Page 94 of Wedlock (Vampire Bachelor Games #3)

I’m consumed with rage as I see what’s happening on the mountainside, and I jump from the aircraft well before it lands, hitting the ground running.

I don’t need to ask what’s going on. I know. I’d barely ordered the pilot to turn around when I received a panicked call from one of my guards. Revna had sent her forces to kill Angie.

As I sprint, I take note of the dead. It’s clear the princess had underestimated, gravely underestimated, the resistance she would come up against. From the sheer number of bodies in the clearing it looks like squads of my men and Revna’s vampires have fallen.

Many of the vampires were decapitated, but some were just hurt.

Most would heal in time to continue their attack.

The same couldn’t be said for the humans who lie strewn around like broken dolls.

I recognise the uniform of my guards, and others wearing camouflage gear I don’t know.

‘What the fuck is going on?’

My heart in my mouth, I scan the bodies quickly for any sign of a green dress, relieved as all fuck when I don’t see one.

Turning, I race to the left tree-line where the majority of the fighting is continuing. I find Revna close to the edge of the forest wrapped in a heavy silver chain, two silver knives pinning her to a tree, one through her stomach, another through her neck.

Yin’s knives.

I can’t help but smirk.

“Falco,” Revna croaks. “Release me.”

Leaning close, I grip her by the hair and force her to look into my eyes.

“Where the fuck is my wife?”

She laughs.

“Dead.”

Reaching down, I push the knife into her guts a little deeper, giving it a twist. She’s of Viking stock, battles are nothing new to her, for centuries she’s fought. Angie wouldn’t stand a chance if they’d come up against each other.

“Tell the truth. I can end you here, Revna. Princess or not. No witnesses will make it out of this place alive to say what happened to you. Do you understand?”

Her scream ends in a gurgle, and I release the knife and step back. If I kill her, if I’m found to have killed her, a princess and one of The Families, nobody and nothing will save me. But if she’s killed my wife I’ll happily pay that price.

She snorts and spits a gob of blood into my face.

Leaning back, I wipe my eyes on my sleeve and draw back my hand ready to swipe her head off, when out of the corner of my eye I glance up to see my son hovering nearby, crying, his face pale, eyes wide with terror.

‘He can fucking fly?’

Stepping back from the Princess, I lurch towards him as he flits just out of arm’s reach.

“Talon, boy, come here.”

He shakes his head, his face awash with tears as he hovers on the edge of the tree line, visible to anyone and in range of gunfire.

“Mommy,” he sobs. “I want my Mommy.”

“Noooo!” Revna moans. “It can’t be.”

Talon turns to fly away, and I spring, reaching one of his small feet and hauling him down into my arms. He struggles and screams, but I pin him tight against me to prevent him from surging away again where I might not be able to reach him.

“Mommy!” He shrieks.

“Shhhh.”

Ignoring Revna’s stream of muttered abuse, I hold the boy tightly, shudders ripping through his small body into mine as the shock of what he’s seen, what’s happening around him, takes hold.

“Calm, boy. Calm. You know me. We’ll look for your mother together, but you have to be calm. You have to stay out of the air. Do you understand? It’s dangerous, there are people with guns.”

His hiccuppy sobs increase in intensity.

Pulling him back from me so I can look into his eyes, I try another tack.

“Talon, you have to be strong and face your fears. We have to protect your mother. Do you understand?”

He bites his lip and nods, his eyes as round as saucers at my commanding tone.

“That’s my boy,” I soften my voice and nod encouragement. “Is your cousin with you?”

He looks confused and shakes his head as he sucks his thumb, his big eyes not leaving mine.

“You’re by yourself?”

He nods again.

“Your Mom knows you can fly?”

His eyes, so like hers, begin to water again.

“It’s a seqwet,” he gulps.

“Of course it is,” I sigh as I pull him close against my chest and hold him, breathing in the scent of him, of her too, as I whisper. “Let’s go find her.”