, more than she wanted to think about. It had more than enough room to grow, to raise a family. She could see herself living here for years to come, as long as Chase and the rest of the family were in her life.

  “Clare may be at the hospital still,” Chase said. “Once we get inside and put our bags in our room, I’ll give mom a call.”

  “Okay,” Summer said with a smile towards him before grasping the car handle and opening the door. Next to Chase, Clare was the person that Summer missed the most. She had grown to care about her sister the short time she had known her.

  It was ten degrees warmer here than it had been in Colorado with the storm front blowing through. Of course, the storm would most likely make it here to Michigan soon enough. Even with it being warmer, Summer still wrapped her dark gray jacket around her body and waited for Chase to get out of the car and unlock the house.

  “Ready?” Chase asked out, holding out his hand for his wife before he took the first step up onto the porch.

  Summer gave him a small, but yet shy, smile, taking his hand. She loved the way he always looked at her, how he always wanted to know everything. Sometimes, she swore he could see right through her, seeing how much she really loved him.

  His looks alone told her louder than words ever could. He loved her, heart, body, and soul.

  Hand in hand, they walked up to the door, and Chase unlocked it before shutting the alarm system off, then closed the door behind them both. The entryway and living room looked just as Summer remembered. A few new pictures were hung now on the walls, pictures she herself had been playing around with.

  “Yeah,” Chase said, running his free hand through his hair, feeling shy all of a sudden. “I looked at some of the things you did because I missed you so fucking much. And I felt drawn to these pictures more than some of the others.” He even looked down at the floor, his ears reddening. He never got to see just how talented she was before then, but he was determined to see what else she could do. Maybe Summer could even start a photography business after the baby was born. Chase would be sure to mention that idea later.

  “You’re cute,” Summer said with a wide smile, a soft look of adoration in her blue eyes. He really was when he blabbered with explaining himself.

  The picture in the entryway was of Summer with Sarah laying over her lap shortly before everything had come crashing down upon them. They were sitting on the couch, Sarah with a look of sadness and worry, seeking comfort. She was dressed in one of the shirts that Clare had picked out for her to wear.

  Clare had been the one that took the picture, and Summer had played around with it, making it black and white. The younger girl thought it spoke volumes on how far everyone had come in such short of time, even as they still fought the looming darkness.

  Walking closer to another picture, Summer couldn’t help smile, knowing exactly why Chase chose this one. One too many times Summer had stood at the window, just admiring the view of the forest. She knew there was a river out there, too. She planned to take a hike to it once the weather was warm enough to do so.

  The sun was setting, casting dark shadows of the trees, and making the ground look like it was caged in shadows. Summer’s camera had a wonderful zoom option, and she had zoomed in as far as she could before she snapped the picture through the open window. She didn’t even need to do any sort of edits on it, leaving it as it was.

  “You’re not upset? I was sure you would be, even when Clare said you wouldn’t care,” he kept rambling on.

  “Chase,” Summer said, turning to face him, a sweet look on her face. “I love them here. Thank you for doing so in my absence.”

  “Really?” Chase asked, not sure why he was so freaked about such a simple thing. His shoulders sagged in relief.

  “Yes,” Summer said with a laugh before pressing her lips to his in a gentle, loving kiss. Chase couldn’t help but be filled with happiness.

  Pulling back, Summer smiled up at him sweetly, happy to be home. She couldn’t wait for Sophie to get here, as she’d arrive with Sebastian. Summer didn’t think the easy puppy would like flying on the jet that Chase had come in, with Jack, of course, the one that was flying the machine.

  “Come on, let me show you our room,” Chase said with a gentle tug of her hand. She smiled, letting him lead the way. “Kayla redecorated most of the upstairs rooms. And because both you and Clare are finished with school, the office room was changed into something else, which I’ll show you after a bit. Your office will now be in the room at the end of the hall that has a window facing the tree line.”

  Once they reached the master bedroom, Chase slowly opened the door, letting Summer see inside.

  “Just new carpet,” he said. The carpet was a tad bit lighter, but in doing so, it made the dark furniture pop more than it had before. “I told mom to not change much since you had made sure to tell me you didn’t plan to do anything in here. She wanted to go all out, of course.”

  “The picture we got for our after wedding thing,” Summer said towards the painting that now hung by the arched windows facing the bed. It really was the perfect spot.

  “Yes,” Chase said with a laugh. “I have never been one for art, but I saw how much you liked that picture, and I put it there. Mom wanted to put it in your office, but I wanted to make sure you had a room to decorate the way you wanted it.”

  “Thank you,” Summer said, so overwhelmed with such a great family. She knew she’d have all this and more if she would have grown up like she should have all along.

  In front of the bay windows, was a simple dark cream colored rocking chair, a tall silver light that looked as if it had different settings for the brightness. There would be the perfect spot for the bassinet to sit once it arrived, and Summer couldn’t wait to see what it looked like put together, sitting there waiting.

  “Now, onto the most important room,” Chase said with a smirk. The one room he couldn’t wait to show his wife. “Clare helped come up with a theme, and with Zinna’s help, my mom put the entire room together. She didn’t let me see it until a few days before I got to come get you and bring you back home.”

  Chase took his time opening the door as he watched Summer’s face. />
  Inside the room, painted in light cream colors, was a nursery. A white crib with padded ends, a matching bookcase with brown fabric boxes filled with diapers and other baby items, filled the room. A soft white bunny rabbit sat in the corner of the crib, waiting to but held onto with tiny hands.

  There was a brass crown, mounted to the wall above the bed that was next to the window, sheer white material falling down and around the crib. A matching brown wicker laundry basket sat with a few white blankets on the closed lid. A soft wooly lamb rocking horse sat in front of the windows.

  An oversized light gray rocking chair with matching ottoman sat in the other corner in front of the other window, a white throw blanket over the back of it. The room was lit up by a glass chandelier hanging from the middle of the room.

  Summer didn’t know what to say, even though her throat closed up with tears at such a picture perfect room. It was better than she could ever think of.