Reign Shadowfell's Arc

Chapter 7 of 29

The seam of light widened into a doorway. Reign stepped through with the amulet warm against his chest. The imp scuttled at his ankle. Vixen followed, her two guardians a pace behind her, silent as the stone. The tunnel air was colder than the chamber. Somewhere in the dark ahead, Vixen's mother still waited with a knife she had brought for him. He could not walk out of this cave and go looking for anything about his blood while she hunted him through the roots. He stopped before the tunnel bent. He turned to Vixen. The imp planted itself between them and watched with bright, curious eyes. The guardians said nothing. "Your mother wants my head," Reign said. "If we are to make this work, I need to hear it from you. Will you stand with me? Or will you hate me if I have to fight her?" Vixen looked at him a long moment. She stepped closer. She laid her hand flat on his chest, over the red stone and the raven, over the silver ring that bit its own tail. He felt the heat of her palm through the metal. "I follow my king," she said. The imp bared its teeth in something like a grin. The guardians did not move. Reign closed his hand over hers and held it there against the amulet until he was sure she meant it. They found her at the fork where the tunnel split toward the reeds. She came out of the side passage with a curved blade low at her hip. She had her daughter's face, older and harder. She looked at Vixen's hand still near Reign's chest and her mouth twisted. She did not speak. She lunged. Reign moved before he decided to. The blood the chamber had woken in him answered first. He caught her wrist and turned it. The blade rang on stone. She drove her shoulder into him and they went down together. He was stronger now. He had not known how much until her ribs gave under his forearm. She tried to bite. He pinned her jaw with his other hand and looked at Vixen over the woman's shoulder. Vixen's face did not change. She gave him one short nod. He did not kill her. He held her there until the fight left her arms, then he pressed the amulet against her forehead. The raven on the stone caught the tunnel light. "House Shadowfell rules the vampires of this realm," he said. "Your daughter follows me. You will not touch me again, or I will end your line before it ever meets mine." He let her go. She stood slowly. She looked at Vixen once, then at the amulet, then she turned and walked back into the dark passage without her knife. The imp picked up the blade in both hands. Reign took Vixen's arm and led her toward the reeds. The hunt in the tunnels was over. He could begin looking now.