Sever the Crown: Vampire Reverse Harem Complete Series

by Mysti Parker

  She did a double take. “What the… Marlowe? I keep forgetting you’re half demon. And Wren— Oh god, you’re hurt!”

  “Shh.” Marlowe set me on my feet, holding me up with one arm so I didn’t put weight on my torn-up leg. “Be very still, Talia.”

  She gasped as she caught sight of Zac advancing and the moonlight reflected in his eyes. “I’m still without magic. What do we do?”

  Blood dripped from Zac’s fangs and chin. Dust trailed from his dark hair as he picked up his pace and broke into a run. He hadn’t reached full vampire speed, probably because he didn’t realize he could yet. That might buy us a second or two.

  “Zac, stop!” I called out.

  He came to a stop, tilting his head to one side with a snarl.

  “Something’s wrong,” Talia said, putting her fingers to her temples. “Very wrong.”

  “Advice?” I whispered to Marlowe. “I’ve never turned anyone into a vampire before.”

  “Me either. Keep talking to him.” Marlowe jutted out his hand. Fire ignited on it.

  I coughed to remove more dust from my throat so I didn’t sound like a toad or truck-stop hooker. “Listen to my voice, Zac. You don’t want to hurt anyone. You’re a good man. You help people, remember?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I’m not a man. Not anymore.”

  Ashe came out from around another pile of rubble. “Yes, you are, Zac!”

  Charles followed behind him. “Get a grip, Zac-man. You’re stronger than the thirst.”

  Both he and Ashe were so dusty, they looked like ghosts. I closed my eyes briefly, relieved that they were alive. But where was Hawk?

  “Wren,” Marlowe whispered, “I think he’s fed.”

  “From what?”

  “Or who?”

  “Oh no.” What if he’d gotten Hawk? There was no way that would happen under normal circumstances, but if Hawk had been unconscious…

  To my relief, Hawk emerged from behind a stand of weeds near the woods. But he was carrying someone. I couldn’t tell who it was.

  Zac advanced again, his sights on Talia.

  She stood up on shaky legs and covered her mouth. “No, oh god, no.”

  Zac stopped, turning his head to Hawk and whoever lay lifeless in his arms, before he came toward us again.

  “Don’t make us hurt you, Zac,” Marlowe warned, holding out his flaming hand.

  I pushed away from Marlowe and limped forward, with Ashe and Charles flanking me. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill Zac should he make a move to hurt me. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Wren, don’t,” Marlowe whispered.

  “I turned him. I’ll handle him. Guard Talia.” I kept my eyes on Zac as I moved closer. “Look at me, Zac! Goddammit, look at me!”

  He tore his gaze away from Talia and snarled at me before he squeezed his eyes shut. Then he doubled over and fisted his hands in his hair, groaning in agony. I wanted so much to hold him and tell him it would be okay. The thirst was torturing him. Those of us born vampires must’ve learned how to control it before we ever had the strength to hurt anyone. He didn’t have that luxury.

  Two of Talia’s brothers teleported beside her in a burst of green smoke.

  “Have you seen Travis?” Thaddeus asked her.

  Still covering her mouth with one hand, she pointed toward the body Hawk held in his arms.

  I finally reached Zac and took his shoulders. His head snapped up, making me flinch. Ashe and Charles both tensed, drawing in close, their hands up and ready to grab Zac any second. But instead of a snarl, Zac’s jaw trembled as tears leaked from his eyes.

  “What have I done?” he whispered raggedly and clung to my waist, resting his forehead on my shoulder.

  “You couldn’t help it,” I said, watching as Talia, Thaddeus, and Theodore gathered around Hawk and wept over their dead brother.

  “I…can’t control this. How do you do it? I feel so…thirsty.”

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Charles pull one of his dart pens from his coat pocket.

  “I’ll show you how to control it. But you have to trust me.” Wrapping my arms around Zac, I held him and rubbed his cold back. I’d miss his warmth, the sound of his strong, steady heart. Guilt pulled a fresh round of tears from my eyes. I shouldn’t have taken his humanity. Now he’d taken an innocent life, and it was all because of me.

  Charles made a lightning fast jab into Zac’s side and barely dodged an angry swipe. Zac stumbled back. He bared his fangs and lunged at Charles but didn’t make it very far before he crumpled to the ground.

  Chapter Eight

  Zac

  Yet again, I awoke to agony. Was this how it would be from now on? Nothing but thirst? Cruel punishment? And then I remembered—I deserved this punishment and more.

  I'd murdered someone. Not just someone but Travis, who’d become my good friend in a few short weeks. By killing him, I'd torn that family apart, shattered the quadruplets' bond by ripping one of them away. For what? Because I was a monster, an uncontrollable beast. I could still picture it – me finding him unconscious among the rubble, diving in to sink my fangs into his neck, gulping down his life’s blood. All while I knew in the back of my mind that it was so incredibly wrong. Yet, the instinct to feed had taken complete control. There was no way I could live like this and not be a danger to everyone around me.

  When Wren had offered me a choice, why hadn't I chosen death? That would have been so much easier to deal with. But this… After what I'd done, after what I'd become, I could never forgive myself.

  Tears leaked down my face as I stared up at the ceiling of my bunker bedroom. I knew without moving that my wrists and ankles were bound to the bedposts because of the leather smell of the straps and cuffs with silver inside to keep me contained. They were cinched tight, but not uncomfortably so. This was how my life would be now, I supposed, tied to a bed and wishing I were dead.

  What would Sasha do if she saw me now?

  What would the future queen do if I told her I'd made a mistake?

  As if my thoughts had summoned her, the scent of strawberries floated on the air from her signature shampoo, and then the sound of her confident steps as she approached. She knocked softly and then entered. I had no idea how long I was out, but she'd cleaned up from the asylum, and her leg wound appeared healed as she strode closer. She wore a form-fitting black tank top and black shorts, which rode higher as she sat on the bed next to me.

  Her gaze swept over my binds, and then she finally looked at me. There was no judgement or pity in those yellow depths, just raw determination. Same as always, no matter what happened. The woman was nothing but consistent. I deserved to be screamed at and hated, though, if not from Wren then from the quadruplets. Or what was left of them.

  "I want to try something," she said.

  I tried to swallow the burning in my throat, waiting for her to just stake me already. Again.

  "I want to help you control your thirst. Archie caught a mouse, and before he could kill it, Hawk got it away from him and… Anyway, we now have a mouse that you can practice on while you work to control your thirst."

  "I killed a full-grown warlock, Wren. I think I'm beyond mice." I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the sound of my voice, like I’d licked the sand from the desert.

  She thumbed the tears from my cheeks that apparently hadn't stopped falling. "I know,” she said softly. “Which is why you need practice."

  "How are they?"

  She tilted her head as she looked away, trying to hide her wince. "They're…coping. Marlowe is with them now."

  "Wren." I waited until she met my gaze again. "Please. I don't deserve to ask any favors—"

  "Then don't." Her tone was firm yet gentle, like she had all the time and patience in the world.

  "You don't have to show me how to be a proper vampire when you still have a throne to overthrow. After everything… You can stake me or turn your back on me, and I'll understand."

  "But you didn't
turn your back on me, did you? How many times have you been there to rescue us out of a tight spot? Countless times." She looked at me for a long moment. "I will never turn my back on you or kill you, Zac, even if you…" She firmed her lips and looked down at her lap.

  "Tried to have you killed?" I finished for her.

  She stood up then and paced away. "We don't have to do this now. But I turned you, which means you're my responsibility. I'm not just going to dump you on the side of the road, and frankly, it's shitty of you that you'd think I'd even consider it."

  Maybe she was right, but it didn’t change that I might have made a grave mistake by choosing this path. "I'm sorry, more than I can ever say. For all of it."

  She turned to face me. "I don't blame you for wanting me dead, Zac. She was your wife. Yes, I killed her, but it was out of mercy because she’d been mugged and was near death. I swear on what's left of my soul. That's the truth."

  "I know."

  Her mouth dropped open. “You know?”

  "I've known for some time now since we’ve started this…this revolution. You're a fierce killer, yes, but not with those who've never lifted a finger against you."

  She shook her head as she sat next to me again. "I'm the one who's sorry, Zac. Me. I took something away from you that I can never give back. I would want me dead, too, and the fact that you haven’t thrown yourself into a blind rage at me is…really something."

  "I wanted to,” I said, “but you were just…you and not what I expected at all. Your mates too. Even Charles."

  She laughed, but it cut short when her eyes filled with tears. "That's why you helped me get Ashe out of jail and find the rest of them?"

  I paused, closing my eyes for a moment to consider my words carefully. I’d hidden so much that I had to be sure I could separate fact from fiction. "To be honest, I just wanted to get you to trust me so that I could get close enough to Ravana and then…”

  “Take out the whole Delacroix bloodline, including me?”

  “Yes, because Sasha had fought to keep Ravana and other influential vampires from gaining too much control. The day she died, the Senate voted on a bill she had lobbied for to make interspecies political contributions illegal, like the millions Ravana paid out to human politicians so they’d look the other way. It died on the Senate floor, and a few hours later, so did she. But then, when I found you, I got swept up in the revolution and started to hate Ravana so much more than I could ever hate you."

  She gave a sad smile to me as she let her tears fall. "You did get me to trust you."

  “Ditto." She’d lay down her life for me without a second thought. Hell, she already had.

  Silence stretched between us, not uncomfortable, just heavy with thoughts and feelings and words left unsaid for now. We still had a lot to work through, if she wanted to, that is. And if I wanted to, which was also something in and of itself to work through.

  "So what do you say?” She brushed away her tears and placed her palm on my dead heart. “You'll let me help you?"

  I nodded. "I'm not doing a bang-up job of it myself, that’s for sure."

  "Okay," she said, patting my chest as she stood. "Be right back. Don't go anywhere."

  "Shouldn’t be a problem."

  She tossed the tiniest smile over her shoulder as she left the room. I allowed myself a sliver of hope that I might get through this. Wren wasn't giving up on me, despite having never turned anyone before. We might bumble our way through it, but maybe I shouldn't give up on me either. It didn't change that I'd killed someone, but vampire practice could very well make sure that never happened again. For that alone, I had to try whatever Wren had planned.

  She came back a moment later wearing black leather gloves and carrying one of those silver platters with a domed lid over the top. After she shut the door behind her, she set the tray down on the bedside table while watching me carefully.

  "Smell anything?" she asked.

  "No. Should I?"

  "This is sterling silver." She wriggled her gloved fingers. "Hence the gloves. The smell of silver overpowers the mouse inside, because to us, silver's the threat, not the mouse. Or maybe it's just because of the lid. I don't have a fucking clue, but the point is, you and I can't smell the mouse."

  "Agreed."

  "Now let me tell you about the mouse. Talia got us some holy water, and a little dropper was used to drip some all over the mouse. Hawk did it so you know there were no animals harmed in the making of this vampire test."

  "Wait. Talia? Did you tell her why?"

  "Of course. She wants to help you. They all do. They're invested in you because they know you."

  I didn't know what to say to that. That said way more about all of them than it did me. Still, inexplicable warmth took root inside my chest, right in the center of my unbeating heart.

  "So here's what's going to happen,” she continued. “You won't be able to touch the mouse without burning your skin. Holy water hurts, Zac. Even just touching it. Ashe took one for the team and showed all of us what it did when he touched it, and he’s holed up in his room while he heals.”

  “Oh. This sounds…terrible.”

  “Here in a second,” she said, ignoring me, “I'll release your binds, then as soon as I lift the lid, the smell of the mouse's blood will hit you. You’ll want to hunt it, but you're going to have to control it or you'll get burned. Do not think you can bite into it, because it will likely kill you. Understand?"

  "Yeah." I did, but the risk of a holy water burn seemed unimportant compared to the size of my thirst. Of course, I'd never been burned with holy water either.

  She pointed to the closed door behind her. "That stays shut. If you open it for any reason during this test, Charles is right outside with another stun pen."

  "'Sup, Zac-man?" he called through the door. "Hawk's out here, too, looking like he might break down the door to protect that mouse. So…something to think about."

  "And you?” I asked Wren. “Where will you be?"

  "I'll be right here."

  "Is that wise?"

  "You wouldn’t hurt me, Zac.” She started toward my leg and undid the cuff. “If you would, I would have been dead a long time ago."

  She climbed on top of the bed to free my other leg, her ass sticking up in the air as she leaned over. I could appreciate the kinkiness of this situation, but I found myself wishing we were reversed. She crawled up the length of my body toward my arms, her legs spread over my hips, giving me a full view of her perfect tits cupped in her bra.

  Vampire arousal was nothing like human arousal. It was much more powerful, more immediate like it was opening the door wider for the monster inside me. She had to notice my obvious hard-on since it was right fucking there.

  I remembered her hand stroking my cock while she'd bitten me at the orgy party, a distraction from the pain. A hot, amazing distraction a part of me hoped she'd repeat right now.

  She straddled my chest and leaned up toward my arm, her hips rocking forward almost to my chin. "Would you like me to sweeten the deal?"

  Oh, would I.

  “Okay,” I growled.

  "You don't touch a hair on that mouse, and I'll give you an extra-large cup of AB negative, which is the good shit, my personal favorite." She lifted up on her knees to unfasten the second wrist bind. "When you're ready, we'll figure out your favorite, okay?"

  I licked my lips and nodded. If I lifted my head and ripped her shorts off, I could bury my tongue inside her until she screamed. I knew what she was doing. She was distracting me from my bloodlust with another, equally powerful kind of lust. And it was working. For the moment, at least.

  After releasing the final cuff, she climbed off me and stood next to the bedside table, her gloved hand on the knob of the lid. “Tell me when you’re ready.”

  I tried to take a deep breath out of habit, even though I could only manage a shallow inhale, and focused on anything but my thirst. Wren. How painfully hard my dick was. The fact that if I fed from the m
ouse, it could kill me. I’d chosen not to die to begin with. Might as well try to see it through to infinity. I could do this. I could control myself.

  One more tiny breath to loosen my muscles, unravel my wound nerves, and then I said, “Ready.”

  She lifted the lid.

  The smell of the mouse smashed into me. Its little heartbeat rang throughout the room like a blaring alarm. I sprang into a crouch on top of the bed with a wild growl. Instinct lengthened my fangs and grew my thirst into an impossibly sharp ache deep in my throat.

  I wasn’t ready for this.

  The mouse leaped from the tray and zipped underneath the bed, and I surged after it. I felt like a madman as I scrambled over the concrete floor. I had no control. None. I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t, even knowing what touching the mouse would do to me. I snatched at it. Missed. But the second time, I didn’t.

  It squealed as I brought it to my mouth—

  Molten heat singed my fingers and palm. I screamed in pain as I let the little fucker go. It scurried away, and the untamed part of me wanted to go after it again. Maybe it would be different the second time. But the part of me that was hurt lay underneath the bed, defeated, while I stared in horror at the blisters boiling over my skin. I’d thought I was a monster before, but now I looked like one. If I’d eaten that mouse… I didn’t let my thoughts stray that far.

  There was a tap on the door, and then footsteps burst in. Hawk, I thought, from the heavy thud of his boots.

  “Where is it?” he asked, his voice tight with panic.

  “The other side of the bed,” Wren said calmly.

  Two hands wrapped around my ankles and then dragged me out and flipped me over. Wren stared down at me with a brilliant grin on her face. “You passed.”

  “You sure?” I showed her my hand, but her grin didn’t waver.

  “Nobody died, right?” She offered me a hand, and I took it with the one that looked like it still belonged to me. “That’s a pass.”

  Hawk stormed out of the room with the mouse cupped in his large gloved hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. “Next time we use Charles as bait.”