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Church has royally fucked us over, and I know we’ll have to move the nest soon, but I am not going down without a fucking fight. My father built this place from the ground up, they’ll have to rip it from my cold, dead hands before I just hand it over.
I burst through the perimeter of the estate, and my Harley slid out, causing me to crash right into the garage, but I just got to my feet soon after and rushed to my office. Valentine comes running out when I step foot inside and looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
“We have a fucking problem,” I grumble, and he follows me down the corridors. He still has a confused look on his face, and after I grab a bottle of Jack and finish half, I tell him what happened.
“What the fuck,” he says with the same anger burning within me. “Was he going to tell us?”
“I doubt it. It took me forever to get it out of him, and now our nest might be compromised; no, fuck, it probably is compromised.” I say, remembering the look on Xenia’s face. “They’ll be here within a day, that’s for sure.”
Valentine crosses his arms. “So Xenia had a few hours’ head start; surely we can catch up with them, right?”
I shake my head. “I went to go look at the apartment they shared together, and everything looks like it was cleaned out a few hours ago. Security footage shows Xenia leaving the place just after 3 pm.”
“Fuck,” he says and pinches the bridge of his nose. “This would get any Prospect or member the Dawn, but we can’t… do that to our own brother, can we?”
Sighing, I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. “Church will get his punishment in due time; for now, we need to protect the nest before the hunters attack. There are two different packs on their way here, and Andreas is sending three Lycans.” I say, then look at him.
“We should be fine for a while, but the nest will need to move, and if I want to keep everyone safe, I’ll need to take up that mantle.”
Valentine’s eyes widened. “Are you sure about that? It means you would be responsible for every single vampire in the States,” he says incredulously.
“Exactly, and every single fucking vampire will be at my disposal, so I would still be keeping the nest safe,” I say.
I was going to take up the mantle as Vampire King here before Westcott took over after my father died. But the council decided that, even though he wasn’t a Pureblood, Westcott would be better suited for the role since he was a DA and had fingers in a lot of interesting pies.
Now I’m the oldest Pureblood in the States, so the role falls to me.
He sighs. “If that will help us, then I think you should do it.”
I look at him, knowing that if I take over this role, then I would have to part with someone I considered a brother.
“You know that means you will have to take over here, right?” I say and chuckle when disbelief crosses his face. “Come on, you honestly didn’t expect me to hand my side of Vegas over to Fenriz, did you? You’re the only one I’ll ever trust with keeping my home safe.”
“Gabe—”
I slap his back. “We’ll speak more about it when the time comes. For now, I think we need to feed and keep a lookout; I don’t trust the hunters not to attack just a few hours after they’ve been alerted to our hideout.”
Valentine nods then he heads over to the cooler to grab two pints of blood. I’m not going to risk going out right now, so refrigerated Fae blood will have to do for now.
I walk to the large windows and look out over my estate, wondering if the hunters are closing in already.
“So Church’s Fated is an enemy, huh?” Valentine says, joining me by the windows with a tumbler of blood. “I’m sure no one saw that coming, especially not Church who openly despises humans.”
“Don’t remind me,” I say and take a swig of my glass. “He’s not even 200 years old and has met his Fated; what the fuck is the Goddess planning with this?”
He shrugs. “Hell, if I know. But one thing’s for certain, if Xenia truly is his Fated, then his loyalty no longer lies with us. The Red Thread is stronger than even a Maker’s Sire, and if Xenia learns of this, then Church is as good as dead.”
I know all of this, and it breaks my heart knowing that I might have to be the one to kill Church if he turns on us. You can’t hurt your Fated; not physically, emotionally, or any other way. But this feeling will be one-sided since they haven’t Entwined, so Xenia’s loyalty is still to their guild.
I look over at Valentine. “Promise me one thing,”
“Sure,” he shrugs.
“If I ever meet my Fated, I want you to kill me,” his mouth slackened at my request, and shock seeped into his gaze.
“The Bond with your Fated is a sacred thing–”
“I’d rather perish than be totally consumed with someone in that way. I want no part in it, not the feeling, not the happiness it might bring, or even furthering my line of Preutescu Purebloods. If meeting my Fated means that I have to willingly give up a part of myself and have zero control over it, then I’d much rather die.”
