[𝟷] 𝘾𝙍𝙊𝙒𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙉𝙎, 𝘕.𝘔. [EDITING]

「xxxiii」

33 | the challenge

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀THE ABBOTOIR WAS AS SILENT AS THE DEAD. Vampires slept soundlessly through the night, dreams of torture and blood and more blood. In the master bedroom, Wren sat awake at an ungodly hour, her head buried in spellbooks.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus sat beside her, a glass of bourbon in his fingers and a spellbook in his other hand. "Darling," he began, "don't you think we've done enough studying for the night? This is only going to make you more anxious for today, and typically people underperform when they're nervous."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Niklaus, that is the second time you have asked me that. It seems like you're more nervous than I am." Wren turned the page to the book she was reading, her eyes sliding over incantations. "I'm not nervous, I'm preparing myself."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Call it whatever you like, but you've forgotten that I can hear your heartbeat. I know when you're lying."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren closed her eyes. Damn. "Fine, you caught me. I'm nervous that I might be dead in the next twelve hours." She slammed the spellbook closed, angry at the reminder. Angry that she had admitted it.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Klaus took it from her hands, moving it to the coffee table in front of them. "You are not going to lose. I know it." He gripped her waist, moving her to sit in his lap.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀She crossed her arms like a child, looking out onto the balcony. "What if I do?" her soft voice came through. She was scared.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Then I will rip them apart, the lot of them. I will bathe the streets in blood until you are brought back to me."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wren closed her eyes. That sounded like something he would do. "I want you to promise me something."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Anything, love."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Don't kill my family. Valeriya is fair game, sure, but my siblings and my cousins... they didn't ask for this life. They don't deserve to die for it." Wren's soft gaze looked over his scruffy face. "Let them go."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Anyone who is complicit in my mate's death will be ended swiftly and silently." Klaus looked up at her as she shifted her position on his lap. "You cannot expect me to let you go unavenged."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"I do expect that of you. This challenge was my choice, I claimed regency. All of this is my fault."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"You were only doing what was right to protect your people."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"No, Niklaus. I was doing what I could to protect yours." She sighed and stood up, walking toward the dresser.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀They were both silent for a while, and then Nik spoke. "I will make you this one promise. If they swear to leave this city and never return, I won't look for them. But if they stay..." He stood from the couch. "There will be nowhere they can hide."

♔

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Visily watched her Aunt from afar, narrowed eyes taking in the smugness in her exterior. That woman was evil, that much she knew. She'd known that her whole life, but only now did it seem like everyone else was beginning to realize that truth.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Valeriya had not only sold her heir to the vampires, but she had also captured and tortured her by turning her friend. And it seemed like Visily's own twin was complicit with her actions.