Chapter 83 Coveted
❀ Maeve ❀
We arrived at Drusilla’s viewing room, but I didn’t step back from the kiss. Lips still touching, I marveled at how the summons had affected Nikolai.
He’d had no choice but to obey. He hated it, and I hated it, but neither of us could ignore the call.
If this was what authority did to men, especially Nikolai, then perhaps it was time I learned to wield it.
This time, Drusilla’s balcony was shuttered off.
The room was cold despite the sizable ball of fire in the afternoon sky. Crimson vampires seemed able to defy sleeping patterns.
We finally turned to face the regent, who stood before a large portrait on the wall. Hers.
Drusilla was studying a life sized image of herself.
The tower’s conical roof had slim slits at the peak, reflecting light without exposing the interior to direct sunlight. Clever.
Lilith walked up to Drusilla. I hadn’t realized she was here at first.
Lilith stiffly leaned into the regent’s ear to whisper. Despite my burning curiosity, all I heard were stoic hisses and a low hum of acknowledgment from Drusilla.
Had they just agreed on the most satisfying method of killing me?
The regent would get the throne. Lilith would hound my mate.
I bristled. Let them try.
Lilith traced without a glance back at us.
Then Drusilla turned, her fangs worrying her lower lip as she considered gods knew what. Her mind looked very busy behind her gaze.
Finally, she addressed us. “You’re here. Good.”
I spied Nikolai’s reverent head bow in her direction and wondered if he had to do it every single time he saw her.
I didn’t bow or curtsy. They’d said I was queen, hadn’t they?
And of course, Drusilla noticed. She stared me down without animosity, or maybe she just hid it well.
With a soft wave of her hand, a hidden door opened by the wall after the hearth.
A man entered. Tall, with sharp, dark clothes. A servant.
In both hands he carried a large metal tank. My sharp hearing caught the glug glug sounds from within.
He walked straight to the decanter in the corner and replaced the engraved tank there. Blood.
I’d just realized Drusilla drank mostly from cups, never from the source. Why? How many concessions had she made out of guilt for her sister?
“Leave, Dragomir. I will speak to my niece alone.”
Strangely, I wasn’t disturbed by that, even though she’d shoved my face into fog the last time she’d separated us.
“With due respect, Regent. I choose to stay with my bride.”
I might have imagined it, but I thought I heard a blood vessel burst in Drusilla’s head.
Nikolai was showing his hand too early. I appreciated his loyalty even in the face of his sire, but I didn’t want him to risk his life unnecessarily.
I turned to him. “It’s okay, Nikolai. I can—”
“I’m staying.” He insisted, voice like steel.
Eyes flashing, he looked from me, then to Drusilla.
Drusilla sighed. Then she waved me over.
I followed her to the bar of the extensive viewing parlor. To a table arrangement with high, soft stools.
A marble counter surrounded the bar. On the shelves, blood in different shades of crimson abounded. Very few held clear liquid, and then a solitary, metallic yellow.
The sharp dressed servant stood at attention.
Drusilla regarded me with a curious gaze.
I pointed to a clear bottle. “Water, please.”
Drusilla chose that moment to sip from her glass. The scent of the blood, apparently flavored, reached me. I ignored the way my heart sped up.
My own glass, once served, was chilled despite the hearth’s heat. I marveled, almost tempted to ask about the technology.
“I wanted him out for a reason. He will not like what I have to say.”
I glanced at Nikolai. He’d stiffened, though he faced away from us.
“What’s it about?”
Her gaze turned serious. She traced the rim of her glass. “Do not mark him.”
“What?” I immediately flustered. She was wrong. I didn’t like it more than Nikolai ever could.
Who was she to order me not to mark my mate? To complete our bond?
“Once he finds and kills Graves, I’m sure he’ll be free of the obligations you put on him. Though I wonder if the terms of your agreement still hold.”
My fingers shook under the counter, but I pressed on. “The destruction of Lyssa’s blood was the deal. But now it doesn’t serve you anymore. Is that why you would order this?”
She smiled. “So observant. You’re right. But that’s not all.”
I crossed my arms, dying to hear this. What could ever justify never marking my mate?
“If you mark him, you seal the bond between you. With your condition, you’d be dooming him.” She said it with a hint of snide.
“What does that mean? I’m tired of riddles, okay? I don’t have time for them.”
Power was heady, the prospect of being queen…
“Bonded pairs share everything, strengths, weaknesses, certain traits. In your case, the curse of wrath.”
“The curse of wrath?” I echoed.
“Yes. Your mother was injected with it, a concoction that honed her killer instincts and rewrote her brain and DNA. You inherited it at birth, fueled by your inherent magic. It’s tied to you. You can transmit it through a late bond or siredom.”
Siredom was when I created other vampires with my blood.
My brows furrowed. My heart thumped so hard I could hear it.
I grasped at anything. “But I don’t even have it like that. I only experienced the curse of wrath when I inhaled her blood. Her blood triggers it.”
I hadn’t touched my water. She was on her second glass of blood.
“Don’t be daft. The bond would activate the curse within you and infect him in turn.”
My stomach dropped.
Activate. It made sense.
The magic of my bond with Nikolai would trigger my vampire side, along with my powers and the curse. More than inhaling Lyssa’s blood ever would.
The bond, like the fog, was the match. My blood the kindle and fuel at once.
“How many times has he drunk from you?” Drusilla demanded, her tone harsh. “He already carries your blood within him, waiting for the spark. Your mark would engulf it. Both of you would be lost to wrath.”
I slid down the stool, fists clenched. “I’m sick of all these rules!” I yelled.
Voice wavering, tears welling, I sneered. “Do you have any idea what I’ve suffered? The pain I’ve endured? Just for a paltry dream?”
“Maeve, I know you’re upset…”
“No. You don’t know! All my life, all I wanted was safety, a mate. Basic survival. I finally found shelter? Rules. I finally found my mates? More rules!”
My breaths came fast, anger and frustration slicing through me.
Nikolai was walking toward me, no doubt to console. But Drusilla wasn’t done.
“Look at you. Breaking down at the first hint of consequence. You think power is a ticket to an easy life?” Her eyes flashed. “You will face unfathomable sacrifices.”
“I don’t want it. I don’t. Just find a way to fix this curse I never asked for. And release my mate.”
“I’m not holding him.” She smiled, swirling yet another glass of blood.
What?….
I spun to Nikolai, who now stood beside me. “What is she talking about?”
I’d always been under the impression he could never leave Drusilla. He’d said so himself, insisting he had to defeat Graves to earn freedom.
“Whatever holds him back is purely his own decision. I’d prefer not to see him go, but I’m not collaring him either.”
“Nikolai…” My throat burned. I didn’t want him lying to me.
“I wanted to be able to leave without a debt hanging over my head,” Nikolai said. “I pledged to carry out this mission for my own principles.”
“But you said you couldn’t even come home because she’d sense you and be angry about the mission…”
“Only the first half was true.”
My chest tightened.
He’d manipulated me.
My concern for his safety from Drusilla was a farce. He could leave Veilmoor at any time, but he chose not to, because of principles. At the expense of my life.
Claws pierced my clenched flesh as I stepped toward him. My attempt to intimidate must have been laughable.
He stood tall, eyes fixed on me, no regret in his expression. Was that a hint of satisfaction?
“Take me to Bastian. Now.”
Firmly, he said, “No.”
I tensed to lunge. I didn’t have a plan exactly. Maybe bite his face off. Scratch out his eyes—
“Ah. Almost everyone is here.” Came a low, gravelly voice.
I froze.
I’d heard that voice before. In my last vision of Lyssa.
I turned toward the main doors, but Nikolai’s and Drusilla’s gazes remained fixed on me.
The newcomer followed suit, his eyes tracking my form in a predatory manner.
Time to meet one more relative.