by C. D. Gorri
“You sure about this?” Viktor asked Renard. “I’d expect her to head north.”
“It appears the entire property is warded,” Renard answered confidently. “And from early reports, they found Fontaine’s magic woven in to the barrier.”
“Well, that, at least, is good news.” Viktor sounded relieved while I filed Fontaine’s name away for future reference. “We can scoop them both up at the same time. Put together a contingent of soldiers. Ten revenants should be enough. I don’t want to waste any more resources than I must to bring this situation under control.”
His gaze skimmed over Marcus, Caden, and Rafael.
“Of course, if we lose some, I have three bodies just waiting to be changed.”
“Abita Springs is too far a distance to materialize ten revenants.” Renard checked his phone. “We’ll have to transport the creatures by vehicle.”
“How long will that take?”
“Half an hour, maybe more, depending on the terrain.”
Now we’d have a chance.
Viktor would take half his guards, maybe more, with him to get this situation under control. I caught Caden’s eyes, then Markus’s. There were three of us, and even though my magic was shit at the moment, once I had a weapon, I’d make short work of the remaining guards.
Viktor was halfway to the door when he changed his mind, returning to Tessa, as if he couldn’t stay away.
“Once I have this little mess cleaned up, I’ll have time to play with you.” He tried to cup her face, but she pulled away. When he stepped closer, Tessa spat on his boot while horror spiraled through me and I fought against Renard’s magic.
Viktor backhanded her, his heavy signet ring cutting a furrow across her cheek. Blood welled up as he pulled her hair back so they were nose to nose.
“You will learn obedience, wife. You will learn to fear me.”
“Never going to happen, asshole.”
God, she was either fearless or suicidal, and right now, I wasn’t sure if I admired her or wanted to kick her ass.
“The queen, sire,” Renard said quietly. “She won’t stay in one spot for long, and I do not want you to miss your chance.”
Viktor waved him off, intent on his new toy. “We’ll see how brave you are when I’ve changed your men into monsters. We’ll see how brave you are when I have Silas gutted like a pig and hung on my wall and you watch him rot down to bones. We’ll see how brave you are when your little sisters are in the cells beside you.”
She blanched a little bit more with every word, and I expected her brave façade to crumble. But my Tessa was made of stronger stuff. Stronger than the king imagined.
Stronger, maybe, than even I imagined.
“That is the difference between us, Viktor. You have nothing but blustering threats. None of your posturing will ever change how weak you are, so go right ahead. Threaten away.”
God, I wanted to throttle her. Of kiss her, if we ever got out of this.
“I’ll do more than threaten,” Viktor muttered, but you could tell he was off his game. For someone so used to instilling fear in everyone around him, Tessa didn’t fit into his box, not one bit.
Renard broke in again, his tone growing more urgent. “Abita Springs, my king. If you delay any further, you will miss them. The thrall is already inside the wards, according to those watching. It won’t be long until the escapees are moving again.”
Viktor reluctantly looked between us and the door. “If this wasn’t so fucking important…” He looked at Renard. “Can you handle this? The half-blood killed five of my guards; I can only leave you three.”
He cast a contemptuous look over the lot of us.
“I trust you can handle them?”
Chapter Sixteen
Contessa
While an amused Viktor watched, the guards attempted to shackle my men. I was already chained to a bolt hole screwed into the paneling, the heavy chain clinking and clinking while I tested my bonds over and over again, as if I might be able to break iron.
Caden and Marcus fought like mad dogs, fangs out, snapping at the guards. Rafe practically ripped out one’s throat.
They fought until one of the guards pinned Markus to the floor, the tip of his sword digging between Marcus’s shoulder blades until blood bloomed up, staining his white shirt.
“You’ll want to play nice, or your friend will die right here,” Renard said, nodding to the guard, who re-sheathed his sword. Silas was hoisted up, Rafe was still snarling, but one glance at the amount of blood Markus was losing and my heart clenched in fear.
“That’s better,” Renard said mockingly while Viktor laughed.
I twisted my hands again. I knew the metal was spelled with abjuration magic, had heard rumors about how these restraints worked. But I hadn’t expected to feel like this.
Weak. Stripped of my hearing, my heightened sense of smell. My speed.
“Now, that these pups have been declawed. I would like to suggest a solution to today’s little problem.” Renard looked as if he were choosing his next words carefully. “My own blood approached me to arrange my betrayal.” His gaze grew steely when he looked over at Caden. “And while I refused, there might be those who’d agree to such a proposal. There are many ways to deal with seditionists, but in my experience, if you allow them to live, they will only rebel again.”
“What about turning them?” Viktor asked softly, his greedy, red-tinted gaze resting on me. “That is our usual solution.”
“Veuillez comprendre, mon roi, we can’t feed the creatures we have. Not even the Winter Reaping provided enough food for all of them, and the ones on the grounds…” Renard’s gaze turned calculating as he looked us over, as if weighing us out, pound by pound. “Have not fed in un mois…over a month.”
“What would you have me do, then?” Viktor asked, sounding more like a petulant child than a vampire king.
“Should this queen prove to be genuine, there are those in the Royal Houses who will rise against you,” Renard said. “The very same people who already watch the throne for signs of weakness. You must show none.”
Viktor nodded slowly.
“Disappearances, however…tend to stop people from asking questions.” Renard shook his head. “These pups are just loose ends, but once they’re dead, I will turn them into useful tools. Their disappearance will sow doubt among the masses, keep them under control.”
Viktor looked us over with new eyes, his gaze calculating. “Dispose of them?” he asked, looking like a child who just lost his blanket. “Seems like a waste, especially the female.” Of course. I didn’t even deserve a name now.
Renard’s phone buzzed, and he checked the message and smiled. “The guards confirmed the escaped queen is on the property, and the wards…” He chuckled, a deep rumble. “Mon Dieu. It’s Marvelle magic, sire.”
Viktor looked as stunned as I felt.
The Marvelle bloodline had died out a century ago, when he killed Queen Lyra. During my lifetime, that bloodline was considered extinct.
“House Marvelle is dead,” Viktor said, absolute certitude in his voice, while Renard checked his phone again.
“Not according to the initial scouting party.” Renard showed him the text. “It appears we fait une erreur…missed one.”
I didn’t know who this poor female was, or if she really was a Marvelle. But I sent her a silent prayer, because the next time Viktor looked at us, his eyes blazed, but his hatred wasn’t directed at us.
It was focused on this upstart queen.
I prayed she was smart and fast and got away, that she never had to meet the fate awaiting us.
“Fine, throw them to the revenants,” Viktor snapped impatiently. “Do it inside the wards, then get rid of anything the creatures don’t eat.”
The smile he directed at me was little more than a malevolent twist of his lips. “I’m sad to lose you. But your sisters…” Viktor’s grin grew impossibly wide. “Your sisters will be all mine.”
The sh
ackles cut into my wrists as I tried to reach him, to claw his eyes out, maybe, until the scent of copper bloomed in the air, enough that Caden pressed me hard against the wall so I couldn’t move.
“Stop, Tessa. Don’t hurt yourself. He’s not worth it,” he said, before Renard yanked him away, making some comment about soft hearts.
“How can you be this evil?” I screamed at him. “Caden’s your son, for God’s sake.”
“He chose the wrong side,” Renard responded, as if that explained everything.
Then Viktor was gone, leaving us alone with Renard and three guards, who looked like they enjoyed their jobs. The elder Gauthier turned to Caden. “Je suis désolé, Caden, but you have to understand. The throne means everything to me. Viktor was right. I’d never betray the crown. This is nothing personal, c’est les affaires…uh…just business.”
Caden growled and strained forward, Rafe cursing them up and down in French, Silas driving one guard to the floor, despite being shackled and magic-less. My men were fighting, even though it was futile.
I was numb. We’d relied on everything to go right today, and instead, everything had gone wrong.
I didn’t blame anyone but myself. If none of these males knew me, they’d be living out their lives somewhere, perfectly happy.
Instead, we marched through the palace, outgunned and outmaneuvered, me watching blood trail down Marcus’s back, Rafael muttering curses, Silas’s fury increasing with every step.
Renard stayed to the back of the pack, behind the joking guards. Gallows humor, I assumed, since it involved which of us were the juiciest and which of us would go out screaming. That would most likely be me.
I’d always believed I was brave. Always hoped that when the end came, I’d face it with my chin up and my eyes wide open.
Somehow, I didn’t see that happening today.
All I had to do was reimagine those double rows of teeth, that gag-inducing boggy scent, and my knees nearly went out from under me.
Caden’s elbow brushed mine hard enough that I stopped worrying about Markus and looked up at him. “Keep it together, Tessa,” he whispered, the words barely audible. “Keep it together just a few more minutes, and trust me.”
Then he was pulled away, the guard’s meaty fist striking his face with a dull thud.
What was he talking about? We were about to die. The time for trust went out the window ten minutes ago.
My bloodless hands tingled and my shoulders ached from being forced together by the restraints. At least my magic wasn’t being drained from me.
All of us were bleeding, the scent perfuming the air around us. I didn’t know what, exactly, revenants were, but they were predators. They’d hunt by scent.
When we reached the main lawn, the dense forest was a smudge at the end of the winter-brown clearing. The guards were quieter now, more watchful, and even Renard went silent, falling further behind.
We marched until the grass grew marshy, my shoes soaked through.
Ahead of us, the cypresses were stacked together like the bars of a cage, the woods beyond them dark, my imagination going wild at what that darkness contained.
“You can stop right there,” Renard called out. “This is as good a place as any.” He indicated a spot near the shadows. “We’ll leave them here and pick up the cuffs in the morning. I’ve heard the prison is running low.”
The moment the guards pushed us to our knees, they began backing away, as something deep within the woods crunched sharply.
I fought the shackles in earnest now, twisting and tugging, my shoulders aching.
The air around us changed—shifted, more like it—the woodsy, boggy scent replaced by something more elemental, tinged with electricity.
I smelled ozone in the air, but how could that be? The ward was far behind us, and this scent was close, burning my nose, searing my eyes until tears turned everything blurry.
None of us had magic. Renard had seen to that.
I looked wildly between the tree trunks, searching the shadows for any hint of movement. I thought I heard a far-off growl from the trees, and whimpered.
One of the guards laughed, the sound impossibly loud against my thudding heart.
While my numb brain tried to make sense of it, Renard flicked his hand and snapped the guard’s neck, cutting off his laughter with a wheeze.
Caden dropped his shackles to the grass and launched himself at a second. Within a moment, Silas had the third one pinned to the ground, the guard’s own knife pressed to his throat.
One more twist of my wrist and the cuff loosened enough that I could slip my hand out. Rafe and Markus were free as well, but the relief I felt wasn’t only for our miraculous reprieve.
Renard hadn’t sold his son out after all. Caden had been right to trust him.
I stumbled toward Markus, intending to check the wound on his back, but Rafael caught me around the waist. “Let them finish this, Tessa. Everything has to look perfect, and we only get one chance at this.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about. Renard had clearly saved us, but shouldn’t we be running?
“Don’t spill any of their blood,” Renard cautioned us. “Or it will ruin the illusion.”
Two dry cracks and the guards went limp, their unseeing eyes staring at the sky. Silas hauled them into a pile, the sight so terrible I had to look away. I’d seen plenty of horrors in my lifetime, but never had I been responsible for any of them.
“You don’t know how fortunate you were tonight,” Renard muttered angrily, rounding on Caden. “If this little situation in Albita Springs hadn’t come when it did, you might very well be sitting in the prison, waiting to be turned into a revenant.”
“It’s a good thing you were around, Father.”
“Ne deviens pas intelligent avec moi—this isn’t over yet.” Renard gestured toward the bodies. “Cut your hands. There has to be enough blood to convince Viktor. Keep it to the bodies, not the grass.”
Caden swiped a knife across his palm, then tossed it to Silas, who did the same.
“Why are you doing that?” It seemed to me we should be running our asses off across the lawn, not dribbling blood all over everything and leaving a trail for the monsters to follow.
“Viktor’s connected to his revenants through blood magic,” Renard explained quickly. “Because of that, we must ensure your blood is inside them by the time he returns.”
Silas and Caden splattered their blood over the guards. Rafe joined them and did the same.
“He’ll smell the five of you on them, and assume you were dinner,” Renard added.
“Tessa.” Caden gently lifted my hand. “I need to cut your palm. It will hurt, but only for a second.”
He sliced me at the same time he said hurt, and then held my hand over the guard who’d made the terrible jokes. After a minute, and more blood than I thought possible, my flesh knitted back together.
“Head straight across the lawn.” Renard stripped the guards of their weapons and cell phones, surveyed the macabre pile, then strode over, tore the sleeve off my shirt, and tossed it on top.
Like chum for sharks. A hysterical little giggle bubbled up out of me.
“Get everything out of your vehicles. When they return, the king will have the High Guard search them—make sure there’s nothing left behind for him to find.”
“I loved that fucking motorcycle,” Silas growled, looping an arm around my waist for support. I sagged against him gratefully.
Caden slapped him on the back, so hard that even I felt the reverberation. “You can get another one.”
“I don’t understand.” Now that my brain started working again, it was obvious Caden and Renard had concocted some alternative plan, but why lie to the rest of us? “Why didn’t you tell us what was going to happen? They stabbed Markus,” I snapped at Caden. “They were going to feed us to the freaking revenants.” With every word, my anger ramped higher, my voice echoing against the trees before I remembered what was in that
forest.
“Caden wanted to,” Renard said. “But Viktor has cameras everywhere in the palace. If he saw or heard—or smelled—anything on you except adrenaline and fear, our ruse would not have worked.”
“We’re trained for the court. None of us would have given anything away.” God, I’d thought we were going to die horrible deaths, only to find out we’d been played.
I was furious. But anger turned to fear as something big crashed through the woods.
“I see why you like her, Caden. She’s feisty.” Renard did something complex with his hands, and a ward flew up between us and the forest, just in time for the first creature to lope through the trees, its ugly head high in the air, as if chasing down a scent.
“Viktor is more powerful than you can imagine, Contessa,” Caden’s father explained, glancing over to his son. “He’s stayed alive for a very long time, and that is because he can sniff out a lie a mile away. The best actress in the world couldn’t fool the king.”
He tossed a set of keys to Caden.
“Je suis désolé, but your reactions had to be real—it was the only way Viktor would buy our ruse. But all of you got very lucky tonight. Blackmailing the king…” He shook his head as Silas growled, clearly as upset as I was at being lied to. “Mon Dieu. We will talk about how foolish you are another time.”
He waved us into action. “Transportation is waiting down the road at the small gas well. Follow the plan—don’t stop to pick anything up, just get out of the country.”
“We plan to.” Caden stuck his hand out and clasped his father’s. “Can’t tell you, or course, where we’re headed. Just in case.”
“Just in case,” Renard repeated.
Caden started across the wide lawn, and Silas turned me to follow. I was still shaky, my head fogged from the rush of adrenaline, but I wanted out of here, away from the dead bodies, the snarling trio of revenants held at bay only by Renard’s magic.
“Encore une chose,” Renard called, and we stopped. “If this queen is real, and from early reports, she may be, Viktor will become more instable. There’s never been a serious challenger to his rule, and paranoïa already drives him. I expect this…”