by Alicia Rades
“Me, too. Valkas wants me dressed like a queen, he said.” I rolled my eyes.
She chuckled. “Do me a favor, will you?”
“Anything,” I promised.
Jenna sniffled. “Make me proud tonight.”
I nodded. “I will.”
“You look gorgeous,” Bri raved.
I turned to the mirror in the private suite I’d been assigned to get ready for the ball. Bri had been waiting there with an endless supply of makeup and a black dress that had more feathers on it than fabric. Apparently, Valkas had personally assigned her to help transform me for the ball.
I gasped when I saw my reflection. I didn’t look gorgeous. I looked like a freaking monster.
My eyes were rimmed in dark black makeup, and my lips were a dark shade of red I’d never worn before. Bri had twisted my hair up into an elegant bun, which was the only good thing about the whole ensemble. The dress would’ve been okay if it weren’t for the fact that it was so poofy I could hardly move in it. It had a corset top with lacey straps and beautiful beading I actually liked, but then there were the feathers… so many feathers. They completely covered the skirt and trailed up my back, ending just below where my wings might be if I could semi-shift.
Valkas was mocking me. You’re a raven, but you’re my raven. And as long as you’re mine, you will never fly.
Maybe I was looking into it too much, but that was the kind of message I was getting.
I fingered the corset. “Do you think it’s a little… much?”
Bri stood behind me and smiled at my reflection in the mirror. “Not at all. Valkas is a very flashy person. I hope I did enough.”
“Oh, I think it’s enough,” I said before turning to her. “He didn’t happen to say anything about how tonight would run, did he? He never clarified for me when I’m to arrive at the ball.”
Bri started cleaning up the makeup spread out across the vanity. “No, sorry. He didn’t say anything to me. I’m just here to make you pretty.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” Bri said kindly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready myself. My master is waiting.”
Bri exited the room, but I caught the door before it swung shut and poked my head into the hall. Two guards stood on either side of my doorway, staring ahead like Secret Service agents.
I cleared my throat, and the guy to my right glanced over at me. He was super tall and all muscle. The other guy was short and stocky.
“Excuse me, but do you know how I’m to arrive at the ball? When can I leave to go down there?” I tried to sound as innocent and curious as I could.
“Don’t worry,” Muscles said in a gruff voice. “We’ll escort you there ourselves.”
“I was kinda hoping to arrive in time to see Valkas make his big entrance,” I said. “I heard it’s really amazing. I would hate to miss it.”
The guards exchanged a look at each other, as if I made a good point.
“So, will I be arriving before him?” I pressed.
“No,” the first guard said. “You’re not to make your entrance until Valkas announces you.”
“That’s fine. Whatever he thinks is best. Thank you.” I retreated inside the room and shut the door behind me. That act was so totally not me that it was embarrassing.
I paced around the room, thinking about what the guard had said. I knew how to get to the staging area and when I was supposed to arrive—Ronark had briefed me on that much—but he’d left the how up to me. How was I going to get past the guards unseen? My eyes fell upon a statuette of an angel on the nightstand.
Ironic, I thought. A symbol of purity in the middle of a vampire nest.
My fingers trailed over the outstretched wings. They came to a sharp point, and I decided it was as good a weapon as any. I turned to the bed and took the corner of the sheet between my hands, then tugged as hard as I could. A long piece of fabric tore off, and I used it to secure the statuette to my thigh. The dress was thick enough that it hid the weapon nicely.
I smiled. For the first time in… forever, I was actually going into something with a plan.
A knock came at the door, and Muscles stuck his head inside the room. “Time to go, love.”
I held my head high and stepped toward him confidently. Neither me nor the guards spoke as they led me down the hall and to the grand staircase. The chateau halls were dead silent until we reached a wide hallway that ended at a pair of double doors. Chatter, music, and the sound of clinking glasses spilled out into the hall.
From this distance, I could barely see into the ballroom. It was beautiful, with a high ceiling and velvety gold curtains hanging from the tall windows. Everything glittered, from the flames burning in the chandeliers high above everyone’s heads to the champagne in everyone’s glasses. Most of the vampires were dressed in black, but their blood slaves were in all different colors. Some wore long silky evening gowns, while other were in big ballgowns like mine. I searched the ballroom for signs of Venn, but I didn’t see him.
Damn it! He was supposed to meet me out here.
The guards stopped me at the end of the hall so we wouldn’t be seen. We stood there in silence. Each passing second, I became more and more worried for Venn. I didn’t have the time to wait for him. Where was he?
Maybe he’d been assigned to a mistress and couldn’t get away from her. Yeah, that sounds about right, I told myself, though I wasn’t entirely convinced.
After several minutes of watching the doors with no sign of Venn, I decided that I was going to have to go along without him. We only got one shot to get Valkas alone, and I couldn’t miss it—Venn or not.
“It’s too bad you don’t get to see Valkas’s grand entrance,” I said to the guards, like I actually cared.
“Nothing we haven’t seen before, love,” the guard on my right said.
And it won’t be something you’ll ever see again.
“Would it be okay if I went to the bathroom beforehand?” I asked sweetly. “There wasn’t a bathroom in my room, and well… I’m still human.”
The guards exchanged a glance.
“Can’t you hold it?” Short and Stocky asked.
I gave a fake grimace. “No, not really.”
Muscles looked nervous, like the very thought of human bodily functions made him uncomfortable.
“There has to be a bathroom around here somewhere.” I turned and started down the hall in the opposite direction, gazing around curiously.
The guards hurried up behind me, like I’d hoped. “Ma’am, you are not permitted—”
“I just don’t want to interrupt the ceremony, you know?” I said. “Best to deal with this now.” I turned down a narrow, isolated hallway.
“Hey!” Muscles grabbed my hand and spun me around. “You’re not to go wandering off.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said innocently. “I just thought… no, it’s okay.” I waved my hand like it was no big deal. “I’ll hold it. Can I fix my shoe first, though?”
I leaned down to lift the skirt of my dress, and that’s when I struck. I slipped the angel statuette from its makeshift sheath and swung it at Muscles. He realized what was happening and ducked out of the way. Staying alert, I saw that the second guard was already lunging for me. I aimed the statuette at the center of his forehead, and it connected with a sick crack. The angel’s head snapped off and went flying. Short and Stocky stumbled sideways.
Meanwhile, Muscles reached out and grabbed hold of my dress. I yanked away from him, and a satisfying tearing sound filled the hallway. A weight fell from my hips as the top layers of fabric dropped away. I ripped off the last few remaining threads, leaving behind only the thin bottom layer. I suddenly felt like I could move again.
I quickly swung my leg up. The heel of my shoe connected with Short and Stocky’s face. Muscles jumped me from behind, wrapping his arm around my neck so tightly I couldn’t breathe. Gripping the statuette firmly in my hand, I swung it backward into his face. He cried out, a
nd I spun around to see the angel’s wing was poking into his eyeball.
Woops.
The second guard was already on top of me, tackling me to the ground. He might’ve been shorter than Muscles, but his biceps were thick, and the guy was strong. So I took to playing dirty. I shoved my fingers in his hair and pulled as hard as I possibly could. I felt the strands disconnect from his scalp as he let out a cry of pain. It was enough to distract him so that I could punch him in the throat. He rolled off of me.
Beside him, Muscles had pulled the angel statuette from his eye. His face contorted in fury, and his growl echoed down the hall as he came at me.
I ducked just in time for him to stumble into one of the wooden benches that lined many of the chateau hallways. It crumbled beneath his weight.
I glanced behind me. Any moment now, someone from the ball would rush out here to see what all the racket was about. Thinking quickly, I reached for one of the broken bench legs.
The guard rolled over and looked at me with his one eye just in time to see the shattered piece of wood headed toward his heart. That was the last thing he saw before his body withered away into a pile of ash.
Short and Stocky lunged for me again. “Bitch,” he snarled in my ear as his hands clamped around my throat.
My throat felt like it was on fire as I gasped for breath. The broken pieces of bench dug into my skin beneath me. But in his rage, the guard hadn’t realized I still held my weapon in my hand. Smirking, I shoved the stake straight into his heart.
Ash rained down on me, and I sprang to my feet. The hallway was a total disaster, but I didn’t have the luxury of cleaning it up. Footsteps were approaching.
I had to get out of there. Fast.
I turned in the opposite direction of the ballroom and sprinted down the hall. I rounded a corner at the end and hid in the shadows as I peeked back to see who had come for me. At least six vampires had stopped in front of the scene.
I noticed Rogers there, too. He looked calm and collected, like he wasn’t at all surprised by this turn of events—as if he expected such a thing from me. He lifted his gaze and glanced around, but I snuck into the shadows before he saw me.
I hoped.
I hurried down a dark hall lit only by the occasional sconce. Breathing deeply, I tried to picture in my mind Ronark’s map he’d drawn me in the sand a few days ago. I was at least two hallways away from where I was supposed to be, but I could make it there without turning back the way I came.
Watch out, Valkas. I’m coming for you.
18
My heart hammered as I raced down the hall. At the end, I found myself in a wider hallway with more sconces lighting up the path. I glanced both ways and saw a long stretch of marble floor that met up with the grand staircase. I hurried toward the main foyer, but the sound of a deep voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Walk faster!” Valkas barked. “I can’t believe how incompetent you are.”
Shit. I was late.
Valkas came into view. Four shifters walked into the foyer toward the ballroom, carrying the poles of the litter on their shoulders. It looked like a small carriage without wheels. There was the main box with a bench where Valkas sat, with four tall pillars rising toward the ceiling like a canopy bed. Long red curtains draped over the top and wound around the supports. The poles the shifters carried stuck out from each corner parallel to the floor.
Valkas wore a pointed crown and a fur-lined cape. He stared down at the shifters in front of him like they were nothing more than slave animals meant to take care of a king.
“Immortality doesn’t make me any more patient,” Valkas complained. “Sometimes I swear it’s a goddamned curse.”
Ronark shot Jenna a nervous glance. Yeah, yeah, I got it. Where is that Rachel bitch?
“You know,” I blurted. “I can help end that curse.”
Valkas whirled around, and his expression shifted. His eyes burned with more rage than I thought one person could hold, and his upper lip curled back over his teeth to display his long, sharp fangs. Four other pairs of eyes turned to look at me, and relief flooded their faces. The shifters took my presence as their signal. They dropped the litter to the ground and sprang on Valkas all at once.
He leapt upward and grabbed hold of the litter supports above him, swinging out of reach of the shifters aimed for him.
Ronark shifted mid-air. He was large, nothing like the hamster I'd been envisioning. He had blond fur and a thick mane, with strong, powerful jaws he snapped at Valkas.
A lion.
Valkas kicked the heel of his foot into Ronark's nose, then dropped back into the litter to knock Andi’s and Brad's heads together. Jenna reached up and wrapped her fingers in Valkas’s hair the same time Andi shifted into a black jaguar and sank her teeth into Valkas’s ankle. Jenna yanked his head backward, and he let out a rage-filled scream. It didn’t sound like one of pain, more like of warning.
Brad rubbed his head, like he was a little disoriented, but quickly blinked the world back into focus. He shifted, and his body grew to over three times its normal size. Huge antlers unlike any I’d ever seen before sprouted out of his head.
An elk.
I reached Valkas just as his foot swung out to connect with the side of Andi’s face. His crown slipped off his head and into Jenna’s hands. My body slammed into his, knocking him out of the litter and onto the marble floor. Before he could right himself, I shifted into raven form and snapped my head toward his face. My beak connected with bone, and I tasted the salt from his skin in my mouth. He screamed again, this time in pain.
Damn it. That was satisfying.
But I didn’t get to peck him again before his hands were on me. He pulled me off of him, and I saw that my beak had left behind a deep gash just above his nose.
“You think I’m that stupid, darling?” he drawled. “I knew you’d come for me eventually.”
Ronark lunged for Valkas in lion form, but Valkas shot to his feet and threw his hand out. He shoved his fingers into Ronark’s mouth and pulled upward, forcing his jaw open. To my horror, he shoved my body straight into Ronark’s open mouth.
Panic sent my heart pummeling against my rib cage. The first thing that crossed my mind was to not hurt Ronark. I tilted my head backward and tried to keep my beak from skidding along his tongue. Complete darkness enveloped me, and I couldn’t breathe. When I tried, no air filled my lungs, only the smell of cat breath.
Jesus, Ronark. Do you ever brush your teeth?
Speaking of teeth, the sharp bastards were digging into my skin. Ronark coughed, and I went shooting out of his mouth. I spread my wings to slow my momentum, but I still slammed into the wall like I’d been hit by a truck.
Ronark was already on the move, joining Brad and Andi to help drag Valkas down. But Valkas wouldn’t be knocked down again without a fight. Somehow, against a jaguar, lion, and giant deer, he remained on his feet. Jenna had frozen up, still clutching the crown and staring straight ahead.
Valkas became so enraged that color began to fill his face, which I didn’t even know was possible with vampires. His eyebrows came so close together that they nearly touched, and he bared his teeth and hissed. All at once, he stopped clawing at Andi’s fur and reached out to wrap his fingers around Brad’s antlers. He twisted, and the sickening crunch of breaking bone filled the foyer.
Brad slumped to the ground, and his body shrank back into human form. His neck was twisted at an odd angle, and his eyes stared lifeless up at the ornate ceiling. Valkas stared down at him with a satisfied smile as he grabbed hold of Andi’s jaws and yanked as hard as he could. He swung her around and let the momentum take her. Her body slammed into the bannister of the grand staircase so hard that the wooden rungs crumbled.
At the same time, Valkas kicked Ronark in the gut with so much force he went flying toward the second level. He bounced off the railing at the top of the stairs and went limp as his body plummeted back toward the hard marble floor below.
It all ha
ppened so fast that I’d barely taken a breath before Brad lay dead in front of me and the other two struggled to their feet in pain. My blood boiled as I shifted back into human form. My dress shifted with me, but my hair hung in loose waves around my shoulders since the pins had fallen out.
I threw myself at Valkas. He didn’t even stumble as I jumped, wrapped my legs around him, and pummeled his face like my own personal punching bag. His elongated fangs cut into my skin, but I didn’t care. Hearing the sound of his nose crunch beneath my fist was so satisfying.
Ronark righted himself and jumped Valkas from behind, digging his sharp claws into his back. Valkas merely swung his elbow backward. It connected with Ronark’s face, shooting him off Valkas’s back. Meanwhile, Andi had gone for his ankles again, but he kicked her aside like she was nothing more than a kitten playing with his toes.
“Screw you, you son of a bitch!” I cried as my fist raced toward his face again.
But it never made it. His hand shot up to block me, and he grabbed hold of my wrist so hard that I thought he might crush bone. He twisted, and my scream echoed off the walls of the foyer.
Valkas grabbed my ass and shoved me up against the wall, pressing his hips into me. His wild eyes roamed my face, and he inhaled my scent. I used my free hand to claw at his face, but he grabbed that one too and held it above my head. When I dropped my legs from around his waist, I just hung there, gasping for breath as his chest pressed against mine.
“So feisty,” he said in amusement. “Just the way I like it, darling. You would’ve made such a nice queen if you’d meant anything you said.”
“I suppose you didn’t either.” I caught Jenna’s eyes for a moment, and I knew I had to keep him talking.
Valkas shot me that evil smirk he was so famous for. “Of course not, my dear. I always planned to change you myself. I’ll let you rot away in my dungeons. Without blood to sustain you, you’ll be as good as dead, but death will always be just out of reach.”
The thought twisted my guts. No doubt he’d make sure I couldn’t kill myself, either. Unless I ripped the bars off my cell and sent them through my own heart, there’d be no escape. But I’d have to be strong enough to do that first, and I didn’t think Valkas would allow me to become that strong.
