Page 22

Chapter 21

Adeline

A deline stared down the tunnel, the light of the early afternoon filling the end of it with a silvery light. Given the silence coming from Rolf, she wondered if his head was spinning as much as hers. The centuries-long plan that Erik had enacted to get back at her for wanting to leave kept unfolding before her.

He will never let me go…

Rolf was her punishment. For even conceiving of wanting to mate and settle down, and finally be happy. Someone knew he had shifter fae blood. And the only person who was always a step ahead of her was Erik.

“Why would Erik glamour me to get back at you?” Rolf asked. “Why wouldn’t he just kill me?”

Realization dawned as she finally put the pieces together.

“Because I wanted to leave the coven. I was done with Erik. When you were Colin, I was ready to turn you into a vampire as soon as you asked. I considered myself already paired for the rest of your mortal life, even if you never wanted to be turned. We would have been mates in their eyes, and I wanted out.”

“And you couldn’t have that because…?” Rolf asked.

Vampire politics were one of a kind, especially when it involved the whims of Erik. But now that Adeline realized what her maker had wanted all along, everything made sense. She struggled to admit the full truth—Erik wanted her for himself for centuries. But she never made it easy on him. She resisted every chance she could get. She had the scars to prove it. “Erik never wanted me to mate. I am his most prized possession.”

I am no one’s possession , she seethed.

When she was turned, she was newly widowed due to the blight that had wormed its way into the land. But she wasn’t heartbroken. Far from it. Her husband, a spoiled, selfish prince, had kept her from her family for years, claiming her beauty would drive men mad, and he knew she would run away with the most handsome suitor if she stepped out of her tower. She was a possession then, just as she was Erik’s possession now.

It was never enough that she had become the deadliest weapon he used; he always wanted more. He had Adeline’s body, he destroyed her mind. But he could never have her soul. By the time she had met Colin, it had been half a century since she let Erik have his way with her. As soon as she had dared to love, Erik had pulled on her reins.

If she was honest with herself, she hadn’t been at the top of her game since Colin went missing—using every excuse she could to stay away from Erik and keep her search going, which is probably why she had missed that Erik had been leading her around on purpose.

He had laid this all out for her—the perfect trap to get her back. Forever.

We will be free, I will make sure of it.

“So he punished me.” Rolf met her eyes, and she looked away quickly. “And now he’s punishing you.”

“Yes.” Adeline shuddered, remembering how slimy she had felt when Erik had kissed her, how sticky his lips felt. How could she have once thought he ever had good intentions for her? “He’s done all of this as punishment for me thinking I could leave. That I could be happy.”

“So now we kill them,” Rolf said, smiling. His eyes caught the light from the torch, but Adeline didn’t dare let herself feel anything more than anger. She was afraid she would overlook the most minor details if she let even the tiniest sliver of hope weasel its way in. And right now, they couldn’t afford for her to forget anything. One small misstep was a fatal mistake.

And she was determined to kill them all.

“We can be happy now, together,” Rolf said, and Adeline knew he was saying it to make her feel better.

She shook her head. “Not until Erik is dead.”

Her feet sloshed in the puddles of water as she walked to the end of the tunnel on the left. Rolf followed, the swinging lantern casting shadows on the wall. Her shadow walked steadily next to her, and for the first time in a long while, Adeline felt an emptiness as she thought about her mother and sister. When she opened the sky and sent her sister through the portal, she never knew where she had ended up, or if she still lived. The final look Leda had given her, a mixture of fear and hope, was mirrored in the last moments of every life she took. In the beginning, when she was still a newly turned vampire, she would see her sister’s face in every kill.

The Angel of Death was always me.

“You said you were the monster? No, Rolf. I am the monster. I have harmed and killed countless innocents, all in the name of my maker. I have killed so many, I no longer remember their names.”

“You used to know their names?”

Adeline nodded. “I felt like I owed it to myself to hold on to the last of who they were.”

Guilt consumed her, thinking back to all of the killing she had done. She used to tell herself it was for her survival, and sometimes she even went as far as thinking she liked it. But when she finally started to undo the centuries of manipulation Erik had put her through, she realized he had been the one coaching her, convincing her that she was a ruthless killer.

Rolf didn’t talk; he silently walked with her until they both stood at the end of the tunnel in a few inches of snow. The vines covered the silver grate, hiding most of the entrance with foliage.

If Rolf was to be her punishment, then Erik had gravely misunderstood how much she loved him. Perhaps he didn’t account for her feelings because he could not feel anything beyond power and greed.

She continued. “I think Erik knew you by your fae blood. Perhaps, he even knew that you were a were-shifter. How, exactly, is something I still need to figure out. But I know that he did this on purpose. As a way to put me in my place and remind me that he is still in charge.”

“Because he’s your maker?” Rolf asked.

“Because I was his possession.” Adeline turned and stared down the dark tunnel, shuddering at the thought of Erik’s hands on her body, how she would shut down every time she was alone with him.

Juliette had been her only saving grace for over a century, her only companion in a den full of creatures she couldn’t stand. Her touch was gentle and warm and welcome, while Erik’s was cold and slimy and distant. Her laugh was golden, reminding her of careless summers in the sun. Erik never laughed unless he was inflicting pain of some kind. Or collecting on his countless unwinnable bargains.

Her stomach swirled with disgust at herself. How could she have been so stupid to make a bargain with him?

“You don’t have to tell me anything, but…” Rolf whispered as she fell into his chest. His arms wrapped around her carefully. “When we make it out of here alive, I will take as long as needed to replace every touch of his with mine.”

She soaked in his warmth, wishing she could wipe her own memory clean from all the times she had acquiesced to Erik’s cravings.

“ When we make it out alive,” she echoed, resolved to get them through this.

“So, Erik needs to die. Simple enough. What do you need me to do?” Rolf asked.

His hand slipped behind her neck, and she tilted her head up to his. She needed to figure out a way to get both of them out of this situation so that they could finally spend an eternity together.

“Adeline.” Rolf reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her into him. “Tell me, I trust you.”

Adeline closed her eyes and leaned into his chest, breathing him in. “First, we have to kill the entire coven. And Erik, if he’s with them. And if we can’t?—”

Rolf let out a deep laugh, full of disbelief. “The two of us up against an entire coven of vampires? Do you know how many?”

She shrugged. If he doesn’t think we can do this, then we have nothing.

It was as if she could finally see clearly. The full moon was only a few hours away, and he was the one creature here that could kill with minimal effort expended. She looked around at the tunnels surrounding them. Each entrance was coated in silver, and only Rolf could touch them in his human form unscathed.

Adeline’s mind whirred with the threads of a plan she began to weave together. Vampires couldn’t touch silver without their skin burning, but if they timed it right, and Rolf was able to shift back, then maybe they did have a chance at getting out of this predicament, not only alive but also with each other.

For the first time since she had consumed his blood, she let herself hope.

* * *

The fresh snow glinted a blinding white as the light of the full moon crested the mountain peaks. The storm had finally abated, and in the forest beyond, the night was still, clear, and crisp. The fireplace crackled, and embers swirled around the fresh wood, making it hiss and pop. She wanted the cabin to be hot so the vampires would think the blood would remain warm. It was the illusion she was after, that the blood was fresh and not something she collected hours ago. A keening howl from Rolf’s wolf reverberated through the silver door in the floor. Chills spread across her skin, and she knew the night would be agonizing as she waited for the precise moment for him to turn back.

It all comes down to timing.

She stared at the jars of blood on the small table. Some of it was hers, but most of it was his. It took some convincing for Rolf to follow her plan, but in the end, they spent the last moments of their free time working out the details. At least six feet of snow surrounded the cabin. Rolf had gone out during the day to shovel most of it off the roof, to show that someone lived here, and to stomp around a bit as proof of life. He cleared off his snowshed and found a container of pitchwood and a small jar of tar tucked in the stacks of freshly cut pine. Adeline had nodded her approval and plastered him with kisses when he showed her.

Then Rolf and Adeline laid their trap.

Now, all she had to do was wait. The last few hours before dawn would be critical, so she could set the final scene for her coven when she greeted them. She knew they were on their way by the sounds of the forest outside. The owls and other creatures of the night had been kicking up a ruckus since the storm ended.

Her senses tingled. The roaring fire tossed dancing shadows along the walls that reminded her of spiderwebs. She rubbed her eyes and told herself she was seeing things. Besides, she had consumed enough of Rolf’s blood to feel almost back to normal.

She glanced outside. The night sky was thick and peppered with stars that fought against the silvery glimmer of the moon. As it shifted higher in the sky, she knew the time was nigh.

Placing a final few logs on the fire, she watched the flames lick at the edges of the mantel. The smoke walked slowly up the chimney, and a few gray curls hovered in the air near the ceiling. It might not be enough to cover up the scent of arousal and sweat, but she hoped it would help mask her memories from the vampires as they took over this place.

One final look around the cabin, and she walked quietly over to the table. Picking up a few jars, she smashed them into the walls, then picked up a few more, and smashed them on the floor. She took her hands and dragged them through the shards of glass, mixing and smearing the blood they contained everywhere.

Adeline then continued to rampage through the rest of the cabin until it looked as if it had been part of a massacre. Blood splatter was everywhere, as was broken glass and overturned furniture. After she felt like Rolf’s place was thoroughly destroyed, she picked the shards from her palms, drank a small vial of his blood, and lay down on the bed to wait.

With her eyes closed, she emptied her mind so she could focus on the sounds outside. If she focused hard enough, she could hear the pacing of Rolf’s beast below. It growled but no longer bayed, the silver chains keeping the creature contained, unable to move around without searing pain.

The distant call of an owl sounded, but then the forest became eerily quiet. Dawn was but a mere hour away, the deep snow having kept the coven from reaching her any sooner. For that small miracle, she was thankful. She wondered if her maker would be with them, or if he had just sent his goons to do the dirty work.

She prayed it would be the former when there was a knock on the door.

Adeline swallowed, thankful that she had sucked on a juniper berry earlier in the evening so her heart rate would be slow when she confronted Juliette and her entourage.

By the sounds of the hearts beating outside, there were only six vampires in total.

She smiled to herself at the memory of dispatching three vampires when Colin had disappeared. They were younger than her, but only by a few decades. Thinking back on it now, that should have been her first clue that something was wrong—three of the Originals on her doorstep so soon after her lover had disappeared. It was no easy feat killing them, but she had done it. Alone and unarmed. If she had been able to do that when swallowed up by despair, then she could handle the ones here tonight.

She hoped.

Her hand grabbed the knob, and she opened the door, ready to meet her fate.