Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
PARIS
Ifinally reached the end of the vampire king’s horrible memories and ached with sympathy.
His realm, his people…fuck.
“I…I need to speak to him.”
I went to move across the glade, Caer stopping me.
“Leave him be,” she said. “Let him process this.”
I recoiled as if she’d slapped me. “No. He needs me.”
“He will.” She pressed a hand to my chest. “And we are getting closer to seeing what was taken from him.”
I couldn’t stand this. I had to hold him, let him know I was here for him because I…
…I cared. So much.
So damn much.
“It appears the song had no effect on those wolves,” she said sadly. “That was the purpose of you singing just now.” She brushed her fingers across the blackberry bush. “We must get to the Carving Glade. The song is weakening. Too much of my energy is spent keeping Aidan out of here.”
Great. Just fucking great.
“I—”
A replay of the ice memory snared me, shutting me up.
When it reached the frostbrood claws digging into my belly, it skipped forward to me waking up on the ice again with fading words in my ears.
“When two hearts sing, so the melody of blood begins…” There were gaps in the words, swallowed by static. “…walls will crumble…purged…eternally.”
What the hell did that mean?
I didn’t get the damn answer before waking up in a warm place.
Huh?
Silvanus…
I have to get to Silvanus…
Firelight danced on the ceiling, keeping the shadows at bay.
Was I inside a cave? I mean, I’d slept in enough of them over the years to know.
But rocks were never this soft or fluffy on the spine.
I sat up, finding myself on a flattish surface covered in thick fur, a fire burning before me. Others were gathered around it, all naked and yellow-eyed.
Werewolves.
“Oh, shit!” I yelped, jumping to my feet.
They all rose together, the guy called Declan came up to me, his dick swinging like a pendulum.
Oh. Yeah. The big-dicked alpha and fellow executioner.
Whoa. I swayed on my feet, needing a seat.
Staggering back, I gathered myself enough to plonk back down on the fur.
“Easy there,” the alpha said, crouching before me.
There were too many things popping off in my brain. Confusing, heartbreaking, super frustrating.
I have to get to Silvanus…
A terrible thought hit me. I straightened. “Aidan, he—”
“He vanished when he came back together,” Declan answered.
“Fuck knows how,” a woman answered curtly.
The others all nodded around the fire.
Fingers crossed he’d gone off to recuperate for a bit. I needed the break.
Heart racing, I steadied myself with some deep breaths, staring into the eyes of the alpha.
“It’ll be okay.” He spoke calmly, his voice a much-needed balm to the senses.
No, it wouldn’t.
Trembling, I sat forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “I have to get out of here.”
Poor Silvanus. The pain he must be feeling right now, the pure, unadulterated sorrow. I’d known my fair share of it, but on that scale? By Aidan, I couldn’t even begin to imagine it.
Caer! Not Aidan! Anything but that fucking name!
I leaned back on my hands, gnawing on my bottom lip.
“Are you okay?” the alpha wolf asked.
Since when did feral wolves behave this way? This lot weren’t acting like those wolves in the violent tales. My guts should be hanging from a tree, for starters.
“I’m so confused,” I said to Declan.
Yeah, understatement of the year.
Fellow executioner, really?
The alpha lowered his arse to the cave floor, sitting cross-legged. “Not what you were expecting?” He pointed at himself, offering a big grin.
“I expected to be mauled.”
A couple of wolves snorted.
“We’ve both got some stories to tell here,” the alpha said.
“I’ll say.”
“But tell me your name first,” he added.
I saw no reason not to after they’d saved me from the cold and Aidan. “Paris Raine. As you said, fellow executioner. Did you smell it on me?” I’d heard of wolf-born executioners doing that.
He nodded. “Along with honey.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “An elf thing.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’m Declan Carne. Nice to meet you.” We shook hands, which made my toes tingle a little.
Weird. And his calloused palms shouldn’t be stirring my skin cells.
“So, tell me what you’re doing here,” he said. “And who is that man calling himself Aidan?” A growl rumbled from him. “How could someone like that share a name with our blessed deity?”
The others all agreed enthusiastically.
Hmmm. Where to go with this? If I tried telling them their precious Aidan was a piece of shit, it likely wouldn’t go down well. My insides might well end up painting the cave walls if I didn’t tread carefully.
Damn. I really needed to get into the Carving Glade.
Rather than tell the truth, I spun a lie about some fucked-up mage cursing me with a spell that kept me alive and him getting off on taking me out repeatedly until the spell played out.
Oof. I only hoped they swallowed bullshit easily.
“We saw you die,” the same woman from before spoke. “So that’s what was happening, was it?”
Jenny. Also an executioner, and beta wolf to Declan.
“Yeah. Not fun,” I answered.
She stayed by the fire. “What a wanker your ex is.”
“Yeah. And I still can’t die,” I threw in for some extra deceit. “I’ve no idea when the spell ends.”
This did nothing to alleviate my guilt over being a terrible executioner. Sitting here lying my arse off, added to the shame.
If they only knew what I’d been up to with the vampire king they all wanted to see dead.
As if on cue, a guy brought Silvanus up, wondering if he was in league with this Aidan fellow.
“I don’t think so,” I answered, Declan drawing my eye again.
“You’ve really been through it,” he said gently. “I’m sorry. We’ll do our best to keep you safe here.” He pressed his hand over his heart. “Executioners rise.”
Man, I hadn’t done this in a long, long time.
I mirrored him, as did his pack, repeating his words, then drew luck down my chest.
He smiled. “Elf luck?”
“Yeah.”
His handsome face made my chest wince and my voice crack.
Man, he was so good looking.
“Want some water?” he asked. “We have food, too.” He tilted his head. “Meat only, I’m afraid. Rabbit, deer, boar.”
My stomach offered a resounding no with a sickly roil. “Water would be great, thanks. And so would your story.”
Jenny came over with a battered metal mug of cold water, handing it to me. “Thanks.”
She grunted, throwing me a quizzical look, and returned to her position at the fire.
I got the feeling she didn’t like me or believe my story.
And she would be bang on the coin.
After a few blessed gulps, I settled down to listen to Declan. For all my sins, I owed him my pointy ears.
“This entire valley is a conspiracy against the public outside of the Werewolf Domain,” he began.
“We’re not feral, as you can see, but we are a problem.
Being executioners, we’re supposed to be exterminated by decree of that rotten deal between the vampire king and the Global Order.
But the laws of this domain protect us from being killed, so here we are.
Labeled feral, a whole lie conjured to keep the rest of the world happy, and us out of harm’s way.
” He folded his big, muscular arms, my toes curling once again from their size.
Huh?
“Shit,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. But you know all about being ostracized too.”
“Big time,” I answered, not going into detail.
He shook his head after a heavy sigh. “How did we get here?”
“Because people are scum,” Jenny added.
The others agreed.
Declan carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, a feeling I knew all too well.
Part of me wanted to hug him, to shuffle closer and—
What the hell was I thinking? Of course I didn’t want to be closer to him. Not in a hugging kind of way, anyway. He wasn’t…
He wasn’t what? Suitable? For me? Oh, but royal vampires were?
Damn this! Fuck my stupid brain for going down this path.
I killed it quickly.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” Declan said, “but I hope the king gets his one day. I really do.”
I agreed, suppressing a retch.
The thought of Silvanus dead didn’t operate well inside me anymore.
Damn.
I’m so sorry, I thought at the wolves in this cave.
Like me, their true selves had been shunned by society. Unlike me, they were loyal to the cause, still clinging to the dreams of better days ahead.
Deep down, I knew I should come clean and beg for forgiveness. Drive home the truth of Aidan.
Ha! I wouldn’t be leaving this cave if I did.
“So, what happens now?” I asked.
“You tell us,” he answered. “You have to get back to your life and kill that Aidan guy. But we’re in the middle of nowhere.
” He stroked his chin. “If you go directly south, you’ll reach the first outpost two miles off the southern side of the wall.
But it’s a trek.” His smile was bright, and I noticed his dimples for the first time.
Built to kill with a face to melt your heart, along with your underwear. The man was yummy, one to make you look twice and then maybe a few more times after that.
Don’t go there…
“We can help you,” he added. “There’s plenty of furs here you can wear. Our prison wardens keep us supplied with stuff, so don’t worry about freezing to death.”
“Which he’d get over, apparently,” Jenny threw in.
Declan’s head snapped around, his growl forcing her to dip her head in obedience.
She wasn’t wrong to throw dirty looks my way. I was a lying fucker, a real traitor to my people.
I couldn’t be this person. I had to wash some of the shame away, purge these feelings for the vampire king, get back on the better track.
But I don’t want to…
I want to be—
I couldn’t finish the thought.
“Okay there?”
Damn Declan’s dimples for getting my cheeks warm.
“Sweetcream.” A confession began to crawl up my throat.
This is how I’ll make things right.
“What’s wrong?” Declan asked.
“I…I…” I scratched at my neck, heat flaring just about everywhere. “I’m so…I’m so grateful you saved me. All of you.”
I felt Jenny’s eyes boring into me, her distrust palpable.
Say it. Beg for mercy, get back to yourself.
Yeah, but my self needed Silvanus in his life.
“I—”
Every set of eyes in the cave turned gold, Declan’s lips spread wider.
Oh. Shit. I pushed myself across the rock, the fur bunching up beneath me.
“We see his truth,” Jenny proclaimed.
“We see what you’ve done,” a guy called Mike contributed.
Aidan. He had them, just like he’d taken control of those Acolytes back in Glimmer City.
What was this? Some kind of deity hivemind shit? If this was Aidan’s power watered down, then him gaining full access didn’t bode well.
“And it’s disgusting,” Declan drawled. “You’re a traitor to the word of Aidan. You’re a dirty vampire fucker.” His head tilted from side to side. He bared his teeth, rising to his feet, claws elongating from his fingers. “Vamp shaggers are scum.”
“And scum has to die,” Jenny chimed in.
The wolves gathered together, blocking any route out of here. I checked, scanning the darkness, finding one exit only, blocked by two big guys.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I was screwed.