Chapter Ten
KYELLA
A pleased hum left my throat as I stretched my arms above my head and groggily stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
I’d woken up only minutes ago after a night of deep, dreamless sleep.
I was grateful for the rest, considering what I’d been through yesterday, and I credited my peace to the men who held me throughout the night.
When I got up to relieve myself in the middle of the night, I detangled myself from Kolvar and Dakath.
Crawling out of the tangle of limbs was harder than it should have been, but only because I craved the comfort of their embraces when I parted with them.
It was peaceful falling asleep between them again, but when I woke up next, I was wrapped between Dakath and Elijah.
Knowing my men, they likely all switched throughout the night, none willing to leave my side but likely standing guard to protect me.
I lost myself looking at my reflection. Not because I looked particularly different, but more in surprise because I didn’t look different at all.
After what I suffered, it was strange to not find a lingering physical reminder on my body.
I knew I possessed rapid healing capabilities, but it was still a shock to have my neck snapped with no evidence of such a serious injury left behind.
The part of me that grew up thinking I was a human still expected to see lingering bruises or cuts.
When a knock on the door sounded, I peeled my eyes away from the mirror and softly called out, “Come in.”
Kolvar eased open the door, freshly washed and dressed for the day.
“Morning, darling,” he greeted, voice low and rumbly as I wrapped my arms around his neck and went up on my toes to get a kiss, the hem of the shirt I’d stolen from one of the men just barely covering the bottom of my ass.
Never one to disappoint, Kolvar immediately lowered his lips to mine, and a contented sigh fell from my lips as he pulled back.
“Morning to you as well. Did you get enough sleep?” I asked, searching his face for any sign of exhaustion.
“More than enough,” he answered, smiling gently at my obvious worry. “I’m glad you’re up, though. I’m going to wake the others since I have a few things to do this morning.”
My curiosity piqued. Part of me assumed they would try to keep me locked in the room under their supervision for as long as they could.
“Such as?”
Tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, he answered, “The Empress is holding a meeting at noon about our plan moving forward—”
“Definitely want to go to that,” I murmured as he nodded. “What time is it right now?”
“Around ten—it isn’t late,” he assured me. “We have a little over an hour before we need to head over there.” I nodded my understanding, and he continued, “I also had a feeling that you might want to check on Tristan and his family.”
Immediately, my heart melted. Kolvar was right—I did want to see them and felt the need to check on them.
Tristan was injured because of me, and Bailey and Rina were put in danger on my account as well.
Appreciation surged through me for the man standing before me.
The fact that he thought of that, understanding what I needed without me voicing it, was incredible.
“You’re right, I would love that,” I whispered. My stomach clenched pleasantly as he bent down to brush his lips against my forehead.
“Good. Get ready, darling. I’m going to get the other two up.”
I nodded before turning my attention toward getting ready for the day, not bothering with the effort of makeup before twisting my hair into a simple braid.
I wasn’t left alone for long, though. After donning an outfit consisting of a simple black dress with a square neckline that hung comfortably around my body, I heard the soft click of my door being opened once more.
A deep rumble sounded as Dakath walked through the doors of my bedroom and came to a hard stop.
His gaze ran over my outfit as another sound left his throat, his eyes lingering on my slight curves before he curled a finger at me.
I flushed and went to him, his large hand sliding along my back before he took my lips in a hard kiss.
“You look entirely too gorgeous to be seen by others.” His voice was light and teasing, but I could hear the underlying sense of possession there. One that had me looking over him, wishing that he was naked instead of dressed and ready for the day.
“You look pretty good yourself.”
Before he could respond, though, Kolvar and Elijah walked into my room through the main door.
The latter’s gaze caught mine, and the intensity of his need for me was obvious from the way his eyes heated.
I loved how yesterday, despite his reservations and concerns for me, he’d followed my lead.
Considering how dominant and in control of every situation the man was, his willingness to give into me spoke volumes about his feelings, as well as the importance of our relationship to him.
“I told Tristan we would meet them in the main dining hall for breakfast,” Kolvar announced. I nodded, following them out as Dakath smoothed a hand on my back, his touch comforting.
As we walked through the castle halls, I caught glimpses through windows of the city surrounding it.
I was struck not only by its beauty, an occurrence every time I laid eyes on my new home, but by the way the sun seemed to shine down on it.
There was something special about this land, an energy I’d never experienced before.
The land, its kinder, softer people and their kinder, softer leader, motivated me to ensure that the threat from across the Cursed Divide didn’t touch any of this.
The men talked lightly as we neared the dining hall, and a relieved breath whooshed out of me upon seeing three familiar faces. I slipped away from my men and sped across the vast hall, past all others, before pulling to a stop at the table where Tristan and his family were seated.
“Ky!” Rina cried, throwing herself at me as a surprised laugh came out of my mouth.
Apparently, she had picked up on Dakath calling me that nickname, and I couldn’t deny that I loved it. The little girl’s head of brown hair was a bit messy this morning, and while delicately built like her mother, she squeezed me so tight it was a bit shocking.
“Hey you,” I crouched down as she pulled away, and I searched her gray eyes for any sign of stress, exhaustion, or possible fear. “How are you?”
“Well, I was super worried about you, but the nice lady”—I assumed she was talking about Myrin—“told me that you were okay. She was right!”
“Are you okay?” Bailey asked, drawing my gaze away from the little girl and toward her mother.
Bailey held herself stiffly, and stress filled her eyes as she stared at me.
I hated to have caused her any worry, but I was relieved to see that she seemed otherwise fine.
I was still worried, but the tension sitting in my chest eased slightly.
The men chatted quietly, offering me the opportunity to check on Tristan’s family, and I appreciated that more than I could ever express.
“Yes,” I assured her, standing up from my crouch before sliding onto the same bench as Rina. My gaze lifted to Tristan, who offered me a small, tired smile from across the table.
A concerned noise bubbled up from my throat. “Tristan, I am so sorry—”
“Nothing to apologize for,” he assured me, eyes filled with a lightness as he squeezed his wife’s hand that was intertwined with his across the table. “If anything, this little injury has allowed me the opportunity to slow down and spend time with my two favorite girls.”
My heart. That was so sweet.
“You should have never been injured,” I expressed, my jaw tightening. “We will ensure that no one else is caught in the crosshairs again, I promise.”
“Despite my husband grossly understating his pain from the injury,” Bailey’s gaze filled with a tiny bit of mirth before turning serious, “I am glad he stepped out there in time to see what happened so he could tell the others.”
I frowned slightly, “If he hadn’t, he would have never—”
“If he hadn’t, you would have been taken and no one would have known for a much longer period of time,” Bailey insisted, her tone filled with concern.
Tristan nodded, his expression turning slightly haunted as he spoke. “We all know what Malakai’s lackeys are like.”
I shivered.
“It was Holmeth,” I muttered, and Tristan made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat as he shook his head. I heaved a deep breath before continuing, “He was leading the crew.”
Silence fell heavily around the table, and I glanced down at the marred top, digging my nail into the soft wood. Guilt ate at me with the realization that the family had been simply trying to enjoy their breakfast, and I brought a cloud of despair to them instead.
“I need to go to a meeting,” I said as I glanced back up, steeling my reserve. “But I just needed to make sure all of you were okay.”
Bailey’s smile was warm as she replied, “We are, and I would love, whenever you’re free, if you could come into town with us for the day. Rina found some shops—”
“I want to show you them!” Rina interrupted, smiling up at me before whispering conspiratorially, “They have one with some really cool swords that look like they could be for someone my size.”
A giggle burst from my lips. Cocking an eyebrow, I asked, “You want a sword now?”
She blinked up at me owlishly, a grin tugging at her lips as she said, “Of course, you and the nice lady have them.”
I didn’t correct her that mine were daggers, but I squeezed her shoulder gently. “I would love to come with you.” And I would. I knew we had a lot of big things to handle, but the three of them were becoming part of my found family—so a day out together sounded really nice.
I said goodbye to them, excusing myself for the meeting, and walked away feeling much better about their state. The weight that had sat heavily on my chest lifted away. They were okay. I wasn’t happy about what happened, but I was so very thankful that they were mostly okay.
“How bad was his injury?” I asked seriously as we neared the Empress’s study.
Elijah answered, and my heart raced as he spoke.
“If the dagger had pierced an inch or two further to the left, it would have landed in his heart. Tristan is tough, but if that had happened, I don’t think he would have recovered.
Piercing our hearts and decapitation are about the only tried and true methods of killing a vampyre, after all. ”
I was quiet as we walked, chewing over the emotions surging through me at the realization that Tristan had gotten incredibly lucky.
When we reached Myrin’s study, the guards let us through to her private suite.
The doors closed behind us, and Myrin looked up from where she was talking to an older, wrinkled man with a stack of books next to him.
Upon our entrance, he offered a smile of greeting before retreating to a table nearby.
He seemed to be buried in research of some kind.
“Good morning,” Myrin’s smile was gentle and genuine as she looked over me. “You look well rested and not as—”
“Bloody?” I teased as her gaze jumped with amusement.
“Yes, that,” she said with a snort. Shaking her head, the mirth soon gave way to a more serious look as she motioned for us to sit around the table.
I glanced at the map spread on the table, briefly noting the body of water marked as the Cursed Divide.
Myrin’s energy shifted again, to something more vibrant and eager, and I found myself leaning toward her, curious about why we were called to her.
“My other advisors will be here soon,” she explained, “but I wanted to talk to all of you, namely you Kyella, about what I plan to do.”
“And what do you plan to do?” I questioned.
“I plan on launching a full-scale attack on Malakai’s empire. The bastard invited war to his doorstep by attacking my land and hurting someone under my protection—I won’t stand for that.”
The conviction with which she spoke left little room for argument.
“Okay,” I nodded, though I could feel myself frowning slightly.
I chewed my lip for a moment before asking, “How do we know he won’t send, or hasn’t already, sent more ships?
If you launch an attack, sending soldiers to the Thaician Empire, and he sends ships here…
” I trailed off, unwilling to put into words how vulnerable that might leave the Tridian Empire.
“I have had scouts flying above our waters,” she hedged, and I was pretty sure that she was talking about the bats.
“They haven’t seen anything. If there were more forces following behind the first ship, they would be here by now.
So either Malakai is too proud and cocky to consider that he might fail, or he is so dense he only sent the one ship. Either way, it works to our advantage.”
“How so?”
“He doesn’t realize the fate of the ship he sent here. So if we attack soon, he will be completely unprepared.”
I nibbled my lip and looked briefly to the balcony, eyes following the clouds in the early afternoon sky as I considered her words.
After a short moment, I responded, “Malakai is cocky, and I believe he doesn’t realize how powerful your empire is.
That is probably why he only sent one ship.
He’s also known to be paranoid, though. We have to act quickly if you want to take him off-guard, or he will suspect something is wrong.
I don’t think he doubted their ability to get information from me, so the clock is ticking on when he expects us back. ”
“You said we,” Myrin said, pride shining in her gaze.
I looked at my men and nodded sharply. “Yes, we. This is my home also. I don’t want Malakai to touch it.”
“Good,” Myrin sat forward slightly, pinning me with a suddenly serious gaze.
“Because I need your help. The type of insight you provided on his paranoid state and impatience is information that will help us plan for his reactions moving forward. Anticipating and planning for Malakai’s strikes gives us the upper hand. ”
I nodded in understanding. Myrin looked over at the older man, “Isaiah?”
The man carried over some blank papers and looked at me expectantly.
Myrin spoke then. “I need you, Kyella, to tell me everything you can about Malakai and the Thaician Empire.”
Gladly.