by 1
Her jealousy rose in her chest, consuming her and she choked back a rising sob. She stopped in front of Katya’s chambers and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.
She prayed her daughter was well enough so they could leave right away.
* * * *
Drago growled his annoyance and grabbed Gretchen by the waist. She kissed him before he could push her away. His heart thudded against his chest as a familiar scent drifted around him. Eve. Sharply, he withdrew from Gretchen’s kiss and snapped his gaze towards the shadows. Eve was hiding in the corner. For a split second, he felt her anger and jealousy and then she was gone. Angrily he looked at Gretchen who still had her arms around him. She clasped his head, raised her face and kissed him again.
His mouth tensed under her lips and he tightened his hold on her waist. Slowly he pushed her away and glared down at her.
“That’s enough, Gretchen.”
Her eyes flashed ire and she growled under her breath. “Why now? We’ve been lovers for years, Drago. Why do you suddenly want to end things now?”
“We were bed mates, not lovers, Gretchen. There is a big difference. I never made you any promises. You’ve known from the beginning this would end at any time.”
“It’s her, isn’t it? I’ve seen the way you look at her. Why, Drago? Why? She’s a vampire, dammit!” She paused. “A wolf doesn’t mate with a bat!” she spat.
Drago had had enough. “You are trying my patience, wench. I blame myself because I’ve given you too much freedom in the castle.” He narrowed his eyes on her upturned face. “Heed this warning. You will not barge into my chambers ever again, is that clear?”
She flung herself onto his chest and threw her arms around his shoulders. “No. I know you still want me. We are Lycan. You can never desire her as you desire me.” She pressed her lower body against his and ground herself against his loins. He felt nothing. No stirrings, no heat, no lust. He watched Gretchen’s face harden as she realised his body did not react. Her face blazed with rage and she pushed herself out of his arms. “She’s cold, undead. She drinks the blood of innocents!” she ranted with near hysteria in her voice. “I’ll drive a stake through her heart before I let her have you!”
Drago’s anger erupted and he growled, knowing his eyes were turning their eerie shade of amber. He was prepared to shift. For the first time she looked afraid and took a step back. “If I ever see you so much as ten feet from Eve, I will banish you from my kingdom. Am I making myself clear?”
Something on his face must have finally registered with her because her face went white. “You can’t mean that. You don’t actually love her! She’s not human, Drago. Vampires are immoral and she’ll never be able to control her thirst.”
He’d thought the same thing before he got to know Eve, but he remembered what she’d done at his well with her blood and how she risked her life going out into the fields to find a wild animal to feed on. “She is more human than anyone of us will ever be,” he said harshly.
Eve was brave, courageous and honourable. She was beautiful and passionate—he stilled his thoughts as something violent hit him in the gut and he swallowed hard.
He loved her.
“Leave now,” he said. “And never step foot in my castle again.”
Gretchen looked like she was going to persist, but thought better of it and sped down the corridor.
Drago ran a rough hand at the back of his neck. He had to see Eve. Now. He had to make her understand things were over between him and Gretchen.
He also had to tell her he loved her.
Turning abruptly on his heel, he went down the opposite direction Gretchen took. He knew Eve would be with Katya and he strode to her daughter’s chambers.
He heard someone rushing down the hall behind him.
“Master! Something has happened!”
Tensing, he turned around and stared at Hesta. “What is it? Katya?”
She shook her head. “No. Katya is fine.”
“Shouldn’t you be with her?”
“I’m on my way there right now.” She clasped her gnarled hands in front of her and gazed up at him with a perplexed look on her wrinkled, elderly face. “I beg your pardon, Master, but something has happened,” she repeated.
“Well, what is it?” he asked as he continued to march down the corridor, the healer bustling to match his long stride. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Master, it’s old man Wallace. I just came from his home. I was going to give him some more medication for the pain, but…but…”
“Speak, woman!” he roared. The only thought in his mind was seeing Eve. He didn’t have time for the incessant rambling of his old healer. He tossed Hesta a quick, sideways glance and noted her shock.
“Master, it’s his leg! His bone has completely healed and he walks!”
Drago stopped dead in his tracks and gave her a long look. His thoughts went to Eve the night she was at his well. “Don’t be surprised if more of our human villagers are cured overnight.”
She clasped her face, her expression lighting up. “So the rumours are true? Our vampire guest has cured all ailments?”
“It would appear so.”
“Oh, bless her! She is an angel in disguise,” Hesta declared.
“Yes. She is,” he murmured as he opened the door to Katya’s room.
Chapter Nine
Eve hugged her daughter tightly. “I missed you so much,” she said, her voice breaking. “Thank God you’re okay. I love you so much, my darling girl. I never gave up hope finding you.”
Katya wiped her eyes as she drew away, sobbing gently. Her eyes glistened with tears as she ran her gaze over her Eve’s face. “It’s been so horrible, mama.” Her voice caught and she drew in a shaky breath. “So horrible. He…he—”
“Hush, my darling,” Eve said. A white hot rage welled in her breast at Balkathan. Bloodline be damned! She no longer cared of the consequences and she wanted him dead. “Let’s not talk about that now. When you’re ready.”
Katya nodded, wiping her cheek with a shaky hand. “The king has been very kind to me. And Hesta, too. I remember everything now, the past two years in Balkathan’s lair and the past month here in this castle. Mama, I’ve been so mean to Hesta and the king, but I…I couldn’t stop myself…” She broke off and sobbed into her hands.
“Katya, it wasn’t your fault,” Eve said soothingly, taking her daughter’s hand away from her face. “You haven’t been well for a long time.” Gently, she wiped her daughter’s tears.
“How did you find me?” Katya asked.
“It wasn’t easy. I went from village to village, until I came upon a tavern where there was talk Balkathan had attacked Drago’s castle. The rumour was a woman was held captive in Balkathan’s lair for two years who had recently escaped and was staying at this castle. Balkathan wanted her dead because she knew where he hid with his lair. So I travelled here and asked questions until I heard a man mention your name.”
Katya’s face fell. “Mama, what will become of us? What will we do? Our home, our village has been destroyed. Where will we live?”
She sensed Drago enter the room and stiffened. The scene with Gretchen was still fresh in her mind and she ignored him as she drew Katya in her arms. “I will take care of you, my child. I will find a way to keep you safe,” she said huskily. “I love you.”
Drago cleared his throat abruptly. “Katya, you and your mother have a home here.”
Katya looked over Eve’s shoulder, surprise lighting her face. “That’s very kind of you, Your Highness. Mama, did you hear what the king said?”
Slowly Eve rose, turning around to face him. Hesta stood silently next to him. “Thank you for the offer, but as I told you, when my daughter is well enough, we will leave.”
His face darkened. She could tell he was angry.
“And go where? You have no belongings, no coin and no home. Balkathan won’t stop until he finds Katya.”
Her daughter let out
a frightened gasp and Eve shot him an angry glare. “Do you mean to frighten my child?”
“I mean to state facts. Your daughter will be safe here, as will you.”
He was right. Katya would be safer in his castle with his Lycan guards protecting her. “Katya will accept your offer to stay, but I will not.”
“Mama, no! You cannot leave me.”
Eve was torn. She couldn’t leave her daughter, but could not live with Drago either. Watching him for all eternity with his one would kill her.
Her breath caught. Something she refused to believe revealed itself and left her shaken.
She was falling in love with him.
Fighting to keep her emotions in check, she turned to her daughter. “You must rest now, Katya. We will talk about this later.” She glanced over her shoulder to Hesta. “Is it possible to see about having a bath prepared?”
Hesta smiled. “Right away, milady.”
“Thank you.”
“I will leave you two alone then,” Drago said. He gave Eve a dark look. “You and I will talk later.”
Without responding, she turned back to Katya and waited stiffly until he left the room.
Katya gave her mother a questioning look. “Mama, why do you dislike the king? He has offered us a home.”
“I don’t dislike him,” she said.
“I saw how you two looked at each other. I…I think he cares for you. Why don’t you want to stay here?”
“It’s complicated, honey.”
“I hope it’s not because of me. Mama, I want you to be happy.”
“No, honey, it’s not that.” She could see Katya wasn’t going to give this up so easily. Eve released a weary sigh. “The king has yet to meet his one. If I were to be with him, do you think he would stay with me after he met his destined mate?”
Katya stared long and hard at her mother, making Eve increasingly uncomfortable. “Mama? Oh my God,” she whispered, bringing a hand up to her mouth. “You care for him.”
Eve stiffened. “I am grateful to him. He looked after you these past few weeks and for that I am indebted to him,” she said, her tone brooking no argument.
Katya didn’t look convinced and Eve blamed herself. She was a terrible liar. She prayed for the courage to walk away from him.
* * * *
Drago strode into his Great Hall. Nolan and Falk greeted him as he entered, but he was too deep in thought to acknowledge them. His thoughts were on Eve.
He sat on his throne and exhaled a heavy breath. The irony didn’t go unnoticed by him. For two hundred years he had accepted his fate without a woman he could love, a woman who could rule by his side forever.
The irony was that he found his perfect mate, but she didn’t want him.
Ortega strode in the hall. “Your Highness, there is a young girl at the gate who says she has important information about Balkathan. Information you may use against him.”
Drago stiffened and raised his hand at Nolan and Falk who rose sharply. He narrowed his eyes on Ortega. “Show her in,” he said slowly.
A few minutes later, a young girl walked in who didn’t look older than sixteen. Drago stared at her and the hair at the back of his neck rose. Her face! It was luminous with the same subtle glow on Eve’s beautiful face.
A vampire!
He growled softly under his breath and rose from his throne. The girl stood before him and curtsied, raising a pair of innocent blue eyes at him. He faltered. She was just a child.
“How is it a child has come to my gates with news of Balkathan?”
Tears welled in her eyes and she clasped her small hands before her. “I escaped his lair a few weeks ago. I couldn’t return home because our village was destroyed. I heard about your kingdom and how you offer sanctuary.”
“And you were turned into a vampire when he attacked your village?”
“Yes,” she said quietly, darting a nervous glance at his guards.
“Come here, child. Sit by me and tell me what you know.”
She approached him slowly, her expression fearful as she cast another nervous glance at his men standing guard behind her.
“Do not fear my men. Balkathan enslaves children, we protect them.”
“Please, may…may we speak alone, Your Highness?
He understood her fear. His guards would frighten any child, whether the child was a vampire or not, and he gave them a quick look. “Wait outside.”
They went outside and closed the door behind them. He directed his attention back to her. “What is your name?”
“Dahlia.”
“Tell me, Dahlia, what do you know?”
“Well, it’s not so much what I know, Your Highness, but more what you know.”
All of a sudden he noticed a change on her face. The innocence left and was replaced with a malevolent look. His blood ran cold. Silently, he cursed himself for his foolhardy mistake and growled as his beast rose to the surface.
It was too late. She moved like the wind and she clasped her hands on his face before he could shift. The effect of her touch was instant. He grew weak as something cold penetrated his mind. He fought the iron grip she had on his thoughts. She was probing, digging, pushing deep into his mind looking for…someone. Katya!
Blackness overwhelmed him as his body sunk to the ground, his last thoughts on Eve.
Chapter Ten
Eve smiled at Katya’s reflection as Hesta helped her daughter slip into a gown. It was the colour of chocolate and had delicate cream lacings trimming the low neckline. “You look lovely, Katya,” Eve said.
Her daughter returned the smile through the mirror. “The king has sent me so many lovely gowns, I don’t know which to pick from.”
Hesta tightened the laces on Katya’s back. “The master is a very generous man, my girl. Do not be fooled by his harsh exterior. Beneath him lies a man who has a big heart.”
The healer gave Eve a long look, her weather-beaten face softening and Eve looked away nervously. The old woman was obviously—Eve gasped! She couldn’t complete her thought because something fierce slammed into her stomach. Her breath caught and she stiffened violently. Drago! She grasped the armrest of her chair and rose unsteadily to her feet. Hesta and Katya stopped what they were doing and stared at her, worry lining their faces.
“Mama, what is it? You…you look ill!”
Eve felt ill—with panic and fear. Small tremors ran through her limbs as she tried to speak. She sensed him! She sensed Drago and he was in mortal danger!
She caught her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were blood red and she bared her fangs. She hissed as she shot a glance at her daughter and Hesta. “This cannot be,” she spat.
“Mama, you’re scaring me. What’s happened?”
There was no time to explain. She sensed the presence of one of her kind and Drago’s emptying thoughts. “Drago’s in danger!” she yelled. “Hesta, he’s in the Great Hall. Alert the guards!”
Without sparing another second, she sped from the room and flew down the hallway. She sailed down the stairs and flew towards the Great Hall. The guards growled when they saw her appear suddenly.
“Balkathan’s vampire is in there!” she screamed before she crashed through the doors and ran a frantic gaze around the room. She unsheathed her wooden stake from her back and splayed it out before her.
She saw Drago on his knees by his throne with a child-demon’s hands on his face. Oh my God, was she too late? Flying through the air, she grabbed the girl by the hair and yanked her off him. She glanced fearfully at Drago and saw him collapse on the floor.
The child-demon hissed at Eve as she pulled a small wooden contraption from a pocket on the side of her gown. She flicked a lever with her finger and the contraption snapped open, taking shape of a wooden stake.
“You’re too late!” the child hissed, lunging at Eve. “I already know where she is and after I kill you, I will kill her.”
Eve sprang to the side, barely avoiding the girl’s stake. She heard Dr
ago groan and shot him a panicked glance. He rose unsteadily, his hands clenched at his sides. Slowly, he turned his gaze to hers and her heart wrenched at the look on his face. It was a mixture of rage and fear and something else she couldn’t define.
“Protect Eve,” he roared hoarsely to the two guards rushing into the hall.
The guards shifted into their wolf forms and lunged towards the child-demon. Eve knew it was suicide because their strength was no match for the young girl’s speed and she sprung in the air between them.
“No!” Drago roared and he shifted into his Lycan form.
Eve faced the child-demon, the wolves growling behind her, and pointed her stake to the girl. “I have never killed a child before. Please, don’t…don’t make me do this.”
Dahlia bared her fangs and hissed. “I am not a child.” With lightning reflex, she flung her stake at Eve.
Eve heard Drago roar with rage and before she could react, his Lycan form vaulted between her and the stake. In one swift movement, it entered his abdomen and he groaned as he fell to the ground. Rage blinded Eve and she hissed, flying over his body to land in front of the girl. She plunged her stake into the child-demon’s heart. The Lycan guards shifted back to their human forms and ran to Drago while Eve watched the child-demon’s body disintegrate into dust.
She turned and saw one of the guards pull the wooden stake from Drago and she ran to his side, collapsing on the ground beside him.
Fear shook her as she watched him revert back to his human self. Relieved, she watched his cut heal and disappear. He rose from the ground and glanced at the ashes of the girl. Grimacing, he gave his hand to Eve and helped her rise.
Without taking his eyes off her, he roared, “Everyone out!” The guards immediately took their leave. “How did you know I was in danger?” he asked harshly once they were alone.
Eve snapped out of her daze. “What matters is, I knew,” she said, trying to sound calm. The tremor in her voice didn’t help concealing her nerves. What if the girl had thrown a silver dagger at Eve? Drago could have been killed. The thought left her numb.
