Carver hands me the phone and I almost drop it when my gazes catches on her name.
Morana.
Dread coils tightly in my stomach and frustration pumps through my veins. “Is she kidding?”
“Share with the class, babe.” Marius steps forward, his arm wrapping around my shoulders. I lean into him, taking his support and finding comfort in his arms.
“It’s Morana. She’s invited us back to the chateau for a show.”
“Probably not the circus.” Marius deadpans.
I laugh a bit hysterically. “No, probably not. Probably more of her twisted and vile displays of depravity.”
“She can’t think that you’d want to go back there. Not unless it was a command.” Lucian runs his hands through his hair, frown lines marring his forehead.
“We can never go back there.” The words are harsh as they leave my lips but I mean it with every ounce of my being. I would not allow Morana anywhere near those I love. “I won’t allow it.”
“I don’t think we have a choice, ma belle.” Carver huffs out a frustrated breath and looks us over. “What about the ring? And Jolie?” Carver’s face distorts in pain at the mention of his sister and I instantly regret my vehement words.
“I’m sorry, Carver. I didn’t mean to say we’d leave Jolie.”
“I know you didn’t.” He smiles softly at me and meets my gaze. “If we can get her out of there, I’d rest easily for eternity knowing I ended her suffering. No more of Morana’s twisted games and creations.”
“It’s probably a trap. You know that right?” Marius crosses his arms over his chest. “I know I’m the new one here, but I think we’d be stupid to go.” He slaps Carver on the shoulder. “I know she’s your sister, and Morana is a fucking bitch for doing what she’s done, but we can’t risk the future of the Kresova. Keeping Aura safe, and finding the next Dria is most important.”
“I don’t want to go back there, but Carver’s right. We need to get the ring.” I kick at the floor, resentful that Morana can pull our strings like pretty little puppets. “It’s our only chance at weakening her enough to destroy her.” And come hell or high water, I’m going to destroy this bitch. I know it with fiber of my being.
“We can’t risk your safety, Aura.” Lucian argues. “You have to stay here.”
I scoff. “No way. No-freaking-way!”
Carvers phone dings and he shows us all the text message.
Bring Aura.
“What does she have the chateau wiretapped?” I throw my water bottle and storm out of the gym, headed to my closet full of decadent clothes, muttering to myself. “Bitch wants to put on a show? I’m going to give her one so macabre that they’ll write about it in the fucking history books.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to be famous, babe.” Marius is hot on my heels, his sarcastic comment earning him a snort from me, but I don’t slow my stride.
“I don’t want to be famous. I’m just pissed off.” I look over my shoulder. “Are you following me?”
“I’m enjoying the way your ass sways when you’re storming off mad, but yeah, my room’s over here. Figured I should change out of these clothes if we’re going to appear in front of the Queen Twat herself.”
“Ha! That was a good one.” I stop short when Marius grabs my hand in his, halting my forward motion.
“Hey.” He whispers the word, and I look up into his green eyes and sigh as he brushes a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. “You okay?”
I press a kiss into his palm, thankful that he shows me a gentler side of the constant jokester. “I will be. Once this is done, and we’ve got the upper hand, I’ll be okay.”
“You know I would do anything to protect you right?” He tips my chin up his gaze searching my own. A simple question, but it’s jam packed with so much caring and meaning, I soften against him, leaning into his embrace.
“I know. And I’d do the same for you. For all of us. I won’t let her win.” I can’t. Not when so many lives depend on it. “Let’s get this over with. I’ll meet you back here in twenty. I just need to change and throw on something that will allow me to kick her right in the vagina if I get the chance.”
Marius throws back his head and laughs. The sound echoes off the walls and I join him for a few stolen moments of joy in such a dark time. He palms my jaw and plants a kiss on my lips. Hard and demanding and I open for him. He dips his tongue inside my mouth, groaning as he tastes me.
He pushes me back gently, “Go get dressed before I end up fucking you against a wall.”
I wink at him. “Who says I would let you?” I sashay away from him, making sure to add a little extra sway to my step.
He growls low in his throat. “Tease.”
Carver and Lucian are walking our way, both of them with hard looks on their faces. “How quickly can you be ready?” Carver asks as Lucian walks past me, his hand bushing my hip as he passes.
“I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”
“Good. Let’s get ready and get over there. We texted Lyra, she’s expecting us.”
I rub my hands on my yoga pants, nerves suddenly making my hands a little shaky. I’m not sure if we’ll all leave Morana’s castle tonight. And even if we’re all physically safe, I’m not sure that we’ll all be mentally whole. Unfortunately, in the middle of war, casualties aren’t always a sudden death, but a slow and excruciating one.
We’d all be tense in the car ride over to Morana’s, barely talking, and only when it was necessary to discuss any plans. Mostly it was all three of my men asking me about how to get out of a certain hold, or if I knew how to run to safety from the woods surrounding her estate. The answer was yes, I know, but no I wouldn’t run and leave them behind. Despite knowing that it would be catastrophic for the Kresova, I’m fully prepared to fight until my death to end Morana’s reign of misery.
“We’re here.” Lucian slows the car as we drive up the gravel entrance to Castle de Revulsion as I was calling it.
What is normally a front entrance bustling with activity is relatively dead. Morana is waiting for us. Her expression neutral, her cronies surrounding her like a bunch of flies. Buzzing around her and generally being so annoying you can’t help but want to swat at them.
We exit the car and step towards her as a united front.
“Welcome my little pets, welcome home.” Morana rises and claps her hands together like a school teacher would to get the attention of a class full of misbehaving children. “Are you ready for the show?”
I eye her. I don’t think she’s ever been this cordial in her life. Let alone the time that I’ve known her. In that instant I know that she’s set a trap for us. What it is and what it will do to us, I have no idea. I just know that we will not walk out of here unscathed.
All around Morana, her guards stand vigilant, eyeing us like we’re strapped with C-4 and at any moment we’re going to press the detonator. If only an explosion could kill Morana fully. Marius had tried, and sadly, all it did was piss her off. Stupid vampire healing powers and all that fun shit.
Louis, one of the Le Tieur, steps forward, from his place next to Hugo and Lyra, eying Carver. “Welcome back, brother. I’ve missed you.”
Carver hisses and I press a hand to his back, ignoring Morana’s sharp look at the action. “Don’t let him get a rise out of you.” I raise my voice. “We’re here for the show.”
“Oh darling, I know you are.” Morana’s voice is silky smooth and with the twitch of her fingers Louis and Hugo fly forward, attacking Lucian and Carver. As I watch in horror, I notice Lyra hesitate before springing forward herself.
I scream a warning too late, watching as chaos explodes around me like a bomb and all I can do is stare as the shrapnel pierces each person I love.
Chapter 18
“Get them.” Morana issues the command and all too quickly bodies are flying left and right, and without thought I jump into the fray. Just like Carver, Lucian, and Marius taught me, I attack.
I fight.
&nbs
p; A second in time and I toss a full-grown man with superhuman strength into a tree. Another second, and I slam my palm into the chest of another, the crack of his ribs under my palm sounding in my ears like a strike of lightning hitting the ground.
“Behind you, mate.” Lucian shouts a warning to Carver.
“You little bastard. A bat isn’t going to do anything.” Carver growls the words as the wood breaks across his back. He grabs it from the fledgling vampires hands and whacks him in the face with it before shoving the spiked end through his chest. “Idiot.” Carver doesn’t wait for him to fall, but instead turns his attention to the next attacker.
I listen as Marius taunts the guards, goading them into following him closer towards the car. “Come here you dumb bastard. Yup, right over here.” He slams one of their heads into the trunk of the car so hard it pops open. He chuckles and moves on to the next one, “It’s like playing whack a mole. Most fun I’ve had in a good while.” He takes them out with an efficiency any mercenary would be proud of, a cheerful smile on his face as he slams his knee into the nose of an adversary and blood spurts everywhere. “Better get that checked, man. Looks bad.”
Grunts and thumps reverberate through the air and I look past the melee to see Morana standing still, watching the fighting with a gleeful expression lighting up her face. She’s stroking the hair of one of her pets. “So fun isn’t it my darling? All this fighting. I told you I’d have a show for us tonight.” She cackles and the girl stares up at her with a blind adoration.
Disgust roils through me at the thought that I could have been one of those poor girls. A collar around my neck and a leash made of gold keeping me tethered to Morana. High as a fucking kite, bending to her every whim, and having to accept every depravity forced on me. Bile roils in my stomach and I shake it off, punching a guard square in the jaw.
I have to focus. Our plan was to get in, let me slip away to find the ring, and get out after the show. So far, the show’s been cancelled and like we’d thought it’s a god damned trap. Fucking crafty bitch.
I wait for Morana’s attention to turn away from where I’m standing as Lyra lets out a battle cry and turns on Morana’s guards. I’d thought she was fighting against us for a moment when she’d first attacked, subtly keeping the guards away from Carver and making it look like she was fighting with them rather than against them.
I wait a moment, scanning each of their faces to make sure they’re not looking at what I’m doing but more worried about protecting their horrible queen.
Each of their faces are distorted with hunger. Fangs dropped, and as I watch they lick their lips. Hunger comes in many forms and I’d assume to be standing that close to Morana you’d have to be one sick puppy.
I move towards the steps leading up to the entrance and pause again. Waiting. Watching. I hold my breath and scrutinize the fighting. Before my eyes Lyra nods to a guard standing on the steps. He turns his back and Lyra catches my gaze.
She mouths one word. Go.
And I do as she says.
I slip past them as they’re distracted and run as fast as I can. Arms pumping, legs straining, I sprint towards the front doors. Past the tapestry covered walls, up the plush velvet covered stairs, and across from the strange looking armored knight statue. Straight up to where Carver told me Morana’s room is.
I fling open the doors and look around. I start opening the chest of drawers to my right, ruffling through them and find nothing. I move to the bedside chest and fling it open, tossing out old keepsakes and trinkets. I stop when I come to a book, flipping through the pages. Something about it draws me in and I tuck it into the bag I’d brought with me. I’ll hand it over to Carver and Lucian to look at, all I know is that I need to have that with me. Some instinct tells me I can’t leave it behind.
And after the past few months, I never ignore an instinct. I refocus my attention to the task at hand, the sounds of the fighting outside added with my new-found book making it harder than it should be. I want to be there next to Carver and Lucian and Maruis, fighting off these animals. But I know that if I want Carver to be whole, mentally, I need to find this ring and we need to get his sister back. Even if that means that we have to take risks.
I look around, distracted by the sheer number of sparkly objects in Morana’s room. What was she a fucking jewelry thief in a past life? She’s got more sparkle than Liberace up in here. I spy jewels on her dresser across the room and I stare at them like a lifeline.
I pull out the picture we’d found of the ring and look at it, then the rings, then the picture. Dismay weakens my knees as I realize it’s not here. I have to find it. I turn and speed through the bathroom and the closet, tossing clothing out of my way and ripping them off hangers. I could care less that the dress that just fell to the floor in a pile of fabric probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It’s nothing compared to the value of that ring if we can get it from her.
I kick at the closet door as I leave the room agitated beyond belief.
I pull at my hair. “Fuck!”
I take one last look around and suck in a calming breath. I can’t stay here any longer. For all I know someone’s realized I’m missing and they’ll come after me.
Pained shouts rumble through the air and I give up my attempt. I need to help my men. And we need to get the fuck out of here. There’s no way we can survive a full-scale attack with just the three of us and Lyra. And by now someone has to have called for reinforcements.
I dash down the stairs and back into the courtyard, stepping over broken bodies of our enemies.
Lucian and Marius stand back to back, plucking their attackers off one by one. The only problem is that they keep coming back for more. Without fire or a good ole decapitation, they’re really hard to keep down. It’s both a blessing and a curse here.
I look around, catching sight of Carver as Hugo and Louis corner him. Carver doesn’t look frightened though. He looks enraged. His fangs are bared, his fists are up, and he’s snarling at them.
I scan the crowd for Morana and see her standing behind two guards. Her fingers steepled in front of her mouth, a smile curving her poisonous mouth. And that’s when I see it.
The ring.
I wrack my brain, not sure how I’m going to get that from her without losing my own life. I watch in horror as Louis casts Carver to the ground and advances on him. I gasp, distracting Carver and Hugo grabs him, holding his arms behind his back and Louis kicks Carver’s knee, the snap of the bone a sickening sound. I cover my mouth so I won’t make another sound that could cost him his life and look back to Morana and that pretty jewel on her finger.
Without any further hesitation I step towards her.
I know that I can’t warn my men about what I’m about to do. They’d only try to stop me. I only pray they see it for what it is and not their worst nightmare.
I shout the words, the sound ringing out through the air and overpowering the noise of flesh meeting flesh as the fighting continues.
“My queen. I wish to pledge my fealty to you.”
Chapter 19
Morana’s head swivels in my direction and she narrows her eyes as I hold my hands out at my sides, palms open, and approach where she stands. I’d dropped the bag with the book next to the car, hoping one of the men would find it when they leave.
If they leave.
God, please let this work.
“What trick is this?” Morana asks, clearly not believing my sudden change of heart.
“No trick.” I look over my shoulder as Carver struggles in Hugo’s grip and then turn my attention back to Morana.
“No, Aura, no! Don’t do this.” Carver shouts, earning him a punch to the jaw from Louis.
I wince but turn my attention away from him to Morana.
She smiles smugly. “You wish for me to save him?” She taps a finger to her lips. “He was once my favorite, but lately he has not been a good boy, have you Carver?” Carver snarls at her, twisting in Hugo
’s grip and swearing in French.
“Please, my Queen. I will pledge my life to you and do anything you ask of me.” I try not to choke on the words as they leave my lips, but I’ll say anything to save the lives of the men I love.
Morana flicks her wrist and the guards around Lucian and Marius step back, leaving them to surround their queen. They both look to Carver, still in Hugo and Louis’ clutches. Marius takes a step towards them and Morana clicks her tongue.
“I wouldn’t try it if I were you.” She laughs. “After all, Aura here wants to be with me. You wouldn’t want to upset her, now would you?” She gives me a sharp look and I duck my head.
“Please, Marius. Don’t interfere.” I hope that he hears the command in my voice rather than the subservience I’m trying so hard to show Morana in the hopes that she’ll call off her pet assassins. I step forward, inching my way closer to her, keeping an eye out for any sharp objects pointed my way from her cronies.
“Lyra,” Morana calls for her, and I almost trip. Had she seen Lyra let me go? “Be a dear and escort Aura up to me so she may pledge her life to me for eternity.”
Lyra tilts her head in acknowledgement and approaches me. She grabs my arm in a firm grip and makes a show of pulling me up towards where Morana watches us both with a hawkish stare.
“Kneel.” Morana issues the command and I look back at my men once more, hoping they can see in my eyes that I’m not betraying them.
I do as she asks and kneel in front of her satin covered feet. “What ne-”
“Quiet! I will tell you what to do.” Morana hisses the words and I tense.
“You must promise to let them go and not harm them.” I speak the words so fast they’re almost jumbled together but I say them none the less.
Morana slaps me across the face, her ring splitting open my cheek. The very ring I plan to steal from her. And I cry out, crumpling to the ground in a dramatic show for her. After all, that’s what she called us here for. A show. And I’m going to give her one she’ll never fucking forget.
Turn: The Kresova Vampire Harems: Aurora Page 13
