Chapter 57 Luka
LUKA
I gripped my sword so tight the groove of the pommel bit into my palm.
“Where did they come from?” I raised my sword, blocking the male’s blow. The clang of our swords rang through the snowy forest.
“No fucking idea,” Lennox grit out as her blade sliced through another soldier. There was no sign of Adreona or Keziq. Not yet, anyway, but their soldiers were everywhere. All of them dressed in black with the red Blood Court seal I knew so well adorning their lapels.
“We should have seen them coming!” Lennox shouted over the fray.
I shouldn’t be surprised they didn’t wait for us to arrive at their borders. We should have known Adreona wouldn’t wait, that they’d show up sooner rather than later.
But there was nothing we could do about it now.
At least they didn’t appear to bring any Dhampirs with them.
Each time I killed a soldier another one appeared. They had Lennox and I surrounded.
My sword arced through the air, slicing clean through a soldier’s arm.
Blood spurted on my face; I wiped it away with the back of my arm as I charged toward another soldier.
This is what we had been preparing for. We’ve been training for this day, for this moment. My sword sliced through another soldier. They fell to the ground at my feet. Their blood stained the snow crimson.
We could do this. It’d be a good learning experience for us all. We’d learn from it. Figure out how to be better prepared for a surprise attack.
“There’s only about fifty of them!” Declan’s voice carried down from the sky.
“Only fifty of them,” Lennox mimicked, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Declan continued to shout commands from the sky, “Protect the frontline. We can’t let them get through. If we cut them off here, they’re finished.”
From all of our strategy meetings, I knew what my and Lennox’s roles were. We were supposed to hang back at the rear. Let the others take out the frontline of the enemy. Protect ourselves as we waited for the moment we were needed. For when Adreona, Keziq, or Lorenzo showed their faces.
I spared a glance over at Lennox. Her face was set with determination. Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed, a determined snarl falling from her lips as she faced off with her opponent.
There was no chance in hell she was falling back now.
And Declan didn’t call for us. So here we’d stay.
My mind became nothing but a blur as I continued to kill every soldier that came toward me, my body working on autopilot as I fought alongside Lennox.
We made our way through the throng of soldiers until the last one fell at our feet.
My chest heaved. I held my sword still in my hand, its blade stained with the blood of my enemies.
“Are you okay?” I turned to Lennox, scanning her body for injuries.
She nodded. “I’m fine.” I raised my hand to her cheek, cupping her blood-splattered face in my hand. She leaned into my hold, pressing closer to rest her forehead against mine.
“You?”
“I’m good too.”
“Well, isn’t this a sweet moment?” Ice slithered down my spine as Lorenzo’s voice filtered through the forest, his boots crunching on the snow.
“Nice of you to show up once all the fighting is over,” I all but growled as I turned my attention to my uncle.
His clothes were spotless, his leathers glistened, not a drop of dirt or blood on them. Sunlight reflected off his freshly polished blade.
“It was my job to survey the enemy, not to fight.”
“You take orders from your consort?” Lennox’s voice was laced with venom as her hand flexed on her sword.
A snarl twisted across Lorenzo’s lips. “I offered.”
“You always threw such a fit when given orders by grandfather—or me. I have a hard time believing you’ve fallen into line so quickly now.”
“This is war, boy, even you know better than to question authority. You do as your High Queen tells you, do you not?”
“See that’s where you and I differ—”
“We’re equals,” Lennox finished for me. “He’s not my consort, he is High King, my mate, he has as much power as I do.”
A muscle feathered in Lorenzo’s jaw as Lennox continued.
“But yet your queen consort tells you what to do?” Lennox’s head cocked to the side.
Lorenzo’s hand closed around the pommel of his sword; red crept up his neck. “You’re not going to go against an order now, are you? You were told to survey, not to fight, right?” The mocking tone in Lennox’s voice made Lorenzo’s body tremble with rage.
“I get the killing blow,” I whispered as I leaned in close. “I’d been waiting for this day for a long time.” Lennox kept her gaze on Lorenzo but dipped her chin.
“What would your queen consort say—”
“I AM KING!” Lorenzo bellowed as he charged toward us.
“He’s all yours.” Lennox spun out of the way, her braid swinging behind her as she placed a peck on my cheek.
She knew as much as I did if we both went against Lorenzo, he’d be dead in seconds.
And his death was mine to claim.
The clash of our swords rang through the forest.
I forced his hand down easily.
All those years he spent sneering at me for spending so much time training—I bet he was swallowing his words now.
Perspiration broke out across his brow after only a few blows. I easily blocked each of his advances, pushing him farther and farther into the trees with every movement.
“Ready to give up yet?” I taunted.
“Never.”
“I’m going easy on you old man.”
“Don’t.” His eyes sparked with anger. “Give me all you’ve got. Or are you too scared?”
I smiled. “You asked.”
In two moves I had him stumbling. A whoosh of air left his lungs as I knocked his sword from his hands. I advanced him back a few more steps until his back hit a tree.
I sent my knee into his gut as I brought my sword to his neck, pinning him against the tree—completely at my mercy.
“When are you going to learn not to underestimate me, Lorenzo?”
He sneered, bucking against my hold. I let the edge of my blade push against his neck, breaking the skin until a tiny drop of crimson dripped down his throat.
“Even in your last moments, you won’t admit it?”
“You don’t have it in you, you won’t kill me. You’ve always been too soft. I’m your uncle. I’m the only family you have left.”
“You see, two years ago, you might have been right.” I pushed the blade in deeper.
“But now…a lot has changed—I’ve changed.
” My words held true. I had changed. Some for the good, some for the worse.
But one thing hadn’t changed—my lack of respect for Lorenzo.
He had never liked me. He took any chance he could to try and drag me down, but it never worked. And it wouldn’t work today either.
“Whose fault is it anyway that you’re my only living relative? It was you, wasn’t it, you killed grandfather.”
He smirked. “You always preach how you’re better than me, so much different. But if you kill me, you’re the same.”
“No. If—when I kill you, it will be to avenge my grandfather. You killed him out of spite—out of jealousy. You killed your own fucking father. I don’t know about you, but I think you deserve to die.”
Lorenzo’s face paled, the first signs of fear finally starting to trickle in.
“Besides, you play a large hand in this war. You help drive the enemy—you can’t be left alive. Without you, Adreona loses her role as queen consort.”
“She’ll kill you for killing me!”
“I’d like to see her fucking try.” I leaned in close, pushing my blade in deeper, the blood was flowing freely down his neck now, his leathers no longer pristine. “Do you think Adreona will care to avenge your death? Did your so called wife ever tell you the truth about why she’s kept you around?”
Lorenzo bared his teeth. “She’ll come for me.”
“Will she? She’s been lying to you this entire time.” I would do this one last thing before I killed him, I’d tell him the truth. “She killed Este. She didn’t find her, she took her and turned her into a Dhampir.”
“That’s a lie!” He lurched against my hold.
“It’s true, Adreona told Lennox. That’s where she gets the people she turns into Dhampirs. She takes them from the streets, or wherever she can. All those disappearances grandfather was looking into? Those were all Adreona and the Panateia.”
He stilled as he tried to make sense of the information. Tried to discern through all the lies he’s been fed for years now.
“She wouldn’t lie to me about that.” His voice lacked conviction.
“You know she would. She just wanted your money, your support. She used whatever means necessary to get that. She used your weakness, she used Este.”
“No, she wouldn’t.” If he wanted to reject the truth in death that was fine by me, but at least he knew. He would die knowing what happened to his daughter.
“I’ll kill you for spewing such lies, about Este! How could you?”
“I think I’ve let you ramble long enough.” I pushed the blade in deeper. “I’ve always wanted to see you bleed.”
“You won’t kill me,” he sneered.
“I will. If my mate has taught me anything—it’s that sometimes it’s okay to shed blood.”
At the mention, another memory surfaced—another reason why he deserved to die. “And if I remember correctly—you had a hand in Lennox’s torture while she was in Adreona’s clutches. Yet another reason to watch life leave your eyes!”
“You’re insane!” He bucked against me again. “Don’t do this Luka, you’ll regret it!”
“I might, one day. But right now, I think it will feel pretty fucking good.” I pressed the blade in deeper, delighting in the panic flaring in Lorenzo’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, Luka. I’m sorry!” Fear flashed in his eyes. “I believe you about Este. Let me go and I’ll help you kill Adreona. I’m your uncle, I’m sorry for betraying you. Please, Luka, forgive me and let me go.”
His words had no sway on me, they’d lost their effect on me years ago. “You were never really my family. Even so—I’ve got a much better one behind me now.” I sliced the blade through his throat.
His blood splattered, it was warm against my chilled skin. His eyes widened, the dark pools going glassy.
His lips moved but no words came out.
I let his body fall to the ground with a thud. I stood, my chest heaving, staring at the tree I had pinned him to, the dark stain now marking the bark.
“I don’t forgive you,” I spoke over his lifeless body.
“Luka.”
“I’m fine.” I blinked my eyes several times before turning to face Lennox.
Her face was etched with concern as she searched my face for any signs of regret.
She wouldn’t find any.
Maybe one day I’d regret killing my uncle, but not today. Today—today I felt—relief.
“I’m fine, really. I feel invigorated. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.” In two strides I was to her, my hand gripping the back of her neck as I sealed my lips to hers.
When we parted, we were both panting. “Do you believe me now?”
Her hands fisted in my leathers as she leaned forward and placed another kiss on my lips. “I’m proud of you.”
My chest tightened, but no words came. So I kissed her again.
“Do you want to hear my crazy plan?” she asked between kisses.
“Always.”