Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
They all attacked simultaneously. Most of them went for Kole, but just as many went for me, and since my uncle’s last command had never compelled me not to save myself, I called upon my forbidden magic and flung it out around me.
Caught mid-stride, each vamfeer intent on attacking me froze in action. Some of their mouths were open, fangs glistening. Others were crouched, ready to pounce. And some had arms back, ready to slash me to pieces with their long black claws.
But all of them were silent. Unmoving.
I’d captured their minds completely, and as had happened in Inisville and the maze, calling upon my strongest and most innate form of magic made power flow through me, unchecked and vibrant.
But the vamfeers around Kole were not dissuaded.
Encircled by catatonic vamfeers, all I could do was watch as Kole’s sword cut through the air with zinging precision.
I wanted to help him. Needed to kill them all.
But my damned uncle’s command, stating I couldn’t help my mate tonight, still held.
I could only hope that after the sun truly rose, Arnel’s last command would vanish.
Stomach dropping, I continued holding the looking glass in front of me, recording it all. Sunlight trailed into the room from the stairwell, illuminating the space just enough to make the horrific creatures visible.
Two vamfeers sliced their black claws toward Kole’s armor. He spun, his sword ringing through the air. Their heads rolled, just as their hands reached for his neck.
Four more pounced at once, flying through the air, and my stomach jumped into my throat, but Kole was already turned. Sword raised, arms swirling.
He was truly breathtaking to watch. Yet I hated that he was in this position.
Despite my worry, Kole had the remaining vamfeers killed within minutes.
Panting, I sagged against the wall, and the cool packed soil was cold against my skin. “That was close. Too close.”
In a burst of magic, Kole cleansed himself and then me. He smirked. “I was just getting started.”
Chuffing, I shook my head but straightened. Around us, the vamfeers I’d caught with my magic were all frozen in action. The ones Kole had taken care of were already decapitated.
Kole came up behind me and surveyed the vamfeers I’d rendered immobile. He swept my hair to the side, then pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. Core tightening, my vampire desire flared.
“Impressive, my love,” he whispered into my ear, then placed another kiss on my neck. “Shall I kill each one?”
“Please.”
With a swell of his magic, heads began to roll.
Once all of the vamfeers were burned, and we were certain we’d documented everything, we mistphased back to the palace. Between us, we held the chest that contained all of Arnel’s books, documentation, and potions, and it landed with a heavy thump at our feet when we released it.
Nervous anticipation oozed through me. Even though we’d been up and fighting through the night, I wasn’t tired, but Kole had a day’s worth of beard upon his cheeks. And even though his eyes were still bright and his aura was brimming with gleeful vengeance, I knew eventually fatigue would hit him.
I withdrew the looking glass tucked safely in my pocket and handed it to him. “Good luck.”
He took it, and his fingers caressed mine. Leaning down, he pulled me in for a kiss. Vampire desire immediately rose in me, but my own did too.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him close as our tongues danced together. Pine, cedar, and the sea enveloped me, and I curled my fingers around the hair at the base of his neck. Everything about Kole beckoned safety and whispered promises, and even as a vampire, I clung to his solid nature.
My fingers tightened their hold on him just as the faint scent of blood filled my nostrils. So did the scent of decay, and when my hand slid across his nape, something wet brushed against my fingertip.
I whipped away, Kole reaching for me automatically, his eyes hooded.
But I frantically ran around him and scanned his body. Blackened armor from the fire covered him from head to toe. Almost all of him was protected by it, but a tiny sliver of skin was exposed near his neck.
My nostrils flared, and I inhaled deeply. The scent of blood grew stronger, and my sight focused on that very thin line of exposed skin.
My eyes zoomed into focus on that nearly undetectable area, and my stomach plummeted.
A few droplets of blood glistened along his neck, and at its center was a single drop of black blood.
“Oh Gods, no!” I tore at Kole’s armor, frantic to get it off him.
“Primelle, what’s wrong?”
“Your neck. There’s a cut. It must have happened in the crypt. Your cut has . . .” But I couldn’t continue. Couldn’t fathom that Kole had been infected by a vamfeer.
Kole frowned and turned around. “Princess, why are you panicking? I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” I spun back around him and finally got his top armor off. The small wound I’d detected hadn’t healed. It hadn’t healed. “No, no, no.”
I frantically shook my head back and forth. The cut was still open. Kole’s affinity should have healed it ages ago, but it was still open.
And that single drop of onyx blood was mixed with his own along his open flesh. Vamfeer blood sat on his wound, which had obviously not allowed his magic to heal it.
“Wash it. Wash it now. Get it off,” I murmured to myself.
My self-cleansing magic rose with a vengeance and encapsulated Kole’s tiny cut.
Within a blink, the black blood was burned away, but the gravity of what we were facing hit me like a million bolts of lightning.
“No, Kole. This can’t be happening. You can’t be infected. ”
He turned again to face me, his face a mask of disbelief and misunderstanding, and I knew he’d been completely unaware of the wound.
Whatever the vamfeer’s black blood had done to suppress his healing affinity, it’d also made him unaware of the open cut, perhaps as a way to pass along its infection.
Maybe Tenevris, that damned God of Night, had infused his vamfeers with the ability to stealthily infect others, to the point where they never knew they’d been contaminated.
“What did you see?”
Tears choked my words. “Your neck had a . . . had a cut. It . . .” I could barely get my words out. “Black blood was in it. A single drop . . . was on the open cut.”
He froze, his expression wiping clean. “You’re sure?”
I nodded, not able to speak further as tears flowed down my cheeks.
Kole raced to the bathing chambers. Using a handheld mirror, he inspected the back of his neck in the larger mirror hanging on the wall. “I don’t see anything. Are you sure?”
I joined him, but his cut had healed, likely because I’d burned away the vamfeer blood, which allowed Kole’s healing magic to rise, but I knew what I saw. There’d been black blood.
“It’s gone. But it was there.” I pointed to the area on his nape. “I know it was. I saw it.”
He turned to face me, and along our bond, I felt his trepidation. “I’ll wash, just to be safe.”
He shed his burned armor, then used his own cleansing magic, and following that, soap and water.
He scrubbed relentlessly, not missing an inch of his skin on his entire body, but a sickening feeling formed in the pit of my stomach anyway.
An image of the droplet of black blood had seared itself into my mind.
When he finished, he pulled on the softer clothing he wore beneath his armor, charred in some places, but clean now from his relentless scrubbing, then gathered me into his arms. “Princess, it’s all right. I’ll be okay.”
“But you were exposed—”
He brought a finger to my lips, but the connection between us dimmed, and a part of me wondered if he was trying to shield me from whatever he was truly feeling.
“I understand, but right now, I have to show the king and queen what’s occurred, then I have to show the Council, which means I have to go, but I’ll be back soon. ”
Tenderly, he gave me a kiss. It was lingering and filled with promise. Even if he’d been infected, I knew our touches and joined bodies wouldn’t affect me. I was already turned. It couldn’t infect me again.
But as for Kole . . .
Reluctantly, I let him go, and he strode from the room.
I followed him out, just to the door, and when he stepped into the hall, Xaven gave him an alarmed look.
“Everyone’s been wondering where you and the princess were.
Did you just get back?” Xaven’s gaze scanned Kole, widening more as he registered Kole’s charred clothing.
The door began to close, and Kole cast me a reassuring look. “It’s a long story,” he replied to Xaven. “I’m going to explain everything to the king and queen now and the Council after.”
The door shut, sealing me inside, and I wrapped my arms around my middle.
Now was the hardest part. The waiting game.
At my uncle’s estate, before we left, Kole and I had agreed that he would have to go alone to my parents, to show them everything contained in the looking glass.
He didn’t allude further to what he would tell them.
I didn’t know if they would deduce that I was a vampire or not, or if they even knew what such a thing was.
I also didn’t know if Kole would tell them and explain it to them.
Essentially, I knew nothing of what Kole planned to fully reveal, but that was for the best. If I became cognizant that my parents were aware of what I’d become, or if they voiced anything that alluded to it, I would be forced to use my magic on their minds to erase it all.
And if that happened, we would be back to square one.
No understanding of what Arnel had done. No knowledge of the vamfeers. Nothing.