The Darkest Crown (The Eternal Darkness Duet #2)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I spent the night before my wedding with Allie in her room, with four of the King’s Guards standing outside the door. This part of the castle was not open to guests, but we weren’t taking any chances. We talked all night, about absolutely nothing. Well, she talked. I mostly listened and tried not to think about Julian. Marius spent the entire night closeted away with the Strategoi.

When Allie started yawning, I headed back to Marius’ room, which was now my room. Two of the guards tried to follow me, but I told them if they left Allie’s door, my first act as queen would be to castrate them. Whether they believed me or not, they stayed put.

As I walked to Marius’ room, I became lost in thought. My feelings towards him were changing, and it confused me. I hated that he thought I was Phaedra. Even if I came to love him, he’d never love me, Sarah.

And I still thought about Adam and Julian all the time. I was angry with Adam for changing me, but I understood why he did it. He thought he was giving me a better life. I believed he loved me, and part of me still loved him.

Julian was a different story. He used me to hurt Adam. He humiliated me. But he also saved me. If he hadn’t claimed me at the trial, I’d have been executed. He gave Allie all that money, without being asked, without seeking thanks for it. When we first arrived in Madrid, we got into a fight and he bit me. I fell under the spell of his venom, and was literally begging him to fuck me, but he refused to take advantage of me. I was angry with him for so many things, but I loved him. Knowing he moved on so quickly with Natalia broke my heart.

I was so lost in thought, that when I rounded a corner I ran straight into someone. I looked up, startled, and saw Adam.

“ Sarah! Thank god!” He wrapped his arms tightly around me, and I stood frozen, too shocked to move. Adam was here? Was this real?

“We have to hurry!” he whispered, taking me by the hand.

“What’s happening?” I asked, stumbling after him as he pulled me along. “How did you get in here?”

“We’ve come to rescue you,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Julian has gone to get your sister, and there are others waiting outside.”

Julian . “There are guards at Allie’s door!” I exclaimed, trying to pull my hand free. “They’ll kill him!”

Adam suddenly stopped, holding a finger to his lips. I froze, listening. I could hear people talking, but their voices grew quieter as they walked away.

He glanced around the corner, then back at me. “He’ll be okay, trust me. Come on.”

He tugged on my hand again, and we rushed forward. We hurried through the castle, stopping now and then to wait for our path to clear. My heart was pounding with fear. Not for myself, but for Adam and Julian. If they were caught, they’d be killed. Marius would not be merciful a second time.

We moved lower through the castle, finally ducking through a door leading down to the cellar. As soon as the door closed behind us, I stopped, pulling my hand free.

“Where are we going?” I whispered.

“To the cellars,” Adam explained. “There’s a tunnel leading down to the beach, where the others are waiting. We have to hurry.” He started down the stairs, and I followed.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, and the air grew colder the lower we went. We finally reached the bottom, and I looked around in awe at the cavernous space. The cellar was nearly as big as the ballroom, with ceilings that were easily thirty feet high. There were barrels and crates stacked high in one corner, and directly across from us was the tunnel.

Adam tried to pull me towards it, but I yanked free. “I’m not leaving without Allie.”

He shoved a hand through his hair, shooting a glance towards the stairs. “They’ll meet us down there. We need to go.”

I shook my head and took a step back. “I’m not stepping into that tunnel until Allie is with me.”

Suddenly, a noise came from the tunnel, and Adam spun around to face it. A group of vampires came running into the cellar, and I tensed, but Adam relaxed.

“What are you doing, David?” Adam asked. “You were supposed to wait on the beach.”

“We got worried,” the guy said, jogging across the room towards us. He came to a stop next to Adam and glanced at me. “You took longer than expected. We thought something happened.”

Adam shook his head. “We’re waiting on Julian.”

David looked past us to the stairs. “He’s not with you?”

“Obviously not,” Adam said with annoyance. Then he looked towards the stairs with worry. “I don’t know what’s taking him-” Adam’s words broke off as his eyes widened. “Sarah, run!”

Adam spun around to face David, and I saw the knife in David’s hand, and the bloodstain spreading quickly across Adam’s back. Instantly, the others surrounded us. There were at least twenty of them, against the two of us.

“You bastard,” Adam growled, backing towards me. “I’ll kill you for this.”

I heard a dramatic sigh, and I spun around to see Natalia stepping out of the tunnel. “You were supposed to kill the girl , not him,” she said, crossing the room towards us.

The circle of vampires parted, allowing her to pass through, and she moved to stand by David’s side. Adam growled in warning, and claws appeared at his fingertips.

The vampires surrounding us hissed and bared their fangs. Then, with no warning, David leapt at Adam, knocking us both to the ground. They rolled right over me as they wrestled, and I gasped as their combined weight pushed the air from my lungs. They rolled across the floor, with their teeth and claws sunk into each other, and I scrambled backwards across the floor, never taking my eyes off them.

I heard a shout, and looked to see Allie and Julian appear at the bottom of the stairs. Julian flew across the room, leaping into the fight and tearing David off Adam. He threw David across the room, sending him flying into the crates on the far side, and just as Adam was climbing to his feet, the rest of the vampires converged on them. Allie started screaming, and I jerked my head towards her.

“Run!” I screamed, pushing myself to my feet. I’d only taken a step when I felt a knife sink into my back. Over and over, they stabbed me. It happened so fast, I didn't even have time to scream. I fell to my knees, and Allie rushed towards me. I tried to tell her to run but when I opened my mouth blood came gurgling out. I fell to the floor and felt the knife stab into me four more times. This couldn’t be happening. Vampires are immortal.

Through the red haze of blood, I saw someone grab Allie. I coughed, and blood came spurting out of my mouth.

“Why won’t you die, bitch?” Natalia growled from behind me.

I closed my eyes, bracing for the knife, and in my mind I screamed Marius’ name.

Everything happened in an instant. Marius appeared in the room, his eyes landing on me. His guards came flying down the stairs, and at that exact moment another group of vampires came running out of the tunnel.

I never saw him move towards me, but suddenly he was there, gripping Victoria’s head between his hands. She didn’t even have time to scream before he snapped her neck and threw her body across the room. He fell to his knees beside me and shouted at someone over his shoulder to get Allie out of there, then the room fell silent as time froze.

“Drink!” Marius shouted, bringing his wrist to my mouth. I opened my mouth to bite him, but coughed up blood instead. Time unfroze, and the room erupted into chaos for a moment before stopping again.

“Drink!” he cried, his voice breaking. I looked up at him, struggling to focus, and saw his face wet with tears. Screams rang out again, and there was a clashing of steel. He was having a hard time holding them. He couldn’t concentrate, because of me.

Marius bit into his wrist, tearing a chuck out of it. He spat his flesh on the ground and held his wrist over me, letting his blood pour over my mouth. I choked and tried to swallow, then a spear came bursting through Marius’ chest, nearly impaling my head. His eyes widened with shock, before the spear was pulled back through, leaving a huge gaping hole in his chest. Blood gushed out of him, covering me, and he fell forward, landing on top of me. Blood was pooling on the floor around us, and once more time froze.

“Drink,” Marius gasped, trying to lift himself off me.

“No!” I cried “You first!” I struggled to raise my wrist to his mouth, but he turned his face away.

“I can’t hold them much longer,” he whispered harshly. His hand slipped in the blood and he fell against me again, causing us both to cry out in pain. He shifted, positioning his neck in front of my face, and with a sob I bit into him.

Awareness hit me. In a fraction of a second, thousands of images flew through my mind. I remembered my past life, and our love. I remembered everything.

I pulled away quickly. “Bite me!” I cried, turning my head to the side, so he could reach my neck. But he didn’t bite.

Strength was returning to me at an incredible rate. I lifted him off me, and pushed myself into a sitting position, cradling him in my lap.

I held my wrist to his mouth again, but he still didn’t bite. I watched his eyes slowly change from gold to brown.

“Phaedra.” With his last breath, his power died and the vampires surrounding us were released from their hold.

Everyone stumbled, confused, and they all turned to stare at us with disbelief. Marius’ guards roared with fury and anguish, and I felt their pain. I cradled his body to me and threw back my head and screamed.

The sound that came out of me was like a thousand nightmares. Everyone in the room covered their ears and doubled over in pain. The walls shook, and large stones fell from the ceiling, crushing several people. My scream ended in a sob, and I started rocking back and forth, holding Marius tightly.

Then I saw him. He was standing a few feet away, holding the spear that was still dripping with Marius’ blood. A nd I turned him to dust. As his body dissipated, the spear fell to the floor, the sound echoing in the now silent room. Not a soul moved. Still rocking Marius’ body, I looked around the room. I saw Julian, dripping in blood, and our eyes met.

He was the first to kneel, placing his fist over his heart, offering his fealty to me. Then Adam and the King’s Guard, then everyone else.

I lowered my head and pressed a kiss to Marius’ lips, and then I began to cry.