Chapter 32 #3
I sniff but because of the rose bushes, I can’t tell whether my Omega is with Aurelius.
“Freya is behind him,” Lanlin whispers.
My shoulders slump in relief.
Then Lanlin clutches my elbow and drags me with dizzying speed through the archway that leads to a musty, narrow corridor.
Five’s fur bristles with fury.
The wings of the moths and ravens brush across my head, cheeks, and hands, as the creatures that belong to Lanlin and me fly after us in a protective circle.
Lanlin pushes aside a tatty tapestry to reveal a hidden stairway.
I gasp at how quickly he drags me through the darkness up the narrow steps of the North Tower.
Adrenaline spikes through me, as behind me I hear Aurelius’ clattering footfalls.
We climb higher and higher.
Will Aurelius catch us?
I hope Freya is able to keep up.
Lanlin draws us to an abrupt stop in front of a gilt door.
Raggedly breathing, I nearly overbalance. Lanlin holds tightly onto me, however, stopping me from falling backward and into the arms of the dragon who would likely burn me for destroying his royal nest.
Our nest.
Guilt twinges through me.
I steel myself, however, because my heart is leaping with excitement.
The portal is just on the other side of this door.
Everything that I have been working toward for so long.
Finally.
I fumble for the door handle, and Lanlin allows me this moment. I push it down.
Then Lanlin lets go of me, and instantly, I miss his touch. I stumble into the tower’s room in a cloud of white moth and black raven wings.
Then I raise my arm in front of my eyes, blinded by the golden light. Slowly, I lower my arm, squinting around at the room.
I can’t see anything but gold.
I have heard the stories of this room, which is Hadrian’s personal wing of the palace. It contains everything that once belonged to the tyrant Golden Dragon: statues, swords, daggers, spears, jewel-encrusted golden bowls, plates, and goblets.
A dragon’s treasure hoard.
Yet only royalty is allowed up here.
Hadrian is the shame of the Draca Kingdom. The gold sparkles with cursed magic. It stings my own magic, and I am careful not to touch the gold as I weave between it.
“Over here, Your Majesty,” Wren calls out.
His voice is weak and pained, unlike him.
Fear rushes through me.
He is barely holding on.
Suddenly, how important the surly bastard has always been to me kicks me in the guts.
If my plot gets him killed, then I will never forgive myself.
I can sense the portal, despite not being able to see it. It is a swirling mass of midnight shadows.
“What in the name of the Shadow Gods is that? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I wince at how close Aurelius sounds.
He must be standing in the doorway now.
“It has nothing to do with the Shadow Gods.” I taunt. “And I think that I’m rebelling.”
“Don’t even think about going through that portal, Lan.” Aurelius marches past me like I’m unimportant, rather than the leader of this uprising.
Bloody typical.
I step back, but not fast enough to dodge the swing of Aurelius’ fist across my jaw.
I wince.
Fair.
Aurelius’ golden gaze meets mine.
Five hisses at him.
“I warned you that I was the villain.” I give a sharp smile. “So sweet that you thought you were ever in control.”
“This is your plot.” Aurelius looks lost.
“From the very beginning.”
Aurelius’ gaze darts across my face like somehow, he can put the pieces together and make the puzzle look different.
“What are you trying to do? I don’t understand.
I thought that we were on the same side.
Don’t we have our own plot? Don’t you have a fucking deal to serve me? How you can you break that?”
“Who said that I was breaking anything?” I reply with an inscrutable expression.
“I am serving you. You were always blind to what was going on around you. There is far more at play than you know. More mysteries and more at stake. But you and I have never been on the same side.” I hold up the Rebirth Ring between us.
“Dragon’s blood is the only thing that can atone for this.
From now on, everything changes. You’ll learn who I truly am. ”
“As you will me, Relius,” Lanlin says low and tempting. “Come with me through the portal.”
What is Lanlin doing?
Then I realize, and I work hard to keep my expression blank.
Idiot dragon, he truly doesn’t understand either me or Lanlin.
“Fly through the portal, my ravens,” I order.
I listen in relief, as the ravens cawing is abruptly cut off, as they fly through the portal.
“Are you fucking joking?” Aurelius marches away from me distracted by Lanlin, which I know was Lanlin’s plan.
“Get away from there. You’re not going anywhere, Lan.
This ridiculous scheme by my fool fae is over.
I trusted you when you swore that you wouldn’t break our oath. Why would you betray me for Daire?”
“I’m protecting you,” Lanlin protests, and I can hear how close the two now are. “I took an oath not to betray you, and I’m not.”
“Fucking looks like it.”
Suddenly, a gentle hand cups my bruised jaw, brushing at my split lip.
“Finally, you saved everyone.” Freya kisses me, and I wrap my wings around her, kissing her more passionately.
I feel more alive than I have in months.
I allow myself to believe that I am the hero here, rather than the villain who has just plotted against my mate.
“We did it.” My eyes sparkle. “The featherglass and cadets are free. Just those of us left in this room to go.”
“You want me to return to my cell, Relius, like a good vampire? Should I kneel and allow myself to be whipped again? Burned by the sun?” Lanlin demands. “That will be hard when I savaged Taran to bloody pieces, before I tore out the throats of the rest of the Guild’s assassins.”
“Why would you do that?” Aurelius growls. “If you killed Wraith—"
“I didn’t touch any of your precious Golden Family. But my dear, did you forget who I am? That I was locked up as your enemy?” Lanlin’s voice is silky and deadly. “Did you forget that you saved me, but allowed my family to burn? My brother’s nestmates?”
“I claimed you,” Aurelius bursts out, anguished. “I sheltered you with my wings.”
“Then allow me to return the gesture and claim you, Relius. I’m not betraying you. I’m bonding you.”
I blink at the sound of a struggle.
Then silence.
“What happened?” I demand in fear.
“Lanlin provoked Aurelius to move dangerously close to him.” Freya nuzzles against my neck. “Then he bit him.”
My eyes widen. “Good on our King.”
He did it.
He bit, bonded, and kidnapped Aurelius’ arse just like we planned.
I stroke Five’s head, and she settles more firmly around my shoulders.
“The vampire used the dragon’s shock to drag him along with his moths through the portal,” Wren adds, his voice dripping with contempt.
“You have now successfully kidnapped your enemy. Please, my King, you must go through the portal now. It will collapse at any moment. I have held it longer already than I thought I could.”
Wren will never admit weakness. Yet the concern in his voice panics me.
I snatch Freya’s hand. “You’ve done brilliantly, Wren. Don’t worry, it’s time for the Raven King to return to his throne.”
I run toward the portal with Freya at my side.
I catch a glimpse of Wren’s raised, scarred hands, as he kneels, directing his magic toward the portal. His face is covered with a sheen of sweat. His hazel eyes are almost closed.
He’s close to collapsing.
I’ll pull him through with me at the same time as I dive through.
No one will be left behind.
I shudder, sensing the portal’s seductive pull this close.
A cold wind and snowflakes swirl through the portal. My face lights up at the feel of my frozen Unseelie Kingdom.
This is it.
I’m finally coming home.
The Fallen King is returning.
“I knew that pets were the villains and couldn’t be trusted,” a sneering voice cuts across my joy. “You should have been kept caged. From now on, you will be.”
Maximinus.
Alarmed, I attempt to shove Freya through the portal.
Suddenly, however, something golden and metallic shoots out. It catches my Omega around the waist.
Freya screams.
Terrified, I twirl to face Maximinus. “Let her go.”
We are so close to escaping.
This is the first part of the secret plan that I have held from the beginning.
I can’t let it fail now, but I also won’t allow anything to happen to my Omega.
I feel like I am being torn in two.
“Thorn…” Wren gasps, slumping forward.
The portal wavers, as if it is barely holding together.
“Just a little longer…please…you can do it.” I stare at the blinding gold in front of me, tormented that I have lost Freya somewhere in the shadows.
“Maximinus, you can have me. Take me, cage me, bloody make an example of me in front of the whole capital. I don’t bloody care.
I led this treason and rebellion. I admit it. But let my Omega go.”
“Why would I do that?” Maximinus mocks. “Two public executions are better than one.”
Cold fear freezes me to the spot.
This entire room is filled with gold. It was always the risk that if Maximinus caught us, then he could use every part of it as a weapon.
I try to gently push Five off my shoulder with my shadows to urge her to go through the portal but she fiercely holds onto me with her claws.
“Leave through the portal,” I whisper to Wren.
He shakes his head. “Not without you, Your Majesty.”
I’m surrounded by loyal idiots.
Suddenly something gold shoots toward me, grabbing me around my waist. It sears me with dark magic.
I scream, as my wings are scorched. I am lifted into the air.
Then I am facing Freya. We stare at each other in shock.
She is breathing fast in pain.
“Love,” I whisper, “I’m sorry…”
“Don’t.” Her voice is hoarse. “We saved our Vampire King. We freed your family. Fuck the Draca Kingdom. Let them kill us. At least then we die side by side. We wanted to spend our lives together, and it’s not much different to die together, right?”
My eyes prick with tears. “I bloody love you.”
She forces a smile. “I love you too.”