Valdov cackled. “I told you. It is done.”
“It’s not over yet,” I snarled. “My guess is if the magic has a choice, it would still choose Eudoxia.” I yelled, “Vamps aren’t like us. They’re already dead. They don’t need communication to the brain. Put her neck back together and give her your blood.” I was banking on the fact she could regenerate with his blood. I’d learned the hard way with Eamon. I thought I’d killed him by breaking his neck, but he had healed after drinking from Ray.
Tyler’s face hardened.
I nodded, urging him on. “Tyler, you have to do this or Valdov will be the new King. We can’t risk it. I’d feed her myself, but I can’t give her my blood.”
Valdov struggled in earnest beneath me and my claws dug deeper into his shoulders. He hadn’t expected us to feed his former Queen. “That’s right,” I growled. “You underestimated what we would be willing to do. And for that, you lose.”
Tyler ripped his sleeve open and bit into his wrist.
Valdov’s cruel nails found my face. He raked them over my cheek, and blood poured down my face. I batted his hands away and bared my teeth. “Do you see this? This is me ending you.” I switched control to my wolf and our hands locked around his neck, our power pressing him tightly to the floor.
“Little … mongrel … you cannot…” Valdov hissed as he thrashed.
From the bed, the Queen gasped, her chest bowing upward. There was a tremor below me as the magic began to leave Valdov, his body weakening as I held on.
The Queen’s arms flung to the side as the magic shot back into her.
Tyler stepped back, running a hand over his face. It was the second time in his life he’d been required to feed a vampire. And he had my undying admiration and love for it. It was no small thing for a wolf to aid a vamp.
“No,” Valdov insisted. “I will be King—” His body convulsed as the last of the magic left him, transferring back to its true sovereign.
“Looks like you won’t be after all,” I said, my hands tightening around his throat. “You shouldn’t feel bad, though, because if you were indeed more powerful than Eudoxia, the magic would’ve stayed inside you. You were never meant to rule, Valdov, and I’m happy to make sure it stays that way.”
My wolf snapped her jaws and twisted. Valdov’s scream was lost as the door to Eudoxia’s bedroom burst off its hinges.
Rourke roared as he lunged into the room, his eyes blazing, his body primed for a fight.
But the deed was already done.
I sat back on my haunches and tossed Valdov’s head away in disgust, taking a few deep breaths. The gruesome killing requirement of this job sucked, but there was no other way around it. “There has to be an easier way to do this,” I said.
Rourke was to me in three steps.
He yanked Valdov’s body by the arm and sent it flying across the room, well away from me. Then he drew me up off the floor. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, but I was on my way to the Reliquary.” He tipped my head back gently with his fingertip, searching my eyes. “Downstairs, the house is in an uproar. Whatever you did by blowing up the ward opened a Pandora’s box of shit and everyone is in a panic. The vamps are all freaked because they think Eudoxia is dead. We have to get out of here.”
I nodded over his shoulder. “We can’t leave until we finish this.”
Rourke followed my gaze.
The Queen was still bound to her bed with silver cuffs and she was furious. Tyler stood back with his arms crossed. Danny and Naomi stood off to the side. I was happy to see Naomi was up. Valdov must have hit her hard.
Rourke gave me a small kiss and let me go. I moved around him and walked toward the Queen.
“This is your fault,” she spat as I came closer, her eyes a dead black, her fangs inching their way down slowly. “You’ve brought chaos down on the House of Vampires, as predicted, and I will enjoy tearing out your spine for it.” She ended on a hateful hiss and shook her chains, blood oozing out of her wrists.
I didn’t kill her arch nemesis so she could pour on more of the same bullshit.
“I just saved you,” I ground out, my hands balled. “I killed Valdov by ripping his head off. You remember him, don’t you? Your faithful advisor who almost succeeded in killing you not five minutes ago? In our world that means you owe me. A life for a life.” I walked up to the bedside. “I get anything I ask for. Swear it, or I’ll kill you where you lie.”