Chapter 28: twenty-eight

Olivia

I awoke to darkness, a silky fabric obscuring my vision. Realizing I was blindfolded, I managed to pull the fabric down with my bound hands, letting it rest around my neck.

The room was dimly lit and cold, the floor beneath me nothing more than packed dirt. I yearned to call out for Cole, but something deep within me whispered that he wasn’t here.

“Little Olive?” A faint voice echoed through the room. I squinted, trying to locate the source. In the corner, I spotted him—Brayden. He looked frail, slumped against the brick walls.

A gasp escaped my lips as I shuffled over to him on my knees. His cheeks were hollow, his shirt stained with dried blood and dirt.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” His voice was laced with concern.

“Me? What about you? Where are we?” I whispered back.

“Me? I’m fine,” he chuckled weakly, “I don’t know where we are. I’m not even sure how long I’ve been here.”

With a swift movement, he extended a claw and sliced through the ropes binding my wrists. I offered him a small, grateful smile as I rubbed my sore wrists.

I wasn’t sure how long we sat there before I heard distant voices.

“Where’s Adam? He’s not responding.”

“Probably ran home to his mommy.”

I looked up to see two imposing men approaching us. Their broad shoulders and sinister smiles sent a chill down my spine. They had to be vampires.

One of them sniffed the air and turned his gaze towards me.

“You smell… sweet.”

Brayden quickly pushed me behind him, his protective instincts kicking in.

“Don’t fucking touch her, Owen,” he growled.

“Oh, we’re going to do more than touch her,” The threat hung in the air, and I swallowed hard. I realized there was no escape. I would die here, long before Cole could ever find us.

***

The two vampires, Owen and Jax, paced in front of us, their nerves palpable. I used this time to scan the room for an escape route. It was a futile effort—I could never outrun them—but I had to try.

I was about to give up on finding a door when a creaking sound filled the room, followed by a loud bang. A massive wooden door swung open, revealing Annabelle and her father.

Marcus, if I remembered correctly, wore a blank expression. Annabelle, on the other hand, wore a smile that made my skin crawl.

Brayden had passed out, his head resting on my lap. I tried to rouse him, but to no avail. Was he dead? No, that couldn’t be.

“Take him upstairs for torture,” Marcus ordered Owen and Jax.

I tried to hold onto Brayden, but my strength failed me. They snatched him away with ease.

“I told you I could get her for you,” Annabelle cooed. I looked down at my lap, fiddling with the hem of my dress. I refused to meet their gaze, refused to show them my fear.

I could feel their eyes on me, the silence stretching on for what felt like an eternity. I didn’t understand why they had taken me. I was just a human girl, fated to a vampire.

But I knew better than to reveal that.

“Leave,” Marcus finally commanded. Annabelle huffed in annoyance, her footsteps echoing as she left the room.

I looked up to find Marcus studying me with a curious gaze.

“Wh-why am I h-here?” I stuttered.

He moved closer, his movements predatory.

“You know,” he began, “vampires have been ruling for nearly twenty years. And in all that time, Cole has never taken a pet, slave, or anything. You, for whatever reason, are very important to him.”

I stared at him, knowing the answer but unable to voice it.

“I had a plan, you see. Push Cole and my Annabelle together, once Cole has a partner, a queen, he will take his father’s place as king of the vampires.”

My eyes widened, my stomach twisting into knots. I hadn’t even known there was a vampire king.

“However, that was never going to happen. So instead, I’m going to use you as a bargaining chip. Cole can have his lovely pet back, as soon as he announces I will be king.”

He started to walk away, pausing to glance over his shoulder at me.

“I did promise Annabelle she could have some fun though, no harm in you going back to Cole…a bit…tainted.”

He disappeared the way he came, leaving me alone in the dim room. I backed into a corner, sinking to the dirt floor and pulling my knees to my chest.

I ran my hand over the mark, knowing that as soon as they discovered it, I was as good as dead.

***

Raven

I paced back and forth, frustration mounting. I tried to force my way through the door, but those fucking zombie guards wouldn’t let me pass.

“Don’t agitate them, Raven. They only respond to Cole and Atticus and will kill you,” Kaden whispered in my ear.

The sweet sound of screams echoed through the walls, a chilling reminder of our situation.

I hadn’t always been like this. Vampires had made me this way. They had destroyed my home, killed my friends, and now they had taken the only thing that mattered to me.

I felt like a failure. It was my job to keep her safe, to remind her of where she came from, and I had failed.

“So, a dryad huh,” Kaden asked, pulling me from my self-loathing.

I nodded, my eyes fluttering shut as I tried to envision the towering oak tree that was my sanctuary. The forest was my haven, my home. When I opened my eyes, Kaden was still watching me, his gaze unyielding.

“Quit staring, leech,” I snapped at him, my voice laced with irritation.

He opened his mouth, perhaps to retort, but the sound of distant screams cut him off. This was taking far too long.

“What do you think he’s doing to him?” I asked Kaden, desperate to shift the conversation away from the questions I could see forming in his eyes about my identity.

“Nothing good,” he replied, his voice heavy with dread. “We never find our fated, and I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s feeling. I just hope, for everyone’s sake, she’s still alive.”

The silence that followed was shattered by the sudden appearance of Cole. He burst through the doors, his body smeared with blood and his breath coming in ragged gasps. A moment of stunned silence passed before a shrill ringing noise filled the room. The unexpected sound startled me, causing me to jump.

“Marcus,” Cole answered, his eyes morphing into a solid, inky black. “If you so much as touch a single fucking hair on her head, I swear I’ll gut you like a fish and feed your insides to your bitch of a daughter.”

He paused, seemingly listening to Marcus’ response, before drawing in a deep breath.

“Done. Meet me at Preston Peak tomorrow night. Do. Not. Fucking. Touch. Her.”

With a click, he ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

“Is that where she is?” Kaden asked, his voice filled with concern.

“No. She’s at Mammoth Tower. We’re heading there now.”

“But you just said…” I began, confusion clouding my thoughts.

“Marcus wants to trade Olivia for my title as King. I’ve bought her some time, but we need to leave. Now. NOW!” he roared.

We all fell into step behind him, but Mammoth Tower was hours away. Even at vampire speed, it would take us at least half a day to reach it.