Chapter 21 Chapter 21
KILLIAN
“Huh?”
“She’s your mate.”
“I heard you the first time,” I replied, frowning at her odd words, and mother raised a brow. “That’s… not right.”
It wasn’t just not right. It was impossible. A vampire having a mate was rare, but a vampire having a mate that wasn’t a vampire had never happened before. Not to talk of said mate being a werewolf… Well, technically, Lenore wasn’t a full-blooded werewolf—she couldn’t even shift—but she was still a descendant of one. It didn’t make any sense.
“Why would I lie to you?” mother asked as she placed a hand on my shoulder. It wasn’t exactly her hand though, it was the paw of the costume she was wearing, and staring at it while questions rushed into my mind like a tsunami hitting land only made my frown deepen.
I couldn’t believe it. I knew mother wouldn’t lie to me, and besides, my feelings towards Lenore—who I’d only known for four days—had only been growing stronger since the night I met her, but I still couldn’t bring myself to believe it… Or I didn’t want to believe it.
“She’s your mate, Killian.”
Lenore’s face swam into my mind. Her mouth-watering scent. How soft her lips had felt against mine. The way I desperately wanted to touch, taste, and possess every inch of her. How I felt like my very soul was crying out for her.
But then there was one thing that was prevalent when it came to my thoughts of her—the fear that always overcame her expression at the sight of me. And, like it was new information, the fact that I’d tried to kill her twice came to mind.
Gods…
“Of that, I am certain. After all, I was the one who asked the gods to give you one,” mother continued and my brows snapped together. “As to why she—”
“What? When did you… Why?”
Asking the forgotten gods for something was no small feat—they were forgotten for a reason—and they certainly weren’t the kind to do something out of the goodness of their hearts. What did she give in return?
Mother sighed and reached out, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Look at you.” She smiled softly while I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Lenore was my mate.
A mate that, apparently, my mother had requested for me.
She opened her mouth to stay something else, but suddenly, her smile dropped and she averted her gaze from me. “...The wards are down.”
“What–”
“You should go.”
“Wait–”
She got to her feet without hesitation and began to walk away, but I grabbed her hand. She turned around.
“Mother.” There was still a lot I wanted to talk to her about, but I could already feel myself slipping out of this dream. “I…” It felt like I was a child again, refusing to let go of the sleeve of her dress whenever she wanted to leave the palace. “Will I see you again?”
Pressing her lips together, she gently squeezed my hand and placed her other hand on it. “In due time,” she said, and before I could respond, the world fell away. I was falling and flying at the same time, and then just as suddenly, it stopped.
The first thing I did right after was heave large gulps of air. Air that clung to the back of my throat and coated my mouth with a sweet, stale, metallic scent.
I was still on the floor in my mother’s vault with the harrowe, which was still in my stomach, sending bursts of bright and clarifying pain throughout my entire body every second. My strength was completely gone, so all I could do was just lay there and stare at the ceiling as my mother’s words replayed in my mind.
She’s your mate, Killian.
“Lenore…” I muttered, and just the thought of her made it feel like life was being breathed into me anew. “Oh…”
The corners of my mouth twitched and I couldn’t help but wonder if she felt the same way at the thought of me. Then the memory of her plunging to the ground after I threw her off a roof flashed through my mind and I didn’t have to wonder anymore. Gods, I had to fix this. I needed to go to her.
Sucking in a breath, I began to force sensation into my fingers which felt frozen at the moment.
Was she still in my room? I didn’t know how long I had left her there because time moved differently in the dream world.
A slight buzz started in the tips of my fingers and I began to work the sensation up and all the way to my shoulders. It was slow and torturous, especially with the harrowe still feeding off me, but I had no other option right now.
I wrapped my hand around the hilt of the dagger, gritting my teeth as I pulled the dagger out as fast as I could. Which wasn’t very fast. It felt like I was being ripped apart limb by limb and the pain was so intense, it was nearly blinding. But I didn’t stop.
By the time I finally got the blade out of me, it felt like my teeth were about to grind to dust. After shooting the dagger a disgusted look, I tossed it away and it hit the ground with a sharp clatter. Then I just lay there, waiting for the pain still radiating through me to dissipate and for sensation to return to every other part of my body.
As I regained a bit of my strength, every breath felt like sandpaper against my throat. I needed to feed.
I should do that before going to see Lenore. She definitely won’t take me trying to feed on her well.
Groaning, I staggered to my feet, my legs shaking under the effort, before a pang that had nothing to do with the harrowe went through me. My vision swam. Fuck! I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this thirsty.
I managed to stumble out of the vault, unconsciously noting the absence of the guards who were meant to be at the door. My father had most likely dismissed them after puppeteering me to stab myself. Molten anger rolled through me at the fact that he had managed to bend me to his will, but I shoved it down. I’d deal with my father later. I needed to get to the cellar now.
As I made my way down the hallway though, a scream tore through the air, and I stopped in my tracks. Screams weren’t unusual in Eyrosa, and even less so in the palace. But the fact that Lenore was in the palace changed things.
I’d left her alone in my room. Fabien wasn’t in the palace, and I’d been out for gods knew how long, so there was no one protecting her. If that scream was hers—
My mother’s words echoed in my head, loud and absolute. Not her words about Lenore being my mate, but the ones about the wards being down.
Shit.