The first thing she had to do was make a rope long enough to get down to the parapet. There was a thin ledge she could walk across to the parapet with enough concentration and calm. She didn’t think about the fear of falling as she pulled the sheets off the bed and began to tear and tie them together. She twisted and braided the pieces to make a rope and tied it to the bedpost before pushing the bed closer to the window. She grabbed the charm bracelet and slid it onto her wrist with a little calming breath. She dropped the rope out of the window and eyed how far down it would take her. It was just barely long enough to get her to the ledge just below the window. She searched for something to help her hold on to the side of the castle. She still had her dagger, but she needed something else. She searched the room, searching for something thin enough to use in lieu of another dagger, and found a metal letter opener. She winced, thinking how flimsy it was, and kept searching. The fire
It had been nearly two days since the attack on the city and Adolph had gone to recover Laurel. Raven had been pacing the office she’d been given with nervous and fretful strides. Her brother was strong, valiant, and brave, but everyone had their limits. She knew that Laurel’s near-death had nearly sent him over the edge. She couldn’t imagine what their abrupt separation was doing to him. She clasped her hands and sent up another prayer for Laurel’s safety and their timely reunion and return. She was certain that the entire temple was sending up the same prayer. The door opened and Henry entered with a grave expression. “What is it?”“Come with me and I’ll explain,” Henry sighed. “This is a *fucking mess*.”Raven didn’t know what was worse, the fact that he described it as a mess or that he cursed while doing it. Henry never cursed. They arrived in the meeting hall and her gaze lingered on the throne for a moment. She sat quietly beside Henry, trying to calm her racing fear that s
As they walked down the path, the scent of a werewolf grew stronger. Sitting on an outcropping of rock was a werewolf, seemingly biding his time. His hood was drawn over his head, obscuring his face in shadows, but he held himself like a warrior. Adolph glanced over him, finding him strangely uncanny in the way he carried his weapons. He was armed as if he had stepped out of his first trip over the vampire border. Adolph knew, somehow, that the man was aware of them before they’d come into sight. He turned just enough to reveal his uncovered eye and the eyepatch over his other eye before he dropped to the ground. The patch on his shoulder bearing the symbol of a gray ash tree made him tense.“I’m told… you have a grudge against my son.”The man looked at him briefly before turning and leading him further down the path. Adolph darted ahead, cutting him off to look down at him. “You have nothing to say?”His eyes were dark as he opened his mouth and Adolph’s stomach plummeted with ho
Adolph forced and fought his way through the seemingly never-ending waves of hostile vampires and was pleased to find that Eden’s forces were nearby, handling the burning of corpses with sharp sparks of flame in conjunction with the large basins dotted throughout the castle. It felt as though he’d waded through several thousand vampires before he felt a pulse of something shudder through the stone. The walls shook again like a heartbeat as he approached a pair of tall carved doors. He pushed it open and gasped seeing a man’s form gripping a woman by her hair. His face was buried in her neck as she gasped. Her eyes were dazed. Her gray eyes trembled as she dug her sharp talons into the man’s back. “Your… father…” she gasped as her skin turned dark and she began to disappear in a whirl of light and ash. The man drew back with a deep, heaving gasp. The walls pulsed around them. The flaming torches flickered and the flame turned a brilliant blue. The wind rushed through the halls as the
Adolph turned into the blast of light with his shield and dug in his heels, trying to resist the pressure behind the blast. When it let up, he darted forward toward Eden, slamming the shield into his chest and knocking him from his horse. He hissed and turned, slamming his fist into Adolph’s shield before darting around to try and punch him in the gut. Adolph dodged with a quick twist of his body before slamming his shield into Eden’s shoulder. Eden tumbled back with a hiss and cast a bolt of light that disintegrated his shield. Eden charged forward too fast for his sword to be of use, so Adolph dropped the blade and caught his arm, flipping him over his shoulder. Eden was fast and stronger than any vampire Adolph had ever faced. His use of magic was troublesome, but Adolph had years of practical combat experience. Eden had some training, but it had not been honed on a battlefield. It was an advantage Adolph would use to the fullest.Eden lunged forward, his eyes glowing golden and
Mid-morning came quickly with sounds of death and mourning. Adolph’s men gathered the bodies of the fallen to be burned and packaged their personal effects to return to their families. The death toll for the werewolf kingdom wasn’t as large as it had been. The vampires who had not been slain surrendered easily, staring at Eden’s dead body as it was hauled onto the pyre. Adolph had never seen a corpse like Eden’s. He looked regal and just sleeping though he was not breathing. If he had a pulse, it was imperceptible, yet something was unnerving about the sight of Eden. He may have died a half-breed vampire, but he had drunk from the vampire queen, his mother. Much like the Raymond family had a tie to the moon goddess, he considered the idea that perhaps the vampire’s royal family also had a connection to the moon goddess that would account for any surprise powers they had. Adolph watched them stack brambles and sticks around the pyre before pouring oil over the pile. He would feel bet
After the troops from the capital rested a bit, they loaded up the prisoners into carriages and headed back. Laurel sat on Adolph’s horse with him, leaning against him as Adolph refused to be separated from her. Chasel gave him an amused and grateful smile, but Adolph could only grin back, pressing stray kisses to Laurel’s head. The ride back to the castle was longer than any of them had realized after the battle and the initial ride up to the border. Laurel was dozing against his chest as they traveled through the forests between the border and the imperial city. The city did not receive them as they made it nearer to dawn than Adolph had hoped. They rode through the night until the sight of the castle rose out of the distance. The guards of the gates greeted him cheerily, gratefully, and they opened the gates for them. The servants came to help put away the horses and the supplies. Adolph dismounted carefully and brought Laurel into his arms and carried her through the palace. Wit
Adolph was sure that his head would be ringing for at least a few days after the celebration ended. He’d sent the fastest riders out to every pack to announce the official fall of the vampire queen. As far as he knew, the entire country had broken out in celebration. The men who had fallen in the last battle were lauded as national heroes in their packs and Adolph’s heart. He would add them to the list of people to be given title and status posthumously. While the entire nation celebrated, he still wasn’t sure what to do with the vampire territory. The news from the border said that there had been no suspicious activity and no signs of the castle, meaning that both Annwn and the vampire queen’s castle maintained their protections despite the death of Morrigan and Eden. He didn’t know what that meant, but until they found a way around it, they would need to be cautious. He wrote out an order to advance the order a few miles towards cliffs overlooking the sea every week. He would be