Chapter 34-The distress call

Chapter 34: 34-The distress call

"I’m sorry... Zo, bear with it. I’ll get you to the academy, there should be soneone there capable of saving you."

Wrapping one arm firmly beneath Zolani’s shoulder, she lifted the injured vampire against her side.

"You don’t have to carry me..." Zolani whispered weakly, the flames still eating away at her while her natural born immune system was doing its best to fight it. "Run for your life, Maisa."

"I’m not leaving you!" She declared.

Maisa’s eyes hardened. "Never!" She added, Zolani had shown up for her in ways that no one else ever did. Even her siblings were only looking for her because her father ordered them to do so, not because they cared.

And her father, she was sure that her father was only looking for her to save face. Because being unable to keep his family together is a sign of weakness, and his father could never be weak. He refused to let that be the way anyone saw him.

She held Zolani and ran fast, Zolani’s life depended on it. The forest became a blur once again. Every muscle inside her body screamed but not from exhaustio. Vampires didn’t tire easily, but from panic.

Every second mattered, Zolani was only out there because of her, she had stepped in front of the arrow to save her, she couldn’t let her die. That was vampire blood she didn’t want on her hands.

Behind them, the hunters followed their trail. They couldn’t match vampire speed, but they knew the forest, and they knew exactly how frightened prey behaved.

Zolani’s breathing became shallower. Blood continued dripping onto the leaves below. She grimaced before lifting a trembling hand toward the silver bracelet around her wrist.

Her emergency bracelet was reserved only for gravest situations like hunter pursuits. She pressed it without hesitation.

Click!

Magic flashed a crimson colour, and the distress signal was sent. The signal disappeared into the night.

Miles away, inside the royal palace, Princess Varitreya still stood frozen in her private chambers, the ancient book lying open upon her desk.

The words "true heart" are burning into her mind. An eternal bond that was impossible to sever. She hadn’t moved for several minutes, and neither had Luan. The room remained deathly silent.

Then, a sharp pulse exploded across her wrist. The emergency bracelet ignited. Its crimson light flashed repeatedly.

The hunter distress that he had made for the student council. The crimson light meant that Zolani was in danger, being chased by hunters.

"What hunter dares to hunt a vampire under my protection?" Varitreya’s expression changed instantly.

Every trace of shock vanished as duty took over. Her royal instincts moved before thought. She slammed the ancient book shut.

"We’re leaving."

Luan barely had time to react before she hid the tome inside a concealed compartment beneath her desk.

The secret could wait, her mate could not. They rushed toward the chamber doors, and the moment they opened, Addessa stood outside, already waiting and ready to move at the princess’s command.

Her black uniform fluttered in the breeze. Her eyes burned with urgency. The bond demanded that she save Zolani. And it made her heart frantic, like letting her die would end in catastrophe.

"I received it too."

Neither asked questions or wasted time on words. A life was in danger, and hunters weren’t to be underestimated under any circumstances.

Varitreya simply nodded and then started running. In a second, she disappeared. The palace corridor cracked beneath her feet. Whiteblood speed is the fastest bloodline in existence.

Luan barely blinked, and he was gone. Not merely out of sight but gone to a point that he couldn’t pinpoint in what direction she ran off in as only a violent gust of wind remained.

"Incredible," he whispered. "Every time I see it, it’s still impressive."

Addessa shot him one brief glance before launching herself forward. Her speed eclipsed that of nearly every vampire alive except for whitebloods. Which was why, within seconds, she lost sight of the princess.

Across campus, Lumi looked up from her desk the instant her bracelet pulsed. Her blue eyes widened.

"Hunter signal. Oh, no. Zolani!" She feared for the mixedblood.

Books scattered across the floor as she sprinted out. Every calculation and equation vanished from her head. Every thought disappeared, the only instinct that remained demanded that she save Zolani.

The instict was a mix of her care and the bond demanding Zolani live.

Meanwhile, Zolani’s scent spread across the forest. Every vampire possessed a unique scent. To strangers, it was impossible to notice, but to those connected through the mate bond, it shone like a beacon.

Varitreya followed it effortlessly. Across the capital, rivers, mountains, and miles of moonlit forest. Less than two minutes later, since she left the palace, she landed silently before two staggering figures.

Maisa stopped so abruptly that she nearly fell. Her eyes met Varitreya’s, and the bond erupted. Her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage.

Heat spread beneath the flower mark above her heart. The empty ache inside her chest returned. The bond begged for her to confirm acceptance with Varitreya. Only two remained, and it painfully reminded her, and Varitreya felt it too.

The longing, the unbearable pull to accept each other. For one dangerous heartbeat, everything else faded. But then the princess saw the blood from Zolani and snapped out of it.

She examined the arrow wound and the blessed silver, something inside the princess snapped. Her crimson eyes flashed with terrifying fury.

"Who did this?"

Maisa opened her mouth. "My..." she stopped herself before she revealed her secret, what her true identity was, and her relationship to the hunters pursuing them.

Varitreya stepped forward. "You can explain later."

Without effort, she lifted Zolani into one arm with astonishing gentleness, careful not to disturb the embedded arrowhead.

With her free hand, she reached for Maisa. The moment their fingers touched. The mate bond pulsed so powerfully that both gasped.

Varitreya ignored it. She firmly grasped Maisa’s hand. "Hold on."

The command had barely left her lips before the world exploded into motion. The forest vanished, trees became streaks of emerald and silver, and the night wind screamed around them.

The world moved at an entirely different fast speed. Even lightning couldn’t match that speed. It was so fast that blinking felt long. Maisa was stunned. Truly, the difference between her and Varitreya was between the ocean and the skies.

Though both are blue and vast, one was on earth while the other was in the heavens. The milestone between them was impossible to bridge. Even centuries would never let the two meet.

Cradling an injured Zolani in one arm while refusing to let go of Maisa with the other, Princess Varitreya raced toward Veris Academy with a speed that no hunter, no vampire, and perhaps no living creature could hope to match.

Far behind them, the Everheart siblings burst into the clearing just in time to see nothing more than a fading white blur disappearing beyond the horizon.

The older brother slowly lowered his weapon. "A whiteblood."

His sister’s face lost allcolourr. "No... that can’t be right." She stared at the distant forest where the impossible figure had vanished. "What was a member of the royal bloodline doing with that vampire?"