Chapter 90 - The King's Bite

“You do realise this can only end in one of two ways?” Cilla taunted out of the blue.

She may have given up on talking sense into Elanora, having realised the futility of doing so, but she was bored. The redhead had always required something to keep her occupied and sitting in silence for long periods of time was practically torture. She was essentially desperate enough to willingly engage Elanora in conversation. Plus, the idea of provoking the other woman was too tempering to pass up.

“Enlighten me,” Elanora said, not bothering to hide the disinterest in her tone.

“Bloodshed, obviously,” said Cilla as she watched the Duchess wince. “The question is who exactly is going to die? You, Azil or Rafael? Two of you, or perhaps all three?”

“I think you hold yourself in much higher esteem than everyone else does,” snorted Elanora dismissively.

“Even if that were true, Legs is going to kick up a fuss about me being gone and we both know Vladislav would do anything for her,” Cilla mouthed off confidently, enjoying the scowl forming on the other woman’s face. “Secondly, this is a sure fire way to get Greg to actually pull the plug and contact a divorce lawyer.”

Elanora sat up at attention upon hearing those words.

“What did you just say?” she hissed in a whisper that may have actually frightened the redhead had she not been in a protective bubble.

“”You heard me,” Cilla chuckled as she rolled her eyes. “Think about it. He is definitely going to find out that you were involved. Now, Greg’s a lot of things, but I really don't think he would be keen on being married to a human trafficker.”

“I told you not to call me that,” Elanora fumed. “And anyway, there is no way they’ll find out I was involved. As far as Allegra is concerned, I'm back home in Rijavia right now. Besides that, how do you think they’ll track you down? Azil has made sure you’re untraceable. Even if they came to Drausia, they wouldn’t be able to locate you. Right now, there is no reason for their search to leave Kalitsk, let alone Nefolktu as a whole.”

Cilla bit her lip when she realised her cockiness had almost let her reveal the bond that had formed between she, Zallius and Cedai as a result of them being cleansed together. She knew they would figure out where she was, but had no idea if Azil’s spellcasting would actually impact it. Still, if Elanora got even a whiff of the truth, she would undoubtedly squeal on her, so better safe than sorry.

“You’re in for a rude awakening, Nora,” she said, deciding to dial it back and return to petty insults. “When the cavalry bursts that door open, you’re going to be praying for a swift death. We both know that's how you'll want things to end once Greg leaves you for good.”

The anger on the other woman's face was extremely gratifying, but Cilla was stopped from twisting the knife any further when the door actually did fly open. Instead of the cavalry, however, in strode the last being she ever wanted to see. A smug smile creeped onto Elanora’s face when she saw who it was and it was the redhead’s turn to glower. Rafael was not alone. Right behind him strode in another vampire.

He was a complete stranger to her, but Cilla could tell he was one because of his eyes. They looked like Mace’s, only that they were pure white with streaks of red and black haphazardly slashing through. There was a coldness to his eyes that was absent from Mace’s, however. As a matter of fact, it was absent from most of the vampires she knew. He practically oozed the same energy that Rafael did and Cilla would stake her life on guessing that this was yet another sadist, albeit one much younger than his master.

“There you are!” Elanora said impatiently. “Do you have any idea how frustrating it is being stuck in the same room as Priscilla? It’s a good thing Azil put this shield here, or I would have strangled her by now. Where have you been? What is going on?”

“Yes, I have some idea of how frustrating it is,” Rafael said shortly, and Cilla could immediately tell he was in a horrendous mood. He was trying not to let it show because men like him thrived off of appearing nonchalant and unflappable, but she saw right through his ruse. “Come now, Duchess. Surely we can exchange pleasantries before we dive right into business?”

Cilla’s eyes keenly followed the way Elanora clenched her teeth in anger as she tried to control her temper. She could not imagine how they had fared around each other for the past few weeks. For one, Rafael seemed to take pride in disciplining women that he deemed unruly. If ever there was a woman who fit that description to a t, it was the Duchess. That, coupled with her ever-present air of superiority, seemed like it would tempt him into wanting to knock her down a few pegs.

As she looked back at Rafael, however, she saw none of the twisted desire he had for her while he looked at Elanora. She theorised that the sick pervert must have favoured power dynamics by going after women without connections to royalty. As it was, the two of them had more or less the same standing in their respective societies.

“Of course. My apologies,” Elanora managed to spit out as she plastered a fake smile onto her face. “How are you Rafael? And you, Josai?”

The vampire she now knew as Josai gave a brief response as Elanora and Rafael continued to exchange meaningless pleasantries. For whatever reason, Cilla’s eyes were drawn to him and she noticed the look he was piercing Elanora with. It was the exact same way Rafael looked at her. It was frightening to even bear witness to it and the redhead wondered if the foolish woman was even aware of how much danger she had put herself in by willingly allying with such a predator.

He suddenly swung his eyes away from Elanora and onto her where their gazes clashed. He took her accusatory glare as a chance to approach Cilla curiously. Josai stepped forward and folded his arms once the shield stopped him. He studied her carefully and she was aware of the other two pairs of eyes now watching their interaction silently. He chuckled darkly when she refused to look away and turned back to face Rafael, whose eyes threatened to turn red with fury. The younger vampire seemed to catch on that he had crossed over some sort of line, because he soon wiped the smirk off his face.

“She is very feisty,” he said breezily. “I see why you were drawn to her, even if my tastes are a little... different.”

At those words, Josai glanced meaningfully at Elanora, who shuddered with repulsion. It looked like she was aware of his interest, after all. The action was enough to get Rafael to relax his shoulders. He looked at the door impatiently and Cilla noticed that it had been left wide open. They waited for a while longer before Azil showed his face. He had a staff he was using to hold himself upright. He looked absolutely awful, like he was at death’s door. Both women looked shocked to see him in such a state. The last time they had each set eyes on him, he was totally fine. What could have happened? He slumped in the first available chair and his gasps for air filled the room until his breathing went back to normal.

“Try it again,” Rafael said dispassionately.

“I am too weak,” Azil mumbled with exhaustion.

“I don’t care,” came the vampire’s swift response. “You told me to gather my men. They are waiting. All you need to do is to open a portal so they can get here. I’ve held my end of the bargain and you are delaying everything. We have plans to enact!”

Azil wordlessly held his hand out. The air around him started to swirl and a small blue ball of matter formed on the nearest blank wall. Cilla held her breath. She had been through enough portals to know that that was how they started. Her heart began to race, but the ball did not expand. Instead, it bounced around erratically as if mimicking oil in a hot pan, before it died altogether. The fae’s hand fell to his side as he began to wheeze uncontrollably. They once more gave him some time to recover, in which Rafael paced around the ancient room like a caged, restless panther.

“What happened?” Elanora demanded when the fae’s heavy breathing lightened somewhat. “Why is he like this?”

“Fuck if I know,” Rafael raged. “He’s been like this for the past three hours or so. What good is a fae who can’t cast spells? You’re useless to me!”

“There was something written in those protection wards around the castle,” Azil muttered with a hint of accusation as he stared at Cilla. “This only started when I brought her here. They were cast by fae that existed long before I was born, so I have no idea of knowing exactly what they are.”

“Uh, in case you assholes forgot,” Cilla chimed in, “I didn’t ask to be brought here. Maybe point the finger at yourself? Or your greed. Whichever suits you the most.”

Rafael glared at her and she gave him a smug little smile in return. Both he and Azil pinned their eyes on her as if they knew she had something to hide. After a short while, the fae looked away with a dismissive thought. There was no way a mere human would know about the details of ward intricacies when he did not.

In truth, Cilla knew exactly what had happened. She remembered undergoing protection rites that almost made her miss her best friend's wedding. They had been extensive and draining, but apparently, they had actually paid off. The fae’s insistence on the ritual made sense now and she wondered if he had the ability to tell the future. Maybe he had done it to prevent Azil from getting ahead of Ostar and Espa. Either way, she was beyond grateful for her past self’s forethought.

Cilla was so lost in her thoughts, she did not realise just how much attention Rafael was paying her. He narrowed his eyes, stepping closer as his ultrasensitive hearing picked up on the nervous movements of her heart as she settled into her relief.

“You know something,” the vampire said accusingly.

The redhead whipped her head up to face him in horror.

“What?” she gasped, her heart once again sliding into overdrive.

He pressed his fingers against the barrier as if he was going to attempt to pry it open with his bare hands.

“Azil, take this shield down,” Rafael ordered imperiously as he stared at her with murderous intent. “She knows what’s going on.”

***

Allegra sat up with a sudden gasp. She was angry. She knew she was angry, but she had no idea why. It took a moment for all her memories to come back to her and even though they became blurry towards the end there, her anger now felt completely justified. She glanced at her phone and saw that it was a little past 1 AM. She was practically foaming at the mouth as she hurriedly pulled on a pair of jeans, a top and a warm sweater along with a pair of sneakers. She knew it was pointless, that they were already gone, but she was running on autopilot and hope.

She briefly looked at herself in the mirror and rinsed her face to look presentable before she dashed for the door. Allegra was only vaguely aware of startling the two vampires standing guard outside as she ran past them and to the library. Unfortunately, as expected, the library was devoid of all life. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she made her way back to her room.

At the last moment, she changed her mind and headed for Vladislav’s study. Allegra was only mildly surprised to find Niklaus and Mystik still in the room. She shut the door quietly behind her and sat down in one of the empty chairs next to them before the fire. She noticed they were each nursing a glass of what she assumed was scotch. They seemed perfectly fine with sharing a drink in silence to pass the time as they stared at the dancing flames.

“What time did they leave?” Allegra asked, breaking the silence.

“A little before midnight,” Mystik offered, as Nik took a large sip.

“I thought you'd still be asleep, “ her brother-in-law said.

Allegra scowled. “Did everyone know about this, but me?” she asked disbelievingly.

They both shook their heads.

“We found out after the deed was done,” Nik said, trying and failing to contain an amused smirk.

“Oh, wow. Glad to see you find this so amusing,” she said sarcastically.

“Oh, come on!” Nik reasoned, a chuckle actually breaking through. “You had to have known he would never have let you go with them.”

“Whatever. It’s too late to change anything now,” Allegra sighed. “But at least I'm not getting piss drunk to cope with being left behind.”

It was Niklaus’s turn to scowl this time around.

“I'm a fucking vampire,” he spat. “I could drink two full bottles of this and only be slightly tipsy.”

Sensing she had hit a raw nerve, Allegra backed down to focus on something else.

“Milena mentioned something about Rafael having command over dozens of vampires, but not finding any of them in his building,” she said. “Apparently his ancestral home has reportedly been abandoned.”

“Gatterlein Castle,” Mystik provided the name helpfully.

“So what?” Nik asked, ready to do away with the whole thing.

“So, no one actually went there to check did they?” Allegra asked. “They’re going off of word of mouth and they’re watching the place that might have been abandoned.”

Nik turned to look at her with stern disapproval.

“What are you trying to get at?” he asked her seriously as he set his drink aside to give her his full attention.

“I'm just trying to establish a motive that ties Azil and Rafael together,” she said insistently.

“We already know Azil’s only motive is getting vampire troops on his side,” Nik said in a voice that was meant to mimic his older brother.

“Exactly. Think about it. Azil gets some vampires on his side to fight on his side from Rafael and Rafael gets Cilla from Azil,” Allegra explained.

“Seems an awfully complicated route to go to get laid,” Mystik said lightly, ignoring her answering glare.

“Even if you’re right, why are you bringing this up now?” Nik asked.

“How far away is Gatterlein?” she asked, instead of answering his question.

By now, both vampires were catching onto what she was leading up to, but Nik wanted to hear her say it with his own ears.

“I’d say it’s about a two-hour drive,” the Prince said, impatiently waiting for her to just spit it out.

“This is a bad idea,” mumbled Mystik, but his words were ignored by both his companions.

“You and I both know that a portal can’t just be opened on land. Express permission from an owner is needed... or a blood relative, as we now know. We have to go check out Gatterlein Castle for ourselves. Azil’s portal letting Rafael’s vampires through to Drausia can only happen on land he owns. If it isn’t his apartment, then it has to be there.”

“Are you insane?” Mystik asked, not willing to entertain this idea any longer. “Suppose we’re correct. We were given one order: to protect you. Leading you right to Rafael’s men is in direct contradiction with that order.”

“Yes,” Nik said distractedly and they could both tell he was entertaining the idea. “Not to mention that he owns countless acres of land and properties throughout the country. Why would he stick to the most obvious one?”

Allegra sighed and had to admit that he had a point, but she had a hunch that would not let up.

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “I imagine it being his ancestral stronghold means it is the safest, probably most heavily guarded. The reports of it being abandoned don’t make sense. If anything, it seems like news being spread to deliberately confuse us.”

“Say I entertain this idea of yours,” Nik began, much to Mystik’s horror. “What is your plan exactly? We go there and then what? What happens if it is abandoned and we just end up wasting time pursuing a dead end? What happens if you’re right, but they’re already gone? It will be too late to warn the others because by then, they will have already clashed with Rafael’s forces.”

“If I'm right and they’re already gone, then we’ll know to keep Gatterlein under surveillance instead of the apartment building. They’re bound to return because none of them can survive on fae blood. We might even be able to find some that don’t want to take part in this. I don’t know, Nik. I'm just spit balling here.”

“This plan is very poorly thought out,” he said, bringing visible relief to Mystik. “The chances of us actually accomplishing something are slim to none.”

“Well, excuse me for looking at the situation from all angles,” Allegra huffed. “I just can’t stand the thought of us sitting around doing nothing.”

Nik downed the last of his liquor and stood up languidly.

“Oh, we’re definitely doing it,” he said. “I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“Really?” Allegra and Mystik asked at the same time, the former hopeful and the latter disbelieving.

“You’re not going to trick me into staying like Vlad did while you leave?” the Duchess asked suspiciously.

“Nope,” Nik said easily. “All we need to do is get half of Mystik’s guys to come with us for security and we can set off immediately.”

“Mystik has been very vocal about being against this,” Allegra reminded him as she eyed the vampire in question, who sat with his arms crossed wearing a disapproving scowl.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nik said reassuringly. “He was in the room when both my siblings left me in charge. He has no choice, but to follow my commands.”

As if to hammer his point across, Niklaus smiled devilishly at Mystik, his pearly fangs glinting back at them in the dim light of the darkly shrouded room.