40. Forty

Fuck that man could kiss.

It would have been easy to forget where we were—the stakes against us. But I managed to break the spell and pull Vastian to his feet. I had a momentary crack, and even though I was still pissed—not as much, really—we had shit to do.

“Alright,” I sighed, blinking through the rain and glancing around. “How do we get off this island?”

“We don’t.” Vastian sobered up, too, as it would seem. He quickly fell back into his skittish, paranoid stance.

“Don’t do that.”

“What?” he asked as if he didn’t know.

“Stop panicking. I am immortal, remember?”

He dropped his gaze, nudging the mud with his boot. “But you can still be tortured.”

I smirked. “Baby, that’s just an average Monday night.” Taking his hand, I started walking. “There must be a port, dock, or rowboat somewhere.”

“It is heavily guarded. My kin don’t take kindly to intruders, and leaving isn’t something we do frequently.”

“What about a cave? An abandoned building? Anywhere that won’t be crawling with Vampyrs.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “The cove. It is too risky, though. We’d be walking right past the Calix Coven.”

“Fucking Brianne,” I said, blowing out my lips.

At that point, we were better off swimming to the mainland, which was tempting. In the same thought, I remembered that raider camp Vastian willed from existence. He claimed that it was on their border. If this was an island, where the hell was the border?

“Where was the raider camp?” I stopped and looked at him.

“The outskirts of our territory. South of here but on the northern section of the continent.”

“And how, my cherub, did you manage to get there?”

He chewed his lip, unwilling to meet my eyes. “Phillipe commandeered a schooner.”

“How the fuck did they traverse through the ocean as undead?” I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“Alright, fine,” he conceded. ”There is a single bridge—but we can’t go that way, Atreyis.”

I snorted. “And why the fuck not? I can take out a few guards.”

“Vampyr guards. Do you even know how to kill one?” He cocked a brow at me.

“Well… no, but it can’t be that hard.”

Vastian sighed, pulled me over to a tree, and yanked me into his arms. “Damian”s residence is near the bridge. It”s a ten-minute walk at best. I… can’t go there.”

The look on his face, coupled with the shudder and tone of that last sentence, confirmed my suspicions. His former lover, Damian, was also his rapist. The list I’d mentally accumulated reshuffled then. Damian was at the very top now.

I think I’ll visit him.I’ll say hi. How do you do, and then rip his cock off.

“Spill it. How do I kill a Vampyr?”

He met my eyes then. “There are two definite methods. One is almost impossible because we have seized all the weapons made in the past. Blacksteel. The other requires more diligence.”

“I’m listening,” I slapped his arm playfully.

“You need to get close, and seeing as we move at a speed most can’t even see, that will provide a challenge for you. But, if you can, you must pierce the heart and, within a few seconds, perform decapitation. The heart has to come first. Otherwise, we will heal.”

I gawked at him. My jaw fucking hung to my chest. “How can you heal through getting your head lopped off? I mean, I probably could, but I’m cursed!”

“I’ve always thought that we, too, were cursed.”

I palmed at my face, grumbling under my breath. How was I supposed to live out the carnage that I demanded if these fuckers were that hard to kill? “Are you opposed to swimming?” I finally looked at him with narrow eyes.

He laughed, bitter and not amused. “I’ve tried that. Several times. I was always caught.”

Unable to hold back, I punched the tree next to us. Talk about a fucking nightmare. If we got out of this place, I knew where my first stop would be. And here I thought she couldn’t do anything more to piss me off.

Growling, I pulled him away from the tree, and we kept moving. To where? Fuck if I knew, but I wasn’t going to stay still. I couldn’t die, but Vastian could. No one is touching him.

For a forest, on a hunk of rock, floating in the ocean—it went on forever! And where was the sun in this place? I couldn’t tell if it was day or night; the rain kept hammering into us, and the clouds were thick and black. Maybe the gods were shitting on me and giving me not-so-subtle hints that I wasn’t getting a shred of help.

After what I did to Lucios, I really couldn’t blame them. I didn’t deserve a break or Vastian. But one of their own trusted power to him. Would they really pay no heed to the predicament we were in? I hope not.

“Where are we going?” I asked Vastian, who’d been eerily quiet.

“Doesn’t matter,” he sighed and perked up a little. Scanning the trees, he tilted his nose. “It”s so bloody wet, I can’t smell anything else.”

“Any chance that it’s morning and all of them are asleep?”

He gave me a sidelong glance. “No. Despite what time it truly is, the grounds are enchanted. Sunlight doesn’t affect us here.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered. We had absolutely no advantage.

“Wait,” he chirped and halted. His chin cocked to the right.

“What?”

“Quiet!”

Looking in the direction he was, I couldn’t tell if I heard hooves or thunderous rain. Judging by Vastian’s demeanor, I was betting on the former. My stomach bottomed out in my ass, and my heart rate kicked up into overdrive. I danced in place, itching to run.

“Vastian,” I whispered, but his name was clipped on my tongue. I jerked on his hand, but he wouldn’t fucking budge. He was paralyzed with fear.

Growling, I knelt, flung him over my shoulder—which was not easy—and started walking in the opposite direction. It took him a few moments to realize what I’d done, then he flailed. Plopping him back down to the ground, my back and legs thanked me. I debated slapping him again if only to snap him out of this fucking daze, but just as I decided not to, I saw them.

At least ten men clad in golden armor, unlike anything I’d ever seen approached.

It was fucking medieval, looked really uncomfortable, and my brain wanted to examine it longer to figure out what possessed these people to wear it. But Vastian grabbed my arm, and the next thing I knew, I was flying. Not literally, but he moved so fast that my legs flew off the ground, dangling behind my torso. Every time I tried to plant them to keep up, the force at which he ran kicked them back up. My cheeks flapped against the wind, and I couldn’t even open my eyes. At some point, he flung me into his arms like a child.

“They won’t get far!” Someone called from behind us.

How are they so close?Vampyrs, Atreyis, they are fucking Vampyrs.

Vastian slid to a stop over a massive cliff. The crashing of the waves beneath us and the tall, jagged rocks at the bottom were obscured by the flap of his hair smacking me in the face.

“Fuck!” he roared and flipped around, still holding me, and I pawed at him to put me down. “Atreyis,” he glanced at me, “they will catch us. If you run, they will be too distracted by me to bother.” He set me down gently.

“I’m not leaving you,” I snapped, squaring my shoulders, ready to fight.

“Atreyis!” He grabbed my face, forcing my eyes to his. Tears pooled in them. “You have to run.”

I held him back just as firmly and said, “Never.” Then I kissed him quickly.

When I turned back to face our pursuers, I moved to stand in front of him. If they wanted Vastian, they’d have to go through me. They stalked through the tree line, no longer on their horses, and swords were drawn.

“Well, look who finally decided to return,” one said.

“Move!” A voice called from behind the five who’d caught up.

Vastian flinched behind me. Breaking their stare momentarily, I saw him eyeing the cliff. Was he going to fucking jump? I grabbed his wrist. If he jumped, so would I. Breathing through my nose, trying to calm myself, I watched the Vampyrs split, and a new face approached.

He was beautiful. You’d have to be blind to ignore it. That man’s bed was never empty, and people were most likely lined up somewhere waiting for their turn with him.

Every feature of him was defined. Not even the tip of his nose was blunted. He almost looked like an elf but prettier. Perfectly groomed hair that he had brushed back. It was a robust auburn, and even though it was wet, I knew it would shine like a fire in the light. His glowing hazel eyes swirled with colors. This man wasn’t in armor, though. He wore a tailored three-piece crimson suit, cream handkerchief, and black shoes. He was built similarly to Vastian but not as bulky. He was short, though. The top of his head probably met my chin.

“Back off,” I growled when he approached. He had an air to him. Similar to the rich fucks that sometimes hung out too long in the Under Cloud.

Like they were too good for you, no, that wasn’t quite right. Too good for anyone.

“Harboring a traitor is unwise, mortal.”

I laughed. His voice was so bad. Holy hell, the man sounded like he had swallowed a squirrel. Okay, maybe not that high-pitched, but compared to the god-like bass of Vastian’s, I couldn’t hold it in. “Did your balls not drop yet?” I said, cupping my mouth as my grin got bigger.

He blinked. “Someone remove this… this… thing.” He waved his hand lazily, and the rest lurched forward.

“Oh, come on!” I called as he turned on his heel, stepping away from what he assumed would be an easy capture. “I didn’t mean it! I’m sure your balls are big and dangly!”

Jerking his chin, he called, “Kill him.”

The golden suits charged us. To my surprise, Vastian shoved me out of the way, dodging and weaving the swords with precision before disarming a soldier and brandishing his sword. Then the dance really started. Every time they swung, he parried. But there were too many. I didn’t know how to use a sword, but how hard could it be?

I flung myself onto one, locking my arms around his throat and burying my heels into him. He jerked, his free hand clawed at my arm, ripping the flesh open. Blood splashed on his shiny boots, but I didn’t let go. He’d have to do better than that. Spinning us, he made the mistake of dropping his sword to have a better grip. He reached for my face in the same instant as I released him, rolling through the mud and grabbing the sword. It was heavy, knocked me off balance, and the firm punch that cracked into my face brought me to my knees.

I could do more damage if I had my pistols or a knife. But alas, this stupid sword was what I had to work with. He craned his arm back to come down with another punch, but I jammed the blade into his armpit. He recoiled, hissing. Vastian was still fighting off four men, and in my peripheral, the rest of the party was about to join in. The pretty boy stood to the side, inspecting his fingers as if this was the most boring thing he’d ever witnessed.

What a cunt.

Vastian yelped, and I flung my attention back to him. “Don’t kill him, you bloody imbeciles!”

One of their swords was through his heart. He heaved, gripping the blade with both hands, and blood dripped from them. Unable to stand the sight, I regripped the sword and shoved it through the man’s neck. He dropped, and I battle rammed through the Vampyrs. Not really moving as much as I wanted, they caught on quickly, and before I could react further, I was pinned to the floor. Writhing under them and bucking like an ensnared beast, I saw the squirrel boy had moved into the circle.

“Don’t touch him!” I roared.

“It’s okay,” Vastian croaked, looking at me.

That stupid, pretty boy slid the sword from his chest, and Vastian breathed. Jerking up Vastian’s chin, he leaned close. “You thought we’d forget? That you could get away? That you could disobey me?”

But I didn”t bend tohis will. I didn”t obey.

All the color left my face under the realization. Aryn hadn”t said that to Vastian. This shit stain had.

“Queen Verali will be most pleased.”

“Just let the mortal go. He doesn’t need to be involved.” Vastian didn’t meet the man’s eyes and spoke barely above a whisper.

“Oh, Damian,” I mused. He slowly turned his head to me. I grinned. “That’s right fucker. I know who you are. And I never forget a face.”

He cocked a brow but then turned his attention back to Vastian. I struggled again to get those fuckers boots off my back, but it was useless. I saw red in the way he touched Vastian and the way he looked at him.

“It doesn’t surprise me that you’d do this,” Damian said to Vastian. “You could never keep your atrocities under wraps.”

Blowing air through my nose like a bull, I managed to kick one of them. “Says the guy with the voice of a chipmunk!”

“Someone bloody kill him,” he said, gesturing to the guy with his boot on my neck.

I smirked. “Oh, please do. There”s nothing I want more.”

The sword pierced my spine. There was a momentary sting of pain, and when he pulled it out, I am pretty sure some organ followed. But as I counted the seconds and didn’t take my eyes off Damian, his face crumpled. So I started humming, kicking my heels along with the melody.

“You turned him?” Damian growled, jerking Vastian’s chin harder. Gods, that man was dense. “Answer me!” Spit flew from his lips, landing on my man. Oh, I was going to do heinous things to this guy.

“Commander, we need to report this to the Queen.”

“Not yet,” he ground out. “Not until I’ve interrogated them both.”

I scoffed. “Good luck, buttercup.”

A yell rattled from his throat as he dropped Vastian’s chin, two soldiers taking his place as Damian stomped over to me. He grabbed my wrist and pulled with such force my arm tore off my body.

“Fuck!” I yelled out as blood squirted everywhere.

”No!” Vastian roared, fighting back now that I was missing an arm.

The twisted fuck brought my now detached limb to his mouth and licked it. “He’s fucking mortal, why isn’t he dead?”

Vastian must’ve gotten his second wind because bodies went flying out of the corner of my eyes. Damian spun, dropping my arm. The two Vampyrs colliding turned into a blur of color. They just moved too fast. Squirming, I nudged the stump closer to my arm. As long as I was close enough, the thing would reattach. The tendons, veins, and strings of flesh stretched out, attempting to connect. I forced down the vomit that scratched the back of my throat.

Just because it was convenient didn’t make it any less repulsive.

As I was made whole again, Vastian was flung to the ground. Damian mounted him and punched him viciously. “Didn’t you learn? I will always win. And you?” He paused to reach between Vastian’s legs. “You will obey me.”

That does it.

The weight shifted momentarily, and I rolled, knocking the Vampyr holding me down over. Kicking with as much force as possible, I snapped his knee backward. I brought my leg up again as he fell, smashing my heel into his face. Scrambling to stand, I sprinted to Damian, tackling him. With my hands around his fucking throat, I squeezed. His eyes flickered under me, realization sparking when he noticed I had two fucking arms again.

In my haste to get Damian, I momentarily forgot about everyone else. The next thing I knew, a blunt force cracked into my skull. My vision immediately blurred, but I didn’t go down. My fingers were glued to this guy’s throat, and I wasn’t letting up. Grunting and snarls echoed in my ears, but all I saw was the man who raped Vastian. The man who hurt Vastian. And I couldn’t fucking kill him. He brought his arms up, slamming mine down, breaking a bone on impact.

Recoiling, I was immediately restrained, and then the beating started. Hilts and fists thundered in my eardrums as my brain rattled around. Vastian was down. Damian towered over him and pulled a leather pouch from his vest pocket. I couldn’t see what was drawn over it, but he opened it and dumped the contents onto Vastian. Moments later, a flash of silver wrapped around his throat.

“No,” my own clenched as consciousness slipped away. It was dark after that.