Chapter 126
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
Ryker calmed Damien down while I just sat in my office scrolling through the books mildly shocked by what had happened. I knew there was something between them but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Damien was mated or at least about to mate with Riley, the last thing he needed was to be having that kind of outburst about another woman. It didn’t matter that a part of me wanted them together, I wasn’t going to do that to Riley. She deserved better.
Ryker walked into my office about an hour after leaving with Damien and he looked frustrated. I opened my mouth to speak but no words would come out. I had never seen him so put off in a long time and I didn’t blame him. He already had so much to deal with and the last thing he needed was to be worried about Damien and his sister’s relationship.
“Tell me the truth,” he began slowly and I turned to him. “You saw him out there, didn’t you?” I nodded. “Did that look like a man who was ready to be mated to my sister?”
“I can’t-”
“Yes you can,” he cut me off. “Answer the question because I need to know what the fuck is happening. I need to know what the hell kind of mess is going to come out of this and how I am going to fix it. How do I tell my sister that the man she is in love with might quite possibly love someone else?”
“It might just be the mate bond.”
“Then why doesn’t he break it?”
I couldn’t answer that because I had asked myself the same question over and over again. I didn’t have the answers he was searching for and the painful part was that I was also searching for them. I needed those answers as much as he did. It wasn’t just him who had something to lose- I did too.
“I found the place,” I decided that changing the subject was a better idea. “He didn’t say much about it but I tried to piece it together from other entries. All he said was they went into the woods but at other times, he spoke about going to a waterfall with Alastair. I think that might be where he is waiting with them.”
Ryker ran his hands down the face. “I will brief the men. Damien was right about one thing, we cannot let them be with him until tomorrow. We need to get them out tonight and it might be dangerous so we need to set out the plan now. If we make one wrong move then we lose.”
I nodded. “I’ll get ready then.”
I went to change because I knew that I was walking into a war and a dress was not the right attire. I changed into my riding leathers and grabbed the night lock berries from Christine’s room. I didn’t take them immediately and instead stuffed them into my pocket. While Ryker briefed the guards I figured it would be a good idea to talk to Damien and see
what I could get out of him.
I made my way to his door and knocked but there was no answer. I tried again and pushed it open only to see the room completely empty. I walked in calling out his name but there was no answer. I was about to turn around and leave when I saw a note on the table. It help one sentence but that was enough to have me cursing and taking off in Ryker’s direction.
“He’s gone,” I yelled out once I was close enough and Ryker turned to me in confusion. “It is Damien, he left a note and he is gone.”
Ryker took the note from me and read the words: I’m sorry, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.
He muttered a curse under his breath and turned to the guards. “Ready the horses, we leave now.” Ryker turned to me. “You can stay here if you want. We don’t have a plan and there is a possibility that this is going to go to shit.”
“If we do this then we do it together,” I reminded him and he nodded. I could tell it wasn’t what he wanted but at least he wasn’t forcing me to stay in.
Within minutes, we were out and on our way towards the waterfall. We tracked Damien’s scent in that direction as well and I knew for a fact that he probably overheard Ryker and I talking and decided to take it upon himself to play the hero. It was incredibly stupid as well as brave and for a brief moment, I understood how Ryker felt whenever he had to deal with me. It was dark but we kept moving using only the moon as light.
Once we could hear the waterfall, we stopped. I turned to address the guards. “We have to go on foot from here. Vampires have better hearing than us and right now, they might not be able to hear the horses over the waterfall but if we get closer, they might be able to.”
Everyone understood and instantly dismounted. Ryker split everyone up into three groups and spread them out to attack from different parts. We went with the first group and went straight ahead. As we got a little closer, I saw Damien’s horse tied to a tree. At least he was in the right place. We stayed close to the trees and the mud to hide our scent and I prayed to the goddess that Damien hadn’t been hurt.
“Stop,” Ryker whispered harshly all of a sudden and everyone froze. “I think I can hear something.”
Everyone went quiet and I took out the berries in my pocket and popped them in my
mouth just in case it was a vampire. I heard shuffling from the right and I thought it was a vampire too, at least until Damien came rushing out of the woods with his weapon raised. Ryker was quick to intercept it and had his friend pinned against the tree.
“Are you fucking crazy?” he yelled in his face. “What were you thinking when you came out here on your own?”
“I was helping,” Damien spat and I could tell that Ryker wanted nothing more than to bash his face in. “I already know where he is keeping them. I was on my way in when I heard the noise.”
“We had a plan and you just ran out and ruined it,” Ryker pushed him back. “Well then, since you wanted to be so brave, tell us what the hell you found out.”
‘He has a few vampires guarding the waterfall. I think he has them inside of it, there is a cave. I can’t see in so I don’t know if he has more men inside.”
“How were you planning to get through them?” Ryker asked but he stayed silent. “You’re an Alpha now, act like it, and when this is over, there is a lot that we have to talk about.”
“As long as we save them, I’ll answer whatever question you have.”
That seemed to be enough for Ryker because he turned his back on him and faced the guards. One thing I loved about Ryker was how easy it was for him to think on his feet. In less than a minute after hearing that from Damien, he had come up with a plan and he shared it with all the guards. Once everyone was briefed, Ryker and I stepped out into the clearing.
Just like Damien had said, here were a few guards there, 1 could count about four of them. As soon as they saw us, their lips curled up in sneers.
“It took you long enough,” one of them drawled as he came closer to us. “Put your weapons down and we will take you to our king.”
“Why don’t you bring me my cousin and daughters and we can leave and pretend like this never happened,” I offered up with a small smile and he frowned deeply. “You took what was mine and I only want it back.”
“You have no negotiating rights here. You came to us and in case you have forgotten, we have the upper hand here. You and your mate cannot take all of us so I don’t think that is going to happen.”
“I’m not going with you.”
“We can just take you anyway.”
“We both know that’s not going to be possible.”
“And why is that?”
“Because you’re on my turf now.”
He rushed towards me but I already had my plan in motion. As soon as he was close enough, I pulled a tugged the water from the river beneath the waterfall, and knocked him off his balance. In a second, Ryker had cut his head off with his sword.
“Your king probably forgot that I excel in this terrain.” I turned to the other vampires with a smile. “”Who wants to go next?”
