“Either fuck or get out, I’m trying to sleep,” another complaint came from the room.
“Clarissa, you’re on babysitting duty,” Arthur declared, giving Knight another tender kiss.
“God damn it!”
Olivier woke us up the next morning, clattering around with a trunk that she slammed into the ground and unlocked, opening it out until the lid hit the floor. I was barely conscious but I could see her lifting out artillery and handing it to the vampires that were already awake, Arthur included. Knight sat up, stretched, and Arthur took a few seconds away from his gun to stare appreciatively as Olivier rolled her eyes at him.
I got up as well, stretching like a cat and flipping my hair back, keeping Arthur in my sights so I knew exactly how long he stood there gaping at me, then I turned and leaned against Knight, kissing him good morning.
“If you two are done cuddling, I have some stuff for you,” Olivier threw out, not looking up from her task. I joined her and Arthur at the trunk while Knight changed his shirt. Olivier handed me a belt full of death giving toys. Two pistols and several knives were on it so I wrapped it around my waist and buckled it, pulling one of the guns out and inspecting it.
“You can shoot a gun, right?” Arthur asked as he watched me, so I glowered at him.
“This is the second time you’ve doubted my skills, Arthur. Let’s not go for a third.”
Knight approached wearing a shirt that had the words ‘Alpha Kenny Body’ on the front. He also took his offered belt from Olivier and settled it on his hips to buckle it. “Where’s my wooden stake?” All three of us stepped back to stare at him in complete disbelief. “Kidding. You should see your faces,” he sniggered. “I’m assuming we’re not taking a traditional plane since they won’t let us keep these on board?”
“Alistair might know if we use one of our private jets, so we’re going to use someone else’s,” Olivier answered, closing her now empty trunk and standing with one of her pistols in her hands. “Lock and load, everyone. We’re moving out.”
Outside, we met my mother who already had her own equipment strapped to her waist, and it included a giant whip that she held in one hand. She followed beside me as we started leaving the reservation, only to be stopped by a group of Lycans with Alexander at the front.
“We want to come with you,” he said firmly. “I know you don’t want us to risk our lives for something that doesn’t involve us, but we’re allies now. If we can’t be there when it counts, then I can’t consider myself a true friend.”
Arthur gave me a quick look before he stepped up and handed Alexander his spare pistol. “We’d be honored to fight alongside our brothers.”
I swallowed my trepidation down like a choking hazard vitamin and pulled out my spare pistol, handing it to the Lycan beside Alexander. “Just watch your backs.”
The Lycan smiled at me. “That’s what you’re here for.”
With the extra numbers, we left the reservation and traveled across the forest until we reached the airport, just in case Alistair had eyes in town. Arthur signaled for us to wait at the edge of the airport gate and after a few minutes a human came over to us and opened the padlock on the metal gate doors. We moved across the runways, past several commercial planes until we found the one Arthur had hired for our journey, and we all got on board. It was larger than our private jet, and it had just enough room for everyone.
We buckled in and the plane took off, soaring through the sky to our destination. As soon as we could get up, I took my seatbelt off and climbed into Knight’s lap on the seat next to mine, cuddling against him and holding his face close to mine. The closer we got to Alistair, the closer we got to Sara’s vision of Knight’s death, and while I was determined to protect him at all costs, it loomed over me like a dagger, waiting to strike at any moment.
Eventually I was too worked up, and while everyone else was busy waiting out the long plane ride by watching a movie or reading something, I got up and walked to the back where the bathroom stalls were. One was empty and I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me and enclosing myself in the small space. I ran some water in the sink and splashed my face, looking at myself in the mirror. Of course I looked flawless, but I felt ragged and tired. If I actually looked it, it might’ve made me feel better about my mood. Or worse. Who knew?
I leaned against the wall, looking at my reflection, running a hand across my lower belly where a baby was growing, still a cluster of cells that didn’t resemble a baby at all. It would be several weeks before I’d be able to hear her heartbeat, just to remind me she was really there.
“Balzjanyóur nappnia lanliápob,” I said to the mirror, but Balthazar didn’t appear. He was supposed to come when I said the words, no matter where he was.
Someone knocked on the bathroom stall and the door opened as I realized I hadn’t locked it. Knight came in, shutting and locking the door behind him, his massive frame taking up most of the space, forcing me to jump up onto the sink counter.
“I heard you trying to call Balthazar,” he said, coming up and putting his arms around me. He was so warm in the cold space, I held him as close as I could to warm me back up.
The more time that passed, the more my heart fell because the Incubus still hadn’t appeared. “It didn’t work. Maybe he’s left for good.”
Knight pulled my chin up so I could look into his eyes. “There is no way in hell he would abandon you.”
“What if they put him in jail again? We’d have no way of knowing.”
He leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss, making my insides flutter from his touch. “I promise after this if he’s not back before our first baby is born, we’ll all journey to the Bicus realm to find him. I don’t care how much time it takes, we’re not leaving one of our mates behind.” He swept me up in another hug and I wished we weren’t in such a public place. I needed him badly, just to reassure myself he was still there. We kissed and rested our foreheads together, breathing deeply and trying to still our racing hearts. “Stay by my side when we get there. Nothing can hurt me if you’re there watching my back.”
My chest was alive with love and pain, sorrow and happiness, passion and burning numbness, I felt like a madman trying to sort it all out, so I just clung to Knight and rode the waves as they came, dripping hot tears onto his shirt. We stood like that for at least half an hour before someone knocked on the door.
“If you two are done making out, I’d like to use the toilet.” Knight picked me up, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he anchored me with his hands around me, only letting go briefly to unlock and open the bathroom door where we saw Olivier standing there with her hands on her hips. “I’m all for joining the mile high club, but people have to piss here,” she smarted, gesturing behind her with her thumb where a few people had formed a line to the toilets.
My face reddening, Knight set me down and we walked back to our seats where I went back onto his lap. Arthur and I held hands across the walk space until I drooped against Knight’s chest and fell asleep.
Refreshed and ready after taking a long rest, I sprang up as soon as the plane landed and was the first to the door, dragging Knight behind me as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.
“Always eager,” Arthur noted dryly, coming up behind us. He threaded his fingers through Knight’s other hand and we waited for the steps to be brought over and the attendant to open the plane door, then we were off and out as fast as possible.
Bypassing the human rules and regulations, we’d landed in a private airport owned by one of Arthur’s many contacts, and waiting for us was a fleet of camouflage army jeeps. A man wearing a matching camo outfit stood by the vehicles and saluted when we approached.
“Which one is ours, General Lancaster?” I asked my lover with a cheeky grin. He turned slowly in my direction and looked like he wanted to shove me against one of the jeeps and spank me raw.
“Who the fuck told you that?” I pointed to him, still smiling, and he deemed me worthy of a rare eye roll. �
��Right, other me blabbed everything, didn’t he? God damn it. Get in the jeep and stop looking at me like that.”
We walked to the closest jeep and I hauled myself into the driver’s seat via the step at foot level because they were so high off the ground. Arthur was talking to the soldier but he stopped when he saw me adjusting the seat for my short torso and long legs.
“You’re not fucking driving, move over,” he complained loudly enough for the entire airport to hear.
“I used to live at the castle, therefore, I’m driving us there.” As Knight hopped in beside me, I leaned over, getting right in Arthur’s grumpy face outside of the open door. “Get in the jeep and stop looking at me like that.”
Anastasia settled herself in the back along with Olivier and we waited for Arthur to get everyone loaded up before he got into the front seat next to Knight and signaled for us to leave. I started the jeep, rolling out of the airport and onto the narrow country roads of England that were barely big enough for one of the jeeps. If any cars came in the other direction, we’d be screwed, but thankfully we were alone until we reached a city street.
“Other side of the road,” Arthur warned when I almost pulled into the wrong lane.
“Shhhut up,” I murmured, heaving the steering wheel to the side. “I’ve never driven here before, they didn’t have cars last time.”
“Do we have to go through here? Alistair could have spies anywhere,” Knight worried when we started passing store fronts and apartments full of humans.
“Can’t help it, it’s the only way to the castle. Once we’re closer, we can leave the jeeps and go on foot. Turn here,” he said, pointing almost before it was too late. The jeep was so massive, it was difficult to turn, not to mention it felt like the power steering was broken. I was bent in half trying to turn it and Knight put his hand on to assist until we were turned into the correct lane. “And here.”
“Damn it!” We made it to the next turn, and after huffing and straightening myself in the seat, I saw what was at the end of the long road: the vampire castle. It looked pretty much the same as I remembered, massive and imposing, and Estinien had been doing his job of grounds keeper because everything looked pristine.
“Shit,” Arthur swore, and I saw what he was seeing. Sentries were outside it, patrolling the grounds with rifles. We weren’t close enough to smell them, but I assumed either they were human or he’d brought back his potion that allowed turned vampires to be in the sunlight. The second seemed more likely since Alistair had little regard for human life. “Go there, to that parking lot.” Knight helped me turn again one last time and we parked as the rest of the jeeps came in behind us in the large concrete area, everyone piling out at once and gathering in the center. “Olivier, take someone and go scope out the place. It looks like Alistair has guards outside and we need to know how many.” She was off with a burly looking Hunter that had tattoos on his shaved head and they disappeared into a side alley. We were refreshing everyone’s knowledge of the floor plan I’d drawn out when they returned.
“I counted at least a hundred on the ground,” Olivier huffed, trying to catch her breath. “Arthur, they’re not humans. They’re turned vampires.”
“In the sunlight?” Anastasia asked sharply, the shock echoing around our ranks.
Arthur gave me a look, remembering what I’d said about the potion, and held a hand up for everyone to be quiet. “This makes our job easy. No humans, no issues. They outnumber us, but we’ll fight as hard and as long as possible. Get in, find Alistair, and end him. That’s our mission.” He rolled up the floor plans and tossed them into the jeep. “Move out.”
We split up into pre-assigned groups to approach from all sides, and snuck down the city streets, the castle getting closer and closer with each step. The perimeter gate got destroyed under Arthur’s fists, letting us all inside the grounds.
It was now or never.
This was why I was brought back, to stop Alistair and protect the future.
I clasped my mates hands in one final gesture before we took off running across the grass, moving as a perfectly matched pack, the way we did in the days when we hunted humans. Knight and Arthur stayed on my sides, my senses pushing out as I ran to reveal the soldiers waiting for us. We hit the first small group and easily took them down, leaving their bodies behind when we continued towards the castle. Stopping for a few more patrols, once the castle was before us, the army Olivier had seen was out in full force and already attacking the rest of our ranks.
We ran full speed, launching ourselves into the fray, pulling vampires off our comrades and slicing our enemies to the ground. Arthur was up in the middle where the biggest group of turned were, and I feinted to the side when one came at Knight, tripping it and slicing it open with one finger for trying to hurt my mate.
Olivier shouted Arthur’s name over the roar of battle and I saw him go down. My feet stood frozen for a moment before I ran head first through the ranks, no matter what would happen when I got there, stabbing anything I could see until Arthur was in my sights. Knight was there, helping me pull bodies off Arthur that he’d killed on his way down.
Arthur went still, seeing something above our heads on one of the castle balconies. “Lisbeth, move!” I barely had time to look up when Knight was there, standing between me and the threat. Something was thrown at us, his body whipped back in a movement that stole the air from my lungs, and he fell down with a lance sticking out of his heart.
His chest deflated with a final breath, and his eyes were vacant with the glassy tell of death.
The necromancer
The scream that came from my throat was so full of agony and rage, the entire battlefield stilled in fear.
I knelt before my lover’s body and felt his neck amidst the rising pool of blood, but my ears knew his heart had stopped. Arthur was right beside me, pulling the lance out, and we waited for him to heal, but nothing happened.
We looked up and locked eyes, and no words had to be spoken between us. My mate and I stood as one, fangs and claws out, turning to the battle before us, and we charged in a rage like I’d never felt before. Nothing survived the Hunter and his mate, we tore through every enemy before us with god-like strength, and when they were all dead, without missing a beat we were inside the castle. There were more turned waiting, but they didn’t stand a chance against us.
Our army followed behind, more afraid of us than our enemies, until we’d combed through the entire estate and couldn’t find our quarry.
“Spread out,” I growled out, my fangs and claws bloody. “Check the back field, they might’ve…” I stopped when my senses picked up a scent I knew well. Estinien. Arthur was on my flank instantly and we followed it outside where a trail led us to the vast land behind the castle that a retreating Alistair and Estinien were running across like cowards. It took little effort to overcome them, launching myself onto Alistair’s back while Arthur took out Estinien.
“You killed my mate,” Arthur ground out through his fangs, holding Estinien’s worthless face to his. “You threw that lance and it killed him.”
“I’d do it again, he was a filthy werewolf. You sully our kind by touching him,” Estinien challenged, and before he could get another word out, Arthur had swiped his neck open, ending him forever.
The satisfaction was fleeting when I turned my attention back to Alistair, rolling him until he faced me. He was as attractive as the drawings I’d seen of him with his silver hair and chiseled jaw, but I didn’t care what he looked like. I wrapped my hand around his worthless neck. “You took my family away. You’re the reason they’re gone, and I’m never getting them back.” Tears of rage escaped my eyes, falling onto his face, smearing the dirt on his cheeks.
“I remember you,” he choked out with my fist on his throat. “You were the girl Othello raised. Elisabeth. You abandoned me and the other turned vampires like a coward.”
“And you turned your back on us to get your pitiful revenge. But you messed with the wron
g girl, and that was your biggest mistake.” I squeezed his neck with both hands, his skin tearing and the veins popping, covering me with his blood, then my fingers met in the middle and I ripped my hands out. He went limp, his worthless life finally ended.
I stood on weak legs, my adrenaline waning as reality was coming back. Though my limbs didn’t want to move ever again, Arthur met my eyes and we walked back to where Knight’s body lay, still motionless and empty. His hand was already turning cold when I picked it up and knelt beside him.
Nothing mattered now. I’d never hold him again. I’d never see my Jason or Gwen again. I should’ve made him leave. I should’ve protected him with my life, with everything I had.
Arthur fell to his knees beside me, and for the first time ever in my memory, tears formed in his eyes and he wept aloud for the man we loved, the sobs shaking his body so hard he almost bent in half. It broke me, it shattered me into so many pieces, I knew I would never recover.
When I had no more tears to give, my rage grew again, this time at the very people who did this to me, the ones who took my life away. I was happy, everything was fine, and they fucked it all up. I stood, wiping furiously at my eyes until I could see well enough to rip the necklace off my neck that they’d given me.
“Stand back,” I ordered, and my army did so, letting me open the locket front, and the portal to Highborn opened before us. “Mother, help Arthur pick Knight up.”
“Lisbeth, he’s dead. We should take him home,” she said gently.
I pierced her with my deadly glare. “Do as I ask or I swear to god, I will never speak to you again.” She rushed over and helped settle Knight’s body between her and Arthur, then they walked through the portal with me right behind them, Olivier jumping in before it closed.
Highborn was before us, towering and intimidating, and I hated the sight of it. We walked to the front gate and Isabelle was rushing up to us with her purple dress pulled up to her knees. She stopped cold when she saw us holding a corpse.
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 99
