Chapter 106

Daphne didn’t speak as they watched the fire rage, burning through vampire and werewolf corpses and surrounding John as he panicked, limping as if his leg had been injured. Daphne narrowed her eyes as he tripped on nothing.

He tumbled, head over heels onto the duchess’ body, and shrieked, drawing back as the fire began to devour him.

“No! Your Majesty, please!” John crawled towards them. His face twisted with desperation and terror.

Daphne didn’t look away, meeting his gaze as he realized that there was nothing he could say to escape his fate. His expression turned determined as he got to his feet and tried to shake off the fire that had reached his jacket. He tore it off but another burst of fire started on his pant leg and he went down again.

“That lesson about tying your boots properly,” Nicole said lightly, “That is why.”

Her lips twitched into just a bit of amusement as he began to scream and panic. The flames turned blue as they began to burn through his flesh. As his screams died, she felt a surge of power rush through her as if a restraint had broken. A space she hadn’t noticed at the back of her mind opened and filled with a familiar pulsing, prowling heat and familiarity. Was that her bond to Arthur?

Anxiety that wasn’t hers slipped through her mind, followed by fear and deep longing that made her heart clench in grief. The emotions storming through her stoked and pushed at the darkness in her mind until it began to clear and facts about her life seemed to drip through.

She had met Arthur in the field of flowers near her grandmother’s cabin.

She was Arthur’s mate.

She heard Arthur’s voice, saw his eyes, and smelled the scent of his skin when they were tangled together in the grand bedroom back at the werewolf castle. The warmth of his body over her filled her senses as if they were back in bed, spending the day there. She shuddered as her face heated at the memory of him staring down at her with that determined look on his face.

It had been as if his entire world was made from her pleasure and happiness.

She closed her eyes as her heart clenched with grief and guilt.

Murderer, she’d called him, like so many others who had hurt him so badly. She’d been ready to kill him though the mating mark was still as visible as ever on her neck. Her eyes burned as she stared back through the course of her memories. What had she done to him? What had she been prepared to do?

She remembered John dragging her down into the cellar and shackling her onto an altar and felt queasy. That had been the beginning of the end of her child’s life.

She hadn’t even gotten a chance to think of a name for him. In all this blood and fury, she hadn’t had a chance to erect a memorial grave for him either.

The wolf of light that had led her back into the darkness and the waking world had been Arthur, hadn’t it? It had been her bond to him or their unborn child. She placed a hand to her stomach and shuddered.

The baby was gone because of that evil man and his schemes. She wished she could kill him again, but not as much as she wished she could take it all back.

After everything they’d been through together, how had she forgotten him so easily? How had she been turned against him with a bit of blood in a dark, stone room?

He’d saved her life so many times.

Then, there was Owen whose actions after they’d met again were in such stark contrast to how he was before. He’d been ruthless, but his eyes had been vacant and curious. His life in the old castle had seemed hollow and cold. He didn’t deserve to die by his father’s hand, but maybe, he could find some peace in the afterlife.

She thought of Mamie and her kindness and felt sick. The memory of her being turned burned in her mind and stole her breath. Mamie’s death was her fault.

If only she hadn’t left Arthur, none of this would have happened. Why had she left? What reason would there have been to leave him?

She heard the jeering crowd of voices from another memory and winced. The scorn and hatred of Sharp Armor after the vampire attack felt as vicious now as it did then. Tom and the others probably hadn’t changed their mind.

They hadn’t known that she’d been turned in a sense then. What would they think of her now?

Would Arthur feel different about her now?

Well, as long as you don’t tear my throat out… I’ll allow you to bite me.

Her lips twitched at the memory of Arthur lunging at her and marking her. She could feel the storm of emotions and pleasure again as if he had just bitten her. Her shoulder throbbed with a pleasurable and yearning ache.

She hadn’t felt it in so long. It was a little dizzying, but it wasn’t an answer.

She felt the warmth of his body around her as they lay awake in her bed back at Sharp Armor. The embarrassment and uncertainty of waking up next to his naked body curled around her washed over her.

She closed her eyes, losing herself to the memories resurfacing in her mind. She imagined the fantasy of a little village of just her, Mamie, blade, Arthur, and their children that had been shattered by Mamie’s death and turning.

“Daphne?”

She felt Arthur drawing closer to her, tentative and nervous. He had every right to be nervous. She was nervous. How would he ever forgive her for all of this? She recognized some of the werewolf bodies whose bodies were being consumed by the flames. None of them were Blade, but they were people she had known in Sharp Armor. Some of them had been kind to her before the attack. Others had been in that mob of people crying for her death.

Let no traitor live!

We’re leaving. She could hear Arthur’s snarling voice and see the clear sky above the ruins of Sharp Armor. To hell with the kingdom and everyone in it. The throne, the castle, and everything else!

Perhaps then, she hadn’t been able to appreciate what he truly meant when he’d said those words. She’d been too busy thinking about what was best for everyone instead of what was best for them and what it meant for them to turn against her.

He’d meant that she was the only person that mattered to him. Hadn’t he shown her that in a hundred different ways? Why hadn’t she appreciated it more?

She hadn’t been able to hear that around the fear of the greater good and her need for community. She’d been so lonely living in the woods after her grandmother had died that she’d just been clinging to as many people as she could manage.

She hadn’t been able to see how much more important her bond with Arthur was, and look what had happened. She’d gone to the vampires with hopes of peace and there was still war.

Had it all been useless in the end? Should they have just done as Arthur planned?

Was she still everything to him?

“Daphne?” Arthur asked, gently. “I…”

He hesitated not sure what he could say. There was so much to say and to apologize for that he didn’t know if there was enough time in the world to say all he needed to say.

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said. “I’m so sorry… about the baby. About Mamie. About letting you go. About everything. I should have never accepted the throne. I should have just been happy with the life I found with you. Please, Daphne… Please give me another chance?”

Her eyes remained vacant, staring into the flames as he reached out, unsure if she would welcome his touch. He drew back his hand with a wince.

“Daphne?”

His eyes burned with grief and his heart clenched as she didn’t say anything. She didn’t move. Was she going into shock or was it something else? The hard edge in her eyes had vanished as her eyes filled with tears, almost glowing gold as she stared blankly at the fire.

Something tugged on his wolf that seemed oddly calm. Arthur was used to his raging anger and agony, but he supposed that they were just at a loss of what to do.

“Won’t you say something?”

She sniffled and let out a soft sob. Would she attack him again? Would she collapse? Was this some vampire thing that Arthur would just have to wait out?

Daphne? He reached out, tentatively.

She jerked. Hope swelled in him that she’d heard him

She turned with a gasping sob, “Oh, Arthur, I’m so sorry!”