Chapter 22
Lumi
Nyx keeps staring at me as we stand outside the house. He’s standing to my left, Ambrose on my right. Ambrose instinctively reaches for my hand, and I let him take it.
“What?” I ask Nyx.
He shakes his head slightly. “I’m just surprised Ambrose doesn’t have you locked up somewhere.”
Me too, I think, but I don’t say it out loud. “Why, because that’s what you’d do?”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Would I lock you up to protect you?”
“No, that’s not self-sacrificing enough for you. Where’s Amora?”
He shrugs. “I’m not her keeper.”
I scan the forest shadows, looking for the vampires I can sense but can’t see. “Why are they here during the day? Why not wait until night to attack?”
“Maybe they aren’t here for a fight,” Nyx says.
“Vampires are always here for a fight. They think they are the superior species since they are immortal after all,” Ambrose says.
“Are they yours?” I ask him.
Nyx listens for a minute and then takes a deep breath. “No.”
I grind my teeth as my fingertips fidget at my side. What do they want then?
A male steps forward from the shadows. He’s tall, fair-skinned, with blonde hair. He doesn’t look at me; he looks at Nyx.
“I’m Stellan—the Crimson Lord. We’ve come to speak with the Nightfall Lord.”
“Speak then,” Nyx says.
“Privately,” Stellan says with a grin. He’s taunting him. Probably setting a trap.
Nyx doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t react to Stellan. He starts to take a step forward, and I instinctively grab his wrist, stopping him.
“It’s a trap.”
He raises his eyebrows at me, but starts to move again. Of course, he’s already thought about it being a trap.
“Take Talonis or Sylara with you,” I say.
“Already on it,” Talonis says, appearing next to Nyx.
I grind my teeth so hard together, not liking this one bit. Nyx just stares at me; he still hasn’t said a word to me. I suck in a deep breath and then let go of his wrist, hoping this isn’t the last time I see him.
I don’t trust vampires. Especially vampires that aren’t under Nyx’s jurisdiction. I think back to my worst encounter with vampires—ones that I haven’t seen since…I tremble slightly.
Ambrose squeezes my hand tighter as if in comfort. But it also feels like he’s holding my hand to keep me from running after Nyx. I can’t breathe as I watch Nyx disappear with Stellan, with Talonis trailing after him.
I glance over at Amora, and she looks white as a ghost. Like she’s equally afraid that she just watched the love of her life walk away from her for the last time without so much as a goodbye.
Fuck, I’m a terrible person. She’s probably his real mate, not me. I’m pinning after a man who is already taken.
“What do you think Stellan wants?” I ask out loud to no one in particular.
“He came here on behalf of the vampire king. There is no telling what he wants, but it can’t be good,” Amora says with true fear in her voice.
I was already terrified, but her words make me want to run into the woods after him.
“We should move you somewhere safer until Nyx returns. If the vampire king wants something from Nyx, then we are all in danger. And after Nyx tells us what the vampire king wants, he should return to living in the cave. He shouldn’t stay in the house. It’s not safe,” Ambrose says in my mind.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not the one in danger. Nyx is. I’m not leaving until I know he’s safe.”
“So stubborn, my queen. But fine.” Ambrose whistles, and his entire pack surrounds me instantly.
Like he’s been preparing them for this exact moment.
Beyond his pack, I see Nyx’s pack circling me.
Sylara, Emeric, Kael, Brax, and Riven at the front.
I can’t see Amora anymore or even the spot in the woods where Nyx disappeared to.
I sigh. “This is a little extreme, don’t you think?”
“I could always wrap you in a magical bubble if you’d prefer.”
I glare at him. “You wouldn’t dare. I thought we had made progress?”
“I won’t risk your life, not when it’s so clearly on the line.”
“Why would the vampire king want to hurt me? I’m breaking the curse for the vampires. He’s getting exactly what he wants,” I say.
“I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances.”
“This is insane!”
Ambrose looks at me like he thinks I’m the one whose crazy. “I refuse to watch you die when I could do something to prevent it.”
I want to scream, but I don’t. There is no arguing with him. And apparently, both packs agree with him.
I wait, and wait, and wait. Standing in the center of two packs, protecting me from an invisible threat with their lives.
This is stupid. I’m not the one whose life is being threatened. Nyx’s is. We should be sending out a search party to find him, not standing around to protect me.
“I need to pee,” I say to Calix, one of Ambrose’s pack members, and who I assume is Ambrose’s new beta, even if he hasn’t made it official yet. I know it’s hard for Ambrose to make it official after how close he and Emeric were.
He looks at me with wide-eyed panic. Ambrose stepped out to go patrol over an hour ago and hasn’t returned. I don’t know whose in charge of protecting me at the moment.
“Can’t you hold it?”
“It’s been hours, and I drank three cups of coffee. You should be lucky I’ve held it as long as I have.”
“Emeric!” he shouts.
Emeric breaks away from the circle and is at my side in a second. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to pee,” I say.
He looks at me like he can see through my ploy, but I’m suffocating here. And every moment I spend here is a moment longer that is going to make it harder for me to love Ambrose.
There must be something in my eyes, because Emeric doesn’t try to argue with me.
“Everyone, stay as you are. If Nyx or the vampires return, we want them to think Lumi is well protected. We’ll be right back.”
I smile. I’m getting out of here.
Emeric takes my hand and leads me away and into the house. He doesn’t speak until he leads me to the bathroom just inside.
“Go easy on him. Almost watching you die over and over from a curse he triggered in order to save your exe’s life has done something to him. He’s protecting you in the only way he knows how. We all are.”
“Maybe I don’t need protection. Maybe I just need a partner.”
Emeric nods and then closes the door, giving me privacy.
I wasn’t lying. I really do have to pee. But after peeing, I don’t know what to do. I splash water on my face, knowing I can’t have everyone protecting me again.
Maybe I should just hide out in the bathroom for a while; at least I won’t have to go back out there. Nothing is going to happen in the bathroom.
The lights flicker before going pitch black. There is no window in here to provide light.
Someone is in the bathroom with me.
“Emeric?” I ask, but I already know it’s not him.
I consider shifting, but the bathroom is so small that I don’t think I have the space to stand in my wolf form.
I grab for the blade that Nyx gave me. One that I didn’t think I’d need now that I can shift.
“Whose there?”
No answer.
“What do you want?”
No answer.
I can sense someone else here, but I can’t make sense of the smell, the beat of their heart, or even how they are in the small half bathroom with me, without me being able to see them or touch them. How were they able to get in without opening the door or a window to enter through?
And then with a flash, I feel my body being sucked through a hole in the world. A rip that sucks me in like a dark void. I feel like I’m falling endlessly, tumbling through nothing. And then, as if a second passed and all the time in the world, I hit the hard ground beneath me.
The world spins around me.
My head is pounding. I’m sure I have a concussion.
I should shift. I need to shift. But before I can even think the thought, a blade is pressed against my neck from an invisible force. I can’t see the person pushing the blade against me. It’s like an invisible person is straddling my body. I can feel their weight, but not see them.
They must be a witch or at least, working with one. Magic shields them. They have no claws, no teeth, no fangs to kill me with, so they have to choose a blade.
A witch or a human working with one.
I grab onto the handle of the blade that is pushing down on me. It’s my own blade, I realize. The bastard is trying to kill me with my own blade.
I push with all of my strength, trying to keep the blade from slicing into me. I grunt, pushing with everything I have to keep the blade in the air, but with each passing second, I’m losing. The blade sinks lower and lower, pricking my skin.
Warm blood oozes out of me. An inch lower and I’m dead. There will be nothing left of me for Riven to heal. I’ll just be gone. The prophecy, the curses, none of them will matter anymore. Not until someone else is born, destined to break the curses. And by then, everyone I love could be dead.
I’m not going to die this way. I refuse.
“Ambrose! Help!” I cry out in my mind.
But if he hears me, he doesn’t respond immediately.
And even if he did, I’m not sure where I am or who I’m fighting.
It feels, at the moment, like I’m fighting against myself.
But that can’t be true? Someone has to be controlling the blade.
The magic. The void I disappeared into. Someone is behind this. Which means they can be defeated.
I push harder, with all of my might, but the blade lowers again. Piercing deeper.
Blood flows freely now. If I don’t get help to heal this wound, I’ll die. I’ll bleed out. Even if the blade doesn’t lower again, I’ll die.
But the person holding the blade seems intent on slicing my head clean off.
I gurgle, blood seems to be stuck in my throat now, making it hard to breathe. I don’t feel pain, which can’t be good. I shiver. I feel cold.
Shift, I should shift. But my brain is going blank. I have no idea how to shift. Shift into what? I don’t understand.
“Lumi!” a high-pitched voice registers in my head, but it’s a voice I don’t recognize.
She’s standing over me now, the blade is still pressing against my neck. Blood still covers me. I’m still cold.
“Do you trust me?” the warm voice asks.
I don’t know whose asking. I don’t know how to answer. I want to say I don’t trust anyone but him, but I don’t say that.
I gurgle.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” she says.
And then I feel her fangs at my throat. She’s a vampire. She’s going to kill me.
Right now, I don’t care. I just want this to end quickly. She’ll pull my blood quickly, ensuring that I die fast.
Instead, a soft tongue laps over my wound, pulling a drop or two into her mouth.
“Shift,” she whispers, but it’s not just a suggestion; it’s mind control. I feel her single word twist into my brain, until I have no choice but to obey her command, even if my brain can’t comprehend what she means by the word.
Pain explodes out of my body in a way that it wasn’t before. My bones twist, break. My body contorts. But the pain is over in seconds.
Soft fur coats my body, warming me instantly. My breathing slows. I still feel the pain, but my blade has dropped to the ground next to me.
Hands cover my wound at my neck, trying to keep what remains of my blood inside my body.
“Hold on, Lumi, help will be here soon,” she says, but I’m not going to make it. My eyes begin to flutter shut. I just want to sleep. I fight it, keeping my eyes open a second longer. Enough to look into the eyes of my savior. Enough for my brain to process who saved me—Amora.