Chapter 24
“Warriors,” Dru said.
The sounds of growling pierced the air. She pulled out her other blade, prepared to meet the enemy.
She wished she’d brought her axe with her, but she’d left it at the inn.
Her warriors fanned out behind her and positioned themselves in preparation for the incoming lycans.
The humans screamed and scrambled into the random storefronts.
Dru took a few steps forward at the sight of single male who appeared a short distance away. The lycans emerged from around the buildings, standing tall, snarling, their amber eyes burning bright. A few of the beasts surrounded him as if forming a protective wall around him.
Solomon.
“Solomon Winterborne.” Dru’s fangs had broken through her gums and slid into place. She pushed down the hint of worry about her mate hidden in the SUV. It was a military-grade vehicle and should hold up against an attack.
Keyword: should.
“There was a time I went by that name,” the vampire sneered.
He paced back and forth. This was the enemy.
He should be dead, but here he was, living and breathing.
He was a traitor to the crown, and by looks of it, his traitorous ways knew no bounds.
“They have sent you to me. I’m sure they want my head. ”
“The queen sent me.” She widened her stance, ready to honor the request of her queen.
“And you, the loyal soldier that you are, thought you’d be able to bring me to the queen? How is that bitch anyways?” He barked a sadistic laugh.
“You will show respect when you speak of Queen Mira Riskel.” Dru itched to wipe the smirk from his face. “And I’m no ordinary warrior, traitor.”
“Ah, that’s right. You’re a general, but that doesn’t scare me. I’ve faced many warriors like you in my past.”
“But never me,” she snapped.
“You’re all the same. You pledge yourselves to the crown and you don’t know that they’ll soon enough send a sword through your heart than respect your loyalty,” he shouted.
He turned and faced her with his eyes feral and wild, his fangs on full display.
He may be an older and strong vampire but he could be cut down just like any other foe.
“My loyalty is unwavering. Unlike you. You were the right hand of the king. You betrayed him—”
“He betrayed me first. Did they leave that out of their little stories? Did they not mention that?”
“It was you who ordered the killing of mere children.” She took a step forward, already tired of this conversation. His head needed to roll. She’d do her queen a favor and take care of this traitor for her. There was nothing he could say that would sway her decision.
“We were at war. What were we to do? Allow them to grow up and then become the enemy? I did what that weak king could not,” he said. “I was thinking of our people. I wanted peace, but I got painted as the villain. Even when I begged him for mercy for—”
He cut short and looked away. He paused his pacing and glanced at the sky. A growl was torn from him as he swung back to face Dru.
“I don’t care that you begged for mercy. I have orders to carry out, and you’re coming with me one way or another,” Dru threatened.
“You don’t know them like you think,” Solomon barked. “They took everything from me. Even before I gave those orders. I begged them for one thing. One damn thing. But he took her from me. Killed everyone there, and he’s worried about lycan children. I did him a damn favor.”
Dru filed all of the information he was giving her in the back of her mind. Who was the she he was referring to? Who did the king have killed? Had what the king did lead to Solomon’s actions as a retaliation? All of this wasn’t making sense.
“It matters not. You’re a traitor to the crown. Our people,” Dru said.
“All of this loyalty. For what? To be able to settle down? You’re coming from that damn lab that needs to be destroyed. Vampires don’t need a damn system to find our mates. Niall is insane. He didn’t want to consider my choice in a mate, but he’s willing to have vampires mate with humans?”
“That will be between you and the king. You can have that conversation when I take you to him,” Dru snarled.
“And that human in the truck? You think she’ll accept a vampire like you?”
“That human is none of your concern.” Dru didn’t want the focus to be on the truck where Tomesha was safely tucked away. The mere mention of Tomesha had Dru ready to dismember him for even laying his eyes on her.
“Touchy subject, I see,” he sneered.
“She means nothing. She’s a whore and nothing else.” Dru hated to even utter those words out loud. Tomesha was more than her profession. It didn’t bother Dru at all that her mate had to make do with what she had in order to survive. “You, on the other hand, sold your soul to the lycans.”
“I made an alliance with them. It’s survival.” He laughed, the sound dark and hollow.
Before she could reply, he lunged forward. He used his vampire speed to reach her in mere seconds. The clash was instant. Their blades met each other. Steel versus steel, strength against strength. The air grew thick as the battle ensued.
Vampires and lycans.
Behind them, her warriors and the lycans collided in a frenzy. The sounds of gunfire ripped through the air along with the angry growls and roars. Through all of the chaos, Dru focused on Solomon. The elder warrior was still quick and holding his own against her.
He moved like a shadow—fast and fluid. Every strike he threw at Dru carried fury and centuries’ worth of rage.
She countered, her own blows driven by a fierce need to protect her mate and to honor her queen’s request. This vampire wasn’t going to win.
Dru would prevail. There wasn’t going to be any other outcome.
“A general, huh?” he said.
They broke apart and circled each other. He was slightly out of breath. Dru took in every detail about him. She’d adjust her strategy. It was what she taught her soldiers who trained under her. He was already underestimating her. He may use his strength and brawn, but Dru was a calculating warrior.
“General Moldark.” She flashed her fangs at him, not in the least bit intimidated by him.
“I’ll make sure to remember that when I send the queen your body parts cut up in small pieces.” He stalked toward her.
They clashed again. He tried to use his weight against her, but as he’d mentioned, she was a general, not a wet-behind-the-ears warrior. She threw herself into the fight, ignoring the brawling going on around them. She was certain her warriors would be able to handle the lycans.
Then she heard it—the shattering of glass and the unmistakable crunch of metal. Dru’s heart skipped a beat at the scream that followed.
Tomesha.
Her head whipped around toward the SUV. Two lycans circled the vehicle. One lunged on top of the hood. The windshield shattered, glass spreading around the street. The other lycan dragged its claws along the frame. They were in an enhanced frenzy at the scent of Tomesha’s fear.
“I thought she was just a whore who didn’t mean anything,” Solomon taunted.
Rage flooded Dru so hot that her vision blurred.
She drove him back away from her with brutal strikes of her dual daggers.
She forced him to the curb. He staggered but caught himself.
The harsh laughter that spilled from him sent Dru over the edge.
She spun around at the sound of another of Tomesha’s screams piercing the air.
One lycan tried to fit inside the shattered windshield while the other worked on the door.
For a split second, Dru froze. Duty screamed at her to finish Solomon while at the same time she was being driven to go and save her mate. If she didn’t capture or kill Solomon now—if he slipped away from her—she’d have failed in her mission.
“General!” Orenda’s voice sliced through the air.
Dru spun around just in time to meet the traitor’s blade.
She twisted around using his momentum against him and slammed her dagger up beneath his ribs.
His expression faltered as shock and disbelief appeared on his face.
She drove him backward until this time he tripped over the curb and fell to the ground. She followed him down.
“She’s not for you to worry about,” Dru spat. She twisted the weapon around and pushed it in deeper. Her hands became covered in his warm blood as it escaped around the wound. She withdrew the blade and stood.
Solomon’s head fell back onto the ground. Blood slipped from his lips, and he fought to breathe. The sounds of gurgling met her ears. She turned away from him and took in the scene around her.
She didn’t know where her other dagger had fallen, but it didn’t matter.
She locked in on the lycans attacking the vehicle in a frenzy.
She flew forward using her speed and vaulted into the air.
She landed on the back of the lycan on the hood.
The lycan howled and tried to throw her off him.
She wrapped an arm around him and yanked him backward.
The air escaped her when she hit the ground on her back with the beast still in her grasp.
She tightened her hold on the lycan. It tried to break free.
She whipped her blade forward and sent it directly into its neck.
She slashed completely across the width of it, severing the arteries, veins, and tendons to the point where she almost decapitated it.
She winced at the amount of blood that sprayed.
She tossed the animal to the side and rolled to her feet.
She ignored the amount of blood that covered her.
Orenda had arrived to the second lycan and sent her sword through it’s back.
The lycan’s howl pierced the air but grew weak, the life draining from it.
The body fell to the ground, lying still.
Behind her, the last of the lycans fell.