Sever the Crown: Vampire Reverse Harem Complete Series

by Mysti Parker

  “Okay then, who’s the canary?” Charles asked.

  “Me,” I said.

  “Hell no,” Hawk growled and came around to stand between me and the tunnel.

  “He’s right,” Marlowe said. “That tunnel may be unstable. It could collapse.”

  I laughed. “Do you have any idea how many crumbling sewers, condemned buildings, unmapped caves, and boarded-up cellars I’ve rummaged around in?”

  “But we have no idea what may be lurking in there. It could be booby trapped for all we know.” Hawk’s hard expression softened into a sweet smile that nearly made my dead heart flutter. He settled his big hands on my shoulders. “You’re an incredibly brave woman who would no doubt outlast us in a Naked and Afraid episode. Just let us scope it out first to make us feel better, if nothing else.”

  “This sounds like a job for a couple of trained law enforcers,” Marlowe said, folding up his laptop. He handed it off to Ashe and stepped up beside Zac.

  Zac grinned. “Let’s grab some weapons and do some ‘splorin.”

  I stared at him, my mouth agape. “Has becoming a vampire awakened your sense of humor, Detective?”

  He swept in and whooshed me off my feet, kissing my neck until I laughed. “I’d say it’s more a symptom of being mated to the sexiest, funniest, most beautiful vampire queen that ever lived…or unlived.”

  “Sweet Vampire Jesus, here they go again.” Ashe chuckled and shook his head.

  Zac set me back on my feet. “Sorry. It’s kind of hard to resist, you know.”

  “Oh, we know,” the others said in unison then laughed.

  If this was how it would always be with them, I would be the luckiest queen ever. I would do everything in my power to make sure each of them knew how much I loved them so they’d never have a reason to betray me as Devin had my mom.

  A few minutes later, Zac and Marlowe stood in front of the tunnel, both armed. Their eyes glowed softly as they employed their night vision rather than shining a light that could give them away.

  “We won’t be gone long,” Marlowe assured me.

  I kissed them both and watched as they disappeared into the darkness. A sinking feeling left me shivering.

  Charles came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “They’ll be fine.”

  I interlaced my fingers with his and held both his hands. “You know what? It’s Wednesday, and I need something to distract me.”

  He grinned against my cheek. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

  ****

  “Oh god, that feels great. How did you get so good at that?” I closed my eyes and moaned as Charles gave me the best damn foot massage in the universe, complete with lavender oil.

  Soft candlelight cast a warm glow throughout the suite, while soothing jazz music flowed from the record player. I’d expected him to strip me down and go right for the honey pot when we got to my suite. He had stripped me down, but then he’d drawn me a warm bath and even washed my hair. After that, he’d led me to the bed wrapped in a fluffy robe. Then he’d pulled out some massage oil and proceeded to make love to my feet with his expert hands.

  “I come from a long line of expert masseuses,” he said with a chuckle. “My dad could put my mom out like a light with a good foot rub.”

  I opened my eyes in time to notice a pained expression flash across his face as he recalled that memory. Sitting up, I opened my arms and gestured for him to get between them. Charles smiled and crawled up the mattress. He let me hug him, but then flopped us both down on our sides. I yelped then laughed from the surprise.

  We lay there for a while just searching each other’s eyes. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of loose pants. Just how I liked him. It still amazed me how each of my mates filled different roles in my life. Charles was my joker. He always made me laugh. Beyond that, he knew how to help me relax, and he was such a sweet and gentle lover. You’d never guess it from all his swagger outside the bedroom.

  His gaze drifted down my neck and to my shoulder. He drew back the collar of my robe and softly traced his finger along the rose vine of my tattoo.

  “How did I get so lucky?” he asked.

  “Lucky? You’ve been on the run and on the brink of death from the moment we met. How’s that lucky?”

  “Because I got to share it all with you. I honestly never believed I could love anyone this much.”

  I rubbed my thumb over the glowing symbols on his tattoo. “This may have a little to do with it.”

  He shook his head. “No, the symbol only makes us stronger…and hornier.”

  I laughed.

  “But it doesn’t do anything about what you feel in here.” He pulled my robe down lower until a breast was exposed and settled his palm over my heart. “I’d have been gone a long time ago if I didn’t love you.”

  “Ah, so the sex isn’t good enough to make you stay?”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  We shared a laugh as he cupped my breast in his hand and circled my nipple with his thumb. I drew his head close until his lips closed around it and sucked. I played with his thick brown hair while I sang the lyrics to Genuine’s Pony, the song he’d played the first night we met when we holed up in his tech-filled treehouse.

  His head popped up, and he grinned. “Aw, it’s our song.”

  Then he grabbed me and pulled me on top of him as he flopped to his back. I let my breasts hover over his face. He took one in each hand and licked both nipples then sucked them in turn. After I freed his dick from his pants, with my robe bunched around my waist, I lifted my hips and then settled down on him until he was deep inside me.

  “Oh shit, you feel amazing,” he said with a growl in his voice and a hint of fang. That stirred up my excitement.

  He held my hips as I rode him with my head tossed back and eyes closed to feel how wonderfully my second mate fit inside me. We took our time, until his hips began to buck beneath mine. I leaned forward, crashed my lips into his for a deep kiss, and met every upward thrust of his with my clit grinding against his pelvis. My orgasm crashed through me so hard, I lost control of my muscles. Charles held on to my ass and pounded his dick into me until he roared his release into the silence of my suite.

  Finally spent, I sat up with him still seated inside me and let my fingers trace circles through the fine hair on his chest. Charles wore a satisfied grin as he ran his hands up and down my thighs. Then he went still while staring at my breasts, a contemplative look on his face.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “You feel different inside. I mean, I know you’ve been…busy…with the other guys, but your breasts seem fuller, too, and your cheeks are flushed.”

  “We just made passionate love. Isn’t that to be expected?”

  He shook his head. “No, I think it may be more than that.”

  I sat still and blinked at him, unsure at first what that might mean. I didn’t have periods. I never had a cold, or any illness not caused by a poison of some sort…

  My eyes went wide. “Do you think I’ve been poisoned?”

  He laid his hand softly on my belly. “No, chère, I think you may be pregnant.”

  I covered his hand with mine as I tried to process the possibility. Then the reality sank in. If I were already pregnant, I had yet another life to protect, a very precious life.

  One that made us all vulnerable.

  I eased myself off Charles and sat beside him with my knees drawn up to my chest.

  “What are you thinking?” He sat up beside me and mimicked my posture while rubbing my back.

  “I didn’t expect this so soon. If you can tell, what if Ravana or her mates can too? They’ll use that against us.”

  “Unless you expect to battle her naked, I doubt they could tell. But you can’t worry about that. A queen doesn’t stop being queen just because she’s pregnant.”

  “Just part of the job, right?” I rested my head on his shoulder.

  “No, it’s a beautiful thing. A miracle. I�
�m already thinking up baby names. Bertha for a girl and Gaylord for a boy.”

  Tongue stuck out, I raised my head and made a gag noise. “Only if you want our baby to be the brunt of all the early-morning vampire talk show jokes.”

  He smiled. “Our baby?”

  I covered my mouth. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that I know who – ”

  Charles put his finger to my lips. “I don’t care who’s the father. She’ll be our baby as in all of ours. With five dads to spoil her rotten.”

  “Her?” I asked, trying to smile past my worry.

  “Or him. Shit, I don’t care if it’s a puppy. We’ll love it anyway.”

  I snuggled up against him and tried to absorb some of his strength and positivity. “I’m scared, Charles. If I am pregnant and the wrong people know about it…”

  “Okay, first of all, we don’t know for certain yet. Have the other guys noticed any changes?”

  “They haven’t said anything if they have.”

  “Well, then what they don’t know won’t hurt them. Fifth rule of being queen is to keep your head in the game. Once the fight is over and things are quiet, then let them know.”

  “How about you? Is your head in the game?”

  He nodded. “Royal Knight training, remember? That’s the first thing my dad drilled into me. We stay one hundred percent focused on the mission until it’s over. I’m sure you learned that, too, when you were on your own.”

  I nodded. But uncertainty clawed at my conscience. Was it right to keep this to myself? The only thing I could be relatively sure of was that Zac was probably not the father, considering we’d only been together a short time. But Charles was right. If the others knew or suspected I was pregnant, it would be difficult for them to concentrate on taking Ravana and her mates out for good. They’d be too focused on protecting me.

  My gaze wandered to the clock on my table. “Zac and Marlowe should have been back by now.”

  “Maybe they are and just didn’t want to bother you.”

  “I’d feel better if I checked on them.”

  “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

  “No, just rest here. I want to sleep the day away with you when I get back. We’ll all need to be well rested before we go live on VTV.”

  Charles stretched out on the bed and crossed his arms behind his head. “That sounds like the best idea ever, little lady. Hurry back, okay?”

  I threw on some black leggings, my boots, and a red tank top then leaned in and kissed Charles before heading to the door.

  Halfway down the corridor to the room that led to the tunnel, Vincent met me. “I was just coming to tell you that Zac and Marlowe haven’t returned. Do you want some of the Knights to go looking for them?”

  A shiver ran down my spine. “Okay, but I’ll go with them this time.”

  “That’s not a good idea.”

  “It’s not negotiable.”

  He bowed his head. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  Sure enough, they hadn’t reappeared. Vincent must have not told Hawk and Ashe about it yet, as they weren’t there either. The two Knights left to guard the tunnel – Godwin and Diesel – were staring into it and snapped to attention when I walked in, each with one arm across their chests.

  “At ease.” It still felt weird to essentially be a military commander when I’d only led an army of one for most of my life.

  They relaxed. Godwin’s gaze bounced from me to Vincent. “Should we go now?”

  “I’m going with you,” I said. “I’ve spent a lot of time in caves and other cramped quarters. Have you?”

  “No, but…” They both looked to Vincent, who just shrugged and nodded.

  “Queen’s orders,” he said. “But if you’re not back in five minutes, we’re all coming in to look for you. That’s not negotiable as your Royal Knight.”

  I smiled. “Agreed. Five minutes.”

  We set off down the tunnel, with one Knight ahead and one behind me, both armed with guns and knives. Thankfully, as vampires, we could rely on our night vision. No heat signatures moved that I could see. I picked up Zac and Marlowe’s faint smells they’d left behind, but nothing else, until we came to a hole in the ground. Godwin nearly fell into it, but I pulled him back just in time and squatted to peer into it. Air wafted up from below, carrying the smell of body odor, feces, and other unpleasant human nastiness. Above us, a vent and air duct had been cut into the dirt, which must have carried away the scent so we couldn’t smell it from the bunker.

  “What the hell?” Diesel asked. “Do you think they fell in there?”

  “No. But they may have gone down to explore.”

  I picked up a rock and dropped it, holding my ear down to hear if it landed. A soft thud a second later told me the hole wasn’t deep.

  “I’ll drop down and then help you down, Wren,” Godwin said.

  “Okay.”

  He dropped down. I watched as his cool blue heat signature landed and turned around to look up. Then I dropped down, and he steadied me as I landed on the loose rocks and dirt. Diesel followed. We were in another long, yet wider corridor. This one had boarded-up walls and large wood beams for framing. It looked stable enough. But the smell here was so strong, I gagged. Was that a pregnancy symptom? I couldn’t keep questioning every little sensation.

  Keep your head in the game, Wren.

  “You okay?” Diesel asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Moans drifted down the corridor. It was wide enough for us to walk side by side, with the Knights flanking me. We came to a corridor that cut off to the side, illuminated with a soft light from a lantern on the wall.

  We turned down this corridor and found a huge chamber with several corridors leading off it. But in the center was a large metal cage.

  It was full of naked humans. Pale, yet plump humans, with dirty, matted hair and brands with the TWATS symbol burned into their thighs. Buckets of waste, food, and water sat in the corners. On the floor were worn, dirty quilts and pillows with roaches scattering as the humans ran back and forth, waving to get my attention. That wasn’t the worst of it. Their mouths had been stapled shut. They all moaned and pointed to a big red switch on the wall. Would that release the lock? I couldn’t be sure.

  “Human cattle,” I whispered. “It’s no telling how many of them are down here.”

  “It’s electrified,” Godwin said. “We should get them out.”

  “Hang on. Something’s not right.”

  Just then, footsteps pounded on the dirt from a corridor to our right. Zac and Marlowe came running out, skidding to a stop when they saw me.

  “Wren! What are you doing? Get out of here!” Zac said.

  But I ran toward him and threw my arms around him. “Not without you. And them.” I pointed over my shoulder at the cage. We have to – ”

  Something wrapped around my ankle. I looked down in time to catch a glimpse of a black tentacle. Faster than we could react, it yanked me away from Zac and down another pitch-black corridor.

  I dug my nails into the dirt, leaving a trail of scratches behind as the men disappeared from my view.

  And then I screamed.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Zac

  "Wr—!" My voice split in half at the sight of her disappearing down the long tunnel. I spun around to face the Knights. What was she doing here? Why hadn't someone stopped her? These were questions I wanted to throw at them, but the words couldn't squeeze past the lump in my throat. Raw anger scraped its way to the surface, and I lunged at them.

  Marlowe blocked me, looking exactly how I felt. He grabbed my shoulder and hauled me after her. "Come on," he growled. "You two as well, and don't think you'll get off the hook for this."

  "She demanded Vincent let her come,” the Knight named Godwin said. “Are we really expected to say no to the queen?"

  "Always say no to her if you don't know the risks and if it could endanger her life,” I ground out, spittle flying. “Like you just fucking did." This wa
s a detail Charles needed to iron out in training. He knew as well as anyone how convincing Wren could be. Damn woman was so headstrong, which was one reason we all loved her, but that tenacity sure could be trouble sometimes.

  We started down the tunnel.

  Desperate moans – pleas for help – from the humans in the cage rang out behind us, but they weren't our priority right now. In the back of my mind, I gave myself an ounce of credit for not flipping off the switch that electrified the cage so I could slaughter such an easy meal. I'd smelled them before I saw them, but with their situation so desperate, I hadn’t even considered feasting. A small victory. My goal was helping Wren, now more than ever.

  "What was that thing?" Marlowe asked, keeping pace with me down the tunnel.

  "I can't be sure, but it was black and shadowy, just like the thing Wren and I saw in the cabin in the woods."

  A muscle in Marlowe’s jaw ticked as he stared straight ahead. "You mean my demon father. Wren told me."

  "I don't know for sure if it’s him, but my mind can't process anything else right now that would have tentacles and doesn't live in the ocean."

  "Why is he here though? Is he helping Ravana get rid of her competition?"

  "Sure seems like it."

  Ahead, the tunnel turned sharply to the right. As far as we could tell from our brief excursion, the whole system was a labyrinth of intersecting tunnels, some of which ended in dead ends, deadly creatures, and deadlier booby traps. I’d almost fallen in a pit rigged with wooden stakes at the bottom, but thankfully Marlowe pulled me back from certain death. We’d just evaded something I could only describe as a zombie with no eyes when we had found Wren where she should have never been.

  Marlowe and I slowed, and I took the lead to peer around the corner. Something slithered at the end of a short tunnel, no Wren in sight. Fuck, how many tentacles were we talking here? I motioned to Marlowe and the Knights to follow, and we blurred down the tunnel then turned left in the direction of the tentacle.

  Somewhere close by, Wren shouted, not in terror but with anger. She was giving it hell, which I thought was a good sign. We poured on speed and twisted through the maze like rats. Marlowe and I moved in tandem, keeping silent so we could sneak attack whatever had her.