Chapter 114 What’s Mine
❀ Maeve ❀
Shivers racked me, making my bones rattle like stones in a tin can.
Vision fading in and out, nonsensical sounds poured from my lips. Pain. All I knew was pain.
But still I fought to be present in the physical world.
I had a faint awareness of the environment changing. I wasn’t in the greenhouse anymore, but in the confines of my castle room.
A dark-haired, red-eyed man stood over me.
An icy cloth was pressed over my forehead.
“Change the water! And bring more oils.” The man snapped. “Her temperature is high, too high.” He mumbled to himself.
I barely perceived the pitter-patter of running feet in answer to his command.
I nearly cursed the man, because his observation made me aware of the temperature he spoke of.
My body was on fire. Not just with pain, but transformation.
I gasped, my back arching off the bed. “Am I… going to… die?”
“You will not die, Milaya. You’re stronger than any prophecy, any stone, or curse.” His voice was feverish as he massaged my aching flesh with deft hands.
Who was this man, and why was he taking care of me?
In the midst of all this, scents called to me. They wrapped around me, pulling me out of my furnace of a body. Pine smoke and cocoa. Eucalyptus and red-hot blood.
The bed was wet with sweat.
A name came to me.
Bastian.
“Pine… smoke…” I mumbled.
The hands on my body froze, then continued on.
One scent was stronger than the other, but I needed them both. I just knew if I had them both, I’d be okay. I’d recover from this torture.
“Bastian… where is Bastian…”
“He’s not here.” The man massaging me snapped. “But I am, so focus on me. You’ll be fine. Just focus on my scent.”
My lips quivered.
But with no choice, I did as he asked.
Nikolai.
Nikolai was here. I’d be fine.
I focused on the thread of his scent, though it tasted a touch bitter and crude.
Blinking to clear my rheumy sight, I sank into his presence.
I’d just taken my first relaxing breath when the air changed.
Nikolai tensed.
“What do we have here?”
That voice. Vladis.
My anger immediately spiked at the name, but I was too weak to even turn my head.
“You did this,” Nikolai sneered above me. I whimpered when he moved away, no doubt to face Vladis.
I willed myself to move, but had no such luck. I was paralyzed by the dual onslaught of my transformation and the Crimson Stone’s pangs.
“That I did,” Vladis said, amused.
“You’re in… luck,” I forced out. “I should have… your head… for this.” I threatened.
“And why would you do that?” Vladis sounded incredulous. “I delivered on my end of the bargain. You’re a vampire now. Soon, you’ll be flitting about the kingdoms as the free little bird you are.”
“The curse activated!” I flared.
“Minor inconvenience,” he returned. “Besides, the brunt of the curse lies in the conduit. And I have many more tricks up my sleeve to keep it that way. Just as we discussed.”
My body chilled.
“What is he talking about?” Nikolai’s voice was ash.
“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Vladis told him.
I sensed Vladis walking closer to me, and I managed to turn my head despite the debilitating pain in my muscles.
My teeth gritted as I beheld his smirking face.
“I told you. A Crimson female, much less the queen, has no shortage of males she can employ for her enjoyment. Enjoy your power—why else did you fight so much to acquire it?”
Before I could respond, Nikolai roared.
He lunged at Vladis so fast he was a blur.
My heart jumped to my throat when Vladis dodged with even more fluid speed.
Vladis was a royal. He was older. He could kill my mate.
Throat raw, I screamed, “Stop it, both of you!”
My eyes widened when Vladis caught hold of Nikolai’s neck and bashed his head into the stone wall. The room shook from the impact.
He dragged Nikolai’s face along like chalk on a board. A glaring line of red was left in its wake.
“You’re a barely yellow chick swinging for the hawk. I will destroy you,” Vladis growled. Demonic wasn’t nearly harsh enough to describe his voice.
I tried to rise on my elbows, but even that was like lifting the world.
“I command you to stop!”
Just before they tumbled out of my line of sight, I saw Nikolai jab his entire arm through Vladis’s chest.
Unlike the myths, vampires couldn’t be killed by destroying their hearts, as they would just regenerate them. It could slow them down, nonetheless.
I twisted on the bed to keep them in my peripheral vision.
Vladis was thrashing my mate.
“Ugh…” I groaned, hating my helplessness.
Then finally, something shifted.
Drusilla appeared in the room.
Nikolai sailed past my side to strike the wall behind her. Stone crumbled around his form, caving into a crater.
Drusilla didn’t turn to regard him. Instead, she glanced past Vladis, then turned her attention to me. “What is this?”
I parted my lips to readily report Vladis… then I remembered the main problem.
The curse of wrath.
Drusilla had informed me of what would happen if it ever got to this.
Vladis’s steps preceded him as he walked in front of my bed.
With arrogant calm, he brushed down his coat and informed Drusilla, “Your pet forgets his place.”
“He’s no one’s pet,” I bit out.
“Your eyes.” Drusilla’s gaze locked onto mine, ignoring Vladis.
Her crimson irises spread over the whites in darkened veins.
Her lips thinned as she said, “You marked him.”
My heart raced.
The pain all over my body was lessening, but with it came a keen awareness of my sight.
Everything was tinged a little red.
Pulsing like a tiny heartbeat. Was this how all vampires saw the world?
I didn’t like it.
“You activated the curse,” Drusilla added.
I forced myself to rise on one elbow, my expression stark.
I’d just gotten my powers, found myself. Curse or not.
I’d be damned if I let a regent end my life right before it got good.