2 Months Later

Whomever said "blood is thicker than water" was a fucking idiot. The principle of it, the sheer concept, revolts me. Who exactly deemed it so that genetics determines who we must be loyal to? Who we must obey? I may become the image of the Devil himself for what I'm about to do, but I couldn't give a flying fuck. A bloodline does not define my loyalties. Father or not, the king will die for what he has done to me. 

He shamed me for who I was and ran me out of my own home. He told my friends I was dead and sent his men to try to make that claim true. Once I found my happiness in exile, he tried to kill the one thing in this world that made me whole. There might not be evidence to support it, but I know in my heart that my father is responsible for the assassination attempt on Devin.

Who else would have motive to even touch us? The only person that's ever looked at me as an enemy was my own father. He's cast his iron grip of control upon Ashley as well, and she's just as pissed about us. Who birthed you does not justify who can tell you who you are. My dear father seems to think differently. He thought Ashley as a brat, from what I heard, and looked at me as obstinate. I'll show you what a bitch I can be.

After two months of being under their protection, I entrusted my family with Jake and his soldiers. It was a December morning when I woke up to Dahlia pulling at my sheets. She was upset and her words were incoherent. I rushed to the window as I heard the cranking of metal. Just as I reached it, I saw a huntsman bearing the king's crest fall into the white snow. Blood dripped from both his chest and two puncture wounds in his neck. Bret stood over the body, JC joining him a moment later.

Devin had woken up at this point. I told him to watch the girls as I grabbed a cloak and rushed outside. By the time I got there, all four of the vampires stared down at the body. Jake ordered Ray to take a fly around the area and he commanded his dogs to secure the perimeter. With a scowl, he looked to me and said, "You should make some efforts to see where Chris is at with that plan of his. I have a feeling this was only the tip of the iceberg."

I looked upon the horizon to see clouds moving in. "I'm heading to Ryan's now to make sure I don't get myself caught in that storm. Let Devin know I left, please." I replied.

He nodded towards me, then changed his eyes to set upon Bret and JC. "Head back to the caves. Tell Andy I want CC to bring a troop to join us. Josh Ramsay's pack preferably, but I'll settle for what I can get."

"Will you be okay here, by yourself?" JC asked.

"Ray will be back soon." Jake responded, "I'll be fine."

The two took their orders and ran off. Jake taught them everything they knew anyways. He could handle a lot more than they could, so I don't know why they bother asking if he'd be okay. This is the only attack we've experienced in these past two months. It's just apart of that whole "vampires are thick as thieves" deal. They look out for each other, no matter what.

"What are you scared of?" I questioned as I saw the concern on his face. It was one huntsman. They killed him almost instantly. Why have such a hair trigger with enforcing ranks?

He gazed across to those clouds moving in. "I don't know. That's the problem."

| | |

Ryan paced about aimlessly. He sighed as his feet finally stopped for a moment. His hands began to shuffle through scrolls to exchange one nervous habit with another. "You can't be serious." He scoffed.

Chris put his hand over Ryan's to stop him. "Ryan, I'd like to think you and I have become decent friends. I mean, you helped me get my boyfriend back, you saved Ricky and Devin's lives. I consider us friends. And it's because you're my friend that I'm going to tell you this only once without hitting you; Relax. I know it's risky, but it's the most realistic plan."

"Realistic and risky are two words that do not go together." He stressed as he stared up at Chris. Ryan walked across his cottage as he organized to calm himself down. It wasn't working. Just the thought of this was making his stomach turn. "And I don't think it's right to use the word 'plan'. There is no plan in your plan."

While his back was turned, Chris let his physical expression exude his frustration. He raised his hand and curled up his fingers out of anger. I softly grabbed his wrist and he looked down at me, peeved. Using my eyes, I tried my best to tell him to relax himself. Ryan may be a very trained sorcerer, but he's never faced armies. Everything he does do in his life follows the script of a spell. The concept of going to a very armed, completely unknown place and 'winging it' revolted him.

The truth was, Chris was right. We had no better plan than to teleport into the castle and attempt to create a plan as soon as we're in. Ashley unfortunately has been locked away in a tall tower that she hasn't been able to get out of. The best we've come up with for now is that we need to help her out, but we haven't exactly formulated a plan for that either. We have no idea what kind of protection the king has placed around her.

"Knowing my father, he's got guards and a padded lock keeping Ashley locked up." I said, "You have any lock picking spells?"

"Kind of. I have spells that will help to pick locks, but none that are going to pick the lock for us. We need a locksmith." Ryan replied.

Chris got that evil smile. He mused, "Lucky us, I know one. You remember how I mentioned to you that Ashley was in love with the painter's assistant? He also happens to be the locksmith's apprentice."

"And he'll help us?" I asked.

"In a heartbeat. He's head over heels in love with her." He responded.

I looked to Ryan, offering him a question of a look. He stared back at me, stone faced, until he finally caved. "Fine. Fine! That'll have to do. Let me grab a few things and we'll go."

I grinned, "We'll... Meet you outside."

More like, give you time to get the nerves out of your system. I remembered back to the thought that he had Hellfire weapons in his possession. More than one, meaning he's been to Hell multiple times. How is it he can be scared of the demon kingdom? Yet he's ventured to the fires we were born of? It's interesting. Ryan has always just been... Interesting.

Chris and I took a seat on a rock just outside of the cottage. As the winter snow fell upon our thick skin, he ignited his powers. It wasn't for his benefit as much as it was mine. I knew very well that this snow barely phased him. Me, though? I felt like I'd freeze over any moment.

"So... You and Ange are back together?" I asked as I reflected back on what he had mentioned a few minutes ago.

He smiled like a child, "Yes! When I left to return to the kingdom, Ryan came with me. We went to Angelo's shop and talked to him. At first, he wanted to kick me out. After he heard Ryan out on everything though, he was willing to give everything a try. It barely took Ryan any effort to lift the spell that restricted him to the kingdom grounds. Then he left, and it was just the two of us. Which, was kind of awkward at first."

"I can only imagine." I commented. If Devin and I had been in that situation, I probably would've crumbled from anxiety and a broken heart.

"You have no idea," He sighed, "I convinced him to try doing some love rituals. He was hesitant about any sex based acts and I understood. So we settled for the dances. After only a few steps, I could feel the energy between us that I used to. He must've too, because he suddenly had put his heart into it much more than before. Once we did the dance of the Heavens though, that's what did it. Probably because it was native to his bloodline, but I don't care about the technicalities of it. I just care that it worked and he suddenly had power flowing through him again."

I was more than ecstatic to hear that. Angelo never deserved what happened to him, and I was more than happy that he could rebuild all that had been stolen from him.

"So, did you two finally bind?" I asked impatiently.

"I'm getting there, shush." He laughed, "The last dance we did was the dance of the night. As you know, that one is rather... lustful."

"It was founded by vampires." I replied, "What did you expect?"

"True. Anyways, things got pretty heavy. He actually grabbed me and pulled me back on his bed. One thing lead to another and, we finally got to intertwine our souls." He beamed.

Chris pulled up the sleeve of his black sweater. He revealed the mark of bound souls, along with the markings of a few acts of love. I could see how beyond happy he was. The very broken demon I had found upon my return to the kingdom was gone. Once again, I had my best friend back. Now, I just need to get my family's safety back...