Page 8 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness (Grimm Cove #7)

Chapter Eight

Lucian

Lucian watched as the young wolf continued to pace the cell, shaking, snarling, salivating. She stayed low to the ground, panting hard, her sides working fast. Blood streaked her white fur where she’d slammed into the bars again and again, trying to escape.

She’d been at it for hours with no signs of slowing.

Vlad had been busy dealing with her sister, who had spiraled into the dark abyss once again—the same as the young wolf. It was a testament to their sisterly bond. Their twin link. They could sense the other's distress and didn’t like it one bit.

Lucian had yet to fully mind link with the young wolf, despite having been who sired her. He should have been able to enter her mind with ease, but he couldn’t. He suspected it had something to do with her slayer lineage.

When he’d first been contacted by Helen Murray, he should have told her to take her plans to free Dragos and shove them. Initial contact had come by way of another of Lucian’s wolves —shifters who had once filled the forest but who he had been pushing away slowly for years, sensing his mental decline.

With no mate to tether him and far, far too many years under his belt, Lucian’s mental state was questionable at best. He walked with one foot in the world of a vampire and the other in that of a wolf. It had been the way of it from the start. From the moment he’d been sired by Dragos.

He could still remember the shock on the master vampire’s face when Lucian had awoken not as a vampire but as some bastardized version of a shifter meets vampire. No one knew Lucian had wolf-shifters in his family line—distant, but there. The discovery came after his transformation was complete.

Dragos was thrilled. It meant he had yet another powerful weapon at his disposal. And the vampire had used the weapon to the fullest, commanding Lucian to do unspeakable things. Things that haunted his sleeping and wake hours to this day, hundreds of years after he and Vlad had won their freedom from the master vampire.

At the thought of Vlad, Lucian’s wolf reacted, snarling. While Lucian saw Vlad as a brother, the wolf saw him as a threat to its independence, to its dominance. It didn’t like answering to anyone or anything, least of all another vampire. It had been forced to obey Dragos for centuries. It wanted total freedom.

But that couldn’t be. Not with the bloodlust Lucian suffered from and the need to drink blood every few days to satisfy his vampire tendencies. While Lucian was an extremely powerful wolf-shifter, his vampire was something he could not control.

Lucian needed a vampire who was stronger than him mentally to help him maintain control. First it had been Dragos and then it had been Vlad.

Vlad was a far better master vampire to serve, though Vlad had his moments too—like any. He was nothing like Dragos, despite what the world believed.

A huff came from Lucian at the thought of how Vlad had been depicted throughout history books and even in death—in fiction. Very little of it was accurate, though the man played it to his advantage.

He always had.

He let others think what they wanted of it. Let them fear the rumors. It was easier to let them think he was a monster in the truest sense of the word than to expose the truth—that he felt too much—that he cared too deeply. That the world had taken a young boy who had so much empathy and compassion in his heart and molded him into a killing machine.

The young white wolf picked then to lunge at Lucian. He was on the other side of the bars. She slammed into them, spittle flying, eyes flashing with madness.

A madness he knew all too well. He knew the signs. Knew the look of a mind splintering apart, little by little, until there was nothing left but hate.

Lucian knew very little of her from before the night of the cave incident. Before he’d allowed himself to be swayed by Helen’s promise of ending his suffering. Helen had told him very little about the twins, apart from them being the key to freeing Dragos.

As much as Lucian never wanted that monster to walk in the world freely again, he couldn’t fight the pull anymore. For centuries, the vampire had lived in Lucian’s head, always taunting him, continually trying to talk him into setting him free. Dragos would push Lucian to turn on Vlad—to kill him.

That was something Lucian would never do. He truly did see Vlad as a brother. He cared for him. Loved him like family—as much as a wolf-shifter walking a tightrope of madness could love. Vlad had been there for him through some of the worst times of his life. He owed him more allegiance than he’d shown.

Come to me, Dark One.

Dragos’s voice slashed through Lucian’s mind, the command in his words leaving Lucian’s wolf feeling as if it must obey. Lucian closed his eyes briefly and rolled his shoulders to loosen them. It was getting harder to think clearly.

Harder to sort fact from fiction.

Agitated, his wolf began to circle in his mind, pacing much like the white wolf. Lucian tried to calm it too, but like the white wolf, it snapped at him. The pull of its maker too great to resist.

Dragos’s dark laughing filled the gaps in Lucian’s mind. You cannot resist me, Dark One. I am who created you. I am your true master. Not the other. He is weak.

Lucian snarled. Vlad was anything but weak.

Dragos pushed at him more from the cave, which didn’t seem to ever be far enough away for Lucian’s liking. With the master vampire’s push came something else. Something darker even. Something powerful. Like the other times Lucian had sensed it over the past few months, it sounded like a soft melody in his head—soothing in some ways.

Alluring, yet deadly.

Lucian didn’t trust it, but he was fairly sure he knew who was causing it. The forest witch. He’d never seen her. Not directly. But he’d felt her before. She was part of this land. She bled into the roots. Haunted the stone.

The Young Wolf slammed into the far wall again and dropped to her haunches, sides heaving, nostrils flared, eyes wild and unblinking. She crouched low and snarled, mouth flecked with foam and blood.

Lucian didn’t react. He didn’t need to. She wasn’t looking at him—she was staring through him. She wasn’t the only one unraveling.

The pressure in his skull increased. His wolf howled, wanting release from the constant onslaught of outside forces. It was restless. Angry. Desperate.

The song grew louder.

Dragos’s voice pushed harder at the dark corners of Lucian’s mind.

Unable to take another moment of it, Lucian pivoted on his heels and ran for the exterior door at the end of the hall. It dumped out at the back of the property. Perfect. The moment he set foot outside, he sensed another close. He snarled. “Teya, go inside.”

The blonde vampire stepped out of the darkness. She approached, her blue eyes wide. “Master will be most displeased.”

“Go. Back. Inside,” Lucian said between clenched teeth.

She ignored him, never having much in the way of self-preservation skills. She came closer even, her hand finding his chest. She caressed it and he caught her wrist. Her mind may have been filled with who knew what, but she was all woman.

When she wanted to be lucid, she could be. He’d known her for centuries. He was no stranger to The Weird Sisters and their bedroom requirements. He’d used them to handle his needs more times than he could count, and they’d used him as well. As an alpha, he could withstand their full twisted requirements. Very few men could.

“Teya, go inside,” he commanded, having no patience for her or her antics on this night.

Teya laughed—a sound too out of place for the moment, like wind chimes clanging off-key in a thunderstorm. “You are going to him . To the cave. To your maker.”

Was he?

Lucian hadn’t been thinking clearly when he’d run out of the manor. He’d simply wanted air. Wanted away from it all.

Teya tipped her head, watching him with eyes that saw far too much, as if she already knew what would happen next and had decided not to warn him out of spite or amusement. One never knew with her. “You were going to rush to the cave. To him. When you found you could not cross the threshold—as has always been the case—you would succumb, the weight of it all too much. You would find a way to meet your end.”

The possibility of being done with the nonstop onslaught held appeal.

Teya caressed his chest. “ She can help.”

“She?”

“Baba Koreneva,” she responded flippantly.

Lucian wasn’t sure if this was real or simply one of Teya’s delusions. “The forest witch?”

Teya nodded. “She can help lessen your old master’s pull. She can help you find something close to freedom—from him. From your maker.”

Lucian noticed that she wasn’t talking in riddles. She sounded almost sane. “At what price?”

“If you want this, you will have to do something you will not like,” she said, staying close.

“What?” he asked, his jaw tightening. There was always a price. He’d learned that long ago.

“You must betray your brother— again ,” said Teya, a knowing smile sliding over her face. “He will hate you for it. You will have to block him.” She touched her temple. “Mentally. He will hunt you to the ends of the earth. Should he find you…”

“W-what is it the forest witch wants me to do that would set Vlad off in such a way?” Lucian hated that he was even entertaining betraying Vlad yet again, but he couldn’t go another day—another second with Dragos in his head. It was too much, for too long.

Teya turned somewhat, directing his attention to a spot in the trees that was abnormally dark. It was as if something was there, drinking in the light, leaving nothingness behind in its wake. “You must take the girls far from here—from him . You must hide them where he will not think to look—close to those who may hate him but who would never harm innocents—no matter their feelings on him.”

Lucian knew instantly the people Teya was speaking of. “Van Helsing and the others?”

She nodded. “They have much dislike for him—some warranted, some not. But they would never harm the girls. One should be closer to them regardless.”

Lucian thought of Harker’s desperate plea for assistance. The agony in the man’s voice had moved Lucian, made him rethink so many of his choices. And when Harker had announced one of the girls was his mate…

Teya continued, cutting through his thoughts. “Dark One, you cannot return home for a very long time. Maybe not ever.”

“What interest does the forest witch have in the young women? Who are they to her?” demanded Lucian, learning long ago to question everything when it came to deal making. Especially when the deal was with the devil.

Teya stared into the darkness for what felt like an eternity before her blue gaze returned to him. “They are of no interest to her.”

“Then why does she care if they are taken to safety? Does she hate Vlad so much she wishes to torture him, because we both know if the vampire-twin is taken from him, he will not react well.”

Something rustled in the darkness and Lucian watched as thousands of black beetles scurried in from every angle, all converging on the darkness. The sound left he and his wolf drawing back, unnerved beyond belief.

A slender arm, made entirely of living and moving black beetles, reached forth from the darkness, its hand forming a pointing motion. It was pointing at him.

He jerked back, realizing this was the forest witch’s doing. A sharp wind came from the right, pushing at him, lifting his hair and tugging at his clothing. He knew that was the witch’s doing as well.

Teya’s giggle rode the night air, adding to the depravity. “If you love him like a brother… If you want the best for him, this must occur. And if you want any kind of a future, you will see this through to the end.”

“My future will be limited seeing as how Vlad will hunt me down and peel my skin from my body slowly, making me wish for death,” added Lucian.

Teya shrugged. “Death is a form of release from your maker’s hold.”

The was true.

Lucian thought harder about what was being asked of him. He narrowed his gaze on the beetle-formed arm. “I get why you might want the wolf-twin taken to where the others are—especially if she is Harker’s mate. But why are you pushing so hard for Vlad and the vampire-twin to be separated?

“It is not time for them yet,” said Teya.

“Them who?”

She giggled. “Don’t be daft, Dark One. You already know. You and your wolf sensed it.”

He stiffened, knowing he’d confided in Katarina about his suspicions of Vlad’s response to the vampire-twin. “She might be Vlad’s mate, right?”

Teya simply stared at him, neither confirming or denying his words. “Do you care for him? Love him like a brother?”

Lucian nodded.

Teya smiled more, her fangs catching the moonlight. “Be warned, Dark One,” she said, her voice no longer sounding like her own. “There is a great darkness in his line. A great evil is rising. It will pit brother against brother.” She tipped her head and Lucian got the feeling the forest witch was speaking through her now, not just to her. “Brother of his heart. Brother of his blood. Betrayer.

Lucian fought the urge to react to the name—the truth. He was a betrayer. He knew he was on the edge of madness. That he was close to falling into it—close to becoming the evil Teya and the forest witch believed him to be.

Teya stepped back and motioned to the darkened area. The darkness lifted.

Lucian expected to find an old hag there. Instead, there were bags and boxes. He approached and bent, opening one of the bags. It held passports and other paperwork. When he opened one of the passports, he saw one of the twins. He wasn’t sure which. “Mina Murray,” he said softly, reading the name. He looked up quickly. “She is named after our Mina?”

Teya’s smile widened. “They both are. One is Willa. The other is Mina.”

Lucian tried to wrap his mind around it all. Could he do it? It was one thing betraying Vlad when he thought it was just to release Dragos in hopes of Dragos finally ending his suffering. It was something else entirely betraying Vlad when the woman Lucian may be taking from him was his mate.

Teya touched his shoulder. “Baba Koreneva has seen to it the girls have what is needed for you to take them.”

“He won’t let it happen,” said Lucian. “Vlad rarely, if ever leaves the side of the vampire-twin. He will not permit me to be alone with her so that I can take her.”

Teya giggled. “Baba Koreneva will assure Vlad sleeps so soundly he hears nothing. You must act quickly.”

He stood slowly, the passport in his hand. “Why do you sound sane?”

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” She giggled and skipped away, leaving him to weigh his choices.