by Jen L. Grey
"I heard a noise and came to investigate." He pointed at me. "She was crying in her sleep."
"Aw, are you hurting?" Richard cooed at me. He walked over to me and stuck his finger in the cut that was only beginning to heal on my shoulder.
It hurt so bad a whimper escaped me.
"Stop playing with her." My aunt entered the room looking like she always did; overdone makeup and heavy floral perfume. "We just need to figure out how to get something over that crazy-ass vampire witch. Right now, we're all little pawns in her game."
"Wow, you're lumping all of you in with me now?" I was surprised that she would be so willing to stoop to my level. Mason, please tell me that you’re there. The tension in the air was so thick that there was no way this was going to end well.
I’m here, baby. In fact, we’re close by. We finally found you. His tone had an edge. What’s going on?
"Oh, hell no." She shook her head. "All I care about is Richard being king. He can't do that with you here and alive." She pulled out a gun and held it so it pointed at my chest. "So we can just take care of that now."
"Do you really think that's going to work?" I needed Mason to get here fast. This wasn't going well at all. The longer I stayed here, the more people either wanted to hurt or kill me. "She's a witch and a vampire."
"But we could at least have some kind of illusion of control." She cocked the gun. "Do you know how much I've had to sacrifice? I had to marry that buffoon, Darren, and get it into his head why we deserved this. Still, he had to fuck it up by not making sure you were dead thirteen years ago. This is the only way we can do that now."
Needing to talk to him one last time. Just remember I love you.
You better hold on. His voice was deep with fear and concern. We're going to be there any second.
It may be too late. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Just know I'll always love you.
Elena, what's going on? Elena!
She fired the gun, and the bullet sailed directly toward my heart when King Adelmo moved to fall onto his knees right in front of me. The bullet hit him in the back, going through his abdomen.
Adelmo. I thought I'd screamed the words out loud, but I didn’t feel it in my throat.
He groaned as he clutched his side, and his eyes landed right on mine. "I'm so sorry."
Warm liquid spilled all over me, and the strong, rust smell of his blood filled my nose. There wasn't a way either one of us was going to make it out alive.
Chapter Twenty
Something loud crashed upstairs as my hands searched for King Adelmo's wound with blood-covered hands.
"Mom, we've got to go upstairs." Richard grabbed at his mother and pointed to the door. "We can't let them get down here to her."
We're here. Mason's fear was almost palpable through our bond. Where are you?
I'm in the basement. No matter how hard I tried pushing on Adelmo's wound, my hands slipped off. Adelmo is wounded badly. We need help fast.
My aunt's cold, heartless eyes stayed on me. "Why do people keep protecting you?" As she lifted the gun at me once more, several loud footsteps pounded down the stairs. Right as she cocked the gun, Mason blew through the door and grabbed her wrist as the gun went off.
I closed my eyes, ready for the pain, but nothing happened.
"Dad?" Louis appeared at the door and ran toward the king while Tommy went straight for my cousin.
"What happened?" Louis squatted beside me and saw that I was covered in blood. "Did he hurt you?"
"What? No, your dad protected me." I lifted my hands, and they were covered in thick, dark red blood. "He saved my life. We need to lay him on his back. I think the gunshot went completely through him." I couldn't do anything with the blood on my hands, and my chains were holding me tightly in place, making it hard for me to turn him.
"I've got him." He gently clasped his father's shoulders and turned him onto his back.
A loud, piercing scream pulled my attention away. I looked up in just enough time to see Mason snapping the neck of my aunt before her body tumbled to the ground.
He flew past Tommy and Richard, who were still fighting, coming straight for me.
I stood on shaky legs as he pulled me into his arms, breathing me in.
"Are you hurt?" He pulled back, and his eyes widened in horror as he took in my bloody appearance.
"Most of this isn't mine." Yeah, that probably didn't sound very comforting. "Adelmo saved me."
"But you're injured." Mason didn't even care about the European king.
"Yeah, but it's healing." I used my right hand to point to the spot where Rose had cut me. "How long have I been here?"
"Two days." He spread the jagged edges of my shirt apart to look at the wound from the dagger. "Dammit, that bitch is going to burn."
I wanted to say let's just get out of here, but as long as she stayed alive, she'd always be hunting me. I was her obsession now.
"Where is everyone?" I'd expected to see more than those three.
"Agnes and the other witches are looking for Rose." He reached down to the cuffs and lifted them.
"Here." Tommy reared back and punched Richard hard in the face, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. "I bet he has the keys." Tommy reached down and pulled a small set of keys from my cousin’s pocket. "One of these should unlock them." He tossed the keys to Mason as he rushed over to Louis and his father.
"How is he doing?" I glanced over at them as I held my wrists out for Mason.
"He's losing a lot of blood." Tommy stood and ripped his black shirt off and tore it in half. "We need to tie this tight around his abdomen. Have to stop the bleeding."
"Okay." Louis lifted his dad upright as Tommy wrapped Adelmo's torso. Once he put his father back on the ground, Tommy leaned over and adjusted the material so he had it tied over the areas where the bullet wound was on both sides. "We need to make sure no one else gets down here."
Lighter footsteps pounded down the stairs as my wrists were finally freed. "Someone is coming."
"It's Ella." Louis glanced at the door as my best friend came through. Her eyes widened when she took in Adelmo, and then they landed on me. "Oh, thank God." She ran over to me but stopped short when she saw I was covered in blood. "How are you standing?"
"Most of it is his." I still couldn't get over how King Adelmo had saved me. "He saved my life."
"We need to get them out of here." Mason unlocked my ankles and stood beside me. "She needs to heal and rest." We can't have you fighting with our baby inside you.
His words made my heart flutter even more. I wanted to argue. How could I ask anyone of them to fight for me when I wasn't willing to? Yet, this was about more than me. I'd already gone through so much stress, and I couldn't risk losing her. Fine, but I don't like it.
Of course you don't. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. But you've got precious cargo on board.
"We've got to get him out of here before someone else comes down and finds us." The first thing Rose is going to do when she’s able is to check on me.
"She's right." Mason headed to the door. "I'll make sure it's clear while you five come upstairs." Soon, I heard his footsteps moving farther away.
"I'll go next." I opened the door and pointed at Ella. "Hold this for them, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." She took my place as I passed through.
The steps weren't anything like I expected they'd be. They were made of stone, and water dripped from the cracks in the foundation. When we reached the top of the stairs, there was a large, heavy, wooden door. "What the hell type of place is this?" My voice echoed along the walls. "It looks like something from way back in the olden times."
"It's an old, huge-ass mansion." A loud creak sounded as Mason pushed the door open.
I followed after him, and as I stepped onto the old wood floor, it groaned under my weight. How old is this place?
Over a hundred and fifty years old. Mason ran down the hall, and it was unnerving because we didn’t cross paths
with anyone.
The others appeared immediately behind us, and we took off toward the front door. As we walked through the living room, I found vampires all around, disintegrating where there had apparently been fights.
"Where the hell is everyone?” I almost expected someone to jump out at every corner even though I couldn’t hear or smell anything close by.
"They're all outside." Ella hurried and caught up to us. "Believe me. It's gory." She opened the door to a battle scene.
There were at least a hundred vampires to what had to be half the number of wolf shifters, and there was a group of ten witches who were facing off with Rose. The whole house was surrounded by woods.
How are we going to get him out of here? Everywhere I looked, there were people fighting.
"We're going to take to the woods in front and run as fast as we can till we can get to one of the cars we left behind." Tommy motioned for Louis.
"I'll follow your lead." Louis nodded at the guard.
Tommy took off straight to the woods with Louis following close behind while Mason, Ella, and I stayed behind to make sure no one could attack them.
We need to fight and help them. I felt bad leaving them all behind. My eyes landed on James and Kassie. They stood, side by side, taking on a group of four vampires. Yes, they were strong wolves, but they were still outnumbered.
No, we have to get you taken care of too. Mason took my hand as though he was afraid I'd run into the thick of the battle. We have our baby to protect.
But what kind of leaders are we if we run and hide. I hated to do this and felt like a coward.
You've been tortured for over two days. Mason began running faster, tugging me behind him. And you're covered in blood. There is no way someone would call you weak.
He had a point, and at the end of the day, if I fought, I could risk our baby. I took a deep breath and kept up. He was right.
Just as we were running through the thick of the trees, something grabbed my arm and yanked me out of Mason's grip.
"Where do you think you're going?" Rose's hate-filled tone rang in my ears. She moved to stand directly in front of me and snarled. "I should've known they would go for you first and that Agnes was only a distraction." Her hold on me forced me to stand on my feet.
"Keep going!" I yelled, unable to turn and look at them. I couldn't turn my back on this bitch, and they needed to get Adelmo away from here.
"Why am I not surprised that Adelmo’s injured?" Rose rolled her eyes as she closed the distance between us. "I have no clue why Darren and Richard were so determined to make him part of their plan. He was just a huge liability from the start, but at least, we may get a reprieve from him … well, if he dies."
"Are you that heartless concerning everyone's death?" She was such a cold-hearted bitch.
"No, not one." Her eyes narrowed as pain filled them. "But you know that already. It's your father's fault all this happened."
"It was an accident." Agnes had made her way to us and stood a few feet away. "What would Wilmont think if he saw you now?"
"You bitch!" Rose yelled the words as she pushed her arms toward her sister and slammed her against the closest tree. "You don't deserve to speak his name."
Maybe we can sneak away. Mason appeared beside me and nodded toward the woods. Agnes has her distracted.
We can try, but she has it out for me too.
Agnes closed her eyes and lifted both hands in front of her. White power began funneling from her fingertips as it clashed with Rose's magic. As her power fought against the dark witch, it changed Rose's power to a black inky color.
How is that possible? Her power didn't have any color… at least, not until Agnes fought back.
Black witchcraft is meant to hide and sicken the mind. Mason took my hand again, tugging me to escape.
It's not going to work. Though instead of fighting him more, I turned to follow him again. As soon as I'd taken one step in that direction, something hit my back, making me fall to my knees.
A low, deep growl tore through Mason's chest. "Leave her alone."
"This isn't about you." Rose sneered, but then it turned into a creepy smile. "But when she's gone, I'll make sure you have someone to keep you company. I promise we could do things together that you never could with her."
Red-hot rage consumed me. "Do you really think that anyone would want to be with someone like you?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Rose pulled in a ragged breath as she took a step in my direction.
"It means you hate yourself so much that you take it out on everyone else." I was tired of being pushed around and manipulated. I'd thought as long as I didn't go for the crown, I'd be fine, but this bitch had been doing those very things to me the entire time I knew her. "You do realize you'll never be happy, not with how you let hate and anger control your life."
"Do you think that I care?" Rose lifted her head and stared me right in the eyes. "I'm Queen of the vampires. My father was so stupid, calling himself a prince when he could have been King." She huffed in disgust. "And soon, I'll be Queen over the wolves too."
"How do you figure that?" She was more psycho then even I realized.
"Well, when you're dead, your mate’s right to the throne will be jeopardized. Or I could kill him." Rose scanned the fight scene all around us. "And then, Richard will be king. We'll be married and crowned together all at one time."
"Have you lost your damn mind?" Agnes closed the distance between us and stood on my other side as we faced down her sister together. "Do you really think you can rule as Queen of the vampires and wolves?"
"Of course, I can, and I will." Rose smirked as she tossed her black hair over her shoulder. "And then we'll take down all the witches and have you recognize us as your true leaders as well."
"That will never happen while I'm alive." Agnes’s hands quivered with rage.
"Now, that can be arranged." She lifted her arm and pushed it out toward Agnes again.
Fortunately, Agnes spun, and the magic didn't hit her. Countering, she moved her arms and slid her hands outward, causing Rose's feet to be knocked out from underneath her.
We need to do something while Rose is distracted. I tried not to overthink things and ran straight at the witch.
Dammit, Elena. Mason began to shift, and soon he was running right beside me in wolf form. Remember you can't shift.
Shit, he was right. I was pregnant and couldn’t risk miscarrying our baby girl.
"Ah, you wanna join the fun?" Rose's lips began to move, but there was no sound.
All of a sudden, excruciating pain filled my mind. I cried out as I tripped, falling to my knees.
Mason leaped at her, going for her throat, but she lifted her hand, and her power had him slamming to the ground instead.
A huge smirk filled her face until Agnes threw her hands up, causing her to stumble and drop the magical hold she had on me.
I quickly glanced at the fighters around us, thankful that our group still seemed to be holding their own. However, there was a wolf in trouble that must have been part of James's pack. Wait ... It was Alec.
Ella came bounding out of the woods in her wolf form, heading straight toward us.
While Rose was still down, I glanced at Ella. "Please, go help Alec." The last thing we needed was to lose a close friend.
When her eyes followed where my finger pointed, she ran off without any hesitation.
Agnes appeared right beside me again and still had her magic flowing out, keeping Rose down. "We need to kill her." Even though her words were strong, her eyes filled with tears.
She still loved the version of Rose she used to know as a child and a sister. Obviously, someone else needed to be the one to do it. "Got it."
The wind around us began to blow, and soon Rose was back on her feet. "Did you think it would be that easy to keep me down?"
Hey, Mason, Agnes and I are going to distract Rose. I need you to strike at the first opportunity. I had to figure out a way th
at allowed him to attack.
What I already understood was that she wanted my blood. I did the only thing I knew to do. I raised my wrist to my mouth and bit down so hard that blood began pouring down my hands.
"What are you doing?" Rose’s entire demeanor changed.
"I figure if you want me dead, I might as well kill myself." I hoped she couldn't tell I was bluffing. I needed her to think I was crazy enough to do it though.
"What are you doing?" Agnes's voice shook a little, and her eyes landed on me.
"She wants me dead. It only seems fair. Then you all can live happily ever after." I reached up and pulled the ends of my dirty, stringy hair. "So, let me do the honors." I lifted my other wrist to my mouth and did the same thing. It was deep enough to where the blood appeared to be a heavy flow, but not enough to really cause death ... at least, not anytime soon.
Mason whimpered. This better be an act.
"No." Rose flipped her hand, jerking my wrist away from my mouth. "Only I get to kill you." She moved her hands to the side, and I fell hard on the ground. "You don't get to have a merciful death."
Mason, be ready. I slowly moved my hand underneath her magical barrier, bringing my wrist back up to my mouth.
"I said stop." She ran over to me, her eyes locked on mine. She pulled a dagger out from her dress and lifted it high in the air. She was aiming for my heart.
At the last second, Mason leaped, sinking his teeth into her neck. He pulled his head back, ripping out her throat, and her entire body hit the ground.
Rose gurgled as she fought not to succumb to death, but then she fell to her knees. All the vampires stopped fighting as if they had been under some kind of enchantment.
“No.” Agnes screamed as tears streamed down her face. She stared at what was left of her sister on the ground. “Oh, goddess, no.” She fell to her knees and reached out to touch the last little bit of dust from her disintegrating sister. “Rest in peace, sister."
The wolves stopped fighting, and they all turned toward me. That was our motto; if no one tried to harm, we wouldn't take senseless lives. The vampires obviously had been under some kind of influence or spell.