Chapter 127
CAMILLA’S PO.V
They seemed to realize that this wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought but that didn’t stop them from blindly charging. This time however, they charged towards Ryker. We had already anticipated that because no sooner than they did, the other guards burst out of the woods in their wolf form. The distraction was all we needed to run in between them and dive into the river. Damien was hot on our heels as we swam towards the inside of the cave.
We burst out on the other end and I was shocked at how empty it was. I had expected to see an entire army of vampires but there were only three of them. Two stood next to Christine and the girls while the other was Alastair. I ignored the king in favor of my children and I ran my eyes over them to check for any obvious signs of injury. They looked relatively unharmed but Christine had crusted blood on the side of her head and she was shivering.
“Christine,” her head snapped up at the sound of Damien’s voice and I saw many emotions go through her at the speed of light. She stared at him with wide eyes and the relief in them was palpable.
“What a beautiful reunion,” Alastair drawled drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “I thought you would be here sooner but it doesn’t matter. Now that you are here, please join us. Keep in mind that any funny business will result in the death of one of those three and I can tell that they mean so much to you.”
“I’m not playing your game, Alastair,” I told him as I got out of the water. He raised his brows in an almost challenging manner. “You don’t get to touch my kids. They aren’t a part of this.”
“Everyone in your line became fair game when you father stabbed me in the back,” he spat. “Do you know he did it right here? I was the one who found the place. I picked it because the water countered his fire powers. I should have chosen somewhere else considering the water is your domain but sentimentality trumps it all, I guess.”
He waved his hands dismissively and gestured to a gathering of rocks.
“Sit or not, I don’t care but we are going to talk and if we come to a fair agreement, your kids and cousin can go.”
“What if we don’t?” Ryker threatened and he smiled widely revealing pointed fangs.
“Let us hope it doesn’t come to that. My men over there are new vampires, they cannot exactly control the blood lust. If one of them happens to take a bite, I don’t think they will be able to stop,” he made a sad face that was obviously faked and exaggerated. “Now, are you ready for us to talk?”
I already knew he was going to do something like this and so did Ryker because his expression was carefully blank but Damien looked pissed. He was a loose cannon and I couldn’t predict him and that was scary in this kind of situation.
“We will rather stand,” I said finally and Alastair shrugged as if to say ‘suit yourself’. I turned to Christine. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t speak but she gave me a subtle nod. My eyes met Audrey who had her eyes closed. I wasn’t sure if she was sleeping but I genuinely hoped so because the last thing she needed was to witness this entire thing.
Once I was satisfied that my family was okay, I turned back to Alastair. “What do you want? You have us here now. Do you want the deal that my father cheated you out of? If that was what you wanted then taking my family wasn’t the right way to
“It was my aim at first but now, I have decided that I want something else,” he took a step closer and Ryker let out a warning grow! It only seemed to edge him on more because although he didn’t move, he smiled and turned to face him. “You’re the one who killed my advisor, aren’t you? I suppose I should hold a grudge for that but he was well overdue to die. Thank you for that actually”
I realized in that moment that Alastair was not like any enemy we had faced. He was genuinely insane and he had nothing to lour, that was what made him so dangerous. He had lived for thousands of years and he had learned how not to form
“Do you know her name? My beloved, I mean.” he asked and I shook my head. “I gathered as much. I don’t think you’ve heard my entire story, Camilla, would you like me to tell you?”
“We don’t want to-
“Damien began but I cut him off with a sharp glare.
“Let’s make a deal. We will sit through your story and not interrupt and you give me my daughters.”
“I’ll give you the baby,” he countered and I realized it was the best I was going to get from him so I nodded.
“You have a deal.”
He clapped his hands in glee before taking a seat atop a jagged rock.
“I’m sure you have heard of how she died and I tried to bring her back in exchange for my soul. What you didn’t know was the true nature of the vampire curse. Because I had risked so much for a woman, the gods decided to curse me for it. Every few years, there would be another witch woman born, she was my lover reincarnated. It went on for a millennium and each time I would be cursed to watch her have the same brutal and tragic end where she died with her lover. Do you want to know how I stopped it?”
I nodded.
“I killed her myself,” I wasn’t expecting that answer from him. “When the moon goddess saw what I had done, she knew I had become the monster she truly feared. She warned me of a time where she would raise one powerful enough to stop me. I suppose she meant you. I thought it was you father. When he fed me the night lock berries, I thought he was going to kill me but he didn’t. I see now that she was talking about you.”
“Are you asking me to kill you?” I asked and he laughed.
“No, you foolish girl, I am asking you to join me,” he stood to his feet. “Think about it, when have the gods ever helped us? If they cared about you they would have taken me out long ago. I took your family, I have terrorized you for months. I even sent some spies to your mate’s sister to feed her poisoned berries.”
Damien growled. “You fucking bastard.”
I shot a quick glance at Ryker who grabbed Damien by the shoulders and stopped him from attacking Alastair. I could tell that even Ryker was debating attacking him but we all knew that was exactly what he wanted. If he were to strike now, he would die.
“You did all of that so that I would join you?” I asked again and he nodded.
“We will be unstoppable together. With your powers and my long life, I could turn you and we will be the most powerful people on the planet. You cannot tell me that it doesn’t sound the least bit enticing.”
“If I join you, will you
let all of them go?” I asked and he nodded. “Okay then, I agree to your terms.”
“No!” Damien, Ryker and Christine yelled all at once but I ignored them.
Ryker tried to reach out for me but I brought up a wall of water to separate him from me. I took Alastair’s outstretched hand and I shivered at how cold it was.
“If you planned for any funny business, this is a good time to remind you of how fast I move,” he whispered in my ear but I kept my face immobile.
“Release my family first,” I ordered and he let out an exasperated sigh before waving his hands.
The vampires dragged Christine and Audrey to their feet and pushed them into the water. Alastair laughed as I immediately tugged on the water to carry them out to safety. I turned to him with anger in my eyes but he didn’t seem the least bit fazed, in fact, he looked very proud of himself.
“That wasn’t part of our deal. They could have died.”
“That would have been on you,” he shrugged. “Now, say goodbye to your mate.”
Before I could let out another word, he bit me.
I felt the blinding pain first and I wondered if my plan had gone to shit but then Alastair froze and began to convulse. He fell backwards and his eyes held intense hatred as they stared at me. The berries had worked just as I had planned. The other two vampires seemed to realize what was happening and they started in my direction but I slammed the entire force of the river into them and held them there long enough for Ryker to leap over and sever their heads.
Once they were dead, I turned back to Alastair. “I don’t want to kill you but I would be damned if my children have to deal with you too.”
Ryker came up to me and handed me the sword.
“For what it is worth, we could have been great allies,” those were my last words before I drove the sword into his throat and just like that, the infamous vampire king was gone. I looked down at the body and couldn’t even bring myself to feel an ounce of pity for him. “We should get out of here. The vampires will have to regroup without him.”
Ryker and I walked out of the cave together to where Damien had taken our family out to safety. He was on his knees in front of Christine and the way he looked at her, that wasn’t an innocent look at all
I noticed that the guards had slaughtered all the vampires save for one. I made my way over to him and dropped Alastair’s severed head at his feet.
“I don’t want to deal with you anymore and I am sure you feel the same way. If you do not bother the wolves then we do not bother you. We don’t need to be at peace, we just need a ceasefire. Do we have a deal?”
He sneered at me but knew better than to refuse because he nodded. “Yes, we have a deal.”
“Good, now get out.”
