Chapter 5

Lazarus POV

I rush out of the room from Willow. I know she is distraught. Mother can take care of her while I figure this out. Why in the hell did Lester have to involve her family? One side is threatening her and her family if they do not comply, and the other is threatening them if they do. The poor girl is trapped between marrying me and being on the run for the rest of her life. I must make this right for her.

I go into my office and pick up the phone. I dial up the council. They must make this right and now. As I am waiting for someone to pick up the phone, there is a knock at the door. "Come in," I yell at the door.

A skinny young man comes in with two of my guards.

"He has a message for you and only you. He would not give it to us," he says.

"Well, then give it to me," I yell at the young man.

"Please do not hurt me. I am only the messenger. Lester said to kill the girl or else he would kill your entire family," the boy says.

"Not going to happen. Get him out of here," I yell at my guards.

The guard begins to lead the man out. "Wait!" I yell.

The guards stop with the man and turn him around to face me. "Where is Lester?" I ask him.

"If I tell you, he will kill me," the man says.

I stand tall and rush to the man. I show him my fangs and lunge toward him. "If you do not tell me where he is, I will kill you right here," I yell at him.

The man crouches beneath me. "He is at the vampire council with the girl's father trying to convince that this union is not needed. Lester wants her and her family dead," he says.

"Get him out of here," I yell.

I will have to go to the council and retrieve her father. If Lester gets in the way, I will kill him. She does not need this. I can tell she is lost in all of this. She is so young and so fragile. She was torn out of her home this morning by me, and now here she is, facing her father being hurt. I cannot tell her what is going on.

"Toby, go upstairs and tell my mother and Willow that we have a lead. Do not tell them what the man said. Then get right back here so we can go to the council to try to get her father," I say.

Toby leaves quickly to do as he is told. The council wants the union. Lester showing up with her father will indeed show them how badly we need this union. I cannot take the chance of Lester killing him. It would crush her. Willow would be a wreck if she lost him. I could tell he was very special to her.

Toby comes back from telling my mother and Willow what is going on. "Ready, boss," he says.

"Can you send someone to check on her mother and siblings?" I ask him.

"Yes, sir. I can send a team there to protect them," he says.

"Move them. Put them in the cottage by the blue river. They will be safe there. It would be an upgrade from their current living conditions," I tell him.

"Yes, sir, I will take care of it," he says.

I follow behind Toby as he is on the phone making Willow's family arrangements to be moved. I should have thought to do all this the minute I picked her up. I knew some people did not want this, but did this really have to go this way so fast.

I get into the car with three of my guards. There is another car of three following us. Just in case Lester gets violent, I will be ready for him. Toby taps me on the shoulder.

"All good. There is a team heading to her family now," he says.

Good. At least that will put Willow at ease. "Call my mother and tell her so she can relay the message," I tell Toby.

"Yes, sir," he says.

All I want for today was to help Willow settle into her home. I wanted to spend the day helping her adjust to this new life. I cannot go back and tell her that anything has happened to any of her family. It would crush her. She is already in a fragile state from everything that has happened today. I should not sell her so short. She is a lot stronger than I am giving her credit.

We arrive at the counsel. I have tried to calm myself all the way here. I do not want to put Willow into any more danger; that is my main concern here. I rush into the building with my guards. As we come in, I can hear Lester screaming at the council. I can hear Willow's father yelling at him. The council is in an uproar.

I open the double door that goes into the council meeting room. There he is, the man of the hour, Lester.

"Hello, Lester," I say as calmly as I possibly can.

I do not want to show disrespect to the council. The council is made up of mostly older vampires. They have a strict policy about the order in their chamber. I am sure this chaos is not what they ordered for today's agenda.

"Your honors, I am here to retrieve the father of my bride from Lester," I say humbly.

"Yes, it seems we have some issues here, Lazarus," one of the council members remarks.

"Yes, we do. My new bride is distraught that her father was stolen from his home while trying to settle into her new home and new life. She does not need this stress today," I say.

"I see. Are you here to take Abraham back with you to see his daughter?" the council member asks.

"Yes, and then back to his family. We do not need all of this. Let us settle this calmly," I suggest.

"No. This union cannot happen. You need to listen to me," Lester screams at the council.

Willow's father sits calmly and quietly. He looks almost stoic as he awaits his fate.

"I have taken the family under my care. They will all be living with me. Now can we end this? I have a wedding to plan?" I suggest to the council members.

Lester is visibly distraught. He wants this to end, but not with me walking out of here with Willow's father. He wants the once fairy prince dead. Unfortunately for him, the council agrees with me. They all begin to shake their heads in agreement to let Willow's father leave with me.

"Let the man go, Lester," One of the council members says.

For a moment, I thought Lester was going to back down. I walked over to Willow's father. I could not wait to tell him how beautiful she looked today and how all she wanted was for him to see her in her purple dress. She wanted him to look upon her beautiful wings clean for the first time in ages. She wanted him to know all that he had sacrificed was appreciated. I could not wait for her to have that moment.

As I walked up to shake his hand and lead him out of this place, Lester pounced. Lester began ripping Willow's father to pieces before I could even get to him. It took five seconds for Lester to kill him and rush out of the room.

Now laying before was the father of my bride dead on the floor at my feet after I promised to bring him back safely to her. What will I tell her? I failed her. She has been with me one day, and now because of me and our union, her father is gone.

Three of my guard’s rush after Lester with council guards. I pick up the fairy prince's lifeless body to take home to my bride. Instead of planning our wedding tonight, I will have to help her plan his funeral. I will have to double her family's security. I will not let any more heartache or harm fall upon her as long as I am alive.

I carry his body to the car. As I walk out of the council building, I realize something horrible. With his death, all the Fairy realms now fall to Willow. The throne he was to give to her was taken and tossed at her feet. This attack was a setup not by vampires but by any fairy. This revolt is more sinister than we thought.