Chapter 96


    CAMILLA’S P.O.V


    I didn’t realize how much pressure was on me until Ryker said those words. I don’t think he meant for


    me to worry but I couldn’t help it. I spent the entire morning thinking about his words. Loris had to cut


    training short because my mind seemed to be everywhere else but present. I almost hit him in the face


    with a stream of water while I was meant to move it from one stream to another.


    The bodies were returned to the families today and I couldn’t bring myself to see them. I watched from


    a pir while they sobbed into the bodies of their sons. My heart ached for them and I wanted nothing


    more than tofort them but my feet couldn’t move. I couldn’t imagine how I would react if I lost a


    child.


    I felt a hand on my shoulder and I rxed considerably when I realized it was Ryker. His scent crowded


    my space and I heaved a small sigh. His arms wrapped around my shoulders and he ced his chin


    on the center of my head. I could feel his eyes on me instead of the family.


    “I feel bad,” I admitted. “It is our job to protect them and we failed.”


    “This isn’t your fault. It isn’t even theirs. The fault resides with the vampire who killed them.”


    “He won’t stop,” I whispered and he didn’t respond. There was no need for him to, he knew I was right.


    “We have to stop him before he kills anyone else.”


    “We will, it’s just taking a little longer than we thought,” he pulled back from me. “One of us should be


    there tofort


    them.”


    Before I could say anything, he brushed past me and walked over to the family. The mother sobbed


    into his arms and I watched as Rykerforted her. He wasn’t supposed to touch them and I knew the


    elders would have a field day if they saw him but I couldn’t help but smile softly. One thing I loved most


    about Ryker was his ability to be so empathetic without saying a word. He deserved to be king much


    more than I deserved to be Queen. He would have found a way to sort this thing out. I only wished the


    vampire king were half the man he was. If he was, he would have known that his subjects were


    stepping out of line and he would have handled them.


    As soon as that thoughtnded, I gasped. All this time, we had been chasing the wrong lead. There


    was no way that we were going to find the vampire who was doing this, we needed to find the king. I


    wanted to inform Ryker but he was too busy with the family so I made my way to the secret library


    alone. If I was going to find anything on him, it was going to be there.


    I pulled out every single book I could find on vampires and put my wall firmly in ce so I wouldn’t be


    disturbed. I couldn’t tell how long I sat there flipping through books and trying to figure out who the


    infamous king was. There were so many texts on him but none of them mentioned his name or even


    what he loked like. I knew finding him was going to be hard but I never realized it was going to be this


    hard.


    It was around evening when Ryker found me with my head buried in the books. I was so lost in my


    reading that I didn’t realize he was close until he spoke.


    “This is where you’ve been,” he mused and I jumped. He had to ce a hand at the back of my chair to


    prevent it from tipping over. “We’ve been scouring the entire pce for you. Is this payback vrom when


    I made you worry?”


    I couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe, maybe not. At least now you know how it feels.”


    He peered over my shoulder at the books opened in front of me. “What are we searching for today? Did


    you find something?”


    I exined my theory to him and he listened intently while I spoke. By the time I was done, he had a


    wary look on his face and I immediately knew that there were going to beints.


    “This is brilliant but we are working on the assumption that the vampire king is someone who can be


    reasoned with,” he ran his hand down his jaw. “This man could be over a thousand years old. He might


    not be willing to listen or even care about what is happening.”


    “He’s the king, he has to,” my brows furrowed. “No one wants a war. If he is up to a thousand years old


    then he must have seen first-hand the war.”


    “Why don’t we handle this tomorrow?” he asked and I wanted to refute but my stomach chose that


    exact moment to rumble. “Come on baby, let’s get some food into you.”


    “Can I get some books first?” I asked and he nodded.


    I gathered my books and just as I was about to leave, I got an idea. He mentioned something about the


    vampire king and the war so I grabbed the books I could see on the war. It was a far stretch but it was


    one worth looking into.


    “Are you ready?’ he asked and I nodded. He grabbed the books from my hand and gestured for me to


    walk ahead of him. This time, I didn’t hesitate before moving.


    I had ns to read after eating but I was so tired that I didn’t even realize when I passed out from


    exhaustion. The next thing I realized was that I was waking up in bed during the early hours of the


    morning. Ryker was already up and out of bed at the time and I rushed to get in line with my duties.


    The morning seemed to go like any other until we were told during breakfast that there were bodies. It


    felt like the weight of the world had crashed on me especially since we had nned to spend the day


    with the girls. Ryker decided that it would be best if he goes to check the bodies while I stay with the


    girls so as not to arouse suspicion. I wasn’t entirely on board with it but he didn’t give me much of a


    chance to protest.


    I didn’t want to be idle so while I at with Audrey in her room, I was flipping through the books I had


    brought back. I decided to start with the ones on the war and to say there were unhelpful would have


    been an understatement. Most of them spoke about casualties and how the werewolves won the war


    but that wasn’t what I wanted.


    I was about to give up when I noticed another passage that seemed to be about the vampires. I


    decided to keep reading and although it didn’t give much, it spoke about how the vampire king didn’t


    live in the Northern mountains like the rest of them. Although it was a spection, some believed that


    he lived in the mountains close to the pce to mirror the lives of the werewolves.


    As soon as-I-read that, I tried to mind link Ryker but his wall was up. I mind linked Christine next and


    she was quick to rush into the room. I showed her what I had found and she pored over it for far longer


    than necessary. After what felt like minutes, she looked up at me.


    “I think we should wait for Ryker,” she said and I frowned. “If this is true, you could be walking into an


    ambush. It is best if you go with guards.”


    “That would look like a deration of war. I just want to talk to him. I can take a few guards with me but


    if I carry an entire army which is what Ryker is going to do then the conversation will end befor eit even


    starts.”


    She sighed knowing she couldn’t win with me. “What do you propose then?”


    “I need you to watch the kids,” she opened her mouth to refute but I cut her off. “Ryker is busy right


    now and I am not going


    to make him leave whatever he is doing toe to me. I’ll just take two guards and go on horses.”


    She still didn’t look convinced but she reluctantly nodded. I grabbed her hands and gave her a small


    smile.


    “Just be safe,” she whispered. “Take some of the best guards.”


    “I will. Can you arrange some for me? You know them better than I do.”


    She left to organize the guards and I secretly hoped that Ryker would return before she did but he


    didn’t. I was terribly anxious to go alone but I was the Queen and Ryker was right I needed to start


    acting like it. Audrey demanded to walk with me to the horses and I couldn’t refuse her. She didn’t want


    to let me go and if I were smarter, I would have taken that as a sign to stay back.


    –“I’ll be back soon,” I promised and she frowned. “When I’m back we can y house again, okay?”


    She hesitated before nodding and pulling me into a hug. Christine had to hold her back while I mounted


    the horse. I exined to the guards where we were going. I was kept in the middle for security reasons


    and we began the journey. We


    had estimated a few hours for the journey and I knew that if all went as nned then we would leave


    by nightfall.


    I


    The journey was quiet but I could feel the tension emanating. We were just four in number and I hoped


    that it wouldn’t be seen as too much. We went deeper into the woods than I had ever gone before and


    the further we went, the colder it


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    got. was grateful for the coat that Christine had made me pack. Even if it didn’tpletely protect me


    from the cold, it did a better job than my dress would have.


    “Your majesty, do you know exactly what we are looking for? We are almost at the mountains.”


    “Just keep going. You’ll know it when you see it.”


    We kept going for a few minutes when I felt eyes on me. I couldn’t see them but I knew they were there


    so I immediately ordered everyone to stop. The guards must have sensed the urgency in my voice


    because they immediately formed a protective circle around me.


    “We can turn back now,” one of them began but I shook my head.


    “You’re a long way from home, Cami,” I heard someone drawl from the woods and I looked to see


    bright glowing red eyes staring back at me.