Chapter Ninety-Nine

***Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that The Devil's Bride is now available for preorder! The full book will be released in an ebook version, and there are 100 slots available for preorder for now. I might increase the amount, but that depends on how many wish to order the full version. To purchase, please view the link on my Instagram bio, @KeyKirita. If you do not have Instagram, feel free to find me on either Twitter or Facebook, the same username. Thank you, everyone, for supporting me during my journey!

-KeyKirita***

"Wait, I'm sorry, but why do you need your king to turn her? I know vampires can turn humans." Jacob interjected, leaning forward in his seat as he waited, his black eyes thick with confusion. When we all turned to look at him, he held his hands up, "It wasn't an attack, just an honest question."

"Yes, I could turn her. But when a vampire turns a human, it gives them every right to claim them as their own. By vampire law, that is. So, by having Damien turn her, she won't feel like she belongs to me, and I have no right to claim her as such. Well, that and the fact that there's no chance of her dying from it." Sam explained, motioning for Jacob to lower his hands. *'Oh yeah, I forgot about that law. One of the stupidest laws I've ever heard of. But at the same time, I guess it does make sense.'* I thought, remembering when that kid interrupted Damien and me at his office, because Dana had turned him, and was telling him that he belonged to her.

"Wait, so if you go out and turn a human right now, she belongs to you?" Octavia gasped out, shaking her head in disbelief. "What kind of sardonic bullshit kind of law is that? You're the king, Damien. How could you let a law like that exist?"

Damien shook his head with a sigh "I don't have a choice in the matter, Octavia. The reason the newborn belongs to the vampire is that their venom remains inside of them until the newborn can make their own. That depends on how strong-willed the vampire is. Or in other words, until the vampire is no longer a newborn, and has control over themselves, they aren't considered their own vampire."

"Nope, that didn't help at all," Octavia said, motioning for him to explain further.

"Sinclair, you always explain it best," I said, looking across the table to him, watching as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do all of you know how a vampire is made?" Sinclair asked, and waited for the nods from Octavia, Kerr, Jacob, Jaxson, and Samantha. "I'll explain it based off of Lucifer and me. I created Lucifer with my venom, and while he was a newborn, he still had my venom coursing through his veins. When Lucifer regained his control, he made his own venom, which removed mine from his system. Or, if it helps you any, their children. When Bast first became pregnant, the children were making their venom, which was spilling out into Bast, which gave her vampiric abilities that she could tap into, as you've seen."

"So that's why you can do that?" Kerr asked, then nodded, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, the vampire can only claim them while their venom is still there, but once it's gone, they can't?"

"The law isn't that the vampire can claim them, but rather that they have to," Damien said, putting his arm around my waist to pull me closer. "The vampire is held responsible for what their creation does, which is why the law was originally set in place. But, as creatures such as myself do, they twisted and distorted the law into something dark and demented."

"See, that makes a hell of a lot more sense. Claiming responsibility for your actions, whether you want to or not. Now I can see why that law exists, and better yet, why you can't or won't change it." Octavia said, then stood to grab two rolls of paper off of the ground that was set off to the side. "Now, what in the fuck did you mean when you said Samantha doesn't have a chance from dying from it. I didn't know a human could die from being turned."

"Yes, there's always a chance, especially if the vampire doesn't know what they're doing. Are those our layouts?" Sam responded, standing to take one of them, and handed it to Kerr.

"Yup, one daytime, one night time," Octavia said, setting down the daylight on her side of the table. Everyone at the table stood to look down at the layout, but couldn't move it, otherwise, it would snap back into its rolled shape. "Bast, time to practice honing your ability and making it hold."

"Wait, what?" I gasped, looking over at her, shaking my head.

"Have you noticed how there is always a breeze in this room, and how the sun is always shining? That's because I'm constantly keeping it going, which helps me keep my control. For you, were going to start with something easy. First, you're going to channel air, to keep the four sides of this print down. It's just four little bubbles, Bast, you can do this. If it helps, imagine four little rocks of air."

"I'll try," I said with a shrug and looked at the four corners of one of the printouts, trying to imagine what Octavia said. I imagined four rounded rocks, transparent, but heavy. I could feel the air element coursing through me as I did this, making the air around me feel colder, yet warmer at the same time. Octavia and Damien slowly let go of the printout, making sure it was steady before releasing it fully. Once I was sure I had the "rocks" set steadily, I turned my attention to the page that Kerr and Sam were holding down, picturing the same thing. This time, I was able to do it much easier, as I already had the picture and the feeling in my head.

"Now, you don't have to remain focused on it, but try to keep it in the back of your mind," Octavia said as she walked around the table to stand next to Kerr, looking at the daylight version of the layout. "She took an overhead view, and one from the back, pointing towards the front, where the woods are that I was planning on camping out in."

"Where are the others?" Damien asked as he looked between the two layouts, scoffing softly. "And they call vampires showoffs?"

"Elementals are the worst, no offense, Octavia, and Bast," Hanna said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, they are off to the side, over there," Octavia said, without looking up from the layout, pointing in the direction of her chair.

I grabbed the new layouts and set them on the end of the table, but didn't unroll them yet as I looked at the layout. The elementals home looked a lot like Octavia's town, but much older, like a temple. In the nighttime version, the temple was well lit, with torches edging the open concept. "Am I the only one that finds it weird that there are no people in either of these photos?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I crossed the table to look at the other version. In both, the only real difference was that the torches were lit, but the layout itself could be seen much better in the daylight version.

"You're right, that is a bit weird. Octavia, do you think it's possible they were warned?" Damien asked her as he unrolled one of the other layouts and set it between the other two before smiling at me, "Think you could do a third?"

I smiled and nodded, surprising myself as I was able to do this one near immediately, getting giddy at knowing that I could do it so easily this time.

"Your ability to learn so quickly is amazing, fighting with you is going to be fun," Octavia said with a smile, nodding her approval to me, before looking at Damien. "I can't think of anyone outside of my town that would have told the elementals, or anyone that knew, really."

"Fuck! We should have killed that traitorous weasel!" Jacob yelled, bringing his fist down on the table with a snarl, shaking his head. "Kye."

"Kye? That worthless sack of mimic filth!" Kerr growled. "That's what happens when you sleep with that dumb bitch, Rose."

"Rose Edwards?" Damien asked, then started laughing, joined by Sam and Bartholomew, who began laughing as well.

"Wait, you slept with Rose? You dumb fuck!" Bartholomew laughed, patting Kerr on the back like he felt bad for him.

"Who is Rose Edwards, and why is it so funny that Kerr slept with her?" I asked, looking around the table. Other than me, only Samantha and Jaxson seemed just as clueless as I was to who they were referring to.

"She's a vampire, with a thing for packless hybrid mimics. She's known for finding, seducing, using, then killing them." Sinclair explained, shaking his head and growling lowly.

"I asked about vampire and mimic relationships and none of you could stop talking about how gross it was," I said, throwing my hands up in defeat. *'If it's so gross, why is it that they don't see anything wrong with this Rose ladies preference?'*

"Because it is disgusting, but a packless hybrid isn't the same as a hybrid in a pack, and it's not the same as a full mimic. I guess we don't smell like a wet dog quite as much as the full mimics. And she's the only vampire I ever met who preferred to be with a mimic of any type." Kerr said as he sat back down, closing his eyes. "No, I didn't know about her reputation for killing packless hybrids until it was too late."

"Okay, that's not a red flag or anything," Samantha breathed quietly, trying to stop herself from giggling as she stood next to me, looking down at the nighttime version. "What is this?" She asked, pointing to what looked like a smudge on the picture.

I tapped into my vampire sight to try to focus better on it, and it looked like a... Did it look like a baby? "That looks like a baby," I said softly as I leaned forward to try to get a better look at it. "That's a wolf."

"What? Samantha, if you don't mind?" Damien asked as he came to stand next to me, nodding to Samantha as she took a step back to allow him to stand next to me, looking down at the smudge. "Yes, that is a wolf. Speaking of, what was that you were saying about a Kye?"

"We found out he was turning recruits away if they refused to sleep with him, so we took a vote, and debranding and banishing him won. Kerr's ex, Rose must have found him, because he lead her to the town. I guess once they saw the fighting power I had, they backed out and left." Octavia said as she crossed the table to look down at the wolf, then sighed softly. "That's Kye, he told the elementals about me planning to destroy them. That sack of shit!" She yelled then walked away from the table, then growled again, causing several trees in her forest to come toppling down, and a large gap in the earth from one end of the room, to another. That didn't seem to be enough for her, as her hands set on fire, and slowly began growing up her arms.

"Octavia!" I said as I crossed the room and took her hands in mine, looking into her eyes, that were now two balls of fire. I didn't let this deter me as I tried to take some of her fire, pulling it into myself. I knew this is what she did for me in the delivery room, so I ignored the pain and kept going, taking as much of it as I could.

"Thank you," Octavia breathed out as she pulled me into a hug, sighing in content as her fire finally dindled and died. "What do you guys think?" She asked after releasing me, looking back towards the table, looking between Kerr, Damien, and Sinclair.

"Whether we should continue with the fight or not?" Kerr asked as he sat back down, shrugging, "I guess that depends on how much we were expecting the surprise factor to tip the scales."

"Though it was tipping it in our favor, I think we should recall our sheer numbers and the fact that we have two royals to train with us," Sinclair commented, watching as Octavia and I returned to the table, sitting back down at our places. Damien rubbed my back softly, making sure I was okay before he would relax and join the conversation.

"The fact that we have four species joining together; should not be lost on us. No one has indeed won against the elementals before now. But, there has never been a marriage of the species quite like we have now. Those who came before us would never believe that this was possible." Damien said, motioning to everyone at the table, chuckling softly. "The majority of our species would likely kill us if we spoke about it, for they'd think we'd gone absolutely daft."

"Try calling a meeting with the coven, tell them you've made peace with the mimics and have royals on your side. They'd call for your immediate expulsion and have you killed for losing your marbles." Bartholomew laughed out.

"You are on that committee, Bartholomew. For me to be removed from my place as king, it would need to be a unanimous decision. Are you saying you'd vote yea?" Damien asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"No! Of course not, I would never. It was mostly pointed towards the other leaders." Bartholomew gasped out, shaking his head, his brown eyes wide in shock.

"I don't think Alaric would vote yea, but other than him, and Bartholomew of course, they'd all vote to have you killed. Especially after we slaughtered half the council." Sam commented with a shrug as he put his arm around Samantha's shoulders, pulling her against him.

"Jesus, man. You killed half the council?" Kerr asked incredulously.

"They wouldn't tell me who was responsible for Bast being put into a coma, which happened after I told them to halt on the hunting and killing of recreants. I don't much appreciate those who stand against me, let alone when they harm my queen." Damien responded dryly, growling lowly.

"Fair enough, I guess," Jacob said, eying Damien as he leaned back in his chair, looking from Damien, to Sam, to Bartholomew. "So, not only do we have the vampire king at our table, but his lieutenant and an elder as well? You're right, no one would believe of this union. I barely believe it, and I'm sitting at the same table."

"I think we need to consider if that Kye guy, may have told your dad, that is was his daughter?" Samantha asked, softly, looking up at Sam as he nodded his agreement.

"There's no way he would know about me, though. Shit, I barely know about me." I said with a laugh as I stood and went upstairs to get something to drink, but the moment I opened the door, I felt a rush of panic and shock like a slap to the face. It was so sudden and overwhelming I could help but fall back onto the grass.

"Bast!" Damien gasped out and was there to catch me before my head could hit the ground. His eyes were searching every inch of me, trying to figure out was wrong, but the fact that he couldn't find it only made him worry more.

"Damien, we need to go!" I gasped out as I tried to stand, but Damien and Octavia held me down, refusing to let me stand. I snarled and shoved against them, forcing Damien backward, and Octavia out into the hallway where she was only inches from smacking her head into the stairs, if not for Sinclair who caught her head just in the nick of time. "Octavia, I'm so sorry!" I gasped out as I crouched next to her, making sure she was okay before rushing past her and up the stairs. I could hear everyone calling after me as I did so, but I didn't care. The feeling of my babies panicking and begging for me was the only thing I cared about. As I was starting to open the front door, Kerr's pitch black wolf form was in front of me, whining softly, his deep blue eyes searching my face.

"Bastet, what happened to you? What's wrong?" Sinclair asked as the rest of the group reached the top of the stairs.

I cried out and turned to face Damien, grabbing a handful of his shirt as I yanked him down to me, "Our babies are begging for us to save them, Damien. Something is very fucking wrong! They are terrified and panicking. Someone is dead, and they think they are going to be next." I cried out before kicking Kerr's form, forcing him to get the hell out of my way. This time, no one tried to stop me, but as I ran, I saw four wolves running with me, Octavia, Kerr, Jacob, and Jaxson. I watched as Sinclair, Hanna, and Richard ran past us, using their recreant speed to bypass the rest of us. Sam was holding Samantha in his arms as he ran just behind Damien and Bartholomew who were running beside me. *'Wow, I'm just as fast as Damien and Bartholomew at their top speeds?'* I thought, then felt another wave of panic hit me, nearly knocking me off of my stride. But as the daycare came into sight, I pushed through it, trying to force myself to run faster.

Sinclair, Hanna, and Richard arrived there just before I did, Hanna and Sinclair holding the doors open for the rest of the group to run into the daycare. I didn't slow down at all until I was past the doors, and nearly slammed into the desk, but Damien grabbed my waist and pulled me back, helping me stop. We walked around and into the back room where one of the women lay on the ground, dead and likely long gone.

"Who the hell-" Damien started to snarl at the man, his eyes blood-red and quickly turning purple as we came into the room, but he was immediately thrown back into the wall.

"You've no right to speak to me, vampire king." The man spat at Damien, spitting out vampire like it tasted bad in his mouth. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to get here, Bastet Isabella. Two amazing children you have here, if I may say so." the man said, smiling down at Azeneth and Ciaran in his lap. "Ah, ah," He said as I started to move towards them, his eyes turning into balls of fire the moment I moved an inch, raising an eyebrow. "If the child does not know how to use their abilities, they can still be killed by it. Watch it, Bastet, I will kill them if need be. Now, where is Octavia?"

"Octavia?" I asked, looking to my right where Octavia came into the room, still in her wolf form, as she didn't have a change of clothes. *'Why does he want Octavia, and why is he holding my children hostage? His eyes turned to fire, which means he's elemental. But he managed to throw Damien without touching him, which means he has multiple abilities. Wait... Is this...?'*

"It's a shame, I wanted to look into both of your faces." The man said as he looked down at Azeneth and Ciaran in his lap, chuckling as they cried at the top of their lungs. "Now, can we have a civil conversation, or will I need to kill my grandchildren to get my point across?"

***Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that The Devil's Bride is now available for preorder! The full book will be released in an ebook version, and there are 100 slots available for preorder for now. I might increase the amount, but that depends on how many wish to order the full version. To purchase, please view the link on my Instagram bio. @KeyKirita. If you do not have Instagram, feel free to find me on either Twitter or Facebook, the same username. Thank you, everyone, for supporting me during my journey!

-KeyKirita**