Cove's POV:

The madman is loose, I haven't lost this much control since I first became a Fate. The urge to kill, to bring death to all those around me, plagues my every waking thought.

"Pffft... Figures," I scoffed aloud to myself. I was driving too fast, but things like that didn't bother me. If I crashed, I would walk away from it, and if I hurt or killed someone...

Well, that would be their fate, wouldn't it?

"C'mon man," I pounded my fist against the side of my head and reached over to the glove box to pull out my handle of whiskey that I seem to take everywhere nowadays.

"You know you are better than this. Fight it! Fight this..."

RAGE.

I took a good swig of the bottle, the car swerved a little, but I straightened her out pretty quickly. I knew where I had to be and stepped down on the gas pedal coaxing the last bit of energy from my F-Type SVR coupe Jaguar. Her engine was still a hungry growl at 198mph. I was going to find Van Heilsing.

I pulled into a swank villa, far too extravagant for the run down villages and tropical forests of Puerto Vallarta. No need to turn the car off, I wouldn't be staying long.

I stepped up the marble steps and entered into the grand foyer. No one came, neither to meet me nor to stop me, but I could smell him. I could smell that scurvy rat in this place. I walked upstairs and checked behind every door I encountered, hoping to find him, or anyone really, that I could take my wrath out on.

"Van Heilsing!" I roared from the top of the staircase. Still, no answer came. I couldn't hear anything. I walked back downstairs and began my search again. My temper flared and I could feel the hurricane within me building. My elemental powers were being overran by my base Fate emotions.

There's no telling how many will die and what I risk if I lose it now. I've got to hold myself together.

I stopped, gathering my cool, I heard the dull steady tap towards the back of the house where the kitchens were. I followed the almost muted sound to small broom closet in the back of one of the walk-in pantries. I opened the door and stood back, Van Heilsing lied there almost completely drained of blood, gagging and grasping towards me. I didn't need him to say anything. I could read a dying human heart as clear as day.

Cove, Cove! You must listen to me! Your father knows! He knows you hired me to find Coral.

"Cove, Cove...I...listen to me." The words barely made it past his lips.

That witch drained me. She knew I was going to find her first.

"Where is she? Where is Coral!" Cove's voice boomed out in it's primordial key.

"Tha.. The witch. You must get Coral first!" Those words took a lot out of the old dying Hunter and he slipped quickly into unconsciousness.

"Wake up! Wake the fuck up! Tell me where she is!" I shook the almost-lifeless corpse until he halfway came back from the dead. "You will not pass over until I let you! I will keep your rotten ass here until your eyes decompose inside your face, now tell me! Where The Fuck Is Coral Woods?!"

She is not what she seems. She is more than darkness, she is the Light. She is the key.

"What do you mean by that, 'She is the key'? The key to what? Do you know where Coral is? Answer me you grisly beast. Where is she? Answer me!" I bellowed, but I knew there was little point now, he was slipping into the darkness and if I didn't send his soul to the Underground he would be doomed to roam between planes of existence, forever in limbo, a poor destiny of eternal unrest.

I dropped his pale, sickly body. With a heavy thud, it landed on the ugly parquet floor. I thought about walking away, but the memory of Coral held in my mind, the thought of how she would want me to do the right thing, how she would want me to show mercy. I walked over and bent down placing my hand over Van Heilsing's eyes.

"Ryan's..." House.

The last words fell from his lips as quiet as snow falling on the mountains, but then he was gone. His spirit had left and there was no reaching him now. Those kinds of things were beyond my capabilities. Only witches could do things like that, contact those ethereal spirits that hover between planes.

Witches... Like that bitch Anna! I have to get to Coral!

It was nothing to find Ryan. He was a covetous little bastard that worked for me, helping to restore my piece of garbage father to his former throne. I had spoken to him less than twelve hours ago.

That lying rat! He is going to regret having crossed me. I am going to enjoy tearing him apart.

Like most gnomes, Ryan lived underground, literally, under the ground, in the Underground with Dark Fae creatures. Gnomes tend to be a bit moodier and keep to themselves a bit more, preferring to settle amongst the oak trees that sporadically lined the outer rim of the Dark Forest.

I morphed in a flurry of deep midnight blue, a color seeded into my Royal Blood. Even the spell Anna had cast for me in order to become Death, couldn't surpass my birth right. My need to get to Coral in that exact moment superseded everything.

If I need to turn back time in order to save you, I will. Please, don't let it be too late.

There were at least a few hundred oak trees scattered along the perimeter of the woods. I knew Coral could be beneath any one of them. I couldn't smell her or hear her, but I knew she was close, I could sense it.

I flew to the very most eastern point of the forest where the trees decorate the high seaside cliffs. There was a gnarly old oak that looked diseased. I felt certain that I had found her. I used my elemental strength and tore the tree from its roots and sending it crashing into the grove behind. There stood a hatch, but no one came running. No sounds of screaming.

Oh no.

I ripped the metal door from off its hinges and jumped down into the little hovel. Her scent was everywhere. The smell of her sweat and tears and blood hung thick in the air. She had been trapped in this prison with that animal.

I'm going to kill him. Slow.

"Coral?" I called out tenderly. I didn't want to frighten her more than she already was. "Coral, my love, it's okay. It's Cove, honey. I've come to take you home. I'll take you anywhere you want to go. Do you want to go see my brother?" I continued to slowly walk about the place, but there has obviously been a struggle and I wasn't sure who I would find there.

"Coral? Are you back here sweetheart? It's okay, you don't have to hide from me. Everything's alright now. I'm here." I thought I heard a muffled noise but I couldn't be sure.

I picked up my pace and headed for the back bedroom. My stomach knotted into a tight ball in my throat as I got closer, I could smell Coral's scent heavier here. I reluctantly reached out for the doorknob, but then I hesitated a second. I tried to brace myself for whatever scene might lie beyond that door, Coral dying, that gnome bastard having her tied up doing the devil knows what with her; I swallowed back the bile gathering in my mouth.

With a steady hand, I turned the knob and pushed the door. When it swung open I was not prepared for what had happened and what now was going to unfold. I only knew that I would destroy Anna for this. I vowed to never let my father sit on the Dark Throne again. I would kill him if I had to this time. I would fight for Coral until my very last breath.

I will get my revenge!

A loud angry roar erupted from my chest and I could feel my Dark Fae magick gathering within me like an angry sea.

"They will rue the day they tried to take something from Prince Cove DeNoir of the Dark Court. I am the one true heir to this world and they will not take what is mine. Coral Woods is MINE!"

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Author's Note:
Hey everyone! We're getting closer to the end of book 2. Still haven't found Coral yet. Wonder what is up with this crazy coup to take over the Dark Faeries. Hope you stay tuned in to find out more. Hopefully, I'll have another chapter out on time next week. It's sure getting hard. Phew! Okay, but we gotta know, right? I know I do.

Many Blessings
XOXO 💋 Elizabeth Door