Bloody Curse | Book Two of Blood Trilogy

Chapter 10

Asher 

As I stood rigid with Violet shedding tears in my arms, I turned my head around to face a deadly expression on Derek's face. I sensed no good news when they approached me. Cameron walked past me and reached for Violet's attention. I let him send his hopes and apologies to my wife. 

Meanwhile, I pulled for Caleb and dragged him into the hallway where light from Zayden's bedroom illuminated through the doorway. 

"Sir, there has been an issue." Derek began, which resulted from an eye roll from me. That was a huge understatement. The night drove everybody into insanity which had been imprinted to be an unforgettable night. I did not need to glance over to Caleb to know that he stood with his arms crossed expecting anything good to come from the man's mouth. Derek sighed in defeat and gazed down to dark washed jeans. 

"A guard on the northwestern wall is down." His voice did not falter one bit and I stood still with poor to no reaction externally, but internally I was surging with rage. One unfortunate man had departed because of this shadow-like creature who had taken my mother and my son. My fists cracked the knuckles themselves. 

"Aidan." I called. He appeared by my side within a heartbeat. I grabbed both of his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. "Watch the ladies, will you? Please stay with them and make sure everything is exactly the way we left it. That nothing else had disrupted this castle from the inside." Little nods from his lowered head gave me the least affirmation, but I embraced him again anyway. He probably felt guilty from Zayden's previous declares but he was not to blame. He was not at fault. 

I glanced past his shoulders to see Violet still being comforted by the closest people in her heart. It was tempting to curl in bed with her safe in my arms, but that was the last thing running through her mind. Our sweet son was somewhere with someone dangerous and capable with many abilities. I grew worried and strolled briskly into the room, eyeing everybody before facing my darling. 

I rubbed her cold arms with my large hands and pecked her forehead with barely a touch from my lips. She shivered under my grasp and I looked deeply into her soul reassuringly. I will get them back. I promise, my love. She only closed her eyes, barely revealing a nod. I sighed and walked out of the room without a glance back. Her condition broke my heart even more and I knew that I could not deal with the hurt coursing through her heart. The sooner I found where the Shadow took my son, the sooner our lives would return back to "normal". 

I paused in the middle of the hallway causing the three men to turn around with a puzzled look on their faces. Earlier that evening, Violet had overheard the children talking about their lives as vampires. They did not wish to be what they are. They were not prideful of their true beings. My eyes widened and I glimpsed at Caleb, hoping that his child would never have those thoughts. 

Derek lead us to a darkened corner of the northwestern wall where extra guards stood and searched the area for any clues. Some in their proper attire and some in nothing but sweatpants. I dismissed any chastising and pushed past the crowd into the ring where a body lay. Unlike mother's facial expressions, the man looked absolutely pained before his passing. His fingers still remained curled into the grass and his legs extended in perfect straight parallel lines. 

This was definitely a freak scene and guards seemed uneasy under their potential targets. It could be any one of us next. Caleb took initiative as captain and stepped forward. 

"Men, one of us have fallen tonight with an unexpected attack to this kingdom. Somebody is asking for blood to be drawn and if that's what they want, then so be it. We are dealing with someone dangerous with unpredictable powers. We have dealt with many many things, but this," he paused and looked around the circle into each soldier's soul, "this same creature had murdered Queen Adriana and kidnapped Prince Zayden." 

Murmurs broke throughout the crowd and the tension had increased by a ten fold. Men growled and begged to release their inner violence, but that was the problem. Nobody had a clue who to shred up. Besides who could shed blood upon a shadow anyway?

I cleared my throat and stood beside Caleb. "We have our first clue. All we know from a small trace is a residue of something related to ash. It's a fine powdery substance and we found it in front of the queen's room. It may seem hellish, but that is the only start we have, so if any of you knows anything then let us know as soon as possible. From now on, we will encounter many sleepless nights in search of this Shadow and we will destroy it, not until we have the future heir of this kingdom safe and sound behind these castle walls." 

Many nodded to my short speech while some still stood baffled at the fact that a shadow had crossed through the castle boundaries and managed to pass through the security alarms without disarming any of them. Hell, I was still quizzical on the single thought. 

The crowd's attention was all on Caleb. Derek and Cameron awaited for his instructions, but none of us knew the first thing to do. 

"First off, those of you who are showing off your pecs, please go put a shirt on. Some of us can't handle such testosterone soaring through the air." Caleb faced Cameron and winked. The man blushed at Caleb's action and words. I chuckled lightly but could not completely forget about the entire situation; although praising Caleb all the while for lightening the mood within the men, if only the women had something cheerful. 

"Then we meet in the training room. We have to scavenge whatever we find to connect the dots." The men marched off towards their chambers. "Hopefully we find something." His hushed whisper beneath his breath could only be heard by me. He spoke my exact thoughts. 

A/N: Hello fellas!! 

WOW! Three chapters within a week \*o*/ 

I hope you all have been well and that you enjoy this treat hehehe I know I know I am still slacking. It may be hard to believe, but I posted a chapter a day for Bloody Kiss! I know right.. I could hardly believe it myself. Life has definitely gotten more busy and I typically use my free time to unwind from the hard week. 

I have 800 reads on this book so far and I'm pushing for 1k reads and 100 votes!! So let's do this together, guys :) 

Hehehe anyways, thank you for your generosity and I will see you in the next chapter (which will be uploaded next week) :D until then, take good care of yourselves and don't miss me too much XD 

~Jade xoxo