Fated Love: A Vampire Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 4) (8 page)

CHAPTER 15

Nathanial, Cora and Luca passed through the Dark Realm gates.

“I can feel her,” Cora said with distaste. “Her magic is everywhere. Her unnatural hold over the realm.”

Nathanial and Luca nodded. They could feel it too.

They approached the bridge and then Nathanial thrust his palm at the castle. A glowing sphere of black magic hit the barrier and then bounced right back. He caught it with ease and reabsorbed it. “As I thought. She has a protection barrier enveloping the castle.”

Cora smirked. “Not for long.” She flicked her wrist and hundreds of what looked like silver fireflies fluttered from her being and flew at the barrier. They stuck to it like glue and started to flutter rapidly, so fast that their tiny wings became a blur and a vibrating buzz of movement.

“Close your eyes,” she warned the two of them.

While Luca followed her orders, Nathanial did not. He needed to keep an eye on her, so he had to know what she was doing. He was still her teacher and he would be until he was absolutely certain that she no longer needed someone watching over her shoulder.

He watched as the magical fireflies shone brighter and brighter until he could barely continue to look. They exploded in a silver fireball of light and then the barrier dissipated completely.
That
was why she’d asked them to close their eyes. Vampires were more sensitive to light than any other supernatural creature and her spell there had been extremely bright.

“You can open your eyes now,” she said, turning back to them.

“Wow,” Luca exclaimed when he saw the result of her work.

“Impressive,” Nathanial added.

Before he could get another word out, Cora let out a shrill scream of agony and collapsed to her knees in front of them.

“Cora!” Luca cried out, instantly dropping down beside her. “What is it?”

He reached out to touch her arm.

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

But it was too late. He made contact and let out a roar of agony. He pulled back quickly and eyed Nathanial, gasping, “Agony, father. Absolute agony. Help her!”

Nathanial watched Cora bring her hands to her head. Her white power glowed on her palms. A moment later she climbed to her feet and told them, “I’m okay now. I managed to block it with my magic. It’s Ryan.
His
pain. We’re connected. He’s being tortured in the dungeons by Oriana.”

“Tortured? What is her purpose?” Nathanial asked, shocked. He had heard many stories of Oriana’s torture practices and they’d even churned
his
stomach.

Cora locked eyes with him, her expression grave as she said, “She wants our son’s name.”

Nathanial saw the question in her eyes. She wanted to know why it was so important for Oriana to learn that information. He explained the situation to her and watched a ferocious expression cross her face, a murderous look flash in her eyes. He had never seen anything like it from her before and it concerned him greatly.

He wasn’t a fool. Cora was more powerful than even
him
. If she went off the deep end, no one was strong enough to stop her. No one
alone
, anyway. There was a possibility that a combination of powers could incapacitate her enough to bring her down if things went too far. But he didn’t want it to come to that.

“Cora, this is her goal. To make you lose control. You must rise above it. Many lives are at stake—entire
Kingdoms
,” he warned, his tone fierce and commanding.

“He is right, Cora,” Luca said. “Just remember that she cannot do anything to your son, because you have the ability to stop her. He is not at risk. Do not let her convince you that he is.”

Nathanial nodded discreetly at Luca.
Good job, son.

“Besides, Ryan can endure severe torture. He will be fine,” Luca added.

Nathanial growled.

Cora glared at him and said, “So I’ve heard.”

Luca bowed his head with shame. “I am sorry that it came to that, Cora. I regret it.”

“What?” Cora asked, evidently surprised by his heartfelt apology.

“I regret it,” Luca repeated. “I lost control of my rage.”

Nathanial watched silently.
I lost control of my rage.
It was as though Nathanial himself had spoken those very words. In fact he had, after he’d killed Cornelius in a fit of rage. Perhaps he and Luca weren’t so different in all respects after all.

The silence among the three of them enabled Nathanial to notice a faint female scream nearby. With no distractions and pure silence currently encompassing them, his sensitive vampire hearing didn’t have any distractions and, so, the sounds came into sharp focus.

He followed the sounds and peered over the right side of the bridge.

And that was when he saw her.

Jada.

The wolf girl that had caught Ryan’s eye last time around in the Dark Realm.
Oh no.
She was curled up in the fetal position some sixty feet below on the grass, clutching her head and screaming in pain.
Wait. Cora had said that she and Ryan were connected—that she could feel his pain. And Jada is…no!

“What is it? Who is that?” Luca asked, joining Nathanial by the edge of the bridge.

Nathanial caught his eye. Cora was too close for him to say anything aloud and so he did the only thing he could do: he connected to his son telepathically.

“You hear and see nothing. Are we clear?”

“What? I can clearly see that wolf down there. What is going on?”

“Nothing. You must listen to me, Luca! Cora cannot know that the wolf is down there.”

“All right. But I want an explanation later.”

“Was that a demand?”

“Sorry, father. No, a request.”

“Very well. Now turn away before she becomes suspicious.”

“Just a wounded vampire,” Luca said, ushering Cora over to the other side of the bridge quickly.

Fortunately, Nathanial noticed her vacant stare. She was barely paying attention. She murmured aloud, “I can’t block Ryan’s pain from affecting me for long and I can’t fight if I’m weak with it. We need to move quickly.”

And with that, she began striding along the bridge towards the castle entrance.

The gargoyles reacted instantly to her approach and an army of vampire guards filtered out of the castle, ready to attack. Nathanial gripped her arm, holding her back. He summoned his power and bellowed, “Exsolvo!”

Immediately, the gargoyles and all of his guards stopped in their tracks. They blinked hard and shook their heads vigorously, trying to regain their equilibrium now that he’d just released them from Oriana’s control.

“Your majesty,” came a collective greeting as they all lowered themselves to bended knee.

“I sense wolves below trying to break into the dungeon from the outside. Assist them,” he commanded.

Despite the fact that they had been fighting the wolves for the past two centuries, not a single one of them questioned his orders. They knew better than that. He wouldn’t hesitate to have any of their heads at the slightest sign of defiance. They marched past him, Cora, and Luca to do his bidding. The gargoyles remained where they were, aware that they were never to leave their posts except in the event of a scheduled
shift change.

Nathanial marched into the castle with Cora and Luca at his back. He resisted the urge to teleport to Ryan and Oriana. He had no idea what magic Oriana was currently torturing Ryan with. It could put all three of them at risk to just materialize before her.

As they reached the steps to the dungeon level, he was suddenly blown back by an invisible barrier. He roared in pain from slamming into it. It was fused with sunlight!

“Nathanial!” Cora cried out, running to his side. He saw her cringe when she caught sight of the first-degree burns all over his face and hands.

He grunted and climbed back to his feet. “I will heal within moments,” he assured her.

“Shit,” Luca breathed. “I’m glad that wasn’t me.”

Nathanial rolled his eyes.

Cora approached the barrier and felt it up. “It’s strong. She’s good.” She threw them both a wink and added, “But not as good as me.” She pressed both her hands to the barrier and pulled on her power.

Luca whispered to Nathanial. “How long do you think it will take her to break it?”

“If it wasn’t fused with sunlight, it would have taken me close to ten minutes. With
her
power, I expect she will have it down in five or six.”

“I see. Perhaps I shouldn’t be here for this rescue of Ryan.”

“You will stay. We may need your power, Luca. I am aware of your mother’s torture practices. I will be surprised if Ryan is still conscious when we get to him. So you can relax knowing that.”

“He cannot die, father, because of Cora’s blood. He will be fine.”

“Let’s hope that she hasn’t done any permanent damage,” Nathanial murmured cryptically.
Sadistic bitch.

CHAPTER 16

Ryan wasn’t sure if he was awake or dreaming anymore. He’d slipped in and out of consciousness so often that he’d completely lost track. The pain was such that he was almost numb from it. His body had shut down from the sheer agony of the damage that his mother had inflicted upon him.

She hadn’t been kidding when she’d threatened him earlier. Holy shit, she was a fucking sadist. But no matter what she did to him, he couldn’t die. It gave him comfort.

He wasn’t afraid to die. He was afraid of how others would be affected by his death. His son, Cora, Nathanial, and his wolves. And, of course, Jada as well. A little while back he thought he’d felt her near. He’d probably just been hallucinating.

Through all of the torture he’d endured, one thought had kept him from breaking.

His son.

There was nothing more precious to him in all the realms. He couldn’t even bear the idea of losing him. And every time he thought about his mother’s threat, it incensed him, giving him the strength he needed to hang on. The only problem was that he didn’t know how long he’d have to hold on for. She wasn’t showing any sign of stopping. She was fucking enjoying it—torturing her own son. The rush of power, he suspected. Nathanial had told him that Oriana was all about power; it was all she cared about these days after losing her mate. Yes, her mate. His father.
Maybe that will distract her long enough for me to catch my fucking breath.

“Cornelius,” he sputtered.

Sure enough, she pulled back her damned electrifying bolts of magic.

“What?” she stumbled. “What did you say?”

“Cornelius would…hate…this….”

“He is not here to see, is he?” she thundered.

“The…dead see…all. He watches…me…always….”

“You feel him?” she asked, completely shocked by what he was saying.

“Alphas…always…connected…to their fathers. He’s part…of me….”

She lowered her palms completely and moved up close to him so she could hear his weak murmurings properly. “What? Why have you never told me this?”

“You weren’t…around to…tell….”

“Can you feel him now?” she asked anxiously.

“Yes.”

“And?” she pressed angrily. “Tell me, Ryan!”

He forced himself to meet her gaze as he said, “He’s sad.”

“Sad?”

“For you. That…you’re…hurting….”

His words affected her and she brought her hands to her face in distress and turned away.

Ryan sighed inwardly with relief. He sputtered out a bloodied cough and hissed as it splattered against the open wounds on his chest.
Shit, I’m not fucking healing. How is this possible? I have Cora’s blood running through my veins.

The last time he'd been tortured—by that son of a bitch, Luca—his wounds had healed within a few seconds,
during
the torture. But now…nothing. He’d never felt so weak. He couldn’t even summon enough strength to lift his head. His body dripped with sweat but he shivered in the cold, dank dungeon cell.
Shit, that’s not good.

His reprieve from Oriana’s torture was short-lived as she pulled herself together and spun back around, screaming, “You dare to use your father to manipulate me!”

She fired something different at him this time—not the bolts of energy that she’d assaulted him with before. Those damned things had caused his body to convulse wildly. They’d felt like he was being electrocuted by thousands upon thousands of volts of electricity.

Until now he hadn’t uttered a single cry of pain. He thanked his newfound abilities and stamina as Wolf King for that. But, as her magic hit him, enveloping his entire body in a shimmering, black glow, a ferocious roar ripped from his throat.
Silver!

“Ryan, I can stop this anytime. Tell me his name!”

Ryan struggled to raise his heavy eyes to look at her. His vision was blurry at best.

As she caught his eye, she pulled her power back. She smiled maliciously. “His name,” she commanded.

“Go…to…
hell
,” he managed to choke out.

Infuriated, she raised her hands again.

But then a blinding, silver light ripped through the dungeon wall, blowing it to pieces.

Three blurred figures hurried into the cell. He couldn’t make them out. But he knew they were vampires. Except for one. That scent he would recognize anywhere at any time.
Cora.
Another blast of silver light filled his vision and he heard a thunderous explosion along with Oriana’s screams.

“Do not look at him, Cora!” Nathanial’s voice thundered. “Concentrate.”

Ryan felt strong arms around him then. Someone else moved to his side and broke the restraints. His body went limp, caught by the arms around him. The contact on his open wounds was a fresh new hell and he found himself whimpering.

“I am sorry,” Nathanial said.

Ryan felt himself being gently lowered to the floor, before he was released.

And then he heard Cora yelling his name, her footsteps nearing him.

“Where is Oriana?” Nathanial’s voice boomed through the room.

“She teleported away,” her heard Cora reply, breathlessly.

Nathanial snarled. “Cowardly move.”

“He’s not healing?” he heard Cora exclaim, her voice wavering.

“No.”

Ryan heard her cursing and then he felt her gentle hands in his hair. Her lips brushed his forehead.

“Cut me, Nathanial,” she demanded.

“What?” Nathanial asked.

“Cut my wrist. I’ll heal him.”

“If you let him drink from you he will not be able to pull back,” a familiar voice warned her.

Ryan recognized it instantly.
Luca. Luca is here?

“Nathanial can force him to pull back, Luca.”

“Use your magic. He’s losing consciousness. He won’t be able to drink,” Nathanial told her.

Ryan didn’t hear her response as everything slipped away.