by J. N. Baker
“Someone is going to get hurt, Zoe,” he said, ignoring my slight.
“It’s the only way.”
He sighed, rubbing his hands down his face. “Do you remember him at all?”
I didn’t like the pain in his voice. “Who?”
“I see.” His disappointment was apparent, but over what?
That uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach returned once more, like I was supposed to remember something—something important—but couldn’t.
“You and Alec shouldn’t be together,” Cody continued. “If you aren’t going to be with…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “We could be together, you and me. What does Alec have that I don’t?”
“Cody, we’ve had this conversation. You and I don’t love each other like that. Besides, Alec and I are the same. We’re supposed to be together. There’s a connection I can’t explain. It’s like we’re…” I searched for the words, “pieces of the same fucked up puzzle.”
“Ain’t that just the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” he sneered. “You should write greeting cards.”
“You know what I’m saying,” I shot back.
“No, I really don’t. But I’ll tell you what I do know: you two aren’t meant to be together. Trust me. We’ve known each other since we were kids, Zo. No one knows you better than I do, not since…”
“Since what?”
“Nothing,” he mumbled. “Just forget about it—you’re good at that. The point is we could be good together. I promised that if anything happened that I’d take care of you.”
“Promised who?” I snapped. “What the hell are you talking about, Cody? You’re not making any sense.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “It just must be nice to have moved on so quickly. Some of us aren’t so lucky.”
With that, Cody left me standing in the middle of the forest, slack-jawed and speechless.
“Moved on from what?”
We’d been training Annie for four straight days. The only one outside of our little ragtag team who knew was Alec. And that was just because he wouldn’t stop asking me where I was running off to for hours at a time. Once I explained what we were doing, he was okay. I might have left out the little part about Cody helping. That likely would have been a deal breaker.
In the four times we’d worked with Annie, she’d managed to gain full control of Cody whenever and wherever she so chose. He was perfectly fine with that. As he said, he liked being used. Annie had also succeeded in getting into Godfrey’s head a good eight times out of ten. She’d even messed around with Brock’s head a few times, making him think his cock had completely fallen off. That was the price he paid for being nosy. I wasn’t sure he liked being used as much as Cody.
Today, she’d surprised me by somehow managing to get into my head, having me call off practice—fifteen minutes after we’d started. I got all of about five feet before snapping out of it. Annie seemed quite pleased with herself, to say the least. To get into the mind of one of the Chosen was damn near impossible. I was sure Brock was still laughing his ass off.
I rewarded everyone by making us train far longer than we had any other night. Annie had to practically drag herself back into the castle.
Which was why I was shocked to find she hadn’t come to bed. There was no way she was out training with William after the wringer I’d put her through, let alone doing anything else with him…right? Hell, even I wasn’t sauntering my grimy, tired ass to Alec’s room after each of our training sessions. The world may have gone to shit, but I’d be damned if I let our first time together follow suit. A girl may have needs but she also had standards.
Forgetting that curiosity often killed the cat, I crept out of our room as quietly as possible and headed down the long hallway toward the stairs. William was one of the few on the fourth floor. He clearly held himself in high regard. His room was also by far the largest, big enough to hold his often inflated ego. The same ego that made him think Annie would jump into bed with him after knowing him less than a week.
Just before I hit the stairs, a very distinct sound made me pause.
Another moan filtered through the door to my right and I smirked. Even the end of the world couldn’t stop people from jumping each other like sex-starved rabbits. Maybe tomorrow I’d cut Annie’s practice short and finally move my ass into Alec’s room. We had some unfinished business to tend to. Hell, maybe I’d sneak into his bed after I checked in on Annie. I was suddenly feeling a lot less tired, and I doubted Alec would mind a bit of dirt if it meant getting me beneath him finally.
The next sound that came through the door had me scraping my jaw off the floor. A laugh that melodic could only belong to one person. Before I could think it through, I barged into the room.
“What the—”
“Zoe!” Annie gasped, throwing her arms around her very naked breasts. Her nudity wasn’t what shocked me, it was the fact that she was straddling an equally as naked James. For once, she looked anything but innocent.
I shook myself from my surprised stupor and closed the door behind me in case anyone else walked by. “What the hell are you two doing?” I whispered, though it may have come out as a breathy shout. “Is this where you’ve been running off to practically every night?”
Hair sex tousled and lips swollen from kisses, Annie scrambled off James, taking a blanket with her. He followed after her, wrapping a sheet around his waist—not that it did much to conceal his own “unfinished business.”
“You can’t tell William,” Annie said, eyes filled with panic.
“Please,” James added, wrapping his arm around Annie’s slender shoulders.
“Oh my God,” I said, remembering Rhett’s words to his brother. “James, if William finds out about this…”
“I know,” he said. “But…I love her.”
The way she smiled up at him was so heart-wrenchingly tender, I had to take a step back. I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it before. The little smiles, the private conversations, Annie’s discomfort when talking about William. I just assumed she was shy. Maybe it wasn’t shyness, but guilt.
“I think I’ve always known William wasn’t my mate,” Annie said as if reading my mind. She took James’s hand in hers, squeezing it. “I’ve never felt for him what I feel for James. I didn’t even know I could feel like this. It’s like he brings me to life, like he put the sun back into my world and set me on fire.”
Her words stirred something deep within me. I quickly pushed the feeling aside. There were more pressing issues to deal with, like keeping James’s head firmly on his shoulders.
“You won’t tell him, will you?” Annie asked.
“Of course I won’t. I just want you to be happy, Annie. But…” I paused, glancing between the two lovers before looking back to Annie. “James is a shift. He isn’t immortal.”
Annie nodded, her eyes watering. James leaned down, kissing her fire-red hair. “You can’t help who you love,” she said, turning her eyes up to James once more. “I’ll take however many years I can get with him, and I’ll cherish them all.”
I found myself feeling extremely jealous of the two people standing before me and I wasn’t sure why. After all, I had Alec.
“William is eventually going to figure this out,” I finally said. I didn’t want to burst their happy bubble, but I couldn’t begin to imagine the shitstorm that would come if William were to walk in on a scene like the one I had. While he didn’t have Alec’s jealous streak—at least that I’d seen—he did have a control-freak sort of temper. I wasn’t sure what he’d do if he thought his second chance at happiness was being ripped away, by a shift no less. “At some point you’re going to have to tell him.”
The two sighed in unison. “We know,” James said.
“And we will,” Annie added. “At some point.”
I whistled. “I definitely don’t envy you guys.” But even as I said it, I knew I did. I just wasn’t sure why. Not the William part, though. God hav
e mercy on their souls when that time came.
“So, all those nights you told me you were out training?”
She blushed. “I was training some of them…with James,” she added bashfully. “He lets me practice my abilities on him.”
“I’m sure he does,” I added, earning a shit-eating grin from James. Annie’s face matched her hair.
“William usually trains me once everyone wakes up,” she said, her cheeks still on fire. Her blush gave her such an innocent look, a sharp contrast to how she’d looked while wildly riding James like a bucking bronco. “I didn’t mean to lie to you, Zoe.”
“I know. I get it,” I told her. “And I meant what I said, I want you to be happy. I know what it’s like to feel forced into something when your heart yearns for something else.”
Annie’s face paled. “You do?”
“Yeah,” I said even though I suddenly wasn’t so sure. I shook my head. “Anyway, you two just be safe and for the love of God, don’t get caught. When you’re ready to tell William—which needs to be sooner rather than later—let me know. I’ll try to help keep him from ripping James’s head off.”
It was the young shift’s turn to pale. “Thanks,” he croaked. Annie squeezed his middle and he visibly relaxed.
I let my eyes drift over the man in question and flashed Annie a knowing smile. “And, good work,” I told her. “Really, nicely done.”
“Oh my God,” she groaned, burrowing her face in James’s muscular chest as he chuckled. “It’s like my sister catching me in bed.”
At that, I laughed and left them to tend to either Annie’s embarrassment or James’s blue balls.
I wasn’t in the hall all of two seconds when William stepped out of the stairwell. I kept my eyes from widening at the sight of him. At least, I hoped I did.
“Zoe,” he said. “You need to come with me. Something has happened.”
I raced after William until we were standing in front of the castle, a horrible sense of déjà vu coming over me.
Please say it isn’t more gift-wrapped heads, I wanted to say.
Instead, I saw Alec standing in the snow, a bouquet of black roses clutched in one hand, a piece of paper in the other.
“This one is addressed to you,” William said, handing me a folded letter, the seal already broken.
A growl ripped through Alec as he crumpled his letter into a ball, tossing it and the black roses to the ground. “She is mine,” he snarled, his shoulders so tight, they were creeping up toward his ears. He spun on his heels and stormed back into the castle without another word.
I yanked open my own letter, the blood leaving my face with each word I read.
My beloved warrior,
It is time for you to take your rightful place at my side. We shall rule this world together. I will see you soon.
Your king,
Baldric
The paper fell from my hands.
William stepped beside me, not bothering to pick it up. Knowing William, he’d already read it. “We must prepare for battle,” he said. “Baldric is coming.”
Yeah, for me.
As William headed back into the castle, I forced my legs to move until I stood over Alec’s discarded letter. I hesitated before picking it up and smoothing it flat.
I send you my deepest condolences on the lost of your beloved. But your loss is my gain. She is mine. She will remain mine until the end of time, as she was always meant to be. Perhaps it will bring you comfort to know I plan to take good care of her. She will want for nothing, for no one but me. I will have her calling out my name every night. I shall have her writhing and moaning beneath me.
I couldn’t stomach reading the rest.
I ripped the wrinkled paper in half. And then again, and again, until it fluttered like confetti into the snow. Then I stomped on it.
Our people moved quickly about the courtyard like bees in a hive. They collected weapons, readying themselves for whatever happened next. If Baldric was coming back, which I knew he was, we needed to be prepared. Whether that meant preparing to fight or to die, I wasn’t sure. Likely the latter.
A couple of vampires carried in two more large crates filled to the brim with melee weapons for our people to sort through and arm themselves with. After the Great Battle, we were in no shortage of close-range weapons, only people to wield them. And that was the problem, wasn’t it?
Jade was barking orders at James in the center of the chaos. I tried not to picture him in his birthday suit with Annie bouncing on his balls, but that ship had sailed. That whole situation was going to take a lot of getting used to.
“Find that brother of yours,” Jade told James. “Tell him I want ten of his shifts in the sky as lookouts. They are to alert us to anyone approaching. And I mean anyone. Tell them to trust no one.”
James nodded dutifully. I was glad he still hung around her. He was good for her. She needed some sort of companionship, even if it was just someone to boss around. Honestly, I’d always thought he’d had a crush on her. I missed the mark on that one.
“The pregnant women and the children know where to go,” Jade continued, not taking a breath. “If Baldric returns, you are to make sure they all get there safely. Do you understand?”
“Got it,” James said with another nod. He’d come a long way since his days of stumbling and stuttering after her like a lost puppy.
I reached out and grabbed Godfrey by the sleeve as he passed by.
“Where’s Alec?” I asked, my eyes still glued to Jade. Seeing her with her still-red-rimmed eyes had me suddenly worried about Alec. I needed to see him, to know he was safe. I couldn’t possibly bear losing him the way she had lost Ryuu. I couldn’t handle that sort of loss again.
Again?
Godfrey frowned. “I am not sure. I thought I saw him go upstairs a while ago. Maybe he went to his chambers?”
“Thanks,” I mumbled. “Oh, and Godfrey?”
“Yes?”
“When Baldric turns someone into a vampire, does it erase their memories?”
His brows hiked into his hairline, a comical look on him. “Um, I am not entirely certain. I suppose it could happen, depending on the state the person is in when they go through the change. Though I have not known anyone who has experienced such a thing. Why do you ask?”
“I…I don’t know,” I said, now equally as confused as my vampire friend. “Never mind. Thanks again, Godfrey.”
I made my way out of the courtyard and toward the spiral staircase that led up to Alec’s room. It seemed strange that he would go off by himself like that. He was usually right in the middle of the planning and preparations with William, the two of them battling for control like typical alpha males. Maybe he just needed to be alone for a while.
His bedroom door was closed but I didn’t bother to knock. I cracked it open and peeked in to find Alec sitting at the foot of the bed, his head in his hands. He’d clearly read the entirety of Baldric’s letter, unlike me.
I slipped into the room and shut the door behind me. Alec never looked up from his hands, never moved, never spoke. He felt so far away, like he wasn’t really there. I moved to the bed, closing the distance between us until I was standing right in front of him. I reached out to touch him and stopped short, withdrawing my hand. I didn’t even know what to say to him.
Just when I was thinking I should leave, Alec stood. He was so close, his breath caressing my face, and I found myself longing for his touch. I hadn’t realized how desperately I needed his comfort. Alec wasn’t the only one reeling over the contents of those vile letters.
“I hope you know how much I love you, Zoe,” Alec whispered.
“Of course, I do,” I said. “And I love you,” I added, hoping my words would bring him some sort of comfort.
“And you know that everything I do is for you, right?” he continued, his voice low.
I nodded slowly, not sure where he was going with this.
“Good,” he said. He pulled me into his arms an
d I melted into him. I wrapped my arms around his middle, holding on for dear life.
Alec reached down and lifted my chin with his hand, bringing his lips down to meet mine. “Never forget it,” he whispered against my mouth. “You will always be mine. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Before I could get a word out, he was gone.
I shivered, the warmth of the nearby fire escaping me. I moved closer to the fireplace, practically standing in the flames. I tried to rub away the chill that lingered under my skin with little success. Something didn’t feel right.
I reentered the large hexagonal courtyard, scanning the many frantic faces in search of Alec’s. His was surprisingly absent.
“Did you find Lord Alec?” Godfrey asked when he saw me.
“Yeah,” I said, eyes still searching the crowd. “He said he’d meet me here. Have you seen him come through yet?”
Godfrey’s dark eyes met mine, brows creasing. “He never came back downstairs.”
That didn’t seem right. “Are you sure?”
“Almost positive. I have been here since you left. I have not seen him.”
“That’s strange,” I said, chewing on my thumbnail. “He left before I did. I watched him walk out of the room. He should have already made it down. He’s got to be around here somewhere, right?” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince.
The old vampire nodded. “Of course, I am sure he is fine wherever he might be. And there are many people coming and going right now, it is quite possible I simply missed him.”
From the cluster of said people, James came rushing toward us. His panicked eyes darted from me to Godfrey. “I need to talk to you,” he told me between breaths. A chill crept up my spine, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. I swallowed hard. If he needed to talk to me, it must’ve had something to do with Annie. Had William found out? Shit.
I gave Godfrey a nod. “Go look for Alec,” I said.
The vampire eyed James before turning and disappearing into the courtyard.
“What’s going on?” I asked James, grabbing his elbow and ushering him into the kitchen which was thankfully empty.
