Pain. Nothing but pure adulterated agony with every breath he took, consumed Cooper. He was sure that he had broken ribs on both sides. His eyes were almost swollen shut. He could barely feel his left leg. He fought to stay conscious. He refused to black out again.

Earlier, when he walked into the living room of the hoarder’s house, he came upon Xalak in the room with Sam standing in a trance at his side. He agreed to give himself to Xalak as long as no harm came to Sam. Xalak sent Sam on his way, still in a trance, directing him to drive his car straight home. Once Sam walked out the house, everything went black.

He woke up finding himself hanging from chains dangling from the ceiling of a darkened room. Even in the low light, he could tell that the room was filled with versi, who attacked him under Xalak’s command. Xalak just stood back with a cold calculating smile, watching Cooper be beaten unconscious.

His body felt weightless as he tried to move his arms. If he didn’t know any better, he would say he was floating in the air. A vision of Nadira’s beautiful face flashed in his mind. He grabbed onto the memory of her, desperate to remain conscious. Her crystal blue eyes smiling at him, her thick dark chocolate hair flowing free down her back and her perfect plump lips formed a picture perfect image in his mind. Sorrow filled his chest as he thought of all the things he never got to say to her.

He felt himself growing weaker and wished he had just a few minutes to tell her how he felt, that he loved her, and wished they could grow old together. He wished he could see her grow ripe with his child but all was lost now. He knew deep down that he was her mate and if the feelings he had for her meant that she was his, he swore right now that if he ever got the chance, he would claim her in every way possible.

His breathing became ragged, as the pain became unbearable, again causing a moan to escape his chest. Shouting could be heard but he was too weak to hold his head up. Darkness came for him again; a coppery taste filled his mouth as he coughed. He tried to spit the blood out but it just slid out the side of his mouth and dribbled down his chin. He fought to stay conscious, trying to envision a pair of icy blue eyes, but he slowly slid back into the dark void.

* * *

There was no way in hell she was going to stay locked up in a room while her family went to war with the necromancers. Knowing her father, he had called in all of the Dark Shadows and vampire armies from all over the world. Once the emergency call was sent out, it would not take long for vampires to descend upon the royal family’s residence.

This war between the necromancers and vampires ultimately would come down to the survival of the fittest and she was confident that her father and brothers would be the ones left standing.

She rushed up to her room, running into her walk-in closet, and quickly changed her clothes. She threw on black pants, a tight-fitting black long sleeve shirt with dark running shoes. It was the perfect outfit to debut her fighting skills to her brothers. She would do as she must to save Cooper.

Teague always made sure that during her secret training sessions, she wore clothes that were comfortable but not too loose. She threw her hair up in a high ponytail, and then walked towards the back of her closet to access her hidden safe. She punched in the code, unlocking it, to reveal her twin short swords that Teague had given her for a birthday present.

The Japanese twin stainless steel swords were perfectly made for her. The light gleamed off the perfectly polished metal. She took a deep breath knowing that what she was about to do would be out of character for her. She never thought that she would actually need to go into battle.

She was a healer. Helping save lives had always been ingrained into her. However, for her mate, she would kill tonight if she had to and if he had passed on to the afterlife, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill to avenge him or die trying. Rage simmered in her chest as a vision of his broken body floating in the air came to her mind.

Her brothers would shit bricks when they saw her. Teague had been surprised at how she exhibited natural skills with her swords. As she recalled, he would joke around calling her his ‘secret badass.’ She was not even sure how she and Teague were able to keep her training a secret from the rest of the family.

She quickly grabbed her harness out of the back of the safe, quickly donning it and placing her swords in the sheaths on her back. She grabbed a few small daggers, strapping them to her ankles. She hurried out of the closet, stopping to view herself in her floor-length mirror, almost not recognizing herself.

She made her way out of her room, running towards the back stairway to avoid Cyran from catching her. A fleeting moment of guilt passed through her but she didn’t stop. She would fight to ensure that Cyran would not get in trouble this time. Cooper was her focus and she was going after her mate.

She arrived to the first level of the house, finding that utter chaos had taken over the Olaru mansion. She headed silently towards the front of the house. The sound of angry voices carried through the air. She paused, recognizing Nicu’s voice giving commands. She changed direction and ducked into the kitchen. Luckily, no one was there. All of the house staff must have been sent away to safety.

She hid in the kitchen for a few moments, hearing her father barking orders as he walked past the closed kitchen door. She released her breath, not realizing that she was holding it. Glancing around the kitchen, she remembered the kitchen staff’s side entrance that she could use. She paused by the door, hearing the sounds of battle. She peaked out the glass windows into the night, noting the lightning that flashed, highlighting the darkened sky. Her hand gripped the doorknob as a loud screeching noise filled the night sky. She sent up a quick prayer and walked out the door into the middle of the mêlée.

The Olaru family courtyard was filled with vampires fighting the versi. Her eyes widened at the amount of versi that were fighting. Vampires from surrounding clans must have arrived to assist. There had to be at least a hundred versi locked into battle with the vampires. With this amount of versi, it could only mean the necromancers army was here. The few that were with Cooper’s body couldn’t be strong enough to control that many versi.

Nadira quickly pulled one of her short swords from the sheath and disappeared into the night.