16. Montana

“-have any idea how close I was to turning her?” Erik’s sharp voice made my head ache. And fuck, did it ache. My left shoulder hurt too, more of a slicing pinch than the throbbing in my brain. I didn’t know which was worse.

I groaned, reaching out and finding soft sheets beneath me, disoriented as I tried to place where I was. Memories stirred from the darkness of my mind, of my hand finding my sister’s in the night, reaching over to her bed which was parted from mine by a small gap. No matter what nightmares had found me in the quiet hours of early morning, she had always been there. But now as my hand reached blindly for my twin, I found nothing but empty space.

“Well thank the gods you didn’t,” Miles’s voice filled the air. “She still has to choose one of us at the ceremony.”

“Is that all you fucking care about?” Erik barked at him.

“She wouldn’t be much use to us if she wasn’t human anymore, would she?” Miles retorted.

My chest tightened in horror as I realised Erik had actually considered turning me into a vampire. Were my injuries that bad? And why the fuck was it so important that I was still human for the ceremony?

I shuddered, reaching for the back of my head which was throbbing like a bitch. A bandage was wrapped around it, and the spot I’d hit on the pavement was tender, but there was no blood soaking through, so that had to be a good sign. I was still wearing the dress from the party, and the steady purr of Nightmare against my thigh said the blade was with me.

“Shut up, Miles. Just leave him with her,” Clarice hissed, and the sound of a door shutting sent another dagger through my skull.

I blinked, groggy as I took in the room. My room. I was back in the castle, the shutters open and moonlight spilling through them. How long had I been out cold?

Erik paced toward me, his pants covered in dust and his shirt ripped, stained with blood.

“What happened?” I murmured, my heart rate picking up at his ferocious expression.

“Fabian,” he snarled. “He rigged my car. That should have been us in there.”

Panic spilled through me as the whole explosion came back to me in a flood of clarity. “Brianna…Joshua?”

“Dead,” he confirmed in a cold tone.

I sucked in a breath as that truth burrowed into my heart. I hadn’t known them well, but their loss still cut into me like a knife.

Oh fuck...what if it had been us in that car?

My stomach roiled as nausea gripped me, and I shut my eyes, seeking out a space of calm within me. The safe space inside my mind where nothing bad could ever happen. When I’d grounded myself, I let the fantasy slip away and faced reality again, knowing there was no escaping it.

“Did you catch Fabian?” I asked, desperate to know he’d been dealt with. That he was no longer a threat.

Erik shook his head. “He has an alibi.”

“But you know it was him,” I cried. “I heard him making the plan.”

“No one will believe you,” Erik said in a low tone. “No one but me.”

“So tell them you overheard him,” I growled. “You’re as powerful as him, aren’t you? Surely you can stand against him.”

“I have no proof, Montana,” he spat. “It’s our word against his, and he’ll have a hundred chancellors backing him to the bitter end. Besides...”

“What?” I clipped.

Erik frowned deeply. “It doesn’t make sense that he would set a bomb to kill me. I’m immortal. It would take a lot more than that. It was either a failure by whoever he ordered to set it, or…”

“Or?” I pressed.

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

I wanted to push him for answers, but my head throbbed again and pain bloomed along my left shoulder, distracting me. “Fuck,” I hissed, grinding my teeth through it.

“You should be dead,” he said. “You hit your head really fucking hard. It’s a miracle you’re still breathing. I…” He paced back and forth, stalking around the bed like a caged animal. “I knocked you over, it was my fault. I used too much force. I was trying to put myself between you and the blast.”

I remembered laying on the pavement, his body arced over mine, taking the brunt of the shrapnel from the explosion, and I realised with a jolt what he’d done.

“You protected me,” I whispered, and he stopped pacing, eyes snapping my way.

“Don’t speak those words like I’m some hero,” he snarled. “You are mine to safeguard. You think I would let some rogue assassin take you from me? You think I would give them the pleasure of that?”

“Oh, I get it now,” I said bitterly. “Your little possession got damaged. Scratched up by your brother, or some other enemy of yours. And you can’t stand to take the ego hit.”

His jaw pulsed furiously as he stared at me, taking in the bandage around my head, my shoulder.

“Who tended to me?” I asked, touching the bandages, worrying that whichever vampire had done it might not even know how to look after a human.

“I had a vampire brought here who used to be a human doctor. A piece of shrapnel hit your shoulder, but it didn’t go too deep, though that’s where most of the blood came from. The injury to the back of your head was the most concern to her, but somehow you pulled through regardless.”

I nodded slowly, absorbing that information. “Are you hurt?” I asked, remembering the lacerations I had seen along his back from the shrapnel.

Erik shook his head. “I heal, unlike you. My wounds are long gone already.”

His eyes drifted to the blood on his tattered shirt, and he suddenly took it off completely, tossing it aside. I noticed the faded scars marring his flesh and wondered how it was possible they were there if his body could heal itself. He moved closer to the bed, sitting on the edge of it, angled toward me.

“How did you get that?” I pointed to the crescent-shaped scar on his midriff that looked like it had once been very deep.

He glanced down at it with a frown, and my fingers itched with the quiet urge to touch the silvery mark.

“A slayer. Their blades are designed to hurt us. They’re the only weapon which can leave a scar like this. It takes a lot longer for us to heal from a cut delivered by their blades.”

My heart pounded faster at the mention of the slayers and their weapons. “Fabian told me about them. He said they’re all dead now?” I questioned, wondering how much more Erik might reveal.

He nodded. “Yes, they are long gone. We defeated them many years ago. But there were a few who presented more of a challenge.”

I reached out, unable to help myself as I brushed the tips of my fingers over the scar on his stomach. His skin was silken and not quite as icy as I’d expected, more like glass cooled by the rain.

“Does it hurt?” I breathed, tracing the half-moon.

“Not anymore,” he said, his tone rough. “A slayer called Magnar Elioson gave me this. He was gifted by the gods, as all slayers are, but he was far more powerful than most. He called himself a Blessed Crusader.”

“So the gods cursed you, made you into a vampire, then offered the slayers power so they could-”

“Destroy us,” Erik finished grimly.

I frowned, not sure I believed it. If it was true, and the mark on my arm really meant I was a slayer, I was made to destroy his kind. But after all I had witnessed of the vampires’ cruel dominion, feeling utterly powerless to their rule, it was difficult to believe anyone could fight back against them and win. Then again, hadn’t I proved it possible by destroying that vampire who had come to kill me in this very room?

The gods chose this path for you, Moon Child.

Nightmare’s voice crept into my mind, the blade warming against my thigh and reminding me of its presence. My eyes lifted to the dangerous creature in the room, considering what all this meant if I could accept the possibility of it. I was his sworn enemy, gifted by the gods to cast him from this world, and this very night I had let him lay his hands on me. I had taken a taste of the carnal heat between us and damned myself in his arms. The vampires had hunted the slayers to extinction, and if Erik knew one sat in this bed, I doubted he would hesitate to end me. But then again, Miles had spoken of some importance I held. That the other humans had slayer blood too. And even if mine was stronger than most, maybe Erik would see the value in me his brother had seen. Not that I planned on putting that theory to the test.

Erik’s eyes drifted to the shirt he’d discarded on the floor, a mix of my blood and his staining it.

“Does it make you hungry?” I asked, my skin prickling at the thought.

“Yes. It has been a little while since I had a drink, I will seek one out soon. But I am no animal. It would take some time before I succumbed to the thirst.”

“How long?” I questioned, my voice a little dry.

“Some time,” he repeated, apparently in no mood to elaborate.

Quiet fell again and I wasn’t sure why he remained here, but some fucked-up part of me wanted him to. Perhaps what I really wanted was the company of my sister and Dad. Whenever any of us had been injured or sick, the other two would be their rock. Now, I was alone for the first time in my life, and I found myself wounded in the face of a vampire prince. He wasn’t likely to tell me stories, cook me up soup, or make me tea, but he was bringing something to the situation. A distraction maybe.

“Dad will be here tomorrow, right? In the morning?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, and I blew out a breath of relief, my anticipation for the moment I saw him again making my heart squeeze.

Erik’s eyes drifted to my dress. “You should change.”

I glanced down at the blue dress which was dirtied with ash. There was blood around my collar too, and my left sleeve had been cut away so the bandage could be secured around my neck and shoulder. Thank fuck it hadn’t been the right sleeve, or the slayer mark would have been found.

I pushed myself upright, figuring he had a point, and when he offered me a hand to get up, I took it. He guided me to my feet, and I felt immediately dizzy, my feet stumbling forward. Erik shot into my path, and I crashed into his chest as he caught my arms to steady me. “The doctor gave you some painkillers for your injuries, she said it might make you feel dizzy.”

“I’m fine,” I said, but my feet went stumbling sideways of their own accord and Erik caught me by the waist. Okay, maybe I wasn’t so fine.

He unzipped the back of my dress and I sighed, letting him.

In truth, I needed the help. And even though it was asshole prince offering it, I would have let him continue had it not been for the slayer blade strapped to my thigh.

“I need to pee,” I said quickly, then staggered into the bathroom, pushing the door shut behind me.

I rested one hand on the sink, blinking back the swimmy feeling in my mind and reaching beneath my dress, unwrapping the scarf that held Nightmare in place. I bundled it up in the scarf, then shoved it into a space between the basin and the wall, concealing it from view. That was gonna have to be enough, because my head was spinning.

I flushed the toilet and ran the sink before opening the door, the room tilting a little as I stepped out of it.

“I don’t want any more of those things,” I said. “Don’t let that doctor woman give them to me again.”

“Alright, but the pain will be much sharper by tomorrow. You may change your mind,” Erik said, watching me as I staggered past him towards the closet, clutching my dress to my chest so it didn’t fall down.

I grabbed a pair of silken pyjamas, gritting my teeth with determination and shuffling my way to the bed to place them down. Now all I had to do was take my dress off and put those clothes on.

“Turn around.” I wafted a hand at Erik, and he gave me a dry look before complying.

Getting out of the dress was the easy part, simply letting it drop to the floor to pool around my feet. I had no underwear on beneath, thanks to Erik stealing the pair of panties I’d been wearing, and the bodice of the dress had required no bra. I picked up the silk shirt which was a button-down style with long sleeves that would cover my mark. I slid my arms into it, then stepped out of the dress, but instead of placing my foot down, I somehow started tilting backwards instead. Gravity was my newest nemesis as my ass hit the floor, and I cursed in pain as I threw my arm back to catch myself, jarring my injuries. And painkillers or not, it still hurt like a bitch.

Erik was suddenly there, scooping me into his arms like a baby and sitting me on the edge of the bed. The pyjama shirt hung open, exposing my body to him, but he looked at nothing but the pyjama pants, grabbing them and stooping down to put them on me. He caught my ankle in a tight grip, pushing it into the left leg and I offered up my right, giving in to the inevitable.

He slid them up my legs and I lifted my ass as he tugged them all the way on then he caught hold of the shirt and started buttoning it down from the top with deft fingers.

My gaze flicked up, watching his face, a stern concentration lining his features. He was so deep in my personal space, there was no escaping him.

Words of thanks got stuck on my tongue, too heavy to take flight.

We were so close, his hand resting on the bed beside me, his eyes on mine, my breaths fluttering against his mouth. The world made so little sense when we were this near to one another, like the laws of the universe no longer applied.

Erik’s phone rang in his pocket, and he stood up straight, snatching it out.

He lifted it to his ear and pressed the screen. “Straight to the point Wolfe, what is it?”

My thoughts sharpened at the name.

“What?!” Erik roared, his sudden anger making me flinch in alarm. “How is that possible?”

He fell silent as Wolfe answered and my heart thumped harder as I tried to hear his answer, but it was too quiet to catch.

“Who said that?” Erik hissed, grinding his teeth whilst Wolfe replied. “Good, bring her here immediately. And don’t you dare play your usual games with her. She is the sister of my courtier, do you understand? That makes her life more valuable than yours.”

“Callie’s there?” I gasped, shoving to my feet and reaching for the phone in his hand, a lifeline that suddenly connected me to my twin. “Let me talk to her!”

Erik caught my wrist to hold me back, listening to something Wolfe was saying.

Terror clawed up my throat at knowing Callie was with that monster of a general. That she hadn’t outrun him. She’d been caught after all.

I reached for the phone with my other hand, but Erik twisted away to stop me getting close. Desperation filled me and I could almost sense my sister on the other end of that phone call, so close and yet untouchable.

“Callie!” I yelled, needing to speak to her, to hear her voice.

“That’s not possible.” Shock poured through Erik’s eyes at something Wolfe said. “Describe him,” he growled and a moment later he ground his jaw so hard I was sure he was going to break some teeth. “Get his fucking name, Wolfe.” He hung up a second later and his gaze drifted down to me.

“You didn’t let me speak to her,” I snarled, my eyes scorching with unshed tears.

“She’s fine, rebel. Relax. Wolfe will bring her here.”

A jagged lump rose in my throat, and I looked away, my heart sinking at knowing she had been captured. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She was meant to remain free, and Dad was meant to join her.

“Get out,” I said quietly, rage and fear tangling together to make my hands shake.

“Montana-”

“Get out!” I screamed.

He glared at me with frustration in his eyes before turning his back on me, marching from the room, and slamming the door behind him.

I sank down on the bed with my thoughts in turmoil. Callie was safe, but she was also with Wolfe, and he’d already threatened to hurt her. Would he keep his word to Erik and bring her here in one piece?

I scrambled off the bed, moving into the bathroom and gripping the sink as I got hold of Nightmare, gripping the golden hilt.

Its essence was dark, and its stony silence didn’t bode well, but a little warmth trickled from the metal into my palm. I glanced at the mirror, liking the way the blade looked in my hand, like it had always been meant to find me.

Callie was alive at least, and that was what I had to hold on to. She would be brought here with Dad, and perhaps I could bargain for her freedom too. Though the way Erik had spoken of her value stuck a needle of dread in my heart.

I couldn’t bear for her to come here and get wrapped up in the twisted company of the royals, to befall the same fate as me. The ritual was almost over, so perhaps she would avoid the bullshit I’d been put through. I just didn’t know.

Fuck, she was going to be so angry if she learned of what had happened between Erik and me.

I recalled the feeling of his fingers inside me, the press of his powerful body crushing me to the wall. I’d wanted it, that was the worst part of it, or perhaps it was how much I’d enjoyed it that was most shameful. It was pointless denying the lust between us now, the hatred that sparked into flames until they roared, demanding more. Until eventually, I gave in to the want that lay beneath my vitriol, seizing a moment in the arms of a monster and ending up appalled with myself because of it.

I drew in a deep breath, trying to unwind my web of thoughts to no avail. Nightmare pulsed against my palm, and I gritted my jaw, resilience carving a passage through my chest.

I gazed at my reflection and a warrior stared back, willing to go to war for those she loved. Tomorrow would be a day of reckoning. Both the day of the choosing ceremony, and the day my family were returned to me.

I only had hours left to decide which promise I was going to keep, and who I would select because of it.

All I knew for sure, was that when midnight came again, I’d be betrothed to a beast.