“Then why aren’t you dead?” Cyrus asks me with an intrigued look.
“Because she’s surrounded by people who care about her,” Ian says as he steps forward.
“You know that saying, ‘it takes a village?’” Duncan says. “Totally true in the case of keeping this one alive.”
“Fascinating,” Cyrus says, studying me once more. “Such loyalty is a wonder to behold. Interesting that I’ve seen it not only with your brother’s wife, but you as well.”
“It’s not the same,” I say coolly. “I’m no House leader. I try to stay out of these politics. I really do.”
“But when you’ve grown up in this world…” Ian says, his tone letting on how much he doesn’t care for that fact.
Cyrus smiles, his eyes sliding over to my brother for a moment. “Your sister is quite brilliant. Isn’t she?”
Ian nods.
“Elle knows how this world works,” Duncan speaks up. “She knows how to deal with things. Has ideas no one else would have come up with.”
“Are you asking me to let you replace Charles and lead the House?” Cyrus says, looking back at me.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I have no interest in leading. But I want to ask you to let Duncan stand in, until things fall into place with a true Royal.” I look back at Duncan. “See, things have been better for the last two months, and it’s because of him, and his cousin.”
Suspicion creeps into the king’s eyes now. He studies Duncan, and his gaze is so penetrating, I’m sure he can see down to Duncan’s very DNA.
Cyrus rises to his feet and crosses the room. Slowly, he walks toward Duncan. I have to give Duncan credit, because even though he looks nervous, even though he swallows, unsure, he doesn’t break eye contact. He holds his chin high. He stands tall.
“And what makes you qualified to think you can rule in a Royal’s place?” Cyrus says, stopping just a foot in front of Duncan.
“I came from a large family,” Duncan says after only a breath of hesitation. “When one of us went crazy and killed everyone but me and my cousin, they nearly exposed us. There were a lot of questions. A lot of cops. A lot of stories whispered in dark corners of the room. I understand the value of keeping our secret. I highly value our privacy and having peace.”
“I’m sure you haven’t forgotten Jasmine Voltera,” I pipe up. Cyrus looks over at me, and the annoyed look in his eyes tells me he hasn’t. “She may not have ruled well, but she kept things in order when the House of Conrath had no leader. What we’ve established here, it’s better than that. It’s growing stronger. And they’re doing the job Charles walked away from.”
“They’re asking permission to do what they have to,” Ian pipes up. “Give your support to the House of Martials. And you and I can deal with Charles the way you already promised him.”
Cyrus turns, taking a step, and then two, toward Ian. “You want me to help you kill Charles, a Royal, and then let dis-loyal Born rule in his stead?”
“We are asking you to consider it,” I say. I stand, supporting my stomach as I do so. I run a hand through my hair. I’m exhausted. Pushed to my limit, physically and emotionally. “Think about it. Sleep on it. For now, I’m sure you’re as exhausted as I am. Can we pick you up tomorrow evening and show you the House of Martials?”
Cyrus studies me, and there’s something about the way he looks at me that reminds me of when Michael and I first met. There’s surprise there. And respect.
“I’ll consider it,” he says teasingly. “You get your sleep. Take care of that child. I shall see you tomorrow.”
I nod, and turn to head for the door. And quickly the others follow after me.
Silently we descend the stairs. We pile into the SUV and Danny backs out of the garage, pulling out onto the road.
“Holy shit,” Ian breathes as soon as we roll away from the building. “How…how are you doing this, Elle? I’ve never… Cyrus, he almost seems reasonable with you.”
“I told you,” I say as we drive the few short blocks to my home. “King Cyrus never hurt me. I’m just being careful.”
Ian shakes his head in disbelief.
“I get it now, why everyone’s so afraid of the guy,” Duncan says. “If that’s the King being reasonable and calm, I can’t imagine him when he’s not…”
“You can’t even imagine,” Ian says darkly.
Danny pulls up to the curb in front of my building. I say goodnight to Julie, Duncan, and Danny before Ian and I climb out and head up the stairs.
“Maybe we don’t tell him that you were the one curing the Bitten,” Ian says as he watches me unlock my front door. “This is going one-hundred-percent better than I expected. If we just omit-”
“And how else are we supposed to clear Lexington?” I say sharply as we step inside. “I’m not going to let them kill him over something I did. Killian knows someone was curing the Bitten. Lexington lied too well. Both Killian and Cyrus are going to need answers.”
I head up the stairs, my bed calling my name, because last night I didn’t sleep at all once Killian hauled Lexington off and I called Cyrus.
“Like I said,” I continue as I open my bedroom door and head into my closet. I’m so tired I don’t even care that my brother is standing in the doorway as I change into pajamas. “This is all about timing. Revealing the right information at the exact right time. I just need to get Cyrus in the palm of my hand. So happy with what I present to him that he won’t care about what I’ve been doing. And if that doesn’t work, we make some kind of deal.”
“Or he makes you play some kind of game to keep your life,” Ian says darkly. “I’m a little surprised he hasn’t sprung something on us already.”
“Maybe he has,” I say tiredly as I climb into bed, a sigh of relief spreading through my body. “Maybe we just haven’t seen it yet.”
Ian doesn’t say anything to that, telling me he hadn’t considered that possibility.
“I’ve got this, Ian,” I say as my eyes slide closed. “Please just trust me.”
He gives a little noise, neither accepting nor rejecting. But he crosses the room and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Get some sleep.”
I just nod, and instantly drop off into the dark abyss.
My eyes flutter open, so very tired and so ready to drop back into the comforting embrace of sleep. But when they settle on the clock and it reads 10:42, I startle, scrambling to get out of bed.
I had planned to open the shop just to keep my mind occupied. Because there’s nothing I can do at the moment to help Lexington, besides what I’m already doing. And I don’t want to just sit around and obsess all day.
“You up?” I hear Ian say quietly from outside the door.
“Yeah,” I say breathily as I finally escape from the bed and head to the closet. Ian lets himself in.
“Relax,” he says as he steps into the doorway of the closet. “Casey went to the apothecary this morning and opened. She says she’s good to help out whenever you need.”
“Really?” I say, pausing as I frantically search for a shirt. My pride is a struggle for a moment. In all the years I’ve owned the shop, I’ve never had any employees. No one besides Kai and then Lexington has ever given me a hand with it. It’s always been my baby with sole custody. “I—”
“Hey,” Ian cuts in. “It’s okay to have a little help now and then. She’s only going to be working the cash register. It’s not like she’s suddenly going to know how to use your lab and take over.”
I give a little smile, because he’s kind of right, that was a little bit my fear. “I guess it’s for the best. I can’t really afford to lose business. And my life is a tad unpredictable right now.”
“You can say that again.”
I jump when Kai’s voice cuts through the bright morning. He’s just plopped himself down on the end of my bed. I give a little squealing scream and hold the first item of clothing I can find up to my chest.
I’m wearing only a bra and my pajama bott
oms.
It’s one thing when it’s my brother.
It’s another when it’s the man who once wanted a relationship with me.
“A little knocking goes a long way,” Ian glares darkly at Kai. He blocks the door while I hurry and pull a shirt on, covering up. “And I’m not sure how I feel about you just waltzing into my baby sister’s bedroom.”
I push past Ian, giving him a little side scowl. But he’s not entirely wrong.
“It’s fine, Ian,” I say, curling back up in my bed, propping my back up against the headboard. “I mean, Kai’s practically family.”
“Not going to lie,” he says, looking back at me. “Makes it real seeing the actual belly. You’re pregnant.”
I nod, taking in a deep breath. I reach over and pull open the nightstand drawer, pulling out the three pictures from my last ultrasound. I hand them over to Kai as Ian settles into the chair in the corner.
“Wow,” Kai says. “That really is a little person in there. With feet and a nose and everything.”
My hands come to my stomach and almost instantly there’s a fluttering movement inside.
“What did Lexington mean?” Ian says quietly as he looks over at me. “Just before Killian took him away. He said ‘take care of our baby.’”
My throat tightens and I hold my stomach securely. There was something so absolutely sincere in the words when he said them. Since I came back from Vermont, we decided to pretend this baby was Lexington’s all along. But the way he said those words…it wasn’t for pretend.
“Those words weren’t for show,” Kai confirms as he looks up at me from the pictures.
“I don’t know.”
It’s a lie. But I’m not sure I can handle the truth.
Just hours before he was taken away, Lexington told me he loved me. Every part of me. And he pressed a gentle kiss to my stomach.
“I’m hungry,” I say when I can’t handle the weight in the room any longer.
In my head, there’s a constant countdown, ever aware of how many hours are left until the seventy-two are out.
We’re down to fifty-seven of them until Cyrus says he’s going to kill Lexington.
That’s what’s going through my head as Danny drives from the condo to the House of Martials with the King and his assistant as our passengers.
When we arrive, the House looks dark, as if no one is home. But even I can hear the faint sound of voices, the heavy fall of feet from inside.
The five of us walk up the stairs and right in through the door. Suddenly all the voices fall silent and I feel fear seep into the air.
We hook left into the living room, and there they all wait for us.
The entire House of Martials and those from the House of Conrath who have been hunting for Charles.
Duncan and Aleah sit on the couch in the center. I’m not sure how Duncan talked her down after her fit the other day, but here she is, ready to get back to work. And the House members surround her, ready, but nervous.
Robert. Eva and Julie. Valentina and Casey. Po-Sun.
“They may still be small in number,” I say when no one breaks the silence, “but this is where we stand after only a few months of effort. Completely collected from ground zero.”
“Two,” Cyrus says as he studies them all. “Three.” He takes a step forward, clasping his hands behind his back. “Four, five.” His voice grows quiet, calm. And terrifying. “Six, seven. And eight.”
He stands there for a moment, silent, observant.
The Martials raise their chins, even if they look ready to puke. They hold his gaze. They look strong. Sure.
“A false house of only eight,” Cyrus states. “It is difficult to control such a large region with only eight.”
“Alivia started with only six before you came to Silent Bend,” Ian points out. “And she didn’t have to start from scratch.”
Cyrus looks over his shoulder, meeting my brother’s eyes.
“Charles was down to only five members just last fall,” I state. “As of two months ago he only had three. And now he has none. He’s walked away from everyone.”
“He’s turned into a complete and utter failure,” Ian says. “He’s going to get our kind exposed. It would have happened already were it not for the Martials.”
Ian steps forward, standing at my side. “This can’t go on. I know it. Elle knows it. You know it best. We can’t let Charles survive after what he’s done.”
“You seem rather convinced that death is the best fate for the leader of the House of Allaway,” Cyrus says. He turns, taking slow steps toward my brother and I. “You seem to know details. Hold certain levels of malice toward the man. Have exuded a confidence in this request that I don’t think is warranted.”
He stops just a foot in front of the two of us. His eyes are slits. Cold. Hard as ice.
“Why?”
Ian is the first to break. His eyes slide over to me.
And so do Cyrus’ then.
“You hesitate in killing Charles because of the inconvenience it will cause you in establishing a new family to rule,” I say softly, never once wavering under the King’s penetrating stare. “But I have a tale you will be very pleased to hear.”
Ian’s hand slips into mine, and through it, I feel his fear.
Instantly, Cyrus eyes drop from mine, to my stomach.
He inhales a deep breath, as if he can suddenly smell the Royal blood through my skin, down past my bones, into the womb, and from the child I carry.
“I’ve already told you that Charles wants me dead,” I say. And the room is utterly silent. The fifteen vampires in the room lean ever so slightly forward, clinging to every word of my story. “But he also wants me to suffer. He wants to drag this out.”
I look down at my hand that Ian holds, but I’m not really seeing it. Like a fog rolling in, the past takes me over.
“In January, the threats against me grew more real, more frequent, and finally Charles found his window. He got to me, threatened me with Lexington, so I went with him. He took me to Vermont. There he told me the threats you’d made against him.”
“I told Charles Allaway that he was a failure. And that he had one year to produce an heir.” The understanding lightens Cyrus’ words, the look in his eyes growing brighter.
“Charles would kill me,” I say, looking back up, but my eyes fix on a blank space of wall. “Cut my head from my shoulders and deliver it to my brother. But first I would help him survive.”
Cyrus gently takes my other hand in his, holding my arm. He raises it to his face, and slowly, he gently traces his nose over my flesh as he deeply inhales my scent, his eyes drifting closed.
“It is not my fiancé’s child I carry,” I say, almost a whisper. “But the Allaway heir.”
A small gasp pulls from my chest as suddenly there’s a sharp prick in my wrist. My eyes fly open to see Cyrus’ fangs sunk into my flesh.
But just as the numbness and fog begin to set in, Cyrus releases me, licking the open wound to close it.
Those around us barely have time to react before it’s over.
Cyrus licks my blood from his lips, his eyes closed, black veins already retreating on his face. He shakes his head just once.
When he opens his eyes again, they’re brilliant red.
“Charles Allaway will die,” Cyrus says smoothly. “The child is indeed of Allaway blood.”
A collective breath fills the room as relief escapes them all. But the tension does not disappear.
“So, I ask you for your support again,” I say evenly as my eyes rise up to meet the King’s once more. “End this nightmare with Charles. Give your support to the House of Martials. Let them do the job until this child comes of age.”
The oxygen in the room swells as Cyrus holds my eyes for a very long minute. At times, he’s an open book, every emotion on the surface. Other times, he’s a blank, empty slate.
His poker face is almost as good as mine.
“I need to speak to
the cousins,” he finally says. “Alone.”
He turns sharply, and without waiting for a reply, he walks out of the room and up the stairs.
Duncan and Aleah suddenly look at me, a moment of panic in their expressions.
I crack a little smile. I nod my head toward the stairs.
They scramble after the King.
Except there is little privacy in a house filled with vampires who all have incredibly strong, perfect hearing.
We all wait in the living room, absolutely silent. I am the only one who cannot hear what they discuss, but I’m too scared to ask Ian to repeat what is being talked about. The King would hear. And Fredrick stands in the corner, disturbingly still. His eyes stare straight ahead, not seeing anything.
So we all sit silently. For over an hour.
It’s hard to sit still. Hard to wait.
But I feel relief.
No more hiding. No more holding my breath, waiting for the revelation to come into the light.
“You did good,” Ian says quietly.
I only nod my head a little.
I finally hear a door creak as it opens upstairs, another ten minutes later. Footsteps descend, and Cyrus leads the way as the three of them walk back down. He enters the living room and looks around. Duncan and Aleah stand awkwardly at his side, but they both hold themselves a little differently.
“Often when I have to visit different areas, it is to deal with problems. I rarely enjoy them. But today,” a small smile crooks in one corner of his mouth, “today I am quite pleased.”
He has us all hooked, waiting on bated breath, and he’s greatly enjoying the discomfort and anticipation we’re going through.
“Congratulations,” the King finally says. “You are all official members of the reborn House of Allaway.”
A breath of relief releases excitement and smiles and even a cheer from Eva. Robert slowly claps his hands, only a tiny smile forming on his lips.
“The Steele cousins have agreed to lead this House until Elle’s child comes of age to Resurrect. I’ve informed them that they are to have advisors, those who have experience in leadership and our political system; Elle, the House of Conrath, and my chancellor X.”