Chapter 96 Stalemate
❦ Nikolai ❦
Leaving my gorgeous mate in bed was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.
My fingers had seemed glued to her soft, fragrant, platinum hair.
That hair.
My blood heated.
That skin.
Softly pale, blooming with a flush at the slightest provocation.
That mind.
Always plotting, interpreting, learning.
How could she ever doubt her place on that throne?
I chose to walk into the throne room in the castle, which doubled as a hall.
My gaze roved over every decoration and light on the walls, inspecting and judging.
Only the best for my queen.
I’d suggested—insisted, rather, on a joint celebration for Maeve.
Her birthday had been marked by starvation in my chambers in the castle, courtesy of Lilith.
That wouldn’t do.
So we’d celebrate her birthday and coronation in one grand, extravagant event. The most opulent the kingdoms had ever seen.
My soles struck the floors with command as I breezed into the hall.
Servants and workers curtseyed at my presence, yet a celebratory buzz was lacking in the air.
My fists clenched.
The humans, making up sixty percent of the castle staff, looked wary and lackluster.
They knew what a large gathering of vampires meant.
More bloodletting. More casualties. More death, even if accidental.
“Get me the head of human relations,” I ordered the closest servant.
We’d have to invest in security measures for the humans and address their drab moods.
Nothing would be allowed to taint my bride’s ceremony and celebration.
Maeve was reserved, preferring independence. She wouldn’t even assemble a train of maids or allow guards to trail her.
She would have to learn that with great responsibility came the necessary skill of holding crowds close at arm’s length.
If she knew the scale of this celebration, she would balk and demand something smaller.
Like a private ceremony with only the five Crimsons in attendance.
My lips curved in amusement.
She had much to learn, and I’d be right here to guide her.
I took one last look around the demonstration decorations of gold curtains, floral arrangements, and artificial colored light displays.
Satisfactory.
I traced.
“…gouged my eyes. I could’ve killed her…” Lilith trailed off.
I cocked my head at the occupants of Drusilla’s viewing room.
Vladis stood beside a wooden contraption casting images onto the wall—a projection device.
Drusilla sat cross-legged on her favorite settee, the one with glass edges sharp enough to cut bone.
“Ah, you finally join us,” Vladis hummed. “How is she?”
His obvious interest grated on me.
But the entire room waited for my reply.
“She’s content. Thriving.”
Not exactly a lie. We were working toward it.
I trained my gaze on Lilith, my sixth sense buzzing.
“You had your eyes gouged?” I asked.
Her expression shuttered, then she plastered on a sensual smile. “Why, yes. I healed beautifully, as you can see. Thank you for the concern.”
I couldn’t care less if she’d lost her head or been staked. But as a threat to my bride, and a warrior in her own right, I was very interested in who had managed such a feat.
Not many opponents could gouge Lilith’s eyes out in a fight.
“Who?”
The room went strangely quiet.
I met their eyes one by one.
Drusilla focused on her glass of blood, her other hand protectively caressing her midriff. She looked as though she were holding back a smile.
Vladis met my gaze, his face blank as stone, eyes dancing with amusement.
Lilith rolled her eyes. “Your pet. She’s unfortunately stronger than she looks.”
I didn’t react immediately. Couldn’t.
Combing through the last day with my bride, I couldn’t recall her mentioning a fight—much less gouging Lilith’s eyes out.
A fiery maelstrom of fury built.
My fists ached to tear apart the threat.
Rage at the fact that Lilith had laid a hand on my bride warred with the knowledge that Maeve hadn’t mentioned something so serious to me.
Then it dawned—staggering me.
My bride had so little faith in me that she’d chosen to keep such an event to herself.
I would win her favor back at any cost.
Bloodlust clawed up my throat.
To Drusilla, I hissed, “Punish me however you see fit, but you lose a progeny today.”
I turned my burning gaze on the object of my wrath, claws lengthening to dagger-sized points.
A flash of fear crossed Lilith’s face.
Then she smirked—and traced.
I bellowed, immediately tracing to Lilith’s chambers.
Empty.
I slashed at the plastic silhouette holding her coat. The form split in two.
I traced to the rooftop.
Empty.
My vision tunneled red, chest near bursting with malice.
I would kill Lilith even if it ended me.
I traced back to the viewing room, veins boiling, claws leveled at the regent.
“Tell me where she is.”
Drusilla side-eyed me while pouring another glass of blood.
Her pregnancy demanded an unending flow of sustenance. “You forget yourself, Dragomir.”
“You heard her, she could’ve killed my bride,” I hissed.
“If she had,” Drusilla drawled, uninterested, “we’d know Maeve wasn’t meant to be queen. Lilith returned without her eyes. Her life was a gift.”
My eyes narrowed. “You knew.”
Drusilla tilted her head, Crimson gaze satisfied. “I permitted her.”
My breath caught.
Had I misjudged Drusilla’s loyalty to her niece, my bride?
“And now,” Drusilla continued, “we know Lilith will never try it again. She barely escaped with her life. She knows you’re unavailable, and Maeve is untouchable. Two birds, one stone.” She mimed a toast.
“Your involvement won’t stop me from taking her head.”
“Of course,” Drusilla waved it off. “If you can find her.”
She gestured dismissively. “Now, back to the matter at hand. How are you navigating awakening her vampire side? The curse in question.”
My chest heaved as I reined in my rage.
Lilith had escaped me, but not for long.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “The curse activates if I let her mark me. And yet it’s the only way to awaken her vampire side. I believe it was the key to her wolf side as well.”
“Oh?” Vladis inched closer.
Over three hundred years old, he bore the appearance of a blond man in his late twenties. Experience and callousness aged him closer to thirty.
I would’ve preferred not to divulge so much about my bride, but this concerned her life, her very identity.
“She awakened her wolf half by marking her wolf mate. I suspect it would work the same with us.”
Drusilla tapped her chin thoughtfully. “With both sides awakened, she could be the most powerful being in all the kingdoms.”
I studied her. A Crimson-wolf hybrid was powerful, yes, but not as much as Drusilla seemed to imply.
Unless she knew something I didn’t.
“The curse remains a sensitive subject,” I said. “And I fear she won’t heed the warning.”
“Then you must make her heed it,” Drusilla snapped. “The Curse of Wrath in someone like her would be catastrophic.”
“We’d be forced to end the life of a Stone-chosen queen,” Vladis intoned.
Why didn’t he sound troubled by that?
“The ceremony is in two days,” I paced. “We must find a solution. She already struggles with her identity, adding the crown without her powers would crush her. We must awaken her without triggering the curse.”
Drusilla sighed, pallor fluctuating. Pregnancy taxed even her formidable strength.
Too many variables. Too little time.
My bride needed her powers. But how to avoid the curse?
The completion of our bond brought both awakening and ruin.
There had never been a more impossible dilemma.
Vladis polished a glass orb thoughtfully. “Why not let her choose?”
Drusilla’s gaze snapped up. “We can’t. Because I already know what she’d choose.”
So did I.
The moment my bride learned that marking me meant power, nothing would save me from her fangs.
“Then what do you suggest?” I growled. “Time is against us.”
My claws dug into my palms, drawing blood.
I hated the stalemate. Hated that I couldn’t protect her.
Hated that I hadn’t protected her from Lilith.
Worse—I was forcing her into unnecessary training.
Three Crimson vampires in a viewing room, powerless before a curse threatening their queen.
All my bride needed was a complete bond.
And I couldn’t even give her that.