Chapter 21 Aurora #2
The lead guard dropped to his knees with a loud clink of his armor.
Blood frothed at his lips, smelling oddly close to my favorite synthetic blood blend—Hematech-9.
Even dying, his heart stayed steady, disciplined to the end, trained never to show weakness even as his body betrayed him.
Cold settled deep in my bones as shock began its slow ebb and the full ramifications of this nightmare sank in.
“The blade,” I whispered, staring at how the black veins spread into his tight-braided hair. “It’s killing him.”
“Sunsteel doesn’t just cut,” Radu said, moving to stand over the dying guard. “It burns through immortal blood. Turns it toxic.”
The guard’s eyes found mine, wide with pain but filled with vitriol. Traitor, they seemed to say. I gulped, and it went down like a sack of rocks.
Radu pulled his blade free with a wet sound.
The guard convulsed once, then went still. But instead of settling into death, his body began to smoke. The black veins turned to cracks, like earth after a dry spell. Then he crumbled—armor, flesh, bone—his body reduced to ash and char.
I clamped both hands over my mouth, staring at the scorched remains scattered across the ground. It looked exactly like what sunlight did to our kind. But the sky above us was still dark, storm clouds blocking even the moon.
“You killed him,” I gasped in disbelief. “He’s actually dead.”
“Deep wounds do that,” he said before retrieving the weapon. “A cut bleeds you dry. A killing blow burns you out of existence.” He cleaned the blade on his thigh, then sheathed it in the strap on his forearm.
His warning slammed back into my mind—what he’d said when I’d foolishly picked up the blade in his room. ‘You’ve just held the only object known to kill an immortal.’
I sat in stunned silence for a full minute and absorbed the meaning of what he said. An iron fist clenched my heart and was crushing tighter by the second. The walls pressed in around me. I could barely breathe, and I needed out of there.
“You let me touch it!” I dashed to him and struck his chest with everything I had. “You stood there and watched me pick up a weapon that could have killed me!”
The almighty Harbinger staggered, almost falling on his ass. Pride surged through me even as fear chased close behind.
“I thought I told you not to yell.” He caught his footing, rubbed his chest. “And I didn’t let you do anything. Your stubborn curiosity got seduced by a shiny ruby.”
“I was not seduced by—”
I clamped my mouth shut, hoping he wouldn’t see the flush creeping up my neck. He was right, damn him. Curiosity had driven me. I’d wanted to examine the weapon that could carve through monster hordes so effortlessly.
“This how it’s gonna be?” He sighed like I was an unreasonable child. “You freaking out every time I save your life?”
“Excuse me?” I took a step back.
Blood rushed to my head, setting my cheeks on fire. I looked around for something to throw at him when Radu wrapped his arms around my elbows and crushed me to his chest.
“No, you don’t.” His breath was warm against my neck. “You won’t get away until you admit I’m right.”
Despite my fury, my traitorous body responded to his proximity. The scent of him made my head spin. His heat seeped through my clothes, reminding me of other times he’d held me this close.
“Let me go!” I writhed against steel-band arms.
“Say it first.” He tightened his hold. “Without me acting on instinct, you’d be chained in some dungeon right now. And I’d be bleeding out on these stones. Don’t feel guilty for their deaths, princess. They would’ve done worse once they found out who I was.”
The concern threading his voice took the fight out of me. Beneath the gruff exterior, I heard genuine fear—not for himself, but for what might have happened to me.
“I’m not angry about the killing,” I whispered against his chest.
“Then what?” He groaned in frustration. “Why are you so mad at me, woman?”
I bit back a smile despite the churning dread in my stomach.
“Answer me,” he demanded when the silence grew.
“I got scared,” I admitted, pulling back to meet his eyes.
“Scared of what this means. Five missing officers will bring investigations, manhunts. Lev will spin this as an attack on the crown, use their disappearance to justify anything he wants. How many innocents will suffer because we couldn’t find another way? ”
He released my arms to cup my face. “Look at me, Aurora.” His voice was gentle but firm. “More would have suffered once they dragged you back to the Council. They’ve killed for less.”
He didn’t need to elaborate. I’d seen the Elders pronounce his parents’ execution in his memories during the Blood Pact. Unlike them, there would be no quiet death for me. I’d face a public trial, a grand spectacle where Lev could spin whatever story served his purposes best.
“If they’d taken me to them, the political fallout would have been huge. Martial law, mass arrests, every Tepes supporter brought in for questioning.”
He gave a grim nod. “Either way, there would have been political consequences. At least this way, you’re alive to fight back.”
Five officers versus thousands of my supporters’ lives.
The math was brutal, but Radu was right.
The worst Lev could do was blame faceless enemies for the missing guards.
And if we could reach Dracula, get his power, none of this political maneuvering would matter. The real war was against the Shepherd.
“It’s not only about politics.” The admission slipped out before I could stop it. But now that it was out in the open, I didn’t want to hold back. “It’s about watching you throw yourself into danger for me. About not knowing if you’re going to make it out alive.”
He blinked. Then his jaw unclenched and his shoulders dropped. When he glanced at me again, his eyes had gone warm.
“Princess,” he drawled. “Are you worried about me?”
I wanted to deny it, but after saving our lives, I couldn’t manage the lie.
“Always,” I whispered.
His gaze held mine for a long moment, intense and searching. Then he traced his fingers along my jaw, brushed his thumb over my lips. I saw myself reflected in those shifting amber depths.
Not a princess, not a projector, but something precious worth protecting.
The kiss was fierce and hungry as his tongue parted my lips and slipped inside. He tasted dark and dangerous, like coffee and smoke. When he pulled back, we were both breathing hard.
“Then we understand each other,” he murmured. “Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t destroy to keep you safe.”
My feet glued to the floor. My stomach somersaulted.
I believed him. The conviction in his voice—and his action—left no room for doubt, and somehow that didn’t scare me anymore. I realized I wanted that protection as much as he wanted to give it.
Thunder rolled across the sky, closer now. The storm was almost upon us.
“We should deal with the evidence,” I said, though neither of us moved to step away.
“What evidence?” Radu’s hand rolled behind my back.
Magic hummed behind me, raising the fine hairs on my neck. I turned just in time to watch the remains of the guard swirl into the portal. Lightning split the gateway’s edges as it snapped shut, leaving only clean stone and the sharp bite of ozone.
“Where did you send the other four?” I glanced over at him as a rumble shook his chest. He was laughing, his eyes gleaming with mirth.
“Somewhere they’ll have plenty of time to reconsider their career choices.” The grin Radu flashed me was amused and a touch feral. “Assuming they survive the landing in the Gobi Desert.”
My eyes widened. “Solanthia?”
He shrugged.
I should have been appalled. Should have lectured him about the sanctity of life or the unnecessary violence.
Instead, I found myself almost smiling back.
Those men had been following orders to drag me back to Lev, but their good intentions would have gotten me killed just the same.
Whatever mercy they received in the desert was more than the Council would have shown me.
“Derzelas, your ruthlessness is becoming attractive,” I muttered.
His laugh was rough and warm. “Careful, princess. Keep talking like that, and I might get ideas.”
His hands slipped out through the front panels of his cloak, fingers wiggling like he’d done in the Obayifo’s bedroom. “Where’s my hand?”
I rolled my eyes as though his request couldn’t be more bothersome, when it really made my stomach flutter. Taking his hand meant accepting what was growing between us, impending heartbreak or not.
But I’d made my choice. Had probably made it that night in my bedroom when he’d asked me to let him feed.
I laced my fingers through his, felt his grip tighten with satisfaction.
“Time to pay a visit to your Creator,” he said, leading me toward the soft glow of Moonlight Terrace at the end of the street.
“Let’s do this.”