Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
IF ONLY
The Greenwood at night is like fairyland, or at least how I imagine it. Despite our situation, I can’t help but feel yearning for the life I see.
Faint golden lights decorate the buildings, more glimmering deep in the woods, like fireflies in the dark.
During the day, the street hummed with human activity, people shopping, dining in cafés, socialising.
It still hums, but this time with vampires.
Shops are still open, cafes filled with elegant lounging figures sipping from blood pouches.
It’s a parallel world, a world of night.
There are humans here, too; a young man working in a café, a woman sitting with a group of vampires while one of them drinks from her wrist, the gesture gentle and affectionate, all of them talking and laughing.
An older woman with a small crate of blood pouches, nodding to the shopkeeper before heading down the street. It’s fascinating.
And it makes so much sense.
Desire burns in me, brighter than ever, to implement the same system across my realm.
But I need to tread carefully. Especially now Cass, who is escorting us along the street, has caught us trying to leave.
Our only option now is to tell her who I am and use it as leverage in the hopes I might be allowed to leave, instead of having my throat ripped out.
My hand comes to my neck as Cass bangs on the front door of a large red-brick building, long windows with leaded glass lining both storeys.
The door opens.
A tall handsome vampire, broad-shouldered, clad in grey sweatpants and a tattered T-shirt that does nothing to hide his muscles, is standing there. He runs a hand through his tousled brown hair, then breaks into a crooked grin. ‘Captain. And Michael, with the lovely Emelia. Come on in.’
How in darkness does he know who I am? But his voice is familiar and, after a moment, I place him. Flynn, who’d sat with me at the fighting ring. He leads us down a long corridor towards the back of the building, pausing to turn on a candle-lamp set into the wall.
‘Nice of you to bring Emelia to see me without my mask, Michael.’ His tone is teasing as his gaze moves to me. ‘I told you I was pretty.’
I snort, despite our circumstances. Michael shoots me a fierce look. ‘You’re prettier,’ I whisper.
‘You just haven’t got to know me yet,’ Flynn drawls, winking at me. Damn vampire hearing! Cass brings us through to a large room running along the back of the house. Couches sit on soft rugs, bookcases lining the walls. There are several vampires in the room, relaxing on the couches.
‘Look who came to call.’ Flynn flops down on one of the sofas, folding his arms. ‘I’m just trying to convince Emelia that I’m the better option.’
‘Stop fucking around, Flynn.’ Cass’s voice is sharp. ‘I just caught these two trying to make a run for it.’
‘Can we talk about this?’ Michael’s tone is casual, but his arm is tense against mine.
‘Talk about what?’ Cass tilts her head. ‘About why you were trying to escape again, or why you’ve brought the heir to Raven into our cell? Because I’d really, really like to know, lieutenant.’ She snarls the last word.
God and darkness.
Michael and I both freeze. Every vampire in the room sits up, their eyes on me. I guess they didn’t know, at least.
But how the hell does Cass know?
She clicks a remote control, and a TV on the wall above the fireplace comes on.
‘… teams are still searching for the missing heir to Raven, who appears to have run off with her lieutenant.’ Footage shows a photo of Michael and me, then battalions of Raven guards searching the Safe Zones, busloads of them heading to different destinations.
‘It’s a shock move by an heir some already see as controversial, and could not come at a worse time, with her coronation only days away and the situation on our borders with Scorpion.
Raven need a strong leader, not one who leaves at the first sign of danger.
’ More footage, this time showing vampires running through precise battle drills, their layered armour bearing the Scorpion crest. My stomach sinks.
‘What have Scorpion done?’
‘Keep watching.’
The footage changes to a city on the water, a domed cathedral with green-topped towers now with a hole in the roof, one of the towers toppled.
‘The incursion happened without warning, a battalion crossing the border and using light flares to temporarily overwhelm the Raven garrison. There are reports of several casualties, as well as damage to the city itself, though the Scorpion forces were eventually overpowered and retreated. Jang-mi has issued a statement, that it was a rebel group of guards and offering her sincere apologies to the House of Raven. However, increased Scorpion activity along our borders does hint at something larger brewing. Is this just sabre-rattling or something more ominous?’
‘Fuck them.’ I cannot believe it.
‘Oh, but there’s more. Your boyfriend seems to have something to say.’ Cass’s voice drips with scorn.
‘Prince Joaquin has made a statement to the press,’ the newsreader continues. The footage now shows Joaquin, clad in black, standing on the steps outside my home. Michael squeezes my hand. I feel sick.
‘I don’t believe Emelia would leave me of her own accord,’ he says, sorrow lacing every word. ‘Not so close to sharing our news with the world. I had my doubts about her choice of lieutenant, and they have now been proven correct.’
‘Fuck.’ Michael swears, hard.
‘We will find you, either way.’ Joaquin looks into the camera, ferocious, fangs dropped. ‘And it will not go well for you. The house of Jaguar will not be insulted—’
‘Turn it off.’ I put ice in my tone, the command of Raven.
‘I don’t obey your orders.’ Nonetheless, Cass turns it off. ‘Now. Tell me what the fuck you’re doing in my cell.’
‘We came here by accident.’
Cass snorts.
‘She’s telling the truth.’ Michael’s voice is a low growl. ‘You’ve seen the footage. Let us go.’
‘No fucking way.’ She sounds so much like Michael. ‘You know how it works. Just because you got out before doesn’t mean I’ll let you go again. And especially not with her.’
My lip curls. ‘I’m right fucking here, for starters.
And second of all, do you really think your Reapers could withstand the entire might of Raven?
’ Fuck this. Everything is on the table now.
I bare my teeth, advancing on Cass. All the other vampires in the room are still.
Flynn is watching me, eyes wide. ‘Do you think I fucking like seeing my realm threatened? My people killed? I want to change the world, not see it torn apart! But if I don’t get out of here, things will be destabilised.
We risk war, globally. And that will affect you.
I’m here because I had no choice. Yet what I’ve discovered …
your world…’ I pause. ‘It’s beautiful. It’s how things should be.
The last thing I want is Raven coming here and breaking it apart.
I can keep your secrets. The only thing I ask is that you work with me, not against me.
Together we could change everything. But if you aren’t willing to let me go, you can kill me right now. ’
‘Emelia!’ Michael sounds frantic.
Cass stares at me. I think I glimpse something like respect in her blue gaze. Then she claps, slowly. ‘Nice speech, little Raven. Some lovely promises in there. But no way of knowing whether you’ll keep them. Tell you what. We’ll let you go. But he stays.’ She points to Michael.
‘No!’ We both say it at the same time.
Cass shrugs. ‘It’s the best deal I can offer. I need something, after all, to ensure your silence.’
‘Is my word not enough? I am Raven.’ Panic makes my voice shake, but I don’t care. I cannot lose him.
‘We hold no fealty to you.’
‘Emelia, you need to go. You’re the one who can change things.’ Michael’s arms come around me.
‘Say your farewells, and I’ll escort you to the border just before dawn. A transport will arrive early, to take you back to your estate.’
Tears spill down my cheeks, my hand on Michael’s face. He kisses my palm, damp on his lashes as they brush my skin. ‘I’ll find my way back to you,’ he murmurs. ‘No matter what. We’re meant to be together, E.’
‘I can’t leave you,’ I whisper. ‘Please. I can’t do this without you.’
‘You can.’ He kisses me, a sweet press of his lips. ‘You can.’
I shake my head, tears flying. It’s as though a hand is crushing my chest, as though all the air and warmth is being squeezed from me. ‘I can’t lose you again.’
‘You won’t. I’ll never stop loving you.’
‘I’ll never stop loving you, either. No matter what.’ I sob. I can’t leave him. I think it will break me, if I do.
‘Cass, have a heart.’ Flynn’s voice is faint in the background. ‘Can’t you see that—’
‘What’s going on here?’
There’s a shocked weight to the silence that falls, my sniffling the only sound.
‘General.’ Cass sounds stressed. ‘To what do we owe the pleasure?’
General?
I lift my head, wiping my eyes. A huge figure stands in the doorway, dressed in black. He winks at me, then lowers his brows over his icy gaze as he surveys the room. Every vampire snaps to attention, including Cass.
Ira stalks into the room, pulling the cuffs of his jacket as he inspects every vampire in turn. I cling to Michael.
‘Ira is a general?’ I whisper.
‘Commander, actually,’ Ira says. ‘Of the Southern Reaper Cells.’