Page 40

Chapter 39

Rolf

R olf’s hands shook, and he dropped the head to the ground, kicking it several feet away from the body. Then he gathered his mate in his arms, picking her up off the ground until she was nowhere near the dead body of the vampire.

“Well, it’s not like I knew you would be coming to my rescue,” Adeline said, giving him a petulant pout. “I had it handled. Almost.”

And then she crumpled against him and started crying.

“Shh, shh,” he whispered. She gripped him tightly, as if she were afraid he would leave.

He wouldn’t leave again. Whether they made it out of here alive or not, he was fully prepared to die fighting, just as long as he was by her side.

“I thought you were dead,” she sniveled.

“I thought you were dead,” he echoed.

“How?” she asked, and he knew the answer.

Does she think I would have left her?

“I came for you,” was all he replied.

He wiped his bloody hand, as best as he could, on his pants and threaded his fingers in her hair. It was partially undone, perhaps from the scuffle from earlier, but he didn’t mind. He pressed his nose against the side of her head, and the scent of petrichor and amber swirled around him when he inhaled. Other scents were wrapping around her, trying to stick to her skin—mainly death and disease and whatever else had been on that vampire. But he buried his nose deeper into her pinned hair and pushed the thoughts away. He didn’t want to think of anyone else putting their hands on her body.

On what was his .

He inhaled again.

Home , he sighed.

Relief flooded him as he tipped her head back and consumed her mouth . She was soft and strong, her body firmly pressed against his, but melting in his arms at the same time.

“My darkness,” he growled into her mouth.

Mine.

It was a plea, a promise, a claim.

She whimpered as he crushed her to his chest; he never wanted his hands to leave her body. He would wipe away all the scents of everyone else on her with his kisses, his touch, his love. Sparks erupted across his vision as she pressed against him, her nails digging into his chest with the same fervor.

His wolf yipped in his head, prancing around like an excited puppy who had finally found his person.

“My beast,” she sighed, melting into his touch.

“Hmm,” he hummed between fevered kisses. The taste of salt made him pull back. Her tears were on his tongue as he cradled her face in his hands. “I’m here, Adeline. I’m here. You’re safe.”

“I know.” Adeline nodded, her normally bright blue eyes dim. “But if you didn’t…if it had been another minute…if only I was stronger…”

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, stroking her hair as she wept. Anger ricocheted inside him.

“My darkness,” he whispered back, kissing her eyelids. He smirked into her hair, chuckling lightly. “But you told me you had it handled.”

“I may have lied. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to get you out,” he said. “To take you home.”

Adeline swayed.

She’s weak, you need to carry her, his wolf barked.

Rolf scooped her up in his arms and headed for the door, but she stopped him with a hand on his heart.

“No, Rolf. Stop.”

“No?” He stilled, but refused to put her down. He didn’t want to let her go, not when he finally had her. Not when she was wearing chains, like a prisoner.

His wolf growled. We need to leave. Now.

“We need to dispose of Campbell,” she said. She slid out of his arms with ease, landing delicately on the blood-soaked rug.

“What?” he asked, frantic.

“The body.” She kicked Campbell’s feet.

“You can’t be serious?” He gestured to the door. “We need to go. Who cares about his body?”

The blood squished underneath her feet as she shifted her weight. She grimaced.

“Are you weak? Worried we won’t make it?” Rolf looked at the early dawn light. He rolled up a sleeve and held his arm out to her. “Eat, take whatever you need. Then we go.”

Adeline stood firm, but her eyes flicked to his veins. She leaned in slightly, but she didn’t bite.

“It’s not only that, Rolf. I promised Jules that I would help her get free.” Her eyes pleaded with him, and her voice trembled.

“Fuck that,” Rolf said, and he reached forward to scoop her up again. She slid out of his grasp effortlessly. Something jangled, and he looked down, then grabbed the chains of the cuffs around her wrists. His chest rumbled, and he ground out, “You’re the one who’s a prisoner.”

“I also made a promise.” Her nonchalance irritated the hell out of him.

“Yes, but it’s time to leave.” He turned to the door, tugging on her chains.

“No.” Her voice was firm. She yanked her chains from his grasp.

Rolf looked back at her, his heart breaking. “We can come back for her, I promise, but we need to leave now.”

Adeline shook her head and widened her stance. “I can’t break this promise.”

“Who is this Juliette? Is she a slave?” Rolf asked. He could understand Adeline needing to help some of the fae trapped below, but so help him if she was?—

“A vampire,” Adeline said, looking him right in the eyes. She lifted her chin as if challenging him to question her.

“A vampire. You want to stay here and risk the window of time we have for another vampire?” Disbelief filled the spaces between his words.

She can’t be serious! His wolf grumbled as it paced.

Adeline took his face in her hands. “When I left, right before I met you, when you were a human, I…I left this place and abandoned Juliette. I left her here to take my place, and I didn’t even give her a second thought. And the guilt of that will always eat me up. This is my chance to make things right, Rolf. I have to make sure that she gets away, too.”

“And how do you propose that, Adeline? The odds are already stacked against us, and time is running out.” Rolf gestured to the window. Sunrise edged ever closer, and if he was going to set the castle on fire and free the prisoners, it had to be today.

His wolf growled in agreement. Neither of them liked hearing that Adeline didn’t want to leave, not after they came all this way to free her and take her back home.

His wolf snarled, Just throw her over your shoulder!

Adeline grabbed his hands. “I have a few plans I’m working on, Rolf.”

Rolf groaned and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her hand was so small in his, but he gripped it tightly, worried that if he broke contact with her, he would wake up and this would all be some kind of dream. And he didn’t want to find out if that were true.

Adeline nudged his knees open and stood between his legs. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing his face against her stomach. Her hands stroked his back, her chains clinking together. If it weren’t for the fact that they were trapped in a horrible predicament, he would have her naked and underneath him in two seconds. He had missed being this close to her. Smelling her, holding her, hearing her voice. His heart ached.

He hesitated to admit how he was feeling, but her obstinacy was annoying. He had plans, too! “I just…”

“You had your own plan,” Adeline interrupted. She smiled down at him—with pity or understanding? He couldn’t tell.

Is she making fun of us? His wolf asked.

“Well…yeah. I was going to come in here and whisk you away back home. And on our way out, I was going to burn the place down with all of the vampires in it.”

“You wanted to be the assassin’s hero?” She barked out a laugh, but quickly clamped her hand over her mouth when Rolf frowned. Her cheeks flushed, and she cupped his cheek. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

She has a pretty laugh, his wolf said, smugly. We’ve chosen well. Even if she is a bit stubborn.

Quiet, you.

Rolf frowned.

“We will go home, I promise.” She bent to kiss the tip of his nose.

His wolf instantly calmed and said, Hear her out.

Rolf groaned and rested his forehead against her stomach. “So what’s your plan?”

She inhaled sharply. “I am going to marry Erik. Then I’ll behead him.”

“You’ll what?” Rolf’s heart stopped beating. He forgot how to breathe. His vision went black.

I changed my mind. Throw her over your shoulder now, his wolf huffed.

“You want to stay here and pretend to get married to the creature who tortured you for centuries?” Rolf was aghast. It was the most unhinged idea he had ever heard. They were trying to get away from Erik, not get closer to him.

Adeline cringed and tried to take a step back, but he grabbed onto her chains and yanked her closer. She fell into his lap and refused to meet his eyes. “I am getting married to Erik tonight.”

No, no no no no. She couldn’t marry Erik. She was his mate. His chest squeezed, and it was getting hard to breathe. Was he having a panic attack?

“ No. Tonight? No. Absolutely not.”

“It’ll be fine, Rolf,” Adeline said, stroking his back. “I have it all figured out.”

“No, I—I can’t risk losing you again.” He almost told her that they were mates. He almost told her that there was nothing left for him if she went through with this. He almost told her that losing her again would be the death of him.

What else is there to live for?

He buried his head in the curve of her neck, and the temptation to claim her, to bite her neck, to mark her completely overwhelmed him so much that he started to shake. His wolf swelled with pride and egged him on, but he shut him down.

She pushed away from Rolf and forced his head up to meet her gaze. Her fingers dug into the hair near his temples as she pulled, and he grunted. Her eyes were bright blue, refusing to let him look away.

A small part of his resolve crumbled.

Damnit .

“You have to trust me,” Adeline insisted.

“You’re infuriating,” he sighed, but there was no malice in his voice.

She is, his wolf agreed and added, but she is ours.

“So I’ve been told,” she said quietly.

“You want to marry Erik and save another vampire.” Even saying it out loud made him want to rage. “I don’t understand but…”

Then one look in her eyes, and he knew he had no say in the matter. He loved every part of her, despite how irritating she was, how infuriating, how stubborn. Still, he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and cart her out of here, kicking and screaming. Rolf sighed and dropped his head. Slowly, he stroked his hands up and down her legs, one hand inching closer and closer to the apex of her thighs where he wanted to sink himself.

Was all of this for nothing?

“You don’t have to understand,” Adeline said. She stepped out of his grasp and began pacing, her chains tinkling while her hands gestured. “Juliette isn’t just any vampire, Rolf. She is the closest thing I have to a sister in this life. She took my place and has been caring for the servants and…I’m not asking you to dive into hundreds of years of history, but I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I didn’t see this through. I can’t abandon her again. All I need is for you to trust me.”

“I trust you. I always will. What do you need me to do, my darkness?”

“First, we need to get rid of the body,” Adeline grunted as she picked up the edge of the rug, rolling Campbell’s body within it.

Rolf nodded and helped Adeline finish rolling the body into the blood-soaked rug. She stuck her head out the door and gestured that the hallway was clear. He hefted the rug onto his shoulder and took it to the balcony. With a grunt, he tossed the body over the baluster and watched as the carpet unrolled and the headless corpse was dashed to bits against the sea cliffs. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit how immensely satisfying it was seeing the limbs get smashed to smithereens before sinking into the sea below.

With a sigh and a lot of reproachful comments from his wolf, he went back inside for the head.