CHAPTER 75
WREN
∞
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to fucking die. I can’t stop the sob that gurgles from my throat as I tell her I love her for the last time. I was finally happy. I finally had something to fight for, and it’s all being ripped away from me. I don’t want her to watch this. I don’t want them to kill her too. I’m fucking useless right now against Charlotte. I never realized the strength of a sire bond. She never used it in this way on me before, but it felt almost more like a compulsion. She was clearly fucking with me, hiding the true power she had over me. I was naive to ever think I could take this fucking cunt down.
My body feels weak as the reality of it all sets in. I’m going to fucking die. All these senseless murders were because of power and nothing more. I had no idea that I was tied by blood to Aiden, and he never even hinted at the fact. He knew about Charlotte because he was one I confided in. Is that why he skipped her and went to me? Did he realize she wasn’t fit to rule? It’s the only thing that makes sense, and clearly he was right, she’s fucking psychotic. She killed so many fucking vampires.
She killed Alex. Alex…my sweet Alex, that never deserved to suffer as he did. Adrian’s been helping her this entire time, and I had no fucking clue. I thought I had a handle on what was going on in my territory, but I was so very wrong about all of it. How many more has she killed that I don’t know about. Am I the last one? No…Chess is the last one. That’s why she said it was unfortunate that I turned another. I’ve put her in danger once again, and I can’t fucking do anything about it. Adrian is older and stronger. She doesn’t have enough experience with her vampire strength to overpower him when he has her pinned like that.
I feel the blade shift away from my neck and I open my eyes to get one final look at Chess. I need her to be the last thing I see in this world. Tears are pouring down her face as she screams and begs for Charlotte to stop, but I know she won’t. Charlotte doesn’t even know the meaning of mercy.
The air feels electrically charged, and I can feel the animosity radiating from Charlotte behind me. Chess screams at the top of her lungs, a sound that pierces through to my heart, and I know the blade is coming.
This is such a shitty way to die.
“I’ll fucking kill you!”
Chess screams as she thrashes under Adrian.
This is it. I hear the whistle of the blade as it slices through the air and Chess roars out in anger and frustration as she grips at Adrian’s arm, pinning her to the ground. The mate mark glows like a hot ember on her wrist, and then darkness greets my eyes.
It was painless. I’m plunged into pure black, and I felt no pain when it happened. I’m thankful for that, but the pain Chess feels now, has my heart aching and breaking.
Something’s not right…
I hear screaming still and grunts of pain, and the darkness around me shudders. It presses into me like a heavy veil and then I feel arms wrapped around me.
“Get up!”
Chess screams again.
The darkness writhes and shudders again, and then it recedes, bringing light back to my eyes. Shadows pulse around Chess as she holds me in her arms. It blankets her completely.
I lift my arms slowly, wrapping them around her waist as she cradles my head to her neck. Adrian is on the ground coughing up blood as he struggles to his feet. Charlotte is trying to pry herself from the wall she was slammed into. It’s completely destroyed behind her, and her eyes burn with rage. Blood trickles from her nose as she glares at us. The sword is still next to me and Chess…Chess is here.
She pulls back from me and cups her hands around my cheeks. “You have to get up, Wren.”
Tears are still brimming on her lashes, and her eyes…her eyes are black.
“Chess,”
I whisper. “What…what did you do?”
She lifts herself to her feet and stretches her hand down to me. I can move. Charlotte’s hold on me is gone, and I don’t know how it happened. Chess shouldn’t be experiencing the insanity yet. She hasn’t been a vampire long enough, but the black eyes have me wondering. I catch slivers of shadow still crawling around her legs and my eyes widen.
“No fucking way,”
I say in awe. She has my fucking power. She somehow inherited the shadow ability that I made my own. Alex never got it, at least not that I’m aware of, but here she stands with darkness swirling around her. The mark on her wrist is still glowing brightly, and then it clicks. My fated mate not only shares my blood, but everything that is mine. It triggered when I was in danger, and Chess made the power her own.
I bend down and grip the blade in my hand. “Do you feel okay?”
Chess asks quietly.
“I feel clear headed. You brought me back, Chess.”
“Can you handle her?”
“Can you handle him?”
She glances up at me and rolls her eyes. “Imma fucking kill the cunt,”
she snorts. She clenches her hand into a fist and a black shadow blade hisses into existence. She looks down at it surprised. “Ooo, that’s so cool!”
She squeals.
“Did you not realize you could do that?”
“I don’t even know what this is,”
she says, waving her other hand around her body.
“You have my shadow ability, Chess. I think the mark is letting you tap into it. How did you summon the blade just now?”
“I just…I want to slice his head from his fucking body, and then it just appeared.”
She’s naturally talented and I can’t wait to see what it develops into for her. We have a chance now. I will not squander this opportunity.
I turn my back to Chess’s to face Charlotte as she makes her way towards me. I have to have confidence in Chess, that she can handle Adrian on her own. I know she can. She’s a great fighter and she’s fucking pissed off.
“We’re going to make it out of this, Wren,”
she says quietly, pressing her back against mine.
“We will, Chess. I fucking love you.”
“I love you too.”
The next second, I feel her push off from me to barrel towards Adrian. I risk a glance her way to see him widen his eyes in panic at how fast she’s moving. I don’t need to worry about her. I know she can handle herself…especially now that she’s tapping into my power. I swirl the blade in my hand and step towards Charlotte as she glares at me.
“Kneel!”
She screams.
I feel a pressure in my head and a burning in my wrist. I glance down to see my own mark glowing as the pressure recedes from my mind. Her eyes narrow when I take another step towards her, shaking the fragments of the command from my head.
“How?”
She hisses.
“You were wrong, Charlotte,”
I snort. “I do belong to Chess, and I always will. I am no longer yours to manipulate and command.”
I feel my power coiling in my gut, and I revel in the feel of it. I feel it slither its way through my body, wrapping around me like a shield. Her eyes widen and she takes a cautious step back. “I am a King. How dare you come into my fucking domain and hurt my people! This throne was never yours, Charlotte!”
I practically spit the words as I launch at her.
She grips the arm holding the blade as I slam her back into the wall. She holds it at bay from slicing through her, but I will gut her like a fucking pig. “The only one who has power over me is my true Queen, and you threatened her. I’ll fucking kill you.”
“You think you’re stronger than me?”
She cackles and I feel her resistance strengthen. “I’m older than you, pet.”
“We can.”
Charlotte’s eyes dart over my shoulder and I can’t stop the grin spreading across my face. Chess dealt with Adrian and now Charlotte is fucked. Blood trickles down Charlotte’s lips and her eyes widen. Chess’s dark blade is pierced through her side, barely an inch away from my gut.
“A little close, don’t you think?” I sigh.
“You’re fine,”
Chess says, brushing me off.
Charlotte’s grip weakens on my arm, and I pull back from her just as Chess rips the blade from her body. She moves to throw her hands back up to me as I bring the sword down across her neck.
Her head hovers on her severed flesh for a moment before toppling to the ground. Her body crumples in front of me a second later. I glance back behind me to see the carnage Chess created. Adrian is unrecognizable. His body is torn to shreds and his head is five feet away from his body with his eyes gouged out and his tongue hanging by a thread. I turn to Chess and raise an eyebrow at her.
“What?”
She sighs. “I was angry, okay?”
“Clearly,”
I scoff. “Remind me to never get on your bad side. How the fuck did you tear through him so fast and so fucking quietly?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I dunno. One minute he was trying to stop me, the next, all these shadow blade things ripped out of me and sliced through him. I didn’t use my sword for much except to actually cut his head off…and poke his eyes out. Oh, and his tongue.”
I let out a nervous laugh at how nonchalant she is about this. I mean, I’m no better. I’ve gone off on rampages like that myself, but it still shocks me a bit, seeing this girl being that vicious.
She crouches down next to Charlotte’s body and swipes her fingers into her severed neck before bringing it to her nose.
“You’re developing a weird habit,”
I chuckle.
“She smells good too. Like lavender and maple…I think I’m right on my theory, Wren.”
“We’ll have to test your theory then. We have no other way of knowing besides actually attempting a turning.”
“Fine,”
she sighs, pulling herself back up to her feet. “I can’t believe Adrian was in on it the whole time.”
She brushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear and my eyes fixate on the mark. It’s no longer glowing, but it’s definitely grown darker. “We already knew he wasn’t a good person, Chess. We just didn’t realize how bad he truly was.”
I take her hand and pull her past the blood beginning to pool around Charlotte’s dead body. She grips mine tightly and pulls herself in closer to me, cradling her other hand on my bicep.
“I thought I lost you,”
she whispers as we slip through the door.
“I know, baby…I know. You saved me though.”
“I didn’t want to watch you die, Wren.”
“It’s a shitty feeling, isn’t it?”
I glance down at her to see her staring up at me with furrowed brows.
“You…did you feel like that with me? After Adrian I mean.”
“Yes. The thought of seeing you die in my arms…”
My mind shifts back to Alex doing just that and I shudder. “I have no regrets in saving you, Chess, and I hope you can forgive me for doing what I did.”
“I know it’ll take some time to get used to this life, but…I forgive you, Wren.”
The relief I feel in this moment, pushes back all the anxieties I’ve felt since she woke up. “Let’s go home, Chess.”