Chapter 13 Aurelia
Aurelia
Ifought the urge to cover my mouth as thick vampire blood sprayed in the air.
The sun had just started peeking over the mountains, and the first thing Adrian decided he wanted to do was spar, which meant lining up the strongest guards in the palace and decimating them.
Today, that included most of his inner circle.
He had long since taken out most of the other vampires’ guards and was now forced to go after his own men.
Less work for me, I guess.
Adrian was shirtless, blood drying on him from previous battles. I didn’t even know how many—I lost count at eight. We were in the outer courtyard, luckily away from the gardens and anything else that was left of my mother.
It was the same place where my father had put the hunters on display. It wasn’t that long ago but felt like centuries.
I wished the hunters gave a shit about this new development. Maybe sending more to help take him down.
What a thought. Vampire hunters actually doing good for once.
In any case, if Adrian kept doing this, he might end up cannibalizing his inner circle himself. No intervention needed.
A woman can dream.
His inner circle of vampires, which he had brought with him and was now down to three, General Lee, and I were standing in the front row. Behind us, family members started to line up to watch, knowing how annoyed he got when they missed one of these.
My brother laughed when the vampire that once protected him fell to his knees, blood gushing from the wound on his neck. But it wasn’t enough. Adrian grabbed his head and tore it off with the ease of plucking a petal from a flower.
He showed it off like a trophy, stopping when I met his gaze, and I made a show of giving him a polite clap.
“Where’s your husband?” General Lee asked, coming to stand by me.
“In his palace, where I should be, and yet here I am. Watching a bloodbath.”
General Lee let out a huff.
“Where you should be is with Solei,” he said, a low growl lacing his words. “But somehow you managed to get out of that.”
“And now I am stuck in the Castle palace until I’m deemed trustworthy enough to go out on my own.” I turned to him with a saccharine smile. “But who knows if that will take a month or an eternity?”
General Lee gave me a venomous smile back.
“That didn’t stop you. One of my men told me you were supposed to meet your husband yesterday, but you showed up an hour past the agreed time. Care to share where you went?”
I tried not to let the panic show on my face as images of Cedar’s pleasure-filled face flashed across my mind.
“Should I warn my husband that you have spies in his ranks, or is this just some type of far-away-with-binoculars, creepy-stalking shit? Either way, that’s a little embarrassing for a general, no?”
“Deflecting doesn’t look good on you,” he hissed, keeping his voice low, but there was an obvious spike in tension between us. Something brushed across my skin. It felt dark and caused a chill to go up my spine. “You won’t get away with this insolence.”
I made a show of looking at my nails with a frown.
“On the other hand, failing your kind and being knocked down a peg looks really good on you.”
Threading my hands behind my back, I gave him a mock bow, not bothering to say goodbye to Adrian as he was already claws-deep in another vampire. Leaving the courtyard, I entered the palace, only to catch the same feeder I bribed to fuck the general lingering in the shadows.
Taking my chance, I went after him, letting him lead me further into the house. It wasn’t until we reached the covered outdoor corridor that looked over the garden that he turned around to speak to me.
“First off, that man fucks like he has experience, and I mean, like, good experience—”
“Get to the point. What did you find out?” I asked with an annoyed sigh.
He gave me a smile.
“If you must know, he has a nasty scar on his chest.”
“A scar?” I scoffed. “If that’s all, you can get out of my sight—”
“Not a random scar. Like a drawing. It was disgusting, if I’m being honest, but I could ignore it since I wasn’t facing him most of the ti—”
“Can you draw it?”
I didn't want to get caught talking to him. I had given him specific instructions to stay out of sight, especially where the general was concerned. But something about the way that he was describing this scar made me instantly suspicious.
He nodded. “Well, most of it. It looked a little weird. I’d never seen anything like it, but I can try—”
He was cut off, a claw coming straight out of his chest. The vampire's eyes widened, and his mouth stayed open in a frozen scream. I jerked back as blood sprayed my face, a scream about to be unleashed from my own throat when I saw the general's face peeking from behind.
He looked more murderous than ever. His eyes red, his face twisted in a snarl. But that wasn't all. Black veins were coming from his eyes and going down his neck.
He pulled his hand from the vampire’s chest and pushed his body to the floor, his life gone in seconds.
“I've been looking for him,” the general said and walked forward to wipe his bloody hand on my dress. “Thanks for leading the way. It's not often that I leave them alive afterwards, but, you know, I was busy.”
For the first time, there was a newfound fear in my heart.
He reminded me so much of Adrian when he went up against the witches, but there was something different about him. And the black lines told me magic was somehow involved.
“You're lucky your bloodline is important, or I would've torn out your guts and decorated the castle with them.”
He said it with an actual smile. A real one that looked like he was excited about the idea.
“You and my brother have a flair for the violence and gore. Even killing innocent feeders and guards. I wonder why.”
He looked at me for a moment, and then his hand was around my neck.
“I need you alive,” he spat. “But that doesn't mean I can't make your life miserable. Think twice about speaking to me like this again. And don't try to manipulate your way into getting dirt on me. It won't work.”
“I came pretty close. The scar I heard about—”
His nails dug into the side of my throat and stole my breath. I was rendered useless, something forbidding about the way his face was changing, turning him into something else, giving me pause.
“If you know what's good for you, you'll forget all about that. Trust me, whatever answers you think you'll get won't do you any good.”
I gave him a sweet smile, but both of us knew there was no way I was letting this go.
“Sure thing, General. Now, unhand me.”
For a moment, I didn't think he would, but then he slowly backed away from me. I tried not to look at the vampire on the ground, his death weighing on me.
He was nice.
“I came to find you because Atlas’s men are here. She just can't seem to get enough of you, can she? Was she who you were visiting? Maybe the little toys she has in her possession?”
Too close for comfort.
I wanted to tear his throat out for referring to them as toys. But I needed to play my part. I couldn’t let my excitement show.
“She said she has a wedding gift and that she was going to send someone to pick me up today. I totally forgot,” I lied quickly, and I was ready to turn when his chuckle stopped me.
“Funny, they said something similar.”
I turned back to look at him. The veins were slowly fading away.
“Do you need anything else from me?”
“Not yet, Princess. Soon. You'll see.”
Coming back to Atlas’s castle was like a shock to my system. It towered over me, the darkness cloaking it menacingly.
The last time I was here, Vesper was taken from me by force.
A lifetime had passed since then, and it felt different now. I had Cedar deep inside my chest, the bond between us tugging me closer to her. Vesper was there as well, albeit her bond was not as strong. The two of them twirled together inside me in a way I’d never experienced before.
Caspian’s bond had been fully pushed to the side, my body and heart somehow having enough power to render it useless. It was like they knew it was an intruder and were forcing it out.
Part of me should probably be annoyed with the possessiveness coming through our weird three-way bond, but I found myself oddly satisfied by it. And, for the first time, I found myself utterly alone.
I hadn’t brought any of the guards with me, nor had I let the driver drop me off within twenty feet of the place. I walked the winding path through the forest alone with the eyes of Atlas’s guards on me. I couldn't see or hear them, but I could feel them.
It didn’t bother me.
My loneliness used to stifle me. Render me a useless mess. But now it empowered me. And as I marched right up to Atlas’s gates, her clan members were up there, looking down on me.
The gate opened, and Atlas was waiting for me at the door, her eyes never leaving mine.
We hadn't had time to talk about my rejection of her proposal, and I was worried she would bring it up, but instead she merely stepped to the side and motioned for me to come in.
“It's nice to see you in one piece,” she said, her voice strangely tense. “I was worried.”
“Can you imagine if he killed his princess after she just came back from her torturous time in the witch coven? Chaos.”
Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or I finally got a small smirk out of Atlas.
“I wouldn't put it past him. But he’s not the one I’m most worried about,” she grumbled under her breath. She stepped forward, her hand raising as if to brush my arm, but stopped midway. “Truly. I’ve been worried about you.”
I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you for everything. I'm sorry I couldn't marry you.”
She shook her head and pulled her hand away.
“It’s okay, my love. I think I understand.”
The nickname caused the tension in my shoulders to melt.
“You do?” I asked teasingly. The bond was getting impatient, tugging me forward.
She sent me a sly smile.