Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Sun Arena, Shadow Court
Lanlin
I stand in the center of the Sun Arena with my back pressed to Ahm and Yara’s. We slowly circle on the blood-stained sawdust, staring up at the tiers of black stone seats, which are now crammed with thousands of silver dragons.
My senses are screaming danger at the mingling of so many pheromones.
It is intense to be close to thousands of enemies while bound.
I am here to be executed.
This isn’t a fight. These nobles are on a night out of blood sport. Our death will be their entertainment.
Omegas in dyed silks with glittering hairpins drape themselves on the laps of their powerful Alphas. Their children play next to them, scrabbling between the seats in excitement.
In the center of the tiers is a vast awning, which is embroidered with golden dragons. The space is empty, apart from Maximinus.
He is sprawled on the seating like it is his throne.
When he meets my eyes, his lips tug up into a smug smile. He turns up his nose, contemptuously, as if even meeting the eyes of a vampire king is beneath him.
My eyes glow red in my rage.
Maximinus arranged my betrayal and capture. He stole my crown and melted it in front of me.
In this life or the next, I shall make him scream out his regrets.
But now, he is beneath my notice.
I study the awning.
Is it meant for the royal family?
Merchants wander between the seats, hawking spiced wine, sausages dripping with fat, and sweet pastries.
Is this a festival to them?
I clench my hands, imagining being able to transform and fly into the stands, slaughtering row after row.
Tier after tier.
The laughter would dissolve into screams, and my mouth would be filled with delicious blood. I wouldn’t be hollowed with hunger. I’d be high on the deaths of those who would cheer the death of my people and my first ever friends.
A callow noble with waxy blond hair leans over and hurls a walnut that bounces off my forehead.
I snarl.
The noble sneers. “Bow your head when your betters feed you, monster. Aren’t you hungry? Eat.”
The dragons around him laugh.
I stare down at the nut that is lying in the dirt.
He would dare to make fun of a king? A commander of an army that has decimated their own?
Mock my starvation?
I raise my foot and grind the nut into the dirt. Then I merely straighten my shoulders.
These dragons should meet the princesses of the Scarlet Temple. I am not sure which would win in cold-hearted cruelty. Both believe that they are righteous. To the priestesses, I was a monster who deserved to be controlled or killed because I had the Power.
To them, no animalist was a true vampire.
To the dragons, a vampire holds less worth than an animal. If they can kill us as sport, then our deaths will be the best entertainment.
My expression hardens.
I memorize the noble’s face who threw the nut. He pales, drawing back. Then I memorize each face that my gaze rests upon.
When I take my revenge upon them, I shall tear them apart as only an animal can.
“It looks like they really don’t want us to win this fight.
” Yara yanks futilely at the silver shackles that bind her wrists, which are identical to the ones that were slapped around every vampire fighter’s wrists, before we were thrust into Sun Arena.
“On my heart, the cowards could have at least given us a chance.”
“Is it punishment for the escape attempt?” I must know if I caused this.
I wince, glancing at the shuffling band of vampires who are standing as close as they can to me, as if they still trust that I can save them, despite my failure of an escape attempt.
Yara shakes her head. “That was just one of Taran’s sadistic games. He wanted to break you by offering hope and then snatching it away. This is something else.”
“Do you believe what Taran told you yesterday when he came to our cell?” Ahm asks, carefully.
I stiffen. “I don’t believe anything he says.”
Yesterday, Taran enjoyed tormenting me with news about my Omega’s wedding.
He thought that it would hurt me.
He was wrong.
Taran rested his hand against the cell’s bars. “Monster, do you know what time it is?”
“If you can’t keep your own torture schedule straight, I can’t help you.”
Taran slammed his hand against the bars in fury. “Will you sound so insolent when I tell you that right at this moment, your Omega and Blood Lover are being crowned as Emperor and Empress? That they’re being married to your enemy?”
I simply gave a cool smile, while inside I rejoiced. “Didn’t you tell me that they had been made consorts? That a fae and wolf would never be taken as a true bride and groom?”
Taran looked taken aback, before he spun away.
Then he called over his shoulder, before he was swallowed by the dungeon’s shadows, “Fuck you, psycho. I’m done trying to break you.
How can you break something that is already broken?
At least I can enjoy watching you die tomorrow in the Imperial Games.
Didn’t I say? Your nestmates requested your death as their wedding gift. ”
Just for a moment at his words, every demon of my past that Void Devil had preyed upon — rejection, abandonment, and betrayal — roared through me.
But then, I remembered that my King and Queen were my sunshine.
I held faith and trust in them.
Then I had felt her kiss and bite on my skin over the Ankh mark, and I had known that I would always be right to do so.
Aurelius hadn’t rejected them as consorts. He had honored them as he should have, which pleased me. If he hadn’t, then by the Shadow Devils, I would have torn off his knot myself.
During their wedding night, Yara and Ahm gave me space, understanding how difficult it would be for me.
On my own side of the cell, I clung to the warped crown.
My hunger and pain were nothing, but my loneliness ached through me down to my fangs.
Now I knew what it was like to share a nest, even for the shortest time, I needed that feeling again.
I shook, clutching the crown to my chest.
Then I felt the kisses on my Ankh mark start up again, followed by bites, and crashing waves of pleasure.
I curled around myself, as my cock hardened.
They were sharing their wedding night with me.
I smiled, facing the wall to find the only privacy that I could. I worked my cock underneath my gladiator’s uniform, touching myself to the rhythm of Freya’s pleasure.
Then she bit herself hard enough to break my skin, and I came.
I stifled my cry by biting the Ankh mark back.
Yet the night after Freya married the Shadow Dragon Emperor, will she watch me die as her wedding gift?
I glance at Taran, who is standing next to a large drum to one side of the arena. He is dressed in his immaculate black robes. His sandy hair has been brushed neatly back from his face.
Wraith stands at his shoulder.
I expect Taran to appear triumphant.
Instead, he looks harried, as if he is under pressure. It makes me more nervous.
“These Imperial Games are a spectacle.” I scan the happy crowds with disgust. “Maximinus is demonstrating how powerful the royal family is, while amusing the nobles. The Crocodile House in my own court put on similar displays, including blood sacrifices.”
“You say Maximinus.” Yara glances over her shoulder at me. “But Taran blamed—”
“Would you believe that Laz wanted you dead?”
“Never!” Ahm turns to me with shocked eyes.
“Then neither would my nestmates.”
Yara twirls to face me as well, and we stand in a close circle.
Ahm takes a deep breath. “If I don’t survive tonight…”
“Fool.” Yara drags the other Beta against her chest. “What would our Alpha think if he heard you talking like that?”
“He’d kiss me.” Ahm’s eyelashes tremble with tears. “You know that I’m the weakest fighter, and now, wearing these shackles…”
He holds up his seared wrists.
“I’ll protect you,” Yara and I say at the same time.
Yara smiles at me approvingly.
I’m not sure how to feel about that. I’m not used to anyone approving of me.
“You’re my twin’s nestmates. I swore to protect you. I won’t let you die tonight.” When I glare challengingly up into the lowest seats of the arena, the noble dragons cringe back.
“I believe that you’ll try to save me. But if you can’t,” Ahm insists, “please tell Laz that I love him and never stopped missing him. Yara and I have thought of him every day. Whatever happened, I don’t want him to think that we stopped being devoted.”
“I have known you for a short while, and already I know that it’s impossible my brother could think that.
But I promise I will tell him. By my fangs, however, you will tell him yourself.
” I sternly fix him with my stare. “You’re my family, and they don’t give up.
We’re about to go into battle. Think only of the warm blood you’ll feast on. ”
Yara chuckles. “You’re truly not Laz. But we like you just the way you are.”
I blink. “I am not likable.”
“You’re loyal,” Ahm replies. “A good friend.”
“An excellent leader,” Yara adds. “Fierce. And right now, you’re the only person who could save us. So, go and say something to our friends to stop them trembling with fear. Make them believe that they will survive this.”
I glance at my ragtag band of broken vampires who I have taken under my protection and relentlessly trained. When they had weapons and shields, I believed that they would have a chance.
Chained in silver and weaponless, however, what hope do they have?
Many are injured, limping, or starved.
I have no idea what the method of execution will be, but I can’t fight to save every one of them.
I have never cared about the lives of my soldiers before. I know Daire does. I didn’t understand the way that he spoke about his featherglass.
I tried to have empathy for his grief for that Human Shifter who was murdered. I made him a shrine.
Yet I only now understand how he felt.
“You mean lie,” I say, quietly.