Page 123 of Vow of the Undead
I traced my forefinger down the rough ash, the wood splintered where Kayn had ripped the branch in half. All I had to do was drive the stake through the king’s back, straight into his heart and it’d all be over. I’d be free and Kayn saved. So why the hell wasn’t I burying it between his ribs?
A guttural groan escaped from Kayn as his resistance waned. The king pressed the blade into his throat and the pure white gold singed Kayn’s skin. With every second the cursed metal pressed into him, the weaker he grew.
“It was you who made her a monster,” King Drakkar breathed over him. “Wasn’t it? The Exile who needed her help. I should have known the moment I saw you with her at the Forsaken Hall. Ever the dutiful servant to Odin. It’s a shame I didn’t pay closer attention until I saw the other vampires giving you space the way they do me. You’re their true king.”
King Drakkar leaned in closer, his fangs bared at Kayn, his eyes fiery red and boring into him. In a desperate attempt, Kayn shoved him away, but the king was just as strong. “But you’re inmykingdom and when I told my wife to run, I never intended it to be with you. And since you were the first vampire, made by the same power Silver has now, do you know what that means?”
Kayn grunted.
The king didn’t let up on Kayn’s throat long enough for him to respond. He kept him pinned, and answered his own question. “It means I don’t need that damn tree’s stake to destroy you. Unlike everyone else, I can kill you with my bare hands.”
Kayn could die.
He was going to die if I didn’t do something. Anything.
I raised my arm, gripping the stake tighter and tighter until my fingers ached, all thought of the life I was accepting forgotten at the sight of pain twisting Kayn’s mouth. I charged forward and brought my arm down just the way he’d taught me, with the same arc I’d done a thousand times in the shadowy hours practicing with Kayn among the graves.
Stake to heart.
King Drakkar dropped the dagger and whipped around before I brought it down. Behind him, Kayn sank to the floor, his hand at his throat where the curse scarred him. The king’s hand wrapped around my wrist and yanked me closer to him, the stake still tipped to the center of his chest. All I had to do was push. One push and I’d destroy the man I was supposed to marry today. I had the strength to overpower him, thanks to Odin. Kayn groaned from beneath us, free of the threat but still weak from where the gold drained him.
The king’s icy eyes glittered with an unknown emotion. Hatred? Fear? No, the flex of his jaw and curve of his mouth said otherwise. He was the same cruel vampire who wanted to claim me as his wife. Facing the end of his existence did nothing to change the cold hard confidence that shaped every firm angle of his face.
“Don’t give in to the Gods, Lux.”
A laugh escaped me at this blatant lie.
“Listen to me!” His rough voice cut me like a jagged blade. I didn’t want to listen anymore. All I’d wanted was the truth, the lost history, to say the Gods’ names aloud without fear of executioners, but I was done with it all, ready to become what they intended the moment they sent my mother the vision of the Call. “Why don’t you find out for yourself? Compel me, Lux. This truth I’ll be forced to give you. But I’m already telling you, the council is at odds. Astrid and Sten and Dante went astray from Ylva and Darius. Theylet Silver out and now everything hinges on you marrying me.”
Another empty laugh burst out of me. He closed the distance between us.
Not touching me, he beared down on me with only his presence, his eyes intense and his face inches from mine. “Fuck if the Gods are listening, Lux, the vampires are preparing for war. I’m sure of it now, and neither side will win, because if the vampires are the victors, truth will only be restricted more.”
“And if the humans win?”
“The Gods will have free reign to use you in their games.”
Of course he didn’t trust the Gods, he was a creature cut off from them. It was impossible for him to understand humanity’s connection to Odin because he wasn’t created by him. The vampires were created by the first witch, and then the king of monsters. This much I knew of the lost history now.
But none of that brought Silver back to me, and it made my stomach revolt and anger burn at the pit. I shook my head as I gave him a hollow smile. “You threatened to kill me and my sister. Why shouldn’t I destroy you right now?”
“Because I’m the only thing standing between the Blood Council and the humans. Everything they do is to protect our source of sustenance.”
Like the executioners. I’d always felt how wrong it was that we couldn’t even defend ourselves without the executioners being sent to cut us down.
“I don’t need you. I’ll kill them too?—-”
“Because you’re chosen. I know. But killing the vampires won’t free you.” He pressed a finger to my brow. “The Gods already have you, and when the vampires are gone, they’ll have everyone. It’s all about control.”
“No, the Gods don’t control me, they grant me power.Youcontrol me, your executioners control everyone, and why?”
“For the blood source.”
I huffed and swallowed back a swell of bile.
Even pinned, he showed no fear of me. Only a strange sadness swam in his eyes.
“What about my sister?” I asked. “How is she part of all this?” As much as I needed to run, or to stake him, or to give in to this ache inside me and crumple to the floor, I still begged for answers. I still wanted the truth.
