Chapter 142

He choked and spat out a mouthful of blood. It was thick and dark like his body was trying to expel the poison.

The vampire chuckled. “Seems like they went the extra mile with a bit of wolfsbane. Bravo.”

“Candido, answer me!” I cried, shaking him. “You have to wake up! You have to fight it! You have to!”

But he said nothing. I kept screaming at him, telling him to snap out of it. Candido was too strong to be taken out by a bullet, to be taken out by anything. He promised to always protect me. How could he do that if he died? What would I do if he died here?

I shook him again. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”

“He needs medical attention,” Vanessa said stiffly. “I’m calling for a medic.”

“Good luck,” the vampire said. “They won’t make it in time, and I have no problem with letting him die.”

Vanessa said nothing, but her expression looked resigned as she clenched her hand around her walkie-talkie.

“No, you won’t!” I cried. “I’ll kill you if you let him die.”

He scoffed. “I would just as soon send you to the afterlife after him. Be quiet, silly girl.”

I opened my mouth to yell at him, but no sound came out as if he had done something to my voice. I reached for my throat, trying to make some sort of noise, but nothing happened.

He smirked. “An improvement, to be sure. Perhaps you can simply sob over your daddy’s corpse.”

“What do you want?” Vanessa asked. “I thought even vampires had more of a heart not to let people die needlessly. We need him.”

“Oh, of course,” he said. “I disdain needless deaths, but if Candido should die, it would not be needless. I do not need him, after all. And there is an argument to be made for his death being a good thing.”

I shook my head.

“After all, if he is dead and his body disposed of, Damian certainly can’t drink from him.”

Vanessa went pale. “He… Why would he…?”

“Damian is a power-monger,” he said. “Quite simply if you proved yourself useful… if any of you did, he would have already drained you dry.”

He smiled. “Or staked you.”

My stomach jolted and I looked up at him. He smiled.

“Yes, I know exactly what Damian did to you. The fact that you survived with enough of your memories intact to still whine for your daddy is contributed only to the fact that I put a failsafe in place before Damian got to you.”

I frowned. I had never met him before, then my stomach lurched. The person from the forest who had pushed me down and made me drink whatever it was.

“Consider it a favor from beyond the grave,” he said and looked back at Vanessa. “As a… favor from this side of the underworld, and perhaps even a small show of good will, I will consent to let him use a pool of Lunae.”

Her eyes widened. I looked between them. It felt like a big deal from the way that Vanessa went still. What was that? Would it save Candido’s life?

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t talk to me about myths!”

“There are several myths that you subscribe to a propagate,” he said. “I don’t speak in myth or riddle.”

“Why would a vampire be welcome in Lunae, evil scum?” She hissed. “I would have been more inclined to believe you if you said that you would just heal him!”

I frowned and looked up at him. He didn’t look at me. Could he heal Candido? I looked down at Candido’s body. Why wouldn’t he? He’s the alpha king! He was the only thing standing between Damian and the werewolf world.

And what was Lunae? Why did Vanessa sound so angry about it?

“The only scum here is you and the rest of your pathetic organization,” he said. “And I have no need to convince you, nor waste my power on him. Candido is dead without access to a pool, and you know this. The idiot didn’t even tell you that he was injured. There had been time enough to get it out before it entered his bloodstream if he had.”

Vanessa’s jaw trembled. How did he know that? I frowned, thinking back to before we came through the gateway. He had said that they would bring Candido because of his injuries. Was this what he meant? How had he known that Candido was injured so badly? How could he not say anything, knowing how much I care about him? How much I love him.

“And you never checked because of all that mythos about golden wolves.” He shook his head. “Then again, he never worried because of the same reason. Idiocy. Pure idiocy and arrogance. It’s a miracle he’s survived this long.”

“Save him,” I wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come out. My eyes overflowed with tears, and I placed my hands on Candido’s back. He wouldn’t even hear my voice and know to hang on for me this way. Tears spilled out of my eyes as a sense of helplessness started to build in me.

“Rest assured, Candido will die if you don’t cooperate.”

“I’m not giving you information on Moon Shadow,” Vanessa hissed. “I’m not going to betray werewolf kind, so—"

“I don’t need more information on your little group. All I want is a very precious artifact…” Her eyes widened. “I believe you know what artifact of which I speak, Vanessa.”

She set her jaw. “I don’t.”

“The Triskele of the Moon Goddess was given to the leader of the Blue Moon Pack back before werewolves became traitors at large. I am repossessing it now. And you will give it to me unless you’d like your precious nephew to die on your ugly linoleum floor.”

“Repossess?” She growled, “On what authority do you have to repossess anything? Only the Moon Goddess has authority over me, vampire!”

“Do you want to debate authority over Candido’s corpse?” He asked. “I assure you. I would just as soon kill you all and take it if I thought it more expedient.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened, and she hesitated. “It’s not here.”

It was a lie. I knew it, but I didn’t know how I knew that. Something clicked, and the line of operatives behind her went still. My gut clenched as I realized that it was one of their guns.

“I-I didn’t—” one of them stammered.

“The next time you attempt to lie to me, I will let another one of your cadets decorate your floor with their blood.”

She said nothing for a moment as she looked back at the cadet holding the gun that had clicked. She turned back with a fierce growl.

“I’m not giving it to you, vampire! I’d rather die.”

“Then, let us simply wait out the time, hm?” He asked and checked his phone. “I give him another five minutes before his organs start to fail. Then, I’m sure you’ll give me a reason to send you all into the afterlife after him."

He chuckled. “I may even have enough time to dispose of all your corpses.”

Candido choked, shaking, and starting to convulse. My eyes welled with tears.

“Please! I’ll give you anything!” I cried. “Please just save him.”

“You have nothing to offer me,” he said coldly. “Will you be handing it over or not?”

Vanessa clenched her fists. “You won’t kill him. Scum you are, but the goddess would never allow it.”

“Remember those words when he stops breathing,” he said. “There is more than one golden wolf, now isn’t there?”

I looked back to Vanessa. “Just give it to him! It can’t be more important than Candido’s life! He’s the king!”

She didn’t hear me. The words never got out, but I knew she could tell what I was saying.

“You’re wrong,” she said. “It is more important than Candido’s life.”

I shook my head.

“You don’t understand,” Vanessa said. “If we don’t have the triskele… we could be completely defenseless. It’s the only thing keeping the compound safe.”

“Is that what you’re using it for?” he asked. “Crude, but effective I suppose…. Well, mostly effective.”

She shook her head. “It’s our last defense, Hedy. I can’t. I don’t know how he got in here, but I can’t risk that breach getting any larger. Candido would understand.”

He was going to die, and all of this would be for nothing. My heart clenched. I lay down on him, sniffling into his shoulder, wishing that I could talk to him and be heard.

“Very well,” he said and turned. “Do throw in a rose for me at his funeral?”

Vanessa growled. “You son of a—”

The ground shook with an explosion and he went stiff. His eyes narrowed. Vanessa turned as another explosion went off, and the alarm started to sound.

The sprinklers turned on and I heard people rushing around and shouting in a panic.