by Alicia Rades
“What is it that you think I want?” Woops. Another question. Though this time, his eyes brightened, like he was more than happy to answer.
He leaned back in his chair and gestured around himself. “What does everyone want, Rachel?”
I went silent, not sure if he actually intended for me to answer.
“Power,” he said. “Wealth. There is nothing else.”
Maybe to him there wasn’t. But to me, there was family. There was happiness. His power couldn’t earn him that.
“When you have those two things,” he continued, “you don’t need anything else.”
“But if everyone’s powerful, no one is,” I countered, taking another bite of potato.
Valkas smirked. “Not everyone gets what they want, darling. Only the best of the best can achieve greatness. Everyone else follows because they think they can experience greatness vicariously through their master.”
Bingo! That was exactly how he’d amassed a following of Soulless. They wanted a piece of the winning pie. I was sure it was the same with Rogers, too.
“So this proposition… it would provide me with power.”
“Oh, yes,” Valkas replied with a greedy look in his eyes. “More power than you can possibly imagine.” He stood and began pacing toward me, slowly running his fingers across the back of each chair as he went. “Can you imagine it, Rachel? A world where we controlled the wealth, where people complied to our every demand, where we were worshiped as gods?”
He stopped behind the chair next to mine and stared down at me with a hungry look in his eyes. I felt like I might puke up my steak.
“You want me to join you,” I said without emotion. Right now, it was best if I masked it. I wasn’t going to get anywhere by ramming my steak knife through his hand, which I was honestly considering.
Valkas held his head up proudly. “You are a powerful witch, Rachel. With some training, you could be the best.”
“And only the best deserves to be at your side.” I smiled, playing my part, as if the thought of running the world pleased me.
I didn’t have to ask him why he would propose such a thing. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer never rang truer than in this moment.
And that’s when it hit me. Valkas had been bluffing about trapping my soul. He didn’t know how. That, or he didn’t have the means. The next best option was getting me on his side, where he could keep a close eye on me. In his eyes, he surely thought he could manipulate me into giving up the fight—as long as the reward was worth it. And if I had all of that, all the power and wealth he’d promised, he might think he had a chance at convincing me to change for him. That way, as an immortal vampire, I’d never come after him again in a reincarnated form.
That was never going to happen, but it just so happened to be the very cover I needed right now.
Valkas stepped behind my chair and brushed the hair from the back of my neck. I shivered beneath his cold touch, but I otherwise remained calm. He bent to whisper in my ear.
“I strive for the best in all areas of life, Rachel. And I always get what I want.”
I turned my head to look up at him. “That’s a very generous offer.”
“Yes, well, I’m a very generous person,” he said proudly.
I resisted the urge to snort. “What about my sister?” I couldn’t seem too eager to accept his offer. That would only arise suspicion.
Valkas rounded my chair and sat in the chair to my left. “What about her?”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is a negotiation.”
He thought about it for a moment before answering. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
I almost let a smug smile find its way across my lips. “If I were to go along with this… to join the Soulless… then I have one request.”
“Your sister’s freedom,” Valkas guessed.
“Yes,” I answered. “She gets full immunity from any harm. Your men shall not touch her or harm her in any way.”
He pressed his lips together in thought. I could tell it was hard for him to accept a negotiation. He liked to be the one in charge. But he also really wanted me by his side, where he could keep watch over me for eternity.
“I think that can be arranged,” he finally agreed. “I have to say, I thought you’d take more convincing.”
I almost panicked, but I shrugged for show. “Like I said, it’s a generous proposal. All I want is for my sister to go free. Then I’m more than happy to enjoy the power and wealth you’ve offered.”
Valkas’s lips curled into an evil grin. “You’re a wise woman, Rachel.”
Ha! Woman. No one had ever called me that before.
“So, you will join me?” he asked.
I took a sip of water. “I thought we already established that.”
“I need to hear you say it, darling.” Valkas took my hand in his and stood from his chair. Then he lowered himself onto one knee. Definitely not how I pictured my first proposal. “Rachel, will you do the honor of becoming my right-hand woman and helping me conquer this world?”
Pushing down the bile rising to my throat, I answered in the softest, sweetest tone I could muster. “I will.”
Valkas pressed his slimy lips to the back of my hand, then flipped it over so it faced palm-up. His fangs elongated.
“Whoa.” I pulled back slightly, but not enough to escape his grasp. He held on to my wrist tightly, and it became very apparent why Ronark cautioned me against doing this alone. He was strong.
Valkas looked up at me, and darkness crossed his eyes. “I thought it was apparent what would happen next. I must give you the mark of the Soulless to secure our deal.”
“Fair enough,” I said, though I really, really didn’t want the mark of the Soulless on my wrist. “I just thought…” I paused for dramatic effect.
“Thought what?” Valkas growled, clearly starting to get annoyed.
“I thought there’d be a big ceremony or something. We could announce this in front of the entire island. It would mark the beginning of a new era for the Soulless.”
Valkas paused for a moment. “And when would we do this?”
“Your Awakening Ball, perhaps?” I suggested, holding my breath. If this didn’t work, I was going to crap diamonds. All hope would be lost.
Valkas dropped my hand and stood. “You make a fair point. We will announce it in a week’s time. That will give me plenty of time to coordinate our first strike in the new war against humanity. And you, my darling, will fight alongside me as my queen.”
He pressed his lips to the exposed skin on the side of my neck, his fangs trailing along my skin without breaking it. My breath wavered momentarily. Convincing Valkas I would fight alongside him had been far too easy.
That’s when I realized a horrifying truth. There were likely things about Valkas’s plan he had yet to reveal to me. He could very well be playing me for an even greater purpose.
I just had to beat him at his own damn game.
14
I was counting down the days until the Awakening Ball. Five days had passed since my meeting with Valkas when Ronark invited Jenna and me into his cabin to discuss the plan.
“Be careful what you say,” I warned in a low voice. “I think I’m being watched.”
I knew how guys like Valkas worked. He pretended like I was nothing more than the dirt on his shoes, inviting me to fancy dinners with him only to put me on the menu for dessert—and yeah, it had happened more than once this week, and I’d had to stomach it for the sake of our plan—only to toss me back to the slave quarters when he was done with me.
But I think he did it because he thought I was more comfortable in the slave quarters and around my sister than I would be up at the chateau. It was his way of luring me into a false sense of security. But I couldn’t shake this feeling—the one that made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up—that I was being watched. Which didn’t surprise me in the slightest. It just meant I had to be cautious.
“We’re all shifters here,” Ronark said, glancing from my sister to me, then to the shades that were drawn over the window. “They can’t hear us.”
“Still, keep your voice down,” I said. “What kind of shifter are you, anyway?” He looked like he might be something small and gentle, like a hamster or something.
Ronark held up a hand to stop me. “Believe me, sweet cheeks, you don’t want to know.”
“So, did you get us on the list?” Jenna cut in.
Ronark smirked. “Yep. I’ve got Andi and Brad on the list, too, and they’re all for taking Valkas down. I trust these shifters with my life.”
“And me?” I asked. Valkas and I had agreed to make our big announcement during the Awakening Ball, but he never agreed to have me ride in the litter with him. One way or another, I had to get to the staging area, where he’d be alone and it’d be seven against one.
“I’m still working on that, sweet cheeks,” Ronark replied. “It’s hard to convince my mistress without admitting I know what’s going on. I have to make her think it’s her idea.”
“Or I need to convince Valkas,” I said. “He’s not the kind of guy who would want to share the spotlight.”
“Which is exactly why I think we need a Plan B, C, and D,” Ronark said. “We have one shot at getting this guy alone. We can’t screw it up.”
My stomach twisted. I still wasn’t sure this would work.
Just then, voices came from outside, more than I expected to hear this early in the morning. Usually, the slaves came back from the chateau one by one, not in a huge group, and we still had an hour until sunrise. Jenna and Ronark exchanged a quick glance, and they both frowned.
“What?” I asked in alarm. “What’s going on?”
Jenna pushed away from the wall where she’d been leaning. “New recruits.”
I hated the way people used the word recruits around here… like they had a choice.
“Come on.” Jenna turned toward the door. “We should go help them find their cabin assignments. Tonight’s been rough enough for them as it is.”
The three of us stepped outside to see a group of fifteen people surrounded by half a dozen vampires. Other blood slaves had emerged from their cabins and were whispering among themselves.
“Jackson,” one of the recruits hissed at the guy beside him, elbowing him in the ribs. He looked young, but he had a long brown beard. The guy beside him—Jackson—was the spitting image of him but with a shorter beard. They wore matching plaid shirts and reminded me of lumberjacks. “Shh…”
“You!” one of the closest vamps said, pointing toward the three of us at the cabin door.
My heart jumped a little until Jenna stepped forward.
The vamp handed her a piece of paper. The mark of the Soulless peeked out from under the sleeve of his leather jacket. “Get them to where they need to go. Their initiation begins tonight.”
“Yes, sir,” Jenna said confidently.
He turned on his heel and started for the trail leading back up to the chateau. The other vamps followed behind him. The new blood slaves huddled together, throwing glances this way and that.
“I know how hard this must be for all of you,” Jenna started, but I didn’t hear the rest of her speech.
My gaze fell upon one of the faces in the back of the group. The guy’s eyes connected with mine, and he looked at me like I was the only girl in the world. All the air whooshed out of my lungs, and my knees went weak beneath me. Time stood still as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
Dark skin… tight curly hair… I’d know those brown eyes anywhere. What was he doing here? Was I hallucinating or something?
Relief momentarily washed over his features. It was quickly replaced by a glistening in his eyes, like he might burst into tears at the sight of me.
Seeing Venn standing in front of me was like the moment you reach the top of a rollercoaster. You feel your heart lift in your chest, and you hold your breath until you think your lungs might burst. For a moment, everything is quiet and still. Then Bam! You reach the edge, and your heart flies up into your throat. Every inch of your body pulses with adrenaline. A moment later, the track levels out, and you realize you were never in any danger at all, but still… you can’t tame the pounding of your heart and the quaking of your fingers.
Emotions I couldn’t even put names to whipped through me so fast that it left me lightheaded. My whole body lit up in desire for him. It was like I could feel every nerve ending come alive, leaving me shaking and on the verge of tears. All that mattered was running into his arms and holding him again. I’d missed him so much.
I started toward him, prepared to rush into his arms, but Ronark grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me back. I just about clocked the guy in the jaw, but then I caught the look in his eyes.
He lowered his voice. “You’re being watched, remember?” He glanced around like he might spot a sniper somewhere in the trees. “If you recognize one of them, the last thing you want to do is let the vamps know.”
Good point. My heart ached as I stood there, staring out into the small crowd at Venn. My knees shook, as if they wanted to make their way over to him despite my commands for them to stay put. Venn’s expression was full of pain, sorrow, and relief, but he remained still. I knew he did it for the same reason that I continued to stand at Ronark’s side. But I spotted something soft in his eyes—something I’d seen so many times throughout my lives that it spoke to me in a way words couldn’t.
I bit down hard on my lower lip to keep my emotions at bay. He was like a magnet drawing me to him, and keeping my distance was literally causing me physical pain.
Jenna helped guide the newcomers to their respective cabins, separating them by numbers like livestock. When I saw that Venn was headed our way to fill the empty bed in Ronark’s cabin, I nearly toppled over right then and there. My heart pounded so wildly in my chest that I thought the vamps might be able to hear it from the other side of the island.
“In, you two,” Ronark instructed.
I couldn’t get into the privacy of the cabin soon enough. As soon as Ronark shut the door behind us, I fell into Venn’s arms.
“You’re here!” I cried. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his before he could get in a word. Heat pooled in my belly, and my heart pummeled against the inside of my chest. My hands roamed all over him—up his arms, over his back, and in his hair. I had to check that he was there in flesh and blood, that he was real. And by the hands of all that were holy, he was.
I gasped when he drew away, trying to catch my breath. Venn gazed down at me as tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked at me like he was staring into the eyes of a deity—like he couldn’t believe I was standing there in front of him.
“God, Rae. I missed you so much it nearly broke me.” Venn’s voice was like a song, a beautiful, wonderful song. He pulled me back into an embrace and buried his face in my hair, inhaling my scent like he craved it more than anything else in the world. We rocked from side to side as he held on to me with such tender loving care. “I was so worried about you.”
I let my tears soak into the front of his t-shirt. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t either,” he whispered in my ear, his voice cracking. My spine tingled, but in a good way. “But it’s really me. I swear.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt your… reunion,” Ronark said. I’d barely remembered he was there. “So I’m going to go.”
I heard the door creek open and then shut, but I didn’t take my head off Venn’s chest. I just wanted to hold him until the end of time.
“You shouldn’t have come,” I finally said. “It’s dangerous here.”
“I know.” He drew away from me to look me in the eyes again. Tears stained his cheeks. “That’s exactly why I had to come.”
Swoon.
“Why?” I whispered. “Now you’re stuck on this island with the rest of us.”
Venn took a deep breath. “I k
now. It was reckless and impulsive.”
I chuckled, mostly because the emotions tearing through me had left me overwhelmed. “It sounds like some of my personality is rubbing off on you.”
Venn smiled. “Yeah, it might be. I just couldn’t handle not knowing what had happened to you.”
We stood there in silence for several minutes, just wrapped in each other’s arms. Finally, I spoke.
“Do you have any plans for getting off the island?” God, I hoped he wasn’t as stupid as I was. “Because clearly my plan didn’t work.”
Venn dropped his gaze. “I’m still working on that.”
“Yeah, me too. How’d you get here?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I ran into some trouble along the lakeshore.”
“When you say ran into trouble, you mean sought out the Soulless,” I accused lightly.
Venn smirked. “It was the only way to find you. I traveled from bar to bar until I found a guy with the mark on his wrist. I had a little bar fight and… let them take me.”
“Venn,” I said breathlessly. “You shouldn’t have. Did they hurt you?” He looked okay, at least.
He shrugged. “They got a couple of good punches in, but that was almost a week ago already.”
“A week? Where have you been all this time?”
“Detained,” he answered vaguely. “Until they put us all on a boat and brought us here.”
My heart sank. “They don’t know who you are yet, do they?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. As far as they know, I’m just some random guy.”
I hugged him tighter, even though all I wanted to do was yell at him for being reckless. Then again, I shouldn’t exactly be the one to talk. What he did was incredibly noble, and I was glad he was here with me now.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered after a brief silence.
Venn ran his fingers through my hair. “Sorry for what?”
