by T. S. Ryder
Cleo bit hard on her cheek as a warm feeling spread through her chest. She didn't want to feel that way about Darius… If she let herself fall in love with him, what then? She might be faced with the decision of choosing between his love or her ambition, and she hadn't struggled through poverty and abandonment to become a shivering waif who would put a man ahead of everything she wanted or needed.
No. Love was not for her, and it wasn't for Darius. She climbed out of bed and began redressing, trying not to notice how much her hands were shaking.
"I have things to attend to," she said and was pleased when it sounded cool and aloof. "That was a great session, thank you. Will I see you at supper?"
Darius swung out of bed as well, his gray eyes darkening. He shook his head stiffly. "I'll be busy for the rest of the day, and probably well into the night. I'll try not to wake you when I do come to bed."
Cleo smoothed her hair and nodded. "Well then. I'll see you tomorrow."
She swept out of the room before she could convince herself to say – or feel – anything else.
Chapter Five – Darius
Several days after receiving news of his promotion, Darius was taking a well-earned break to spend the night with his wife.
He kissed Cleo lightly, smiling as she shivered in his arms. He loved the way she reacted to him, as though he was the most skilled lover she had ever had. Every time it was like they were discovering each other's pleasure again without the awkwardness that had been prevalent with their actual first time. He moved across her jaw and down her neck—
The door burst open.
"You had better have a good explanation for this," Darius growled, not turning to see who it was. Cleo looked a little startled, but she didn't release him. They were both fully clothed, anyway.
"I do," Gordon said. He sounded grim, so Darius turned.
"Well?"
"A cheetah shifter broke into the palace. She assassinated Camlo."
The king's heir. Darius pulled away from Cleo. "How could a shifter get into the palace itself? There should be heavy fortifications, guards… What happened?"
"Details are scarce at the moment. There was a full-scale attack on Lord Virgil's estates, and the king sent troops to help him. The cheetah was caught while trying to get into the queen's chambers, but she had already killed Camlo."
Darius stood and paced from one side of the room to the other. There was a chance that the Rebeluna was responsible for this. As much as it was a tragedy that the king's heir was killed, it opened up Darius’s possibilities again. But if it was the Rebeluna, Camlo's death was on his shoulders. It was his responsibility to stop the rebels, and while he had made some progress, it obviously wasn't enough.
"This could ruin me," Darius said, tugging at his dark hair. "This could ruin all of us."
"It could also progress your career," Gordon said. "If you were able to find the shifters responsible and bring them to the king, it would shine favorably on you."
"And, if it is the Rebeluna, the king will demand to know why I didn't already know about this plot of theirs. You said they launched a concentrated attack on Lord Virgil? Clearly a distraction. We will have to go see him at once. Did he take any prisoners?"
"From what I hear, he turned and ran away with his tail between his legs," Gordon replied, a look of disgust coming over his face. "He'll be relieved of his position over this. How can he even call himself a vampire?"
Darius grunted, thinking. If he were to retain his promotion, he would have to prove that the Rebeluna was not behind the attack. But hadn't he thought that they were up to something? Even if they weren't directly involved in the assassination, they had to have knowledge of it.
No. He had to work on the assumption that they were directly responsible for the attack. He could not try to prove himself innocent of negligence, he had to redouble his efforts. Avenge the king's heir, drive the Rebeluna out of the vampire kingdom.
The colonel nodded, turning back to Gordon. "I want three squads prepared. We are going to go after the Rebeluna and bring them down once and for all."
Cleo gasped. "Darius, that's too dangerous. You still don't know much about them – their numbers, their command structure… You don't even know if all the attacks that have been claimed by them have actually been theirs! It could be several groups, each claiming to be the Rebeluna in order to throw you off the trail. Your best chance is to just prove that this is Lord Virgil's fault for his lax security, not because of you."
"My best chance at not being punished, you mean. The king is without an heir. If I am going to fill that position, I must do more than every vampire who is fighting for the same position."
"It's too risky, staking all future prospects on one mission."
"Without risk, we will never get where we want. You know that as well as I."
Cleo pressed her lips tightly together but nodded. "You're right. Go. I will do my best here to make sure people don't start spreading rumors about your role in this."
"I'll call you tonight."
"I'll be waiting."
He grabbed a dress uniform from his closet before he left the room. While he would be wearing camouflage, the same as his men, when he actually went to take the shifters down, he also needed to be well-dressed and present himself in rank to Lord Virgil when they got to the old man's estate.
As they were heading down the stairs, Gordon cleared his throat. "You didn't say goodbye."
Various portraits of Darius and his parents lined the walls. He frowned – it was time to get rid of them. Or at least put them in storage. He'd commission portraits of Cleo and himself instead. They were married, his parents were dead. It was just the logical thing to do.
"Are you listening to me?"
"I heard you. I didn't say goodbye. To whom?"
"Cleo. Your wife." Gordon stopped on the landing and turned to him, a frown etching the lines in his face. "She loves you."
"Loves me? You don't even like her. What would you know about her feelings?"
"Whether I like her or not is irrelevant. What I may have thought about her before is also irrelevant. The woman loves you, Darius. Far more than she wants to admit. She's wildly in love with you, and you're a fool for not seeing it."
Darius rolled his eyes and continued past a suit of armor that he used to wear into battle against human armies until they realized that their beliefs about vampire weaknesses – crosses, holy water, sunlight – were as useless as fighting a bear with a spoon and bowed to the king. If only the shifters had submitted as well, none of this would have been necessary.
Gordon quickly caught up with him. ''You can't ignore me forever."
"Cleo does not love me. That's a foolish notion."
"You only say that because you're also wildly in love with her, but you don't want to admit it because you're afraid that loving her will make her like you less. You think that she'll leave you because 'love is a weakness.' But, honestly, you're both bright, ambitious people. So what if you love each other? You'll still do what's necessary to get ahead in life."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Darius said shortly, turning to glare at his friend. "Another word and I'll cut your tongue out. Now go get the troops ready. I have to call Virgil and let him know we're coming. Go. Now."
Gordon saluted and jumped from their place on the stairs to the floor below. He ran off, leaving Darius alone with his thoughts. His cellphone was in his pocket, but he didn't reach for it. Despite himself, his footsteps slowed and he looked back the way he had come.
Should he have said goodbye to Cleo? He usually did. He also usually kissed her. But, surely, in this situation, it wasn't a big deal if he skipped those small details. Time was of the essence, and going back up the stairs to kiss her would waste precious seconds.
And if I die on this mission? The Rebeluna tried to assassinate me once already. Cleo's right, I don't know their numbers. And, after Camlo's death, they could increase as shifters flock to the fight against t
he king. There is a good possibility that I am going to die on this mission.
Was that what she meant when she said that he was risking too much on this one mission? Was she not referring to his future, their future, but his life? Was Gordon right? Did she love him?
Ridiculous.
But as Darius continued down the stairs, he realized something that left him shivering in his boots. If Cleo did say that she loved him… he would not hesitate to say it in return. Whether she loved him or not, Gordon was right.
I love her. Of all the stupid things… I love her. I married her for her ambition—no, I didn't. I didn't even know about her ambition until after we wed. I married her because from the moment I saw her, the thought of another man touching her made me want to kill.
And that possessive feeling had not gone away since they married. He would still tear apart anybody who dared to touch her, but it was paired with another feeling. The desire to give her everything she wanted. To see her happy. He wanted to be king, he always did, but over the past four months since he married Cleo Paterson, he also wanted to see her be the queen. She was beautiful, smart, and deserved to be worshiped by every vampire in existence.
I'm in trouble, he thought as he fished his phone from his pocket. Big, big trouble.
Chapter Six – Cleo
An alarm on her phone dinged. Cleo lunged for it, ignoring the annoyed looks from the two generals' wives she was hosting for tea. It was the fifth time in half an hour, but Cleo couldn't stop herself. It might be news from Darius or about Darius.
Her heart sunk when she saw that it was only a message alerting her to a sale at her favorite clothing boutique.
"Have you ever seen a woman seven months pregnant move that quickly?" one of her guests asked the other, tittering.
"I apologize," Cleo said, keeping the phone in her hand this time. "I have not seen my husband in four months."
After he left to learn more about the shifters that had attacked Lord Virgil, Darius had soon found out about various nooks within the vampire kingdom where their enemies were hiding. Ever since then, it seemed like he had gone from battle to battle with hardly half an hour to call her and tell her that he was still alive before fighting again.
"You must be very proud of your new general," one of the wives, Marta, said, patting Cleo's hand. "The palace is always talking about him. We haven't seen a military leader like him since our great King Iosif's dear brother who was killed by shifters–other than the king himself, of course. I hear that the king is considering him to be his next heir."
"I would trade all his glory and honor for him to be home with me, safe," Cleo said bitterly, looking away. "I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't come home. If he never meets his child."
Her hands cupped her swollen belly protectively, shivering at the thought that the child she carried might never be able to meet or see his father. The pregnancy hormones were really messing with her brain these days. Whenever she thought of never seeing Darius again, she couldn't breathe. It was so horrible that there were days that she was frozen with fear, staring at her phone, unable to concentrate on her tasks.
It was silly, she knew it. Darius was a fine, strong vampire. He knew the risks of going off to battle, and he had his position and their future in mind.
It didn't stop her from wanting to phone him up and beg him to return home, hang the consequences.
Marta patted her arm. "Yes, I know that feeling all too well. But it's part of the territory when you marry a vampire. You never know when they'll go off to war. Or if they'll return."
Cleo managed a polite smile. As much as she knew she needed to keep up appearances with these people, she couldn't help but want these two women gone. She was tired of hearing about how proud she must be, or how everybody thought highly of Darius. She was tired of hearing their speculations on how his battles would end, or how quickly he would find success. It all came with the unspoken speculations that he might be dead soon.
She needed a distraction, if only for a little while. She cut off tea with the two wives early, feigning a headache. Once they were gone, she headed directly into town to see Ed. Her sister didn't know anything about what was going on outside her hospital, and that was exactly what Cleo needed.
These days, visiting Ed was the only bright spot of her life. She visited her sister every day without fail. It was the only time she could concentrate on something other than the fact that Darius could be in a life-and-death battle at that very moment.
Ed squealed her happy squeal when she saw Cleo and rushed over to hug her and pat her belly.
"When is she going to be born?" Ed asked as they sat at her desk.
"It'll be another two months, and it's probably a boy," Cleo replied. She fluffed her sister's dark hair. "After he's born, I'll bring him to visit you."
"Maybe I can come see you. That would be nice. Maybe we can even go riding horses. Does Darius have any horses?"
Cleo shook her head. "Some vampires do, but we don't. Too much work."
"Oh." Ed made a face. "Well, it's a good thing you love him, then."
Cleo jolted at Ed's simple statement. She tried to calm her pounding heart, instead smiling at her sister. Ed's views of the world weren't as tainted as her own. She didn't know that Cleo had only married Darius for his position and that it was the same reason Darius had married her. Ed still thought that people only married one another because they were madly, deeply in love with one another.
"Yes," she said, trying to sound convincing. "I do love him."
Do I? She tried to shove away the thoughts. It doesn't matter. Even if I did love him, he doesn't love me. It's all about ambition with him. And that's all there is for me as well.
"Cleo?" Ed touched her cheek. "You're crying."
"Oh, no. I'm not crying. I just have watery eyes right now." She wiped her face.
Ed didn't look convinced. Before she could continue to press, though, a nurse walked into the room. His skin looked pale, eyes wide. His muscles were coiled, and the smile that worked its way onto his face was obviously fake.
"Mrs. Paterson, there is someone at the front desk who needs to speak with you. It's urgent."
Cleo jumped to her feet. Her heart was in her throat as all sorts of things flashed through her mind. The nurse was looking so shaken because it was a vampire here looking for her. They were here to tell her that Darius was dead. That the shifters had struck off his head, or driven a silver stake through his heart, or burned him to ash.
"I'll be back," she told Ed, then hurried to follow the nurse down to the front desk.
A lithe, thin woman was waiting for her. She didn't look familiar, but Cleo didn't know all the vampires or their wives in the kingdom. She only knew the higher-ranking ones, and they wouldn't send one of them for news about Darius. Cleo practically ran to the woman.
"What is it?" she asked, heart in her throat. "Is it Darius? Do you have news from the war?"
"This is her?" The woman's hand clasped Cleo's arm.
The front desk clerk and the nurse both nodded. Cleo's stomach twisted. How would the vampires even know where to find her? A musky scent she hadn't noticed, too intent on learning about Darius, finally worked its way to her brain. It was the same scent that Darius often had clinging to him after he dealt with shifters. This woman was one of them. Her heart beat even faster. This was a trap. Somehow, this was a trap and she had walked right into it.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
The woman gave her a disgusted look. "We're leaving now."
"Who are you?"
"Remember," the woman said, gazing back at the clerk and nurse. "If you tell anybody about this, my compatriots will level this place. Understood?"
Cleo's lungs struggled to draw in a breath as she gazed at the woman in horror. The shifters threatened to flatten a hospital? How depraved were they? The place was full of humans, sick humans, they were no threat. Vampires never came there.
The shifter began dragging her away
.
"Wait," Cleo squeaked. "My sister, she'll worry."
"And if you cause me any troubles, she'll be dead. Come along now, human. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."
Cleo shook as both terror reared its head and rage filled her chest. How dare they threaten her sister? Ed had nothing to do with them. She had nothing to do with vampires. And yet, they were targeting her just the same.
This was why Darius did what he did. Why all the vampires did what they did. Shifters had no regard for life outside their own clans. If the vampires hadn't driven them back as much as they had, there would be shifters killing humans left and right.
"My husband will kill you," Cleo hissed, yanking her arm away. She walked beside the shifter stride for stride.
Whatever they had planned for her, they would not hurt Ed.
***
The woman didn't blindfold her. She didn't tie her hands. All she did was take Cleo’s phone away and remind her that if she attempted to escape, then Ed would die. It was enough of a threat that Cleo kept quiet and still as the shifter put her in an old, beat-up pickup truck and drove out of the city. They were on the road for hours before the woman stopped on a deserted stretch and got out.
Cleo was certain she would be dead at that moment, but the woman merely told her to climb onto her back, then smoothly shifted into a deer. The size and coloring looked like a tiny Roe deer, but this one was a good six feet at the shoulder. The young human had to climb onto the hood of the car to get onto the deer's back.
She had never known just how huge shifters were before this. She clung to the deer as they headed into the forest.
By the time the ride was over, Cleo thought that the jostling might put her in early labor. She cradled her belly as she climbed stiffly off the deer and looked around. They were at a campsite with dozens of tents spread out through the trees. People were moving about doing various tasks. They were all dressed in ragged clothing like the strips now clinging to the deer. Shifters, all of them.
A huge, thick-necked man caught sight of them and strode over, a wicked grin crossing his face. Cleo tried to make herself smaller, holding her belly. Would they kill Ed anyway, now that she was here? Would they skin her and send the pieces back to Darius?
