Chapter 36
36
RIORDAN
T o everyone else, the attack came out of nowhere, but to me, the moment was inevitable.
In fact, I’d been hungering for the tension that hung over my life like a funeral pall to break.
And when it had, the result was spectacular. Exactly what I’d been praying for. Violence and ruthlessness and…I actually grinned when an enormous revenant burst out of the portal, magic streaming off that thick hide. The beast roared at the crowd, its sheer brutality galvanizing them into action.
The moment my enemies materialized into the ballroom, I reached for my magic, anger running fresh and bright in my blood, the weight of the crown on my head a reminder of my power.
I was king. I was in control. And they were trespassing in my home.
My Knightsguard fought well against the attackers, Nash a commanding presence as he marshaled his men into tight formations, and the two forces met in the center of the ballroom with a clash of steel and might, swords flashing, magic sparking
I took a moment to appreciate the skill of my enemies, as I scanned the crowd for clues as to who stood with me, and who against. Cataloguing faces and names for a later visit from Blake and some of his special soldiers. My sire had tolerated no challengers to his throne, and I would not, either.
This kingdom was mine . I’d fought and bled and suffered to wear this crown and I would crush all those who dared stand before me.
As for Blake…I frowned.
Blake was fighting his way through the melee, trying to reach Silver. Yet another prickly thorn in my side. After everything, she’d betrayed me. She’d tried to steal from me. I’d smelled her all over my office, all over the safe and yet…the knife hadn’t been touched.
But Silver was a problem for another day.
Right now, I had blood to shed and I could not fucking wait.
More and more attackers stepped from the still-open portal, launching themselves into the fray. another minute and my Knightsguard would be outnumbered. Someone screamed and I turned in time to see the revenant gut poor Lord Kryden, the fool too slow to evade the strike.
As if they were of one mind, vampires thundered towards the exits.
And that would not do at all. Our plan—my plan—depended on a roomful of spectators for my show of power, for the chain of gossip to go to work tomorrow and spread the word of how mighty their new king had become.
And how gruesome his vengeance when he was crossed.
I painted a suitably grim expression on my face and raised my hands, feeling I was the eye of a hurricane, and with a twist of my fingers, unleashed my magic.
Dark fire burst from my palm, blazing across the marble floor in a searing wave. Shadowy edges shimmered with that peculiar dark red hue, an otherworldly touch tainting my once-bright power. Heat rolled through the room in an oppressive surge, forcing everyone near me to stumble back.
The skin on my cheek blistered, but I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t afford to, not when a haze of shadow pulsed around me, darkening the room, dimming the candles, that churning knot of power at my center bursting to flood this room and crush everything in its path.
I could kill my enemies so easily.
I could kill every living thing in this room.
I flicked my wrist, and a plume of shadow leapt forward, tearing through the first line of attackers before they had a chance to cast their own weak, ridiculous magic. Their faces melted, bodies burning from the inside out—eight, nine, ten attackers crumpling to the ground—the acrid stench of burning flesh filling the air. The gasps that followed—sharp, horrified—barely registered.
My magic slipped out of my grasp, turning my blood black, slithering through my bones, chanting, kill, kill, kill .
I drew a shuddering breath, fighting for control, grappling with this darkness that had somehow become stronger than I remembered, but magic slipped through my fingers like oil. Power blew through me, out of me, shattering all the glass into a deadly shower of gleaming slivers and pained, desperate screams. Instantly, the air filled with the smell of freshly spilled blood and the hungry beast inside me howled for more.
More vampires rushed from the portal and rage shook even more magic from me, inky, red-stained shadows spinning, slicing flesh like it couldn’t get enough. I’d lost control, and I hardly cared.
Let them all burn.
Yes. Let them turn to ash.
Satisfaction coiled through me as I looked down upon them, these puny little creatures who dared defy me. Who thought they could come into my domain and take my fucking kingdom from me .
I don’t know what made me turn. Fate, perhaps, but out of the corner of my eye, metal flashed, a single sword cutting a path downward, wielded by a cruel faced, white-haired vampire, intent on his intended target.
Zachary, Lord Romaric’s eldest son’s hand shook as he drew his weapon, but the boy was slow, his eyes widening as that sword rose over his head.
His father watched helplessly, separated by twenty feet and three attackers, and time seemed to stop as my gaze locked on the keen edge of that descending blade, the boy’s fear as he realized he was about to die.
The dawning horror on his sire’s face when he realized he would never reach his son in time.
I moved without thinking.
One moment I was on the dais; the next, I was in front of Zachary, my magic propelling me faster than I’d ever moved before. The edge of the sword struck me squarely in the chest, but instead of piercing fabric and flesh, the steel disintegrated on impact, the attacker blinking at his now-empty hand.
“Go, stay with your sire.” I shoved Zach toward his father and with a sweep of my hand, called forth an inferno, a roaring sea of fire that consumed the pale haired vampire and two of his compatriots. Flames leapt and danced, casting jagged shadows across the walls.
That open portal spun lazily in the center of the ballroom, gaping like an enormous mouth, the remaining traitors racing for escape.
There is no escape from me.
One thought, and my magic solidified, became sharpened spears of black. I drove them straight through the fleeing male’s backs, lifted their flailing bodies up over the crowd and tossed them against the furthest wall. They shattered, nothing left but broken mounds of flesh.
The revenant proved trickier, that tough hide repelling my blow before sending the creature careening through the crowd into the corridor beyond, my guards racing in pursuit.
I couldn’t find Blake in the crowd, but with her pale hair and silver dress, Evangeline stood out in a sea of writhing desperation, her eyes wide as she stared straight at me, something like condemnation in her narrowed gaze.
I tore through the pitiful shield Blake had erected around her mind and picked apart her thoughts… Riordan didn’t look mortal.
Good. Because I fucking wasn’t.
Through the haze and stench of burning bodies, I surveyed the stunned expressions of the royals. They stood frozen, their gazes locked on me as though I had turned into a creature from their darkest nightmares. They were witnessing more than brute force—they were seeing their own goddamned futures.
Triumph thundered in every heartbeat as every member of the clan sank to their knees, heads bowed low, presenting the napes of their necks to me. The ultimate show of submission for a vampire and the only one I would accept as their king.
A hushed, echoing silence reigned after the chaos and I closed my eyes and drank in their fear, their obedience, their utter helplessness.
Romaric was right. The only thing these creatures respected was power.
My shadows, my flames carried a message. Everyone watching had to understand: I would not be underestimated. And I would not be challenged.
I lowered my hands, the magic receding like a tide, leaving behind a room thick with heat and silence. Scorch marks marred the floor, the scent of ash and smoke clinging to everything. I scanned the crowd, taking in their stunned, fearful expressions. A faint flicker of annoyance stirred in me.
“Commander Nash,” I called, my voice cutting through the stillness like a blade. Nash stepped forward at once, his head bowed. “Secure the guests. Tend to the injured,” I commanded.
“There are two more portals within the castle.” The commander growled. “At least one more revenant. My men are enroute, we’ll get this under control quickly.”
“See that you do.” I turned back to the blood smeared floors and shell-shocked royals. Now that the chaos was settling, something felt…off. My gaze swept over the crowd, searching for a presence I’d seen only once tonight, much earlier. Malachi.
And as I surveyed the room, shaken vampires climbing to their feet, smoking hulks of bodies being hauled away by the Knightsguard, someone else was missing.
Silver had vanished.