CHAPTER 8
Killian
I’m drumming my fingers impatiently on the polished dark cherry wood desktop of my personal office, which doubles as our strategic assembly location.
The heavy black steampunk pendulum clock hanging on the left side indicates that ten minutes have passed since our agreed-upon meeting time.
“Where in the blasted barren lands of Hell is he?” I growl, more to myself than to the two vampires sitting in front of me.
“Gallivanting around, as per usual,” Leilah says from the right. Marhus snickers before catching himself and straightening his posture. He stares out the window, avoiding Leilah’s gaze as if it were the plague.
The two generals are my most esteemed and trustworthy warriors, second only to Blaise himself, but far more punctual than that wretched vampire.
If I find out he was fucking some maid in a corner instead of attending our tactical meeting in time, I’ll tear him a new asshole, right where his stupid cock now resides.
He is already walking on thin ice with me after that fiasco of a kidnapping.
We spent months, years, gathering intel carefully about the identity of the Foretold One, only for him to abduct the wrong sister.
My mood worsens at the mere reminder of last night. It’s not just any minor setback; it’s a motherfucking delay in our plans that could cost us thousands of vampires. I grind my teeth in frustration, my fist clenching painfully.
“Come, come, love. You know how he is. Maybe it’s time to appoint someone else as your second-in-command, no?
” Leilah murmurs in a sultry voice, reaching out to cover my white-knuckled fist with her bronzed fingers.
She pushes her cleavage against the wooden frame of the desk with no hint of subtlety, giving me a full-frontal show of her perky breasts, covered in a tight-skin leather bodysuit.
I abstain from swatting her hand away, my jaw clicking with restrained rage.
Marhus silently laughs behind her, his shoulders trembling a bit, while his azure eyes take in the scene.
He shrugs as if to say, , and, by Akaori, he told me; I just didn’t listen at the time.
Every damned vampire knows Leilah develops centuries-long infatuations with her lovers, and we’ve both experienced that firsthand.
Or rather, he had, while I am still experiencing it.
She was obsessed with Marhus for almost seventy-five long years before I had the ill-fated idea of having a passing fling with her, over a century ago.
It takes only one night of drunken passion to fuck up the entire dynamic of a group.
And the only things that we vampires hold longer than grudges are sexual obsessions.
I watch as she flips her raven ponytail over her shoulder and give her a tight-lipped smile, before extricating my hand from her grasp.
“That’s not up for discussion, Leilah. Blaise, moronic as he can be at times, is the best spy and warrior in our kingdom.”
She pouts dramatically before leaning back against her chair. Akaori, how did I ever get tangled with this clingy vampiress? If she weren’t so damn good at what she does—interrogation and torture to be more precise—I would have beheaded her myself a very long time ago.
Besides, I can admit my own faults here, too. I do have a tendency to stick my dick in the wrong females at the absolute worst of times. Call it a character flaw. Probably one of my few or many, depending on who you’re asking.
The door opens, and in comes Blaise, not a care in the damn world, having the gall to whistle an animated tune.
“Finally.” I throw him a pointed look, and he shrugs nonchalantly. “Have you no sense of time whatsoever?”
“I do,” the corner of his mouth lifts in a knowing smirk, and I sense that whatever comes out of his mouth next is going to piss me off further, “But I was raised to be hospitable and pleasurable with guests, especially ones that we need to win over to our side.”
So, he was with the sister. The thought sits heavy in my stomach, but I don’t want to explore why right now.
“Oooooh, you mean the little Fae girlie with no magic you brought in as part of your monumental fuck-up? That guest?” Leilah says, almost too satisfied with the situation.
She was against our desperate attempt at finding the Foretold One, for obvious reasons.
As much as Aurora Vaureghain will be the answer to our problems, Leilah doesn’t seem all too thrilled with our quest to fulfill the prophecy.
She believes the union mentioned in the ancient text refers to an actual, real relationship between me and the shadow wielder, and, clinging as she is to the delusion of a possible future for us, she would try all other fruitless options before accepting we simply need that Fae.
I, on the other hand, have no interest whatsoever in being romantically involved, neither with the chosen Vaureghain, nor anyone else, for that matter.
My duty is to my people, and I will do whatever it takes to save the kingdom from the blight that’s been spreading its rot and decay through my domain for the last several years.
If I have to maim, murder, fuck, or marry my way to victory, I will do it.
But feelings will not be involved. Only cold, calculated risks and strategic decisions.
I remember that summer night when the sky bled for hours on end, announcing the birth of the chosen Fae.
Her kind thought the natural phenomenon occurred only above their lands, but it was a realm-wide event.
We saw it too and knew what it meant. However, finding out her identity was a much more tedious affair.
One I didn’t really care about, not until the Fates forced my hand to seek her out.
“Enough, we’ve lost enough time as it is.” I snap at them both before turning my attention towards Marhus. “Frontline reports?”
“Not much has changed in the last week, Killian,” the vampire straightens in his seat, his blue gaze facing me straight-on. “Things have been suspiciously calm—no sightings, no disappearings. I believe they are preparing something massive.”
I turn to study the kingdom’s map that hangs on the wall behind me, although I know it by heart. Black dots darken the whole upper part, showing all the towns and villages that have fallen prey to the spreading cancer.
“Dithrau is the biggest city on the other side of the mountains that is still under our control. You believe they are planning to attack there?”
It’s the only thing that would explain the sudden stop in smaller strikes on the villages surrounding the mountainous range that shields us from the war going on the other side.
“I believe so, yes,” Marhus says.
“Deploy more warriors in that area, then. We have to maintain our position on Dithrau and any surrounding towns to hinder their advance.”
If that city falls, the hordes will have easy access to the Gorgnome Pass, which cuts through the mountains and connects the North and the South of Wrahta. They will reach Drovillan, my capital. They will attack Sangeries. That can never happen. I won’t fucking allow it.
I turn my gaze towards Leilah. “Any luck interrogating the prisoners? We need to find out where their base of operations is located.”
“No, nothing yet.” She sighs, displeased. “We managed to narrow it down to four locations, but they are all so deep in enemy territory that we can’t risk sending scouting missions without them being captured.”
“Press harder,” I grunt in response, and she nods.
“Blaise, would you care to share anything from your side, or are you too busy picking your nails to participate?”
He straightens from where he was casually leaning against the doors, and regards me seriously.
“My network of spies reports that there have been several sightings of a vampire resembling Vladymyr. They’re inconclusive at best.” My shadows awaken at the sound of that, swirling on edge.
I haven’t heard that name in six years, since we lost our brother in arms to the enemy. He was part of the inner circle, and the first one of us to fall.
“Any lead on Vladymyr needs to be followed thoroughly, no matter how inconsequential it may seem. Send some of your best spies with the clear order to confirm his identity, without engaging. Go yourself if you deem it so.”
“And how should we proceed on the matter of the Foretold One?” he inquires last, gaining a clear scoff from Leilah.
“Since your failed attempt at securing her has landed us in the position to bargain her sister’s life for hers, get the word out on the streets of Vroni. No matter where they keep her hidden, she will emerge for her sister’s sake,” I say, still on edge. The welfare of my kingdom depends on it.
“Dismissed,” I state with a heavy sigh. We’ve been running around in circles for months now, even years. It’s becoming more and more blatantly clear that without the correct Vaureghain sister, we are doomed.
Marhus and Leilah stand to leave, and Blaise makes a move to follow them.
“Not you, Blaise.” He turns in his tracks and plops unceremoniously onto the seat Leilah just moved out of. I wait a few moments after their departure to make sure they are no longer within hearing range before I turn my attention back to my second-in-command. “How is the girl?”
“Aimee, you mean?” He smirks before lifting both legs and crossing them at the ankles on my desk. “She’s a spitfire, isn’t she? Easy on the eyes, too.”
“That’s not what I mean, you moron.” I grit my teeth in annoyance.
Leave it to Blaise to talk about a female’s appearance, when what I want to know is if she will prove to be an asset in our hands.
My shadows churn at the edge of my feet, as if to call me on my bullshit.
Fine, I admit she looks rather delectable, with those golden doe-eyes and those long, delicate limbs that I could easily imagine wrapped around me.
I can’t quite shake off the image of her from last night, with her stare burning with hatred, and that gloriously curvy, almost naked body. Talk about a first impression…
“I think she might warm up to me a little,” Blaise says in response. “Although it will take more than a few conversations to gain her trust. It wouldn’t hurt if you’d make an effort, too.”
“I don’t have the time or the interest to get cozy with the girl, Blaise. I have more pressing matters on my mind, if you don’t realize.” My voice raises a fraction.
“Then you won’t mind if I cozy up to her, nice and good,” he says. I can feel my shadows getting more agitated, pouring off of me and onto the floor. “She’s quite fierce for a magicless Fae, and you know I don’t back out of a challenge. Especially one that looks like that.”
“Blaise…” I warn in a stern voice, but he ignores me completely.
“I mean, have you seen the rack on her? Begging to be tasted, I swear! And that bouncy ass, I mean, man, she’s a living, breathing, wet dream.”
“Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare!” I shout, losing control, and my shadows darken the room completely, before I manage to gain composure and reel them back in.
What the fuck was that? My reaction takes me by surprise, but Blaise doesn’t seem shaken in the slightest. He just grins broadly, readjusting in his seat.
“If you don’t want to share, Killian, you just have to say the word. Don’t pretend I didn’t see you ogling her last night like a prepubescent male seeing a female for the first time.”
“I did no such thing,” I grumble at the accusation.
“Right, right… How could I forget that our mighty Vampire King is all work and no play?” He laughs it off, not caring that my shadows could lash out at him at any moment.
“She might be enticing, Blaise, but so will her sister. They share the same appearance as twins. And Aurora Vaureghain is our end goal here, never forget.”
“Yes, well, she could be an entrée to the main course that is her sister,” Blaise says. “At the very least, you could try to get on her good side, no? She might be more willing to offer us the location of her twin if she doesn’t hate your guts.”
A sigh escapes my lips as I run a hand through my hair. He might be right. “And what do you propose I do, mmm?”
Blaise sits straighter in his seat, smiling widely.
“Unleash some of that charm I know you have hidden under layers and layers of cold aloofness and self-control. Invite her to dinner. Wine and dine her and make her realize that you…we…but mostly you, are not the despicable, evil creature she thinks you are. From what I can sense, she knows nothing about vampires, besides the blatant lies the Fae spread about our kind.”
I absent-mindedly respond, “Mhm.” I have no patience whatsoever for these mind games. But if playing nice with the magicless twin can bring me closer to our goal, I will have to begrudgingly oblige.