54. Kill the Leech King
A cross the room, Adrian watched his mate in the arms of that fucking wolf, seeing red at the jealousy and rage. But he needed to tame it. He couldn’t act impulsively on his temper. With an internal clock ticking the seconds until she left, it was fucking hard not to.
Because why would she stay? His family was the cause of her slavehood.
And he, he was unworthy. All this time he’d spent trying to convince her to stay when all he’d done was give her more reason to go.
Your mate will be your ruin . . . But it wasn’t Rose that had ruined him. No, she was the light in his darkness.
He had done the ruining all on his own.
She turned, her eyes searching until she finally saw him standing there in the middle of his guards. There was sadness in her eyes that he wanted to wipe away.
But it wasn’t for him to do any longer.
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Hawthorne desperately tried to cut through the formation around Rose and her family. Hissing hatred, face contorted in ferocity, she lashed out at the buff blonde knight. One slash with his sword had her falling, chest cleaved as if it was effortless. Adrian stared at the spreading pool of blood.
His eyes darted to his father, fighting an elf and a wolf both—and winning. Had he kept Hawthorne on as a spy, he wondered? Or was she in his mother’s pocket?
It didn’t matter.
She’d clearly been waiting for an opportunity to get to Rose and had acted out of desperation. It was good on him for keeping Rose protected. He wondered how much his ex-housekeeper had done, how much of the plot against Rose was her doing.
He clenched his teeth, furious all over again. It was all so fucking useless. They’d been thwarted on every side, just like Rose had said. Doomed from the start.
He felt a fool for ever hoping for more. Hope was for the na?ve, and he swore he’d never be that again. The rose-colored glasses were off and reality was blinding.
But then he realized Rose was walking to him. She was so fucking beautiful, he thought. Even in her blood-stained ball gown and tattered butterfly wings with the battle raging around them, she was exquisite. Radiant. His shining light.
And she was a fucking Princess , of all things. Never in his wildest dreams would he ever have imagined that. The godsdamned irony was not lost on him.
In different times, it would have been the answer to his prayers.
But he was no longer that na?ve. They were enemies.
Had she known?
As her mother tugged on her arm to stop her steps toward him, Rose resisted, tears glittering in her sorrowful eyes, and pulled away. She said something and the Elf Queen’s expression changed. She met Adrian’s eyes, her own hard, face set, and then nodded.
This was goodbye.
He’d ache, hurt with the loss of her, forever.
As magic the likes of which he’d never seen flew around them, as the sound of blade and fist and fighting filled the hall, as vampire and elf fell in equal measure and the heady scent of blood filled the air, all Adrian knew was Rose. His world was her.
And it was falling apart like the hall around them, the pieces of his heart breaking off like the ceiling cracking above. He’d heal after this battle, just as the hall would be repaired, but it would never be the same.
Rose walked past his guard and straight into his arms. He buried his face in her hair, breathed her deep, and savored her heat that barely touched the cold engulfing him. She kissed his cheek, his neck where his pulse beat, and then tucked her face there and breathed him in as he did her.
“I love you,” she whispered, and the shock of hearing those words was startling. She kissed his throat, the artery that pounded again, and then pulled away to frame his face with her long-fingered and graceful hands. She kissed his mouth, trying to pull away quickly. He couldn’t have that and held on, showing her his desperation, his devotion that would never end, no matter the distance between them, and the love that had forever changed him.
Between them, their bond pulsed, throbbing like their hearts that were crying out to stay, just stay and work it out.
But she was resolute, as she’d always been, even when she’d pretended otherwise.
He needed to let her go.
“Do not be like your father, Adrian,” Rose beseeched, cupping his neck. “You are so much more. Be the King your subjects can be proud of. Stand for what is right. Hold true to what you believe in. Be the mate I fell in love with and heal this kingdom. Set them free as you did me.” Her eyes bounced between his, imploring. “I know you can.”
He said nothing because he feared he’d never be strong enough without her. It was a weak thought, one he could not voice.
Her chin trembled as her eyes glittered with her pain. “I believe in you. Even though I must go, I believe in you.” She looked around at the battle, something settling in her eyes he didn’t recognize, before meeting his again. “I will always love you, my Prince.”
He framed her face, staring deep. “Shine bright, my Rose. Shine in your freedom brighter than you ever did for me.” Her face crumpled, and he felt her hurt echo deep inside him.
He kissed her anyway, crushing her to him as he assaulted her mouth, trying to sear the taste of her into his brain, never to be forgotten, as he wanted her to never forget him. It was selfish, but that was who he was—the selfish Prince of heartbreak.
And then she was gone. The Royal Elfin Family and a good portion of their knights simply disappeared. It was magic, Adrian knew, and lowered his empty arms, bereft and barren with her gone.
But as he took in the bloody battle, he hardened himself. He longed for solitude, to drown in self-pity with the aid of his favorite cognac, to mourn what was lost, and give up the fight as he’d had to give up her.
But he could not. These were his vampires fighting and falling. They needed him to step up, just as Rose had said, and lead them.
Rose’s elves and Aldric and his allies’ wolves were skilled, graceful each in their way, but still brutal, aiming for the kill each time. And there were so many of them that he feared for a moment that the palace would be overrun. As his father sliced through elf after elf, wolf after wolf, he wondered if they would fall .
He wondered if they should fall.
Lost in those thoughts, he didn’t notice the werewolf stalking his father. Making his way in human form to where King Florian fought two elves while also watching Aldric advance, Tiernan leaped, shifting to his wolf in mid-air. Adrian’s eyes went wide as the wolf landed on his father’s back, claws digging in as he bit into the back of his neck.
With a roar, his father stumbled forward, continuing to scream his pain and anger as he regained his balance and reached back, trying to get a grip on the wolf to throw him off. In the time his father struggled, a furry-chested Aldric took the last step and dug protruding wolf claws into the King’s chest. Ripping him open, Aldric roared, his body shifting more, thicker hair covering his arms as his wolf came more to the surface.
It was too late, but Adrian still rushed forward, the shock pushing him as his father fell to his knees, bleeding out profusely from his gaping wound. Tiernan released his neck and jumped into another fight.
Adrian couldn’t care about him. His father was sinking further onto the floor, falling forward onto his hands, staring at the blood pooling beneath him. Even from where he was, forced to stop as an elf blocked his path, Adrian saw him chuckle.
He disarmed the elf and moved on, close enough now to hear his father speak as a wolf bit his arm. A slash of his dagger into the shoulder had the wolf falling back. He attacked again, but Timothy came forward to take the fight.
“Do not kill,” Adrian ordered. “Put them out, but do not kill.” A short nod was his guard’s response as Adrian focused again on his dying father.
“You’ll . . .” the King gasped, and then coughed blood. “Never . . .” another gasp. “Win . . .”
Before he could say anything else, even though he was but a moment from death, Aldric reached out to snap Florian’s neck. He took a long breath and then he looked up and directly at Adrian. Reaching out with a clawed hand, Aldric grabbed the arm of an advancing vampire, hauling him against his chest. Well-placed hands and a quick jerk and that body fell too. Aldric’s eyes never left Adrian’s.
He understood the threat and was ready to meet it, even longed for it.
But there was soon a chasm of fighting between them. More wolves rushed in, Aldric’s allies coming in aid. More of Adrian’s vampires arrived, too, young male servants armed to take on the invading force, and soldiers from the barracks.
The fighting raged.
As it did, as he fought, he realized that loss was a real possibility. He steeled himself for what he must do. This was his kingdom he was fighting for. Though he’d made bad decisions, he didn’t have to continue to do so.
He’d lost Rose, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t save what remained. The wolves could not win; the results would be disastrous.
His orders to down the enemy but not kill spread through his ranks, just like the news of King Florian falling. All knew, or soon would, that Adrian was now their monarch, and his plans were much different than his father’s.
It took no time for Adrian to become coated in blood, and he had a nasty burn on his leg from an elf shooting fireballs. They were slippery, Rose’s kind, though not as bloodthirsty as the wolves. They fought with more honor. He respected that but remained focused, driven, and narrow-minded with a single purpose.
He received word from General Kent that more troops were taking back control of the front, where the barbaric Red Wolves and a battalion of elves laid waste to the wall so that more of Aldric’s allies could enter.
The servants, females, and children made their way to safety out through the basements. His mother was among them.
Every able male was called on to fight.