Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When Kole appeared in my chambers promptly at eight, his lips curved the second I drew near him. My blood heated. Gods, all it took was a look from him, and I felt on fire.
“Morning, mate,” he whispered softly into my ear.
He nuzzled my neck, and a shiver blasted through me. Just as fast, his heartbeat commanded my attention, but I shrugged off the call of his blood.
I embraced him tightly, and our mate bond vibrated strongly inside me. Contentment and love pushed from Kole into me, and I could have wrapped myself up in that feeling all day.
“Did you miss me?” he whispered and nipped at my neck.
“Always. Did you sleep well?”
“Like a rock.”
I giggled because I had a feeling that not losing his memories had alleviated a lot of his worries. “Did you need to use your strange recording device to remind you of anything?” I teased.
He chuckled. “No. Everything on it matches what I remember.”
“Good, because I have an idea, and I need to know what you think of it.”
His head cocked, and I loved that his mask was no longer a thing between us.
“Can we go somewhere private?” I asked. “I want to talk to you about something but not here.” I inclined my head toward where Betsee was in the bathing room, tidying things.
“Say no more.” Kole wrapped me in his arms, and in a swirl of mistphasing magic, we disappeared.
We flew through the realm in mist and shadows, air and wind, and the second we landed back on solid ground, I knew exactly where he’d taken me.
Sand shifted beneath my feet, and the sound of crashing waves filled my ears. I grinned as I took in the Nelive Sea with its curling waves lapping against the shore and the distant Clawfur Mountains rising solemnly at our backs.
“This is fitting.” I squeezed his hand.
He smirked. “I’ve always loved this place, but I love it even more now since it was the first time you showed me a hint of forgiveness after I took the Stone from you.”
I gripped him harder. I vividly remembered that disastrous first meal with my family.
My sisters had hated me. My parents had been thrown in the middle of us.
And I’d been told that I would have to marry someone suitable as a princess of Mistvale Kingdom.
I’d been on the verge of a panic attack, and Kole had sensed that, so he’d whisked me away and had grounded me by using the sea, the wind, the birds . . .
All of it had calmed me.
I gazed at the water nostalgically. “Maybe someday we can buy a home here, someday when the realm is righted once more.”
He ran a finger tenderly over my cheek. “I’d like that.”
I cocked my head, my train of thought momentarily waylaid. “Where is your home anyway? I don’t actually know.”
“Technically, I don’t own a residence on the Silten continent. If I need to stay here, I do so in the warrior barracks at the Imperial Council. But if that’s not needed, when I leave here every night, I return to Prinavee Territory on the Solis continent.”
My eyes widened. “Truly? But I thought you left the Solis continent when you joined the Imperial Council.”
“I did, but that was many summers ago.” He shrugged.
“Since then, I’ve purchased a home, and since Prinavee Territory is where my parents settled, I decided to buy a home there in order to better stay in touch with them.
It also makes it easier for my friends in Solisarium to visit, as it doesn’t require crossing a sea. ”
“Are you saying that not all of your friends can mistphase?” I teased.
He snickered. “Nuwin definitely can. I couldn’t get away from the soddy bastard if I tried, but no, most of my friends can’t mistphase.”
“And it doesn’t bother you to live on a continent where the resident fae think you’re a defective fairy?”
He chuckled. “Those that matter never judged me, and they’ve since learned that my coloring and lack of wings are due to my Silten blood. As for the rest, they can go fuck themselves.”
I laughed loudly. “And you only have the one brother who lives on the Nolus continent, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“What about other family? Aunts? Uncles? Grandparents? Cousins?”
His lips lifted in a warm smile. “I have a few family members in addition to my parents.”
“Will I ever meet them?”
The warmth in his smile grew even more. “Of course. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.”
“Stars.” I grimaced. “I would have asked earlier, but things haven’t been very conducive to me meeting one’s family.” Just the thought of what his parents would think, knowing their son was mated to a vampire . . .
I wanted to vomit.
Kole slipped an arm around my waist, and his emotions thrummed into me along our mate bond.
He fingered a lock of my hair and tucked it behind my ear.
“We’ll find a way so you feel comfortable,” he said soothingly, and I knew he understood my fear.
Vampires were virtually unheard of on the Silten and Solis continents, so for me to show up at his parents’ house as I was . . .
My lips quivered. “But even if I do feel comfortable, what will they think of me? Given what I am now? Are you sure that you still want them to meet me? Especially if my glamour doesn’t fool them, and they begin to suspect something, and then I’ll have to use my magic on them, and the thought of doing that to someone you love would be so—”
He growled quietly and pulled me closer, then pressed a kiss to my neck. “You’re my mate. Vampire, fae, whatever you are, I’m proud of you and proud to call you mine. We’ll do what’s needed so you feel welcomed, and we’ll find a way to keep them safe from your magic.”
I gave a shaky nod, and some of the insecurities I felt about my vampiric state abated, but like Kole, I was still so angry at what’d been done to me, but Kole’s absolute conviction that we would find a way helped.
Using a finger, Kole tilted my chin up so I was forced to look him in the eye. “Now, what are we here for? You said you wanted to tell me something in private?”
I nodded vigorously and realigned my thoughts.
“Yes. Something occurred to me overnight and has to do with my uncle’s commands on me.
” I gripped his shirt, curling my fingers around the thick material as the sea air blew around us.
“I’m fairly confident that I can no longer hurt you in any way because of our bond.
After last night when our bond subdued my uncle’s command, the urge to try to manipulate you hasn’t returned.
I don’t think that’s going to change. So, if I can no longer hurt you regardless of what my uncle demands, and I can’t hurt him because he’s my Maker, that doesn’t mean you can’t hurt him in my presence. ”
I let that truth sink in, and Kole’s eyes widened. I knew the second he realized what I was implying by the glowing light in his eyes and the anticipation overtaking his aura.
“That means that even if your uncle commands you to protect him from me, the command won’t work.”
I gripped his shirt more. “Yes, and even though killing him won’t stop the commands he’s already placed on me from continuing, it’ll at least stop him from issuing any future commands in which I hurt more fae, and it’ll stop him from turning anyone else into a vampire, and it’ll stop him from potentially hurting anyone else I love.
” I quickly told him about my uncle’s threat against Ree and Siam and how I would be summoned via dillemsill at night, from now on, when my uncle wanted something.
Kole’s nostrils flared. “He actually threatened you like that? By using your best friend and her baby against you? Of course, he did. Fuck, I’ve never wanted to kill a male more than I do right now.
I’m not even sure my sword could fulfill my bloodlust for him.
I think I may use my bare hands to end your uncle. ”
I shuddered at the absolute menace rolling off him, and the way Prince Nuwin had described him when I’d been learning to mistphase under Matron Olsander’s instruction came careening back: the perfect killing nightmare.
I had a feeling Nuwin was right.
Kole’s grip tightened on my waist, and his fury roiled. “What would you like to do? Go there unexpectedly or wait for him to summon you? I’m happy to do either. I’d go right now if you want to.”
I laughed shrilly. I had no doubt Kole would have my uncle dead within the next ten minutes if the stars aligned and we were able to effectively ambush him.
But I nibbled on my lip, knowing we had to plan this well. My uncle had gone centuries, never alluding to the fact that he was a God of Night follower, and neither the kingsfae nor the Imperial Council had ever suspected he was behind my assassination attempts.
We had to be smart.
“That’s a good question.” I nibbled on my lip.
“Right now, there’s only one command I have to fulfill for my uncle.
” I reminded him that I would be forced to manipulate King Riverling of Ironcrest Kingdom when he came for a visit.
“But considering how much destruction my uncle has already wreaked in the short time I’ve been a vampire, I’d rather visit my uncle sooner rather than later.
He needs to be stopped. If he’s allowed to do even one more atrocious act, that’s one too many. ”
Because something told me my uncle had no qualms about summoning me regularly, and even though my next assignment was still days away, there was nothing to say Arnel wouldn’t come up with another plan and summon me again tomorrow or even today.
“Shall we go now?” Vicious energy strummed through Kole, and I could practically taste the call of the battle rising in his blood.
I chewed on my lip more. Everything inside me told me I needed to protect my uncle, but my mate bond burned even brighter. I could only hope that when the time came, our bond would keep Kole safe.
Finally, I nodded. “All right, yes, let’s go today, but we should wait until tonight, when he least expects it.” But then something else occurred to me, and I winced. “Wait, what about his wards? You won’t be able to bypass them, so how will we get you inside?”
Kole cocked an eyebrow. “Wasn’t he expecting me the day he turned you?”
My eyes bulged, and the worry I’d begun to feel ebbed away. “Yes, you’re right. My uncle did think you’d be accompanying me instead of Royden.”
“So unless he’s reworked his wards to keep me out, I should still have access.”
A tentative smile bloomed upon my face. “And Arnel does like to keep fae out of his castle. Come to think of it, I never saw a spellcaster anywhere when Royden was there. Arnel probably personally accompanied him inside, allowing the wards to open for him. And with any luck, he hasn’t asked his spellcaster to return to rework the wards.
But how will we know if that’s the case? ”
Kole chuckled darkly, and a glow lit his eyes.
“I suppose there’s only one way to find out, but you’re right to be cautious.
We won’t want to try mistphasing through them.
We should mistphase to just outside his property, and I’ll do a subtle test to see if I can get in.
And if I can’t . . .” He shrugged. “Then we’ll think of a different plan. ”
Another shrill laugh bubbled out of me. “Stars, I never thought I would be planning someone else’s murder so candidly.”
Kole chuffed. “Me neither, but I have to say, I’m quite enjoying this.
” A dark light entered his eyes, and his mating instincts shone with a vengeance.
“I would love nothing more than to send Arnel to the underworld for what he’s done to you.
And the fact remains that he’s dangerous, and he has no qualms about hurting fae, and he has no respect for the law either.
That in itself gives me the right to end his life according to Imperial Council law, even though mating laws give me the same right. ”
“I was wondering about that. After you killed those six shifters in Stonewild, I couldn’t help but think you had the authority to do so.”
“I did, but that was only because of their threats against you. As my mate, I have the right to protect you, but normally, I haul fae before the courts to meet their punishment, but when it comes to you and fae harming you or even threatening to harm you”—he cupped my cheeks—“it tends to bring out my violent side.”
I shivered, and I knew exactly why that was. He was my mate, and since he’d realized that the first day we’d met in Whiteolf, that meant his mating instincts had activated right away.
Mated males were known to be incredibly protective of their females, so much so that if someone threatened a male’s mate, and he turned violent and killed the fairy because of it, the mated male wasn’t punished since he’d acted on primal instincts that he couldn’t control.
Those very instincts had been thoroughly studied and were well understood.
Laws had been created to protect mated males because of them, and it’d become common knowledge among all fae that mated fae males were some of the most lethal creatures in our realm.
Never threaten one’s mate. All fae were taught that from an early age, just as all males were taught about mate bonds and what to expect if one was lucky enough to meet their fated mate.
I tucked a strand of blowing hair behind my ear and frowned.
“The hard part is that Arnel’s been so careful at hiding what he’s done.
Nobody even suspects him. The only advantage we have right now is that he doesn’t know you’re aware of everything and that because of our mate bond, you’re immune to his commands that he’s placed on me. ”
Kole stroked his chin. “Then we’ll have to use that to our advantage. We’ll endeavor to subtly sneak into his castle. I’ll kill him swiftly and immediately, but if for some reason, our plan goes awry, we’ll need to use his ignorance of our mating bond against him.”
I swallowed the ball of anxiety that worked up my throat. “Okay. Let’s hope it’s as easy as killing him in his sleep.”
Kole inclined his head. “You’re right. I would love to see his expression when I end him, but it would be smarter to kill him swiftly.”
“And then we’ll have to search his castle.
We’ll have to find if he has other vamfeers or vampires locked away.
And we’ll need to find where he keeps his potions and ingredients and destroy them too.
Oh, and then there’s the temple. If any other fae learn of what he did, they may try to do the same. We have to destroy it all.”
Kole’s lips curved, and he kissed me softly on the mouth. “Sounds like we have a plan, my love.”