Chapter Thirty-Nine
Danica glanced around them, panicked, trying to find a way out. There had to be a way to escape this, to show the world what sort of King they had. They’d won the race, had won it fair and square and followed the few rules they’d be given. She was a little worse for wear, but she was alive, standing, on the other side of the finish line. The king wanted to play dirty, then they could play dirty, but she needed a plan. The King was right. If they weren’t around to speak about it, no one would believe the Prince had been murdered by his own father, despite seeing their team cross the finish line first. They must have cut the feeds right away. Around the world, there were creatures attempting to figure out what happened to the live feed of the vampires and the Fae.
Glancing over to the Maserati, Danica watched the two Fae standing there silently. They were as still as statues, and somehow, the King hadn’t seemed to notice them as anything more than background ornaments, but Danica knew they were in danger, too. The King wouldn’t want any witnesses to his nature, not when he’d cut the feed.
The female Fae met her eyes, the crystalline blue looking back at her so pretty, it hurt. But when she winked at Danica, she blinked in surprise, only then realizing the soft swirl of her fingers. Were Fae magic? What was she doing?
Arden’s watch caught her attention, the little light that had been red a moment before suddenly green. Danica’s heart caught in her chest. Whatever the Fae had done, they’d turned the feed back on. The whole world was watching them now. They could expose the King.
The King, however, didn’t seem to notice the change. Not even Arden and Phi seemed to notice, both tense at the threat the King had dropped.
Danica knew what she had to do.
Stepping forward, she spoke, “it’s not about who’s word they’ll accept.” She tilted her chin up despite Phi grabbing at her, afraid for her to step forward too far, showing his hand. The King’s eyes dropped to his hold hungrily. “We won the Race Games, and now, you’re attempting to take it away because you don’t want to forfeit the crown. You’re just as Phi said, a coward.”
“I don’t have to forfeit the crown if there’s no heir,” the King responded, shrugging as if they were having a casual conversation. “And I have no plans on relinquishing my power, little girl. You may have won the race, but I never had any intention of stepping down, nor in sparing my son’s mutt.”
Arden tensed but Danica slid her hand into his, offering comfort. Neither vampire attempted to stop her speaking despite the precarious situation they hung in. With one hand on the blade Theo had gifted her and the other in Arden’s, with Phi’s hand curled around her waist, she felt strength she’d always known she had. They would not allow the King to escape unscathed. They would survive.
“All of this for power,” Danica continued, staring at the King with calm eyes. “Threatening me. Attempting to kill your only son. Terrified of a made vampire’s power. All for a piece of metal.”
“You know nothing, human,” the King sneered, his face angry at the accusation that he was scared of them. “You know nothing of power and what it takes to keep it. I will destroy anyone needed, the Council, my son, you, anything I must. You will never understand. You can’t, not when you’re a weak human, prey, food for the predators and nothing more.”
Danica grinned and the King paused. Frowning, he seemed unnerved by her reaction. After all, who would grin at that sort of threat?
“I don’t,” Danica admitted. “I’ve never wanted power like that, never had the lack of morality to step on bodies to reach it, but now, the rest of the supernatural world knows what you’re willing to do to hold power over them.”
The King’s eyes widened in surprise, his head jerking toward the screens playing their stand-off live, thanks to the Fae woman.
Phi gasped and looked at Danica in confusion the same as Arden. “How—”
“A favor,” she replied with a small shrug. Danica nodded toward the Fae duo, who nodded their head in understanding. “We’re even now. Life for a life.”
But there was no time to stand idle. A cornered animal was far more dangerous than one who thought they had the advantage.
Before any of them could question things, the King snarled and leapt toward them. He didn’t aim for his son, or the vampire that threatened his power. Instead, the King went for the heart of their team.
Danica had precious seconds to pull the knife from her thigh and raise it like Arden had taught her. She was almost too slow, the King far faster than Arden had been, but she managed to get it up at chest level before long dagger-like teeth sunk into her neck and tore.
Pain exploded and faded, her vision going from clear to a black tunnel. Despite the feeling of the knife sliding home, Danica knew she was in trouble when all the feeling in her body began to buzz with the lack of awareness.