Chapter 245

SEBASTIAN'S POV

For the first time in my immortal life, I'd been deceived. Me....Sebastian, brother to the Vampire King, second most powerful vampire in our territory....fooled by a witch queen with honeyed words and false promises.

The realization burned like silver against my skin as I stood among the ruins of what had once been the White Cave. Smoke curled around my ankles, the scent of ash and magic heavy in the air. I'd destroyed it all in my rage, leaving nothing but rubble and lingering enchantments that fizzled pathetically in the aftermath of my fury.

"Alpha," Craig, my most trusted guard, approached cautiously. "We've searched the entire perimeter. There's no sign of the witch queen or Malia."

I clenched my jaw, the taste of betrayal bitter on my tongue. "And the innocents?"

"They were evacuated before we began the destruction, as you ordered," Paul confirmed. "No casualties among those uninvolved with the witch queen's treachery."

At least I'd maintained that small shred of honor. The innocent would not suffer for my mistakes.

"Sebastian."

I turned at the sound of my name, spoken not aloud but directly into my mind. Heaven, my wife, reaching for me through our bond.

"What is it?" I responded silently, closing my eyes to better focus on her presence.

"Gideon was here," came her reply, her mental voice tight with concern. "At our home."

My blood ran cold. Gideon....Salvador's brother. Salvador, who was supposed to be dead, executed on my orders years ago when his betrayal of my father came to light. I had wanted nothing to do with that bloodline ever again, had believed the matter closed.

"What did he want?" I asked, already moving, signaling Paul to follow.

"He didn't say," Heaven replied. "He left a message: 'Blood calls to blood.'"

A warning, then. Or a threat. Either way, it confirmed my worst fears....I'd been played for a fool.

"I'm coming home," I told her, breaking into a run that would appear as nothing more than a blur to human eyes.

"Sebastian," Heaven's voice came again, more urgent this time. "Something's wrong. I can sense...."

Her voice cut off abruptly, our mental connection severed like a thread snapped by sharp scissors.

"Heaven?" I called, both mentally and aloud, panic rising in my chest. "Heaven!"

There was Nothing! Just Silence where her presence should be.

I ran faster, the world blurring around me, my mind racing even quicker than my feet. How had I been so blind? Malia's desperate pleas for help, her insistence that I leave her with the witch queen....all of it had been part of an elaborate trap. And I, in my arrogance, had walked right into it.

The witch queen had created an illusion, making me believe I was helping Ethan's fiancée when in reality, I was playing directly into Gideon's hands. And now Heaven....my Heaven, the Moon Queen, one of the most powerful beings in our world....was in danger.

No, I corrected myself. Not in danger. Heaven was too powerful to be taken against her will. If she was gone, it meant she had allowed it to happen. Which meant she had a plan.

That thought provided little comfort as I approached our home, a sprawling estate on the border between vampire and werewolf territories....neutral ground for the vampire prince and werewolf queen who had defied tradition to be together.

I slowed as I reached the gates, my senses on high alert. The guards were gone, the usual protective enchantments dormant. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the soft rustling of leaves in the evening breeze.

"Stay alert," I murmured to Paul, who had kept pace with me despite being considerably younger and less powerful. "Something's not right."

We moved through the gardens, approaching the main house with caution. No lights shone from within, no sounds of life reached my sensitive ears. Yet I could sense... something. Presences, muted but unmistakable.

I pushed open the front door, which swung inward without resistance. The entrance hall was dark, but my vampire and wolf sight revealed nothing out of place. Everything was exactly as it should be, yet the wrongness persisted, prickling at my skin like tiny needles.

"Heaven?" I called out, no longer concerned with stealth. If there was danger here, it already knew we had arrived.

No response.

I moved deeper into the house, Paul at my back, until I reached the grand staircase that led to the upper floors. And there, on the bottom step, sat a single white feather....Heaven's calling card, left for me to find.

I picked it up, running my fingers along its impossibly soft edge. A message, but what?

"My lord," Paul said suddenly, his voice tight. "Do you smell that?"

I inhaled deeply, catching what had alarmed him....the scent of wolf, fresh and strong. Not Heaven's scent, which I would know anywhere, but others. Many others.

"Werewolves," I confirmed. "In my home."

But not just any werewolves. These scents were familiar....Heaven's pack, her most trusted allies. What were they doing here without her?

I followed the scents, moving through the house with renewed purpose, until I reached the doors to the great hall. Light spilled from beneath them, along with the murmur of voices and....most surprisingly....laughter.

Without hesitation, I pushed the doors open.

The scene that greeted me was so unexpected, so utterly at odds with the dread that had been building inside me, that for a moment I could only stare.

The great hall was transformed, decorated with flowers and twinkling lights. Tables laden with food and drink lined the walls, and in the center of the room, a crowd had gathered around....

"Sebastian!" Heaven's voice, warm and real and alive, cut through my confusion. She moved toward me, resplendent in a gown of midnight blue that set off her silver hair and amber eyes. "You're finally here!"

I stared at her, unable to reconcile her joyful presence with the severed connection, the fear, the certainty that something terrible had happened.

"What is this?" I managed to ask as she reached me, her familiar scent....moonlight and wild roses....enveloping me.

She frowned slightly, her head tilting in that way it did when she was puzzled. "Our anniversary celebration," she said. "And your birthday. Don't tell me you forgot?"

Our anniversary and my birthday? The dates crashed into my consciousness, and with them, the realization that I had indeed forgotten, so consumed had I been with the witch queen's deception and its aftermath. I don't celebrate birthdays but Heaven will have none of that.

"I..." I began, then stopped, looking past Heaven to the gathering behind her.

And there they were....Ethan, my brother, looking more relaxed than I'd seen him in decades, his arm around Malia, who appeared unharmed and radiant in a gown of emerald green. Beside them stood Davlon, Heaven's brother and Beta of her pack, grinning widely as he accepted congratulations from various guests.

"But I thought..." I turned back to Heaven, confusion giving way to suspicion. "Our connection was severed. You said Gideon had been here, and then you were gone."

Heaven's expression shifted, concern replacing joy. "Our connection wasn't severed, Sebastian. I blocked it temporarily because I wanted to surprise you. And yes, Gideon was here, but hours ago. He left that cryptic message and disappeared before I could confront him."

"And you didn't think to warn me immediately?" I demanded, anger flaring. "You know who Gideon is, what he represents."

"Of course I do," she replied, her own temper rising to match mine. "But he made no threats, took no action. And I had guards searching for him while I prepared for our celebration. I didn't want to worry you needlessly."

"Needlessly?" I echoed, incredulous. "Heaven, I've just come from destroying the White Cave because the witch queen deceived me, used me to get to Malia, who is apparently here, safe and sound, celebrating with my brother who should, by all rights, be furious with me for my supposed betrayal!"

Heaven's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? What betrayal?"

Before I could respond, Ethan appeared at Heaven's side, his expression guarded but not hostile.

"I took Malia to the witch queen," I said bluntly. "She made me believe it was to help transfer powers, but it was a trap. When I realized and returned, they were gone. I assumed..." I trailed off, the pieces refusing to fit together.

"You assumed what?" Malia asked, joining our small circle. Up close, I could see that she was different somehow....a new confidence in her bearing, a subtle glow to her skin that hadn't been there before.

"That you had been captured," I said. "That Gideon was using you to get to Ethan, and that I had unwittingly helped him."

Malia exchanged a glance with Ethan, some silent communication passing between them. "Sebastian," she said gently, "I haven't seen the witch queen in weeks, not since she helped me understand my powers. And I certainly haven't been with you recently."

"But that's impossible," I insisted. "I took you to the White Cave myself, just hours ago. You begged me to help you, said it was urgent."

"It wasn't me," Malia said firmly. "I've been here all day, helping Heaven prepare for the celebration."

I turned to Heaven, whose expression had shifted from concern to alarm. "Then who did I take to the witch queen?"

"A shapeshifter, perhaps," Heaven suggested. "Or an illusion so powerful even you couldn't see through it."

I ran a hand through my hair, frustration and confusion warring within me. "Was the witch Queen messing with my brains again, but why? What does he hope to gain?"

"Revenge," Ethan replied simply. "For Salvador and please stop thinking too hard, you definitely too Malia tyre and we're just trying to mess up your head you cunt!"