Chapter 0004

Emory

“Take her away.”

The Vampire King’s declaration echoes off of the walls of the throne room as he turns around to walk away. The two men who had been flanking him for the entire length of the meeting move forward, toward me.

“Does this mean we have a deal?” my father calls after King Kane, and obviously, my father has decided in the span of a few moments that he is no longer concerned about the fact that he said he didn’t want to let me take my little sister’s place. Apparently, if it means the debt is paid, he’s willing to give up any of his children.

Well, the female ones anyway.

The Vampire King turns around and looks at my father for a few seconds before he simply says, “Fuck off, Bernard,” and then turns around to go.

I believe that probably does mean that the debt is forgiven and the king is too busy presently to take care of filing whatever paperwork needs to be handled in order to make sure that is the case, but I don’t know.

And at the moment, I have more important matters to attend to.

“No! No! Not my Emory!” Lola is screeching, digging her nails into me, trying to hang on to me as I do my best to separate from her just a little bit. The two male vampires are hovering just in front of us, giving us a moment, but I can tell neither one of them wants to put up with what they probably see as a display of bullshit.

“Lola! Lola!” I say, prying her hands away from me but keeping hold of her fingers so she can’t latch on to me again. I drop to one knee and look into her eyes. “Lola, baby, it’s okay,” I tell her, forgetting my own fears and sorrows at the moment. “It’ll be all right.”

She is crying so hard that her tears are mingling with the snot streaming out of her nose, and the normally poised young woman who cares so much about her appearance, who is always asking to go shopping or get her hair and nails done, looks like the child she truly is. I want to squeeze her tight and never let her go, but I have to convince her that she will be all right.

I have to try to tell her that she can trust these people, go home with them, the father that tried to sell her and the stepmother who has always hated her. The brother who is so focused on the fact that he is set to be the next Alpha that he appears oblivious to the chaos around him. I have to look this person that I love more than all others in the face and tell her she will be fine, even though I have no way of knowing for sure that she will be.

“Go home, sweet child.” I let go of one hand enough to smooth her hair back. “I’ll talk to you soon.” I don’t know if that is the truth because I have no idea what the rules are for feeders calling home, but if everything I’ve heard is true, I will never see anyone I’ve ever met before today again for the rest of my life, which could consist of years of agony or a few minutes of torture before I am completely drained and lying dead somewhere in the castle.

“No,” she says again, but this time all of the fight is out of her.

From behind me, I hear Darius’s mother, Margaret, say, “I will see to her, Emory.” Her hand comes down on my shoulder, and I can hear in the kind woman’s voice that she is also crying. “Don’t worry about Lola. I will look after her.”

I look up now, unable to keep my tears back any longer, and I know that I might not be able to count on my own family or even Darius, the man I imagined I’d be mated to and spend the rest of my life with, but I can count on Margaret. Darius is behind her, looking away from me, and it’s not a face that lets me know he’s just sad that I am not going to be his mate. He is indifferent.

I give her a smile of gratitude through the tears that are beginning to slide down my cheeks and then turn back to Lola. “See?” I ask her. “Everything is going to be okay. You know that Margaret will keep you safe and happy.”

“But… I… w-want… you,” she manages to get out on the verge of hyperventilating.

One of the men behind her, the towering brute of a vampire with messy curls clears his throat. He is trying to politely tell me that I am preventing him from following King Kane’s order, and he doesn’t appreciate it.

“I’ll see you soon,” I promise her. It is an empty promise, and we both know it.

“But… how?” she squeaks out.

I force a smile to my lips. “One way or another.”

The other man, the older looking one, reaches for my arm. He is not as patient as the younger looking one.

“One moment.” I use my authoritative voice with him. He doesn’t withdraw his hand, but he doesn’t keep reaching either.

Leaning forward, I kiss Lola’s cheek, and squeeze her tight. “I love you so much,” I tell her. “More than anything in the whole world. I will see you again. One way or another.” I don’t mention that it might not be until we are reunited by the Moon Goddess on the other side.

“I love you, too, sister,” she says, and I can tell that she’s resigned herself to the fact that she cannot save me. She cannot interject herself into the situation and be the one who is taken instead of me as I have, and she cannot beg to come along with me.

As tempting as it is for me to throw myself at the mercy of the Vampire King and beg him to let her stay with me, I would never subject my Lola to the life of a feeder, a life spent living or dying among our enemies. No, I love her too much for that. Even if it means I never lay eyes on her sweet face again, I do believe she is better off with the pack. Perhaps my parents have failed her miserably, but my pack will care for her. I have to believe that.

As the younger vampire gently guides Lola away from me and to Margaret’s open arms, I stand and take a deep breath. The older vampire is glaring at me already, and we haven’t even left the throne room.

I turn to my parents. My mother has her face covered as she cries silent tears. I can imagine she didn’t mean for this to happen. She obviously wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to see Lola go, but me? She actually cares about me—or so I’ve always thought.

My father’s eyes are locked on my face, and though he hasn’t shed a tear because he is in the home of his enemy, I can see that he is on the verge of losing control of his emotions.

“Emory,” he says, shaking his head slowly. “I never—”

I cut him off. “I will never forgive you for this, Father. Never.” I look him straight in the eyes and watch his face crumble. “You are not the man I always thought you were.” The older vampire’s hands clamp onto my arms. Long, yellowing nails, wrinkled fingers, I am disgusted by his cold touch, but I don’t pull away.

Instead, I continue to address my father. “One day, you will realize how despicable you truly are, to have waged war and lied about it, to have betrayed your pack by spending money you did not have to acquire territory you did not need, and then sacrificing your own children to attempt to make amends. May the Moon Goddess scorn you, and may your enemies receive the justice they deserve.”

That is all I have to say, so when the vampires begin to take me away, I walk with them, not needing to be dragged.

I hear my father barking my name, not out of concern anymore but out of anger. Lola is crying again, screaming for me, and I hear a thunk on the floor that tells me what has happened before I glance over my shoulder to see my mother lying in a heap. My brother runs to her while my father continues to swear at me. Margaret has Lola buried in her skirts.

I look at Darius, and the expression on his face is unreadable. I can’t tell if he’s complacent, irate, or… shocked.

We reach the dais and I nearly stumble over the bottom step because I’m not looking where I’m going. The vampire’s claws sink into my arm, and I smell a spirt of my own blood as it trickles down my arm. I look up at him, wondering if the scent will entice him to begin feeding on me right away, but he only shouts. “Watch where you’re fucking going!” and hauls me up the rest of the stairs.

“Hey, Clark,” the other vampire says coming up on my right and getting in front of us. “Be nice. She’s had a rough day.”

Clark, the old guy, says nothing, only growls at me, and leads me through the curtain that the other one, the one who actually looks like he might be mean but clearly isn’t, is holding open for us.

Beyond the curtain is a door, and when it is opened for me, I fully expect to see an empty hallway or several guards.

What I don’t expect to see is familiar blue eyes staring at me.

The Vampire King has waited on the other side of the door? For me?

But it isn’t me he is addressing. His eyes leave my face without a word as he says to the younger vampire, “Rainer, I’ve got to go out to the garden.” He sighs loudly and drags a hand down his chin. “Will you accompany me please?”

Rainer—the younger vampire—laughs that rich chuckle again before he says, “Sure. I love a show.”

I have no idea what they are talking about, but it doesn’t concern me.

King Kane mutters, “I did not need all of this fucking drama today,” and shakes his head. Then, turning to Clark, who is still gripping me tightly, he says, “She volunteered. You can probably loosen your grip. You cut her arm. Be more careful.”

The man only grumbles a bit, and I think I might’ve heard an apology to his king, not me, in there.

King Kane tells him. “Find our guest a… room. Then, go check on the situation with the unhappy maids.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Clark says and I can hear he’s not happy with one or both of those assignments.

King Kane’s eyes land on me one more time before he turns to walk away. Right before his head swivels around, he makes the quiet remark, “You’re very brave.”

I have no time to respond to that, even if I knew what to say. He is gone, down the hallway in a blur, Rainer with him, leaving me alone with Clark.

“All right, missy,” he growls. “You’re coming with me. And if you don’t want me to drag you, you’d best keep up. I’ve got lots of fucking things to do today.”

He gives me a little shove to get my feet going, and I momentarily wonder what would happen if I tried to take off back the way I’ve come, to throw open the door, make my way through the curtain, and out through the throne room, back down the hall filled with bloody paintings.

I’d never make it. I know that. And even if I did, where would I go? Not to be with my parents, that’s for certain.

So… once again, I resolve myself to my fate and following along behind him as he quickly navigates the hallways, taking more twists and turns than I am able to keep track of.

Eventually, we stop at a door that is guarded by two male vampires, their eyes staring dead ahead like the ones that guarded the throne room.

Clark produces a key and opens the door, a waft of mold, mildew, blood, and urine hitting me fully in the face as it swings ajar.

In front of me is a staircase leading down, and I know where we are going now. To the cells, the dungeon, the place where the feeders are kept, and most likely….

The place where I was going to die.