by Erin R Flynn
“No, nothing so crass as trying to force a man on you,” she chuckled darkly. “You are truly blessed, as I’ve decided to adopt you.”
I blinked at her and threw back my head and laughed. I looked at her again and started all over again. “Oh yeah, sure, sure, crazy woman. I’m blessed, please continue.”
“You are, as clearly you need the protection,” she cooed, her eyes dancing with something dark. “It was nothing to grab you. Vitor did it with ease and has kept you safe when those other young ones couldn’t.”
I raised an eyebrow at that as I studied her. She was older than me—everyone was, after all—but she wasn’t old. And certainly not older than others in my coven, so what information was she going off of? “Yeah, you have your shit so together, the leverage you picked up is gone.”
She chuckled as she sat and picked a nonexistent piece of lint off her dress. “Children must be punished and you have been now for misbehaving. That shifter is no more.”
I swallowed the need to scream, reminding myself I knew how to read people too. “My knight is just fine, or I would know it.” I smiled when her eye twitched. So that was her tell. Good. “Oh? You didn’t know I had knights?”
“What does she speak of?” she asked, glancing over at a man.
He stepped forward, bowing to her. “I recognized him from the ship, My Princess, but she had no knights.”
“Errnt,” I said. “I had five when we met the ship. I brought my knights to meet their family and accepted many more knights since then.” I realized I had seen him before, probably one of the missing vamps from James’s ship. “Yeah, you so have your shit together that I need you. It’s so hard to find good people these days, isn’t it? Spies just aren’t what they used to be.”
He shot me a pissed look. “No matter how many knights you have, they cannot defeat our princess, so your amusement will be short-lived.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Even the ones who… Never mind. Okay, sure, sure. My knights won’t matter.” I snickered, trying to stifle a giggle. The giggle was real, as that was stupid when we had destroyers and fighter jets, but I was playing up the mystery. I looked at the princess. “So what’s the new plan? Your leverage is gone. You can’t make me do it, and my nobles—”
“She was courting one young one and engaged to another,” the guy cut in.
I snickered. “Wow, you’re really behind.” I reached into my shirt and pulled out my necklace while holding up my left hand. “I have two husbands, and am engaged to two others and courting a fifth.”
“She speaks the truth, My Princess,” Vitor muttered.
“You said she had no nobles,” the princess seethed.
“She did not at the time.”
I blinked between them. “That’s it? No off with his head for failing you? Oh come on, I need at least that to believe you’re the villainess here.”
She gave me just as shocked of a look. “I would have thought it would offend your delicate sensibilities, as I was told you were so kindhearted and soft.”
Then I really lost it. I kept laughing, wiping tears from my eyes. “Wow, did he get off the ship and run right here? That’s so not me. I’m not bloodthirsty or cruel, and I’d like to think I’m not a total bitch, but soft is not something I’d ever think anyone would call me. Ever.” I waved my hand at her. “You’re way more soft in your silks and pretty, pretty.”
“What else have you gotten wrong?” she asked the guy, which was stupid, because how would he know if he was wrong? “Who was in her party? You told me they were young.”
I snorted. “I don’t think anyone refers to Kristof Priest as young. I call him an old fart all the time.”
“He was only there to sniff you out as Aether sent him,” the guy snapped. “He cared nothing for you.”
I shook my head. “Oh, don’t let my fiancé hear you say that. He doesn’t like it when people say such things. He gets very upset when people try to make me doubt his love.”
“No, he would never love a brat like you,” the guy argued.
I shrugged. “He begged me earlier today to be bratty with him. He loves it when it’s me. I’m special like that.” I held up the ring on my necklace. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? He’s planning a romantic grotto at my coven just for us.”
“She speaks the truth,” Vitor confirmed.
“Who else are you engaged to or have accepted?” the princess asked me. She sighed when I gave her a look that I wasn’t as stupid as she hoped. “I am Princess Safie of the house Darbandi. Be wise and answer me.”
“I’ve never heard of you.” I shrugged when people gasped. “Yeah, as I said, insignificant.”
Steam about came out of her ears as she waved her hand and huge gashes formed on the guy. “Answer me.”
“To save him?” I snickered. “Fuck, off with his head.” I gave the guy a bored look. “You were on that ship with James and all of those people who worked together to survive. You’re a traitor. If she doesn’t kill you, I will. Traitors die.” I gave her a hard look. “Which is why I won’t tell you anything. I am no traitor.”
“They will not be able to find you and save you,” she snapped.
I shrugged. “That’s fine. You assume I need them to. I survived years on my own. I’m fairly scrappy.” I waved towards the guy. “Are you killing him or can I?”
“You would dare try to kill someone of my court?”
I sighed. “Yeah, manners matter after you abduct someone and all of that.” I rolled my neck, checking that outside access to see there wasn’t any more sunlight coming in. Not much longer now, just needed to let this play out until they arrived. “Alright, give me the pitch.”
“Pitch?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Yeah, the pitch. Why should I pick you?” I snickered when she didn’t answer. “You didn’t think you were the first to offer or try, did you?” I sighed when she didn’t answer. “Olivia Wessex already tried to back me in a corner. It didn’t work well for her, but I’ve had other offers.”
That was riding the line of the truth, because I had other offers to be someone’s daughter-in-law, as no one wanted Kristof tied to someone they adopted. Or that I knew so far.
She waved off the idea. “Of course you wouldn’t accept a brat like that. She would be the type to take your nobles as hers. I would never be so cruel. Keep your husbands—a gift from me to allow that.”
“And just dump the fiancés?” I clucked my tongue at the idea. “They won’t like that.”
“Something to discuss, depending how well-behaved you are.” She didn’t give me the chance to quip this time. “You probably know the coven in Mexico City was destroyed. I never thought to have to flee Iran, but when my spy warned me trouble was coming, I had the clear thinking that while magnificent, my coven was simply a place and could be rebuilt anywhere.
“I am a survivor, Inez, and with me, you would survive as well.” Her eyes danced with that crazy I’d seen in those who thought they had all the answers. “There will be no daughter for me. I will not make the mistake of my ancestors. The house of Dranga had the right idea there.”
“My Princess, she doesn’t know your history,” Vitor cut in, and I felt his eyes on me as if realizing I was completely confused.
“Ah, yes, and clearly she was not from such a cultured region as Iran,” she agreed, smirking at me as if I would care about her dig.
I didn’t.
“Leadership of the Darbandi coven isn’t passed down, it’s challenged for.”
“You fight for it?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “How barbaric. No, we simply kill our parents for it, inheriting the coven and all the nobles.” She beckoned Vitor when went to her side. She took his wrist, bit into it, and took a swallow before closing up the bite. “How many Darbandi princess have you served over your years, Vitor?”
“Many,” he answered.
“You are right that I didn’t offer you refreshments, Inez. Please, feed our
guest, Vitor.”
“I only feed from my nobles and knights,” I argued, trying to hide my panic when he kept coming towards me. “Dude, no, your blood—I couldn’t take it.” I shot her a pissed look. “You would stoop to such bullshit as to basically drug me? There’s no way that would count to Aether. Is that what you offer and how you treat those you wish to protect?”
“Vitor, leave her,” she muttered. “I genuinely offered to show my generosity. Your reaction was…”
“Excessive,” Vitor worried.
I cleared my throat and glanced at the sky access again. “A group of covenless nobles tried to bathe me in their blood so I would let them do everything to me, as all princesses are whores that do anything for blood, right?”
“And these nobles?” she seethed.
I smiled, knowing it wasn’t a nice one, as I looked at her. “I bathed in their blood alright. My nobles did as well when they found me; not a drop wasted. They get violent when I’m mistreated.” I hurried on when she went to say something else, locking on something she said. “Nobles are passed on? I was told they were free? A noble who let his princess die stalked me and he was free then to find another court.”
“Yes, unless a princess is killed by another princess,” she purred, getting where my head went. “So if I kill you, Inez, your nobles will become mine.” She chuckled when I couldn’t hide my horror. “I still have all the leverage I need, as—” Her head snapped to the left.
And then I felt them, coming fast and close. Her power or whatever magic that was here must have blocked me sensing them.
“You said they were drawn to her fertile blood,” she hissed at the guy. “That they were against any who could still have children and bring more princesses into this war. They wish to wipe us out and bring the world into darkness.”
“Nope, any of my blood,” I chuckled, running my finger through the pool I had on the floor. “Wow, he sucked as a spy, as it’s not any other princesses.” I frowned as something she said hit me. “You don’t have your period?”
She gave me that crazy smile again. “No, I made sure I won’t bear any children that would do to me what I did to my parents. I long since had my reproductive organs taken out and burnt the area so it could not heal. Adoption only and one young, who could never best me, but will give me all the power I want to not only survive but thrive, as I take over all the other covens. You will be the first, Inez.”
Yup, really fucking crazy. Great.
16
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I chuckled darkly. “I’d rather neither of us survive tonight than ever let that happen.” I smiled brightly as the first screams reached us. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
“You will be punished for bringing them here!” she roared.
“They always come, blood spilt or not. They are drawn to me. You know why?”
“No, why?” she sneered.
I stood, letting out my fangs, excited about the fight ahead. “Because I’m Aether’s champion, you insignificant, crazy-ass bitch.”
Her eyes went wide with shock and a bit of disbelief, but they were on us before she could say anything. Dozens pulled out swords or weapons and started fighting. I reformed the metal from my chains and cuffs into a sword and dodged just as the first reached me. I took its head as I spun and then kicked the next one, flinching when Vitor sliced through it.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
Yeah, right. He protected me now and I was still in the same predicament.
No way I was going to let that happen.
I moved away from him, letting the corrupted get between us, no matter how fast and old he was. I smirked at him when he gave me a shocked look and kept fighting. So many were fighting, but the corrupted just kept coming. I kept working through them but making sure I got myself into the right spot.
A vulnerable one.
“Inez, drop your sword and come to me,” Safie called over from the circle of her nobles fighting and guarding her. “Come to me and they will protect you.”
I gave her a panicked and terrified look, ignoring her gaze of victory and nodding, throwing down the sword and racing to her. One of the nobles moved and let me inside, and she caught me like the ultimate prize she’d won.
Yeah, she’d won all of me alright. I let out my power and fried out her nerves, not trying to stop her heart as I had Tian, but going for a wide array… As I sank my fangs into her neck. I drank her deeply, taking advantage of her shock and everyone else’s distraction. I realized I could never drink it all, ripping at her skin and smiling when it was practically a fountain.
She sank to her knees and I moved behind her, fisting her hair as I met Vitor’s gaze. Then I finished the job, biting the other side of her neck and drinking as much as I could until her heart stopped. I tossed her to the floor with a few choice words how I felt about her.
I glanced around at all the chaos, all the screaming and panicked people and guilt hit me hard. I’d done this to save myself and those I loved, but I couldn’t let this continue.
And it wasn’t the only thing that hit me hard. Her blood and power did. I felt it boiling up at me and when I saw corrupted launch at a group of people my age, I let out a scream and used my power to try and shock them, keep them from getting to the vampires.
Instead, I used my other gift and disintegrated the corrupted, first turning into fleshy energy beads and then into ash as they finished decomposing. Horror filled me as I watched more and more of them get hit with my power. I tried to pull it back so I didn’t hurt anyone I didn’t want to, but it was as if a pulse had come from me and widened like ripples I had no control over.
It happened so fast and in slow motion at the same time, people not realizing what was going on and trying to kill what wasn’t there anymore. And then they were all gone. All the corrupted were just gone. Slowly people started turning and looking at me, and I wouldn’t even blame them if it was in revulsion, as I felt the need to vomit at what I’d just done.
“Inez!” someone roared, and then Tian was in front of me, Moon a fraction of a second later. “We couldn’t get in because of her power. What happened? All the corrupted just disintegrated.”
“Inez?” Kristof whispered and I blinked at him, realizing I’d missed a few things, as now all the super old guys were there.
“I didn’t mean to do it,” I breathed. “I just wanted it to stop.”
His eyes flashed shock and understanding. “You saved lives.” He reached for me but I flinched away. “Inez, you’re in shock and spiraling from her blood. Please trust me, My Princess?” That didn’t work but then he thought of what would. “Simon is beside himself with worry from leaving you.”
“Simon? He’s okay? She said they got him,” I whimpered, moving towards him.
“He’s fine, not a scratch.”
I sneered down at the bitch and kicked her dead body. “Our names might mean the same, but you were far from pure, bitch.”
I could feel the questioning looks, but I didn’t have the brain power currently to explain I knew that was what her name meant because Jaxon had teased me once and found a book of names, and in it had a list of names that meant the same as Inez.
And you know, that was the time to think of it or remember her name was one of them. Sure, so, Kristof was right about that shock thing.
The next problem came when I reached for him and one of her nobles jerked me back, moving his sword across my neck. “She killed our princess.”
“Which makes her our princess now,” Vitor declared from across the room. “Stand down. Our coven is now hers.”
“Oh fuck,” I breathed, blinking at Kristof. “That’s why that coven tried to kill me. They think I killed their princess, and would come for vengeance when she wanted to kill me.”
He gave a slow nod. “We’ve mentioned that but you’ve been a bit…”
That was fair. I couldn’t even deny it.
“Drop your sword,” Vitor ordere
d the guy.
Almost instantly it was away from me and I was in Kristof’s arms. I wrapped around him and held on as tightly as I could. The moment his scent hit me we had another problem.
My body turned to liquid lava. I was on F. I. R. E. from her blood. I whimpered and he kissed my hair, guessing what was going on.
“We need a call of what to do,” Tian told me.
“She can’t think in this state,” Kristof snapped.
“Then make the decision as her fiancé,” he threw right back.
“She would never allow them harmed if they were under orders,” Moon muttered. “Bring them all to Salt Lake. There’s room, and we can straighten everything out from there.”
“Good, do it,” Kristof agreed.
“Get her blood off of me,” I begged, feeling it running down me still. Even better, he used his power to soak it all up and probably what else was on the floor he could use, including mine. “Jaxon? Darius?”
“Cerdic held them back so they didn’t get hurt rescuing you,” he murmured. “That would kill you.”
“Thank you,” I choked out. “You’re included in that.”
“Yes, but I’m almost impossible to kill.”
I nodded and he took off. He didn’t bring us to the resorts we’d taken over for the three clans, but the trailers at Great Salt Lake since people were clearing out some of the explosive animal population there before we made the river connect to the lake and then to the coven. He kept me steady as Darius, Jaxon, and Cerdic hurried over to us but slow enough I could see them and not get scared.
I leapt at Darius, needing him right then. He’d been with me from the beginning of this craziness, and right then, I needed his calm sureness. With him, I could figure this out, as we had everything else.
“I didn’t mean to,” I choked out. “Her blood was—it’s too much. I’m going to explode. I didn’t mean to.”
“I know, I know my love,” he rasped, peppering my face with kisses. No, he had no clue really but he just knew me and that the fire was raging in me.
