Ownership
Valkyrie
Blood followed me throughout my life. The place I made a home with Anthony. Blood Moon. Where every full moon, simulated blood dripped down into the field for my pups to try to catch. What type of mother lets their pups play in blood? Real or not?
I’ve watched blood disappear down the drain from my body after countless battles and executions. Anthony’s blood was a taste that I knew so well. It kept me strong and boosted our passion. Our blood has nourished our pups. Mine has stained the sheets, turning the white fabric red with loss.
They say it’s our life force. I say that it was created to remind us how fragile we are. Every bad memory I had, blood was a part of it. A select few, I can never escape. Watching her disappear brought one to the surface, and I couldn’t push it away. In another life, the blood protecting Kassie dripped down my legs. Her body was taken away from me and forced to incubate in the blood of my greatest enemy. My sweet, confident little girl was taken from me. Someone, or something, was constantly taking her from me. I was sick of it.
Did the mist know that somehow? Was whoever did this mocking me by filling the air with blood-red dust? Or was it another memory inadvertently stained by blood?
Anthony was holding me on the floor, shushing me gently. I couldn’t stop screaming. The sound was echoing in my ears so loud that it hurt, but I couldn’t find a way to stop.
“Mom, it’s just a little blood.” Cayden knelt in front of me, and his mouth was moving, but not in sync with the words I heard. I heard his words from the life where he came from my womb. “We will find her. I promise.”
“Love, he’s right. We always find Kassie." Hide and seek. She loved the game as a pup. Did she need to one-up herself? Was this her joke on us? Was she going to jump out from behind a tree to scare us? Laugh at the epic deception she pulled off. Lex would jump on her, in puppy form, licking her face in protest. My son looked as numb as I felt.
“Where is that bitch?" The blood on my body finally disappeared when I got it together. Queen Malcah did this. And I will have her head on display in that field if she doesn’t get her back to me in one piece.
Oriana came crashing through the window, dropping Amber and her father into the room. They had to have been in on it. My daughter shifted back and pinned Amber down, wailing on her with a darkness I didn’t know she had. My light, my oldest daughter, was not messing around.
“You are going to tell me what you did! Where is Kassie!?" If Amber knew and wanted to tell us, she couldn’t. Ivan and Richard had to pull Oriana off Amber. I had mixed feelings on the issue, but her death would potentially take answers with her. We couldn’t have that. That doesn’t mean she went quietly. A few of her punches landed on flesh they weren’t intended for. “She did this! I know she did!"
"Oriana." Seeing my pup that way helped me focus. My falling apart would help no one. “It’s alright, baby girl."
“I’m sorry, Mom." I held her, kissing her temple. “I should have gotten to her. I-I-"
"No. Don’t do that. It is not your fault, and Kassie needs your help. So you stay strong for her, okay? Stay strong for me and everyone else. We need answers from Amber, then you are welcome to get rid of her."
"Mimzy?" Issac walked over, his nose in another book. A boy after my heart, researching a solution before anyone asked. “We are still okay on the kidnapping quota?"
"Yeah, buddy, we are." I brushed his hair with my hand. He was only a few inches shy of being taller than me, and I planned to savor those short years. Then to see him I’ll have to give myself a neck-ache. A joke I can never tell because he will forever approach me on his knees after.
“Good. I was thinking of maybe sacrificing Ansel’s kidnapping slot and taking on the task myself if he gets into trouble. At this rate, we can afford restrictions." He flipped through the pages and landed on one. This was the way he coped with his worry. “The mist. I think it’s an enchantment meant to confuse us enough to do, well, something from another fae realm. The spells are slow and difficult, so it buys the offender time.”
"The Duslolyra family’s power often manifests as red or golden. It’s a signature. Ours is blue or green." Amber’s dad was tending to his daughter’s bloody face. I admire a man smart enough to know he was outnumbered and can admit how scary my daughter is.
“And just how close are you to the other fae kingdom?" Anthony held out his hand like he wanted to take him by the throat.
“Look, I’m not privy to what happens in the royal family or the court. My mate and the queen are friends, but that’s where it ends. The Duslolyras are the kingdom’s enemy. Any cooperation by a member of the kingdom with them is a treasonous offense. We had nothing to do with this. Our loyalty has always been to the king and queen as our leaders and our family friends.” Traitors. They are good at hiding in the shadows.
I looked over, and Gracelynn and Kayla were sitting with Penny on the couch. She looked like I did after I used too much power. A silver streak appeared in her hair that wasn’t there before. In true Penny fashion, it only added to her beauty. Anthony nodded at me to go over and talk to her, promising to keep watch of our prisoners.
“Penny." I knelt in front of her. “Are you okay?"
"Yes. We needed the royal family awake. I-I couldn’t get the thought out quickly enough to explain. And I couldn’t get to Kassie in time." Gracelynn was rubbing right where the pup was growing inside of her.
“Pup, you and Blake should go back. Tell everyone what’s happening." I knew the look she was giving me. I had it many times. Yet, I couldn’t watch Gracelynn lose the pup over this. The use of power, the stress of this place. It wasn’t good for any of us, but especially not her.
“We can’t leave until we get Kassie." She had the same fire in her eyes as everyone else did.
“We need someone to communicate the situation to Zachary and everyone else. To warn them of what might be going on here. We will keep you in the loop. I promise." I was terrified of what these people might do to the rest of our family while we were distracted.
“She’s right, Gracie. Don’t make this about anyone seeing you as weak. We all know you aren’t." Blake took her hand, and Lex opened up the portal without us asking. He was unusually quiet through the whole thing, staring at the portal home. I knew he couldn’t open a portal for Kassie to get her out of there, or even get inside the barrier of the arena. He felt as guilty as Oriana did, if not more so, but he got one sister home. I was eternally grateful for that.
“Check on Lilith for me?” Oriana was wrapped up in Ivan’s arms. Someone had to hold her, or Amber would be in trouble. Her hideous face couldn’t take anymore blows.
“Of course. We can take her home with us if you want.” Gracelynn touched her sister’s shoulder as she nodded. Ezra was a fantastic babysitter, but it was a lot to ask him to keep her much longer. And Lilith could drink Gracelynn’s blood if necessary to delay the need for her parents’ longer than just having Ezra’s.
“Take Nyx and Erebus with you?" I beckoned them to come over.
“Mom?" The spokesperson of my youngest set of twins stepped in front of his sister. Always so serious and defensive.
“I need you to go home with Gracelynn and Blake."
"N-no. We can help." I pulled Nyx to stand in front of me, "Yes, you can. You have a lot of good information that can help everyone at home. We have people here to help."
"You don’t trust us to be here because of my nightmares. I said I was sorry.”
"First of all, I told you, don’t apologize for that. Second, that isn’t true, but no one wants you to stay somewhere that gives you nightmares. Not when there is somewhere more important for you to be." Gideon and his parents could be our information here. Zachary will need them for anything Brad couldn’t provide.
“Mom’s right." Erebus took her hand. “We can talk to Zachary and Roman."
"Take care of my pups, Blake. And my grandpups." Anthony came over to hug each of them while keeping one eye on Amber and her father.
“Always." He hugged me and picked up Nyx. She was a little big for it, but needed him to be the one to take her through the portal. Going on her own was an admission of defeat.
“I don’t suppose anyone else is willing to leave?" The family was silent. “Then we all have a date with the Mirdenorwind royal court. Let’s show them the Lucca family hospitality.”
“Shouldn’t they be making us dinner, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, least these assholes can do.” Steven came back to the couch to hold Penny. He had been so afraid to lose her again. I hated putting either of them in that position.
“Why would they make us dinner in our kingdom?" As far as I was concerned, until we found Kassie, everything they own is ours.
