“Where’s everyone else?” she asked, quivering all over with effort.
“Lucia made a portal for herself and her lackeys,” Adrius said curtly, bashing her fingers apart instead of going through to safety. “There are still mortals on this island. I will not leave them here to die.”
Alex snarled as he loomed over her protectively. “Make me a portal there now,” Adrius commanded.
Violet felt her sight swimming as she made the symbol again. Alex carried her through this portal as they emerged into an encampment with several men and women scrambling around. “Now another to safety. One more, Sorceress,” Adrius commanded.
“You can do it,” Alex murmured, now holding her upright. Their mating bond punched back into being at just the right moment. She felt his focus on her to force it through, feeding her an influx of his steady strength. She needed the energy to remain conscious and link a third portal into existence, also leading back to the mansion.
Adrius did most of the work, shouting orders and bodily shoving every mortal he could find through the portal. “I don’t sense anyone else. Do you?” he asked Alex, who flared his nostrils.
He shook his head, his eyes on the horizon. The Eye of Worlds was a distant dome now, leaking a steady stream of darkness. It rocked one last time before exploding with the fallout of a nuclear explosion. The sky around the center of the island parted, its eternal darkness pierced as a second shockwave of magic erased it in a rapidly growing circle. Deadly sunlight flooded in in its absence. Violet’s mouth hung open, frozen by the display. Luckily, someone had more presence of mind, dragging her through the portal she’d made before she could be burnt to a crisp.
Her hands fell to her sides, the portal disappearing before the fallout could follow them through. She leaned back into Alex’s strength, feeling her body sag with relief. “Scariest couple of hours of my life,” she said in an undertone for his ears alone. The front foyer was a chaos of people and one very confused maid, who observed panicking humans mixing with wounded Ancients, two semi-conscious vampiresses, and a large wolf.
“Of your life?” he sighed, giving her a squeeze. They laughed together, subsiding to a tired lean as the morning’s events hit them both. Over their mating bond, she felt that he was as exhausted and battered as her.
“Of both of our lives,” she amended, leaning her head back on his shoulder.
He turned a tender gaze her way, brushing a ringlet from her eyes. “I thought I’d lost you,” he said. “That, somehow, my protection just wasn’t enough.”
Shaking her head, she said, “It happened so fast. There was nothing you could’ve done. I just wonder…if Lucia had planned this out so perfectly, why did she fail at the very end?”
Alex smiled knowingly. “She forgot that I am, forever and for always, Team Violet. But I can tell you the full story later.” He glanced up as Samuel approached them, his curly hair pulled every which-way.
“You two look knackered,” he said by way of greeting. “What the hell is going on?”
“That’s about how I feel. We’re both in need of your wife’s services at first notice,” Alex replied, looking over the foyer and everyone milling about. He sighed. “We need to extend hospitality to all of these new vampires. It’s only right when they took Violet and me in.”
“And the mortals?” Sam asked.
He scratched the back of his head. “Them as well. I think they need to have a full memory wipe of what they just saw on Nyixa. If there’s even a Nyixa anymore.”
“That sounds like a story,” his deputy remarked, his lips quirking. “Why don’t you two go to the infirmary? I’ll send for Melanie and take care of the rest.”
“You’re worth your weight in gold, Samuel Rainey.” Alex clapped him on the shoulder.
“I’m getting a raise?” He laughed, waving them away.
Taking a good look at Violet, Alex swept her off her feet as her gait grew more sluggish. “Hey. You did great today,” he whispered in her ear. “You saved all of us.”
She sank into his hold, letting her eyes close. “I decided I wasn’t going to be a victim anymore. And that no one, not even Lucia, could force me to be one again.”
The last thing she remembered was his proud voice as she promptly drifted to sleep. “That’s my mate.”
Chapter 44
Alex
A GOOD GIFTED healer could get most vampires back on their feet after a life-threatening injury within a few days. Alex stayed awake long enough to confirm that it was Jaromir, not Melanie, who would see to their injuries. After a peacefully dark, dreamless sleep, he woke tucked under the white sheets of an infirmary bed, feeling groggy but mended. His phone read that it was a little over a day later. Midsummer had come and past.
In the bed next to him, Violet lay sprawled out with her blonde hair forming a halo around her. His heart swelled immediately to see her whole and healed of all the scratches that’d marred her arms and face.
She’d asked what had gone awry in Lucia’s plan and he’d immediately known what it was. Lucia wasn’t expecting just how much he loved the woman resting just out of reach. He would’ve walked through the sweltering desert barefoot if it meant another day together with Violet.
They’d done it; they’d thwarted Lucia’s immediate plans. Something told him a future seer such as herself would have some sort of backup—but that wasn’t important now. He sat up, feeling how fluidly his body rolled into motion. His inner beast was a content, if heavy, presence at the back of his head. Its strength reminded him of what he was now.
There was a very real possibility that Lucia’s stunt with the silver potion had catapulted him to Ancient status. He would see very soon if he were truly like his father, a daywalker from Sirius’s bloodline. A change in status would be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, he would no longer have to play second fiddle to Cossette in the political frontier. But on the other, he had lost the ability to stay low and avoid strife. He would also need to watch himself for signs of the corruption Gwendolyn worried so deeply about stopping. Lucia had painted a big, silver cross on his back the moment she’d stepped into his life.
By his bedside rested an envelope with his name written in Julian’s bold hand. He frowned, taking a look inside to find a typed letter and two shoulder badges with Coven Rehnquist’s lion insignia. Their presence alone made Alex dread reading the letter. He symbolically asked for the insignia back of anyone leaving his coven who’d served as one of his enforcers.
It was worse than he’d thought. He was in the middle of reading it a second time when Violet stirred, groaning as she swiped at her eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing we can fix right now,” he responded, offering her a hint of a smile. “Julian wrote out everything you both went through and more.” His smile shaded to a toothy grimace. “I’ve never wanted to kill someone more than Lucia.”
“Do we really have to talk about her right now?” She covered her head with a pillow.
“No, love.” He set the letter aside with a sigh. “The only other thing you need to know is that Armando is in the hospital right now but making a recovery. And Julian has gone rogue.”
“Rogue? Like, he’s left the coven?” She peeked out at him with a soft gasp.
He flipped Julian’s old insignia against his palm, lips quirking. “He knows I would never accept his resignation in person, so he told me in a letter. Apparently, he’s about to do something he doesn’t want reflected on the rest of us, which is utter rubbish because it will anyway and I’d help him do it, whatever it is.”
Sliding out of her bed, she slipped in with him, her arm circling over his chest. “Hey, it’s all right,” she said.
He turned, catching her lips with his own. Her presence was a balm on his jagged thoughts, smoothing out the uncertainty of the moment. Julian would come back to them when his business was done, for better or worse. But they had each other. Lucia had only succeeded in bringing them closer together.
; _______________
Jaromir came to check on them a little later to find Violet dozing in the circle of Alex’s arms. He checked them over to give them both a clean bill of health. “You may want to change and head to your meeting room,” he suggested. “Adrius is holding a war council as we speak.”
“I’m sorry. Did you just say Adrius was doing something productive?” Alex asked dryly.
Violet smothered a yawn and elbowed his side. “Don’t be rude.”
Glancing between them, the soft-spoken Blood Prince cracked an amused smile. “He is indeed doing something productive.”
“Well, I have to see this,” he remarked. They parted ways for him and Violet to head back to the master bedroom and change.
She put on jeans and a tee, stubbornly not dressing herself up except for a smattering of eyeshadow. With her hair up in a ponytail, she was herself, not the beauty queen Lucia had tried to make her.
He hadn’t seen a more beautiful sight in his life. It also exposed her graceful neck, which he took the opportunity to kiss as she inspected herself in the mirror. “Do I look ready for war?” she asked, pressing against his muscled front.
“Armed and ready.” He teased his lips over her pulse, wishing they didn’t have more pressing business. “I’ve gotten spoiled from our camping trip.”
“Constant darkness and humidity?” she deadpanned.
“No. Constant you and me time,” he said with a wink. “I intend to have more of that as soon as this meeting is over.”
Her coy smile said that was just what she was thinking as well. She turned, taking his hands in hers. “Thank you for saving me.”
“No. Thank you.” He rested her palm over his heart, in perfect sync with hers because of their bond. “You could still be a safe, ordinary mortal right now if it wasn’t for me.”
“Yeah, well, normal is boring.” Her eyes sparkled like coins as she smiled up at him in adoration.
“Isn’t that the truth?” He was laughing as their lips met, mutual love sparkling over their bond. They were lifemates through and through, and Alex would rather be nowhere else than in her arms.
Epilogue
Alex
THEY ARRIVED AT Alex’s board room, a formal place for business affairs with enough seating for twenty comfortably, to find Adrius at the head of the table chatting casually with Gwendolyn, the two of them sipping from a set of champagne flutes. Neala, only notable from her mental voice and flame-red eyes, was wearing a different woman’s glamor, complete with a curved figure and a dress she kept plucking at uncomfortably. She was mid-story to Korin and Sirius, gesturing animatedly and drawing a laugh from them both. Jaromir was on his feet, playing waiter with a bottle on ice and more full glasses on the side-table.
Alex and Violet paused at the door to take in this scene, exchanging an incredulous glance. “They’re not fighting,” she whispered.
“Gwendolyn and Neala are all right, too,” he whispered back.
They were also all wearing modern clothing, looking less like something out of the pages of a storybook and more like they belonged. Adrius picked at his short sleeves, the edges pressing into his muscled biceps, but otherwise, he was smiling and relaxed. He was the first to notice them. “Please, sit,” he said.
“This is a war council, hmm?” Alex asked, sitting at the other table end with Violet to his right. Jaromir passed them both champagne flutes.
“We knew it’d take you a while to arrive. The other guests should be joining us shortly as well,” he said, toasting them and drinking down his own alcohol. “Another!” he called to Jaromir, who refilled his glass.
“Who brought the champagne?” Violet asked, sipping hers slowly.
“I did, dear. Enough for everyone,” Gwendolyn said, smiling over at her. “We have a cause for celebration even as we plan for the future.”
“What’s the…?” she drifted off as three strangers walked into the room, her mouth hanging open. She nudged Alex, jerking her head toward them.
He drew to his feet to greet them properly, and she followed suit. “Welcome to my coven’s headquarters. And you are?” he asked, taking in the group. They had no auras to speak of but wore otherworldly beauty like a shroud of grace.
The shorter of the two women strode forward first, wearing a big smile over delicate features and a waterfall of blonde hair. Her blue eyes seemed to twinkle as she stuck out a hand. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’m Sorsha—and this is Keegan and our good friend, Ash.”
She wore an unfamiliar style of dress, a scarlet gown hugging her curves, embroidered with filigree that was purple until she moved. It shifted colors to green and gold, showing flowers and gilt insect wings. She’d thrown a velvet, hip-length cape over her shoulders that shimmered between the earthy colors of her gown’s embroidery.
The only man of the group was straight from a renaissance fair, a sword at his side and a similar cape flowing over his left shoulder. He wore dark gloves and a no-nonsense expression so reminiscent of Julian that Alex felt a pang of regret that his friend wasn’t here to see all this for himself.
It was the last woman, tall and curvy, wearing a full set of dark leather armor that held hints of hidden weapons that convinced him he knew why Violet was still gaping next to him. “You’re fae, aren’t you?”
Sorsha bowed and flashed a wink that made her eyes literally sparkle as if filled with star shine. “You’re so pretty,” Violet blurted.
“Aww, thank you, sweetheart,” Sorsha said with a brief giggle. “I see which virtue you have. Catch me after this meeting, okay? My mother shared you need a new occultarus.” She gestured down the table to where Neala was watching them interact intently. “If you’d excuse me actually…”
She went over and hugged Neala’s side, leaving the other two fae standing there. Keegan wavered uncertainly, and Alex remembered that Neala had adopted both him and Sorsha alike when they were merely babies. “Did you come over after the Eye of Worlds exploded?” Violet asked them.
He turned to her, a frown tugging at his lips. “Yes.”
“And you helped Gwendolyn and Neala wake up from the languor dust?”
“Sorsha did.” He patted the sword at his side. “She does magic. I just hit things.”
“He’s terrible at it.” If Sorsha’s voice was a bright chirp, Ash’s was smoky and low. She smirked when he turned to glare at her.
“Don’t mind her. She doesn’t mean it,” he said.
“I do. I mean it,” she insisted, her smirk sparking to a full smile. “You probably haven’t noticed I’m different from those two.” She gestured between the other two fae.
Violet’s brows furrowed in confusion while Alex kept his mouth shut. Their glamor made them all seem like average people to him. “First lesson in fae. Seelie like Sorsha and I only tell the truth,” Keegan said for Ash when she glanced to him. “Unseelie like Ash can only tell lies unless you catch them on a good day. She’s very fluent in sarcasm.”
“Oh, guess we’ll get along then,” Alex said dryly.
“Guess we will,” she responded, equally dry.
Alex turned as he heard more footsteps approaching. More guests? He wondered just how many people his new guests had sought fit to invite. The fae, he wanted to pick their brains. But he couldn’t see who else they’d want to invite…until Cossette walked in, her hair done up in a messy bun trimmed off by a length of red ribbon the same shade as Sorsha’s dress.
“Good evening, Mister Rehnquist,” she said cheerfully. Arriving behind her was another surprise. One by one, every coven master except for Rockefeller and Collins lined up behind her, wearing expressions that ran the gamut from nervous to be in the presence of so many Ancients to gazing at Alex and the rest hopefully.
“I heard we were having a war council meeting,” Cossette continued, gesturing to the men and women behind her. “I brought my alliance to join you.”
Between them, they held most of New York’s land, lacking only Coven Rockefeller’s d
istrict and the abandoned subway tunnels Haven liked to skulk in. No great loss compared to the fighting force these coven masters represented.
Alex felt a spark of hope kindle in his heart. “Good to have you all. Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable. We’ve got a lot of planning to do.”
About Elise Hennessy
Elise Hennessy has developed a life-long passion for reading that inspires her imagination. She holds a master’s degree in journalism and enjoys the process of telling stories. Now, she teaches future generations to love books too.
She focuses on writing tales of paranormal romance and young adult fantasy. Elise lives in Texas with her family and is owned by two cats.
Find out more about her books at: www.elisehennessy.com
Also by Elise Hennessy
The Winter Key: Blood Legacy Series Book 2
This wasn’t the kind of excitement she signed up for.
Olivia Cooper is a struggling actress who wished for something new in life. When she’s kidnapped and brought to New York by a group of vampire fanatics who claim she’s the key to helping further their goals, she wonders if she jinxed herself. She meets a mysterious maroon-eyed man who tells her nothing is as it seems—right before she’s rescued by the handsome vampire warrior, Julian Fairfax.
When Julian finds his lifemate, alive and unharmed in his city due to Lucia’s machinations, he knows it’s not a gift but instead the beginning of her next round of mind games. As he struggles with the cold darkness Lucia woke in him from their last encounter, he worries that not even Olivia’s warm embrace can thaw the icy magic awakening within him.
Darkness closes in on their closest allies and monsters unseen for a thousand years stalk the night. Can Julian master his wintry magic to protect those he loves?
He knows one thing for sure—the corrupted Vampire Queen isn’t done with him yet.
Dream Walker: Blood Legacy Series Book 1 Page 26