Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Aloud hiss alerted me that the vampire loomed right behind me.
A cold hand grabbed my shoulder, and sharp talons dug into my flesh, causing sharp, stabbing pain in my muscles. Warm liquid trickled over my skin, and the pain became more throbbing.
The hand tightened its grip on me and turned me around in one jerky movement. I locked eyes with some very angry red ones, but before the vampire or I could make another move, Hayden appeared behind my attacker.
His face looked wild. His eyes filled with madness I hadn’t seen before. He moved as fast as I took my next breath and reached for the vampire’s neck.
“Don’t put your hands on my Queen,” Hayden said with a clenched jaw, breaking the man’s neck.
The vampire’s body went limp in Hayden’s grip, and he tossed it behind him with such ease, like throwing away trash.
There was something…unsettling about Hayden’s movements and disregard for life. The way he fought and killed the enemy felt different. As if he were impatient for the war to end.
But I was grateful he’d saved my life, now and in the past.
He lifted his mad, sky-blue eyes to me. Recognition passed over his face, and when he blinked, the madness disappeared. Then his usual heated gaze fell over me.
He stepped into my personal space, leaning into my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
The urge to flinch and step back traveled through me, but I fought it and nodded. His intense gaze overwhelmed me, and I turned around, placing my hand over the wrought-iron lever again.
Hayden’s body pressed against my back, his arms extending at my sides. He wrapped his hands over mine, and together, we pressed the lever down.
“That’s why you have me, sweetheart.” He leaned his head next to my ear, his voice causing my stomach to tighten.
The loud clunking of metal parts grinding reverberated against the stony castle walls. The bridge lowered, and our allies stormed the castle.
Our allies began to fight.
Hayden had released the lever, but his arms snaked around me, his head buried in the crook of my neck.
His hot breath tickled the raised skin where he’d marked me, sending electrical jolts to my core.
A hum escaped Hayden’s throat, more like a low growl, of pure satisfaction and desire.
I drew in a sharp breath. “Hayden, release me.”
“I’m recharging my energy, my Queen,” he whispered.
“It’s hardly the time,” I said. “We’re in the middle of a war.”
I twisted in his embrace to face him. He lowered his damp forehead to mine, and his fingers drew circles over my mate mark, leaving tingling traces behind.
The mate bond ignited upon his touch, causing my pulse to accelerate and my core to tighten.
I placed my hand over his hard chest, feeling his erratic heartbeat. “Hayden, what’s going on?”
When he sighed, his masculine scent infiltrated my nostrils. “I don’t like to be separated from you.”
His words felt genuine, but they caused my chest to tighten uncomfortably. Hayden’s feelings for me, from the very beginning when he’d violated my consent to bond himself to me, ran much deeper than mine.
Even now, the tone of his voice laced with emotions, while I felt guilty that my body responded to him but not my heart.
Taking a deep breath, I realized I would have to learn to coexist with this man who’d done the unforgivable—violated my will. To me, his action was a big deal—maybe even something I couldn’t forget or overlook for the rest of my life.
But I belonged to Hayden now—the bumpy skin and the tribal tattoos on my shoulder were the evidence. I’d chosen this for myself. I chose Hayden for my mate.
“Let’s get inside the castle to find Victoria,” I said in a low voice.
Hayden pulled away slightly, but his hand wrapped around my neck in the same way he’d grabbed my vampire attacker a moment ago. His gentleness had gone, while rough fingers dug into the delicate contours of my neck and throat.
I shot my gaze to his, and a cold chill ran down my spine. The madness had returned to his eyes. My neck felt so small and fragile in his large, strong hand that the thought he could snap it crossed my mind.
I gave my head a shake. Something was wrong with my senses.
Hayden felt dangerous but wouldn’t hurt his own mate, would he? But it was possible.
“I’m doing this for you, my Queen,” he said. “Don’t forget you belong to me.”
Hayden released me, leaving me with a reeling mind. I would have to give myself to Hayden—body, mind, and soul once the war ended. All over my chest, tiny stabbing pains formed, as if someone had wrapped a barbed wire around it and squeezed it tight.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said, but my shaky voice betrayed me.
Hayden released me and gave me his charming smile. “Let’s go, then.”
I kept glancing at him as we jogged toward the castle’s doors. Had he agreed to help me with the war to pacify me and trap me? Didn’t he care about the future of the werewolves and the kingdom?
Ignoring my disturbing thought, I focused on the task of infiltrating the castle. Bodies littered the courtyard within the castle walls. Our men fought several vampire guards at the same time, and more enemies poured into the square from somewhere.
Jogging, Hayden and I had almost reached the massive metal doors of the castle when a vampire jumped in front of us, blocking our path.
For a moment, the guard’s crimson eyes settled on Hayden.
His intense gaze told me he aimed his compulsion power at my mate.
The vampire tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at Hayden, and then he let out a loud hiss of annoyance.
I patted the leather bag with the crystal. The vampire grew frustrated and swung at Hayden, a silver dagger glimmering in his hand. He targeted his side, but Hayden blocked it with his forearm, grabbed the dagger with his other hand, and stabbed the vampire in the heart.
The vampire’s eyes widened before they lost their spark, and his body dropped to the ground.
Hayden gazed at me and halted. “Why are you looking at me like that, sweetheart?”
I didn’t know how I looked at him. “The vampire tried to compel you, didn’t he?”
“Of course. They can try all they want, but it won’t work on me,” he said, studying my face.
I wasn’t very good at hiding my emotions, and I wasn’t sure what Hayden saw there.
“Because you have the crystal.”
I swallowed hard, nodding. I couldn’t let the doubts cloud my mind—not now.
Hayden pressed his hands onto the metal front doors and pushed them open, grunting. They only opened enough for us to slip into a dark hallway.
“Great,” I muttered and sighed.
It seemed that the moments when I wished to have a wolf spirit wouldn’t end today. I could use some night vision right about now.
Hayden gripped my hand and pulled me behind him. “Let’s take this way.”
I tugged on his hand, and we stopped in our tracks. “I’ll use my bracelet, Hayden.”
I pulled away from his grip, willing the light flames to appear on my jewelry. When I lifted my arm up, the white light from my forearm illuminated the hallway. The flames danced around the golden material, warming me.
Before me, Hayden stood frowning.
“To make up for the lack of supernatural eyesight,” I said, wondering why I needed to explain myself to him.
We continued slowly, scanning the hallway walls. After a moment of aimless walking, it became clear that the hallways were labyrinthine with twists and turns.
I sighed. “Another maze to solve.”
Stepping closer to the stony gray walls, I examined my surroundings.
Besides the stones that surrounded us, large paintings hung on the otherwise cold, bare walls.
The beautifully framed images looked so out of place that more confusion settled behind my chest. The eerie drawings of forests and people seemed to watch our every move.
The air filled with a heavy, ominous aura, causing goose bumps to prickle on my neck.
“Something feels off here,” I said, my voice echoing in the hollow hallways.
“I agree.”
We took cautious steps forward. As we progressed, a creaking sound of shifting stones emanated around us, and the ground underneath our shoes trembled.
“The walls are changing,” Hayden said.
Previously accessible paths ahead vanished, closed off by shifting walls. A new hallway stretched endlessly in the distance, and I was sure we would be led astray and disoriented.
For a moment, our surroundings reminded me of the illusions Greyson cast in the museum hallways. But Victoria was a vampire.
“The vampire Queen has learned her lesson, I see,” I said, walking forward with an escalating pulse. “Lucy’s informant warned us of Victoria’s improved security inside the castle.”
“We’re smarter,” Hayden said. “We’ll find the way to her chambers or the throne room. She’ll be there.”
“She won’t run away, that’s for sure. She’s just making it difficult on us, tiring us out,” I said.
The vampire Queen had carefully crafted every aspect of the castle to keep intruders at bay—the very reason Victoria had invited us to her castle. Intricate tapestries and ornate suits of armor hung on the walls, but everything in the castle had a purpose.
Suddenly, some of the stones on the ground dropped into nothingness below, leaving a gaping hole behind. After several seconds, instead of the crashing sound of stones, the sloshing of the stones dropping into water sounded.
“Let’s try not to drop into the freezing water,” I said, jumping over a large hole.
But the stones kept falling, and the holes in the ground widened.
“Give me your hand, sweetheart.” Hayden reached his hand to me. “We’ll run to get ahead of the dropping rocks.”
We couldn’t stay at this spot any longer, risking all the rocks ahead to drop and not allowing us to move forward.