His eyes met hers; a flicker of hope sprang to life in his chest. “What if your child actually survived and is sitting right in front of you?”
Giovanna shook her head. “It’s not possible. My baby died. If he were alive, I would feel it in here.” She placed her hand over her heart. “Instead, I feel absolutely nothing. I haven’t for a very long time.”
Drakkar refused to believe it. Everything pointed to the fact Absinthe was not his real mother. If not the woman before him, then who? He didn’t share Absinthe’s thirst for revenge anymore. He just wanted his own answers.
“I don’t think that’s true. What I think is that you locked the pain of losing your kid away.”
He touched the hand resting on her leg lightly, waiting for the vision to knock the wind out of him again. It didn’t come. Instead, she wrapped the fingers of her other hand over his.
Someone slowly clapped behind them. They froze. The air was sucked completely out of the room. There was only one other person it could be. The one person neither of them wanted see at that very moment.
“How touching. I always enjoy witnessing tragic reunions.” Absinthe sneered.
Drakkar and Giovanna turned to watch her step into the sunken living room. He removed his hand from Giovanna’s limp hold. She reached for him as he stood. Moving out of the range of her grasp, he stepped between the women.
“I won’t let you hurt her.” He raised his chin.
“Dear Drakkar, I have no intention of hurting my mousey little pet.” She placed her palm on his cheek, cupping it. “Giovanna is much more useful to me in full health and alive.”
“And why is that?” Giovanna moved behind him and placed a hand on his arm. “So you can continue to feed off her? She’s a human being, not a happy meal.”
Absinthe threw her head back, laughing. “I thought you figured it out. Maybe I underestimated your intelligence. You are his son, after all.”
“Mother, if you have something to say, just come out and say it. I’m too tired to go in circles right now.” Drakkar stood his ground between the women.
The Princess moved her hand from cupping his cheek to having a vice grip on his jaw. Her lips curled into vicious snarl. “Do you have any idea how much I detest you calling me that? Hearing you even utter the word mother makes my skin crawl.”
“Any mother who would beat her child into a bloody pulp every chance she got doesn’t deserve to be called by that name. He has done nothing but try to live up to your standards, and yet you treat him lower than vermin on the street.” Giovanna’s defense broke his heart. Why couldn’t his own mother show him the same compassion?
Absinthe glared over his shoulder. “You have no idea how right you are.”
He wrenched away from her, but she held him tight. Drake couldn’t speak. Whether it be the fear of what she would do to both of them, or if she used another of the spells created by one of her many followers, he wasn’t sure. All he could do was stand, helpless until she either let him go or delivered her attack.
Her nails bit into his skin. Blood from the wounds she created, oozed from the crescents and dripped down his neck. How many times had the same scene played out in the past? Probably more than he’d care to admit. But this time, he wasn’t the only one at Absinthe’s mercy. He needed to protect the woman behind him as well.
Finally finding his voice, Drakkar spoke through his clenched teeth. “Let her go. You can punish me however it is you need to. Just don’t hurt her.” His words mimicked the ones he spoke only hours ago, but then it was to save Serenity. Now it was to spare someone he barely knew.
“Drakkar, Drakkar, Drakkar. I can’t do that. You see, letting the mouse go will take away my means of getting what I want.” Her yellow eyes flashed. “How else can I force you to get me that child?”
Absinthe let his jaw go with a nasty flick from her wrist. The move dug her nails deeper into his skin for a moment, tearing out little chunks of flesh. Drake fell back into Giovanna. She caught him and held him against her.
“How can you be so cruel to your own son?” Giovanna held a piece of her robe to Drakkar’s chin to stop the bleeding.
“I can because he is not my son.” Absinthe’s words fell over them like a bucket of ice water. “He’s yours.”
Giovanna gasped. “No, this is just another of your lies. Just like you lied to me about Jared to have me kill him.”
She lunged around Drakkar, screaming. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling Giovanna back. She fought his hold, but he was stronger. She couldn’t break free.
“I’ll kill you! All of these years you kept me from my son. You tortured him, and I was helpless to save him.” Giovanna collapsed against him, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Absinthe inspected her manicure. “It was all for a good cause. He was supposed to be my secret weapon -a son killing his own father to return the crown to its rightful owner.” She sighed. “I should have known he would eventually turn on me.”
“You are a monster! Abusing a child to keep him under your thumb?”
The wounds on Drakkar’s jaw stopped bleeding. His skin itched, pulling as the scabs formed. They fell away as new skin formed scars which eventually vanished leaving his skin unblemished.
Drake’s eyes leveled on Absinthe. Every one of his emotions like a hurricane inside him yet all he would give her was a frozen smile.
He pulled Giovanna back toward the sofa and forced her to sit. Turning back on Absinthe, anger flowed through every pore in his body. Raising his hand, he was going to blast her like he did Vince at school. Anything so they could escape and get to one of the conservators homes.
The energy ball in his palm flickered and fizzled out
The back of Absinthe’s hand connected with his face. Drakkar staggered to the side, away from Giovanna. The Princess loomed, hitting him again with her fist. Instead of only stumbling, he fell into the fireplace, smacking his temple on the stone. He shook his head, holding up his hand. Still nothing happened.
“You honestly thought I was going to let you wield that magic of yours in this house? The moment I let her have the freedom to move around, I made sure to ward it against you as well. I’m not stupid, Drakkar.”
“No, you’re pathetic.” He spat blood at her feet.
She snarled and kicked him in the ribs. He curled into a ball, pain flaring in his chest. His breath came in gasps. This time he was sure she punctured one of his lungs with a broken rib.
“Even with all the pain and suffering I put you through, you still kept that shred of humanity he has. You should have become the monster I wanted. The monster I needed.” She stalked toward Giovanna. “Well, I know now how I’m going to keep you in line.”
She grabbed a fistful of Giovanna’s hair and dragged her off the couch. Giovanna fought back, swinging, scratching, twisting away from Absinthe. But the Princess’ hold was too firm.
Absinthe forced Giovanna’s face down to floor level so mother and son could look in each other’s eyes. “If you want her to live, you will get me that little brat. Don’t think of going to him for help, either. I will know.”
Drakkar coughed. “He wouldn’t help me if I did.”
“Jared won’t let him anywhere near that house. How can you be so sure he can get in?” Giovanna winced as Absinthe yanked her head up.
“Drakkar will have no problem getting in, will you?” Absinthe’s lips curled.
“No, I can get in.” He pushed himself up to lean against the hearth.
“Would you like to share with mommy why that is?”
She let Giovanna’s hair go. Not wasting a single second, Giovanna crawled across floor and wrapped her arms around him. He wanted desperately to return her embrace, but Absinthe would use the weakness against him.
“I can get in” -he wheezed- “because they have a blood seal on the house. Only someone who is directly related to the people inside can enter.”
“And when did you figure that out?” Absinthe sat on the
arm of the sofa, her arms crossed.
He narrowed his eyes. “The moment I figured out that she is my real mother. Just before you walked in the door.”
“Then you know how you can accomplish my task.” Absinthe’s face hardened. “You get me your sister and your mother will live. Fail to do so, and you will never see her again.”
“How long do I have?”
“Drakkar, you can’t do this.” Giovanna forced him to look at her. “You can’t hand over that baby to her. Do you really want another child to go through what you did?”
He gritted his teeth. “I have no choice. I’m not letting her take you away from me.”
“But she’s just a baby.”
Giovanna pushed the hair out of his eyes. Her touch was loving, not like Absinthe’s. His heart clenched. How could he sentence another child to a life of suffering just so he could be happy?
He tore his gaze away from hers and focused on Absinthe. “How long do I have?”
Giovanna rose to her feet, reaching for the iron poker next to the hearth. “Don’t make him do this.” She grasped it firmly and ran toward Absinthe, swinging it for her head.
Absinthe dodged the blow, knocking the poker from Giovanna’s hands. Grabbing her by the throat, she swung her around to face Drakkar.
“You have until the next full moon.”
Before he could say another word, Giovanna and Absinthe vanished. Drake leaned his head back against the stone fireplace. A tear slid down his cheek. In one night he found his real mother, only to have her torn away from him like a Band-Aid on a hairy arm.
There must be a way out. There had to be a way to make sure they all ended up safe.
But how?
Alex sat in the nursery rocking Annabelle. The baby’s soft whimpering through the monitor woke her out of a dead sleep and she just needed to hold her daughter. It seemed any slight noise made her jump and run to the baby’s room now that the threat had been identified.
Just knowing Absinthe’s son was able to make it through the defenses once kept her on edge. There was no way she’d let their child fall into that woman’s hands. She knew first-hand the types of torture Absinthe could wield on someone. She was sure Absinthe wouldn’t be above using similar tactics on a child, especially not one of her own. This made their daughter extremely vulnerable.
Not only did Absinthe loathe both she and Jared personally, she would stop at nothing to make sure no one stood in her way to take over the kingdom should something happen to the King.
The stirring in the air behind her made her stop mid rock. She slipped the dagger Echelon gave her from the pocket on her robe and palmed it the way the warrior taught her, waiting. When a hand rested on her shoulder, Alex slipped out from under it, grasping Anabelle to her chest, and slicing at the arm attached to the hand. She stared wild-eyed at the shadow behind the rocker when it hissed in pain.
“Draguta, what’s wrong with you?” Zephyr stepped forward, cradling his arm oozing blood all over the pale green carpet.
Alex dropped the dagger and placed the baby in the crib, careful not to wake her. She grabbed one of the blankets off the changing table and wrapped it around her father’s arm to staunch the blood.
“I’m so sorry, father. I guess I’m just on edge.” She lifted the blanket and grimaced.
“You should be sorry and why are you holding onto daggers around Bella? You could hurt her with one wrong move,” he chastised.
Alex straightened. “I would never hurt my daughter. Echelon taught me how to handle a knife, and I think I do it really well.”
He held up his arm. The bleeding stopped, but the angry gash glared at her. “I can vouch for that, yet I’m still worried that being so jumpy might make you careless. Please be more careful.”
She left his side to stand over the crib. Reaching down, Alex brushed the back of her hand over Anabelle’s soft cheek. “I usually am. But something about tonight is different. Something’s changed.”
“How so?” He moved next to her, watching the sleeping infant.
“I can’t put my finger on it. She was whimpering like she was in pain. I came in here and she looked at me like she wanted to tell me what bothered her.” Alex sighed. “I know she can’t speak, but she gave you that vision. I was hoping for something like that.”
“Visions are a fickle thing. They don’t always come when you need them. I’m sure it was just a bad dream.”
Zephyr rubbed the baby’s back gently. Annabelle cooed in her sleep and shoved her little fist in her mouth, sucking on her fingers.
“Or maybe I’m just making a mountain out of a mole hill.”
She drifted away to look out the window. Wrapping her arms around herself, Alex shivered. The moon was low in the western sky, and the sun would rise soon. The mountains on the other side of the river were a dark silhouette against the lightening sky. She missed seeing the sun rise, though she would never tell anyone. Thankfully the metal shades would lower and they would all be protected once again.
At least from one threat.
She leaned her forehead on the cold glass, closing her eyes. All she ever wanted was a normal life. A successful career, a husband and the two-point-one kids “they” said was the average family. Though for the life of her she never understood where the point one came from.
She was never destined for the normal.
No, her normal was a dead end job where she was forced to investigate her now husband, Jared Bonatelli, finding out that her father was probably one of the oldest living vampires on earth, transitioning into one herself, and marrying her very own Prince. Not your typical Cinderella story, but she was never just a typical girl, was she? Nope, not at all.
“How long is this threat going to be looming over us,” she whispered just loud enough for her father to hear, but quiet enough not to wake the baby.
Zephyr placed his hands on her shoulders and looked out at the mountains. “I don’t know. It could end tomorrow. It could go on for years. I wish I could make it all go away, but Absinthe-” He sighed.
She turned around and placed a hand on his chest. “Please don’t try and rationalize her to me. I really don’t want to hear it.”
“I would never dream of it, Draguta. But there is something you need to understand. Absinthe was a kind and loving woman once. A series of very unfortunate events made her the way she is now.”
“Which incarnation was the one you slept with? Jekyll or Hyde? I don’t care what she has gone through. There is no excuse for what she does to people. Someday I hope she gets a taste of her own medicine.”
Zephyr took a step back hurt by her accusation. “I’m going to chalk that one up to you being worried about Bella. I know you don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I?”
“No. This isn’t you.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. This is all me, father. I am not going to let some entitled bitch take my child because hers was taken from her. If I have to, I will kill her myself.”
“Alexandra.” He moved to embrace her, but she held up her hand to stop him.
She was being harsh, but for so long she dealt with the knowledge her father still harbored feelings for the woman who tried to kill her. With the threat against their child, she needed to know he wouldn’t keep defending Absinthe. Until he was able to do so, she wasn’t sure she could trust him. What if Absinthe’s son succeeded? Would he still defend her to the rest of them?
The shutters closed over the window behind her. Alex stifled a yawn. “I’m too tired to rehash any of this now. I’m going to bed.” Stepping around him, she leaned over the crib to give Anabelle a kiss.
“You aren’t joining us for dinner?”
She straightened and faced him again. “No, I’ve suddenly lost my appetite. Good-night, Father.” She walked out of the room, leaving him to contemplate what she said.
Two weeks.
It was two weeks since she got a moment alone to talk to Drakkar. He’d been doing a good job of avoiding
her, or so it seemed. How could she get closer to him if he was nothing more than a blur running in and out of classes? Serenity resorted to grilling Nick about what was going on with him.
Unfortunately, he had no answers either. Drakkar ghosted him as well. The only time they spoke was to do their Biology assignment in lab, and then he was gone again.
Even now as the three of them sat in the cafeteria, Drakkar was a no show for lunch.
“Does he do this a lot?” She waved her hand in front of his face to get Nick’s attention.
“Hmm, what?” He swung around from watching Britt flirt with a basketball player. “What did you say?”
“I said, maybe you should go over there and just ask her out already. I’m getting tired of both of you denying your feelings.”
“I already told you that boat sailed.” He played with his phone. “But that’s not what you really said. You asked if he does this a lot.” Nick looked up. “And by he, I assume you mean Drakkar.”
Serenity nodded, taking a sip from her water bottle.
“He bails on lunch all the time. I think it’s because he’s uncomfortable around so many people. He’d kind of a recluse, a latch-key kid. You know?”
Nettie remembered being the same way when she was younger, but Drakkar was nearly an adult. “Why is he so uncomfortable? It’s not like he has to bother with any of them. We would keep him company.”
Nick shrugged. “Old habits die hard, I guess. But hey, did you talk to your mom about what we discussed?”
Nettie frowned. “What we discussed?”
He leaned closer glancing back and forth before speaking a little above a whisper. “The Prince’s house. You know, security.”
“Oh, that.” She leaned in. “Yup I mentioned it. She started asking me all these questions I, one, didn’t know the answers to and, two, really didn’t want to answer because it would implicate him in something.”
“Damn. I thought we may be able to get away with no additional questions. I should have known better.” He leaned back, but she grabbed his arm, halting his retreat. “What?”
Drakkar ~ Beyond the Lie (A Dark Order of the Dragon Novel Book 3) Page 12
