Page 70 of Wedlock

“As you know, their feud wasn’tjustabout the woman; they’d been enemies over territory and a great deal more for centuries. But during the last altercation, which stretched several days and was tantamount to a war between their houses, your mother had Asumpta kidnap the Countess and bring her to the castle.”

“Why?” I scowl. “For what purpose?”

“I think,” she pauses, “insurance.”

I raise an eyebrow, but don’t interrupt again as she hurries on.

“Your father returned from the battle victorious. He met with the Countess alone. What happened between them, no one knows, but he drained her. A few hours later he went on a blood rampage, and not long after, he fell ill and died.”

“When you say insurance?”

“Your mother hated your father, Falcon, we all did. She was trapped under thrall by a man who treated her like a punching bag.”

“You don’t need to tell me about my own family, Attracta,” I snarl. “I was there.”

“And I wasn’t,” she snaps. “I was sent to the Court decades before any of this happened, so forgive me if I have some catching up to do on who knows what.”

“Attracta,” I shake my head and rub my eyes, more from frustration than weariness, “are you saying that Mother engineered our father’s death using the Countess in some way?”

She’s silent for a long moment before taking the conversation in a new direction.

“I’ve been asked on more than one occasion over the years from a range of interested parties if your father’s illness is hereditary.”

“Let me guess,” I interject dryly, “a certain princess, my mother, the Queen.”

“To name a few,” she sighs, “and try as I might to find the answer, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. There were other cases of similar blood frenzies and death, but nothing seemed to link them all, until very recently when something was said that got me thinking…

“You said you didn’t have much time,” I snort, “yet this seems to be a long-winded and convoluted story, Attracta. Get to the point.”

“OK,” she huffs, before hurrying on. “The answer was right in front of me. Your father’s blood rampage wasn’t due to manic sorrow over the murder of the woman he loved. Spider can fly, so could his siblings.”

“So?”

“So, the only way a vampire can fly is if the mother is part fae or carries some of their genes. I recalled when I was younger and first attached to the Court that I found an antiquated book of fairy lore deep down in the vaults of the libraries. I read it as nothing more than fables and lies, and most of it is. But one thing that stuck out is that it’s said the blood of the fae, even part fae, cannot be consumed in excess by a vampire without causing a ‘frenzy of self-destruction.’

“You’re saying,” I scoff, “that somehow my mother found this out and ordered the kidnapping of the Countess? To what end? Because she knew the Countess would reject my father, even after being freed from hupotasso? I find it very hard to believe that Mother took a long shot that Father would bite the woman he loved, and some bullshit rumour about fairies would kill him?”

“I’m saying only that I don’t believe the illness your father suffered from is hereditary. Nothing more.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Attracta.”

“Ask your mother,” she whispers, before hanging up.

53

I know I shouldn’t feel guilty about leaving the baby. After all, he’s not mine, he’s Sophie’s. But leaving any baby under the threat of death, especially one who looks so much like my own, like his father, isn’t right.

Still, I have no choice if I wish to escape and look after my own children. That is, and must be, my priority. Falcon has to protect his son now, and I have to do what I need to do to protect mine. And if I’m honest, part of me hates Sophie’s baby, try as I might to smother the feeling. He’s the living embodiment of my husband’s hypocrisy.

‘Fuck him! God, I’m a terrible person. I’ve become a terrible, bloodthirsty, secret-keeping, lying, horrible person.’

“But I have to be,” I whisper, “for my babies.”

I close my eyes in relief as the helicopter takes off.

Yin had assured me that the Free Men would collect me from the helipad at midday, and they were right on time.

As far as I know, no one but the human guards below would have seen me leave. Wolf was away on business for Falcon, and Jag was off hunting Asumpta. The human guards had been told I could come and go as I liked, so they wouldn’t have stopped me anyway. But the vampires might have — hence leaving in daylight.