The Consort's Will 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 26 - Final Chapter

Final Chapter - Bogdan's POV

The double doors close and seal our fates with a single, dull click. Streaks of blood remain on floor. It lays in pools on the chairs, a macabre reminder of the humans that are now rotting in their final state. A few drops spill over the edges of the chairs, plopping onto the ground and seeping into the earth. While they are merely succumbing to gravity, there's a symbolic element to it as well. It's as if they're fighting to be remembered. A permanent, physical reminder of the destruction that caused their demise.

I remain close to Kelly. His labored breathing stirs the silence as angst and sadness rolls off him in waves. It is a bit foreign to me, mourning the loss of a heart that does not belong to you. Yet he remains true to her still, devoted and fighting for Fiona beyond her last breath. My human watches me from across the room. He wants to be near me, I can feel it, but he does not want to jeopardize me. He believes this is a trap.

The Secondary guard beside Tegan moves close to her. He drops his voice to a whisper, laughable given the presence of a vampire.

"Any additional orders from Mr. Primary while they say their goodbyes?" he mutters.

Tegan positions herself in a way that faces us, forcing the guard to turn away. He doesn't notice her wavering gaze, or the way she eyes me sharply before glancing at a spot in the wall five feet away from me. Her eyes drop down to me a second time before she does it again. And again. It's on the third time that I follow her path – to a small, barely-visible camera hidden in the cracks of the wall.

Ah, we are being monitored. It must be the only camera in here, or else her gaze would have traveled to other locations as well. A warning, perhaps? No, Tegan and I are creatures of war, both keenly aware of the tactics used in situations like these.

I arch a brow and she gives a slight nod towards the camera. She holds the Secondary guard's attention, diluting his mind in a plan that that will never come to fruition. She is creating a diversion for me, a chance to disable the camera to set in motion whatever plan she has up her sleeve. Disabling it herself would prove that she is a rat among the Secondary kingdom, helping the enemy in a time of war. No, this must appear that it is my doing, and mine alone.

Without our small interaction on the walk, I would have never trusted her. Her silent signals would have gone ignored. Now, there is a single thread of trust, so fragile and frail it can be broken at any instant. It is enough, though. If I take care of the camera, she will take care of the guard. It's an unspoken agreement, and the time to act is now.

I give a single squeeze to Kelly's knee. It's a gesture of double meaning – a warning to stay still as well as a reassuring promise that I will do all I can to get us out of here alive. In the moments that follow, I move onto the table and eye the camera. As agile as I am, I will only get one chance to jump and pull it from the wall, effectively ending the live feed.

My legs tingle in anticipation, and the table creaks beneath my weight as I leap into the air. It's too much noise for Tegan to ignore. Her eyes widen in feigned surprise. To anyone monitoring the camera, she is playing her part well.

"Stop him!" she hisses at the Secondary guard.

He spins on his heels and reaches for his weapon just as my hands curl around the virtual eye on the wall. I rip it away, and in a simultaneous motion, Tegan cracks the brunt end of her weapon into the guard's skull. He crumbles to the ground. No longer under the eyes of the Secondary kingdom, Tegan makes quick work of pulling a bit of cord from her back pocket and tying his arms and legs together.

My human runs to me, throwing his arm around my waist as soon as my feet hit the floor.

"I was so worried about you," his muffled voice says into my shirt. "And they killed them. F-fiona, so many humans."