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She had been right, as usual.
I was not prepared to carry the burden of regret. Losing myself in lust-filled battles and sex had worked for decades, but the memories seemed impossible to subdue. Now, as I plotted my father’s demise and Jade’s rescue with Henry and Liliane Green, I wondered if my mate would become the latest witch to pay for my cowardice.
“Alexei, have you heard from Luca Castillo? If we can garner support from another vampire, we stand a greater chance of survival once we arrive in Slovenia,” Henry said, while simultaneously making our arrangements.
My mind fragmented with worry for Jade and white-hot fury channeled towards Trystan Dubois and my father. Distantly, I nodded, staring unseeing out of Liliane’s shattered kitchen windows onto the bloody beach below.
“He will stand with us,” I spoke, deadened. “Even before I made myself known to his court, I heard the whispers of dissent creeping through the town. Vampires are growing tired of my father’s iron-clad rule, lodged so deep in the past, there is no hope of ever acclimating with modern times.”
Henry made notes as Liliane paced the hardwood once more.
At her side, Willa’s tear-stained face continued to turn and glare at me at intervals, though she and the other elders of the Coven had refrained from an all-out war once they realized we were their only hope of returning Jade.
“Tell me again why we should trust you?” Willa seethed. “Vampires killed two of our own and kidnapped Jade, carting her off to your father’s castle for Goddess knows what. It should be the Coven going in your stead. We’llforcehim to return Jade.”
Henry and I shared a look.
I felt too wrapped up in the myriad of emotions to answer her foolish question once more. Henry’s patience, however, seemed never-ending.
“Because Willa,” he replied gently, “Alistair Vasyliev and the elder vampires at the Wild Hunt tomorrow night will kill you on sight for trespassing on their borders. We have to do this our way, or we stand no chance of recovering Jade without further bloodshed.”
She huffed, but Liliane set her hand on her shoulder, looking as tormented as I felt.
The spirit witch grasped onto the Amulet of Davorina, studying the dark magick within as she muttered to herself about Jade’s secrets. Finally, she dropped the chain onto the kitchen table with silvery eyes.
“You need to get this to Jade,” Liliane commanded, nudging the talisman closer. “If she’s imprisoned and without the full extent of her magick, this could be the only way she can escape.”
Darkness poisoned me from within imagining Jade’s fate.
“Sunrise is close. It’s time to leave.” Henry jumped from the table gracefully. “Our flight will land in Slovenia just after sundown. Alexei and I must play this carefully. If Alistair assumes we are there as a rescue mission, or if he understands what Jade means to him, we’ll be fucked the minute we land.”
Liliane moaned and sat next to me at the table, laying her face in her hands.
“However,” he pressed on, in a more sympathetic tone, “if luck is on our side, Alexei will convince Alistair he doesn’t care for Jade and will distract him with promises of perfect allegiance, while I free Jade.”
“What about you?” Willa cut in, looking at Henry with dread. “What will they do to you for letting Jade go?”
My lips flattened. “I won’t let anything happen to him, Willa.”
“You mean like how you protected Jade?” She lifted a brow.
A snarl caught in my throat, and Liliane raised her head with a scowl.
“Enough. Fighting won’t do us any good.” Turning to me once more, magick swirled around her in a fierce cloud of power. “We’ll allow you and Henry to do it your way… at first. However, if by sunrise tomorrow you cannot get her out safely, I will have to tell Rebecca and allow her to handle this as she sees fit.”
“You have a deal.”
Emboldened, she stood and started for the patio door leading to the beach. “Then I’ll let you and Henry get to it. Jade is precious to me and our family, Alexei. I’m trusting you to do this only because I know how deeply you feel about her. Bring her home.”
I swallowed thickly as I watched the two witches descend to their Coven, already in the process of cleaning up the vampire’s mess. Henry caught my eye and angled his head towards the front door.
“There’s no time to waste, Alexei.”
No, there wasn’t.
As we drove to the airport, I vowed to myself that I would do whatever it took to free Jade. The days of witches paying for my crimes had ended. Jade could survive my father in my absence because she was the strongest female I knew, but when the time came, I would kill my father once and for all, or die trying.
* * *
