“Ready?” Kole reached forward to brush his knuckles against the ward.
I nodded, too anxious to comment.
But when Kole’s hand felt along the barrier, nothing fizzled in warning. Just as fast, his hand slipped through it. He smirked. “I was right. He never reworked his wards.”
Hope burst inside me, but I didn’t waste any time. I grabbed ahold of Kole and called upon my mistphasing magic.
We careened through the realm, only to reappear a second later at the top of my uncle’s stairwell.
Darkness and quiet greeted us. Kole and I both moved in blurred speed, his warrior affinity allowing him to move even faster than my vampire pace.
In less than a second, we were standing outside of my uncle’s bedroom chambers. The door was closed, yet within, I detected one heartbeat.
Wide-eyed, I mouthed to Kole,He’s inside and alone.
Kole dipped his head once and turned the door handle silently. We crept into the dark room, neither of us making a sound. Together we padded toward the bed, Kole’s hand reaching for his sword as he moved, and our footsteps nonexistence in the plush rug.
But as the bed neared, something struck me. The heartbeat I’d detected wasn’t coming from beneath the sheets. It was coming from behind us, near the fireplace.
I whirled around, realizing a split second too late that my uncle wasn’t asleep, before the lights turned on.
In the same beat, a blast of telekinetic magic whipped out, and a long rope whirled around Kole faster than I could blink.
Kole’s breath sucked in just as my uncle’s thick rope knotted tightly around him, securing the warrior’s limbs from head to toe, just as he’d done to me on the day he’d changed me.
“No!” I lurched toward Kole, but my uncle abruptly yelled, “Stop, Primelle. You’re not allowed to untie your mate or help him tonight.”
My body froze as his command zinged through me. I stood entirely still. Deathly so. And then his words registered.Your mate. Mouth dropping, I swung toward my uncle, and that vile urge inside me rose and demanded that I pleasehimand not Kole.
Kole flexed his limbs again under the thick restraints, but they didn’t budge. The warrior’s expression descended into his telltale mask, and even though no emotion flitted across his face, his voice held deadly promise when he said, “I’m ending you tonight, Arnel.”
My uncle scoffed. “I doubt that. You’re already restrained, and I have to say, you Imperial Warriors are quite lacking. Royden was also easy to capture.” Arnel stood from his chair near the fire, and strolled casually toward me, but an angry expression twisted his features into something ugly.
Before I could comprehend that my uncle was awake and had somehow been expecting us, he reached me and slapped me violently across the cheek. My head whipped to the side, and Kole’s rage flooded to me along our bond.
But I didn’t fight back. Didn’t hit him in return. My stupid vampiric body wouldn’t allow it.
“That’sfor plotting against me,” my uncle seethed. “Now, where were we. Oh, yes.” He shifted his attention to the chambers’ open door.
From the hallway’s darkness, dozens of vamfeers appeared and dutifully marched into my uncle’s chambers, their looks vacant and their fangs glistening, but as soon as they crossed the threshold, they all lined up and stopped, standing frozen.
“Good gods,” I whispered, backing up. Along our bond, Kole’s energy stilled.
There wereso manyof them. My uncle’s vamfeers hadn’t been depleted at all.
Magic rose around Kole, but he didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch.
“Did you know that I had a very interesting conversation with my brother this afternoon, Primelle?” my uncle said languidly. “He told me that you were wondering if I was home right now, which I thought wasinteresting, especially when he let me in on a little family secret.” His lip curled in Kole’s direction. “He told me that you met your fated mate, and despite my brother feeling apprehensive about that at first, he’d come to realize that no other male would protect you better than your warrior would. And that got me thinking that if you met your mate, and you were somehow able to communicate to him what I’d done to you, that his first instinct would be to kill me.” He laughed softly. “And once again, it appears I was right, but I’ve thwarted your attack before it even began.”
He stepped closer to me, and inadvertently, I flinched.
“If you hit her again, I’ll make your death a thousand times more painful.” Kole’s voice was low and filled with deadly promise.
“Oh, you will, will you?” My uncle returned his attention to me and stopped just shy of my space. I gazed up at him, and even though he pulled at something deep inside me, fear cascaded through me too.
“Do you know how I’ve gone so long without being caught, Primelle?” A swaggering smile curved his lips. “It’s because I’m always one step ahead of everyone. Includingyouand your precious warrior. As soon as I finished speaking with my brother, I reworked my wards to alert me should Kole ever arrive here, and not only that, but my wards would alert my vamfeers too so they could immediately come to do my bidding, and it seems I acted not a moment too soon.” He laughed. “So now, you’ll have to watch your mate die, and afterward, I’ll burn his body. Nobody will ever know what occurred here.”
My stomach dropped to my toes, agony ripping through me just as Arnel flicked a finger at his vamfeers. “Kill the warrior.”
