Chapter 105

Daphne rushed to where his body stopped, pulling him onto his back as tears fell down her cheeks.

“Just hold on!”

Owen’s hand grabbed hers as she settled her shaking hands over the hole in his chest. Blood was bubbling up and pooling around them. Her magic warmed and stuttered trying to close the hole.

“Run…” he gasped before his last breath escaped him and she could no longer feel any spark of life in him.

“No…” she sniffled. “No! You can’t–”

A snarl drew her attention from above. Osborn had shifted and started to barrel down the side of the hill towards her. She lunged aside, barely dodging his attack, and grabbed her sword, turning into his next attack as he skidded, turned, and lunged at her again.

His claws met her blade and shoved her back and off her feet. She tumbled back and landed hard on her arm.

He was too strong for her to fight on her own. She glanced towards where Nicole had cornered the duchess and lifted her sword as Osborn laughed and prepared to leap again.

“I love prey with a bit of fight in it,” he said, his voice dark and mocking. “Let’s see how long you can keep it up, Your Majesty.”

She lifted the blade, thinking about her options. She was too tired to do much magic and there was no way she could outrun him.

Her best bet was to hold him off as long as she could until Nicole could back her up. She grunted as her arm started to heal itself and snapped back into place with a jolt of pain.

“Kill me if you can, you psycho,” Daphne sneered.

Osborn threw his head back to laugh before rushing towards her. His mouth stretched wide, baring all of his teeth. She froze as the world flickered around her. The past and present swirled with darkness as if she was slipping into her memories. Fear filled her and a name was pressing at her teeth.

Someone who had protected her before.

It was at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t remember who it was.

“Stay away from her!” Daphne gasped as Arthur’s voice roared from nearby and his large golden body barreled into Osborn, throwing him off his path and slamming him to the ground.

Osborn snapped his jaws and twisted trying to overpower Arthur, but Arthur sunk his teeth into Osborn’s shoulder and tore his flesh and fur.

Osborn howled and shoved him off.

Daphne withdrew from the area and rushed towards Nicole as she drove her sword through the duchess’ chest with a furious cry.

The duchess cried out and choked. Nicole shoved her off her sword with a foot in her chest and severed her head from her shoulders before her body could hit the ground.

Dark blood splattered across the ground as she turned towards John who looked on the edge of hysteria before he scrambled to his feet and ran.

Daphne rushed after him, skidding to a halt and aiming her sword’s end at him. He skidded to a stop just beyond the edge of her blade.

He drew up short, “Y-Your Majesty, I can–”

“I don’t want to hear anything out of your mouth but the truth,” Daphne said, stalking towards him, keeping her sword trained on him. “You did something to me.”

His eyes widened, “Wh-What could you possibly mean–?”

“I remember you. You took me somewhere dark and cold. There were shackles. The air smelled stale like no one had been there in centuries. Where did you take me? What did you do to me?”

He stumbled back raising his hands, “I can assure you I–”

Nicole came up behind him, kicking him in the back of his knees and forcing him to his knees with her sword pressed against her throat. He paled as she leaned to speak to him.

“I would relish severing your head from your shoulders, but I too need answers from you, John.” Daphne approached him, glaring down at his terrified face.

“You would do well to answer Her Majesty’s questions before I find uses for my sword… starting with your hands.”

He shuddered, “I… I… It was a lunar temple. The one beneath my estate.”

Daphne frowned as Nicole’s eyes grew hard, “And what did you do, John? I need details!”

“I forced a blood bond,” he said and struggled. “E-Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t kill me without hurting her, Nicole.”

Daphne frowned looking at Nicole as she looked down at him, “And you were banking on that to save your life to the very end.”

She shoved him forward and he lifted his head with a sneer, “It’s still there. I can feel it! Until it’s gone, I am safe, and it won’t ever be gone before I die!”

“You are safe from me at least,” Nicole conceded. Her expression turned dark and cunning as she grabbed a handful of John’s hair and pulled him back to look up at Daphne. “… But not from fire.”

His eyes widened and he shook his head, “D-Don’t be ridiculous. That’s just an old wives’ tale.”

“Is it?” Nicole asked, looking up at Daphne. “We’ve stumbled into a teachable moment, Your Majesty. The tenants of blood bonds require an exchange of blood, forever linking two existences together if that bond is pure.”

“There’s no such thing as a pure bond!”

“Your parents had a pure bond,” Nicole said, “It’s written all over your magic. They loved each other and exchanged blood with that in mind. It’s why your father killed himself soon after your mother died. John forced a bond upon you. I suspect your magic has been fighting it off all this time. To break a bond like the one John forced on you, you will have to kill him.”

Daphne lifted her sword. John screamed, and Nicole held out her hand.

“No, not by the sword, but by fire. Werewolves can reject their mates, but a vampire’s bond can only be cut through fire… In your case, since he’s still alive, magical fire. You have to purge him from yourself and purge your blood from his body. Your magic is already doing half the work within you.”

Daphne swallowed and lowered her sword.

“I imagine you’ll probably regain your memories as soon as he is dead.”

“That’s just hearsay!” John said, laughing a little. “There’s n-no proof!”

Nicole chuckled, “And when you kill him, won’t that be the answer to your grief?”

Daphne frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Pregnancy takes a great toll on the body,” Nicole said. “Between your shock and the amount of magic it took to set all of the turned werewolves on fire, you couldn’t fight off the blood bond, protect the baby, and live. Your body made a choice.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, and she turned to look at John. Anger was burning in her chest. She wanted flames to take hold of him and to hear him scream in agony, but they would not heed her fury.

There wasn’t even a spark. Her mind kept drifting to the sounds of wolves fighting in the distance and the scent of blood. It was all so familiar. Her memories were screaming at her from beyond the darkness in her mind. There was danger. Something she had to pay attention to, but she couldn’t remember what it was.

“I…I can’t do it.” She shook her head, “I-I can’t concentrate.”

John looked relieved, “O-Of course not. No one bonded can kill the other.”

Nicole drew her second sword from her belt and offered it to her. The blade glowed red as if it were on fire and as it settled in her hands, she felt the power in the blade.

“Push your magic into this and let the sword do the rest.”

She lifted it as John trembled staring up at her and began to struggle in earnest.

“Y-You can’t! Your Majesty, it’s not true! You’ll—”

Daphne felt the power pulsing and heaving. There was so much anger in this blade, burning like a firestorm.

John screamed as she aimed to swing when a broken cry caught her attention.

She turned towards the sound as Arthur lay in a bloody heap and Osborn began to cackle in victory.

Her heart thudded against her chest. She heard the scrape of claws at the back of her mind. The scent of blood filled her nose and fear took over her heart.

In her mind’s eye, she saw a grey wolf laughing and coming closer to a wounded golden wolf covered in injuries.

She heard herself screaming no from the past. The cry barreled through her and sent her turning and flying across the clearing.

“No!”

Osborn barely turned his head before she felt the blood drive through his chest with a sickening wet crunch. Blood dripped down the blade as he choked and she landed on top of him. His paw reached for her. He snarled then went limp as his fur began to hiss and crackle. Flames erupted from the blade, consuming his body before she could draw the blade out of his chest.

The flames spread across the field, consuming werewolf and vampire corpses.

Daphne stumbled back, dragging the sword that felt so much heavier than before with her.

Nicole appeared beside her and took the sword from her.

“You did well,” she said and put her arm around her neck. They darted away from the spreading flames back to the edge of the tree line.