Chapter 97
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
“I mean no harm,” I called out but the vampire made no move to step out. “I just want to see your king.”
He laughed maniacally. “Not many people live to see that request. Our king does not like visitors neither does he tolerate them.” The guards tightened their circle around me.
“My name is Camilla and I am the Queen of the wolves. I believe he should want to see me. I would not come here unless it was important.”
There was silence for a minute and I honestly thought he wasn’t going to respond until he spoke. “I know who you are. He has been expecting you but we didn’t know you would come with guards of your own.”
“Did you expect me to walk into unknown territory unprotected?”
He finally stepped out of the woods. His hair was cropped short and close to his head. He looked like a normal person except for the unusual paleness of his skin. It was patchy and white like snow. I figured it was expected considering they were practically dead and lived in the cold of the mountains. He smiled and I saw a hint of his fangs.
Although I had never seen him, I recognized him from his eyes alone. “You were the one watching me in the woods, weren’t you?”
He smiled. “Maybe. Come, Camilla, the king awaits.”
The guards with me hesitated but I figured that we were already here and if he wanted to hurt me then he would have done so already. He walked ahead of us unbothered about his bare feet touching the rough plain. I figured not much bothered the undead. We got to the mouth of a cave and the guards in front of me stopped.
“Your majesty,” one of them began. “Are you sure this is a good idea? We don’t know if there is an army in there. We are walking in blind.”
“I can assure you that there is no army,” the vampire said from in front of me. We turned to him in confusion and he tapped his ears. “We have better hearing than you guys. To answer your question, there is no army. We don’t need one. I can assure you that there are less than five people, including me.”
The guards still didn’t look convinced so I knew I would have to make the first move. I slowly got off my horse and glanced up at the guards to assure them that it was fine. They dismounted too and we allowed the vampire lead us into the cave. It was pitch black and it took longer than usual for me to get adjusted to the light. The distinct smell of blood filled the air and unease threatened to choke me. “Forgive the smell,” he said off handedly. “We do have to feed sooner or later. I’m sure you understand.”
If the vampire realized that we were uncomfortable, he didn’t let on. He just walked further in until we got to what I assumed was the center of the cave. There was an opening at the top that allowed light filter inwards. Right in the center of that opening was a throne carved from stone. It was massive and seated atop it was a man who looked no older than mid-forties but I knew better than to judge him based off his looks. When he saw me, he sat up straighter.
His hair was long and reached past his shoulders. His eyes held wisdom that I couldn’t even begin to fathom. Even though he was seated, I could tell that he was a tall man. There was blood at the corner of his l*ps and he made a show of wiping it away with his thumb.
“Camilla,” he practically purred my name. “You don’t know how long I have waited to get your attention. Welcome to my abode. It might not be anything much but it is something.”
The guards were still surrounding me so I broke out of their circle and stepped forward. One of them reached out in an attempt to grab me but I shot him a hard look before turning to face the king. He was looking at us with an amused expression on his face.
“Forgive the mess, it has been a while since we had visitors. If you had come in an hour ago, I doubt you would have been able to withstand the sight.”
I knew he was trying to push my buttons to see what made me tick but I had no time to spare on the conversation. I came with a mission in mind, I wanted to do it and get back home before anyone realized that I was missing.
“You’re the king,” I said more to confirm than anything and he nodded.
“I have gone by many names in my lifetime some of which are not very nice but you can refer to me as Alastair, it is the name I was given after I had turned.”
He spoke like he expected me to recognize the name but I had never heard it before. I thought long and hard in case it was something I had buried down in my mind but there was nothing.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Alastair.”
He frowned when there was no recognition on my face. “It is customary for people to bow when they see a king.”
“The same way people ought to bow when they see a Queen,” I quipped back and the corner of his l*ps tipped upwards. “Let us not hold each other to standards that we do not hold ourselves, okay?”
“As you wish,” he made a dramatic show of hands and sat up straighter. “What brings you here, Camilla? Wolves do not wander here by accident. I could see it as a breach of our peace treaty because you came to my dwelling place.”
“Considering that you broke the treaty first when he watched me, I’m not quite worried about that,” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the vampire who led us. “I am not here to fight. I have a problem that I think you would like to hear about.”
“I think I already know what it is. The vampire who keeps murdering your wolves,” when he saw the surprise on my face, he laughed. “News travels fast, Camilla. Did you really think that a vampire would be out of line and I wouldn’t know?”
I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that if he was aware, it would be handled soon. “I hope this means that you are working on it and the culprit will be apprehended soon?”
“Not quite,” my brows scrunched in confusion.
He turned to one of the others and nodded and I saw a large crate being dragged in. inside that crate were two werewolves. They were bound and gagged and although they were alive, they had been beaten and looked malnourished. Alastair watched my face intently as he stood to his feet and I couldn’t help but take a subconscious step backwards. The guards were forming a protective ring around me but so were the vampires.
“It sure is a bother to find new wolves every day. I always like to have some in backup,” he smirked and nodded once more. This time, his vampires moved.
It was a perfectly evened out fight- three against three- but we were at a disadvantage. This was their home. It took less than five minutes for all the guards to drop dead by my side. It didn’t take a genius to realize that I was screwed. I was standing alone in a room with four vampires who were older than I could ever imagine.
“What do you want?” I asked feigning bravery. If he was going to kill me then I wasn’t going to die while cowering. “Was the killing your way of getting my attention?”
“Yes and no,” he shrugged and leaned closer into the chair. “Living for a thousand years gets boring sometimes. I just wanted to be entertained but now that you are here, I think we can talk.”
One of the vampires moved so fast that he was practically a blur. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me down into a stone carved chair that wasn’t there a second ago.
He walked towards me and curled a strand of my hair around his fingers. I stayed completely still while he moved. I knew it would be foolish to try to attack him when I was outnumbered so I kept my eyes fixated on the ground and tried to get to Ryker or Christine via mind link but I couldn’t. it felt like there was something blocking the connection.
“Don’t bother trying,” Alastair suddenly said. “When you have lived as long as I have, you will make friends n high places. I had a witch spell the cave so no one can mind link inside of it. You are completely on your own.”
The gravity of the situation hit me at once and I couldn’t help but wish I had just stayed at home with the girls like Christine had suggested. I was going to die in the mountains with no one knowing the truth. I knew I had to stall. I looked around thinking of hat I could ask and my eyes fell on the men in the cage.
“Why did you start attacking the wolves?” I asked and he froze behind me. “We had a wonderful peace treaty going on. You were probably alive when it was made. You chose to break it, why? What could have been worth it?”
“There is a lot you don’t know, Camilla. You werewolves are practically blind to the grand scheme of eternity. Do you know what it means to live for eons? To see centuries rise and fall while you remain. I believe it is both a blessing and a curse,” he walked over so he could stand in front of me. “War is inevitable, Camilla, the quicker you realize that, the better.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“You have something that I want,” he said suddenly and my brows scrunched, “and you are going to give it to me.”
“I will never help you.”
“I thought you would say that,” he stood to his feet. “Look around you, Camilla, you aren’t getting out of here without giving me what I want. Do us both a favor and end this right now.”
“I don’t know what you want but I can promise that I will not be giving it to you,” I spat and his l*ps curled downwards.
“I never wanted it to come to this but you leave me no choice.”
“What are you even talking about?”
He didn’t respond.
