Chapter 152 Let You Go - Adele's POV

Chapter 152 Let You Go - Adele's POV
“What?”

The word came from Craven, but I barely heard him over the chaos erupting around us. Corwin's arm was still around me, but his grip had changed. He wasn't holding me against him anymore. He had shoved me behind him, putting his body between mine and the vampires who were moving through the room.

I stumbled backward, nearly losing my balance.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered.

I stared at the back of his head. For the first time since I had been dragged into this room, Corwin wasn't trying to use me as a shield.

He was protecting me. I didn't have time to think about what that meant.

A vampire rushed toward us, and Corwin moved before I could even react. His hand shot out, catching the man's wrist and stopping the blade inches from his chest. The vampire snarled as Corwin twisted his arm, forcing him to his knees.

I pressed myself against the wall, trying to stay out of the way as bodies moved around the room.

Craven was fighting.

I had never seen him like this. Well, I had never truly seen any kind of fighting before at all.

Something was terrifying about watching him move. He didn't hesitate. He didn't stop to think about what he was doing. Every movement was precise, brutal, and fast enough that I could barely follow it.

But there were too many of them.

“Craven!” Someone shouted again. 

I finally looked at the rest of them. Everyone was here, along with six men I didn’t know. They burst through the door, fighting their way inside.

Craven turned just as another vampire came at him.

He blocked the attack, but there was a second man behind him. I opened my mouth to warn him.

“Craven!”

He spun around. The blade meant for his back barely missed him as he moved out of the way. He grabbed the vampire's arm and slammed him into the nearest wall.

I couldn't look away. He was fighting for his life.

And all because of me.

My gaze moved toward Corwin's father. He hadn't moved. He was simply watching the chaos unfold and expecting it to go as planned. His expression was calm as he watched his own son and his other son fight the vampires he had ordered to kill them.

But then his eyes moved toward me.

My stomach dropped. I suddenly understood. He hadn't ordered them to kill Craven because he wanted to punish him.

He wanted Craven dead. And he wanted me alive.

“Take them!” He shouted.

Two vampires immediately moved toward me. I froze.

Corwin turned at the sound of their footsteps. His eyes met mine. “Run!”

I didn't move, because I couldn’t. The vampires were already too close.

One reached for me, and I instinctively stepped backward, but there was nowhere left to go. My back hit the wall, and I felt panic rise in my chest.

Then Corwin was there. He slammed into the vampire before the man could touch me. The two of them crashed into the wall, and I stumbled sideways.

“Go!” Corwin yelled.

I stared at him. He was fighting the vampire with one hand while trying to keep the other between me and the rest of the room.

“Corwin—”

“Move!”

I finally did. I ran, but not away from him. No, my sights were on Mira as she motioned for me to come with her. She was standing near the entrance, watching everything unfold with an expression that was almost as shocked as mine.

“Where do we go?” I asked.

Her gaze immediately moved past me. I turned, and my heart stopped. Craven’s father was looking directly at us. And there was something in his eyes that made me realize this could be where we die.

He wasn't afraid of me. He wasn't even angry.

“You,” he said.

My stomach twisted as I took a step backward. Mira enclosed her arms around me. 

“Awaken your power,” she murmured.

“I don’t know how.”

“Take the queens,” he ordered again.

This time, the vampires moved toward us.

Mira grabbed my hand. “Stay close to me and try hard.”

I didn't argue. We ran. I could hear fighting behind us, but I didn't look back. I couldn't. If I did, I knew I would stop, because I would see Craven, fighting alongside the ones who I considered family.

And I would try to help them, but I knew I couldn’t fight my way out of this. Not without magic.

Not when I was still trying to understand what was happening.

Mira pulled me toward the open door.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere they can't take us,” she murmured. “We have to stop them from getting us. We are the only chance these people have left, especially you.”

“That doesn't exactly narrow it down!”

“I know.”

We made it three steps before a vampire appeared in front of us. Mira stopped so abruptly that I ran into her.

The vampire smiled. My stomach did a nervous flip as Mira stepped forward.

The vampire raised his weapon.

She raised her hand, a glowing light surrounding it. The vampire was stunned for a moment, and then she acted. The light burst from her hand, landing on his flesh. It set him on fire.

She turned to me. “Now is a good time to—”

“How?” I asked, panic lacing my words.

“Embrace what you must. They are your men, whether they are all your mates or only one while the rest are your guards.”

I was frozen to the spot, my eyes wide. In truth, I cared for them all. 

They had risked their lives to come for me, and now they were fighting their way through vampires because of me. But that didn't mean I knew how to awaken magic.

“I don't know what that means,” I whispered.

Mira grabbed my shoulders and turned me toward her. Her hands were warm against my skin, but I could feel how badly she was shaking.

“You do.”

“No, I don't.”

“You have been trying to suppress it your entire life.” Her eyes searched mine. “You have spent years believing there was something wrong with you because you couldn't use it. You were told you were weak. You believed them.”

I swallowed because she was right. Every time I had tried to understand why I was different, I had been told the same thing.

I didn't have magic. There was something wrong with me. The mark on my hip had been proof of that for as long as I could remember.

“You have to embrace your destiny.”

“My destiny?”

I looked behind me, knowing that I had already chosen. My entire body and soul wanted Craven. 

“But the others—”

“If they aren’t yours, then they will find their fated mates, and you will help them.”

I turned with tears in my eyes. “But I don’t want to hurt them.”

“They’ll understand. They love you enough to let you go.”