by Eve Newton
“I don’t know what you mean,” she says quietly, punching me in the gut with her words.
I shove Lloyd out of the way and take her arm gently. “You do know what I mean…this…this heat, I know you feel it and I know you know why. I overheard you talking to your uncle earlier.”
She shoots me a warning look. She doesn’t want the other two to know. Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to know. I’m not backing down, though. Not now.
“You-you were spying on me?” she stammers.
“No, you said the exact right thing when you walked past my cell. I knew we were meant to be the first time you touched me. The time we spent in the kitchen on my first day here confirmed it. I didn’t know how or why until I heard you say the words.”
“What are you talking about?” Lloyd snaps. “We need to get moving. The Coven needs to deal with this. Not you.”
He brusquely takes Lilith by the hand and leads her away. I drop her arm, pleading silently with her to say it now, to convince these two men that we belong together.
“Wait,” she says. “Yes, it’s true. My mother…she told me a lot of things today about you and about the four of us.” Her eyes go to the Warlock. “Did you speak to my dad?”
“Yes,” he says quietly.
“Then you know Mason speaks the truth.”
“What is going on here?” Axl asks. “What have I missed?”
“A lot,” I say, my heart pounding as her gaze lands on me. I lick my lips, needing her to say the words, needing to hear that she claims me as her mate.
She drops her eyes and turns to Axl. “I’ll fill you in later. I need…” She struggles for breath.
I catch her before either of the other two can. I sweep her into my arms as her head rests on my shoulder.
“Downstairs. Now!” Lloyd grits out. “No more talk.”
He turns and marches off, fully expecting us to follow. I don’t disagree. She does need the Coven, but the Coven needs me.
“How can you help her?” Axl asks, falling into step beside me as we descend the stairs.
I take a second to realize that he isn’t being sarcastic or scathing. He is genuinely asking me. I bite back the snarl that it’s none of his business. He is as concerned for her as I am. I’m slightly taken aback by the depth of emotion that I see flashing in his eyes. It reassures me that he does care about her and isn’t using her for her status.
“I’ll tell you when we get to Jacob,” I mutter and tighten my hold on Lilith as we head through the dining room and into the kitchen.
Lloyd is waiting impatiently, holding the door open which leads to the stone steps down to the basement.
An uneasy silence falls amongst us as I carry Lilith deeper into the bowels of the earth, far underneath the mansion, to where the Coven practices their magick. It makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
“Here,” Lloyd mutters and leads us into a cavern, different from the one we were in earlier when we learned about the magick inside Lilith.
We find Jacob. His eyes land on me with Lilith in my arms. “What happened?” he asks instantly, crossing over to us.
“The magick inside her is destroying her,” I say quietly. “We need to remove it.”
Jacob’s eyes meet mine, his gaze boring intently into me. “We haven’t figured out how without removing her magick completely. It’s too twisted, too entwined around her.”
“Then use me. You know you can. That’s why you took my blood last time,” I challenge him bluntly.
“Indeed,” he mutters. “You know?”
“I know.”
“Know what?” Axl snaps irritated. “What the fuck is going on?”
“I’m part Wolf,” Lilith murmurs. “My great grandmother on my dad’s side. Missed everyone apparently, except me.”
“Because you are destined for greatness,” Jacob says quietly.
“Mason and I are supposed to be together, according to my mom,” she mutters, weakly.
That hurts my heart. I hoped that she believed it to be true because of what she feels for me, not because her mother told her to. I place her gently on the altar in the middle of the cavern and cross my arms grimly.
The low lighting that comes from several fire torches scattered along the cavern walls, gives me a chill down my spine.
“You are,” Jacob whispers, “But I want to hear from you.” He glances back up at me, “Why do you think you can help?”
“I’m Fated to be with her. I can take the magick from her, it won’t resist. We are bound,” I say just as quietly.
Jacob nods.
Lloyd sputters and Axl’s grimace goes even deeper for a second before he takes in what I’ve said.
“You mean you can take this shit out of her? What the fuck are you waiting for, mate?” he growls, going on the defensive.
“I didn’t know for sure until earlier, but it’s up to her. She has to believe it,” I reply, flicking my eyes to Lilith.
She gives me a weak smile. “You can’t take this from me. I won’t hurt you that way.”
“This is my choice,” I say fiercely. “I have a darkness inside me that the magick will have trouble competing with. I’ll be just fine,” I reassure her with more than a touch of arrogance, which she rolls her eyes at.
“No,” she says and curls up on the altar. “Jacob, there has to be another way.”
“Until we can figure out how to extract it safely, there isn’t. He’s right, Lil. He is bound to you. I took his blood the night this happened to you and confirmed what I suspected. You are bound by blood. Fated to be together. Wolf to Wolf. He can take on the magick because it will be like it never left you. You have to let him do this.”
“No,” she says steadily, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I won’t hurt him. I’ll be fine. Just let me sleep for a bit and I’ll wake up fine.”
“Let him help you,” Axl says briskly. “You are not fine, Strawberries. You know it, I know it, we all know it.”
Strawberries? I wonder why he calls her that. I can’t help the envy that bubbles up that he has a nickname for her already.
“I’m doing this whether or not you agree to it,” I tell her firmly. “Jacob. I’m ready.”
He smiles at his niece and squeezes her hand. “I agree with his decision. It is the only way to get this out of you today.”
We wait while she deliberates. Her breathing is ragged and the sweat on her forehead is visible.
You have to convince her, Mase. She’s weakening.
Felicity’s voice in my head startles me. She was the one who gave me the idea to begin with while I waited for Lilith to come and find me. It made perfect sense to me and clearly, it does to Jacob as well. It feels strange to have Flick tell me that I have to save Lilith in this way. I don’t even know how she knows about it. All I know is that she’s right.
“Okay,” Lilith says a second before I’m about to blast her and tell her we are doing this, regardless. She reaches for my hand, which I take straight away. Squeezing it gently, she gives me a weak smile. “You had better be fine, or I will kick your ass,” she mutters.
I snort softly in amusement. “I promise you I will be just fine. You are needed, little one, this is the only way. I need to hear you say it.”
“Say what?” she slurs.
I’m losing her. Her focus has gone as her eyes close.
“Say you are mine,” I say, gripping her hand tighter.
“Mm,” she mumbles.
“Now,” Jacob interrupts, flashing a wicked looking dagger under my nose.
“If you are wrong about this, I will kill you,” Lloyd growls at me, gripping my t-shirt in his tight fist.
“I’m not wrong,” I state, glaring into his furious, worried eyes.
He lets me go with a shove and turns his back on us, striding over to the other side of the cavern before he spins and comes back to Lilith to kiss her tenderly, stroking her hair. “I love you,” he whispers. “Please be okay.”
I
watch as Jacob’s face goes slightly cold at the display of affection between his subordinate and his niece. I get the feeling that he would rather she wasn’t involved with the Warlock. It’s none of my business, though. Lilith is the only thing that matters.
“Do it,” I say, holding out my hand.
Jacob slices a gash across my palm and then does the same to Lilith. He presses our hands together while Axl inhales deeply but keeps control of the Vampire inside him.
“This might hurt,” Jacob states before a blinding pain sears it ways through my body, making my knees buckle.
I can feel the black magick working its way through my skin, crawling like roaches through my veins to wrap around the darkest part of me deep inside that I try to run from. I grunt but keep my hold on Lilith’s hand even though every cell in my body is screaming at me to let go.
Amongst all the pain, all the fear, I marvel at how she managed to hold on to this for as long as she did.
As suddenly as the pain struck, it disappears. I feel the magick settle in the pit of my stomach. Lilith gasps and sits up squeezing my hand even tighter.
“Mason,” she exclaims and leaps off the altar to kneel at my side.
“I’m okay,” I say, meaning it. Yeah, it hurt like a fucker at first, but now it’s an uneasy feeling, like someone is watching me.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles, lowering her gaze in shame. “You shouldn’t have had to do this.”
I grip her hand. “Hey,” I say, drawing her eyes back to mine. “I will do anything to protect you. I’m fine, I promise.”
She nods, but I can see she doesn’t believe it. She stands up and smiles at Jacob. “We should discuss what to do next. I want that fucker’s head on a spike.”
With that bold statement, she spins and stalks out of the cavern, leaving Axl and Lloyd to race and catch up with her.
Jacob helps me to my feet. “You did good, kid,” he says. “Stepped up like a true fucking hero.”
I snort. “Yeah, I’m a real hero all right.”
“You are,” he says seriously. “She’ll see. Give her time.”
I nod and turn away.
“What you’ve done for her today, we owe you. Whatever you need…”
I face him again. “I don’t want anything,” I say, slightly insulted by the insinuation.
“Look, I get that. But her father and I owe you for saving her. It’s as simple as that. Just think about it.”
“I want a room on the top floor,” I state, figuring that since Axl gets one, so should I. It’s not out of entitlement, but how am I supposed to protect her when I’m three floors below her?
Jacob’s eyebrows go up in surprise. “That’s it?” he asks suspiciously.
“That’s it. I need to protect her, it’s as simple as that.” I use his own words back on him and he smirks.
“Sure is,” he murmurs. “Done. I’ll have a room made up for you.”
I nod and turn to leave.
As I duck under the rock lintel to leave the cavern, I hear him mutter, “Thank you.”
“Don’t need to hear it,” I mutter back and head up the steps to find Lilith and the other men.
Chapter 27
Lilith
Sitting on the dining room table, swinging my legs, I say, “Hey,” when I see Mason push open the door from the kitchen.
He pauses, his eyes lingering on mine before he steps forward into the dining room and lets the kitchen door swing back into place.
“Hey,” he says, keeping his distance.
“I wanted to talk to you about this, before you blurted it out in front of everyone,” I chide him, but I’m not really angry.
“I know,” he says carefully. “Do you have anything to say now?”
I nod slowly. “Yeah. According to my mom…she has these vision things…the four of us are to join together to fight the Hunters.”
He blinks and glances towards the drawing room where I indicate that the other two men are waiting.
His eyes find mine again. “Okay. What does that entail?” He folds his arms across his broad chest. I want them wrapped around me. I need to feel him hold me, feel his strength, feel the heat that simmers between us.
“I’m not really sure. That’s a Lloyd task to solve.”
He snickers briefly. “I see.”
He unnerves me by not saying anything else, those gray eyes boring into mine, almost as if he can see into my very essence. He takes a step closer and then another. My breath hitches. I tilt my head up to look at him when he steps up right in front of me. I inadvertently part my lips, expecting him to bend down to kiss me.
He unfolds his arms and reaches out to curl my hair behind my ear. It’s sweet and familiar making my heart pound with the question of what he is going to do next.
“I need to hear you say it, Lilith.”
“Say what?” I croak.
He searches my eyes. “This heat, do you feel it?”
I nod. My skin feels like it is on fire.
“That’s our bond screaming out to be claimed. I need to hear you say it, Lilith. Claim me.”
“I—” I rasp as he moves his head lower and brushes his lips over mine. It’s like touching a live wire. The electricity sparks up as he runs his hand into my hair.
“Are we going to get this show on the road?” Axl’s voice clips out from the doorway. “Or are you two going to sit in there all night while we get precisely nowhere?”
“Dammit,” I mutter as Mason pulls back, a frown on his face. I’m feeling actual love for the Vampire, but man, his timing stinks.
Before I can utter the words he wants to hear, Mason turns away and stalks into the drawing room, leaving me to slide off the table full of pent-up arousal.
I catch Axl’s eyes as I walk towards him. He smirks at me, letting me know he deliberately interrupted us at the wrong moment.
“You’re an ass,” I grumble as I walk past him.
He chuckles and grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together. “Something tells me, sweetheart, that even if I hadn’t, you’d still be feeling the frustration of being unkissed. Say what you like about the Wolf, but he is a man of restraint.”
“No fucking kidding,” I complain.
“Want to kiss me instead?” he asks cheekily.
I glower at him. “No thanks. You can also go unkissed,” I say with a sassy wink and pull away from him to enter the drawing room and sit on the sofa next to Lloyd.
He is being quiet and reflective. He’s not usually a big talker, but this is more. “You okay?” I ask, taking his hand and kissing it.
He smiles at me. “I’m okay, Lily. I was worried about you and about what all of this means. I’m still worried about how we are meant to join together. It’s going to take a lot of power to do that, I’m not sure I’m up for the task.”
“Of course you are,” I reassure him with a soft smile, stroking his cheek. I can feel Mason glaring at us but ignore him. “And I will help. According to my mother, I’m the center of this thing.”
“She’s right,” Jacob says, joining us with Axl at his side. “You need to get this done before you even think about facing the Hunters dead on.”
I give my uncle a woeful look. “About the Wolf…”
“Taken care of,” he says brusquely. “Don’t think about it again.”
“I have to. We can’t let this happen again. Philip has given us less than twenty-four hours now before he does it again. We need to round up every supernatural creature we can get our hands on in the next day. Ask Si and Vi to get on it, will you?” I ask Jacob.
He nods. “It’s a good idea, but I don’t think it will stop Philip, just give him fewer creatures to pick on.”
“But it’s something,” I say, the ice in my veins at his words, travelling to my heart.
“Who are Si and Vi?” Axl asks, flopping down on the big sofa on my other side and propping his foot up on the coffee table.
“Simon is my mother’s Vampire charge and Violet
is his girlfriend. They run interference and know almost all the supernaturals in the area.”
He nods. “Handy pair,” he comments.
“I’ll call them now,” Jacob says and disappears into the entrance hall.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. “Lloyd, we need to figure this joining thing out, like now. We can’t give Philip any more ways to destroy us.”
“I know,” he says. “I’ll work through the night with your parents to twist the spell they used for our purposes. I promise, I will have this done before Philip’s ticking clock runs out.”
I nod, having faith in him.
“You should get some rest,” Lloyd says softly. “There’s nothing more you can do until we have the spell ready.”
I hate that he’s right. I stand up and sigh. “Don’t let me sleep too long.”
“I promise,” he says, standing as well and kissing me briefly. “Rest up, Lily, it’s going to be a long few days.”
I nod, the exhaustion dropping over me like a wet cloak. I smile at Axl and Mason, wishing I had words of reassurance for them, but right now, I feel pretty helpless. It feeds my doubt that my parents made the wrong choice in making me Queen. But then I remember why they did in the first place. I am the most powerful Vampire out there. That has to count for something in this war, I just have to believe in myself enough for it to matter.
“We won’t be far, love,” Axl says quietly as I reach the bottom of the stairs.
I smile. “Thanks,” I mutter and head on up.
Chapter 28
Philip
I stare down into her silver eyes and grimace. It doesn’t stop me from slamming her into the bed so hard, she comes all over my dick.
“Why am I dreaming this?” she pants, making me frown. “Why you, why like this? I hate you!” she spits out, shoving me off her.
“Uhm,” I stammer, sitting back, watching her closely as she drops her feet to the floor and stretches out her back. What is going on here? “The magick backfired,” I say after a pause, in which I really didn’t want to say anything. How is she controlling the dream? Why are my thoughts my own? That’s never happened before.
