My other choice was to go after Morda now. I could drink Bagatha’s tonic and some other energizing potions I knew, and using the last of my power, I could kill Morda myself, before my daughter was born.
The easiest way to do that was to sneak into DuMoir Castle while everyone was sleeping and kill Morda. It wouldn’t be easy, but with the right timing and a good amount of luck, it could be done.
“What are you thinking?”
I blinked and turned to see Luana entering the kitchen. As usual, she wore leather pants and a loose tunic over some kind of sports bra. Her long light brown hair fell down her back in a thick braid.
“Nothing,” I lied.
Frowning, Luana grabbed a carton of juice from the fridge, a glass from the cabinet, then she sat beside me. “Fine, don’t tell me. After all, I’m a traitor, am I not? Who would trust me?”
“Don’t say that. You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t trust you.” I took a sip of the tonic. “Besides, as I see it, you didn’t betray them. They betrayed you.”
She let out a long breath. “That’s how I want to see it too.”
“Don’t worry. You don’t need them. We are here with you. We’re like a cool mix of covens and packs. More like a family, really.”
She glanced at me, her hazel eyes searching mine. “Since you’re family, let me ask you, how are you?”
My shoulder deflated. “I’m not sure,” I confessed. “At first, I was shocked I’m pregnant. But now all I can think of is that I’m gonna die and leave this child without a mother.” I scoffed. “Which is funny, right, since I barely had a mother to begin with.”
“Weren’t you close to your mother? What happened to her?”
“I was never close to her. Witches aren’t close to each other, outside of ranking. We’re raised as if we were in a magical boarding school with severe punishment for each infraction and rule broken.” I shrugged. “She was just another witch, though sometimes she yelled at me more than the others because she had birthed me. When I was five, I think, she got pregnant again, but she died halfway through the pregnancy.” I paused, remembering those days. “I didn’t feel much other than the sorrow of losing another witch.”
“I’m sorry,” Luana whispered.
“I didn’t have a good role model, and I always thought I wouldn’t care for kids, because that was how I was raised. Isn’t it funny I now want to be here for my daughter? I want to protect her, to teach her, to see her grow?”
Luana’s usually guarded eyes softened. “It makes complete sense. You’re a different witch, a good witch, and that’s why you’ll make a great leader.”
I snorted. “I don’t want to be a leader, to be honest. I just want a better world for all of us.”
“That won’t happen without a great leader, and I see two in this house: Drake and you. I can’t think of a better couple to lead all supernaturals.”
My brows curled. “That won’t be easy, and as it is, Drake will have to rule alone.”
“He’ll find a way to save you.”
I was sure he would try with all his might. I wasn’t sure he would succeed. Of course I didn’t want to die, but I would feel better if Morda had been defeated by the time I did. And there was only one way to do that.
“You’re deep in thought again,” Luana said. “There’s something else bothering; I can see it.”
I stared at Luana. In the past month, she had been a good friend, even with her explosive werewolf temper. I would dare say she had gotten closer to me than to Drake since we moved to the mansion, even though he had brought her in. If I told her about my plan, would she tell Drake? I had had bad experiences revealing too much to others in the past—Ebby had betrayed me to Morda, and because of her I had lost my coven’s heart.
But Luana was different, wasn’t she? She had felt the pain of betrayal. She wouldn’t do that to anyone.
“I’m thinking about sneaking into DuMoir Castle and killing Morda,” I confessed in a low voice.
Luana’s eyes widened. Her silence made my stomach contract. By all that was sacred, she would tell Drake. She would let him know, and then he would be all over me like a mother hen and I would never get the chance to—
“Sounds like a good plan,” she finally said.
My jaw fell open. “W-what?”
One corner of Luana’s lips curled up. “I get it. You’re trying to stop Morda now, because once she learns about your daughter, she won’t stop. She’ll come after you stronger than ever. And the longer it goes on, the weaker you’ll be. To have any chance to take her down, you have to act now.” My jaw was still open. “I’ll help you, but I have a request.”
I forced my mouth closed. “What is it?”
“Yesterday the warlock told us the witches are working with the werewolves, which means Ulric is probably at Castle DuMoir with Morda.” The glint in her eyes darkened. “Help me take him down, too.”
That would be harder. As a werewolf, Ulric had heightened senses, and he wouldn’t be alone—his betas would be with him all the time. But … if we devised a plan to get him alone and kill him, it would be a step ahead in this damned war. Without a leader, the witches, the werewolves, and the vampires would fall into chaos. They would be too preoccupied with each other to find a new leader for each coven or pack, which would give us time to hide in peace during my pregnancy.
We had been fighting for order and fair rules for so long, it actually hurt to consider ensuing more chaos. But it was darkest before the dawn.
After birth … I didn’t want to think about what came then. Not right now.
One step at a time.
And the next step was to kill Morda and Ulric.
“I’m in.”
Luana stood. “Then, if you’re feeling well, I suggest we go now. Like I said, you’ll only get weaker as the pregnancy progresses, and as far as I can tell, Drake went hunting and the warlock is sleeping. They won’t be able to stop us if they don’t see us leaving.”
She was right, of course. I looked down at my bare legs. I needed to change first. Even so, that would take only a couple of minutes. I downed the rest of the tonic and stood beside her. “Meet me in the back in ten minutes.”
9
Drake
The last time I had seen Lark, one of the leaders of the rebel vampires living in the village outside of DuMoir Castle, had been during the last battle.
He and Remi, the other leader, had promised to back me up against Alex and his men after I had lied to them that I would abolish the monarchy, as they wanted, just to get them on my side, but it had backfired. In the heat of the battle, they went back on their word and betrayed me. They didn’t want any kind of ruler or rules. They wanted to be free and hunt for humans as they saw fit.
It seemed Lark was doing exactly that now.
I used my enhanced senses to try to locate Remi—I doubted Lark would be here alone—but I could hear anything around us.
“I guess I should thank you,” Lark said.
“For?”
“For killing Alex and destroying half of the castle. Everything is the way it should be now.” He licked one of his fangs. “So thanks.”
I hated when they talked before attacking, because I was sure he was here to attack me. Otherwise, why would he bother? “What do you want?”
“A partner,” he said. “Remi was killed by a werewolf during the battle. The others in my group …” He shrugged. “I don’t know where they are. Why don’t you join me, and we’ll both go hunt for humans?” He glanced down at the carcass at our feet. “It’s better than hunting deer, I’m sure.”
I was afraid to ask, but I had to. “How have you been hunting for humans?”
“There are quite a few small towns in this area,” he said, sounding excited. “There’s always someone walking alone late at night. Though … between you and me, if we got a bigger group, I’m sure we could simply run around town, feasting on anyone who crossed our paths.”
My blood chilled. What w
as this world becoming? Humans would know about us. Did they really think they could overtake the humans? What did they think would happen when they stormed a city like New York? Unless there was a coven of a thousand strong vampires, I doubted big cities could be overtaken that easily.
Besides, it was not right. We were all different species who deserved our space on this Earth. No one was better than anyone. We just had to learn to share.
But it didn’t look like Lark wanted to share anything at the moment.
“Look, Lark, I don’t think that’s right,” I said, knowing too well I was aggravating the beast. “For the sake of our species, we need to remain a secret, and for that, we can’t attack people.”
He stared at me with a puzzle expression. “So how should we feed?”
I gestured toward the deer. “I know things are chaotic right now, but it’ll change soon.” I hoped it would. “Things will become orderly again, there will be law in places, and we’ll continue to prosper … in secret.”
“Are you saying you want to restore the monarchy?” Lark snarled. “You want rules and laws?”
“It’s for the best.” Otherwise, how would we grow and prepare for a future without rules? I didn’t understand why he couldn’t see that. “When I get back to the castle, we can come to an understanding. I’ll make sure you and your vampires have—”
“That’s exactly what Morda said two weeks ago when I went to the castle to check on things.”
“What?” That was surprising. Morda was making deals with the rebel vampires? “What did Morda say?”
He spat on the ground. “That woman. I hate her. She calls herself Queen of All Witches now, whatever that means. Did you know the other covens are all riled up and trying to take her down? Morda and her coven are still standing.”
“What else do you know?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“Because I need to know. Our future depends on it. The future of all vampires and werewolves and—
His growl rumbled in his chest before he moved, giving him away. I was ready for him when he charged me. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He knew I was older and stronger. He didn’t stand a chance.
Before he could touch me, I wrapped my hand around his neck and threw him to the ground. With my hand grasping his throat, I knelt on his chest.
“I don’t want to fight,” I said in a snarl. “I just want information. Tell me what you know about Morda and whatever she’s up to.” I squeezed his neck hard. He gagged, but didn’t give in. As a show of force, I placed my other hand over his chest, right above his heart, and pressed my fingers down. “Tell me.”
He groaned. “All right. All right.” I loosened my grip around his neck—just a little bit—and he continued, “Morda is offering to pay anyone who helps her eliminate the rival witch covens. Mostly potions and charms that will help with this and that, but as far as I know, werewolves and vampires have been flocking to the castle.”
That wasn’t good. “What else?” I pressed my fingers against his chest, hurting him some more.
“She’s also paying heavily to anyone who knows about you or your witch, Thea Harrington. She’s determined to find you two.”
Hell. “Have you been providing information to her?”
His eyes widened. “Me? No? Only lies.”
Only lies. Which meant, he had been in contact with Morda and DuMoir Castle. If I let him go now, he would have real information about me to give to her.
Shit.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, before digging my fingers into his chest and pulling his heart out.
I dropped the heart and jumped back, disgusted with myself. What the hell? I was the first to advocate for a good world, a just world, and yet, I was killing a weaker vampire because he might reveal information about Thea and me.
This wasn’t right.
But before I could wallow in regret, I shut that part of my brain down.
I raced back to the mansion, eager for a shower, as if I could erase all the wrongs I ever committed with a simple scrubbing of my skin.
But the moment I crossed the front door, I knew something was wrong.
Keeran was pacing the kitchen, looking impatient. No, worried.
“What happened?” I asked.
He stopped and turned to me, eyes wide. “Holy shit, I thought you all had abandoned me here.”
“What do you mean? Where’s Thea and Luana?”
I let my hearing do its job, and my breath caught as Keeran said, “I can’t find them. They aren’t in their rooms, or in any other room in the house. I also looked around the perimeter of the house.”
They weren’t here. I couldn’t hear any other heartbeat or breathing other than Keeran’s.
“Where the hell are they?” I said through gritted teeth.
“I saw them leaving,” Thomas said, taking form by my side.
I was too worried to be startled by his sudden appearance. “What? Where?”
“Through the back door,” he said, his eyes downcast. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just coming in, but they looked so secretive, I remained invisible.”
“What else do you know?” I asked.
“Not much. They were talking about being quiet before any of you heard them.”
“What do you mean?” Keeran asked.
My hands curled into fists. “Do you have any idea where they went?”
“The only other word I made out was Morda,” Thomas said.
Hell. “They are going after Morda.”
Keeran’s face paled. “That’s suicide.”
I looked at Thomas. “How long ago was that?”
“At least an hour ago. Maybe two.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “I can’t let them do this.”
Keeran dipped his chin at me. “I’m coming with you.”
Keeran and I ran out of the mansion and went to save the girls before it was too late.
10
Thea
Because of my condition, it took us a long time to get to DuMoir Castle. We hid a mile from the estate and watched. It was dark out, but the waxing, gibbous moon illuminated enough.
Returning here was bittersweet. I clearly remembered the first time I had seen this castle and how I had felt: in awe of its splendor, eager to complete my mission, determined to succeed, and yet deeply afraid of the vampires.
So much had happened in this castle.
And now half of the castle was in ruins. Stones crumbled to dust. All because of me.
“Ready?” Luana asked, bringing me back to our mission.
I let out a deep breath and focused. My body tingled as my magic rose from its slumber, but it remained stable as I cast a weak glamour over us. Right now, when someone walked by us, they would see two witches from the Silverblood coven. However, as I wasn’t strong right now, if anyone got too close, they would see right through the glamour.
“Ready,” I said.
Unafraid—or at least, pretending not to be—Luana and I stepped out of the bushes and approached the castle. We pretended to be engrossed in conversation to avoid anyone if they approached us.
The maze in the back garden was mostly destroyed, the hedges either torn down or burned. The flowers hadn’t been cared for, and the grass looked like it needed some love. I had started destroying this place, but Morda would certainly finish it.
Luana and I stepped into the castle and turned toward the main stairs. If I knew Morda as well as I thought I did, she was bound to have taken one of the main chambers in the castle. But we hadn’t taken more than three steps when we heard heavy footsteps down the hall.
Soraya, Morda’s right arm, appeared from the end of the hallway. She slowed when she saw us. “What are you doing? The Queen of All Witches requested the presence of all witches in the main dining room.” I glanced that way. The ceiling had come down. Was it possible to go through there?
“Hm, but it’s the middle of the night,” Luana said.
Shit. “And? The Queen of All Witches doesn’t have to explain herself to you. Just come along and be quiet.”
Soraya beckoned us to follow her.
Luana stared at me with wide eyes.
“We don’t have much choice here,” I whispered. Weren’t we after Morda? If she was in the main dining room, then that was where we were going.
On our way, we walked past the entrance to the main library. There were four witchguards flanking the open archway. For some reason, I stopped and glanced inside. Like many other rooms in the castle, half of the ceiling had come down. The other half seemed supported by tall shelves and improvised stone pillars.
However, it was what lay in the middle of the room’s open area that caught my attention.
My heart squeezed and tugged, as if a rope had been tied around it and now someone, something, was pulling at it.
A tall stone pedestal stood in the center of the room, and a box made of dark wood lay on top.
It was the heart. I was sure it was the heart. It called to me.
I placed a hand over my heart as it beat uncontrollably, hurting my chest.
“What are you doing?” Luana asked in a low tone. “We have to go.”
But … the heart. The heart was here. I could take the heart and run before Morda could see us.
Only, that would infuriate Morda even more. If she was after me before, now she would come at me with her entire coven, plus the werewolf pack, and whoever else she could buy. Her fury would be endless. I would have to run from her when weak and pregnant.
Could I use the heart against her? Maybe. Probably. But who knew how I would feel? What if she came the day I was dying? I wouldn’t be able to use the heart to defeat her.
Could I use it now? If I was well, I would say maybe. Because we were standing in the middle of a castle filled with witches and werewolves, I didn’t think I was strong enough to take them all down.
The Immortal Vow Page 5
