73 A Vampire Could Never Love A Fairy

As she stood there twisted like some sort of strange piece of modern art, she tried to formulate the right response but the words wouldn't come. She did only think of Ash as a friend, didn't she? So why was her heart beating erratically at the suggestion that she was in love with him?

A wicked grin spread across Dorian's face. "So you are. Fascinating! A fairy in love with a vampire. Can you even imagine?"

The last part was directed at the couple dozen vampires who were currently standing by watching the show. They all reacted about the same, either with disgusted or disbelieving expressions or by laughing and jeering.

When he spoke again everyone fell silent immediately. "Does he return your twisted feelings, I wonder? There is no doubt he is here to avenge the pitifully weak members of his coven. Does he even know you are here?

"A vampire could never love a fairy…but he has never been much of a vampire. If he truly does love you I will have even more fun slowly draining you of your will to live. Harming something precious to Ash Mayhew would bring me genuine pleasure.

"Does he know what you actually look like though? Even his taste couldn't be that horrible. He must not know. What a pity for you that your love can never be properly returned. You really are better off dead but I'm afraid I have to wait until the contract breaks naturally to deliver the final merciful blow."

Merciful? Dorian thought of killing someone who didn't meet his standards of what a fae should be as merciful? He was even more messed up than Ruby already thought. He was the disgusting one here; not her or Ash.

===

The Cromwells were much more careful about leaving the barrier after Ivan died but a few more still left for whatever reason. They were harder to catch and if they were caught, they committed suicide before the werewolves got the chance to try forcing them at the barrier headlong.

Eventually they got lucky. They managed to capture one of the weaker ones who couldn't so much as budge when held down.

"Sir! We managed to capture another vampire. She cannot move at all so we believe she will not be able to kill herself before we accomplish our aim," Sirius reported in.

Ash's lips curled up into a mad grin. "Excellent. Conduct tests running against the place where we think the barrier is. The moment a body part begins to go through we have to retreat quickly and regroup with everyone.

"To make this work, all of us will have to be touching whoever is holding the Cromwell. Think of it as a chain if you must but we have to get through the barrier as quickly as possible so anyone on the grounds can be dealt with before they get the chance to raise any alarms."

If this actually worked, they would need to do some serious strategizing for what to do once inside. Ash didn't know the schematics of this particular castle but he knew how vampire castles tended to be set up. That would help a little.

It was nighttime now so everyone would be awake. Striking during the day when they had the element of surprise going for them would have been preferable but there was no guarantee they would be able to hold onto their hostage for that long. They had to act while they had the chance.

Excluding the one the werewolves had captured, there were fifty-four Cromwells left. Seeing how less and less vampires were daring to leave the safety of the barrier over the past several days, it was highly likely that they were all inside.

A dozen or so werewolves could be left outside to look for any stragglers. This entire venture would be pointless if any managed to escape to potentially come after Ash later.

If he had to guess, most of the vampires would be working on conducting blood magic research now that the problem of their finances had been solved. The research rooms in his old castle had been fairly close to the throne room.

At least one squadron should be sent to scour the rest of the castle once the grounds were cleared but everyone else would be better off sticking to the throne room and surrounding areas. Finding Ruby was Ash's priority but he also desperately wanted to take Dorian Cromwell down himself.

He had no idea where a fairy hostage would be kept but it was highly likely Dorian would be in the throne room. He might want to head there first. Ruby was probably asleep at this hour anyway.

If she somehow managed to sleep through the chaos he would be forced to carry her over his shoulder again. The thought put a tiny smile on his face. She would be very surprised going to sleep in captivity and waking up free.

How would she react in that situation? Would she give him one of those glorious smiles or mock punch him for not waking her up sooner?

Ash wouldn't mind either one. It would mean she was safe and back with him where she belonged. The most important thing in the world to him now was seeing her face again. That or holding her so tightly he never let go; he was undecided.

He would have to get rid of all the Cromwells first so they could both finally be safe and at peace but he couldn't help but daydream about what the 'after' would be like. He really was losing what little sanity he had left after the deaths of all his coven members.

Ruby had helped maintain it after he met her and got caught up in her delightful personality. Ever since she was taken away his thoughts had been a jumbled and irrational mess. The sooner he got her back the better.