The Witch Queen

by Juliana Haygert

  Thomas stopped by the back door and glanced at me. “I have to tell you something before we go in.”

  I tensed. “What?”

  “These vampires … they are weak and a little crazy.”

  “What?” I repeated, certain I hadn’t heard him right.

  But Thomas didn’t answer me. He disappeared through the solid wall. A moment later, the door opened and a blond vampire stared at me.

  “Look who we have here,” the vampire said, smiling. His fangs were out. “An ex-prince.”

  It took me a moment to process his appearance. His long hair looked like a bird’s nest, his skin was still smooth and young, but his face had a rough edge to it, as if he had aged a little since becoming a vampire. When he took a few steps back to allow me to enter, I noticed his gait—he walked as if he were limping, which was impossible.

  Then I took in all the vampires in the small and almost furniture-less living room. All of them looked as disheveled and savage as the blond vampire—though still beautiful and lethal.

  The shine in their wide eyes screamed lunatic.

  I wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea coming here.

  “I’m Prince Drake,” I said, loud and clear. The title didn’t have any weight nowadays, but I would use it if it helped gain some fans and favors.

  The blond vampire pointed to himself. “Lark, and this is Remi.” He gestured to a large, black vampire standing on the other side of the room. “We’re the leaders here.”

  “Your ghost lackey told us you wanted to meet us,” Remi said. Once upon a time, it seemed he had an accent, but it had been mostly lost over the years. “What for?”

  What the hell was I doing here? Could I trust these crazy vampires? I already had the werewolves and hopefully the witches on my side. I didn’t need two dozen crazy vampires.

  “Never mind,” I muttered, turning to the door.

  Lark stepped in my way and slapped a big hand on the door. “I don’t think so.”

  I frowned. “Excuse me?”

  Remi appeared right behind me. “You’ve seen too much. We can’t let you leave.”

  They were crazy. “Seen too much? What have I seen?”

  “You know about us,” Remi said, smiling wide so I could see his exposed fangs. “You know where to find us. That’s too much.”

  I stilled. “And what are you going to do about it?”

  “We’re going to kill you,” Lark snarled.

  Both leaders made a go for me. Besides being better fed and healthier, I was older than them, which made me stronger.

  I stepped to the side, dodging their attacks. I punched Lark’s chin and kicked Remi’s chest. They kept coming at me, teeth bared and hands shaped like claws. Just like animals.

  But their lack of real fight training was to my advantage.

  Lark tried to punch my face. I ducked and punched his ribs instead—five quick jabs that pushed him back. Then Remi tried to land some kicks on my side. I spun at an angle and landed a powerful side kick to his hips that sent him sliding backward.

  They didn’t give up. Lark and Remi came at me again. Though I was focused on them, I noticed the crowd closing in on the fight. Were they afraid I would escape? Would they try to stop me?

  Try was a big word tonight.

  Because they kept trying to hit me—to no avail.

  Tired of these games, I bared my teeth and punched Lark in the middle of his chest, putting a lot of my strength into it. The vampire flew across the room. He slammed into the built-in shelves along the wall, breaking them.

  Remi’s punch grazed my jaw. With a groan, I pushed his arm away, then stepped into him and gave him a knife hand strike to the neck. He coughed as I spun around and landed an elbow strike to his chest. He stumbled back, but I held his wrist. I swept my foot around his ankle and he went down. Still holding his arm, and twisting it, I stepped onto his neck.

  Then the other vampires were on me.

  Seeing their leaders out, they charged at me. They weren’t strong, but the determination in their eyes, in their coiled muscles, and the roughness of their movements, spoke to me. Even though there was no chance they would defeat me, they didn’t stop trying.

  Distracted by the other vampires, I only noticed Lark and Remi coming at me just as their hands closed around my arms and wrists. They pulled me in opposite directions, forcing me to stand straight.

  The other vampires took a step back and watched as their leaders gloated about overpowering a prince.

  This was pathetic. Did they really think they had me?

  I forced my arms down and stepped back. Lark and Remi lost their hold on me. Before they could recover from the surprise, I landed a roundhouse kick to the back of Remi’s head, making him stumble forward, and gave Lark an arm lock, then pulled his back against my chest, my hand tight on his neck.

  Everyone froze , including Remi.

  Right now, they knew that if they moved in the wrong direction, if they breathed too loud, it would end Lark.

  They were one unprepared bunch, but I couldn’t deny I was impressed with their instinct and determination.

  “Hear me out.” I dropped my hand from Lark’s neck. “I came here looking for allies.”

  Remi crossed his arms, on the defensive. “Allies?”

  “Yes.” I sighed. I had to be as lunatic as they were to be considering this, but it seemed better than to fight my way out. Let them burn this energy somewhere else. Like a real battlefield. “I plan on overthrowing Alex soon.”

  Remi’s and Lark’s eyes bulged.

  “How?” Lark asked.

  “I have a few allies waiting. They will come when I call. But I could use more help.” I looked around. “You just proved to me you’re strong and determined. If you agree to help me, I’ll get more blood to you to help you build your strength.” Again, probably not a great idea, but if they joined me, I would rather have them ready to do real damage.

  “And what do we gain from this?” Remi asked.

  “You wouldn’t need to hide anymore,” I said. “If I become lord, you could come back to a luxurious life inside the castle.”

  Lark spat at the floor. “We don’t want any lord of the castle.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s only one way we’ll join you,” Remi said.

  Lark nodded. “Tell us you’ll abolish the monarchy and we’ll join you.”

  That was unexpected. “No monarchy?”

  “Exactly,” Remi said. “No lords, no kings, no princes. We want everyone free. We want no laws or regulations. And we want to hunt for humans in the wild.”

  In the wild? Humans didn’t wander in the wild. Did he mean going into towns and attacking them? That was too much.

  The same determination that shone in their eyes when they were fighting me was now stamped on their faces. All of them. The only way to have them join me was to lie to them.

  “That … that sounds like a good idea, actually.” Thomas appeared by my side, his eyes wide. I ignored him and went on. “If we overthrow Alex, I’ll make sure it’s the end of the monarchy. We’ll be all free to do whatever we want.”

  Grinning and showing me their fangs, Lark and Remi extended their hands at me.

  “Then we have a deal,” Lark said.

  I shook their hands. “Thomas will let you know when we’re ready to attack.”

  Thomas shrank under their crazed gazes.

  After a few more details and unsaid threats, Lark opened the door and let us leave.

  The village was quiet and mostly dark. It only really functioned when we had feasts. Now that Alex held them each week, I had no idea what he planned to do about it.

  Everything was falling apart.

  Halfway to the castle, Thomas mustered the courage to ask me the question I knew he was dying to.

  “You lied to them about dissolving the monarchy, right?”

  I nodded once. “Right.” Which I wasn’t proud of. I had always upheld my morals and
honor above everything else. Lying was the exact opposite. “As much as it would be grand to live in a world without a monarchy, every society needs a leader and rules, otherwise it would be chaos.” Perhaps we could consider some other kind of government for our society, but that was a worry for the future. If we ever got there.

  “Then what are you going to do?”

  “Once I assume power, I’ll seize them. They will have a choice: Either join us or they will be banished forever.”

  Thomas looked down. “Just please don’t become a dictator. An oppressing leader.”

  I sighed, afraid of exactly that. “I’ll try.”

  21

  Thea

  Though we had been ordered to bed early the previous night, I barely slept a wink. I was too anxious to rest and sleep. I still hadn’t heard from Keeran, and so far, it seemed Morda hadn’t found out the heart was missing.

  I was able to convince Ebby to help me. I taught her an illusion spell, and while she performed that and distracted the witchguards guarding the tower, I slipped past them and stole the heart. As usual, it beat faster once I touched it, and with its power in my hands, it was even easier to get out of the tower and the mansion undetected.

  I took the heart of the coven to the cottage where Drake and I always met, and after storing it inside a velvet sack, I buried it deep in the ground at the roots of a thick tree behind the property.

  Here, no one would find it.

  Despite everything plaguing my thoughts, I felt confident as I went down to the main hall. I was expecting to find Morda going crazy, screaming about the heart and that the attack would be postponed until we found it.

  I crossed the open doors and stopped in my tracks.

  Witches walked around in gowns, and witchguards wore their battle leather uniform. Standing by her tall chair, Morda wore a leather gown like that.

  What?

  “Thea,” Morda said, grinning at me. “There you are.”

  The hundreds of witches in the main hall glanced at me, but didn’t stop buckling potions and weapons to the straps in their clothes.

  By all that was sacred …

  Swallowing my surprise, I rushed to Morda’s side. “Morning, my Princess.” I curtsied in a haste. She couldn’t know I had expected the battle to be canceled by now. “Sorry for having slept in.”

  She waved me off. “We have a little time before we go. You should get ready, though.”

  “Yes, my Princess.” My mind reeling, I turned to leave.

  “Thea, wait,” Morda called. I froze. Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder. Morda gestured for me to come closer. My heart pumped against my ribs as I went to her. “Something happened last night,” she whispered.

  I could feel the blood draining from my face. “W-what is it?”

  “The coven’s heart was stolen again,” she said, still whispering. I gasped, pretending surprise. “I have a group of witches out looking for it.”

  So she already knew about it. “But … what about the battle? Can we attack if we don’t have the power of the heart with us?”

  Morda opened her arms wide. “Can’t you feel it?”

  I frowned. “What?”

  “Our power. The heart’s power. Even with the heart gone, our power is still in full flux.”

  How was that possible? Unless … unless Drake was right, and I was the witch queen. The coven would be able to channel the heart’s power through me.

  I inhaled deeply. “I-I don’t understand.”

  She grabbed my wrist and her eyes sparkled. “It must be because one of us has finally conceived a child. The witch queen. Shame we don’t have time to perform pregnancy checks right now. I would love to know who’s carrying such a child. Anyway, the child must be channeling the power of the heart back to the rest of the coven, even if the heart isn’t here.”

  If only Morda knew that it wasn’t a baby, but me.

  “That’s fantastic,” I said, forcing a smile.

  “I think so, too.”

  I lowered my head. “If you let me, my Princess, I’ll go get ready now.” What I really needed was to go back to my bedroom and think. There was too much going on—and not in the right direction.

  “Wait,” Morda said. I frowned at her. “I have a surprise for you.”

  What now?

  Morda snapped her fingers. From the side door, two witchguards dragged a badly wounded and beaten man.

  My heart stopped. “Keeran …”

  “Your servant was found trying to escape the estate, despite the bond I cast over you two,” she said, her tone chilling.

  I stared at her. She thought I wasn’t involved in this? “W-what?”

  Soraya appeared from behind me, and showed me her predatory smile. “He was found in the woods outside the estate. Apparently, he was attacked by wolves prior to being found.”

  No, no, no.

  The werewolves had Drake’s note. The werewolves had been expecting me to make contact; maybe they thought this was it. The witches and the werewolves would march into DuMoir Castle with Drake being unprepared for it.

  “Bring him forward,” Morda ordered.

  The witchguards dragged Keeran to the center of the room. As if it had been rehearsed, the hundreds of witches closed around him in a wide circle, with Morda, Soraya, a handful of witchguards, and Keeran and me in the middle.

  My hands shook, my breathing grew erratic. By all that was sacred …

  “This will be fun.” Soraya winked at me before getting closer to Keeran.

  The witchguards pushed Keeran to his knees. He fell forward, too weak to keep himself up, but the hold of the witches in his arms and shoulders kept him up.

  Morda halted in front of him. “Keeran, for your attempt at escape and betrayal, I sentence you to death.”

  I swallowed a gasp.

  No, no, no.

  Morda lifted her hand, palm turned to him, and light shone from her hand. My feet moved without my consent, but before I could do anything, Keeran let out a roar. Magic burst from him like a jet of red flames.

  The witchguards holding Keeran fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Too fast, Morda cast a shield around us, but it broke in contact with Keeran’s power.

  “He’s a warlock!” Soraya cried in horror.

  “Kill him!” Morda screamed.

  All the witches raised their hands toward him.

  No, this wasn’t supposed to go down like this.

  I channeled my power, the heart’s power, and it filled me like an avalanche. Without moving an inch so I wouldn’t get caught, I cast a protective shield around him.

  The witches’ magic hit the shield, causing it to tremble, but I could feel it. It wouldn’t break. Not when I had the heart’s power flowing through me.

  Holy shit, I was the witch queen.

  Keeran rose to his feet, and using his magic, he threw a few black bolts at the witches, forcing them to retreat and open the circle. I kept the shield up around him even when he ran out of the mansion and the witches went after him.

  “Let him go!” Morda’s voice echoed off the walls.

  The witches stopped. I frowned, but didn’t break the shield around Keeran even after he had crossed the gardens and reached the forest. I would keep it up until I didn’t sense him anymore … and who knew when that would be? With the heart’s power in me, I felt like anything was possible.

  But I did sense something: When Keeran’s power manifested, our bond was broken. I couldn’t feel anything tying us to each other now. He was free to flee, and I was free to go to Drake.

  Soraya faced Morda. “My Princess, we need to kill him,” she barked. Soraya wasn’t used to losing.

  “We don’t have time to chase after a rogue warlock right now,” Morda spat. Her movements were short and hard. She was furious. “Not when we have a castle to attack.”

  “We’re still going to DuMoir Castle?” Soraya asked.

  “Yes.” Morda rolled her shoulders and raised her chin high. “Get ready,
my witches, we march in fifteen minutes.”

  Panic building in my chest, I slipped out of the main hall. If anyone stopped me, I would lie that I was going to my bedroom to get ready for battle. Thankfully, the witches were all too busy and no one saw as I ran from the mansion.

  22

  Drake

  Pacing my living room seemed to be a preferred pastime. This time, though, it wasn’t Luana, but me. Ever since coming back from talking to the rebel vampires last night, I had felt anxious, more anxious than before.

  All that was missing now was Thea’s signal. Once she contacted me and let me know the witches were coming, I would tell the werewolves and the rebel vampires. I would then try talking to princes Cain, Phelps, and Gray about what was to come. Hopefully, they would listen to me; they would support me as they once had done.

  If all went down as it was supposed to, Alex and his allies didn’t stand a chance.

  Soon, this castle would be mine, and I would restore order and peace.

  I shuddered, dreading the weight of it all. It would be a boulder permanently settled on my shoulders, a boulder I had agreed to, and yet, I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. I didn’t think I would ever be ready for it.

  To alert the werewolves, I needed Luana here, and she had been gone for hours now. I had assumed she had gone to Alex for her daily duty—reporting on me and my activities. According to her, all she told him was that I sulked in my chambers, dragged my feet around the garden while grumbling about my miserable life, drank her blood, and tried to persuade the other princes that Alex was bad news. The last one wasn’t a lie, but it hadn’t been that simple either.

  I wouldn’t risk talking to other princes about my plans unless I was sure they would stand by my side, or the attack was imminent. And even then, who knew? Most of the princes had always been fickle and supported whoever gave them more power.

  I sighed and stared at the door.

  If she wasn’t coming, then I would go after her. Who cared? If Alex saw me looking for her, even better. This way he would believe I was really into her—and too distracted to do anything.