Chapter 23 Aurelia
Aurelia
Cedar was keeping something from me. I could feel it in the way she averted her gaze.
Is she feeling guilty about something?
I prodded the bond, but nothing gave. Vesper was an open book with her emotions, but Cedar was getting better at hiding them from me.
I felt something happen when she went to deliver the body of the general, but we never got an answer from her. Days later, she hadn’t divulged anything.
Until now.
We were all gathered for a secret meeting with the other royals. Our numbers had almost tripled since the last one, with more and more people seeing just how crazed my brother was becoming.
The ploy with the general helped. Regardless of his twisted actions, Adrian’s reaction was extreme. Crazy even to some. And that scared people.
The unpredictability.
That was why the royals tolerated my father. While he might have been cruel to his own people—his daughter and wife included—he would never make waves. Not with the royals.
But my brother didn’t care about that. All he cared about was his own power, and the more powerful he became, the easier he was to snap at a moment’s notice.
My eyes shifted from vampire to vampire, taking in every single one of them. Their mannerisms. The small things they gave away when they thought people weren’t watching.
I had no idea if I could trust any of these people.
But I have to try.
We had moved from one permanently wet and smelly place to another, this time with a longer table that could house most of the heads. Their right hands stood behind them, brushing shoulders with the people they’d never dare be caught in a room with before.
I sat at the head, chess pieces spread out before me. The king and his bishop stood together, pawns surrounding them.
“Fredrick first,” I said and looked at the familiar face. It pleased me to no end that Dalia was able to convince her lover to join. She stood behind him, her true husband next to her. They were the first to call me out on my supposed loyalty to Adrian, so I knew they would be safe.
“We caught three seemingly rogue vampires canvassing the edges of our property last Saturday,” he said, his low tenor spreading through the tense room. “We didn’t know they held the Castle uniform and patch until after.”
I nodded.
“Any discernible features?”
He shook his head.
I knocked three pawns down.
“Solei,” I all but barked the name.
Stormy eyes met mine. The old vampire, the same one who had wanted to breed me and my mother for our distant relation to our goddess, sat at the far edge of the table. Atlas was sitting next to him, making sure he didn’t do anything funny.
It had been her idea to bring him, something I was not all too happy about. But because of the stunt I pulled, he had missed out on one of his most prized possessions. Rumor was he blamed my brother for not marrying me off fast enough. For playing a silly game and losing.
Being in the same room as him was sickening, but what was the saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend… or some shit.
He made sure to glare at Vesper every second he could, not forgetting the person who had led to the demise of his bloodline.
“The one in his shadow paid me a visit,” he grumbled. “Talking something about blood contracts or whatever.”
I raised a brow at him. The one he was talking about was one of the last of Adrian’s people. Most of the others were already dead at his hands.
To be safe, we needed all of them gone. For this to work, I couldn’t leave a single stone unturned.
“And yet I saw him just this very morning,” I hissed. “So why did you not find a chance to kill him?”
“Because he mentioned something interesting,” he said. “That there was a use for vampire blood instead of human blood.”
Murmurs broke out, vampires looking at one another.
“Vampire blood?”
“But what about blood bonding?”
“One-sided?”
“Or we just kill them.”
“It doesn’t taste as good.”
“Not as fun either.”
I slammed my hand on the table to stop the gossiping. They were moving into dangerous territory, and if we didn’t put a stop to it, I was worried at the ideas they might come up with on their own.
“What did he say exactly?”
He shrugged. “Just a mere suggestion. Asking if I ever considered switching the feeders for some hybrids or full vampires. Then he left.”
My head was starting to thrum. Anger and annoyance were pulsing through our bond, making me all that more reactive.
Fuck the Solei.
“And you still let him live,” I growled.
“He didn’t do anything.”
I imagined jumping up over the table, lunging at him, and tearing his heart out. I imagined crushing his head between my bare hands. Taking out his throat.
I hate this fucker.
Before I blew up, I moved on to the next.
“Elora.”
She looked up at me, looking stronger than I’d seen her in years. It had been immensely painful to see what her husband did to her. I didn’t know what changed, but I was glad something had.
After this was all over, maybe I would be able to help her.
“I have been whispering to my husband, but he is still unwilling to go against him openly. Lucky for us, we were also approached about blood contracts, and one of them got a little… handsy. The muscular one, tall, with the chain.”
I knocked down a knight. It wasn’t one of the more powerful vampires who seemed to gather around my brother like flies, but it was good enough.
“Do you see that, Solei?” I asked, looking back at him. “If there is a will, there is a way. Do I need to question your reason for being here?”
He sneered.
“My reason for being here is to get rid of that bastard for messing up my plans.”
“Oh, yes, the plans of forcing me into marriage and raping me so I could have your disgusting little rat children,” I said with a twisted smile. “Poor you.”
Vesper’s growl shot through the room.
His fists clenched at his sides, but he didn’t move, telling me this truly might be his only chance to get rid of Adrian.
“Vesper.”
“The hunters refused.”
There was a sharp inhale from somewhere in the room. My fingers dug into the table, leaving indents.
“Why?”
“Too risky.”
I scoffed. I shouldn’t have expected much from the brother who had sold out his own sister for dubious reasons, but it was still a blow. Having the hunters on our side would have made all the difference.
“Cedar.”
“The body has been delivered. The witches do not seem to have it in their mind to attack the council.”
“Anything else?”
“They want me to go back to my clan, tie up some loose ends…”
She trailed off at the end, causing me to look up at her.
“And?”
“And my old coven leader may be using the same type of ritual to make himself stronger. Just like Adrian, he doesn’t have any markings on his body, at least that anyone’s seen. But I do know he drains witches for power, so there is a chance he knows how to put a stop to it.”
Is this why she is looking at me like that?
Guilt ran through me. Because of our plan, she would be forced to go back to the clan that abused her and murdered her parents. It was our only chance to try and stop either of them from gaining more power, and Cedar would pay the price.
If she makes it out alive.
My immediate reaction was to say no, but I couldn’t, not in front of the group. Not if I wanted to seem like the cold-blooded leader I was supposed to be.
“I don’t suppose he will give that information willingly.”
“No, but I have some ideas on how to get it out of him.”
I would talk to her about this later. Vesper shot me a look, and the bond told me how displeased she was with this information.
You and me both.
We had barely made it out alive, and she was insinuating she would go alone. Even if they both went, I still wouldn’t feel comfortable.
Her coven was even worse than my brother in some ways.
“Anyone else has an update?’ I asked, turning back to the group. Hands raised. “If it’s not about killing any of his people, information on his dealings, or any credible rumors about his next plans, I don’t want to hear it.”
A few vampires had the nerve to lower their hand.
I sat back and motioned for the others to continue, but the entire time, my mind was on the witch at my side.
I will do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn’t go back there.
“You’re not going,” I said, sitting on the cold counter in the bathroom while she washed her face.
She was wearing nothing but loose pants, leaving her breasts bare. Not like it mattered, since she’d be naked in mere minutes and there was no one else here but Vesper and me.
But fuck, it was a delicious distraction.
Vesper was on the other side of her, leaning against the counter.
“What is this, some type of ambush?” she asked with a smirk. It was reminiscent of the old her, the witch who had somehow snuck into my guard. She had been so playful then, but between our escape from my father and her coven, she lost that part of herself.
I bet the nightmares don’t help.
They had slowed in frequency over the last week or so, but that didn't mean they were gone for good. Vesper and I watched her during the night, trying to calm her, though nothing really helped until the nightmare was over.
Cedar wiped her face with a towel. I grabbed her wrist and forced her to look at me.
“It’s too dangerous,” I said. “I don’t care what the witches told you or what your coven leader knows, you aren’t going back.”
With a sigh, she inched closer until she was between my legs, her face so close to mine it made me lose my thought for a few moments.
She was so beautiful. The green eyes. The freckles splattered across her face like stars. It was a wonder I didn’t notice her the very first time I saw her.
“Is my poor princess worried about me?” Her hands ran up my arms. “Or is this your way of saying I haven’t been paying enough attention to you?”
“Don’t try to distract me,” I hissed. Vesper came up behind her, her arms sliding across her torso, and it was Cedar’s turn to shudder. She tried to keep a straight face, but I could see and feel the desire flashing across her face.