Chapter 37 – Neve
Chapter 37
NEVE
V ale snored next to me, still completely dressed after stumbling into the suite drunk with Sian right behind him, explaining that Thantrel Riis was to blame.
I’d heard what Vale did to his brother and had a guess as to why he’d nearly beat the heir to death. Though I was furious with Vale for confronting Rhistel and putting Filip in danger, I didn’t wish to speak with him in his current state.
I shook my head. He hadn’t lasted a single day before blowing up at his brother.
And yet . . . despite my anger, I couldn’t help but feel a sliver of happiness too at knowing that what he’d done, he’d done for me. Because he had feelings for me.
At that forbidden thought, my stomach rolled. I swallowed and turned the page in the book I was pretending to read. Why was I so attracted to a male I couldn’t have?
So many times since I’d learned the truth, I had tried to think of the fact that Vale and I could not be together as a positive. In theory, it made it easier to leave when the time came. Now that I knew who I was in blood and bone, I hoped that day came sooner rather than later. As a Falk by blood, Frostveil Castle was the most dangerous place in the world for me and tomorrow, my magic might appear for the first time in my life. I cast a glance around the room, feeling closed in. Trapped.
Perhaps, instead of locking myself away in this suite tomorrow, I should hide in the hidden part of the palace?
It might be the only place the king couldn’t find me. And maybe I could see Prince Calder too? Emilia had assured me he was the only prisoner held in the eastern dungeons. His own winter magic was bound, but Prince Calder might still have advice for me on how to control mine.
It was an idea . . . one I would entertain more in the morning. I sighed and dedicated myself to trying to get some sleep when a loud thunk froze me in place before my head could even hit the pillow. I straightened again, ears straining in time to catch footsteps. A moan.
My skin tightened just as the door to the suite burst open and the scent of blood rolled inside.
My heart surged into my throat as I leapt to my feet and found crimson eyes staring at me. He wore all red and his tunic bore a rose strangled by thorns on his breast.
Vampire.
Beyond the monster, a longsword had stabbed the Clawsguard into the door, and in the vampire’s hand was a stone bearing a rune. It glowed, telling me that whatever magic the stone possessed was active. It likely allowed the vampire to get through the protections on Vale’s door.
“Prince killer.” The vampire pocketed the stone and pulled a thin-bladed sword from his back. The metal whined, sending terror through me. “Prepare to die.”
“Vale!” I screamed. “Get up!”
He moved behind me, grunted in surprise, and sucked in a breath. Having lifted the blankets, the reek of ale rolling off him was even more potent.
Stars, would we be able to fight this vampire off?
“ Skelda .” Vale darted for where he kept his prized blade, always within reach since the threat of vampires hovered over us.
If only I’d been so prepared, I wouldn’t be staring down a vampire assassin with nothing but a book within arm’s reach. And though it was tempting to search for another weapon, I didn’t dare take my eyes off the assassin.
Vampires were the fastest of all magical orders. He might blur over in a second.
But he did not. The vampire merely watched us, a hint of amusement in his red eyes, when Vale stumbled over and placed his body in front of mine.
“A drunk faerie and an unarmed prince-killer? What a waste to send so many of us.”
Stars. How many?
“How did you get into the castle?” Vale growled.
We’d always known it was a possibility—a distant one, but always possible. Still, it seemed that to be confronted with a weakness in his home’s defenses was too much for Vale. He had to learn how this vampire had done it.
“With a trail of blood behind us.” The assassin took a step forward. “If you step aside and let me have the prince-killer, I’ll allow you to live, Prince. They sent me to bring back only one head.”
“Never,” Vale growled as he lowered into a stance I’d seen many times while sparring. “Neve, remember escaping last time!”
I swallowed. Vale wanted to buy me time to escape out the window. To fly away.
“Escape?” The vampire laughed. “That won’t be happening.”
He rushed forward. Vale raised his sword. “ Neve! Go! ”
But as the vampire prowled closer, as Vale slashed his sword and the vampire dodged it, I remained frozen in place. Vale and I might never belong together in the way I longed for but leaving him was off the table.
I bounded over the bed, desperate to find a weapon, but as the vampire was between Vale and the armory, I had to get creative. Casting a glance around, I spied long, thick icicles out the window. They weren’t stakes, which had to be wood, but they were something to work with.
I darted to the window, opened it, and frigid air burst in.
“Fast!” Vale yelled beneath the clanging swords, clearly under the impression that I was leaving him.
Instead of launching out the window, however, I extended my wings, preparing them in case I slipped, placed a hand on the thick pane, and leaned forward .
The icicles hanging from the top of the tower had tripled in size since I’d last noticed them. I gripped one and pulled with all my might.
It didn’t budge.
“Fates, come on!” I hissed as Vale’s cry of pain sounded behind me. I tried again, this time engaging my wings to keep me from falling out the floor-to-ceiling window and grabbing on with both hands. Again, the ice held firm.
I swallowed down a lump in my throat. I needed to think of something else. I whirled, prepared to use any item inside Vale’s room as a weapon, and caught the moment the vampire’s blade sliced across Vale’s chest. As the prince was wearing regular clothing and not armor or chain mail, Vale cried out and shifted to protect his innards. The vampire took that moment to throw a punch that landed on Vale’s temple.
“No!” I screamed as the prince toppled, blood seeping into the fabric of his shirt.
“Time to earn my fee.” The vampire kicked Vale’s blade aside and prowled closer, an evil glint in his eyes.
Suddenly, my hands grew cold. I looked down to find them glowing—a silvery violet light. Was this a sign? Did I need to use this? My magic?
Desperate, I raised my arms, extended them in front of me, and hoped that something, anything , would happen.
Nothing did.
The vampire sneered. “Weak in magic too. How did you kill our prince?”
Any sensible fae would have lunged out the window and flown to safety, but I couldn’t move. Not with Vale on the ground like that.
If I left, would the assassin decide to leave no witnesses and kill Vale? Would we both die here today?
Heart pounding in sharp, staccato beats, I tried to force something from my hands. Again, nothing poured out.
Tears pricked in my eyes. Was this my debt to be paid? If so, I hated the Fates, hated the Faetia, hated the very stars in the sky and the dead gods.
A motion behind the vampire caught my attention. Emilia was rushing forward, a stake in hand. I gasped, but the vampire was too set on me, too ready to win his prize.
He didn’t sense the stake until Emilia had already leapt up and planted it deep in his back. Momentarily, red eyes went wide, then fell flat, as the vampire collapsed.
I stared down at the human, head shaking. “How did you know we needed help?”
“Do you think I’d speak to you, tell you who you are, and then leave you alone?” Emilia gestured to the wall, where the hidden door was ajar. “I’ve been coming here each night, waiting. I was late tonight, but also, it seems, just in time.”
“T-thank you,” I breathed. “We have to help Vale.”
“You have to run,” Emilia retorted. “I heard the vampire. There are more.”
“Help me carry him. We’re taking him into the hidden palace.”
The human stared at me as if I’d grown a second head. “He’s an Aaberg. ”
I stepped over the vampire and knelt by Vale. His eyes were closed, and blood seeped from his wound. The cut was the length of my forearm, but I took hope because it also appeared cleanly done. The vampire’s blade had gone straight across, and it did not seem too deep. “And Vale isn’t like the king or the heir. I will not leave him.”
I was certain of that, however, if I moved him, would I make the injury worse? As if sensing that I was there, Vale’s eyes fluttered open and locked on me.
“You didn’t run.” He grabbed at his head and blinked. “Why?”
“There are more coming.” I swallowed. “Vale, I’m going to ask you to stand. We’ll help you walk, but I don’t think I can lift you on my own.”
Strong I was, but Vale was a huge faerie.
“I can move,” Vale grunted as he used his left arm to push up and wavered.
Barely. His muscles trembled and his breath caught. Those injuries might be nothing compared to what was happening in his head, but there was no time for negativity. We needed to run, get to Luccan Riis’s home, and, if possible, alert the palace guards that vampires had breached the building. The assassins might be here for me, but in no way did I think they would spare the throats of other fae. Our blood was too delicious for them to have much self-control.
“Emilia, come here,” I instructed.
Vale’s eyebrows pinched together. “Emilia?”
The human appeared at his side. “Prince Vale, nice to make your acquaintance. ”
Any other day, the shock that rippled over the prince’s face would have made me laugh. I would bet that a human slave had never addressed him so informally, with no curtsy, no deference, but Emilia wasn’t your average human. She’d been keeping another prince alive for two decades, and she had no loyalty to the family she served.
“I’ll watch his right,” I said, knowing that Vale would need more support there, and I was stronger than the old woman.
As Vale fought to stand, Emilia and I positioned ourselves at his sides in case he needed assistance. In the end, he stood on his own and barely wobbled, which I took as a good sign.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been sliced open,” Vale muttered when he saw me eyeing his wound. “Hurts every time.”
“You got hit in the head too,” I said. “But we’ll take care of that and find a way to close the sword wound,” I assured him as we walked to the door, still open, waiting for Emilia.
On the way, Vale paused over Skelda .
Not wanting him to bend over and topple, I scooped up the blade. “I’ll carry her for now. Worry about yourself.”
He frowned. “Give it to me if we see another assassin.”
Though I wanted to argue that his sword arm had to be compromised with such a large injury, I understood that, even injured and unsteady, he could wield Skelda with far greater skill than me .
“Fine.” I nodded, while already plotting ahead. If it came down to it, I’d pass Vale the sword. But I also wanted a weapon.
First, though, Vale to safety.
I paused, the first niggling doubt that the castle would accept him leaking in. What if Emilia and I went through and he was stuck here? More assassins might come at any moment, and once they saw their dead colleague, I doubted they’d spare Vale, even if he wasn’t their bounty.
Emilia shot me a dubious look as we stopped in front of the door in the wall, which hadn’t disappeared since Emilia sprinted through it to save me. I suspected she’d been thinking the same as me.
“Vale first.” I placed my hand on the wall. “He saved my life. Has done so many times. You can trust him as I do. That being said, your princess demands he be let inside.”
Vale’s eyebrows knitted together. He didn’t know that this part of the palace was sentient. It had spoken with me, so why wouldn’t I try to do the same and bargain with it?
The hidden palace didn’t answer, but the door remained in place. Open and ready. I supposed we’d just have to try.
“Go on in.” I nodded to Vale.
He shuffled closer, and I held my breath as he touched the doorjamb, then slowly crossed the threshold. I exhaled, as did Emilia.
“You’re right about him,” the human whispered as poor Vale stood there, watching us, confusion and pain clouding his eyes.
“I know. Now you go, Emilia. I need to get a weapon.”
“Get the stake holsters. Mine too.” Vale placed his hand on the wall for support.
“I will. I’ll be right back.” I dashed over to his personal armory. As I’d been inside many times, I knew exactly where to go. I grabbed Skelda’s sheath and a smaller, sheathed sword for me. I plucked the belts up and threaded the blades through before grabbing four stakeholders and doing the same. The belts were growing cumbersome, but I was to the point where I only needed the actual stakes. In two quick steps, I opened the stake drawer and plucked one, two, three, and finally four out, putting them in the holsters one by one.
I’d closed the drawer when voices came from down the hallway.
“Karpov should have finished her by now,” a female said.
“She sleeps with the prince,” another voice, also female, replied, excitement lacing her tone. “Perhaps they’re fighting.”
My heart leapt into my throat. I would bet my life that Karpov was the vampire Emilia had killed. More had arrived.
Gripping the belts heavy with weapons, I ran out of the armory and to the door to the hidden palace, aware that the footsteps in the corridor grew ever closer.
“Here.” I shoved the belts at Emilia, who looked alarmed to be touching weapons and fumbled them .
“There she is!” a voice hissed.
I twisted in time to see two vampires standing over the dead Clawsguard, one with her finger pointed at me. “Get her.”
I gripped the door and slammed it shut, catching their blurring forms as I did so. The moment the door shut, I pushed Emilia away, but I needn’t do so.
Two thuds hit the other side of the wall.
“Where’s the handle?” one growled.
“It was here!” the other answered, confusion and anger lacing their tone.
I patted the wall. “Thank you.”
“Not to beg for attention,” Vale said, his voice weaker than before, “but I need to get this wound taken care of before we go to Luccan’s so I don’t tear it open further.”
I turned and took in the gash through the shirt. It seemed like the bleeding had lessened, but it still looked bad. The only positive sign was that the vampire hadn’t hit anything vital.
“I can help,” Emilia said. “I keep supplies back here.”
I nodded and lent Vale my arm. “Lead the way, Emilia.”