Claimed

by K. H. Kate

  "Consider it done."

  "As Emie said!" 5132 yelled behind Allegra who left rolling her eyes.

  "And you sis, I'll see you later." 5132 took only a few steps with the newcomers before I heard her chuckle. "Better yet, do some work out with your husband. It might take some of your grumpiness away. Just make sure not to be that loud as last night. Some of us have a wonderful hearing here."

  Alexei, I cursed again.

  "Hey, you OK?" I whipped around quickly to see Lex was leaning at the door. He looked otherwise calm but I could feel the turmoil in his heart as if it was mine. What had him so worried?

  "I'm alright. I should ask you the same question. Why are you so worried?"

  "You tell me." He started to walk until he was closer to me. "I felt your emotions."

  "Oh! It's nothing. Just practicing how to say sorry and not sound like a bitch."

  "That's oddly specific. Who did you piss off?"

  More like who did I not? But I could never admit it to him so I shrugged. "Just some petty members."

  "Okkk. So today what did you break...or burn?" I rolled my eyes at his question.

  Typical.

  "I made a hole in the wall, nothing else." I could see he was trying hard not to laugh but when I glared at him, sure enough, he cracked up.

  "Lex!" I groaned, closing my mind off to them. It wasn't working out anyway.

  Lex chuckled, his hold on me tightening. "You know I like to tease you a lot. In fact, that's my favorite pastime."

  I brushed my lips against his in answer. "I know."

  It was really hard to stay mad at someone who could make me forget my own name with a kiss like that. I could faintly hear someone yelling 'go get it' from outside.

  Damn you, 5132.

  "So, wife, are you ready for the coming war?" He smiled at me as if he wasn't even bothered.

  "Wife?" Even after remembering, it didn't make me easier to the idea of being his wife. "Gosh...I don't even remember my own wedding."

  He smirked, flicking my nose. "I remember. And, I revisited that moment over and over for the last four years."

  He looked so breathtaking like this. I couldn't even look away from his perfect face.

  "What's that look on your face?" He asked when I had no answer.

  "Is it true?"

  He laughed, not bothering to hide his eagerness. "Just ask Zedkiel. I may as well have turned him into a therapist."

  "Speaking of Zedkiel, where is he?" I asked, suddenly remembering something important.

  "Hmm, I don't know." Lex trailed off, shrugging. "He has been quite distant lately. I think I haven't seen him since our date." As if just now he realized how bizarre that sounded, he looked at me. "That's odd, isn't it?"

  I nodded solemnly. Was he hurt? It was an unsettling thought regarding Jonathan was after him. And I still needed to know where Prophesy was.

  "What are you thinking about?"

  Could I ask him? I decided I could just ask him if he knew the man. If he knew, then it'll at least give me a rest. With that in thought, I turned around.

  "Do you know anyone named Jonathan Vale Franklin?"

  Lex froze. He literally tensed looking away from me. Now that was suspicious...way too suspicious. Especially when I couldn't find any thoughts coming from him.

  "Do you by any chance know him? Why the hell aren't you answering?" I screamed, frustration winning over every minute.

  "Yeah, I know him." He said after blinking a few times. "And you know him too. That's your...father."

  Father?

  I didn't know how to express myself. Shock? Surprise? Doubt? I thought just by cursing his wife his job was done. He was finished with his daughters and that was it. But for Jonathan to be my father...

  "You are lying." I breathed out. "You...you are mistaken. It had to be-"

  "I'm sure, little soul." Lex didn't wait for me to freak out again. "He's alive. For some reason, he told Zed to not let you two know about it. I met your father back when Keisha took you. And the demon pet I told you about? Cone? It was a gift from him."

  "But he saw me." I didn't know how to make Lex understand my pain. "He knew I was trapped in Hell but he didn't come for me."

  He was only there for Prophecy.

  Even Lex looked surprised. "He knew?"

  I nodded, numb to everything. Jonathan could have saved me. I could have been helped but instead, he made a deal with me to save Prophesy. Prophesy who was still missing.

  "That fucking good for nothing-"

  "I'd like to be alone for a moment." I spoke up, stopping Lex's rage-filled rambling. I was sure he could feel my thoughts, my emotions, and my anger. My own father didn't want to help me. But why? What could have been stopping him from rescuing me?

  "You sure?"

  "Hmm." I nodded, looking away. I didn't know how long I was staring at the wall after he left. I only felt something when the door opened again, making me sigh. Of course, he could never listen.

  "I told you to leave me."

  "But this isn't what the King wants." That voice. Startled, I turned around to see that woman perfectly sitting on the floor as if it's normal. As if she should be here.

  "Y-You-"

  "He's looking for you, you know?" Prophesy drawled out. "I can never sleep. Even here, he asks for you, he needs my help. He needs us."

  I couldn't believe my own eyes. Was the shock of knowing who my father was so bad that I started dreaming? But why would Prophesy be there?

  "He doesn't need us." I could finally open my mouth. "He never needed us."

  Prophesy stared back at me, an innocent curiosity washing over her gaze. "How could you resist him? How could you be with that man...Alexei?"

  "You prophesized us." I could still remember that word by word. "You knew me. You knew, just like Jonathan."

  Prophesy only laughed in return.

  "Jonathan?" Her laugher increased by the minute. "He is a fool. The greatest fool of them all! You can't escape the King, never betray him. He won't let you!"

  I stood up on my feet, barely able to hold my own weight. I had to reason with Prophesy. This woman was the key to every answer tying me to Demos. Prophesy didn't seem alarmed as I walked toward the woman. Only when we were eye to eye that I spoke up.

  "You are free to live, Prophesy. I can help you. Why are you still holding into him?"

  "Because those three told me so. They always argue, you know? To have control, here-" She pointed at her head and her lips tugged up to a messy grin. "Oh, they just spoke! He's coming for us. Both of us."

  Shit.

  "You don't know-"

  Suddenly Prophesy's eyes rolled over, her voice rising even higher. "Even if he had it, how would he keep it? It would've withered away just like everything that's been kept too preciously. So he let it go, watched as they forgot that precious cage and a sigh of doubt that left from their keeper for their prey who only meant to fly. But at the end of the day, they had to come back. Always."

  "What are you doing!" I could no longer hide my panic.

  A smile of triumph fell over her face. "It was always meant to end this way."

  No, God, no.

  I shook Prophesy's shoulder, thinking if it was just a bad dream. As if I imagined it all. But as Prophesy vanished from my fingertips, I could still hear her fleeting words.

  The prophesy is done. Long live the King.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  I'd like to be alone for a moment.

  I didn't want to, not when I could feel her worry even from here. But she wanted me to respect her choice. Respect...As if I didn't want to just rip open the door separating us and demand my presence.

  "What do you think about the plan?"

  "It's full proof." Raphael agreed, his voice always lower than every other Volkios. "Once Demos comes, he will have no choice but to fall right into our trap."

  Sitting here with the Volkioses was boring. It was even boring to listen to them rumble for hours but for some rea
son, they thought I should be here. I was this close to asking if I could be a Volkios of my own right. After all, I was the only one alive of my kind.

  "Rebecca?"

  She nodded, pointing out three places in the blueprint of the manor. "I have my children looking out for every exit door. They will let us know if he's there."

  It was Araceli who asked next. "Eve?"

  "Most of the humans will be maids from the vampire bloodlines so they have their blood in their systems. If anything happens, at least that will protect them."

  Valentine frowned. "We can still remove the human invitations from the festival."

  "No." She argued, fidgeting in her seat. "If there's no human there, Demos might get suspicious."

  "She's right. We can't risk anything." Eros agreed.

  Lorette's eyes shifted to Allegra's side. "What about weapons? Do we know what will kill him?"

  "We are not killing my brother."

  I chimed in with a grin. "What if it comes to that, Eros? What then? You heard what his plan is, he literally wants to remove the witches from the earth. If that's not a genocide, I don't know what it is."

  "We'll think of something else-"

  "He's not wrong." Looks like for the first time the Eternal and I had something in common. "If we can't stop him, we will have to kill him. Now tell me you know there is a way."

  The angel only hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Killing him will just make his soul bounce back in Hell again. We will have to make sure his soul gets destroyed with him. Now, there is a way but getting it won't be easy. Ages ago, Death got a gift. His first scythe. It can kill Demos but from what I know, it got stolen around the iron age."

  "You got to be kidding me." I cut over him.

  Lorette had a good poker face, I'd admit it. Her lips only pulled down a little to convey the emotion that she was displeased. "Then our best chance is to immobilize him and bring words to the clans that they need to be careful."

  "The heaven will be with us, I promise."

  "In that case, I need to say something." Wow, was that more than a word? The werewolf, Ivanov came forward. I couldn't understand the emotion in his eyes but my shadows picked up nervous energy the moment he opened his mouth.

  "I can't join this war."

  What?

  Allegra immediately threw him a glare. "Excuse me?"

  "I said-" He gritted out. "I can't join this war. My wolves will not get involved in this."

  That must be something big cause all of them started arguing, each one sounding angrier than the last.

  "You're in an awfully bad mood."

  Hearing the voice, my gaze turned to the door only to notice Zed stumble in with a grimace. He looked at the Volkios in the corner and then me. None of them noticed him or maybe they did but was too busy handling one of their leaders.

  "I could say the same about you." I waved the bottle of wine, filling one glass for him. "You look like a mess and you just missed the Volkios drama."

  The grimace returned, making his voice edgier. "I see they are still at it. I need to talk to you, Lex. It's really important but I can't say it with them here."

  I raised the bottle in acknowledgment before following him out of the room. The last thing I saw was Ivanov punching Valentine where the twins exchanged money with a grin.

  Real nice.

  Swallowing back a hurl, Zed rammed the drink down his throat in one go once we were far away from them. I could actually feel the nervousness coming from him when he finally opened his mouth. "I-I did something bad. All the time I have been in the library and home, I wasn't actually dealing with any clan business. I was looking for Prophesy."

  The way he said the name... "Come again?"

  "I foolishly made a deal with Jonathan. At that time I thought I was helping you. I thought Jonathan would know how to bring Emie back. Instead, he gave me a job to protect the Prophesy. I didn't understand what was all that about until I realized just what it meant." He flashed, no doubt recognizing the look I was giving him.

  How could he be that stupid?

  "So you are telling me that you made a deal for me, without informing yours truly?" My eyebrow raised higher at what I was hearing. Did Zed truly do this, for me? Guilt made it harder to believe.

  "Don't berate me for that." He chided, grabbing the bottle from me to fill his glass. "You know me. I wasn't just going to give up on you like that. I thought I had a solution and now I'm in trouble."

  Trouble?

  "What kind of trouble?" My fists clenched in worry. "Who do I have to kill-"

  "I found something else about this Prophesy. It's an entity that chooses a person from a specific bloodline from every century which is exactly why Demos could never catch her. But this time...right after your prophecy was told, he caught her."

  "Damn! An entity? But why would that be trouble for you?"

  "Because the night I buried you alive, she was right there. And that's not even the worst thing. Do you know why you were cursed with this life? Because the woman who Prophesy possessed was supposed to be my beloved and she knew of my involvement with Keisha. This was my punishment because I care for you."

  My eyes widened at the confession. "You have a fucking beloved?"

  "Had." He chuckled though there was no humor. "I never even realized as I was too busy with Keisha. And then there was the loss of my clan. She never came out to tell me and now-now I don't know what the fuck to do."

  "How did you know it was your beloved?" I struggled to hide my curiosity.

  "I saw her again, Lex. I swear as if she was right here. And I know she is real, just...I don't feel that connection you two have. What beloveds should have. Something is telling me Demos did this to her. That bastard had her for so many years. Can you imagine her mental state?"

  That I could wonder as I firsthand saw what happened to Emie. And she was only with him for four years.

  "You want to claim her as your own?"

  He paused, taking a few minutes to answer. "I really don't know. I don't feel anything for her but I feel a certain type of responsibility for her safety. If only I knew who she was back then I could have escaped all this mess. Not only that, I think Jonathan wants her for some reason too."

  "Emie's father?"

  "Yeah. Why would he want her to be found then?" He scoffed. "The guy practically threatened to hurt my clan."

  "Or maybe he knew who she was and wanted you to know the truth." I concluded on my own. There was no way Jonathan was even a little interested in Prophecy if it didn't earn him something. Perhaps, Zed was indebted to Jonathan now. I certainly could think of ways Jonathan would want to make people indebted to him.

  Power play.

  Or was Jonathan playing at something and I had no clue of it?

  "Maybe or maybe not." He sighed, the pressure that he was in clearly showing on his face. "All I know is that I'll do anything to get out this. I have literally no idea how to find her, let alone talk to her. And Demos, why he needed her only Emie knows. She told me that he let her go willingly."

  Little soul knew that's the only thing my mind could venture into.

  "Lovely. So she did talk to you but not me. I'm this close to having the demon almighty in my hand, ready to be burned in the cruelest way anyone had ever seen. I should have known when she suddenly asked about Jonathan. Now, she's probably crying about the fact that her father is a royal asshole."

  "We will find the demon King together, Lex." He had a surety in his voice that I had never heard before. "I promise. Just don't tell anyone about Prophesy yet, not even Allegra. I think she has her doubts but it's better not to tell anyone until I figure out what to do."

  I barely nodded, noticing Zach coming from upstairs. "Ah, there you are! I have missed you guys."

  "Can't say the same about you." I retorted, clearly furious that the conversation had to be over.

  "Always the fun killer." Zach said, rolling his eyes but didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Zed. Even Z
ed seemed to hide his predicament under a wide smile that only I could see through.

  "I'm glad that you are finally here but what took you two to come this late?" He asked, looking around. "I mean Ivy is here. Right?"

  "Yup. She was just behind me..." Zach trailed off, before shaking his head. "Mikhail must have returned or something. As I was saying, the Red clan is the reason we were held off. I've heard horror stories around that place but I never realized that it was that bad. No wonder Lana doesn't even want to hear the name of it."

  "What did they do this time?" I asked, joining the conversation. As far as I knew, Emie's stepmother ruled whatever was left of that clan.

  "Somehow the clan leader got to know about the hellhounds. She wasn't exactly happy that I landed on their territory. I had to practically earn their trust for them to let Ivy go." Zed and I shared the same look.

  "Do they-" Zed coughed, clearing his throat. "Do they know about Demos or us?"

  "Hell no. I lied. I told them that I was hiring Ivy to learn full control over my bindings." Zach exclaimed proudly.

  Still, I couldn't hide my anxiety. "And...they believed it?"

  Zach shrugged. "We gave the best acting of our life."

  "Good, that's good." I finally settled down. "So, where's the witch?"

  "Dammit, woman. Give me a sec." Zach cursed lowly, disappearing with a stomp in his walk. However, the moment he was out, Zed asked a question I didn't know how to answer.

  "Do you love Emie?"

  Love? For half a second, my brain froze, the panic I always felt when the word love was used had me almost break into a sweat. Love? Me? But then Emie came into my mind and a breathy sigh left from my lips. Without her, I was a mess. And if that was love...

  I didn't want it.

  I wouldn't survive without her the second time.

  "I care for her."

  "Yes, I know that." He looked at me, oddly surprised. "But love? What about that?"

  I opened my mouth to answer but Zach was there with her in a second. I didn't even know that I was holding my breath until I could relax again. Zed looked like he was far from ending the conversation but thankfully, he dropped his gaze.