Gena Showalter - Unraveled

“We can kill your friends, then.” Simple. Easy.

“No!” he shouted, forgetting all about respect. “There will be no killing, and that isn’t negotiable.”

More sighs. “Why don’t we propose a bargain, yes? You will see the females we have chosen for you, at least once, but you will do so only while here at the mansion?”

“This may not be an issue, anyway, with the upcoming challenges,” he pointed out, trying to buy some time. “True.”

“Still, Majesty. We need to offer the people hope for a future alliance.”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. God, he wanted to fight them on this, but the sooner he got out of this meeting, the sooner he could scour the witch’s brain. “Deal,” he said. “I’ll date the girls here. Once each.”

“Done.” The gavel descended. Boom . “Next order.”

They spoke of a feud over a blood-slave, and Aden had to decide who won the rights to said blood-slave. They spoke of some vampires wishing to travel back to Romania, and Aden had to decide if that was acceptable. They spoke of an upcoming peace talk with another faction of vampires. Vampires led by someone they called Bloody Mary. Aden recognized the name from his history books, but wasn’t sure that was who they meant. Could be her, but he didn’t want to ask and reveal his ignorance.

He was supposed to travel to England for this meeting. Apparently, Bloody Mary and her crew could feel the pull of him, too, though they hadn’t traveled to Oklahoma to find the source, for whatever reason. They were curious about him, however, enough to reach out to Vlad’s council for information.

“Could be an ambush,” one of the councilmen said.

“Or another attempt to control our people.”

So. On top of being enemies with nearly every other race, the vampires were also at war with each other. Sweet.

“We’ll protect him. Or rather, the wolves will. They are behind him one hundred percent.” There was a bit of displeasure in this councilman’s tone. “ We’re having trouble keeping our teeth off him. There’s no way Bloody Mary will be able to do so. She’s a savage!”

“Guys,” he said, interrupting their debate. “I have school. I can’t leave until summer, anyway, so we’ll discuss a trip to England then.”

“You could drop out of school. We have tutors, after all,” one said.

“Nope. Sorry.” Not even they could talk him into abandoning Crossroads High. And how was he supposed to pack up and go to another country when even sneaking here was a problem? And really, he’d had several recent encounters with so-called tutors. Look how well those had turned out. “Summer or never.” And if he decided to go, he was taking Victoria and Riley with him.

Or maybe not Riley. Many Ann would be upset about losing her boyfriend, even for a short period of time, and Aden hated the thought of upsetting her.

More murmurs resounded, but one by one, the councilmen nodded.

Next order. Many of their blood-slaves were missing. No one knew where they were. Vamps were angry and hungry and demanding new slaves. To obtain them, they needed Aden’s permission.

“For right now, they can feed, but they cannot kill. They can feed, but they cannot enslave.” Because of Victoria, he knew that if they drank from a human only once—or twice—that human could walk away without becoming addicted to the vampire bite, as he had. More than that was iffy.

Though the councilmen were disappointed, they called the next order of business. Aden’s supernatural pull, or “hum.” As they spoke about how strongly they were drawn to him, more and more of their gazes swung to Aden’s neck and stayed. He had to stop the humming nonsense, they said, over and over again, as if they were locked on the words and couldn’t move past them. Maybe they were entranced.

“I can’t stop,” he replied, shifting nervously.

The souls grew restless in his mind, as nervous as he was. Especially Elijah. The psychic began muttering about “blood” and “death,” and those mutterings were somehow familiar. As if Aden had heard them before. Where? When?

“The pull is stronger the longer we’re with him, isn’t it?” someone asked.

“Yes. Or maybe it’s because we’re so hungry.”

“What do you think he’ll taste like?”

“Nirvana.”

Finally, there was silence. Absolute, utter silence. Was the meeting over? Aden looked around. All eyes were on him again, piercing, narrowed. Then the silence was broken as lips were licked and breath emerged from flaring nostrils. A few of the councilmen had their nails embedded in the tabletop, as if trying to hold themselves back.

They wanted to devour him, but they were fighting the urge.

What should he do? Stand and run? Or just stay here, like this, until they got themselves under control. If they could. Should he shout for Victoria? No, he didn’t want her in the line of fire, just in case. Besides, he had to learn how to deal with these people if he was going to lead them.

Not that thought again. He wasn’t going to lead them.

Slowly, Aden pushed to his feet. The councilmen rose with him, their gazes never leaving him. Do not show fear . “I have a lot to do,” he said. “I’ll leave you now.”

No reply.

He stepped around his chair, never turning his back to the vampires. One step, two, he moved away from them. Slow, easy, as if he hadn’t a care. But they were predators, and he was their prey, and with his retreat, they lost control.

With a cry, the closest man launched himself at Aden—and that was all the permission the others needed to follow suit. They flew at him, teeth bared.

OUT OF HABIT, Aden had his daggers drawn before the first vampire reached him. Of course, bringing a dagger to a vampire fight was like taking a feather to a boxing match. Useless. He slashed, made contact with his opponent’s chest, but the metal bent. Yep, useless.

Both of his wrists were batted away. The daggers flew from his grip, skidding to the ground. Teeth sank into his shoulder, stinging. One of the vampires had teleported behind him, and a second set of teeth sank into the base of his neck. Adrenaline pumped through him, giving him strength, and he managed to wrench the vampires off him and toss them aside. But when one was removed from him, two more would appear. Soon they were all over him, trying to push him down, their teeth sharper than anything he could have imagined. Unlike when Victoria had bitten him, there was no pleasure. Only pain. Burning, agonizing pain.

He should have expected this, prepared for it, but too many other worries had consumed him, and honestly, he’d grown lax. He’d been here before, and no one had attacked him. And damn it, he was king! They shouldn’t treat him this way.

The vampires were heavy, their hands roving. They were like sharks who had scented his blood, and were biting, heads shaking, trying to rip pieces of him into their mouths. Finally, they managed to buckle his knees. When he hit the cold, hard ground, he lost the air in his lungs and a wave of dizziness swept through him.

Fight! Elijah growled.

“Am!” Aden kicked, sent someone flying. “But what else can I do?”

You have the ring. Use it!

The ring. Hello. Aden jerked his hand from between the jaws of a councilman, the ring glinting in the light. With the pad of his thumb, he slid the opal out of the way, then flung his arm out, liquid flinging in every direction.

Flesh sizzled. Vampires howled, releasing him to clutch at their now burning faces. Aden scrambled to his feet, panting, sweating, determined to hit the doors as fast as his feet would carry him.

Only, he saw their beasts, the ones they’d been warded against, rising from them—from all of them—mere outlines, yet visible enough for him to discern outstretching wings, eyes blazing red, snouts dripping with…something. Poison? Acid? He stood frozen.