It's just a coincidence. It's just a coincidence. It's just a coincidence...
No matter how many times I said it, the words never become more convincing in my head. Caspar couldn't be linked to the monster in front of me. He couldn't have lied to me and betrayed my trust.
Ezaryth continued to leer at us. Diana's gentle sobbing had me wondering whether Victor was still in there somewhere. Whether he could be saved.
"You have played my game well, niece!" Ezaryth said, the pleasure in his voice clear. "Growing inside you is a girl of infinite power."
My hand flung to cover my stomach. I felt Jax's hands rest over mind, a deadly purring beginning to erupt from his chest.
"What do want with her?" I asked, my voice livid. A girl. A daughter. I would be a mother- the idea never got less scary. It had been easy to forget what future now lay ahead of me in the fury of the past days, but Ezaryth was dragging it to the forefront of my mind. No Ivy League college for me. Not anymore.
Ezaryth laughed, his voice like a silk ribbon wrapping around my ears and stifling my senses. "I wish to make you a deal; we are kin after all."
"You are no family of mine," I declared as bravely as I could. "My father sacrificed everything to stop you, to stop this."
"Yes," Ezaryth hissed. "He even sacrificed his life."
The world stopped around me. My mouth could barely form the words I wanted to scream. Dead. I had never met him and he was dead.
"More trickery," Jax muttered in my ear, but his voice wasn't sure enough for the message he wanted to convey.
Genevieve had gone mostly unnoticed by the Shadowlord, his attention fully focused on me. I watched as she traced symbols in the air, leaving no physical trace but offering protection in case the chains didn't hold.
"Anyway," Ezaryth continued in his regal yet snakelike voice, "I must apologise that you could not see my spectacular true form. It would make my offer all the more... convincing."
He grinned and, though the teeth that glimmered belonged to Victor, it represented him better than any of his cruel words ever could: the big bad wolf. Not like Jax. Not like the pack. A true predator. The beast that devoured red riding hood's grandmother with no mercy.
"Make your offer then, before we reveal why we brought you here," I challenged, narrowing my eyes as I peered down at him. I hoped I appeared powerful and fearless.
I felt a chill when I realised Jax had disappeared from my side, then a saw a black wolf pound back out of the shadows and begin to circle the Shadowlord. A tremor of fear ran through me- he shouldn't be behaving so recklessly.
Ezaryth's violet eyes flickered between me and my mate. He still let Genevieve and Diana go unnoticed. Most likely they weren't worthy of his attention.
"We both know you aren't ready for a child!" His voice was almost mocking but in an oddly sincere way. "You or your glorified dog."
Jax howled angrily at his words. I only bristled, trying my best to remain unaffected.
He continued to speak without waiting for a response. "Give me the child when she is born. I will raise her and train her."
"I would be handing you a weapon!" My voice was louder now, hysterical as I began to realise what he had planned to do all along. "And I would be handing you the innocent life of my own daughter to corrupt."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jax go into predator-mode. He looked ready to kill Ezaryth where he sat. If only it were that easy. Shadowlords (I presumed) didn't die easily.
"Your child will be safest, happiest, with the only other being who could match her power. The most you could ever do was heal the wounds I inflicted. How could you hope to raise a beast when you hardly have claws yourself?" Ezaryth was panting in exertion at his speech.
"What then?" I questioned. "Why do you want my daughter so badly? What could her power offer that you don't already have?" It was something that had been bothering me a long time.
His violet eyes gleamed. "When she reaches adulthood, I will marry her and make her the bride of darkness. Our children and the dynasty we create will bring the realms to their knees."
Before I could even cry out in horror, two things happened simultaneously. Firstly, Jax leapt at Ezaryth with his claws out. At the same time as that, Genevieve let out an indignant shriek of disbelief and lodged her fingernails into the back of his neck.
Ezaryth screamed as Jax's claws left surface wounds down his chest- where he already had injuries from Victor's previous attacks- as blood trickled down the back of his neck from Genevieve's very own claws.
I tried to subside the rising panic in my chest by laughing slightly at Genevieve. "I always knew those acrylics had some higher purpose."
She grinned darkly and tapped her indigo nails together. "I didn't spent my weekend in detention for improper uniform for fashion alone."
Ezaryth drew our attention back with his loudly exclaimed curses. "Tell me why you summoned me before my time, Shadow daughter." His eyes pierced mine and I remembered my purpose.
"You were the voice in my head all this time?" He nodded, clearly pleased with himself. "I want to know why?"
He rolled his eyes. "Because I needed to know everything about you so I could bring you and your alpha together to create my queen."
His words sickened me: how dare he place a claim on a child not even born! How dare he strip my daughter of her future before she even took her first breath!
"You didn't trust us to come together by ourselves?"
"Not with that bloody council monitoring your every move." He swung around to face Genevieve, who leapt backwards in response. "You caused me quite some trouble. Once I have regained my strength and broke free from these chains I think I will kill you first."
She tilted her head and placed her hands on her hips. "I'll look forward to that." God, could that girl ever be shaken by anything?
Except, I knew she really did fear Ezaryth. I could tell from how serious she was before. Any carefree disposition she wore now was a painted on facade to hide the ugly truth.
I tried to pull him back to me. "Why Victor?"
His lips curled over his teeth, revealing the vampire's fangs. For the first time, he seemed to fully realise whose body he had hijacked. "With Thornwood it was personal. Not only was he vulnerable and easily manipulated, but I also had a bone to pick with him."
"Which was?" I prompted. I was surprised when he, lost in the alleys of the past, answered compliantly.
"That mortal pet of his- the Thorpe witch- had nearly killed me. She was the reason I needed a new body in the first place. I had killed her in my initial fury and then regretted not taking my time and making it really hurt. I wanted her to pay. I wanted her lover to watch her die. I killed two birds with one stone when I stuck that little deal though. I could have a new body, I could kill Diana Thorpe all over again, and through my eyes Victor Thornwood could watch her bleed."
Through his monologue, Diana had slowly been stepping back into the thicket of trees. Clever girl, I thought as I watched her get further away. I thought she had made it that silken voice sent a shudder down my spine.
"Oh no Diana," he cooed. "You won't get away that easily."
I barely had time to register that his chains now fell limply to the floor around him. I could only scream as he lunged for Diana.
YOU ARE READING
The Alpha And His Mate (Silver Hills #1)
Paranormal'I always knew my hometown of Silver Hills was weird, but I never imagined it was werewolf weird...' The alpha of the Silver Hills pack has been alone his whole life, never wanting love or opening his heart. His world is torn apart when he discovers...
