CHAPTER 23
VEYA
Present Day
NERIAN’S WORDS shatter me.
Staring at the necklace of teeth draped around the king’s neck, my rage becomes feral as I notice the canine, the one in the center. The chipped one.
A monster I can’t control screams within me staring at Kade’s tooth. A wife desperate for revenge cries with deep sorrow.
Tears prick my eyes.
And I cling to Kade’s dying words, the words that got me through decades of grief when I wanted to shrivel into nothing and join him in the afterlife of the gods. But his sacrifice was one I would never waste.
I am bold. And I am brave.
Nerian tilts his head, assessing me. “I wanted to ask you, Veya. How was your dreamwalk?”
I hesitate at the random question, trying to leash my rage for Aurelia’s sake. “I’ve had better.”
Nerian sighs. “Me too. But I awoke into another nightmare.” His casual tone sets me on edge. “Imagine my surprise when my human guards found two girls racing on horseback to the south in the early hours of dawn. And upon inspection,” he tsks, “the damning letter they carried. Well—”
My insides spin as he clicks his tongue and slips a piece of parchment from his pocket. Nerian unfolds it slowly, the crinkle of paper grating along my skin as he turns the letter.
“What confounds me,” the king snarls, “is that a queen would risk our alliance, my respect, and her own safety. For what?”
I feel my fear in my bones and force myself to remain neutral.
He spits. “Two human girls.” He drags a wine bottle from the table beside him and swigs from it before hurling it at the wall. Glass explodes into the room, slicing exposed skin, and tiny cuts shred my face.
Blood trickles down my cheeks and chin, and I pretend the trails of blood are the tears I can’t shed as Nerian continues.
“I couldn’t figure out what could possibly be so important about these women.
Perhaps your heart is so weak that you would willingly risk your life to send two lives to your kingdom.
But then I thought, maybe you knew one of them?
” Nerian glares at me. “But you don’t have ties to Goreon, especially not human ones.
” His lips quirk. “But one of you does.”
Del snaps into the lair beside me, and Nerian’s face lights up with his evil grin. “Ah! Just in time, Deleos!”
Del’s eyes dart to mine. He has no idea about Aurelia. And my heart cries.
Del’s focus shifts to the king. “What’s going on?” he demands in a hoarse whisper, eyes pinned to the parchment.
“Queen Veya didn’t follow my orders,” Nerian says as the letter floats to the ground amongst the glass and dead girls.
“Surely we can allow the slip in judgment, my king,” Del says, eyes on Nerian, his knuckles turning white around the hilt of his sword.
“Surely, we cannot, Deleos,” Nerian barks at him, and Del’s chin jerks back.
The king points at Del, finger shaking with rage.
“I thought about my precious Violet and those eyes that always captured me. And I remembered the day I brought her here to surprise us. You looked disgusted by her.” Nerian’s eyes flick to the crate in the corner.
“Which I found odd because your eyes were so similar. I hoped you would find her beautiful, just like yourself, Deleos.” He cackles, a sound that bounces off the walls and rains shards of panic, shredding me from within.
His demeanor flips, the king’s face darkening with cruel intention. “It’s not just violet eyes that you share, is it, Deleos?!” he screams.
“A coincidence, I assure you,” Del says blandly.
“Of course. We can make this quick and move on then,” Nerian says. “We have kingdoms to discuss, and a war to wage.”
My chest squeezes so painfully I’m afraid my ribs might crack. Sending the girls to the Night Kingdom was my idea. There was risk in any choice we made, but my guilt will be unbearable if we lose Aurelia.
If we haven’t already.
Nerian snaps to the crate in the corner so quickly I don’t see him move. He rips off the lid, throwing it at the stone ceiling, and splinters fly as we turn away to shield ourselves.
My nerves slide along my skin at Nerian’s strength and speed. We weren’t able to compete with it two hundred years ago, and I’m not so certain our odds have improved.
At all.
Spinning back, we watch Nerian yank Aurelia from the box, her panicked eyes and bruised face staring back at us.
She’s alive, and I take a breath.
The king drags her by the arm, his cruel strength digging into her skin as he wrenches her to his side.
Her chest puffs rapidly with her fear, but she locks onto my gaze instead of Del’s.
Good girl.
“King Nerian, I’m sorry for my bold choice,” I begin, taking a step toward them. “This girl was intended for me to enjoy later.”
Nerian narrows his eyes at me. “Nice try.”
Aurelia spins her focus up at Nerian. “Please, my king, I never wanted to go to the Night Kingdom. I wanted to be a vampire like the others.”
Gods, this girl can talk her way through anything, just like Del.
“It’s true, Nerian. This was my selfish choice,” I add. “The girl from the dining room our first night whet an appetite I didn’t know I had.”
Nerian sneers at me, and then his eyes flick to Del, who is mastering a bored gaze. “Well, then, let’s enjoy the meal you were so keen to have together,” the king growls, and his fangs sink into Aurelia’s wrist.
She cries out, and human life drains before my eyes.
My past haunts me as I stare at Nerian with his fangs in human flesh, Del and Aurelia at his mercy. My throat has been under those fangs. But I got to live—I got to walk away because Kade sacrificed himself for me, because we had something the king wanted more than my death.
A Hunter Captain’s life.
Del is tense beside me, frozen and maintaining control.
The Goreon King’s eyes grow wide as he drinks, then rips himself from Aurelia. “She tastes as beautiful as I thought she would. My Violet.”
I hum at him. “She’ll make a lovely vampire,” I admire, nausea swirling as I try to hold the line between this negotiation and my revenge.
I don’t know how we can get to her without Nerian snapping her neck. Second shifts beside me, just as eager and powerless.
Nerian laughs around his tongue flicking outward, licking blood from Aurelia’s arm. “No, she won’t. We aren’t wasting a drop of this. Would you like a taste before I drain her?”
Aurelia cries at the king’s damning words and tries to reach for Del.
The king chuckles. “As I suspected: not a coincidence,” he sneers, and sinks his fangs back into Aurelia, red eyes gleaming. She whimpers, fierce plum eyes fighting for strength as the king brutally feeds on her life force.
Del screams, a guttural rage that slices my heart open and sets my insides on fire, and he loses it, snapping across the lair to them.
The king doesn’t even flinch; his palm juts out, connecting with Del’s chest. His body crunches under the impact and flies across the room, landing with a thud against the wall.
“You defeated my noblemen, Deleos. But there is nothing you can do to me.”
Del’s blood-red gaze centers on Nerian as he rights himself. “I disagree,” he snarls.
Nerian snorts. “You disagree constantly. It’s nothing new.”
Del draws his daggers from his hips. “Release her, or die.”
“Ah! A heroic fight to the death. It’s so you, Deleos.” The king’s eyes become crazed. “I love it.” Nerian flings a half-conscious Aurelia at the wall. “I’ll finish her later. A little victory drink.”
Second snaps to Aurelia, but Nerian is already there before we see him move, grabbing Second by the throat and throwing him into Del as he snaps into existence beside them.
“No one touches my Violet!” Nerian screams as she crawls away from him, and the males stumble backward.
I palm my blades.
Nerian won’t let us walk out of here. I just pray Charlotte and Emmanuel get out if we don’t.
The thought of my people fuels me. Just like they always have. I am a Hunter, and I always will be. No matter what this king made me become. I’ll never give up on my promises, and I’ll always be willing to die protecting human life.
I can hear Kade’s voice in my head, like he’s right here with me.
Be bold. Be brave.
The three of us attack, blades swiping as Nerian snaps around us in a blur, his laughter enveloping us and ratcheting my anger as my target keeps moving.
Second nicks Nerian with his blade, and the king slaps him across the face.
Second’s cheek splits open, bone exposed. “Fuck you,” he snarls, his massive form shaking with fury.
“Rude,” Nerian spits as Del and I lunge for him.
The king sighs, flitting out of our reach. “Why don’t you take a break while I play with your new friends?” Nerian drawls and flashes past me, wrapping his hand around Del’s neck and snapping it between his fingers before flinging Goreon’s second into the corner.
I stare dumbfounded at Del’s unconscious form, our odds of success plummeting.
Nerian rushes me in a blur, the strength of his ancient force blowing me back against the wall, and it crumbles around me as my spine breaks over the stone.
“Veya!” Second bellows, snapping to Nerian, but the king slams Second’s enormous body into the ground with a force that rattles the room.
Second tries to get up, groaning, but Nerian stomps on his leg. The snap of his bone echoes alongside his screams.
Del is motionless in the corner, and Aurelia is shaking him.
Wake up, Del. We need your help.
Nerian hovers over Second, producing a stake from his coat pocket, but I can’t fucking move.
“No!” I scream, tears running. My breath heaves out of my chest, my boot skidding forward as I attempt to right myself with a broken spine supported by the curse of eternal life. The pain is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced as I cough blood, and I’m held in the balance between life and death.
I curse my immobility, my heart crying. I can’t lose another person in my life. And Second doesn’t deserve this end.