As I lift the knife, Jacob whips around in time, hearing my approach behind him. Still, I jam my knife into his neck before he could mutter a word and alert Reika, though Ryker would notice when he eventually bled out, and his tether died, but for now, I still had a few minutes to set my plan in motion.
Blood sprays across my face as it spurts out of his neck, his life liquid spilling out violently and splashing the walls scarlet. His mouth opened and closed in shock as he stared at me, and I gave him a brief wave and a smile spread across my face.
Jacob collapses at my feet, gurgling and choking on his own blood, his horrified eyes staring up at me as he clutches his throat, trying to stem the bleeding. I STOP when I see Jacob’s eyes glaze over to the mind link. I would need to be quicker than I thought as I slapped him, making him break the connection. He chokes and gurgles some more, and I plunge the knife into his temple. He dies instantly, and his body goes slack along with his face.
Not wasting any time, I rush up the steps following the sounds of the crying baby before walking into a bedroom; by the stench, I could tell it was Reika and Ryker’s room. The scent was suffocatingly strong in this room, and the cries were louder.
Reika was humming in the bathroom, and I rushed over to Ryden’s basinet removing him from his bed, only to then rush out of the room and back toward the stairs. Walking down the steps, I hush Ryden and step over Jacob’s dead body, his eyes vacantly staring off at the wall as his blood seeped into the carpet.
I knew instantly when Jacob’s tether was felt breaking, Reika screamed before rushing out. The noise immediately alerts Rayan as I reach the bottom step in time to see Reika look down at me from the landing above.
I wave and smirk when she spots her son in my arms before holding him up for her to see. A growl escapes her before she rushes for the stairs, only to stop, a strained expression on her face that looks pained.
Ryker’s command prevented her from leaving upstairs, and she was stuck without him here to remove it. I knew it, and she knew it, and she knew she could not help her defenseless children.
Her furious scream rings out through the house, and I turn to see Rayan staring at Jacob’s dead body on the stairs, his eyes glassy before he turns to glare at me.
“Now, you little prince will be coming with me,” I tell him. He glares at me and goes to take a step forward, and I continue down the last two steps toward him, his baby brother in my arms, babbling quietly and eating his hands, unaware of the danger he is in.
“Ah, ah, ah. You wouldn’t want your sweet baby brother to get hurt now, would you?” I ask Rayan, and he finally spots the needle in my hand resting gently on his brother’s chest the needlepoint at his neck.
“Try anything and bye-bye, baby brother,” I warn him, and I see his eyes dart to his mother and his lips part as he stared at her wanting to know what to do. Turning slightly, I looked up at a Reika who is watching me in just her towel. The shower is still running, and she clutches the banister staring down at us helplessly.
“Mum?” Rayan calls out behind me, and I smirk, not so big and scary now.
“Do what she says,” Reika tells him before her eyes glaze over. Reika tries to command me, but her aura is easy to resist without her wolf, and I laugh, pathetic. To think this was our Queen, it was laughable.
“You hurt my kids-”
“You’ll what, Reika, scream at me from the landing upstairs. You and I both know you are in no position to make threats, but go ahead, alert your mate. We will be long gone before he finds us. Besides, you have more pressing things to worry about,” I tell her,
I nod toward the kitchen, “Move, now,” I tell Rayan, and he growls before stalking off down the hall and standing next to the bench where I followed closely behind.
I used to love this kitchen. I had often sat around this dining table and enjoyed spending time with Lucy. It would be sad to lose those memories, but you have to do what you have to do. I grab the lighter always kept on the range hood above the gas stove. I then reach into the third drawer and retrieve the lighter fluid. Rayan is watching me, his eyes glaring daggers at me.
“Don’t try to be brave little prince; you will only get your brother hurt,” I remind him before nodding to go back the way we came. He does as he’s told and it was almost too easy. Reika called out to Rayan, and I heard her sigh when he walked into view again.
I flip the lid on the lighter fluid. Squirting it on the drapes in the entryway and then the carpet on the staircase. Moving to the room adjacent to the foyer, I spray the couch with what remained in the bottle.
“What are you doing?” Rayan shrieks, reaching for the now-empty lighter fluid, but I shake it showing him it is empty.
“Bonfire,” I tell him, and he reaches for the lighter fluid again. Passing him the lighter, he looks at me and back up at his mother.
“Light it up,” I tell him, smiling, and he shakes his head and takes a step away from me. His heart rate intensifies, beating rapidly with his panic.
“My mother is trapped up there; she can’t leave,” Rayan stutters out.
“Exactly,” I tell him, and he steps back, shaking his head like he was about to make a run for it.
“You will do it, or,” my fingers twitch on the needle, and I press it closer to Ryden’s neck.
“Do it, just do as she says,” Reika calls to him, but he shakes his head.
“Now, Rayan, I will be fine. I will find a way; keep your brother safe,” Reika calls to him.
“But mum,” Rayan calls out, his voice a choked garble. Tears brim in his eyes, and his lip quivers as he looks down at the lighter in his hand.
“Look after your brother. Your father will find you, he will find you,” Reika tells him, her eyes on my hand by her baby’s neck.
“Now!” I tell him, and he jumps before moving to the living room drapes. He flicks the zippo, and the flame ignites before he holds it under the drapes before moving to the steps and stopping.
“Please?” Rayan begs me, tears streaking his face and dripping off his chin.
“Go on, or I will make you watch as she burns,” I tell him. Tears trekked down his cheeks as he tossed the lighter on the stairs before looking at his mother, who nodded to him.
“I will be fine. Look after your brother for me,” Reika tells him. Blue flames run across the stairs before it sets completely alight.
Rayan stares horrified up at his mother, who is glaring at me.
“Say goodbye to mummy little prince. You are now coming with me; you have a date with your future mate,” I tell him while pushing him toward the back of the house and away from the flames.