With the question, an entire conversation took place around him, as if he weren’t even there.
“Several of our elite wish to challenge you for control of the crown.”
“I’m only surprised they didn’t cut the boy’s throat while he slept.”
“They feel there’s no need for subterfuge, that he’s too weak to handle them. They’ll learn otherwise, of course.”
“Anyone strong enough to kill the man who killed Vlad deserves our respect. But I think their refusal to launch a sneak attack is based more on their desire to have the entire congregation witness the new king’s defeat. Such confidence is foolish, I think, and they deserve what they get.”
“And don’t forget the wolves. The elite wanted to act honorably so they wouldn’t anger the wolves.”
Nice, but Aden couldn’t worry about any of that now. “Hello, everyone. Have you noticed my presence? I’m here, and I’d appreciate it if you spoke to me rather than about me.” When they nodded, shamed, he added, “Thank you. Now, I’m happy to address your concerns.”
“We are on your side, Majesty.”
“And I’m grateful. Please tell my detractors that I accept their challenge. Later. We’ll set dates for…two weeks from now?” Hopefully by then, the witches would be taken care of and he’d have already picked out his replacement, so the challengers could fight themselves.
The thought brought a tide of anger. A replacement? Hell, no.
He shoved the silly emotion—and the thought—aside.
What are you doing? Elijah demanded.
Caleb gasped. You’re actually going to fight them?
“Excellent. We did not doubt, not for a single moment, that you would take your duties seriously.” All of the councilmen nodded, and one of them banged a gavel—a black gavel, of course—over the tabletop. “Next order.”
“The use of colors,” someone said with obvious displeasure. “There have been complaints.”
“Why did you authorize the incorporation of such…human colors? Not that I wish to question your judgment, but we have traditions, you see.”
The councilmen’s eyes flew to him. They looked so serious, so grave. “I’m human,” he reminded them.
A murmur of “as if we could forget” arose.
“Perhaps, if we limited the use of color to personal bedchambers…”
“And clothing,” Aden said, a picture of Victoria in her pink tank top rising in his mind.
There was a sigh, a few nods.
“Agreed,” the one with the gavel said, and then added, “done,” and then he tapped that gavel over the tabletop. “Next order. The dating.”
Another murmur arose, only this time, Aden couldn’t make out the words. Victoria hadn’t exaggerated. As quickly as this meeting was moving, it wouldn’t last more than an hour.
Then he heard the words “Your chosen,” and stiffened.
“You haven’t given the girls a sufficient chance, Majesty, yet you shared a bedroom with Princess Victoria last night.”
“I don’t need to give the others a chance.” Aden gripped the edge of the table. “I know what I want. Know who I want. I’ve made that clear from the beginning.”
“Why can’t you simply wed them all?” someone suggested. “Vlad had many wives.”
The man makes a good point, Ad, Caleb said. You should consider—
I want to slap you, Julian muttered.
Boys, Elijah interjected. Let Aden answer the guy.
The answer was simple. Because one, Aden didn’t want the other girls and two, Victoria would go crazy. While some Neanderthal part of him still liked the thought of her jealousy, he wouldn’t put her through that. “I’m not Vlad,” he ended up saying. “I desire only one.”
You’re ruining everything! Caleb sulked.
“Besides, Victoria and I aren’t getting married.” Yet. “We’re too young.”
Another murmur. This time, he had no trouble discerning what was being said.
Difficult. Stubborn. And yet, even while calling him names, they somehow remained respectful.
He could do no less in return. “Besides, I can’t have vampires coming to the ranch where I live. My friends will discover the truth, and I don’t think you want that. You’ve gone to great lengths to keep what you are hidden.”
“We can kill your friends, then.” Simple. Easy.
“No!” he shouted, forgetting all about respect. “There will be no killing, and that isn’t negotiable.”
More sighs. “Why don’t we propose a bargain, yes? You will see the females we have chosen for you, at least once, but you will do so only while here at the mansion?”
“This may not be an issue, anyway, with the upcoming challenges,” he pointed out, trying to buy some time. “True.”
“Still, Majesty. We need to offer the people hope for a future alliance.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. God, he wanted to fight them on this, but the sooner he got out of this meeting, the sooner he could scour the witch’s brain. “Deal,” he said. “I’ll date the girls here. Once each.”
“Done.” The gavel descended. Boom. “Next order.”
They spoke of a feud over a blood-slave, and Aden had to decide who won the rights to said blood-slave. They spoke of some vampires wishing to travel back to Romania, and Aden had to decide if that was acceptable. They spoke of an upcoming peace talk with another faction of vampires. Vampires led by someone they called Bloody Mary. Aden recognized the name from his history books, but wasn’t sure that was who they meant. Could be her, but he didn’t want to ask and reveal his ignorance.
He was supposed to travel to England for this meeting. Apparently, Bloody Mary and her crew could feel the pull of him, too, though they hadn’t traveled to Oklahoma to find the source, for whatever reason. They were curious about him, however, enough to reach out to Vlad’s council for information.
“Could be an ambush,” one of the councilmen said.
“Or another attempt to control our people.”
So. On top of being enemies with nearly every other race, the vampires were also at war with each other. Sweet.
“We’ll protect him. Or rather, the wolves will. They are behind him one hundred percent.” There was a bit of displeasure in this councilman’s tone. “We’re having trouble keeping our teeth off him. There’s no way Bloody Mary will be able to do so. She’s a savage!”
“Guys,” he said, interrupting their debate. “I have school. I can’t leave until summer, anyway, so we’ll discuss a trip to England then.”
“You could drop out of school. We have tutors, after all,” one said.
“Nope. Sorry.” Not even they could talk him into abandoning Crossroads High. And how was he supposed to pack up and go to another country when even sneaking here was a problem? And really, he’d had several recent encounters with so-called tutors. Look how well those had turned out. “Summer or never.” And if he decided to go, he was taking Victoria and Riley with him.
Or maybe not Riley. Many Ann would be upset about losing her boyfriend, even for a short period of time, and Aden hated the thought of upsetting her.
More murmurs resounded, but one by one, the councilmen nodded.
Next order. Many of their blood-slaves were missing. No one knew where they were. Vamps were angry and hungry and demanding new slaves. To obtain them, they needed Aden’s permission.
“For right now, they can feed, but they cannot kill. They can feed, but they cannot enslave.” Because of Victoria, he knew that if they drank from a human only once—or twice—that human could walk away without becoming addicted to the vampire bite, as he had. More than that was iffy.
Though the councilmen were disappointed, they called the next order of business. Aden’s supernatural pull, or “hum.” As they spoke about how strongly they were drawn to him, more and more of their gazes swung to Aden’s neck and stayed. He had to stop the humming nonsense, they said, over and over again, as if they were locked on the words and couldn’t
move past them. Maybe they were entranced.
“I can’t stop,” he replied, shifting nervously.
The souls grew restless in his mind, as nervous as he was. Especially Elijah. The psychic began muttering about “blood” and “death,” and those mutterings were somehow familiar. As if Aden had heard them before. Where? When?
“The pull is stronger the longer we’re with him, isn’t it?” someone asked.
“Yes. Or maybe it’s because we’re so hungry.”
“What do you think he’ll taste like?”
“Nirvana.”
Finally, there was silence. Absolute, utter silence. Was the meeting over? Aden looked around. All eyes were on him again, piercing, narrowed. Then the silence was broken as lips were licked and breath emerged from flaring nostrils. A few of the councilmen had their nails embedded in the tabletop, as if trying to hold themselves back.
They wanted to devour him, but they were fighting the urge.
What should he do? Stand and run? Or just stay here, like this, until they got themselves under control. If they could. Should he shout for Victoria? No, he didn’t want her in the line of fire, just in case. Besides, he had to learn how to deal with these people if he was going to lead them.
Not that thought again. He wasn’t going to lead them.
Slowly, Aden pushed to his feet. The councilmen rose with him, their gazes never leaving him. Do not show fear. “I have a lot to do,” he said. “I’ll leave you now.”
No reply.
He stepped around his chair, never turning his back to the vampires. One step, two, he moved away from them. Slow, easy, as if he hadn’t a care. But they were predators, and he was their prey, and with his retreat, they lost control.
With a cry, the closest man launched himself at Aden—and that was all the permission the others needed to follow suit. They flew at him, teeth bared.
TWENTY-THREE
OUT OF HABIT, Aden had his daggers drawn before the first vampire reached him. Of course, bringing a dagger to a vampire fight was like taking a feather to a boxing match. Useless. He slashed, made contact with his opponent’s chest, but the metal bent. Yep, useless.
Both of his wrists were batted away. The daggers flew from his grip, skidding to the ground. Teeth sank into his shoulder, stinging. One of the vampires had teleported behind him, and a second set of teeth sank into the base of his neck. Adrenaline pumped through him, giving him strength, and he managed to wrench the vampires off him and toss them aside. But when one was removed from him, two more would appear. Soon they were all over him, trying to push him down, their teeth sharper than anything he could have imagined. Unlike when Victoria had bitten him, there was no pleasure. Only pain. Burning, agonizing pain.
He should have expected this, prepared for it, but too many other worries had consumed him, and honestly, he’d grown lax. He’d been here before, and no one had attacked him. And damn it, he was king! They shouldn’t treat him this way.
The vampires were heavy, their hands roving. They were like sharks who had scented his blood, and were biting, heads shaking, trying to rip pieces of him into their mouths. Finally, they managed to buckle his knees. When he hit the cold, hard ground, he lost the air in his lungs and a wave of dizziness swept through him.
Fight! Elijah growled.
“Am!” Aden kicked, sent someone flying. “But what else can I do?”
You have the ring. Use it!
The ring. Hello. Aden jerked his hand from between the jaws of a councilman, the ring glinting in the light. With the pad of his thumb, he slid the opal out of the way, then flung his arm out, liquid flinging in every direction.
Flesh sizzled. Vampires howled, releasing him to clutch at their now burning faces. Aden scrambled to his feet, panting, sweating, determined to hit the doors as fast as his feet would carry him.
Only, he saw their beasts, the ones they’d been warded against, rising from them—from all of them—mere outlines, yet visible enough for him to discern outstretching wings, eyes blazing red, snouts dripping with…something. Poison? Acid? He stood frozen.
Those beasts spotted him, and like Victoria’s had done, they reached for him, as if they were desperate to feel him. He should have been scared. Well, more scared. But those fiery eyes…they somehow calmed him. Maybe because they weren’t projecting menace. They were almost like puppies—granted, beastly demonlike puppies—who just wanted him to scoop them up, take them home and pet behind their ears. Weird. Most likely wrong.
Snap out of it! Julian growled.
Seriously, dude. Caleb knocked on his skull. Now isn’t the time to just stand there.
Run! Elijah commanded.
Too late. His hesitation cost him, big-time. Though the vampires were bleeding, gaping wounds having melted their flesh, they were forgetting their pain, finding him with their eyes, and straightening. Stepping toward him. Teeth chomping, mouths probably watering for more of his blood. He held out his ring to threaten them, but there was no more liquid inside. He’d used every last drop.
Worse, his arm was shaking, puncture wounds all over it, and his action merely wafted the scent of his blood in their direction. They closed their eyes, savoring—until savoring was no longer enough. Until they wanted more.
Aden’s heart pounded in his chest, and the vampires hissed, excitement reaching a new level. Again someone flew at him. Again the others quickly followed. More teeth sank into him. More stinging, more burning.
Aden fought with every ounce of strength he possessed. He kicked. He hit. He even bit, but nothing broke that tough vampire skin. Nothing proved strong enough to push them away.
Dirty, get down and fight dirty. There was Caleb again.
And yeah, Caleb was right. Aden hooked his fingers into one of the vampire’s open wounds and tugged. There was another howl, and that vamp wrenched himself away. Over the howl, Aden thought he heard…roaring? There it was again, and again.
Yes, roars. So many roars, they were reverberating off the walls. And then the vampires were being snatched off Aden, not one at a time but all at once. There were snarls and growls, teeth chomping, screams, all blending together in a soundtrack of horror.
What the hell was happening?
He sat up, intending to scramble out of the way. When he saw what was happening, he froze. The beasts had solidified. Victoria had said they needed time to do so, yet somehow, someway, they’d solidified in a blink. Their scales were iridescent, their teeth like ivory sabers. They smelled of sulfur—rotten eggs—and the tips of their wings were like daggers.
Even they couldn’t penetrate the vampires’ skin, but they could hold vampires between their huge jaws and shake. Probably breaking bones, rattling skulls. Each vampire was screaming in pain.
The tall double doors burst open, and several more vampires raced inside. When they saw what was going on, however, they stilled, gaping in terror.
“Beasts!”
“What do we do?”
“This has never happened before!”
“Stop,” Aden shouted. “Please.”
All of the beasts stilled and looked at him. Bodies were dropped with a thump. Those vampires didn’t rise, but curled into themselves, crying. One of the beasts roared, and the new vampires backed away, pressing themselves against the wall. Aden remained in place.
Even when one of the beasts approached him.
Victoria flew into the room, then, shouting his name. He didn’t turn away from the creature in front of him, but held out his arms to stop Victoria, least she try to pass him and fight to protect him. Of course, she ignored him, and her body slammed against his.
All of the beasts roared this time.
Victoria’s hands clutched at him, trying to pull him into her side so that she could teleport him. “They’ll kill you. We have to leave.”
“No,” he said, “no. Move away from me, Victoria.”
“No!” More tugging.
More roaring.
“Please, Aden.” Utt
er fear layered her voice.
“Move away from me. Now! They’re not going to hurt me.” He hoped. “They’re protecting me.” Again, he hoped. No matter what, he didn’t want her in the crosshairs.
A moment passed in suspended silence before her hands fell away and the heat of her left him. Without another word, Aden forced his heavy, puncture-infested legs to move him forward. The beast closest to him issued another roar, wings flapping. The others moved, some flanking his sides, some behind him, becoming a wall of fury and menace.
What are you doing? Julian demanded.
Run, Caleb begged.
I—I see nothing, Elijah stated. I don’t know what you should do anymore. And I don’t like it. I don’t like this.
Still Aden forged ahead. “I was right,” he said gently. “You were protecting me, weren’t you?” No reply.
Could they understand him?
“Why would you do such a thing?”
The one in front tucked those deadly wings away and crouched down, placing his face inches from Aden’s. Moist breaths sawed in and out of huge black nostrils. That dripping mouth, with those protruding teeth, nudged Aden’s arm.
For a moment, fear petrified him. Then he realized there were no new injuries on him, no new stings. Then realization set in. “You want me to pet you, don’t you, boy?”
Again, no reply, but Aden reached out. Even though he was almost positive he was right, his hand shook. He flattened his palm behind the beast’s ear and rubbed. Rather than a snapping of teeth, a wound, a torrent of pain and the loss of a limb, he received a purr of approval from the beast.
The others clomped closer to him, claws scraping against the floor as they settled at Aden’s feet, seeking his touch.
“I don’t understand this,” he whispered.
Me, either. Julian, dumbfounded.
But, dude. We rock! Guess who? Caleb, a strutting peacock.
I never saw this coming. Elijah, awed.
Why did the creatures like him? Why had they protected him from the very people they lived inside? It made no sense.
All he could think was that they must like the pull of him, the strange vibration he emitted, drawing the vampire, witches, fairies and goblins to Crossroads. Those creatures hated the pull, though. That’s why the witches had called their meeting. To decide what to do with him. That’s why Thomas and then Brendal had come to the ranch: to save themselves and “their” humans from his evil.
Unraveled i-2 Page 28
