Page 122 of Vow of the Undead
Instead, his tunic was untied, open and baring his chest. Though he wasn’t as broad or built like a warrior like the king, his lean muscles were shaped from his survival of hunting animals, and before that, hunting humans. At the center, glowed the same shape etched in ink across King Drakkar’s chest, the tree of Yggdrasil, the mark of our connection to the Gods, a witch’s symbol, on the body of a vampire.
For some reason, the other vampires backed away from him.
Kayn walked through them like he was parting water. Every monster’s eyes nearly glowed with whatever power ebbed and flowed beneath that mark. The same way the king’s tattoo brightened as if moving beneath his skin.
Every vampire froze, except for King Drakkar, who glared at him with eyes so full of vitriol, I thought he might charge him. Almost as if he knew what had happened between Kayn and I the night before.
And perhaps he did, we weren’t exactly quiet.
Even so, King Drakkar made no move to attack Kayn. Likely because it’d be a stalemate.
Kayn couldn’t kill the king back at the Hall of the Gods and the king couldn’t kill Kayn. At least as I understood it and it had to have something to do with this single matching mark—the only piece of these two that connected them.
Suddenly, their equally matched strength made sense to me.
This mark…it had to be the one from the first witch mentioned in the runestones, which meant she would have made them both. I’d forgotten about it, my mind having been crowded with thoughts of my soul, of the trials, of the king’s touches and demands.
But how could King Drakkar have the same mark? He wasn’t alive all those years ago when Kayn was made.
I didn’t have time to dwell on it now.
Kayn stepped forward, his mouth forming around my name when Astrid flung herself at him again.
I ran to Kayn, my pendant and the stake still in my grasp while my sister’s shrieks rang in my ears.
“I will kill her!”
With the rest of the vampires giving Kayn a wide berth, and the king and Astrid locked in a wild and relentless fight, we were free to run. At least in the seconds that Silver’s control still focused on Ylva.
Human guests were frozen with shock, their mouths hanging open as they witnessed the bloodshed unfold. Their minds likely couldn’t catch up with the scene of monsters, and I didn’t blame them. Vampires had kept their secrets close.
The door groaned as Kayn shoved it open and pulled me out of the throne room along with him. The hem of my wedding dress collected dirt, darkening the edges until I looked less and less like the bride King Drakkar demanded.
Guards shouted at us to stop from where they were posted at the front of the keep. I pivoted. Switching now, I led Kayn away from the castle’s main entrance. We could escape through the tunnel in King Drakkar’s room.
My sister wouldn’t be aware of it, and for now, she was the greatest threat, even if my mind wanted to reject every part of this. I’d come to save her. She’d come to kill me. And of course she did, because my attempt to rescue her was too little, and fartoo late.
The labyrinthine halls swallowed us in a maze of stone. I navigated the path with Kayn at my heels. Footsteps echoed behind us. I didn’t know who I expected to see pursuing us. My sister? Or the vampires.
We ducked into a room, Kayn pulling me into the shadows behind the door and between the wall and a massive wardrobe. Falling silent, we barely breathed as the footsteps stopped at the door. Kayn positioned himself in front of me, ready to take down whatever vampire dared to face him now. When the footsteps faded, we emerged from the room and I led the way this time, guiding Kayn to the king’s wing where we could escape through the tunnel. If one of the vampires followed us, I prayed they didn’t know of it. And if my sister did, we’d surely lose her.
In the king’s bedchambers, I paused over the rug.
“What are you doing?” He asked, looking at me and then back to the fireplace. “We have to keep moving until Odin grants you his gift.”
I pointed between my feet. “The king’s mother is trapped here.”
Kayn’s eyes shot to my feet. “Ingrid?”
My stomach dropped. The king’s mother was the last chosen witch before me? But…
Before I could respond, the door flung open and the king stormed into the room. Instead of coming for me, he crossed the space in a single blink and slammed Kayn against the wall beside the fireplace, his hand at Kayn’s throat. In his other hand, he gripped the dagger he’d used to roughly hack Dante’s head from his shoulders.
Sickness sloshed in my gut as clarity hit. He intended to decapitate Kayn and without having recently fed on a human, Kayn didn’t stand a chance. They were both created by the first witch’s power and should have been equally matched, if Kayn wasn’t honorable. If he’d never cut off his fangs andexisted on a diet like mine, he could fight off the king—now he relied on me.
“All you have to do is answer the Call. One more step, Lux.”
The last step to come into my full power. The last step to become the huntress chosen by Loki, Freya, and Odin. The last step to end life as I knew it.
