Protector (The Full-Blood Book 1)

by Serena Nova

  That was probably how every Full-Blooded felt, raw and powerful. It made me feel small and insignificant. That thought made me chuckle.

  “What?” She turned around to look at me.

  “Nothing,” I said, I knew the smile was still on my face.

  “Yes, you laughed at something. And what Cian is telling me isn’t funny. Tell me.” She arched an eyebrow, her brown eyes stared into mine, and all I could think of was kissing her. My eyes drifted to her lips, and I felt her stiffen in my arms. Quickly, I looked back at her eyes.

  “Okay.” I smiled at her. “You are the strongest woman alive and sitting on my lap. It made me feel small and insignificant.” I kept looking at her, waiting for her reaction. Hoping she would understand what I had meant. And then she laughed, a full laugh. The best thing I had ever heard.

  “Dude, have you seen yourself in the mirror? You are big, huge even.” She looked me over, her eyes heating up a little with what she saw. Making me, again, punch down the longing to kiss her. I felt her relax even more, when she turned back to look at Cian. He pulled up an eyebrow at me and continued talking.

  “We found this journal.” Cian picked up the black leather book and gave it to Isa. I bit my lip as I held back a moan when she moved forward to grab the book, her ass moving over my cock. She needed to get out of my lap before I jumped her. I looked at Cian and saw him smirking at me. He knew what she was doing to me. Luckily, she got up to look at the book Cian gave her.

  Isadora

  I got up from Averey’s lap, grabbed the book Cian was holding, and moved away a little. I needed space and room to think. I had felt more of Averey then I had wanted, and it had me hot and bothered at that moment. I needed another shower. Luckily, the book was the best excuse to move away.

  “It’s the journal from Seraphina Savill Royal,” Cian said to me. I opened it, finding a feminine handwriting. I flicked through it, not really reading anything.

  “You can take it to your room, Love,” Cian said. I turned to him and nodded.

  “And those other books?” I looked at the pile next to him.

  “I need to read those first. When you told us, your Grandmother had died five years ago, something clicked in my mind. Something changed in the power balance in the Gate. And we think it was connected to your Grandmother. We need to be sure.” He opened a book and started looking through it.

  “And while Cian looks into that. We need something settled,” Averey said as he looked at me from the chair. I was reminded about his hard length that had been poking against my ass moments before.

  “Sorry, what?” I asked, my mind flushed with the thought of him naked, all that glorious male in front of me, his skin against mine. I breathed out a sigh.

  “You attacked a Witch,” he said as he got up. “Come.” He motioned for me to follow him.

  “I’ll make sure the book gets to your room, Isa,” Cian said, and I handed him the small journal back. Averey was now by the library door, and I rushed towards him. Not really wanting to hurry.

  “Averey,” I said to him before he could open the door. “What are you going to do with me?” I asked him. I hoped he understood that I had meant, me being Royal, being the heir to a throne that was theirs.

  “Nothing,” he said, a smile on his face. I didn’t believe him for a second, the twinkling in his eyes told me he was up to something. Before I could ask, he moved through the door. I followed him down the stairs and towards their Quarters.

  Flynn and Rayan were sitting on the sofas, talking softly. They stopped the moment I entered.

  “Send them in!” Flynn bellowed to someone behind the door. I heard the doors open and looked at the people who walked in. Anger soared through me the moment I recognized who they were. I closed my fist and kept my magic buried deep down inside me. Because if I lost control then, it would, for sure, have meant my death and theirs.

  Thalia stood in front of two older people. They must have been her parents, they looked similar. Her mother had the same strawberry-blonde hair as Thalia. And Thalia had her father's eyes, a simple blue–no spark to them. Their eyes moved towards me while Thalia sneered at me. Both of her parent’s faces turned white. Hatred filled their eyes and the room around them. I didn’t think Thalia had known who I was, her parents had, though. I heard someone move around, I noticed his magic before I found him standing next to me. Rayan. Another person moved to stand next to me I knew it was Flynn because Averey still stood in front of us. He moved towards me, too. They all stood next to me, and I smirked at the Ranteaus.

  The door opened, and Cian walked in, almost as if he had been summoned by me, by the power that was gathering in this room. Thalia was strong, it would mean her parents were, too. He looked at them and then at me and the others. He moved towards me, standing next to Rayan. When I looked back towards the Ranteaus, cold entered my veins, and hatred filled my body. It consumed me, there was one thing keeping it away, the feeling of my men around me. They kept me grounded. Because this was a part of the family who had made sure mine was destroyed.

  “She needs to be dealt with.” Thalia pointed at me.

  “And why is that?” Averey asked. I hadn’t explained my side of the story, and I didn’t know what Thalia had told them. I looked at her, focused on that bitch.

  “She attacked me,” Thalia spat out.

  Averey looked at me, “Why did you attack her?”

  “She threatened Astra,” I told him, folding my arms over my chest and looked at him straight. I didn’t care anymore, the hatred dug deeper into me, consumed me more and more.

  “I did not,” Thalia said, her voice pitched higher with her lie.

  “Oh, girl, please don’t. You know you did, and you know you peed yourself,” I growled out.

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” Thalia’s mother sneered.

  “Why are you even here?” her father asked. I looked at the man.

  “Because I belong here,” I answered. It wasn’t totally a lie or the truth. However, they didn’t need to know that.

  “No, you are a Protector, the bottom of the food chain, you are nothing,” Thalia said, she looked at Averey. Her face had changed in a blink, her eyes started to water.

  “Please, my King, send her away. She is a disgrace, she doesn’t belong here.” She even sniffed when she said that. Averey looked at her, not reacting at all to what she said or did. It made me breathe a little easier, made the anger pause for a moment, only to start swirling in full force the moment her father started speaking.

  “My King,” her father started, he didn’t sound honest when he said that, “you need to remove her.” He didn’t say ‘from the castle.’ The threat was clear as glass.

  “Why?” Averey asked. Flynn and Rayan moved a little closer to me.

  “Because she is a threat to your thrones,” the man said. This made Thalia turn around.

  “Why’s that, daddy?” she asked, her voice sugar sweet, he looked at his daughter. A cruel smile appeared on his face when he said.

  “Because she is the last Royal, the rightful heir to the throne they are sitting on.”

  Thalia spun around to look at me, her eyes wide.

  “Hi, I’m Isadora Seraphina Savill Royal.” Since the cat was out of the bag then, why not do it right? I cocked my head to the side and smiled at them, giving them a wave. I could feel Rayan freeze for a moment. He hadn't known yet. That had to wait for later.

  “You . . .?” she started, her eyes getting wider as all the colour drained from her face, “You are?”

  “I’m what?” I asked her.

  “Full-Blood.”

  “Yup, no drooling please.” This was the last thing I could say, apparently. Her parents had both pulled magic around them, their eyes focused on me.

  “STOP!” Averey commanded. He was holding up his hand, and I could feel the magic coming off of him. Thalia looked at Averey, her eyes moving towards the ground. Her parents’ eyes were still focused on me. I shook my head at them and
made a tsking noise. “I wouldn’t do that. You know who I am, you know what I am. Do you really want to test your powers against mine?” I asked them. I let go of my magic, wrapping it around them. Thalia stumbled backwards, practically falling against her mother. I pushed and pushed more magic at them, making them suffocate on it.

  “If it is power you want,” I growled out and stepped closer to them, forgetting all about the men in the room, forgetting all about the balance they had kept around me. Because the people in front of me, they had a hand in the murder of my Great-Grandmother, the last Queen. They were the family who had wanted more power, took whatever they wanted without thinking about the cost. The hatred finally fully consumed me.

  “Take it,” I said to them. I was almost upon them, my hands engulfed in fire. The air around me moved faster, whipping my hair around. The castle rumbled around us when I pulled at the earth, and water started to flowed around my feet.

  “Isa, Sweetheart.” Averey spoke softly to me. I had totally forgotten they were there. The anger had made me forget. A hand touched my shoulder, pulling me back against something solid. The smell of burning fire reached me, strong arms folded around me and held me there.

  “Guerrero, stop,” he whispered in my ear. “You have to stop,” he said again when I kept pushing my magic. A pair of blue eyes came into my view.

  “They aren’t worth it,” Rayan said softly.

  “They are responsible for all of this,” I growled out at him.

  “Maybe and maybe not, Babe,” he said, his eyes pleading with me to see that what I was doing wasn’t any better than what they had done to my family.

  With that realisation, I stopped and pulled my magic back quickly. It left me breathless. I looked at the three people now huddled together. “You aren’t worth it,” I whispered. I could feel Flynn tighten his arms around me, and Rayan let out a breath, he turned around and looked at the family on the floor.

  For the first time, I heard him talk like a King.

  “You are banished from this Castle, all three of you. Nobody threatens our girl. And.” He looked at Thalia for what he was about to say next. “Nobody threatens someone in this castle, without us knowing, and if you do, you don’t lie about it. We will find out,” he said. They stood there not reacting at all until he yelled. “OUT!” They scrambled and moved.

  I looked at him when he turned around, finding his blue eyes.

  “You guys didn’t believe her?”

  “No, the Protector . . .”

  “Liv.” I filled in.

  “Yes, Liv. She told us what happened even before Thalia came along. We told her she needed to stop. Only, she ran to her parents. They think themselves really important. Being one of the last Original High Houses.” Rayan rolled his eyes with that.

  I was still in Flynn’s arms, leaning against his chest.

  “So, Full-Blood,” Rayan now said.

  “Yeah. Sorry I didn’t tell you guys,” I said while I looked at the floor.

  “Don’t ever turn your eyes down to us, Babe.” Rayan said, his hands soft on my chin, his blue eyes glinting with excitement. I nodded slowly.

  “What now?” Cian asked.

  I looked over towards him.

  “What do you mean, ‘what now?’”

  “They will not keep their mouth shut. The whole world will know who you are, Isa.”

  I groaned at that.

  “We will have a ball in three days. We will still go through with the plan we had,” Averey said, taking the lead as always.

  “A ball?” I asked, eyes wide.

  “Yes, a ball. That is the place where we introduce all the Selection members to the world. Where we show them, who will be in the running to become the next Queen.”

  “Come.” Rayan held his hand out towards me. I gazed, confused, at him and his hand. “It is late, I’ll take you back to your room.” I looked outside, to the window where there was no daylight. Solely the silver glow of the moon. I placed my hand in his and moved with him towards my room. I didn’t speak at all to him, not knowing what to say. I was relieved that they all knew now, that I could be me. The silence between us lasted until we reached my door.

  “It is okay, Babe. I sort of get it,” he said out of the blue. “Goodnight, sleep well, don’t let the bedbugs bite,” he joked to me and squeezed my hand before he turned around. I smiled at his retreating back and went into my room. I went straight to bed, I needed sleep. And luckily for me, it came fast.

  21

  I woke up slowly; the room was dark around me, and for a second, I had thought I was back in the school. Until I reminded myself that I was not. I was still in the castle. And a lot of shit had happened the day before. I looked over at the night stand, finding the black journal that Cian had showed me. I made some light and reached for it, opening it to a random page and started reading.

  We always knew there were other worlds, that there were Gates you could go through. My adviser Ulrik Ranteau–That must be Thalia's Great-Grandfather–was obsessed with them; wanted to know how they worked and if we could open them. He was a really powerful Full-Blood, and after years of searching he found out how to open a Gate. Using dark magic, using his own soul, he opened the Gate to the Dark-world that now invades our lands. The creatures that come through aren’t the same as we have here. Some can be good, others are here to hunt, to find magic, or just to kill people. I can’t let that happen.

  We, my men and I, decided that we needed to fight against them, protect the people, and make sure that the Gate closes. We don’t know where Ulrik is, I think he lost his way when he opened the Gate and entered that world.

  With my four men, I know I’m strong enough to close the Gate. I hope I’m strong enough to fight the houses on this, too, because they don’t want me to sacrifice myself and my men, not to save them.

  I looked up from that. Seraphina had planned on sacrificing herself and her four men. Four. She had four men in her life. And she had wanted to give them and herself to close the Gate. It had given me more questions. I kept on reading.

  I told the ten High Houses my idea, told them that my daughter Lina would rule the world after me, and that she would find her own men. They shot down my proposal. They didn’t want to hear anything about it, not even the plan I had to sacrifice myself to save them all. They rejected the idea, there aren’t any more Full-Blooded men around. So, how could Princess Lina find powerful men, to be hers, to help her rule? They wanted something, I knew what, however I could never act on it.

  I read the last sentence again. It sounded like she had known what would happen to her. I kept on reading.

  I told them that Lina would find her men, the ones she was meant to find. The men that would bond with her and that she already had one. The last Full-Blood male that didn’t go into hiding. Nobody knew of him, except for me. Before I sent them away to a safe place, I married them, making sure she knew I loved her and approved of her choice. He stayed with her through everything. He truly was her Natural Bonded. He loved her, and I knew she loved him just as much. And along with him, she would find the other three she needed. They didn’t need a Full-Blood, only someone powerful enough and bonded to her to rule. That was the most important thing. The Full-Blood pulls at the ones she needs, she finds the ones who will complement her, enhance her powers, and who will help her build and grow. It doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Merely that they stand by her, trust her, and love her. Lina will find them, I know.

  I said goodbye to her, when I sent her away, telling her to only come back when it would be safe. When the Gate would be closed, and the houses would accept her and her men. No matter who she chose, who she bonded with.

  Gran had never told me about other men. Except about Grandpa, who had died a few years after my mom was born. She had never found the other men she needed. That was why she never went back.

  “I’m sorry, Gran,” I whispered to the empty room. She had lost her mother when she was just a young woman, lost her othe
r half, her bonded, too soon and had never found the others. Almost as if without one, they couldn’t be whole. I had been staring at the wall for some time, thinking it over. She had talked about bonded. Natural Bonded. A pull from a Full-Blood to the persons they need. The pull I had been feeling towards the four Kings, could it be? Could they be my Natural Bonded? The ones who were meant for me? I shook my head; crazy ideas weren’t things I needed right then. I looked back at the journal. After flipping through a few pages, the words coming for me caught my eye, and I started reading again.

  I know they are coming for me, the houses turned against us. Wanting more power, four high houses killed the other families. I have seen what will happen next. I know I will die tonight. They will kill me, before I have a chance to close the Gate fully. We managed to put in almost all of our magic and closed it as far as it is now. But we are weak, my men and I. We don’t have much left.

  Then the text blurred out a little. Almost as if she had cried at the last part. The page stayed empty, nothing followed. I turned it, and a folded piece of paper fell out of the book. When I picked it up, I opened it, the paper had faded to yellow, and the ink had been fading, too.

  Dear Great-Granddaughter, I know you will exist. I have seen you. My beautiful great- Grandchild, you will not be the last. Believe me, I have seen the others, too, standing at your side. You and your men will fight the last battle, the battle we couldn’t finish.

  I regret every single day, after seeing this vision, that I will never meet you, that you will grow up in a world not meant for you. That you need to fight for what you want. I’m sorry I left this to you. I’m sorry that the world didn’t understand that my sacrifice had to be made. That they killed me before I could save us all.

  If you ever read this, remember that you are in the right place. That you need to be here, that you need to make the worlds better. The Dark-World isn’t what you think it is.

  You, my beloved Great-Granddaughter will be the most powerful Full-Blood ever to live. You aren’t there yet, you need to dig deep, fight hard, and trust your men. I have seen more than you, seen the battle that will come. Trust yourself, your instincts. You are a Savill, the oldest bloodline alive.