Stars peppered the night sky, glittering above Gavin like tiny beacons of hope. Nearly eighteen days remained before the full moon. Eighteen days before a coronation had to occur lest the kingdom be thrown into chaos and Limos wreaked havoc upon all of Elirion. Eighteen days to ensure Tatum’s safety. Eighteen days… fuck…
Gavin slowed his pace as the dark shadow of the Sinclair castle loomed in the distance and beyond that, mountains. He loosened a breath, raked his fingers through his messy locks and let out a curse before starting toward the place that had once been his home.
Time was not on his side.
* * *
The cobblestone stairs leading up to the castle doors wore on Gavin’s body. Blood was caked on his skin and under his fingernails, and Gavin felt like death. He’d traveled a day in order to get to Tatum. Pain raked his limbs and all he wanted to do was fall where he stood and stay there indefinitely. He didn’t deserve to live. He didn’t deserve anything after what he’d done at Northpass.
Slate grey walls covered in ivy rose up before him. Towers loomed on his left and right. A wrought iron balcony hung above the entrance and servants’ door; black and steel embossed double doors was all that separated Gavin from his family. From the outside, the castle had an ominous air about it, but Gavin knew that his mother’s impeccable taste softened the interior.
As if on cue, a steward rushed from the servant’s door beneath the balcony. Pure fear slashed across the man’s already pale face. The prince was covered head to toe in human blood. His tailored pants and white linen shirt soaked with it. Dark eyes locked with the servant’s but the man did not flee.
Gavin was home, and he wished he were anywhere else. If only Oliver could be there to lighten the tension with his never-ending humor. Steel groaned before the double doors swung open, and without hesitation, Gavin took the last steps and entered the castle.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the prodigal son, himself. Returned home to a kingdom that doesn’t want him.” Declan’s voice sneered from the halls of the stone castle. Gavin had once called this place home, but now as he stood, it all felt foreign and cold. Turning on his heel, he met his brother’s angry gaze.
Declan, a head shorter than Gavin, stood clad in royal blue robes, a color their mother said offset his dark eyes and mussed up hair, at the foyer’s balcony. He moved slowly, deliberately, down the dark grand staircase, stopping before the prince. Gavin’s nose wrinkled from the heavy scent of aftershave wafting from his brother. His eyes flicked toward the red tapestry that hung on the wall. His name had been etched out. He was unwanted, indeed. With arms folded across his broad chest, Declan smiled wickedly.
“Oh, I know all about you, Jagger,” he hissed. “The stories reign from the slums to the lords.”
“Oh, do you now?” Gavin quipped, arching a brow.
“You know, Jagger rhymes with dagger and a silver dagger was found in Father’s back. I know it was your sympathy for the humans that got him murdered.”
“Declan—” Gavin stammered. Declan held up a hand, slicing the words from his tongue.
“Fuck you, I’m not finished,” he snarled. “Do you think that you can just show up here and everything would be grand?” Gavin opened his mouth to speak, but Declan continued, “No. You only think of yourself. You didn’t have to lie awake and console Aurora as she cried night after night for our mother. You didn’t have to rule a kingdom in our parent’s wake, I did! I deserve the crown... I deserve the Rose Bound ceremony. Not you! The Throne of Blood you so desperately wanted nothing to do with, it belongs to me!”
“It’s my birthright,” Gavin replied through clenched teeth, feeling every stab his brother threw his way.
“You gave up your birthright when you sided with the bloodwhores and ghouls! You severed the tether to Mother’s lifeline! Your choices got Father killed. You deserve nothing, you worthless piece of shit!” Declan shot glares at Gavin and if looks could kill a vampire, Gavin was sure that he’d die a thousand deaths. He closed his eyes, fighting against the surge of rage his Ripper induced, and opened them to meet his brother’s steely gaze.
“I could say I’m sorry to you until my last breath leaves my body, but we both know they would be wasted words.”
“Fuck you!” Declan repeated. “Fuck you until the end of time. Fuck you and your descendants. Fuck the lot of you! I’m fucking done! Done with you, your shit, and cleaning up your messes! So piss off!”
“Dec...” Gavin’s heart wretched at the pain in Declan’s face. “I can’t change the past, but I’m here now and I can change the future.”
“Fuck. You,” Declan snarled, enunciating on the last word slowly. Gavin raised a brow.
“So you’ve said.”
Declan’s face was made of stone, cold and angry once more. His brown eyes, a shade lighter than Gavin’s, held nothing but pure hatred as he took a step toward Gavin.
“You’re covered in blood and yet, you say you’re here to change the future. Seems to me you’re here to make sure no one but you has one!” Declan’s words stung, hitting Gavin deep, another jab at his already bleeding soul.
“Mind your tongue,” Gavin snarled, whirling his head to the side. Footsteps echoed in the foyer behind Declan as a little voice sounded from around the corner. “Our sister can hear us.”
“Did I hear brother?” a little voice mused, pulling on Gavin’s heart, unraveling the stitches that held it together. “I did!” Aurora squealed as she appeared, dragging a nursemaid by the apron into the castle atrium. Her hazel eyes locked with Gavin’s own and she flew toward him. Navy blue skirts fluttered as Aurora ran, her small legs heaving, blond curls bobbing, as she lunged with all her tiny body’s might into Gavin’s soiled arms.
“Brother!” she breathed, nestling her face into Gavin’s chest. As her arms enclosed his bloody neck, warmth radiated through the Prince of Blood for the first time in years. Love. It was a love he’d missed—an unconditional love that only a sister could have for her brother. As Gavin nestled his face into her curls, inhaling the lavender soap his mother bathed them in, he felt at peace. For a split moment in the universe, nothing could change the ease he felt until his sister pulled away, shattering the dream. Even covered in blood and in tattered clothes, she adored him unconditionally.
“I missed you, bigger brother!” Aurora’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged him tighter with her little arms. She had grown so much since he had last held her, but Gavin picked her up and held her to his chest. Burying his face in her curls.
“I missed you too, Little Dove.” Gavin inhaled her scent, determined to memorize this moment. Tears pricked at his eyes, blurring his vision before silently falling down his face. A lump formed in his throat, choking, suffocating him. Gavin swallowed, an attempt to control his emotions as they washed through him like a tidal wave. Somewhere in the distance, he heard Declan cough, but Gavin continued to hug his sister. Aurora twisted in Gavin’s arms to face their brother. “You, stop it!” she pointed angrily.
“Aurora, leave him be,” Declan grumbled, his tone cool and clipped. It was clearer than daylight that Declan did not want him there. Aurora pushed against Gavin’s chest as he placed her down. She had all the spirit their mother had, and now it sizzled to the surface. Aurora stomped toward her middle brother, shoulders squared.
“You leave him alone, Dec!”
“Aurora please…” Declan sighed, raising his hands up in front of his chest in submission. Gavin’s lips perked as he imagined his brother scared of their little spitfire sister. Scared of upsetting her, of disappointing her.
“No! He has been gone for so long! Let him be home again! If you had been there for him, maybe he wouldn’t have needed to leave!” Aurora hissed.
Gavin’s body stiffened, each muscle tensing as a chill crept down his spine. Gavin felt like he had been punched in the gut by his baby sister’s words. A child had picked up on his need long before he had himself. Long before anyone else had cared to.
Aurora’s angry face grew more hostile. “That’s not family! That’s not what Mother taught us. She said family is forever. Family is love. If you had loved him, he would have been better. If you had been kind, he never would have left!” She tossed her hair over her shoulder, brushing Declan’s belt.
Her words had hit home.
Family is forever.
But was his family even his anymore?
Turning on her heels, Aurora spun to face Gavin and reached up for him to pick her up again. Letting out a resolved sigh, Gavin obliged. Blood had gotten on her frilly dress but she paid it no mind.
Declan snorted. “We’re not done,” he said before retreating down a side hallway.
“Indeed we are not,” Gavin replied quietly.
Gavin’s head pounded, thrumming pain through his temple as he laid in his plush bed. It was almost too soft. He’d grown accustomed to the Underground brothel beds or the dank cots in The Pits’ taverns, the stench of sweat and blood and lust filling his nostrils as he slept. On the nights when he and Ollie had lost all their coin, they made do while sleeping in haystacks on the outer rim near the farms. But now, he felt as if he was suspended in the air rather than trying to sleep in an expensive bed. Tossing and turning, Gavin slowly closed his eyes, beckoning sleep to take him.
* * *
The pitter-patter of rain rustled Gavin awake in the wee hours of the morning. The prince’s room was still dark; the outline of his belongings casting haunting shadows throughout his room, but nothing his vampire eyes wouldn’t quickly adjust to. He huffed out a sigh and tried to fall back asleep but to no avail. After senseless minutes of fighting his thoughts, Gavin sat upright. He turned and placed the pads of his feet against the cool, dark floor and leaned forward. His fingers fumbled as he searched for the matchbook he knew sat atop of his nightstand a few steps away.
Sharp, pointed corners pricked at his thumb and forefinger as he pinched the matchbook and wordlessly withdrew a match, flicking it to life. A single gold flame singed the tip, reaching up toward Gavin as if to burn away his sins and cleanse him of his misdeeds, but there would be no cleansing for the lives his Ripper had stolen. There would be no redemption to save his lost soul. He had Celeste to thank for that.
Gavin lowered the flame to the candelabra that sat to his right and watched as they roared with light, flashing a show of shadows upon his walls. He reached for a torn picture that sat in the drawer of his nightstand and withdrew it. A single tear slid down the prince’s cheek as he gazed into his family’s eyes.
His mother smiled, her elongated fangs nearly nicking her bottom lip, painted red from the finest makeup Tatum had to offer. Her eyes crinkled, showing signs of her slow aging, though she was as beautiful as ever. Her dark brown hair, the same shade as Gavin’s, was nestled neatly atop of her head. She bore no crown, not this day. He could remember how his mother had fussed about them looking like an ordinary family, just this once, in the comfort of their own home. His mother’s hands rested on a young Declan’s shoulder, her swollen belly nearly days away from giving birth to sweet Aurora. His brother grimaced, at the ripe age where everything irritated the youngster, and to Declan’s left was Gavin, dressed to the nines with a shit-eating grin on his smug lips. If only young Gavin knew what he knew now. His eyes flicked to the man who stood above him, a hand resting on his left shoulder. His father. The king stood strong and proud of his family, his white fangs shimmering in the lighting as his hazel eyes wrinkled from his smile.
Another tear washed down Gavin’s face.
He would never see those smiles again.
Something within Gavin broke. Pain plummeted through his body, shaking it to the core. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks, dripping salty drops onto the photo. His vision blurred and his nose stuffed up. He needed to feel, needed to feel every ounce of pain that he’d caused. He wept for his parents, who had loved him despite his treacherous ways, despite the demon living within him. He wept for smiling faces that would never show Tatum the kindness it deserved. For Ollie, his closest friend, a brother who was gone because of him. He wept for Declan and the hatred his young heart carried. He sobbed for the innocent lives he’d taken and as his tears stained his face and his cries escaped his parted lips, Gavin wept for the kid in the photo, for what his life would become.
Grief seized the prince entirely as his body trembled from the pain. He felt his heart breaking over and over again; tears saturated his photograph, smearing the ink and his family’s image, but Gavin continued to weep until his body could take no more and sleep once again reclaimed him.
10
Rose
She had let her guard down and it had nearly gotten her killed. Stupid, she thought as she and Ollie ducked into a nearby alley. Night had taken the city, bringing out the vagrants and thieves. Bloodwhores flanked the streets, looking to make coin from rich vampires that passed through, anything that would get them into the Underground, working for the likes of Palmer and his crew, for her father. Shutters were drawn in all of the shops and the good and kind folk were tucked away in their beds.
Sweat beaded Rose’s forehead as she slowed her pace. Her breath was ragged, slicing into her lungs. She hadn’t run like that in ages. Her muscles ached, and although Dawson had offered to carry her several times, she couldn’t let him.
He was a dog.
A mutt.
He was her savior.
No. Damn it! Rose held a hand to her chest, feeling her heart tighten. As much as she wanted to fight it, she couldn’t. She had feelings for Oliver Dawson. He made her smile and laugh and his incessant flirtation was… charming, in that annoying way of his. But she couldn’t ignore the feeling he gave her, that warm fluttery sensation in the pit of her belly every time he glanced at her. The way his face lit up while talking to her. No one had ever looked at her the way he did... well, no one since… No. She couldn’t think about him, not without trudging up the hurt after he’d chosen Lorelei. The bad outweighed the good and Rose didn’t want him to tarnish the feelings she had for the wolf.
They’d been traveling for a few days now, scrounging up whatever coin they had left to buy a room for the nights, but now they were out of money and with Palmer looking for them, there was no way they could stay in the city.
Lights loomed in the distance behind them, but Rose knew they were miles away from the Pits. She returned her attention to the clearing before her, taking in the Forest that materialized before them.
“Lass, I think we ought to settle for the night,” Ollie whispered, his voice so low that only her vampire hearing could pick it up. Rose stiffened. It had been hours since she’d heard him speak. Her eyes widened as she gave him a curt nod.
Still covered and caked in black blood, Ollie was a frightening sight to behold. The ends of his golden hair hung in dark strands. Smears of black blood painted his arms and chest and the stench that wafted her way curdled her stomach. Rose gulped and shook her head as images of the tunnels came flooding back. Tears pricked at her eyes. How could she have been so stupid and reckless? Dahlia would have told her not to waste her life on her, but Rose needed her sister.
Ollie put a grimy hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze before pulling her into his arms. He let out a whine that reminded Rose that despite the man before her, there was a beast roaming deep within him. Rose swallowed, trying to dislodge a hard lump that had formed in her throat.
“Let it out, lassie,” Ollie crooned, petting her hair. “Let it all out.” Rose wept.
“Everything will be okay.”
Would it? Would everything be okay? Rose felt her heart break anew, feeling as if the shards of it were protruding through her skin to rip apart her very flesh. Her sister was gone. The one she’d known all her life, the one who had been by her side through thick and thin, was no more. Deep in her gut, Rose knew the truth but her head refused to register it as f
act. Not yet.
Long moments passed before her breathing steadied. She’d let it all out, every wail and snotty blubber in front Ollie. He’d cooed and whispered reassurances into her ear, petting her head until she stopped shaking and the last tear had been shed. She’d been open and raw and it felt… amazing. Like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. After Rose had pulled herself together, the pair moved with the shadows of the night until the town fell to a pinprick in their vision. Rose grimaced at the muck that caked her alabaster skin. The skin that had been touched by Ollie. A flutter of emotion raced through her. This attraction was growing, but to what Rose hadn’t decided.
Trees and darkness flanked them as the pair crossed through a dry field with itchy tall grass lapping at their legs. Stars blazed in the night sky. Rose looked up and stifled a sigh. Crickets and bullfrogs sounded around them and the brisk air smelled of wild lavender, momentarily reminding her of him. Rough fingers wove with hers as Ollie stopped at her side. She didn’t flinch or pull away but instead gave them the tiniest squeeze.
My savior, she thought. Thank you.
Ollie squeezed back and looked up into the sky.
“I imagine,” he said, clearing the rasp from his throat, “that somewhere, your sister and my best mate are looking at the stars too. Thinking about us.” A breath hitched in Rose’s throat as Ollie continued, “I was always an outcast, ya know. A joke of my pack. A boy set to be alpha but never good enough. I was small.” He shrugged. “I know, looking at me now you’d never suspect it, but I lacked the strength and the speed the other boys had. I couldn’t keep up during our hunts. It...” he began to trail off, sniffing the air. “It used to tear me up inside, so, one day, I decided that I wouldn’t be the laughingstock anymore. I’d make the pack proud, grow into the alpha they expected me to be. I began training, building up my strength and endurance and hope. Before I knew it, I was larger and faster than anyone in my pack. Of course, my ego grew with my newfound muscles and I thought I was better than them because I had become bigger and stronger on my own. I thought that I could lead them because I knew what it was like to work hard to gain what one desires.
Rose Bound: The Rose and King series Book 1 Page 8
