The Royal Lodge
Sophie Ashe
I lay on the pebbled foreshore in Nico's arms. He was still gripping me from pulling me out of the freezing lake. The lake lapped against our ankles, and we just lay there in silence as snow fell around us.
Rayne had finally come to collect his debt, and he had taken Casper from me. The blood boiled in my veins. I wanted to murder that silver hair bastard. I wanted to hunt him down and tear him limb from limb for taking Casper away from me.
Yet, there was a small voice of reason in the back of my mind, questioning if Rayne was truly my enemy. Perhaps this was the incentive that would help my powers manifest and kill whatever was guarding the silver birch tree that held Mia's soul prisoner.
I looked up at Nico, who was panting hard from pulling me out of the lake.
"Where's Rudolph's mother?" I asked.
"She left yesterday with Rudolph, Christie, and her daughter. They took two cars, but only one went to Port Cressida. I had my team place trackers on both cars. The other car headed north along the mountain road," Nico said. "We traced the forwarding number to her room at the lodge. She's been a guest at this lodge for years. We think she's the one who has been picking up girls from the Spit and bringing them to the lodge. She's the one who's been behind all the killings."
I stared at the night sky and wondered how this might work in our favour if Rudolph's mother was discovered to be the woman stuffing dead girls into trees. This might be the silver bullet that destroys Rudolph's aspirations to remove Casper from the throne and install himself as the new king.
"We need to find her and bring her to justice. Do you think she might be where the silver birch tree is?"
Nico shrugged, "No, but I suggest we pay her a visit. Even if she is not at the site of the silver birch tree, she should know where it is."
He pulled himself to his feet and offered me a hand up. I took up, and together we walked briskly back to the lodge. As we walked, I asked, "Why would Rudolph's mother do this? She's Casper's Aunt."
"The crazy bitch probably wants to kick Casper off the throne and crown her idiot son as King," Nico theorised.
Rudolph was desperate for the throne. He had never done any favours for us unless he benefited from it.
A panicked thought crossed my mind. Had she taken any servants with her when she left? Was she planning another sacrifice?
"Did any servants go with her?" I asked.
"I'd need to check with my team," he said, ushering me through the front door.
As we strode across the foyer, several of Nico's security team ran to us with grainy photographs of a classic car.
"Princess Octavia left last night a 4.56am. Her car has been located three miles north of the lodge," the guard told Nico.
"Did she take any servants with her?" Nico asked.
The guard shook his head and said, "No servants, but she took a female passenger with her. We are not sure who this person was."
My heart dropped into my stomach. "She has Christie," I whispered. "We need to call Jacques."
"He's gone awol. He's not answering my calls or messages," Nico sighed.
"Then send him a text message and leave him a voice mail. He needs to know she is in danger," I said.
If Jacques knew Christie was in danger, he would come for her. I knew there was no way he would sit back and let Christie get murdered by Casper's crazy Aunt.
Nico pulled out his phone and typed a message to Jacques. I prayed that Jacques picked up the message. We needed all the help we could get.
Nico tucked his phone away and glanced down at my wet clothes, "We need to get out of these wet clothes and into something more practical. I have something that I want to show you."
He beckoned me to follow him through the foyer into the ballroom where we had trained the night before. The room was dark, but I could make out the figure of a wooden mannequin at the far end of the room.
I followed Nico across the room and saw that the mannequin appeared to be wearing a set of light armour beautifully crafted from leather. I reached out and traced my fingers over one of the sleeves that had been embossed with beautiful swirling patterns.
"I wanted to give it to you after we had completed a few more training sessions, but you need it now," he said. "The armour has been designed to allow maximum range of movement and will help soften any nasty blows or scratches. I will fight alongside you as best I can, but I can't kill demons like you. Myself and my team are reliant on you to kill the demons."
My fingers dropped from the armour, and I remembered what Rayne had told me. Fear amplified my power. I was a more effective killing machine when I was alone and afraid.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to have to face this alone," I said.
A crack appeared in Nico's stony expression. The mask of indifference he usually hid behind dropped as he frowned at me and shook his head.
"I'm not leaving you alone with those monsters," he said.
"You have to. Otherwise, my powers might not manifest," I replied.
Nico shook his head, "That's nonsense, your hone your powers with time and practice."
I looked at him and bit back what I had wanted to say. 'I'm not like you. I'm not a hundred per cent vampire. There is part of me that is different - a demonic part.'
Rayne's cautionary words were ringing in my head. It was best not to tell anyone about what I was. The result of an unholy breeding experiment between a vampire and a demon. I wondered what Nico would think of me if I told him the truth.
"I have to face this alone. Rayne said the demon would not reveal itself to me if I came with an entourage of guards," I lied.
Nico studied me for a few seconds, and I wondered if he could tell I was lying. Then, finally, he blew out a long breath and said, "We'll go together with no guards."
"But, Rayne said-" I began.
"To hell with Rayne. I'm not letting you face this thing alone. You were able to kill the demon we faced outside the city. I'm sure you can do it again with me there. So, we go together with no guards and get Mia and Casper back."
The conviction in his voice made me realise that he wouldn't let me walk into this fight alone. Secretly, this made me a little grateful.
"Okay," I relented.
He patted me on the shoulder and then glanced across to the armour. "I'll leave you to put this on. When you are ready, wait for me in the foyer."
Nico left me in the ballroom alone, where I carefully removed the armour from the mannequin. The armour consisted of black pants and a long black-sleeved tunic with a heavy leather bodice that bore Casper's family crest.
I folded the clothes neatly and took them back to my room. I needed to dry myself off and baby powder myself up before attempting to get into the figure-hugging leather pants and tunic.
I returned to my room and discarded my wet clothes, and had a quick shower before putting on the armour. It was surprisingly light and easy to manoeuvre in. It even had a small holster on the hip that I could use for the small black knife Rayne had given me a few nights ago.
I placed the knife in the holster and checked myself in the mirror. I took a few deep breaths and said a silent prayer. God, I hoped that this would work out in the end.
I headed downstairs and met Nico in the foyer. Like me, he wore black armour carrying the royal family's crest. When he saw me, he nodded at my armour approvingly.
"It suits you," he said. "How do you find the fit? I hope it's not too restrictive."
"It's fine," I replied with a roll of my shoulders.
Nico's eyes scanned over the outfit, checking for any defects and then paused when he saw the dagger sitting around my waist.
"Where did you get that from?" He asked.
"It was a gift," I replied. "I don't think it will do much good, but it may come in handy."
I don't think Nico would be happy if he found out the black knife was a gift from Rayne. So, I quickly changed the subject.
"Do you still have Octavia's location?"
Nico nodded, "Yes, the car hasn't moved. We believe she may be preparing to sacrifice another girl."
My thoughts went to Christie, and I knew we didn't have a moment to lose. "We should go now," I said.
Nico agreed, and we left the lodge and headed up into the mountains together.