Chapter 19 Cedar
Cedar
Ihad another nightmare.
The same one as always, but somehow it didn’t live up to the horror I experienced the next morning when I found myself at the scene of the crime.
I almost expected to see the bloodbath. Feel the remnants of magic. Anything that would prove what happened to Vesper and her father.
But there was nothing.
That made it all the more sinister.
I wasn’t alone, not after what happened to Vesper, but neither Aurelia nor I wanted her to come. So I opted for someone much less desirable.
“Are we sure this is where it happened?” Caspian asked from behind me, the sound of his feet brushing against the ground hitting my ears.
“Are you saying Vesper lied about it?” I wasn’t even trying to keep the hostility out of my voice.
He let out a sigh, almost like he was annoyed that I was having a temper tantrum or something.
“I’m saying she was hurt pretty badly, so things could've gotten mixed up. I don't smell any blood or magic.”
Without answering him, I continued along the path Vesper said she took. I walked around the building, noting that while there were footsteps, Caspian was right. There was no lingering magic, let alone blood or other vampires, in the area.
It wasn't until I got to the door at the side of the building that I paused.
There's something inside.
“Also, I don't think we’ve been formally introduced,” Caspian said, coming up to my side. “I’m Caspian Hart.”
The bastard offered his hand like I would actually shake it. I merely looked at it and then back up at him.
“I know who you are.”
“But I don't know much about you,” he continued with a smirk.
“Well, maybe you should ask your wife.”
He didn't budge. “I would if you weren't warming her bed every night.”
My jaw ticked.
“Something you don't seem all that upset about,” I noted.
He shrugged and slipped his hand back into his pocket. The entire time he was with me, I had made a point not to look at him, but now that I was forced to, I realized he was quite casual for his status.
“This arrangement between us is mutually beneficial.” His smile dropped, his face turning serious. “I never wanted this. My sister was set to take everything, and then… He killed her.” His voice shook toward the end.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and this time I meant it. He gave me a pitiful smile.
“And because of my rise to fame, my lover dropped me. He was okay with keeping me in the shadows as a nobody, but as soon as everyone’s eyes were on me…”
I didn’t know what made him feel comfortable enough to spill all this to me, but I was starting to get slightly uncomfortable. I felt for the man, but that didn't help me get over the fact that he was legally married to Aurelia.
In the eyes of the vampire world, he was the one for her, and we were the ones forced into the shadows. Even if we were back together, it still hurt.
“Seems like we’re all in a shitty situation.” I looked back toward the door and lowered my voice. “Something’s in there. I can feel it.”
He made a humming sound.
“Magic? I can't smell anything.”
I raised my hand, ready to open the door, but paused. Signals were going off in my mind, but the stupid part of me ignored them and pulled the door open.
That was a mistake.
One that would've cost me my life if Caspian hadn’t wrapped his arms around my torso and jerked us away from the building with his vampire speed.
I felt the explosion of magic before I saw it and recovered fast enough to create a barrier to protect us from it.
That magic collided with mine and sent us spiraling backward. Caspian and I were thrown against something, with him taking the brunt of it. I had to keep up my magical shield while the explosion hit us for a full ten seconds before it died down.
“What the fuck?”
We both looked at the building. Most of the exterior was still standing, but the walls were cracked, and chunks had fallen from it. I pushed off Caspian and ran to it, hoping to see whatever was inside.
Magic. Dark magic. Old. The same type I felt on the coin that Atlas had once used to communicate with Vesper.
The same type I felt in my nightmares as my coven leader drained the life of my parents.
Whatever General Lee was hiding in there, it was something that should never have been in his hands to begin with.
I ran inside. Caspian was yelling at me to come back, but it didn't matter now. The trap was gone.
There used to be a staircase there, but it was mostly gone, so I could look down at the ruin left by the explosion. And, in the middle, a single burned body.
It was suddenly hard to breathe.
This wasn't just a trap to protect General Lee’s secret and kill whoever tried to uncover it.
They were taking care of the loose ends, including the witch who had helped them along.
Though “helped” was probably the wrong word.
I didn’t know any witch who would willingly help vampires do something so dark.
I had an inkling as to what they were doing down here, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Because something this horrific would open the floodgates into a possible all-out war between witches and vampires.
I forced my shaky legs to take me to the lower level and take a look at everything more closely.
The runes are similar to the ones I see in my nightmares.
It could only mean one thing. I jerked to the side as my stomach hurled, all its contents coming up, and Caspian came up behind me, his hand patting my back in an unusual display of compassion.
“This isn't good, right?”
I shook my head and wiped my mouth before looking back at the witch, who was unrecognizable.
Well… almost. Their features and body were mangled, but their robe was one of the magically treated ones that all coven leaders gave their dogs, enhanced to withstand an explosion like this.
But what made it even more sickening was that it was a robe I recognized.
A robe I had worn most of my life.
The White Lotus.
And I knew that, if the body wasn't as destroyed as it was, I might recognize and have worked with that person.
“This is the worst possible outcome,” I said and paused, trying to give myself enough strength to even say the words. “If this is how he’s getting his powers, we’ll never be able to defeat him.”
“So witches are giving them to him?”
“They aren’t giving him anything.” I turned to face him. “He’s stealing their life force and using it to make himself stronger. Plus, he seems to know what he’s doing, which means this is not the first or second time.”
Caspian's face dropped, and he looked back at the body.
“What are we to do then?”
Sickness swirled in my stomach again.
“We follow the plan and hope that one of them gets angry enough to kill the other. There's no way we'd survive one, let alone both.”
I pulled at the itchy fabric of my outfit for the evening.
Caspian and I were a little off after our excursion. The whole point was to go and find the witch who was helping them, but now that they were dead and I had confirmation that the general had likely taken the lives of many witches, we weren’t sure what to do.
I filled in both Vesper and Aurelia, and just like us, they had a moment of realization that we might be in over our head. But our princess was the first one to snap out of it.
It will work. I know my brother, and I know how to force his hand.
And so, trusting our princess, we got ready for the night. Caspian had graciously provided us both with outfits, maybe because he felt bad for what we experienced that morning—or because he was just a kind vampire.
Regardless, we accepted them anyway.
Mine was a full dark green ensemble with glitter and gems placed in a very particular but obviously witchy way that made me stand out like a sore thumb.
Even if somehow the entire kingdom hadn't heard the rumor that Vesper and I were back, that would be clear now. Though, from the looks of it, people were less worried about having a witch in their midst than they were about the new king.
“Weird that the two bodyguards are dressed up for this,” Vesper muttered, tugging at her own clothing.
I looked at her, my eyes roaming her slim figure dressed in black with deep red accents. The majority of her chest was out, highlighting the scars and the now slashed-out tattoo on her neck, like they wanted to call attention to where she came from.
She looks damn good in that, though.
Her eyes met mine, slightly reddening at the iris.
The bond meant that I could feel every emotion coming from them. Including the bloodlust that was still lingering at the back of Vesper's mind. No matter how much blood I gave her or how much human blood she drank from the reserves, it never left.
Her injuries were too severe. Every ounce of blood was going into healing her body, and while she looked fine, I could tell that she still couldn't stand for long. She sure as hell would not be able to fight.
I fucking hate all of it.
I felt for her. And I hated that I had some part in it.
Not only did I not go with her as backup, but she wouldn't be a vampire if I had made it to her sooner, so they wouldn’t have targeted her.
I knew the hunters. I read about them in our archives.
More than that, I knew Vesper. I knew how she was brought up.
How her entire world was killing creatures just like her. It was my fault—
“Stop blaming yourself,” she whispered, her eyes narrowing on the princess. “I'm fine now.”
“Are you?” I couldn't help but push back. All the emotions from what I witnessed earlier and the panic and fear were getting to me. Which was probably why I added, “Do you not hold a single ounce of hatred toward me for what you've become?”
A burst of pain told me I shouldn't have said anything. I made it a point of telling her I didn't care about her being a vampire, yet here I was, ruining it because of my own unstable emotions.
And because I knew she might be harboring some hatred toward herself and her new condition.