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Winter gawked as she beat her brother down into submission, then directed the rest of the men to hold the rogues off and seal the border. She watched as in the hall, the queen was captured, too, but was ballsier in rallying her loyal followers.
“Kill them all! Help me escape!”
It worked but not for long as a majority of the vampires wrestled them into submission. Refusing to bend over despite the defeated vibe beating wildly, Winter felt the woman’s next move before it could even happen and clutched Nate as tightly as she could, understanding how much this next part would hurt.
On a rampage, Helena grabbed heads and yanked them out of necks out of sheer spite and willpower. Then she ripped her heart out, dying a glorious death but taking as many bodies as the woman could with her.
Chapter 14
“How are you holding up?”
The question had been repeated for as long as Nate could remember, asked by different parties from powerful houses down to the servants in his house who had survived, including Maddox. But Winter asking felt like a blanket wrapping around him because, with her, he knew there would be no holds barred.
“I’m doing all right. A bit shitty because Nicholas decided he’s not done with his lies and is trying to cause trouble in the prison chambers. It’s not working, but it’s making me wonder if I made the right decision.”
She tilted her head, eyes as watchful as always as she walked to his side. He had his arms around her waist before she even stopped walking, drawing in her warmth as he perused her. The bruises were gone, and she looked like she had a few good nights of rest. That was a balm, too, after the days of worry and heartbreak.
“Killing him would have been the right thing, but it wouldn’t have been you,” she concluded after a while, her gaze on the horizon. They stood on the balcony overlooking the market and the front of the castle, now at peace after the border had been resealed. “It wouldn’t have proved a point, not when the mastermind to your father’s murder is already dead, and you are not one to do things just for the sake of doing it. You wouldn’t kill him just to be petty.”
“Maybe I want to kill him for putting his hands on you.” His fingers grazed her neck, feathering over where the wounds once were. She arched, letting him have a better view, and shook her head.
“You won’t. Everything is as it should be all because you wouldn’t rest until you found the answers and a solution for Ostrov Krov.”
“Yet you and my friends were the ones who made it happen. What was that device called again?”
She smiled in exasperation, then began to talk about the video camera with her eyes lit up and her face radiating joy—and really, that was the only reason he had even asked in the first place, considering he already knew what the device was called. Nate witnessed her in her element as she listed its pros and cons, then gushed over it like it was her love child.
“I sold the one I brought to the Otherworld during my first land in Centro because I needed the gold to get away from some Fae.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“But oh, it’s a wondrous thing. I think you should have it installed in specific areas around the castle to ensure that the new rules you put up will be followed accordingly.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” he said, not mentioning that he had already held a meeting with Isaiah to finalize a huge order of said devices. It would be better as a surprise so he could watch her face light up once more.
“It will make your lives easier. No more of that he said she said stuff and blood oaths easily manipulated. A captured and recorded video has everything you can ever dream of: clarity, function, and second by second of clear-cut proof should you ever need it. No one will ever question the truth again. It will make the humans’ lives easier, too.”
“I’m getting jealous, my love, of how much you are praising that little thing,” he teased.
She huffed. “That little thing, as you put it, helped you achieve what you have now.”
“Us,” he corrected, tilting her head so he could gaze into glacier blue eyes. They weren’t cool but fiery, passion glimmering on the surface. Unable to resist it, he leaned in to kiss her cheek, then lowered his lips so he could meet hers and indulge a bit.
In this aspect, things hadn’t changed as she met the kiss fully with openness and enough heat to burn them both. They sank into it, the world fading as she became the only anchor he needed. He tasted her hunger and matched it with his. Unable to get enough, he leaned in further and deepened the contact until he was swept away in a rush of pleasure and something distinctly Winter.
Dizzy, it took him a long time to break the contact, and even then, he had to hold on to the balcony railing to keep himself steady. She held on to him, hands fluttering up his chest before resting on his shoulders, body molded so sweetly to his that he couldn’t help but groan. When she took a deep, shaky inhale and pushed those tits tighter against him, he was ready to utter an oath.
“Winter, my love, as much as I want to carry you to bed right now and make the longest, sweetest love to every inch of your body—”
Her breath hitched, the very idea as arousing to her as it was to him.
“I have a meeting to attend,” he finished regretfully. In his head, he was already swearing a thousand gods about having a meeting he needed to attend, even if it was a very crucial one. He sighed, embracing her to make up for what they couldn’t do, and placed another kiss on her forehead. “Perhaps I could try to get out of it earlier….”
“No.”
Her voice was firm and decided. This time, it was Winter who broke away from his grasp, looking at him with pleading eyes underlined with steel. “Attend that meeting. Address your people. Make yourself known. Do it so you won’t regret it. You must, Nate.”
“I know. I must.”
