Chapter 25 #2
Maurleen steadies herself. “Vessa is the Bride born again, the result of a debt owed to him by the gods of Sempiternus.”
Qinnu bolts out of his chair. “The fuck did she just say?”
Jabir moves to defuse him, gripping his shoulder firmly.
Maurleen carries on. “Upon her death, the Luna goddess swore to make amends, forging a curse. The soul of his mortal bride would one day be made new, only to be known by those who possess the sight of the oracle. For three millennia, she held up her end of the bargain, but with a clever loophole. A protector. The Sponsa Noctis would have a lycan mate, a fact known only to myself and a handful of witches in her service.”
A laden silence overtakes the room. Qinnu’s chest falls rapidly. His eyes are fiery arrows aimed right at me.
For a moment, Axe says nothing. Everyone in the room waits for his direction.
When my hand brushes against his elbow, Axe’s face morphs into a dark glare. “You believe with absolute certainty that my mate is this Sponsa Noctis?”
“I do. But please, you must understand that—”
Wyatt jumps to her aid. “We kept her away from my pack for as long as we could. But eventually, I had to bring her in. It was the only way to protect her until Maurleen knew for certain where to locate her mate. You, Commander. You can keep her secret safe here, where you have far more resources.”
Qinnu’s temper ignites. “Resources? You mean more families? More lives for the Blood Master to come and collect? Do you realize this bomb you’re dropping is going to start a war?”
Maurleen grimaces.
Wyatt glowers a shade darker. An asp, readying to strike. “Mind your tone, pup.”
Peeling off the sling, Axe pushes out of his chair, the legs screeching unbearably against the granite. “Whatever you’re about to say, Qinnu, push it down.”
Nell abandons her seat, nudging me behind her. Oh, shit.
Qinnu snarls, fangs dropping into place. “This changes everything, Axe. You know it. She’s not just our enemy. She’s the fucking apocalypse.”
Axe quickly crosses the room to grab onto his other shoulder. Pinned against the wall by the Alpha and Beta, the male thrashes, casting a spiteful gaze upon me.
“Colton was right,” the Sentinel sneers. “We’d be better off killing her.”
A gasp falls from Nell’s lips. Across the room, Axe goes still. Lethally still.
“I’m going to give you five seconds to take that back,” he whispers.
Qinnu’s mouth clamps shut. Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . .
“He’s right!” I blurt. "You all deserve to live in peace. You should end this. Before my curse reaps any more misery.”
I would much rather give my life now than surrender it to my betrothed and end up shackled to him for eternity.
“Vessa,” Maurleen croaks. “This bloodshed started well before you—"
Axe cuts her off, staring her down. “Tell me there’s a way to revoke it.”
“It cannot be undone. Your only option is to destroy the prince of Somnium before his ascension. Kill the Blood Master, and you will be rid of the curse, as well as his offspring.”
“With what?” asks Nell. “He’s a demigod. Silver bullets and black oak stakes might work on first generations, but no one has ever been able to kill him.”
Maurleen hangs her head. “My sisters have been tortured by his minions for centuries over the same question."
Qinnu rolls his eyes. “This is bullshit. For three years, this pack has worked tirelessly to push vampires out of wolf country. They killed our own! Why should she get to live? Put a blade to her throat and the Blood Master would fold in an instant.”
Axe detonates, throwing his fist. I flinch at the gruesome crunch of Qinnu’s nose. The sound of his roar as his piercing is ripped from his septum. He drops like a brick.
The Alpha’s knuckles are battered and bloody. Not an ounce of mercy in those cobalt eyes. “Take. It. Back.”
“I’m sorry,” Qinnu wheezes.
Blinking through my queasiness, I sit up straight. “It isn’t just vampires. I saw what killed my mother. It was a rogue lycan. Part of a crew that had been paid to find me.”
Wyatt dips his head. “The truth is that bloodhounds are far better trackers than bloodsuckers are. And that, for the right price, criminals will abandon loyalty to their own kind. I trailed those rogues for days before they located Vessa’s family.”
I tried to warn them back at the task force meeting. Somnium’s monstrous adversaries are aligning, which is a clear testament to how desperate the Blood Master is to find me.
Axe furrows his brows at Wyatt. “You’re an Auxiliary?”
“I was,” he mumbles.
Finally, Jabir’s cool exterior cracks, lashing out at him.
“We should’ve been informed of this the moment Vessa stepped foot on our land.
If one rogue had the scent, then a dozen others likely picked up where he left off.
If omegas are being recruited by our mortal enemies, then putting down that threat becomes our number one priority. ”
Nell nods, rubbing her stomach. To my shock, she remains the only one who is sympathetic. “That could explain why things have quieted down lately on our reports out of Alban. Vampires could be turning Auxes on us.”
“Lorray,” Axe says with unsettling calmness.
Qinnu spews blood onto the floor.
“When did you last make contact with Tesni’s unit?”
He glances down at his phone. “Wednesday.”
Axe mutters a curse. It’s been over forty-eight hours.
Jabir crosses over to him, studying the phone screen that tracks the movement of the warriors. Then he removes his own from his pocket. “I’ll have patrol ready the trucks.”
“We’ll need two birds,” Axe barks. “And I want them loaded with as much artillery as we can carry.”
The room starts to spin. I barely hear Nell state that this meeting will be postponed. I barely hear anything except for the dread pounding in my ears.
I make it to Axe before he can cross the threshold to the hallway. “You’re not seriously going with them,” I squeak. “You’re still injured.”
His agitated gaze is fixed on the clock mounted to the stone wall. “I’ll be fine.”
I shake my head. “Please. Think about this for a second.”
“I’ve got the coordinates!” Jabir yells from down the hall.
Axe’s large body carefully sidesteps me. He slips out of the room to catch up with the others.
Tears burn in my eyes, calling after him just as he turns the corner. “Axe, wait!”
Behind me, Nell places a hand on my shoulder. “A mate doesn’t say goodbye unless he believes he won’t return.”