Nicole reached the queen’s suite quickly, hoping that what she would be dealing with wouldn’t be too bad. She knocked on the door expecting an answer, but none came. A servant she recognized readily opened the door with a grave expression.
Mira had been with the August family for years. She knew about Nicole’s relation to Daphne and more than most about the August family. If she looked so grave, Nicole knew it was worse than she could have expected.
“Mira?”
Mira let her inside and closed the door behind her. Daphne’s scent had changed, leaning a little closer to the scent of a true vampire than before. Given the timing of the change, she was suspicious. They knew of plenty of half-human vampires who had never had the thirst for blood. There were also some who, for one reason or another, had taken on the full change. Those few had a bit of an advantage over born vampires in that they tended not to be sensitive to su
It had been days since Arthur felt the shift in their bond, but the anxiety about not knowing had only worsened. The end of the two weeks was approaching. Was she okay? The woman who had returned had nothing of use to say. If his fears weren’t bad, Blade seemed to be barely holding his peace together. He wouldn’t say much more than his bond with Mamie felt different, but Arthur was keeping an eye on him. Being with his son had seemed to help, so he’d lessened Blade’s time on duty.If only Arthur could step out of his duties until Daphne returned, maybe he wouldn’t be fantasizing about murdering every alpha in the hall for simply breathing.“We’ve lost ten more werewolves,” one of them said with a sigh. “No notes of why or when either. We’re considering increasing the patrol to keep people in the villages.”“They’re probably just worried about the oncoming war,” Diana
Valon watched them carefully waiting for Arthur to say something more. It was obvious that the man was struggling to accept what he was saying, but he was also curious about what sort of werewolf was attached to their queen. From what Kayley told him and what he remembered of Rose, she was sweet and even-tempered and much like Rose in that regard. They never met the human Rose had eloped with, but everyone had a feeling that Lily knew her daughter had never planned to return if things had been different.Was Arthur anything like that human or like his father, Dean?Arthur's face twisted in a feral snarl before he howled, “I don't care about any of that! I just want Daphne back!”Valon smiled, “I was curious after seeing you two in the forest. But you love her. It's good."Of course, Arthur loved Daphne. She was his mate. They were destined to be together. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her. He regretted agreeing to let Daphne go to
Nicole shot her feet and rushed towards the door leading into Daphne's bedchamber as a wall of magic rushed out and pushed her back. She had expected Daphne to be powerful, but not this powerful. It seemed that she’d been right to think that John had tried to force a blood bond on her.The idiot. Had he any idea what he could have done for his petty ambitions?Half-vampires who ingested the blood of full vampires usually went through something like a turning, unlocking the potential of their vampire blood. Sometimes, they became daywalkers, vampires with all the strengths of a full vampire and capable of walking in full sunlight without weakening. The number of half-vampires who survived such a thing with all of their faculties, including their memories intact, were far and few in between.The pain of turning a half-vampire rivaled that of turning a werewolf. The few former half-vampires she’d met couldn’t remember their names for months after.
They left the corridor and headed to Nicole’s office. Kayley and Valon stood at attention near the door as Nicole grabbed a handful of throwing knives. She turned to the remains of the target. She would need a new one. Perhaps she should get a portrait of the duchess and John commissioned for the purpose.“I want to know who is training John’s militia and what he and the duchess have worked out,” Nicole threw a dagger and it landed just left of the shredded center of the target “I want to know who is on his side and what they offer him. Then, we start dismantling the entire operation. I plan to murder him myself.”“And the duchess?”“Either of you is welcome to sever her head from her shoulders,” Nicole threw another knife. “We have a bit of time before she will be able to make a formal appearance, but not much. Get going and be discreet.”“As always, general.”
Nicole closed the door behind them with a soft click. Relief blossomed in her heart. The blood bond had failed. They may have some connection, but it was weak and likely destroyed by Daphne’s show of aggression.At least, that was one less thing she had to worry about.“You need more rest,” Nicole said, as Daphne turned pale and stumbled. She guided Daphne down the hallway towards the queen’s wings with quiet steps.Daphne’s eyes darted around the halls, chasing every stray sound and echo like a newly turned vampire. She was quite impressed that Daphne was accessing her powers so quickly. There was a chance she could be trained to wield her magic with precision soon, but Nicole would have to wait until she was feeling better to test that theory.“I’m sorry,” Daphne whispered like a secret. “I… shouldn’t have reacted so harshly.”Nicole shook her head. She certainly had not los
Arthur and Blade led the group of alphas through the forest. Many of them weren't happy about it, but Arthur didn't care. Murmurs about going to their deaths rippled through the ranks behind him, but they were alphas under his command and as long as they wanted him on the throne, they had to obey him.He’d be happy to let them live out the rest of their days squabbling with each other as soon as he had Daphne back. It was taking everything in him to restrain the deep well of fury and madness that was boiling inside him. He was doing only slightly better than Blade who was a nervous, short-tempered wreck when he wasn't with his son.They reached the edge of the werewolf lands and look up at the canyon’s walls. The mists hadn’t appeared again and Arthur was starting to suspect that the mists had always been an illusion of some sort. What other powers did vampires have? Could Daphne do any of that? He looked up to the clear blue sky and sighed. It was cl
The path from the canyon back to the duchess’ manor was long, but it wasn’t exposed to the open air. It had taken a bit to shake the two who had followed him, but once they were gone, he ducked into the hidden passageway and ran as fast as he could through the dark and winding tunnels. He arrived at the wine cellar door and pushed it open to climb through it.“What happened?” The guard standing near the opening asked. “Where are the others?”“Captured by General Steward’s forces. Where is the duchess?”“In her parlor,” the guard said. He led him through the wine cellar and up the stairs onto the ground floor. He passed long tapestries and all the trappings of the duchess’ wealth and power. From down the hallway, he heard someone screaming in agony. They were getting closer to the screaming.When the guard opened the door, the screaming echoed down the hallway.He swallowed. The
Daphne watched John enter and refrained from wincing at the spike of pain that went through her mind. She tried to ignore it, but it only grew the longer she looked at him. John smiled at her. Part of her thought he was almost handsome, but there was a glint of duplicity in his eyes that corrupted his features, turning them just short of nauseating. The pain he caused her made her look away from him before looking at the duchess. The woman was beautiful and regal sitting in her seat with all the air of class and aristocracy, but her eyes were cold despite her warm greetings. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as if she was incapable of feeling anything.Daphne took a shallow breath. Her nose tingled with the scent of blood barely hanging in the air. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, which made sense since they were all vampires, but there was something different about the scent of blood barely drifting through the room.She didn’t know where it was