Blood & Honey #1

*Chapter Twenty-Three*

She climbs in quickly, the others following suit as they can tell by the black aura radiating off me I am in no mood to be tested.

Before I can get in, Kerrien catches me by the shoulder.

"I almost forgot to tell you, we've taken Valderanna. Next, we will infiltrate the castle Alekos has kept himself held up in. Vaden Kazimier's sons have decided to join us as have the majority of the Zoric bloodline. Please tell the princess if she wants her father to stay alive, all she has to do is agree to become my mate. You may hail from the warrior bloodline, but your family alone can't save Alekos when even some of his bastard sons and daughters have been swayed to join us."

I climb into the car, not granting Kerrien any type of reaction. The limo rocks as I slam the door shut behind me. I tap the roof, signaling the driver to take off. The loud thumping and hard-hitting music of Deviant House Seven fades into the clamor of city nightlife as we take to the streets, weaving our way into the smog of traffic and the intoxicated humans crawling all over these parts of town looking to make the most of their short lives.

"What did he say?" Sabrina asks, her voice heightened with unease.

"Nothing that mattered."

If Kerrien is telling the truth, it won't matter if I hand over Kalista to him. He will take the castle with or without her. Alekos would rather die than have me hand over the child his mate gave her life for. Kalista is the future he wants for the Vampirie. I can only hope my parents make it out alive.

The lights of buildings go by, obscured by the tinted windows of the limo as we merge onto the freeway. An unsettling fills my stomach like spoiled blood left out in the heat. It's foul odor and rotten taste found among the truth that lies within the heritage that runs in my veins.

Death and power.

Blood and Privilege.

Too long the Darkos bloodline has known Alekos's favor. Too long has a ruler of bias treatment been allowed to sit on the throne.

Loyalty has a price, and it is probably my parents' heads.

"Take the next exit," I say to the driver.

"Yes, Mr. Darkos." He doesn't need more explanation. This exit leads to one place.

"Are we going somewhere?" Serena asks as the limo rolls up to the passenger drop off at the airport.

I don't answer. I open the door, ordering Maya to get out of the car. She obeys without hesitation. I slam the car door in Kinley's face when she attempts to follow her friend.

Maya looks alarmed as I grab her by the shoulders rather roughly. "I am releasing you. You will not remember me, you will not remember my family, and you will not remember anything you have seen. All you will remember is coming to visit Kinley. You two went shopping, to the zoo, and ate dinner on the pier every night. You spent your nights laughing out on the balcony enjoying the ocean breeze and your days soaking in the sun down on the beach."

Letting go of Maya's shoulders, I pull the wallet out of my back pocket and hand her a thousand dollars cash. "Book yourself a one-way flight home. By the time you board, I'll have your things here to make the journey back home with you. As the days pass, Kinley Shea Rylan will fade from your memory and, in three months from now, she will be but a distant memory of your past as you continue to live out your life going to school and partying like the young hellion you are."

Maya clutches the cash I handed her tightly to her hand-held purse, a single tear slipping down her cheek before her face goes completely blank. She blinks a few times, her head tilting when she looks back up at me, this time with no recognition in her brown eyes.