Ch 9- My world was ending

Maya

My father turned to the guards before the silence could settle into something unbearable. 

“She is not to leave the carriage unaccompanied,” he ordered, in the same tone he might have used to discuss livestock management. “She is not to speak to strangers on the road. You will deliver her to Lord Draken’s fortress intact and on time.”

He paused, for the briefest moment, and something shifted in his voice. “She is an Alpha’s daughter and must be treated with respect.”

The guards nodded, but neither of them looked at me. I almost laughed at the irony. This was the only protection my father had ever offered me on the morning he was sending me away to a vampire.

I watched as Valeria stepped forward from the spot where she had been standing quietly against the wall. She had been so silent that everyone in the room had apparently forgotten she was there. Which, I suspected, was exactly what she had intended.

“I’m going with her,” she announced.

The effect was immediate that father had to slowly turn toward her, his expression that of a man who had just discovered an unexpected obstacle in his path and was deciding whether to go around it or straight through it. The guards exchanged a glance. Even Mateo looked up.

“You are a servant,” my father replied, his tone firm enough to end the conversation before it had even begun. “You must remain in your territory.”

“With all due respect, Alpha Russell,” Valeria said, in a tone that contained absolutely no respect whatsoever, “I am Maya Russell’s personal maid and companion. She will need me to attend to her during the journey and help her settle into her new home.”

“Lord Draken will provide her with servants, so your services won’t be needed,” Father growled.

“Lord Draken’s servants are all vampires,” Valeria replied flatly.

My heart squeezed. She stepped forward and folded her hands neatly in front of her apron, looking as calm as though they were discussing something as ordinary as breakfast.

“Miss Maya will need someone familiar. Someone she trusts. Someone with a heartbeat.” She lifted her chin. “I’m going with her.”

A muscle twitched in my father’s jaw, as the guards watched from a safe distance, wearing the careful expressions of men desperately trying not to become involved in someone else’s argument.

Mateo finally made a small gesture with his hand. “Let her go, Father. It’s one less mouth to feed.”

My father’s eyes narrowed. He stared at Valeria, she stared right back. Neither of them moved. Finally, Father exhaled sharply.

“Fine. Get in the carriage.” The words sounded as though they had cost him something.

Valeria immediately turned to retrieve her bag, which she had already packed and hidden behind the door in the grand hall. I caught the small triumphant smile that appeared on her lips when she turned away.

It disappeared almost instantly as she composed her face again. She had never intended to be left behind. And somehow, knowing that made my chest ache.

I was ushered toward the door, the two guards falling into step on either side of me with the practiced ease of men who had been thoroughly briefed on exactly how much trouble I might cause.

I was almost at the threshold when Kai suddenly materialized from nowhere, inserting himself smoothly into my path with the particular talent only older brothers and very determined people possessed.

One of the guards moved to intercept him.

“I’m her brother,” Kai said pleasantly. “I’m just saying goodbye.”

Before anyone could object, he pulled me into a fierce hug. His arms tightened around me, and for one precious moment, I allowed myself to forget where I was going. Then his lips brushed close to my ear. 

“Don’t worry, Maya,” he whispered, his voice low and urgent. “I will get you out of this. I swear it.”

My heart cracked as I hugged him just as fiercely. I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to save me. That I had already made my own plan.That he needed to stand down before he put himself in danger.

But I couldn’t.

The fewer people who knew, the safer everyone would be.

So I said nothing.

I simply held on to my brother for a few seconds longer, memorizing the warmth of his embrace because I didn’t know when—or if—I would ever feel it again.

I loved him so much for trying to save me. And I hated myself a little for keeping the truth from him.

If Tyler Kingston was coming at all. That doubt returned again, cold and persistent, despite every attempt I made to push it away.

What if I had been wrong? What if Tyler never came? The thought terrified me more than I wanted to admit.

The guards eventually moved us apart with polite but immovable firmness. I looked at Kai one last time before I was steered through the great doors and down the stone steps into the pale morning air.

I breathed in, cold and clean scent of woodsmoke and horses filled my lungs. The carriage waited in the courtyard, beautifully designed with the royal Russell pack emblem displayed proudly at the front.

Four guards were positioned around it, sitting straight in their saddles and staring ahead with the disciplined stillness of men who had already accepted their orders.

Valeria was already inside the carriage, her bag resting at her feet, her chin lifted and her expression composed.

I stopped at the bottom of the steps. For a moment, I simply stood there. Then I turned around and looked back at the manor. Just once.

The stone face of the building stared back at me, grey and impassive beneath the morning light, giving away nothing.

Twenty-one years.

Twenty-one years of my life had been lived within those walls, hiding behind curtains. Sneaking through kitchen doors, running down corridors until my lungs burned and catching myself laughing before crashing through the door of my chamber, where Valeria was always waiting.

It had been my prison sometimes and my refuge at times. But it had always been home. And now I was leaving it behind.

The cook’s cat sat on the front step, calmly licking its ears with businesslike efficiency, completely unaware of the drama unfolding around it. That, more than anything, almost made me cry. Even the cat had no idea that my world was ending.

“Miss Maya,” one of the guards called, gesturing toward the carriage.

I forced myself to move as I climbed inside. Valeria immediately settled beside me and took both my hands in hers. She held them tightly.

Neither of us said a word. There was nothing left to say.

The carriage rocked as the driver climbed into his seat.The horses shifted beneath their harnesses and neighed impatiently.Someone shouted an order as the wheels began to turn. The carriage moved forward.

I didn’t mean to look back. I had promised myself I wouldn’t. But I couldn’t help it.

I pressed my face against the small carriage window as the manor’s courtyard began to slide away behind us. And then I saw him.

Mateo.

He stood in the doorway where Father had been standing only moments earlier. My breath caught as I saw the tears streaming down his face.

He wasn’t trying to hide them. He wasn’t even trying to wipe them away. He simply stood there and let them fall. My cold, duty-bound, unbending brother.The brother who had told me to try to be good.

The brother whose words had sounded like a reprimand but had actually been a farewell. He watched his little sister leave. And he did nothing.

Not because he didn’t care but because there was nothing left for him to do.

My eyes filled with tears. “Mateo,” I whispered against the glass.But the carriage had already turned the corner. And he was gone.

I leaned back against the seat, my chest aching with everything I had left unsaid. Beside me, Valeria’s hand tightened around mine. I closed my eyes. Behind me was everything I had ever known.

Ahead of me was Lord Draken.

A vampire king. A fortress I had never seen and a fate I had never chosen.

The carriage continued down the road. The great doors of my home had closed behind me like the sound of a thunderclap.

And now…There was only the road ahead.