“We don’t want no trouble, Lord Vampire,” one of them said in a thick, guttural voice. His long tongue licked over his sharp canines. “We only want those naughty little children, and we’ll be on our way.”
“We need to capture one of them,”Natalia whispered in Sanguisi.
Tyson chuckled.“You recruiting new consorts, cousin?”
“For questioning!”she bit back.Natalia was always three steps ahead of everyone else.“There’s something about those necklaces I don’t like.”
“They aren’t yours to take!” Claire shouted.
Every head turned in her direction. The wolves’. My soldiers’.Mine. Frustration clawed up my throat. This was a standoff. Predators assessing one another. My objective, always, was to reduce casualties. And if that meant using my influence as a commander and the threat of violence to get these creatures to back off, then that was my duty.
The biggest wolf, who appeared to have taken on the role of the pack alpha, scented the air. I didn’t need heightened senses to know what he smelled.Me.All overher. My bite. My blood. My claim. My seed. One breath and he knew she was my heart beating outside my body.
His attention drifted back to me, and he dragged a long, wolfish tongue over his jowls like he’d just found something interesting to tear apart. “Your mate speaks for you, Lord Vampire?”
With one sentence, he’d exposed the secret of our relationshipto my entire army. Claire was my vulnerability. And now everyone knew it.
“Uncle,” Natalia breathed beside me.“Say something.”The fear in her voice was unmistakable. And even though something had broken between us, I knew she still bore love for me. The same love I had for her.
Before I could pull the attention back where it belonged, Claire shoved her wand through the narrow gap between Tyson and me and fired. The spell cracked through the air and struck one of them square in the shoulder, bursting into a spray of black blood.
The wolf staggered back with a snarl, more surprised than wounded. “You’ll pay for that, witch!”
Natalia and Tyson closed the space between us, creating a shield between Claire and us. The monster inside me that wanted out banged against my ribs. But I still hoped for diplomacy. Fighting was always the last resort. Always. “Look around you,” I told the wolves. “You are outnumbered.”
One of the little girls started crying, and the young witch who had killed Devlinn grunted against her bonds. “There’s a village of them down here!”
The big wolf snapped his jaws. “Shut your mouth.”
Listening, I sensed more footfalls. More snarls. More grunts. Others were coming. “And you, you’re their leader?” I asked, trying to keep him talking.
“We’re Shayla’s chosen.” He slapped his furry hand against the opalescent gem. “She knows who is loyal.”
“Where is Chastity?”I asked Natalia, keeping my features schooled in neutrality.“Tell me her witches are on the way.”
Natalia shook her head.“She let us through her wards, but didn’t follow.”
More wolves appeared out of the dark. Creatures caughtsomewhere between man and beast. But none of the others wore the same stones that these three did.
I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end with negotiations.
“Go stand with Sir Gavin,”I told Claire, not taking my eyes off the dark.“Do not make me repeat myself.”
“No. I can fight.”
“If you’re carrying my child, then your job is to protect him. Mine is to protect you.”
It would take a week for her pheromones to change, and weeks longer before I’d be able to sense a heartbeat inside her. Which meant from this moment forward, I wasn’t allowed to fail. If something happened to her, to them, this fragile hope that we were building brick by brick on very unstable ground and without a plan, I wouldn’t just become the reaper. I’d break this whole world.
I’d agreed to create a baby, and now I was responsible.
Finally, she conceded, taking one step, then another, watching me until she reached Sir Gavin’s line. Even when she was behind ten of the best swords, it didn’t feel like enough.
The alpha whispered something to the beta beside him. I caught the words with my vampiric hearing.
“Whatever you do, keep the girl alive. I want her.”
A switch flipped inside my head. The negotiations were over. I lunged. Natalia and Tyson moved with me. My ability to slide into their minds assisted the fight.“Right. Back. On your left.”
