CHAPTER 16
KADE
Two Hundred Years Ago — Goreon Kingdom
ISECURE GRACE’S second bracer, pulling the strings taught over her slender forearm. “What can I do to convince you to stay behind?”
She smiles up at me, cheeks still aglow from her arousal. “You married a woman who will sacrifice and defend until her last breath. Get the fuck over it, Kade.”
“Those are fighting words, woman.”
“Yeah, well, we’re going to have plenty of that, aren’t we?”
I grunt. “I guess we are.”
“Aye,” she says as Riot barrels through the basement door.
“What the hell is taking so long down here?” he demands, eyeing our state of dress.
“Just taking our Captain for the ride of his life before we go play with swords and rescue Sam’s ass,” Grace says, grinning up at me.
Riot’s mouth falls open behind her. He turns on his heel in a huff. “You have no boundaries, Grace,” he mutters, disappearing back up the stairwell.
I smirk at my wife as we clothe. “You do that on purpose.”
“He’s so easily riled by it.”
I laugh, securing twin swords at my back, and Grace hands my cream-hilted blade to me before sheathing her own at her thigh. We collect the rest of our weapons and climb the stairs to join the Central outfit in the living room.
Rhett looks like his skin is itching he’s so ready, standing closest to the door; Master Hull stands beside him.
“Let’s move out,” I say and lead my men toward the underground.
The closest access is two streets over, and the Hunters of Central descend quickly, disappearing out of sight.
Goreon is still shrouded in winter’s hell, and it’s especially unforgiving in the dark, damp tunnels. My breath billows as we march the mile underneath Southend to the meeting location beneath Lou’s tavern.
I’ve planned it so our timing should be perfect, entering the castle as the sun goes down, when vampires on serum will be defenseless in their catatonic, drugged state.
It’ll be a slaughter.
And then we take on the dreamwalkers, doing what we do best, what the gods designed us to do.
A vampire in a dreamwalk—physical body turned feral while their mind suffers through a rapture—is a decent opponent.
And if the king has assembled an army with talent, we’re in for a battle.
Yet the opportunity to assassinate the half of our enemy who chose the serum, numbing their pain and human memories, is something we got lucky with tonight.
Sam doesn’t have much longer. And even if he did, I can’t stand by while he suffers. He belongs to us, he’s a Hunter, and we don’t leave Hunters behind.
I turn the last corner, edging around earth and rock, and we spill into the circular underground room that connects tunnels throughout the city.
A hundred years ago, the sublevel system was utilized by vampires during the day, but they haven’t been down here since all who entered began to disappear, never to return.
That was phase one of the Hunter attack against the Goreon king—eliminate daylight movement.
We filter into the chamber and wait.
Within ten minutes, the thud of boots and clank of weapons sound in the distance. Hunters emerge from the various spokes; Ned and Brachett stalk toward us, their men trailing them. Longton with the Northern outfit is not far behind.
Our magic pulses together, a throbbing heart beating for a single purpose.
“Welcome, Hunters,” I say as males fill the room, Grace and Master Hull on either side of me.
“These tunnels formerly connected to the castle, but our enemy filled the access with stone decades ago. You’ll enter the castle via the bridge at the narrow part of the bay on my signal.
We’ll swarm up through the dungeons.” I gaze upon my legion, their fierce faces and exposed skin covered in black and blue war paint.
“The goal is straightforward. We take the castle. We rescue Sam. No vampire left alive. We start anew.”
Grace breathes deeply beside me, her smile stretching, and paint creases around her eyes.
“Protect each other; know that chaos and death will work to cloud your focus and judgment.” I look into the eyes of the men around me. “Remember who you are. Remember who you fight for. Remember that this is the dawn of the era of the Hunter—”
Cheers ring out.
“No one in that castle is innocent of the atrocities in our kingdom.”
My magic boils in agreement.
“Let’s go kill some fucking vampires!” I scream, and the responding roar is a war cry that threatens to rattle tears from my eyes.
We march toward the castle together until we reach my exit.
I swipe a thumb along Grace’s jaw. “I’ll see you on the bridge.”
“See you there,” she says, and I bound up the stone stairs to the surface while Riot and Grace guide the legion underground to the nearest exit by the castle.
I emerge onto the streets of Goreon City; the early evening traffic of workers scurrying home before dark is busy and clogged.
My armor and weapons draw curious attention as I pick up the pace to the edge of the city.
Finally, I leave the last of the cobbled streets and jog around the north side of the bay, pausing to peer through my telescope.
No human guards.
It’s Hunters versus vampires. Just as it should be.
I creep along the border of the stronghold to the sewer entrance, the sun beginning to set behind the mountains.
Riot has my swords, bow, and garrote, but I made sure to keep a few stakes across my chest and daggers at my hips.
My heart beats steadily as I keep adrenaline at bay and approach the access point, ensuring the ring of keys is secure on my belt.
The last whisper of pink fades under sparking stars, and the moon crests the ridge.
Please, gods, help me end this. Let me get Sam out of this hell.
I freeze my breath and plunge.
Through the sludge, I swim toward our future.
The underwater gate is still broken open, just as I left it earlier, and I pull myself through. My fingertips find the edge of the stone platform, and I surface enough to wipe the shit from my eyes before hauling myself up.
I race along the stone hallway to the wooden door.
It’s been hung back in place.
Not surprising.
I yank the pins from the hinges and let myself through again. There are no guards; they only work during the day, and they definitely don’t work on the full moon.
Retracing the path the guard led me down earlier, I pass cell after cell. And then my eyes grow wide as my magic tracks movement and bodies in the darkness. My vision sharpens, and my insides curdle as I take in the sight before me.
The cells are stuffed with humans—a feast for after the full moon packed into cages for safekeeping.
Most are alive, some drained, as though the guards who stashed them in here couldn’t control their bloodlust. The sound of the humans’ pleas boils my anger, and I retrace my steps to the first brimming cage, my magic whirring and muscles transforming.
My magic will remain in the bars of these cages if I use it, but the lives I’m saving make the risk worth it.
We don’t typically leave traces of ourselves outside of Mortifer—we never want the use of our magic to fall into enemy hands—but this warrants an exception because I don’t have time to fiddle with keys and unlock every cell.
So I make my choice.
Gripping the bar of the first cell, I fire my magic down the entire row, and lock after lock flies through the air, clattering against stone.
In seconds, I free hundreds.
My eyes meet a starved man on the other side of the bars, and I swing the cage open. “Follow me,” I tell him and move briskly down the corridor.
I jog down the hallway toward the dungeon door, bare feet pattering behind. Thankful whispers and whimpers echo in the stone hallway, and a teenage girl races ahead of me.
We reach the massive iron door, and I unclip the ring of keys.
Please, gods.
The girl looks at me, eyeing the keys and then the holes.
“Which one fits?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say, trying the first one and failing.
She bats my hand away and peers into the first keyhole. “Three teeth.”
I stare at her, stunned. Shaking myself to attention, I assess the keychain. Five options with three teeth.
“How did you know to check for that?” I ask her as I try the first one.
It doesn’t turn.
“Father was a locksmith,” she sniffles.
“Was?”
“He’s dead in the cell.”
Fuck.
“Mother?”
“Turned.”
I try the next key. Nothing.
“What’s your name?” I ask her while I choose the next key.
“Rosy.”
“Go to Southend, Rosy. There’s a tavern near the old church. Do you know where I’m talking about?
She nods at me as I try the third key. Nothing.
“Tell them Kade sent you. They’ll look after you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I insert the fourth key, and the lock clicks and turns.
Rosy smiles up at me, and I grin back, quickly unlocking the last two bolts and hauling the heavy iron door open.
I lead a sea of humans across the bridge, the bay glistening around us under the bright moon. And echoing off the water, the telltale sign of such a night—screaming rings in our ears.
Dreamwalking has begun.
At the edge of the tree line beyond, Hunters emerge into the moonlight, hundreds prepared for war.
Riot’s and Grace’s expressions grow wide and angry as they take in the innocents behind me. Grace steps forward, ushering people past her into the cover of the trees beyond.
Rhett sidles up next to Riot, expression on fire.
“What the fuck,” Riot growls.
“Cages were full this time,” I tell them.
“Aye,” he spits.
Rage from the entire legion races in my veins, and I won’t complain about the natural fuel feeding my warriors in the moments before battle.
I wade into the edge of the bay, dunking myself underneath and erupting from the icy water, shit-free and heart on fire.
After shaking myself out on the bank, Riot offloads my weapons one at a time to me, and I strap my swords across my back, garrote at my waist, bolt belt over my chest, and crossbow in my grip.
“There’s hundreds of them,” Rhett says, gazing back at the edge of the woods as Hunters offer clothing from their backs to the rescued humans.
Tonight’s attack on this castle is already worth it. So many lives have been saved, and without Sam’s capture, they’d all have been dead in the morning.
Grace’s brow pinches. “We would’ve noticed that many disappearances from Southend and Goreon City today.”
Rhett looks at his Heir. “Or they brought them in from throughout Goreon.”
Riot nods. “That’s more likely.”
“Aye,” Grace agrees. She drags her gaze from the humans to peer up at me, her small frame over a foot below Riot beside her. “I love you, Kade,” she whispers, and I pull her into me, kissing her deeply.
“I love you more, my darling,” I promise and release her.
She smiles, the moonlight bright across her face. “Swords at our backs.”
I cup her jaw, my wet, frozen skin warming against her. “Hearts at our fronts.”
Turning away from the legion, I face the bridge with magic flooding me in a gold river. I raise an arm and march forward, leading Hunters across the passage to our future.