AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded, and Kittania watched in amazement as Ash’s eyes went blank and her body went rigid. A few seconds later, she grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
“She took a portal to some fancy room at the top of the palace. I could see the view out the window. She’s up there alone, monologuing.” Ash winked at Luca. “You ready to go take that bitch down for good?”
He laughed. “That’s my girl.” He took her hand, and they ran down the hall, leaving Kittania and the others to fight the rest. Luca and his mate would cut off the snake’s head.
Since Kittania and Mikhail could handle the fight inside, Viktorija and Niletean left the palace to fight the attackers in Jules’ forces. Having Therians attack the palace made Viktorija sick. There had never been fighting among their people until Nikoli. After Luca was forced into exile, there were rumors of an uprising, but they hadn’t become a reality until recently.
Vik was well aware of how dangerous the enemy Therians were. They had come to win, so they didn’t fight in the usual style. She watched new friends and people she cared about ripped apart. She took one attacker down after another, but her newer soldiers fell to the ruthless warriors.
The fighting was brutal, but unlike their foes, Viktorija and Niletean had a real cause to fight for. For them, this wasn’t about greed or power. This was about the survival of the family they had left and defending their home from invaders. She trusted them to take care of themselves. Ash had stopped the vision from coming true, and now she and Niletean had to stop this attack.
“Cover me!” Vik shouted. “I’m going to change and fuck them up.”
Her cousin nodded. “Be careful. They have rockets.”
Nadya paced in the chambers reserved for the king. She enjoyed desecrating Luca’s space with her presence, and she would have liked it more if he’d stayed in the palace where she’d driven Nikoli to madness. She listened to the battle around the palace as she wandered through the room. Her eyes gleamed and her smile was sadistic as she knocked objects off shelves and tables like a cat.
“Do you see me in here, you old bastard?” Nadya growled. She hoped Nikoli could hear her in whatever hell he’d been sent to. “I’m pleased that you get to see me victorious in the king’s chambers. I’ve succeeded. You’ll have to watch as I kill your last son and his little bitch vampire. We both know you don’t care about that. It’s the shame of it you won’t be able to stand. I might as well take care of the rest of your family while I’m at it. End your bloodline since you even failed at that.”
She was proud of herself, and her laughter echoed off the walls. Her mirth cut off abruptly when the door flew open, revealing Ash and her blazing red eyes. Luca loomed behind her.
“For fuck’s sake, woman. Would you just get over your hard-on for the dragons? This war has made you as crazy and reckless as Nikoli. Or were you always a psychopath? Your children are being slaughtered by the dozens. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Nadya sneered. “No. Why would it?”
“Mother of the Fucking Year right here.” Ash shook her head in disgust.
Nadya shrugged, letting the insult slide over her. “You’ll see after the bloodlust takes you. You won’t be innocent forever.”
Ash smiled. “Even at my worst, I’ll be better than you.”
“Would you like some tea?” Luca asked. “Or can we get this show on the road? I have shit to do.”
Nadya laughed. If he wasn’t on the opposing side, she’d like him. “Very well. If you’re that eager to die…”
Luca was a blur as he attacked, but she was ready. Shadows leaped from the floor at her gesture, latching onto him and throwing him back. He recovered faster than she had imagined and jumped up to punch her in the jaw.
She stumbled back, grabbed a solid-gold candle holder off Nikoli’s bedside table, and swung it at him. The corner struck Luca’s temple, disorienting him. They all heard his skull crack under the blow. He fell back, and Nadya had her shadows pin him to the floor. “Down, boy. You’re not the one I want right now.”
Worried, Ash was watching Luca. At Nadya’s words, the girl turned her angry blood-red gaze on the vampire queen. “That is my mate, you miserable bitch.”
Floor-to-ceiling windows covered the exterior wall of the king’s chamber, and the sun’s rays shone through, making Ash’s hair shine like gold. Frustrated, Nadya wondered how such a young vampire could withstand the light when she’d spent five thousand years in the darkness seeking a solution. It must have been the witch who’d turned the brat.
“How are you walking in the sun?” Nadya demanded. Ash didn’t respond, just circled the vampire queen like prey. “My, someone’s confident today.” Under other circumstances, Nadya thought she might like the ballsy fledgling. The girl was fearless.
Ash shrugged. “I’ve seen how this ends.”
Nadya grew tired of the banter and lunged at her. Four of her children ran into the room, flanking the Therian king to ensure he would neither escape nor interfere. Ash and Nadya traded blows, both dodging most of the hits, though they each landed a few. Nadya was surprised by how quick the younger vampire was.
Ash disappeared, then popped up behind Nadya to land a crippling punch on her spine. Nadya’s legs crumpled beneath her, and she couldn’t move or feel anything below her waist. Always opportunistic, she grabbed Ash’s leg and bit into the vein in her thigh, then drank what she needed to heal her spine. No newborn would defeat her with a cheap shot! Climbing to her feet, Nadya tossed Ash into the wall. The girl’s head hit with a hollow thunk, and she blacked out.
Nadya took the opportunity to imprison her foe while she was incapacitated, sending tendrils of darkness to pin Ash to the floor before she regained consciousness. Nadya studied the girl, trying to figure out what had given her the ability to walk in the sunlight. If she could sabotage or remove it before Ash woke, she’d die a fiery death.
Seeing no other option to discover what she needed to know other than feeding her darkness directly into Ash’s body to find the source, Nadya doubled the bindings holding Ash in place and sent a tendril of her dark magic burrowing down her throat. Almost immediately, Nadya was pushed out, but she’d been there long enough to learn what she needed to. Ash woke, struggling against the binding as she glared at Nadya.
“Stay the fuck out of my body, you venomous bitch.”
Nadya chuckled. “Technically, you’re a venomous bitch, too. Your fangs carry as much as mine do.”
