CHAPTER 71
WREN
∞
I’m having more fun than I should be in the present situation. The wide grin spread across Chess’s face is contagious, but at the same time, I understand why she feared for her life last night. This car is way too fast. It doesn’t feel as bad when you’re the one driving, but being in the passenger seat is an entirely different situation. She has a few close calls with parked vehicles and an old drug addict crossing the road as we near the shitpit of Felton, but even I don’t think we should have made it here in under ten minutes when the drive normally takes twenty.
“That was so much fun!”
She squeals as she brings the car to a screeching halt, almost decapitating me with my own fucking seatbelt. She’s pulled up a ways away from her building and I look at her confused.
“Why did you park so far away?” I ask.
“I didn’t want to draw a ton of attention to the building, and a Lambo parked out front would definitely draw suspicion.”
“Do you want me to go up with you?”
I peek out the window and take in the surroundings. It seems quiet enough at least.
“I think I’m okay, Wren. I’ve lived here a long time and took care of myself fine, and now I’m like you, so is there any reason for me to be worried?”
Her condescending tone makes me want to yank her over to my seat and spank her. “There’s a murderous vampire on the loose and I don’t want anything happening to you if I can help it,”
I say through gritted teeth.
Her gaze softens, and she reaches over to grip my hand in hers. “I’ll be okay. You can keep watch down here, and if you see anything, you can just come up and get me. I won’t be long, I promise. I shouldn’t be more than five minutes.”
“It’ll take you five minutes just to get up those fucking stairs.”
“Wren,”
she sighs.
“Fine. I’ll stay in the fucking car.”
She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and smiles. “Good boy,”
she giggles, patting me on the head like a fucking dog. “Do you want me to crack a window open for you?”
I shift in my seat, and she scrambles out of the car, cackling like a hyena.
I can’t help but laugh once she closes the door between us. Sassy little shit. She really knows how to push my buttons with that fucking mouth of hers.
I’m counting down the minutes. Constantly checking my phone and irritation starts creeping in. Five minutes go by and then ten. What the fuck is she doing in there? I hiss out a breath when my wrist flares with pain. I glance down to see the mate mark glowing like a hot ember.
I’m out of the car before I even realize it and rush up the stairs, blasting her apartment door wide open. “Chess!”
I roar. I stagger back when a body slams into the wall next to me, crumpling to the ground. “Chess?”
I say cautiously as I see her panting in her kitchen. Her eyes flicker with hatred and malice, glowing like pearls in the gleaming sun. She wipes at a trickle of blood seeping from her mouth. The mate mark on her arm is bright for a moment, and slowly dulls to it’s normal tone.
“Fucker,”
she growls, stomping towards me.
“What?”
Why is she angry at me?
“Not you, him.”
She bends down and grabs the guy on the ground by the throat, lifting him up off the ground. “Why are you here?!”
She snarls, and her canines lengthen as her rage takes over. I’m slowly backing away from her, further into the room.
I finally get a look at him as he scrambles and claws at Chess’s arm. He’s trying to shift forms, but Chess squeezes harder, and I hear his trachea crack under the pressure. “Chess, he won’t talk if you choke him to death.”
It’s Jullian’s pack member from the enforcer list, and I have no idea why he’s here either.
He gasps out a choked breath when Chess pulls him from the wall, only to slam him back into it. “Adrian,”
he chokes. “He told me to come here and grab some files.”
“Files? What files?”
She asks confused, and suspicion seeps into my mind.
“The dead vamp files. He said you should have them here.”
“Adrian no longer works for the enforcers; therefore, he no longer has access to anything to do with my realm. Not just that, he was never involved with that assignment to begin with, so why exactly is he interested now?”
I ask, stepping back towards Chess and the werewolf.
His eyes finally meet mine and they widen. “Valkyrie,” he gasps.
I stand next to Chess, and I don’t even try to hold in the animosity I feel right now. He trembles in Chess’s grip, and I feel a sense of pride at how badass she looks right now. Her physical power now matches her mental strength, and she is a warrior through and through.
“You dare come into my Queen’s home without permission?”
My voice cuts through the air like shards of ice, and his eyes practically bulge out of his head when Chess chokes off his air supply.
“I…”
He claws at her hands. “I didn’t know!” He cries.
“Did you know about the videos?”
“Videos?”
“Of Chess,” I snarl.
His eyes dart to Chess and his fight begins to weaken. He doesn’t even need to admit it because the guilt I smell on him is enough for me to know.
“I’m sorry,” he sobs.
I lean in closer to his face. “You will be.”
My hand pierces through his ribcage and I rip out his heart. The warmth of his blood coating my hand does nothing to chase the chill I feel in my body, but I’m satisfied none the less.
“That was so fucking hot, Wren,”
Chess says in awe.
She’s staring at the now dead werewolf crumpled on the floor with a weird grin on her face. I toss his heart on top of his body and make my way into her kitchen, hoping she at least still has some running water in the fucking death trap of a home. I quickly wash my hands and watch her as she crouches down and pokes at the dead wolf’s chest. Her fingers swirl through the blood and she brings them to her nose. She scrunches her forehead and gags. I snort out a laugh and she turns to glare at me.
“He smells disgusting,”
she spits.
“Why don’t you have a little snack and tell me how it tastes?” I tease.
“I rather drink battery acid.”
She wipes her fingers on the dead wolf’s pants and jerks herself to her feet. “I didn’t need your help, you know,”
she grumbles.
“One, you were taking longer than five minutes, and two…the mark burned me. I knew something was wrong right away.”
“Really? I saw it glowing when this dumb fuck punched me.”
She grips her jaw and shifts it around. “Vamps really are strong,”
she laughs. “I barely felt it even though he cut my lip.”
I stand in front of her, and she looks up at me. “Seeing you like that…”
I inhale deeply as I replay Chess strangling the life out of that wolf. “You looked fucking sexy. My vengeful Queen.”
She places her hand on my chest and steps back from me with a smirk on her face. “Keep it in your pants, King. We’re working.”
“Hmm, yes. We’re working and yet you decided to not wear a bra. Didn’t I tell you I wanted appropriate attire.”
“My tits and ass are covered. Why are you complaining?”
I glance down at her tits, and I can see her nipples pressing through the shirt.
“Are you cold?”
She cocks her head and raises an eyebrow. “No?”
I lean down towards her ear. “Then why are your nipples hard, Chess,”
I whisper, brushing my lips against the delicate skin.
She shoves me back and her face is beet red. She looks flustered, and I can’t help but laugh. “You’re such an asshole,”
she snorts.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“No, not yet. He was hiding in my room when I came in and snuck up on me.”
She heads off back into her bedroom and I hear her throwing shit on the ground. Her attitude has changed a little bit since her changing, but I don’t think she’s noticed. She’s got a confidence about her that no longer seems forced. She knows how powerful she is now, and her mind is taking advantage of that fact.
She comes back out with a folder gripped in her hand. “We can go now. What do you want to do about the body?”
She says, tapping the fucker’s leg with her boot.
“I’ll send Jared in. He worked closer with Alex, and Alex trusted him, so I know he'll be discreet. I don’t need this coming back to us again.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
I make the call as we head down the stairs, and she jumps the last ten steps happily. “I’m driving again,”
she says cheerfully as she pushes out the main door.
“Like fuck you are. You broke multiple laws just on the way here. I’m not sitting shotgun for three hours with you behind the helm.”
She turns to face me and walks backwards towards the car with her arms crossed behind her. “Aww, did I scare you? Sucks, doesn’t it?”
She smirks.
“I won’t drive like I did last night, Chess,” I sigh.
“But I had fun,”
she pouts.
“I’m sure you did, but I also want you to check the file and see if you missed anything.”
“Fine,”
she huffs, tossing me the keys. She slides into the passenger seat, and I stop her from closing the door.
“If you behave, I’ll let you drive home, okay?”
“Promise?”
She says cutely, and I roll my eyes.
“I promise,”
I chuckle.
I bend down into the car and kiss her lips. She grips the back of my neck when I move to pull away and dips her tongue aggressively into my mouth. She rips a moan from my lips and pulls back suddenly, smirking up at me. I swipe my thumb across my lips and close the door on her arrogant face. Smug little shit. She knows exactly what she’s doing.
I slip into the driver’s seat, and I can feel her staring at me. “What?”
I huff out, starting the ignition. She doesn’t say anything, so I turn to look at her. She bats her eyelashes at me and pins her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Am I pissing you off?”
She teases.
“Not exactly,”
I say cautiously.
“Hmm, I guess I’ll just have to try harder.”
What is she on about? Why would she want to piss me off? “Come again?”
I ask slowly.
“Oh, I plan on it…when you punish me for pissing you off.”
Fuck.
Her sexual appetite is actually a bit ridiculous, even by supernatural standards. She’s actually trying to make me snap. But now that she’s told me that’s her plan, I won’t play into it. I want to make her squirm.
“You’ll come when I tell you to and not a moment before. Do you understand me, Chess? You won’t get a rise out of me while we’re supposed to be hunting down Adrian and the sick fuck killing off vamps. Plus, I still need to deal with the vampires that…”
I pull in a slow breath and turn away from her. “The ones who hurt you, will be dealt with as well.”
“I have no doubt, Wren.”
She settles into her seat and slips on her seatbelt. She has a soft smile on her lips, and I frown when I see her blinking rapidly and then palm her hand across her cheek.
“Why are you crying?”
She startles and looks back over to me. “I’m just happy.”
“Okay?”
What about this situation could possibly make her happy?
“It’s nice having someone who cares. You didn’t have to go as far as you did, but I’m glad they’re all dead. I don’t want the same thing that happened to me, to keep happening to anyone else. I know Jullian wasn’t the only one who did shit like that, but it’s nice to know that with him gone, there are a few people that can be saved.”
“I’m going to make it right, Chess. I had no idea how bad it was. I knew about the pits, but I didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes and I won’t allow it within my territory.”
I pull out onto the road and make my way towards the freeway. “I may have to call the council. They need to know what’s going on within the cities, and since they’re technically the highest power within the supernatural world here, they need to know.”
“Council?”
She asks curiously.
“I’m surprised you don’t know about them. They’re angelics. They overrule everything. There was a recent shift in power a few years ago and things have been better because of it.”
“Angelics…are they scary?”
“They can be,”
I chuckle. “Their power is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Archangels are in a world of their own, so I wouldn’t suggest getting on their bad side if you ever come across one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”