Chapter 23 Adreona
ADREONA
Nakul’s limp body lay at my feet, his blood continuing to seep out from the wound in his neck that stretched from ear to ear.
Galib still breathed where he sat hunched over in the corner, his face badly beaten. If I wasn’t already short of trusted guards, Galib would have met the same fate as Nakul.
But I couldn’t take any more losses right now.
Not when Nol and Lennox Adair had managed to slip out from underneath me.
I should have known better than to keep the witch heir alive. I let her slip in right under my nose. Not thinking twice. I was too focused on Keziq starting her work on Lennox.
I wouldn’t let Luciana Ambrose outsmart me again.
I’d sooner kill the witch heir.
Now I was left with no bargaining chip, and I was no closer to reversing vampirism.
I should have killed Lennox when I had the chance.
I won’t make the same mistake twice.
I’d make them pay. The whole lot of them would pay. I only hoped Keziq’s magic had worked.
“Are the legions ready?” I slipped my dagger back into place at my side, stepping over Nakul’s body. My new guard, Damla, nodded. “They are ready and waiting for you.”
“Good. I hope you’re well-rested, it’s a long ride to the Blood Court.”
Magic sizzled around me, I swore I could almost see it crackling on the ground at my feet in the early morning sunlight. Keqiz had been cultivating her magic for days for this spell, needing every last drop to snuff out the magic in the palace.
It had taken a lot of convincing on my part to get Keziq to join the Panateia, but my efforts were not in vain.
She had proved her worth time and time again.
Even if her price was steep.
The hairs on my arms prickled as the magic continued to wrap around me, my hair blowing in the wind.
Keziq took in a sharp breath, her eyes popping open. “It is done.”
I narrowed my gaze at the dark castle looming in front of us. “The castle will crumble easily now.”
Lennox Adair and that mate of hers thought they could turn Lethenia against me. Wage a war against me. The news had reached us as we traveled. The powerful speech she gave her people.
All a bunch of shit.
I scoffed. If war was what she wanted, war was what she’d get. I raised my fist. “FOR THE PANATEIA!”
“FOR THE PANATEIA,” the crowd roared behind me.
The guards at the gate didn’t see us coming. They barely had time to turn their heads before they were severed from their bodies.
Their blood pooled on the cobblestones and splattered across my chest and face. I wiped it off with the back of my arm, not sparing their bodies a second glance as I strolled into the Blood Court palace.
They were vampires after all.
They deserved their death.
In the early morning hour, there were only a few palace staff milling around inside the palace. Their screams echoed through the empty foyer as they met their deaths.
“Call the guards.” I turned toward the male’s voice, my eyes catching on the tall male ushering a group of females down a hallway.
My boots clacked on the floor as I made my way to the male.
He stood tall as he faced me, his shoulders straight, his long black hair skimming down his back. He held the sword in his hand tightly, but I saw the tremor in his grip.
“Who are you?” He held his chin high.
I stopped a few feet in front of him, letting myself smile.
“I’m Adreona, I assume you’ve heard of me.
” The male raised his sword as I took another step toward him.
“I’m the cold, cruel bitch who kidnapped the High Queen.
” Kidnapped. She gave herself over to me, yet she spread that lie across the continent.
“And who are you?”
“Warren, my name is Warren.” There was a quiver in the male’s voice now. Good, he should fear me. “What do you want?”
“I want vampires eliminated.” I tilted my head. “And I want the crown.”
Blood spurted from the male’s mouth before his lips could form another word. He brought his hands to his neck, but it was too late. Damla’s sword had already sliced through his neck. He fell to the ground with a thud.
“You couldn’t have waited until he wasn’t standing in front of me?”
I wiped the blood from my chest with my cloak.
My fangs ached. I took a deep breath through my nose. I made an effort to stretch as long as I could between feedings, but with the thrumming in my veins at the scent of the males blood, I knew I couldn’t go much longer.
“This is an invasion.” I turned my attention back to Damla, ignoring the sudden hunger coursing through my veins. “Blood will spray where it wants to.”
“Next time, at least give me a warning.”
I stepped over the male’s body, his lips still sputtered as blood leaked from his neck.
“Where’s Lorenzo?”
Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as we climbed the stairs to the king’s tower. I stepped over another fallen guard, its lifeless eyes staring back at me as we continued our ascent.
Even with my magic diluted from Keziq’s spell, I felt a rush through my body at the thrill of the death. For once, everything was going according to plan.
There was one final step.
The king was on his knees when I entered his bed chamber. His hands bound behind his back. He wore only a white dressing shirt, his onyx hair was askew, having been pulled from sleep.
“What is going on?” He looked around, eyes wide as more of my guards filed in. “Who are you?”
I clapped my hands together. “I’m so glad you asked, Your Majesty. I’m Adreona, the head of the Panateia.”
Arlo’s face paled. “And what do you want?”
“It’s not only about what I want. I want to rid this world of vampires, but to do that, we need your crown.
” I moved until I was in front of Arlo, he had to tilt his head to look up at me.
“You see, Lennox Adair went running her mouth about my plans and spilling my secrets to the entire continent. So, I needed a new plan. A better plan.”
The king’s gaze drifted behind me, relief washing over his features. “Lorenzo. You’re alive.”
“I am.” Lorenzo didn’t stop until he arrived by my side. Arlo’s gaze flitted between the two of us.
“What is this?” he demanded. “You’re still working with her? With the Panateia?” His face fell. “How could you do that after I told you not to? After what she did to Lennox?”
Lorenzo scoffed. “You’ve always thought so highly of yourself, but I never stopped supporting them.
I’ve been assisting them right underneath your nose, using your coin, your resources.
” Lorenzo smiled. “And I don’t regret a thing.
You care more about Lennox, a female you just met, than you ever cared about me, your own fucking son. ”
Alro flinched as Lorenzo continued, his voice rising an octave.
“I wish I could have been there to see her tortured. I wish I could have seen the look on Luka’s face when his mate was taken from him.
When he saw what was done to her.” Lorenzo’s hand went to his sword.
“That stupid bastard kid took everything from me. As if I haven’t already suffered enough.
First, you pick my sister over me, ME, for the crown.
And then she dies, and you give the crown to a kid.
A fucking kid! After my wife died and my daughter disappeared.
You were a better grandfather to Luka than you ever were a father to me.
” Lorenzo unsheathed his sword, the whine echoing through the bed chamber.
“I’m taking back what should have been mine in the first place. ”
All color leached from Arlo’s face, his eyes going wide as he realized what Lorenzo was going to do. “Lorenzo, please,” the king pleaded, pulling against his restraints. “I’m your father, I’ve always loved you, even if I don’t always show it. Please don’t do this, son.”
“DON’T CALL ME SON!” Lorenzo screamed, spit flying from his mouth. Arlo gasped, his mouth opening wide as his son’s sword pierced his chest. Lorenzo removed his sword, kicking his father in the chest. Arlo fell backward, his body spasming as his white shirt turned crimson.
Lorenzo’s entire body heaved as he lifted his sword over his head, holding it in both hands. “I should have done this years ago.”
His sword came down over the king’s neck. Over and over again, Lorenzo’s sword came down until the king, the former blood king’s head, severed from his body and rolled to the side.
Blood coated Lorenzo as he turned, his sword falling to the ground with a clang.
The sound of his heaving chest and the squeaking of his boots were the only sounds in the bedchamber as he made his way to the dresser perched in the corner.
With hands stained with his father’s blood, Lorenzo took the crown from the dresser, placing it on his own head.