CHAPTER 19 — Return the Queen
1149 Words
No one spoke.
The scout stood trembling in the doorway, blood on his shirt, fear in his eyes.
The message seemed to linger in the air long after he said it.
Return the Queen… or I collect the pack instead.
My stomach turned.
Queen.
Again.
I was getting deeply tired of titles no one explained.
Kael recovered first.
“Who found Rowan?”
“Border patrol,” the scout said quickly. “Three others wounded. Two missing.”
Damon’s jaw flexed.
“Missing means dead.”
“Not always,” I said quietly.
Both brothers looked at me.
I regretted speaking immediately.
Kael turned to the scout.
“Seal the lower passes. Double guards at every route.”
“The council is already gathering,” the scout added nervously.
Of course they were.
Nothing brings people together like panic and poor judgment.
Kael’s gaze hardened.
“Then they can gather in silence until I return.”
The scout swallowed and fled.
Wise choice.
The room remained still.
Then Damon rounded on me.
“This is because of him.”
I blinked.
“Because of… me?”
“The vampire wants you.”
“That still sounds like a him problem.”
Damon dragged a hand through his hair.
“He’s killing our people.”
“My people too,” I snapped.
The words surprised all of us.
Especially me.
Because despite everything
The pack still felt like mine.
Even when they wanted me gone.
Kael stepped between us before Damon could answer.
“Enough.”
His voice was quiet.
Which was worse.
“We solve the threat first.”
Damon laughed bitterly.
“You mean you solve it and order everyone else aside?”
Kael’s eyes sharpened.
“If that offends you, mature faster.”
I nearly smiled.
Damon nearly attacked him.
Classic.
“I’ll go,” I said.
Silence.
Three heads turned toward me.
“I’ll go to the border.”
“No,” Kael said instantly.
“No,” Damon said at the same time.
Mira, from the fire:
“Possibly.”
We all stared at her.
She shrugged.
“I enjoy unpredictability.”
“I’m serious,” I said. “He wants me. Then use me.”
Kael’s expression became carved stone.
“I am not baiting you.”
“I’m not asking permission.”
“You’re not in a position to refuse.”
The words hit like flint.
My temper surged.
Silver flashed at my fingertips.
Kael noticed first.
Then everyone did.
He exhaled once.
Slowly.
“That was phrased badly.”
I folded my arms.
“Historic understatement.”
Damon looked between us.
“You bound her power to yourself and still talk to her like a prisoner?”
I stared at him.
“You knew about the binding for twelve minutes and already disapprove?”
“Yes.”
“That may be growth.”
Kael looked deeply unimpressed with both of us.
Mira rose, leaning on her staff.
“The vampire wants spectacle. So deny him certainty.”
Finally.
A useful sentence.
She pointed at me.
“You go.”
Kael’s head snapped toward her.
“With both wolves.”
That was less useful.
“No,” Kael said.
“Yes,” Mira replied.
“No.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Damon.
“Do all older powerful people communicate like toddlers?”
He almost laughed.
Progress.
“The bond makes Kael necessary,” Mira continued. “The vampire’s obsession with her makes Damon useful.”
Damon frowned.
“How exactly am I useful?”
“You smell emotional and violent. Predators find that distracting.”
I covered my mouth to hide a laugh.
Kael did not bother hiding his.
Damon looked personally betrayed by age.
By dusk, we rode for the border.
Three horses.
Three bad moods.
One growing headache.
Kael rode beside me, posture rigid, eyes scanning the woods.
Damon rode behind us, glaring at the back of Kael’s head so intensely I feared combustion.
“This is relaxing,” I muttered.
Kael glanced sideways.
“You talk more when nervous.”
“You collect observations instead of feelings.”
“That is incorrect.”
“Oh? Name one feeling.”
He considered.
“Annoyance.”
“At me?”
“At Damon.”
Damon called from behind us.
“I heard that.”
“Good,” Kael replied.
We reached Rowan’s death site at nightfall.
The clearing smelled like blood and wet earth.
Torches burned where guards waited.
No body.
Already taken back.
But the grass remained black where blood had soaked through.
I dismounted slowly.
My chest tightened.
This had happened because of me.
No
Because of what I was.
Important difference.
Painful either way.
A guard handed Kael a blood-stained cloth.
“Found near the body.”
He opened it.
Inside lay a silver ring engraved with a crescent moon.
The moment I saw it, heat tore through my veins.
I staggered.
Kael caught me instantly.
The bond flared hot between us.
Visions slammed into me
A woman laughing beneath moonlight.
Silver eyes.
Long dark hair.
Hands holding a baby.
Me.
Then blood.
Screaming.
Fire.
A man’s voice shouting.
Run.
I gasped and ripped away.
The vision vanished.
“What happened?” Damon demanded.
I could barely breathe.
“I saw her.”
Kael went still.
“Who?”
“My mother.”
The clearing fell silent.
I looked at the ring.
Hands shaking.
“She wore that.”
A slow clap echoed from the trees.
We spun toward the sound.
The vampire stepped into torchlight, immaculate as ever.
Infuriatingly elegant.
“Excellent,” he said. “Memory at last.”
Guards drew weapons.
He ignored them.
His eyes stayed on me.
“You look more like Selene when you’re angry.”
My pulse pounded.
“What do you want?”
His smile faded.
“The throne that was stolen.”
I stared.
“I don’t have a throne.”
“You have blood.”
He tilted his head.
“That is usually enough.”
Kael stepped forward.
“You killed Rowan to lure us.”
“No,” the vampire said mildly. “I killed Rowan because he insulted my coat. Luring you was a bonus.”
Even now, I hated that part of me found him funny.
Damon growled.
“I’m going to enjoy ripping your spine out.”
“Charming,” the vampire replied.
Then his gaze sharpened.
“But we are out of time.”
The woods behind him moved.
Shapes emerging.
Too many.
Pale eyes.
Black cloaks.
More vampires.
My blood ran cold.
The guards panicked instantly.
Kael’s voice cut through the clearing like steel.
“Protect Lyra.”
I glared.
“I can hear you, you know.”
Neither man listened.
Naturally.
The vampire smiled at me one last time.
“Choose quickly, little queen.”
Then the attack began.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD