by AJ Tipton
"Then you need all the help you can get to stop him." She pulled at his hand so it reached around her and rested on her stomach.
He gripped her hand. "I do. I was scared and selfish and tried to keep you safe at the expense of the success of the battle. You’re right, though. You have a talent that will be invaluable in battle. Without you, my sirelings could end up hurt or worse." Christopher's fingers caressed her stomach. “I just... I’m terrified at the thought of you getting harmed.”
"Why is that?"
He sat up on one arm so he could look down at her face. "You want me to say it, don't you?"
"We’re going into battle," she reminded him, turning so their eyes were level. "If there's anything you want off your chest, you should say it now."
He kissed her, his lips attacking hers as he pulled her closer. He pulled her leg up over him so they were wrapped together on their sides in the bed. His cock was hard against her opening, and all it took was just a slightly different angle of his hips and he slid inside her from behind in one smooth stroke. He started to thrust gently into her, holding her so close his cock barely had to move to slide against her clit.
"I love you, Alice. I love you more than my own immortality, more than the beauty in the world, more than anything else I've ever encountered in a thousand years." Each swipe of his cock drove her higher and she rolled so she was on her stomach. He grabbed her ass and pulled her hips high to change the angle and thrust into her even deeper.
Her breath came in desperate gasps. "I love you too. So much."
Their orgasms hit faster than Alice believed possible, their moans intermingled with one another as they both went over the edge together.
Christopher leaned his forehead against hers, his breath slowly evening out. "Whatever happens, we're together."
Alice nodded. "Forever."
Christopher lay on his stomach on the castle's peaked roof and checked his watch, counting down the seconds before the explosives were set to demolish the building's entrance. Margot and her forces were harnessed up along the top of the roofline, ropes attached to the castle's stone gargoyles already hooked into the straps on their waists. They'd spooked the security cameras with looping footage to hide their position, but Christopher didn't like how exposed they were out in the open. Margot caught his eye and nodded in encouragement, her expression alight with anticipation. He wished he shared her thrill.
They'd separated their forces among Christopher's four lieutenants, each with a specific timed mission: Ben's team would infiltrate the castle's hallways and throne room ahead of the coronation to position as many UV flash bombs as possible. Danny's team was in charge of diverting as many of Rhys's forces as possible to the furthest reaches of the castle grounds, away from the power of Rhys's voice. Valerie and Margot's two teams would crash through the ancient, stained, glass windows of the throne room attacking from both sides to clear the room and get innocents out of the way before Christopher swept in to defeat Rhys. It depended on their key advantages over Rhys' forces: their trust in one another, and their ability to improvise.
This plan also positioned Alice on Ben’s team, helping the inventor set up his devices to their best advantage. There was no denying Alice’s expertise was needed there, but Christopher’s hands shook thinking about how the only confirmation he had that she was okay were the hourly group texts with updates about the number and placements of the bombs. With every passing moment in between texts, he fought to push away the nightmares of Rhys catching her, stringing her up on his throne room wall, and making Christopher watch as he tore her to pieces. If he has her, Rhys would damn sure let me know. Christopher held onto that not-so-comforting thought as he steadied himself.
Three...two...one.
An explosion burning so hot its flames licked blue and white blasted open the front doors of the castle. Screams rang out from within the castle, the sound of stampeding feet thumping down the hallways as staff and guests of the coronation searched for safe exits. Christopher could almost imagine he heard Rhys's voice through the chaos screaming orders at people.
A second explosion thundered from the East side of the castle where Margot's team and Christopher waited. It was smaller than the explosion at the front gate, but the heat was intense enough Christopher could feel it against his face even seventy feet up.
The group text to all the lieutenants' phones came through at once from Alice, still hidden in the throne room: "Half of Rhys's forces gone 2 investigate. Most guests cleared."
Margot didn't hesitate. She made the arranged signal with her fist and her twenty vampires and Christopher all descended the side of the building, kicking out the stained glass windows of the throne room and bursting into the immense room.
The coronation was already underway. The main room was filled with rows of long, wooden benches and Rhys stood at the top of the room's dais wearing a sly smirk and their sire’s finest regalia. A priest, who looked a lot like Rhys's barbed-wire-tattooed sireling in a hood, stood poised with his hand raised in blessing and a vacant, mind-controlled expression on his face. The crown of their vampire kingdom was still on its ceremonial pedestal, gleaming dangerously.
“This man is not your rightful king,” Christopher bellowed.
The remaining coronation guests who hadn't fled all turned to watch Christopher advance down the central aisle of the throne room. Christopher recognized many of the faces, vampires who had known the royal family for centuries.
Margot's forces stood protectively in a semicircle around Christopher, keeping his path to Rhys clear. As he advanced, Ben's forces emerged from the room's alcoves to fill in gaps from the ranks. He caught a glimpse of Alice, dressed in black and armed with a sword and UV grenades strapped crossways down her torso, joining the group surrounding him. He pushed aside the worry gnawing at his insides. If she is a casualty of this battle, I will never forgive myself.
“Now, brother,” Rhys tutted from his chair. “Jealousy is not a good color on you.”
“I will not stand by and let your thirst for power destroy our people.” Worried gasps sprung out among the coronation’s attendees. Some were still trying to flee, but many of the older ones had stayed, curious to see how this played out.
“So dramatic, Christopher.” Rhys spoke calmly. He picked up the crown from its resting place, placing the ring of gold filigree onto his head. He sat back in his throne, smiling. “I only seek to be what you can never be: a strong leader.”
A click from the rafters let Christopher know the cameras Ben had installed throughout the room were switched on, broadcasting what was happening in the throne room to all the vampire television stations worldwide.
“A leader is someone who people choose to follow. You seek to rule solely through hortari, intimidation, and fear.”
"You only want the throne for yourself." Rhys snarled. "You've been after our sire's power for centuries, always badgering him to change what makes us vampires."
Through the open windows, Christopher could hear the sounds of clashing metal and shouting. One of his teams was fighting against Rhys's goons. He sent up a quick prayer to any gods who were listening that none of them would be hurt.
“And what is it that makes us vampires, brother?" Christopher asked.
Rhys rose from the throne, standing tall with his hands above his head. "Blood and strength!"
Many of the guests roared in support, along with a sprinkling of cheers and assents from Rhys's guards around the walls.
“Yet you stand there, shedding no blood," Christopher said. "My sirelings fight for me of their own free will because they know me, they've worked with me, and they know the vision I have for our kingdom comes from a sincere desire to see us progress and grow. Can you say the same, brother?"
"You question my honorable intentions?” Rhys held his empty hands out like a saintly benediction. The crowd was lapping it up, looking between Rhys, secure on his throne, and Christopher surrounded by armed guards. Christopher knew who loo
ked like the usurper. This isn't going to work.
"You can prove it.” Alice had snuck closer in the cluster of guards surrounding him. Her voice was only a whisper, but it cut through the sound of blood pumping in Christopher’s ears.
“No, I can't,” Christopher said.
“You can.” Alice pulled a dagger from her boot and sliced a cut along Christopher’s arm.
He jumped back, startled and surprised that she of all people would be the one to attack him. The blood gleamed red in the candlelight of the throne room, and the smell of it tickled his nose as it wafted past. Beside him, Margot grabbed a fan from her belt, each rib edged with a razor-sharp talon, and started waving it behind him, the breeze pushing the scent of Christopher's blood across the room.
That’s it.
Christopher held his bleeding arm aloft, addressing the people. “You wish to know my intentions? Here they are. The blood doesn’t lie.” He turned to Rhys. “If your would-be king has nothing to hide, then surely he will join me in proving so.”
The crowd murmured approvingly. A few of the older vampires moved towards Christopher, bowing slightly with respect. Others too far away to smell Christopher's blood spread the word to their neighbors until the whole room was alight with speculative looks toward Rhys. Christopher’s blood clearly spelled out his intentions for the throne and his people. It was an unbeatable campaign.
“You want to cut me? I believe that’s a direct threat against your future king,” Rhys growled. “How dare you and your rabble disrespect me in such a manner. GUARDS!” He shrieked, a shrill, echoing wail that bounced across the high ceilings of the throne room. “Kill them! Cut off their heads and bring them to me in SACKS!”
Screams rose from the remaining crowd as most of them bolted in all directions, shoving each other in an undignified attempt to get away from Rhys's soldiers.
Rhys’s muscled guards couldn't resist the hortari in Rhys's command and ran at Christopher and his people, their arms poised overhead for neck strikes. Christopher's heart twisted for them. Many of their eyes were wide and scared. Christopher didn't want to think how many atrocities Rhys had forced them to commit since becoming vampires.
“Now!” Christopher shouted, and Ben and Margot's teams surrounding him whipped heavy cloaks and sunglasses from their packs and covered all their exposed skin.
Alice didn't hesitate. She withdrew the detonator from her sleeve and pressed the button with a magnificent glow of satisfaction on her face. Rhys's guards nearly made it to Christopher before brilliant flashes of light detonated across the room. Christopher adjusted his sunglasses, proud that Alice’s calculations had been correct. There wasn’t a single inch of the throne room unaffected by the UV's flashes.
Rhys and his guards screamed and grunted in the light, their skin smoking slightly as the UV rays burned their sensitive flesh. Many of those surrounding Rhys who got the worst of the blast fell to the ground unconscious.
“Get up! I command you to kill them all! As your sire, I demand it of you!” Rhys screeched from where he thrashed on the floor. “Kill them for your king!”
The guards who could still move pulled themselves from the ground like marionettes on strings. Many had expressions of complete terror frozen on their faces. Their arms chopped the air in front of them like wind-up toys, moving in spasming, wild thrusts toward Christopher and his followers.
"Spread out!" Margot bellowed, yelling the commands she and Christopher had arranged earlier so that in the heat of battle he didn't accidentally use hortari against his people. "Try and avoid killing them, they didn't choose this!"
The cluster of sirelings surrounding Christopher broke into smaller groups, Margot staying close to Christopher while the rest ran toward the corners of the room, breaking Rhys's men into isolated groups who Ben's team hiding in the room's rafters could shoot with paralytic-tipped arrows. They fell in swaths, Rhys's soldiers' expressions filled with relief as the arrows stopped their movements. Margot and Ben's teams on the ground immediately chained up the unmoving and unconscious guards before the shock of the UV rays or the arrows wore off.
"Get reinforcements!" Rhys bellowed, pointing to one of his guards cowering behind the throne. "Tell them I will eat their sirelings if they disobey me!" Rhys bellowed.
"Brother, think about what you're doing!" Christopher shouted. "You are only harming your own people!"
Margot was hard at work defending herself against one of Rhys's better soldiers, a six-foot tall muscled woman with a shock of bright pink hair. They moved so fast, Christopher didn't dare interfere for fear of hurting Margot. Their sparing cleared the area around them, their clashing axes sending sparks into the air.
"My people exist to serve me!" Rhys yelled.
His shout distracted Margot's opponent and Margot laughed triumphantly as she launched a flying kick through the air that sent the woman sprawling to the ground. Margot planted her knee firmly in the back of Rhys's minion as she clanked heavy manacles around the woman's wrists.
“I always wanted to use these outside of the bedroom,” Margot said with a wink.
"Is this really the time for--" Christopher started to say, but was cut short by the sight of Alice across the room.
Alice stood in the middle of the battle, beautiful as she shouted orders to the team repositioning another wave of the UV flash bombs. Christopher sprinted forward to help as Alice ducked under a minion's swinging axe and continued her work undeterred. The soldier facing her couldn't have been older than twenty when he was turned, acne blotching his face for eternity.
My brother is evil.
"Stay away from her." Christopher stepped in between the boy and Alice.
"Can't, sir," the boy said through clenched teeth. "Must kill."
"You can fight it!" Alice cried, still prudently standing behind Christopher. "I broke the hortari, so can you."
The boy gasped, and for a second, his axe hesitated on the downswing. Christopher held his breath, hoping for a miracle, then the blade continued down and Christopher dodged out of the way, missing getting an axe dug into his shoulder by a hair.
"I'm sorry!" the boy wailed. "I can't stop it!"
Alice unhooked one of the grenades from her holster and pulled the pin, throwing it at the boy just as she raised the edge of her cloak to cover herself and Christopher. The dangerous light blazed around the corner of her cloak and the boy fell screaming, his axe skidding away. Christopher jumped forward, slapping cuffs on the boy before he could grab his weapon.
"Thank you," the boy gasped as he lay curled on the ground.
The sounds of battle outside the throne room were dimming, replaced with victorious chanting of Christopher's name. Reinforcements streamed in as Valerie's team finished securing the last door and flooded the ballroom to help take down those still-standing among Rhys's forces.
Danny's was the last team to swarm in wearing triumphant expressions.
"We tricked thirty of them into a storage container!" he yelled.
"That's great!" Christopher replied. "Why don't we--" He didn't finish when an axe sliced so close to his ear, Christopher felt the breeze of it on his cheek.
Rhys stood an arm's length away, his mouth twisted into a snarl, an axe twirling in each hand so fast they blurred in silver circles on either side of him.
“You think you've won? You're nothing!" Rhys bellowed. His arms flashed forward with deadly speed, the twin axes spinning for Christopher's neck.
"I've got a shot, I can take him down," Ben's voice yelled down from the rafters, light glinting off the tip of his arrow.
"He's mine!" Christopher called up. In a fluid motion, he withdrew a knife from his belt, diving to grab the fallen teenager's axe still at Alice’s feet. Christopher circled his brother warily, looking for the twitching tell of when he was going to strike.
"Watch your words, brother," Rhys smirked. "You might actually show some balls and give an order to one of your precious sirelings." He attacked without warning in
a flurry of jabs, each axe swipe perilously close to Christopher's neck.
Christopher blocked and dodged, knowing that when it came to hand to hand combat, his brother was always willing to cheat.
Unless..."Do you hear the cameras rolling, brother?" Christopher ducked just before one of the axes connected with his head and he rolled through Rhys's wide stance. "Everyone will know what happened here."
"What are you talking about?"
Christopher sprung to his feet, kicking Rhys hard in the back, surprising his brother and knocking him off balance. "You're a greedy liar who uses hortari to treat your sirelings as cannon fodder."
Rhys dodged out of the way, rolling under Christopher's swing with his awes twirling. "I saved them. You have no idea how broken these people were when I found them, how much they regretted the choices they'd made." He feinted to the right with one axe, the left striking out so fast Christopher couldn't duck away quick enough. The axe's fine edge sliced a long cut down Christopher’s forearm, dripping blood.
"I gave them immortality," Rhys yelled. "And then I took away their burden of choice."
"They're killing people." Christopher flexed his injured arm. The cut burned and would need stitches, but adrenaline made it easy to shake off.
Rhys rolled his eyes. "You just don't get it. They want this. They’re free from consequences. They're just following orders. No guilt. No repercussions."
"Then you've promised them an illusion." Christopher advanced on his brother, his axe and knife flying in a complex sequence of swings and stabs which had Rhys retreating backward to dodge out of the way. "Everything we do has consequences." He swung his knife for Rhys's stomach as he kicked out for Rhys's knees. Rhys jumped away, but for the first time, he showed fear. "Everything else is just excuses."
