Age of Vampires- The Complete Series

by Caroline Peckham

  “Truly?” I asked, jealousy pulling at me. I wished I could smell her from here, she smelled like honey, lavender, sunshine and miracles. It wasn’t fair that he could smell that while I couldn’t.

  “Yes,” he replied. “It’s magnificent.”

  I refused to talk to him the rest of the way. It wasn’t right that he should have such a way to feel close to her when she wasn’t even present. I ached to see her face whenever I wasn’t looking upon it. I yearned to touch her skin and bring a smile to her full lips.

  The fight between the Biters and the remaining guards had come to an end with our victory and the hallways were lined with piles of clothes and heaps of ash. We moved along them quickly but it wasn’t fast enough. I thought of Valentina, her dark hair, full lips, perfect breasts... my pace quickened and Erik’s did too. I glanced at him not wanting him to reach her first. We shared her because that was what she wanted and her happiness was all I cared about but I ached to be her favourite.

  I needed to see her. Now.

  I started running and Erik growled as he sped along beside me. He was faster but I wasn’t going to be left behind easily. We raced down a spiralling staircase and Erik shoved his way through a set of heavy wooden doors and led the way into the throne room.

  Some of the Biters were carrying three of the thrones away and Valentina sat on the one which remained, right in the centre of a raised stage. The room was opulently decorated with rich golden wallpaper lining the walls and a deep red carpet on the floor. There were intricate works of art hanging from the walls and everything about the place screamed power. But all of it faded to irrelevancy beside the face of my love. My queen.

  A glittering golden crown sat upon her head and her dark hair coiled over her shoulders beneath it, drawing my eyes down to drink in her perfect figure. She still wore the white dress and no mark of the battle had stained it. She was beauty personified. The one shining light in the dark abyss of this world. She was all that there was. Nothing else mattered. Everything paled into insignificance beside her.

  We hurried forward as she turned her eyes to us and we both dropped to our knees before her.

  “I’m so sorry my queen,” Erik breathed, his voice raw with emotion. “But the royals and the girls you so wish to see dead escaped on a helicopter.”

  “We have failed you,” I murmured, a heaviness building in my chest.

  “What?” she hissed, rage simmering in her tone.

  “Punish me, my love,” I offered. “Take out your anger on my wretched flesh. Physical pain is nothing to me in comparison to the anguish I feel at knowing I failed you.”

  “No, punish me,” Erik begged. “I had Callie in my grasp and I allowed her to escape me. I am the one most deserving of your hate.”

  “Enough,” Valentina snarled and her eyes narrowed with displeasure as she surveyed us. “You will make this right for me.”

  “Yes, my love,” I breathed.

  “Anything for you, my world,” Erik added.

  “You will hunt them down for me,” she said. “And you won’t stop until you kill them.”

  “Of course,” I agreed and Erik nodded enthusiastically at my side.

  “Good... But I will still have to punish you for this failure.”

  “Please do,” I said. “My body is yours.”

  She beckoned for us to move closer and I crawled towards her, looking up at her beautiful face from my position on the floor. It was where I belonged. I’d failed her. I was worse than a worm. She deserved so much better than me. I would be better.

  Valentina indicated for me to rise and I stood before her, my body trembling from her proximity. I wanted her so much. Desire coursed through my blood and I couldn’t help but stare at the perfection of her face as she surveyed me with a scowl.

  A wicked smile lit her features and I knew she’d decided how to punish me. I ached for her to do it. I had to unburden my soul of the wrong I’d done her. Failure shouldn’t have been possible. It wouldn’t be an option in the future.

  Valentina reached for my belt and lust filled me as she tugged it free.

  “Take off your shirt,” she breathed and I instantly did as she asked.

  She got to her feet, looking up at me as if she might kiss me and my heart thundered at the prospect. But I wasn’t worthy of such attention. I’d failed her. I should be punished. I needed to be punished.

  I dropped to my knees before her, baring my flesh so that she could sate her rage on me.

  “Punish me too,” Erik begged behind me and Valentina nodded, allowing him to kneel beside me and accept the consequences for his failures as well.

  Valentina raised her fingers and brushed them along my jaw.

  “You’re my dog, Magnar,” she sighed and I nodded with agreement. “And there’s only one way to train a dog.”

  She raised her other arm, holding my belt ready as her eyes glimmered with excitement.

  When the blow fell against my chest, I refused to so much as flinch. Pain sliced through my skin as the leather whipped my flesh raw and the buckle drew blood. I grunted but held myself still as she raised her arm again, her face lighting with a savage satisfaction. She needed to do this. I deserved it.

  She hit Erik next and he sucked in a breath as the belt licked the flesh from his stomach but he didn’t move an inch either. He knew like I did that this was what she needed from us and that was all that mattered. So long as she was satisfied, our own desires were met too.

  Our blood splattered across her white dress, staining it as her eyes burned with a deep sense of satisfaction.

  The belt struck me again and again, blood racing down my chest as she took out her fury on my body and I forced myself to remain still and take it.

  I focused on the twins I had sworn to destroy for her. Their deaths were etched into my soul. I would come for them like a demon in the night. Their lives would be mine and my blades would run red with their blood. I would see Valentina happy again. Even if it was the last thing I did.

  The helicopter soared away from the castle, rising higher and higher until we were sailing above the twinkling lights of the city far below.

  My relief at escaping was swallowed by a bitter sadness. Valentina had somehow taken Erik and Magnar hostage. She'd turned them against us, and I was sure the gods had to be involved. If Callie's ring couldn't reclaim their hearts then the power that bound them must have been immense. And I didn't know how we'd ever fix it.

  Julius slid the door to the helicopter closed, shutting out the wind. Danielle was piloting the strange vehicle, the back of her head visible through a partition.

  I fell into a seat, cupping my face in my hands as Callie dropped down beside me.

  “What are we going to do?” my sister asked, resting a hand on my back.

  I lifted my head, willing away the tears prickling my eyes. “I don't know.” I looked between the Belvedere siblings, searching for an answer on their faces.

  Their expressions were grave and offered me no ounce of hope.

  “We'll get them back,” Julius said as he sat opposite me beside Clarice. “Valentina won't get away with this. I'll cut her heart out.”

  “And how will you manage that?” Clarice bit at him. “She has taken over our empire. We won't get near her again without an army of Biters facing us first.”

  Julius frowned deeply, shutting his eyes. “By the gods, Valentina is going to do anything she wants with my brother.”

  “And mine,” Clarice muttered.

  My nose wrinkled and I recoiled as if the words had struck me a blow. My heart couldn't take it. Callie released a pained noise and I took her hand, turning to meet her eye.

  “Maybe they can fight it,” I breathed, but I knew how hopeless that possibility was. The two of them had tried to kill us with no regard for our lives at all. They didn't remember loving us. All they could feel was their devotion to that heartless bitch, Valentina.

  “If she lays a hand on Magnar, I'll...” Callie shook
her head and I squeezed her hand as her hopelessness fell over me too.

  “You'll do nothing because there is nothing you can do,” Fabian growled and I shot him a glare.

  “Don't upset her,” I snapped at him as Callie toyed with Fury in her hand as if she wished to stab him in response to his words.

  “We're royals,” Miles said meekly, his hand locked around Warren's. “We can't be dethroned like this. It's not right. Our people will never follow her commands.”

  “They won't have a choice,” Warren sighed, brushing a lock of hair from Miles's eyes. “She controls the goddamn sun. What option will our people have but to submit to her? And we underestimated how many wish to drink from the vein, who knows how many more will join her willingly now anyway?”

  “The humans,” I whispered, my heart clenching. “They'll go after the Realms.”

  Julius growled his frustration and Clarice rested a hand on his arm for half a heartbeat before quickly retracting it. He eyed her in confusion, shifting an inch away from her.

  “Where to?” Danielle called from the pilot's seat.

  We were heading away from the city, passing over ruins that extended for miles ahead of us.

  No one answered. We were on the run, forced from the city. There was no way we could land near it without a horde of Biters coming after us.

  “South,” Fabian answered at last. “Head toward the farmlands. The helicopter’s fuel will get us two hundred miles but no more. There's a military outpost on the edge of Baltimore. We'll have to set down before the sun rises otherwise Valentina could trap us under its rays. We'll get a car and keep going-”

  “We can't just run,” Callie snapped. “We have to go back for Erik and Magnar.”

  “They are untouchable until we can figure out a way to destroy the power holding them,” Fabian said calmly. “And at least we know Valentina has no intention of killing them. We have to look out for ourselves now.”

  I shook my head as a pang of horror gripped my heart. “I can't bear to leave them with her...”

  “We don't have a choice right now,” Fabian growled.

  A stony silence descended and I broke apart, knowing Fabian was right. We had to flee. To put as much distance between us and Valentina as possible until we could figure out how to get Erik and Magnar free of her.

  “Baltimore it is then,” Danielle confirmed and Callie's grip tightened on my hand, her nails digging into my skin.

  Thunder rumbled overhead and a tremor rolled down my spine. The helicopter swayed violently under an intense wind and I prayed we'd soon make it further south, away from the limits of Valentina's power.

  As the helicopter swung around to face the dark horizon, words burst into my mind that shook the very foundations of my soul.

  I swear on everything that I am, I'll save you from her, Erik.

  I will not let Valentina have you.

  I was divided from Erik Belvedere for the second time since I'd pledged my heart to his. It struck me how much I'd changed since I'd first met him. I'd tried so hard to get away from him. I'd wanted nothing more than to escape his clutches. But now... being away from him shattered my heart and shredded my soul. It cut into me like needles digging into my flesh.

  I was his.

  He was mine.

  And the idea of losing him made me feel as weak as if a thousand suns were beating down on my back.

  The helicopter flew on through the darkness, away from Valentina's influence over the weather. The ride became smoother as the harsh wind fell away and an eerie stillness fell over the world beyond the windows.

  Callie rested her head against my shoulder, her eyes pinned on the dark veil of clouds encasing the night sky. I could feel her loss as heavily as my own. We were combined in our grief, our pain. I could hear the persistent pounding of her heart and was sure mine would be beating as fiercely if I was still human.

  I twisted the wedding band on my finger as I carved my way through the depths of my despair and searched for my strength. We were all lost, fleeing from the city with no real plan in mind. Fabian wanted us to keep running, to charge the helicopter in Baltimore and head even further south. But the more distance we put between us and Erik, the more I feared we'd never get him back. How could we just leave him and Magnar in the arms of Valentina?

  Maybe we were outnumbered, but we couldn't just allow her to keep them as her slaves. The longer she held them, the more unspeakable things she could do to them. And I didn't think it was their deaths she desired...

  My gut clenched tightly. Had she already taken my husband to her bed? Had he delighted in her skin against his under her influence? Or was he trapped inside his own body, aware of the things she made him do?

  My throat constricted and I shut my eyes as I tried to will away the abhorrent images flitting through my head.

  If you have laid one finger on him,Valentina, I won't stop until I rip your heart out.

  “By the gods, I'm starving,” Julius groaned from the seat opposite me.

  I opened my eyes, frowning at him. “How can you be hungry right now?”

  “I eat when I'm emotional,” he said with a hint of a smile. But I could see the ache in his eyes; he was trying to act normal but I was sure he was as cut up about losing his brother as I was about losing Erik.

  “You eat when you're not emotional too.” Callie sat upright and a shimmer of resilience glinted in her gaze. “So you never actually stop eating.”

  “I have to eat to maintain the muscles of my swoon-worthy body.” He gestured to himself and a smile captured my lips.

  Clarice glanced at him, rolling her eyes.

  “There'll be food at the army base,” Fabian muttered, not drawing his gaze from the window.

  Miles shared a look with Warren, revealing their hunger. After my fight with Erik, I couldn't deny my own thirst was rising. And the scent of the slayers' blood was painfully alluring. More so than any of the humans I'd encountered in Realm A.

  Julius glared around at the Belvederes, seeming to catch on to that fact. “There had better be blood there too. If one of you even looks at my neck, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

  “There’ll be blood at the base too,” Fabian growled. “But I might be tempted to bite you if you don't shut the fuck up.”

  Julius snarled and the tension in the helicopter rose dramatically.

  “Stop it,” I sighed. “You could at least try to make some effort with each other. We're stuck together for the foreseeable future and if we're going to get Erik and Magnar b-”

  “We're not doing anything of the sort,” Fabian snapped at me and my upper lip peeled back on instinct. “We run. That's all we can do right now.”

  “You can keep running if you like, but I won't,” I growled.

  Callie nodded her agreement, brushing her fingers over Fury in her lap as she glared at Fabian. “Magnar wouldn't leave me behind and I won't leave him.”

  “I'm with them,” Julius added, leaning back in his seat. He stretched his arms wide, not-so- accidentally elbowing Clarice in the face. She shoved him away from her with a snarl.

  “This helicopter is suffocating,” she muttered.

  “We're not far now,” Danielle called from the cockpit, throwing us a glance over her shoulder.

  “Good,” Fabian said, his eyes drifting to Callie. The ring's influence may have been holding off the bond between them right now, but he was still looking at her as if he cared. “I can't let you go after them.”

  “You're not the boss of me,” Callie bit at him and I hoped we'd be landing soon to get some space between them.

  “Let it go, Fabian,” Miles urged. “The twins are right, we can't leave Erik in Valentina's hands.”

  “It's not like I want that,” Fabian said, his tone softening as he addressed his brother. “But it would be idiotic to go after him now when Valentina has an army of Biters to stop us. How could we possibly win?”

  No one had an answer to that and a sullen silence fell over
us all again. I didn't want to accept that saving Erik and Magnar wasn't an option right now. But Fabian had a point which none of us could deny. Even Julius seemed to give in as he rested his head back against his seat with a miserable expression.

  “We'll regroup when we land,” Miles said eventually and Warren nodded, though no one else did.

  “Ten minutes,” Danielle called and relief swept through me at the thought of getting out of this thing.

  Callie turned to me with a faint frown. “Are you hungry too?” she breathed and my fangs tingled in response to her words.

  “I'm fine,” I said lightly, not wanting to admit to how much her blood called to me right then.

  She nodded vaguely and turned her attention to our mother's ring on her hand. “How far do you think it is to the holy mountain?” she murmured and I felt everyone's attention swinging to her.

  “I don't know,” I whispered.

  “If we take this there...maybe we can end the curse,” she suggested, her eyes glittering with hope.

  “That's not a terrible idea,” Julius said thoughtfully.

  “Why? What's with the ring?” Miles asked, pushing a hand into his blonde locks.

  “It's Andvari's ring,” Callie explained. “Erik thought it might be the same one he was looking for when your parents stole his treasure.”

  Miles's mouth parted and Warren shifted excitedly in his seat.

  “Too much guesswork,” Fabian growled, extinguishing the hopeful moment. “We can't be sure of anything. It's not worth heading to some mountain on the off-chance it might solve the prophecy.”

  I grumbled my annoyance. “Are you just going to shit on every idea we have?”

  “I'm only being the voice of reason,” he replied coolly.

  “More like the voice of a Debbie Downer,” Julius jibed.

  Fabian glared at him. “Keep your tongue still if it can't offer us anything useful.”

  “And you're being so useful by trying to make decisions for all of us,” Julius snarled.

  The helicopter dropped sharply and fear rattled my bones as we made a rapid descent towards the ground. A long line of lights stood on the horizon and as we sailed over them I could just make out a large square of four walls below us with a lookout tower on each corner.