Warning: Please don't read if you're easily triggered by intensity and strong language:
"I am taking my concerns to lord Azael," Evren said to Thorne, looking out the window of their private bath chamber where twilight was slowly giving way to night.
Four maids in red chiffon garments and masks moved quietly around the space, pouring jasmine liquid fragrance into the large carved-rock pool filled with clear sea water where both Thorne and Evren soaked naked, having only recently risen from their caskets.
The water cast wavering reflections across the stone walls and ceiling while two lamps placed at opposite ends of the chamber flickered softly against the pale brown rock.
"It's not like we have any other choice," Thorne replied, his gaze drifting toward the hollow, cavelike entrance as he expected Diana.
He still had not properly rested, his thoughts trapped on the possibility of lycans spreading through Sirence.
They had slaughtered the ones inside the bar and ransacked the homes of nearly every member of the resistance, checking for bite marks in every residence.
The questions they'd asked could only be answered by the men who drank at the tavern and owned it—the same tavern where they had discovered their half-eaten corpses and men twisted into wolves.
Thorne exhaled and leaned back against the edge of the pool, forcing himself to relax.
War was inevitable but it had always been easier with humans.
"Not just that," Evren said, toward him. "Also about the blind girl."
"Your suspicions about her?" Thorne asked, catching one of the maids staring at him.
Her blue eyes quickly lowered.
"That, and the fact that he's giving her too much freedom. She is a slave after all," Evren replied.
Thorne chuckled softly. "At least you're no longer suggesting he let her go. There's no hope in that."
Evren scoffed. "If he truly desired companionship, we could provide someone of noble blood. Someone worthy of him."
"I dare you to suggest that to his face," Thorne replied, his attention wandering back toward the maid with blue eyes.
She now stood silently by the wall beside the others.
"Is someone new among the four of you?" Thorne asked.
Two others paused as they poured powdered soap into the water.
"No my king," one answered carefully.
"Is that so?" Thorne said, still studying the blue-eyed maid.
"Or perhaps she simply carries bad luck," Evren added.
Thorne looked back toward Evren before following his gaze toward the entrance.
Diana approached cautiously, her hands folded over her chest in a transparent white chiffon dress.
Golden hair spilled in soft waves around her shoulders framing a face even more timid than before.
She stopped at the edge of the pool just as the maids stepped away.
"Into the water, Diana," Thorne said.
Her gaze flickered nervously between them and the maids.
"I don't…" she began, tightening her arms around herself. "I don't want to be watched."
Evren motioned for the maids to leave.
As they departed, Thorne noticed the blue-eyed maid glance nervously at Diana before Diana quickly looked away as well.
Thorne smirked.
Something was in the water.
"They're gone now," he said calmly.
Diana looked between the two kings before glancing back at the pool, still hesitant.
Skeptical.
Slowly, she lowered her arms, revealing the soft curves of her chest beneath the sheer fabric.
Then she reached for the buttons.
The robe slipped away, exposing her bare body
Thorne's eyes lowered with it.
"It's been two nights," Evren said as Diana carefully descended into the water. "Surely you must have missed us."
She looked at him briefly before lowering her gaze again.
"Y-Yes, I did," she answered softly.
Thorne appeared behind her so quietly that she barely noticed before his arms wrapped around her waist, drawing her back against the firmness between his thighs.
She shuddered instantly.
His face lowered towards her shoulder, catching the scent of holy oil lingering on her skin.
He traced the scent upward toward her neck.
"I don't think you planned this escape yourself," he murmured.
Her body tensed. "I don't understand…" she said, trying to steady her voice.
"Compared to the others," Evren cut in as he materialized before her, "this one's a little stale."
Diana's eyes widened.
She shifted instinctively, but before she could move away, Evren lifted her knees and she wrapped them around him without thinking.
"No," she whimpered, pushing weakly against Thorne's arms.
Her mask of submission finally cracked.
"Holy oil is in all the water," she snapped, struggling harder. "Soon you won't be able to resist its effect."
"Indeed," Thorne murmured.
Her movements only pressed her more firmly against him while Evren's hands slid slowly along her wet thighs.
"The hardest to resist is the one on you," Thorne added quietly and her movements slowed.
The defiance on her face faltered into fear.
"No…not like that," she pleaded, writhing again.
Evren stepped closer until he settled fully between her legs, lowering his head toward the taut peaks of her breasts.
"Something must kill a vampire," he murmured before closing his mouth around one nipple.
Diana jerked sharply from the sensation.
The reaction only fueled Thorne further.
One hand slid upward to cup and massage her other breast gently.
Her breathing quickened.
One of her trembling hands gripped Evren's shoulder while the other clutched Thorne's wrist.
"An attempt to kill your kings," Thorne said against her neck, "is punishable by death."
His control strained as the scent of rushing blood filled his senses.
"Ah—" Diana moaned helplessly as Evren pressed closer between her thighs. "Please… it was only me. Don't punish anyone else."
Evren lifted his head, smiling faintly at her.
"You'll certainly be punished first," he said. "But whoever warned you about the oil was not entirely wrong."
Thorne allowed his fangs to drag slowly across her skin as they extended from his teeth.
Diana shivered violently, her hands flying to Evren's chest.
"Please, no," she begged, pushing herself back against Thorne in panic.
"I had missed the taste of your blood," Thorne murmured.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry," she cried again, trying desperately to pull her neck away.
Thorne grew harder behind her while Evren silenced her pleas with a kiss.
Holy oil had originally been created to expose the unhinged instincts of a vampire—especially to detect one amidst humans.
Thorne's fangs sharpened fully, tasting the salt of Diana's tears moments before he sank them into her neck.
Her choked cry echoed through the chamber at the exact moment Evren drove into her.
**
Eira smirked as she approached Fen, observing his sour attempt at indifference.
"What do you want?" he growled from his so-called throne.
Theo had already informed her about the humiliating way Azael had subdued him before his own wolves.
It was an excellent choice to have him spied on, that way she also kept an eye on his insecurities—one of which was Azael's superiority.
She stopped before him, slowly brushing a hand through her newly styled hair, enjoying the way he still looked at her like a man despite the beast within him.
Just as Azael once had.
"I merely came to say hello," she said lightly, shifting her hips beneath the tight leather dress hugging her body.
"I don't appreciate the visit," Fen scoffed. "You should have announced yourself before entering my mountains."
"Why?" Eira smiled. "You don't want me seeing you beneath his feet?"
Fen's face twisted with rage.
"Don't provoke me, Eira," he snarled. "You already have my paw around your neck."
"And it still comes back to Azael," she mocked. "Funny isn't it? I could vanish right now, but you know I'd still come running back because I was the one foolish enough to help retrieve Elana for you."
Fen's fists clenched tightly, fury nearly bursting from him.
"But instead of wasting your obsession on defeating him," Eira continued, "you pour all that anger into strategy because Elana remains the greatest leverage either of us might eventually possess."
Fen exhaled sharply through his nostrils, his jaw loosening slightly.
"You and your silly plans that worsen our position," he said.
Eira scoffed. "At least they are plans unlike sitting and brooding about how to someday grow strong enough to rival Azael."
"Do not underestimate me, Eira."
"Then listen to what I tell you," she said coldly. "If we're going to be allies, we should move forward with my input. I'm not interested in sitting around for wars to arrive. I operate realistically."
Fen had grown calmer now.
Suspicious but interested.
Good.
Perhaps Azael's humiliation had finally forced some sense into him.
"How did you know I had the sorcerer?" he asked.
"Exactly why you should stop underestimating my place in all this."
Eira stepped closer.
"You might actually die before you ever expose me to him," she continued quietly. "Azael's anger is immediate. But emotions can be redirected. Chaos can begin from within before any true war starts outside. Emotions that leave a man's heart raw."
Fen's eyes narrowed.
"Raw?" he repeated.
Eira inhaled slowly, she had gone too far.
Unable to hold back how much the truth sickened her—
The way she wanted Azael was the same way Azael now wanted Elana.
The obsession, the protection.
The way he forgave and pardoned her excesses without second thoughts.
Her fists clenched before she forced herself to relax again.
"And for now…Elana is the only one capable of doing that."
Fen scoffed dismissively. "She's blind. Nothing more than a plaything."
"I no longer believe that," Eira admitted bitterly. "And as much as it disgusts me to say it, that truth may become the greatest weapon for my revenge."
Fen remained silent studying her with something close to admiration.
Eira smirked faintly.
She knew she was intelligent.
Intelligent enough to use her pain as a weapon against a man like Azael.
She didn't care and just like Azael she was willing to keep what her heart couldn't forget.
"You already possess something capable of ruining him," she continued. "It will be foolish to enter a war with such an advantage only to lose because of poor strategy."
Fen relaxed further into his throne.
For some reason, he was easier to persuade tonight.
Good.
He was finally beginning to understand that power was not built on strength alone.
And what he still failed to realize…
Was that he, too, had become one of the pawns Eira intended to use against the king?
Against Azael.