Chapter 124
CAMILLA’S PO.V
Throughout the entire day, I felt the absence of my daughters and Christine. It was like a song hidden beneath the walls that called out to my soul. I could feel their absence as clearly as I could feel the walls next to me or the soft wood from my table underneath my fingertips and although I tried, I couldn’t brush off the ashy taste in my mouth that came with feeling so alone. There was no way for us to know when they had arrived, we would just have to wait and hope that everything worked out just the way we had planned.
As soon as they left, Ryker and I threw ourselves into work. Their absence was a necessary evil and now we needed to focus and bring an end to this. We needed to find a way to get the vampires out of the equation and draw Alastair out long enough for us to incapacitate him. We had all the equipment that we needed, we just needed a foolproof plan. One that was bound to work and I knew exactly where I was going to get it. I just needed Ryker to agree to it first.
That was how I found myself at his door sometime around noon and I knocked slowly. I never knocked so when I pushed open the door, there was concern on his face. I moved with deliberate slowness, maybe it was to draw out the inevitable conversation or maybe it was to give myself some sort of morale- I wasn’t sure. Ryker was on edge as he watched me, like a coiled viper ready to strike at any moment.
“I know that face,” he began and I raised my brows in shock. “It usually means that you want to ask for something that you know I will refuse. Tell me, Camilla, what is it this time?”
“I know a way we can get Alastair to come out,” I said slowly and I watched as h9is expression went from amused to intrigued in less than a second. “It is a rough plan and it needs some work but I believe that this is the only one that we have.”
“I’m listening.”
“Use me,” he opened his mouth to refuse immediately but I held out a hand to stop hm. “He wants me for some reason. At first, it was for revenge but I don’t think that’s what it is anymore. This is more than that. He could have killed me that night he attacked the town but he didn’t. There is something that he wants and if we can make him think that he will get it then we might be able to corner him.”
“How do you plan to execute this?”
“He’s always watching, right? I can give him a show. He will be in the forest at night, or his men will be.”
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“Don’t tell me you want to walk straight into the forest when you could be taken. That is absurd, Camilla, even for you. There is too much that can go wrong.”
“It is our only option.”
“There is never only one option and you know it,” he shot back immediately and I knew that there was no way he was going to agree to this. “We will find another way, something else that doesn’t involve you putting your life at risk for a half baked plan that is going to shit anyway.”
I flinched at his words and I saw guilt cross his face. He ran his hands down his face with a sigh and he reached out to me but I made no move to sway from my spot. I understood his frustration and worry- I truly did- but I was trying and right now, there was nothing else that could be used to draw Alastair out. The fact that he didn’t want to accept it did not negate its truth. We were stuck and that was the only way out.
“I didn’t mean to insult you,” he stood to his feet once he realized I wasn’t going to him and came to me instead. “You have to think about this, Camilla. This isn’t a game anymore, there are lives and people at risk. If this plan fails, you will die and everyone in this palace with you.”
“If I die then you can be king,” I joked but his mouth didn’t as much as twitch. He didn’t find it amusing at all. “We need to act fast, Ryker, he will notice sooner or later that the kids are gone and he will search for them. We have no way to reach them there and if anything happens, we will never know.”
He framed my cheeks with his hands and leaned down to k*ss me softly. “I know, believe me, I do. I thought about sending them away every second of the night and I wondered if it was the right thing to do but we are keeping them safe and that is all that matters. We can handle things from our end and we will. They’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, what do we do now?‘
“Now, we ask for reinforcements. I sent a letter to Damien a few days ago asking if he could spare some men. If we kill Alastair, we will be declaring war on the vampires. That is a battle that I don’t think anyone is ready for. We will need everything and everyone we can muster.”
“Do you think he will come?”
“I hope so, I never got a response but then again, Damien was never good at responding to letters. He will come maybe today or maybe tomorrow. But I will not feel
comfortable attacking Alastair until we have all our defenses in place. That would be a rash and immature move.”
“You’re right,” I whispered and for the first time, the corner of his lips tipped up.
12:42 Mon, 5 Feb
Chapter 124
“I am always right. You just need to calm down a little.”
He leaned down to k i s s me again and I wrapped my arms around his n e c k to deepen it. With everything that was going on, I couldn’t remember the last time I just melted into his arms and enjoyed his presence. The heat from Ryker’s skin felt like bliss against mine. When I moaned into his mouth, I felt the corner of his lips pull up. Someone else. would have called what we were doing unhealthy. We were using each other to forget but I didn’t care. I wanted him in every way, shape and form I could get. He was a healthy coping mechanism and one that I was not going to apologize for.
Ryker lifted me by my waist and placed me atop his new desk. It was cold in contrast to the heat that was radiating off him. His hands wrapped into my hair and he tugged sharply eliciting a small gasp from me which he drowned out as his tongue slipped into my mouth. His hands leisurely ran down my body not removing my clothes but burning a path on my bare skin regardless. I wanted to rid myself of the barriers between us. I wanted to feel his skin on mine but when I reached up to touch his shirt, Ryker grabbed both of my hands and pinned them by my side.
“Just let me enjoy you,” he whispered against my lips. “Let me k i s s you for hours on end until I forget where you start and where I end. Just stay with me in this moment, will you?”
“Yes,” the answer was quick and it flowed from my lips easily, “Anything.”
He nudged my knees apart with his leg and stepped between them. He had both of my hands pinned behind my back with one hand while the other trailed to the small of my back and he pulled me flush against him. Our centers touched and I hissed out in pleasure. Ryker moved his hips slowly against mine as he pulled his lips from mine to plaster warm and wet k i s s i n g down my n e c k and to my exposed torso over my bodice.
“I thought you said just k i s s i n g,” my words were barely over a breathy whisper and I felt his lips quirk.
“I did, I just never said where.”
He rocked his hips into me with purpose as his lips continued to trail a path of fire on my skin. He had barely even touched me but I felt like I was losing my mind. I thought I was going crazy and there was nothing or no one that could bring me back to reality. Just as I was getting lost in the movements, I heard a knock on the door. Ryker stilled for a second before choosing to ignore it in favor of k i s s i n g my l i p s once more.
The knocking came again, a little louder this time and Ryker cursed as he pulled back. “Someone better be f*cking dying.”
He stepped back and admired me for a second. I could only imagine how wanted I looked with swollen lips that probably matched his, my skin flushed red and my hair a mess. He closed his eyes as if wanting to savor the image before turning and opening
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the door slightly so I was obstructed from view.
I saw the exact moment that his shoulders tensed and I knew that whatever we had started here would need to be continued later. I slowly let myself down from the table and righted my clothes in time for Ryker to turn around and hold out his hand for me which I didn’t hesitate before taking. The guard in front of us led us down the hallways until we got to the front of the palace. I didn’t know what we were looking for at first until I saw him. He was one of the guards that had gone with Christine and the girls. He didn’t look unharmed so I chose to take it as a good sign.
“Did they arrive safely?” I asked and he opened his mouth but closed it again promptly. Fear gripped at my chest. “What happened?”
“He knew about our plan. He came so fast. He sent me back to tell you what happened. We tried to fight them but-”
His words were cut off when Ryker stormed over to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “What are you saying?”
“The vampire king has all of them.”
