Chapter 122 Mozog

Sofiya

"Oh yes." I moaned, "a little lower."

Caleb's fingers slid a little lower and then dug in further, the pressure increasing. "Yes. Right there." I groaned. "Ah fuck," another moan escaped my lips.

It felt so good.

He was so good.

"Do you want me to increase pressure, Mistress?" He asked, his hand movements not stopping.

"Yes," I groaned, my head tilting backwards.

"It sounds like you're having sex." The door opened and Jessica walked in.

Caleb began blushing and I laughed at that. "Nope. Just a foot massage." I wiggled my toes before stretching my very swollen feet.

They felt so much better now.

Valeralyn was a week late and I was growing impatient as more days passed. Apparently it was normal for the baby to not pop out on the due date. But it was just so fucking annoying. Why have a due date at all then? It should be a due month!

Don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant. And everything that comes with it. But let me tell you— there is no pregnancy glow. It's sweat glistening on your skin and people say it's a glow to make you feel better about yourself. You gain a lot of weight and your stomach feels like it's going to burst any minute. You cannot see your feet, which is a good thing in my opinion because they swell so much that you can't recognise them at all. And don't get me started on food cravings. And peeing all the time. And I never have a comfortable position to sleep in. I can't hug Vlad properly because of the huge belly between us. And he is even more protective than normal.

And I've heard that it gets bad after pregnancy. I'm seriously fucked.

Jessica had the audacity to smirk, "thank god I'm not pregnant."

"I'll be there to say the same thing when you do become pregnant." I sneered and she chuckled.

"You're here just to interrupt my massage and to annoy me?" I asked.

"Can't I just want to meet my friend?" She asked.

"An actress can detect a fellow actress in an instant. I knew something was up the moment you stepped in." I snorted. "So tell me. What's up?"

She sighed and then her head lowered. "Avalyn has been kidnapped, Sofiya."

"What?" I shrieked and jerked in a sitting position.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I couldn't fathom how this even happened. Nikolai was obsessed with Avalyn's safety. Which is why Soare-Luna's borders are impenetrable. How did anyone even get in? He had guards on her all the time. Just...how? And the people absolutely loved her. How could have anyone not seen it and alerted others and helped her?

"Oh my goddess." A shuddering breath escaped my mouth. I placed my hands on my belly. If Avalyn is not safe, no one is safe.

"Andrei was the one to contact Vladimir. It was King Xillian. Nikolai and Mikhail have left to get her from Ovzdusia." She explained further softly. "I don't know much, Rhazien was in a rush. But Dimitri and Natalia have gone on some dangerous mission on some mysterious island too. There was also something about zombies and witches..." she seemed scared. "But that can't be true, right? I mean we are supernaturals but zombies aren't a thing, are they?" She had growth so much as a vampire that it was easy to forget she was a human until a few months earlier.

"No they aren't." I whispered.

I looked at Caleb. "That will be all for today, Caleb. Thank you."

I hopped off the massage bed and went in search of Vladimir with Jessica right behind me. I saw multiple people pass by, bowing and greeting but it was all a blur.

I didn't even know how I got to the Council Room. I just knew was that it was where Vlad will be and that's where I needed to be too.

All I could imagine was King Xillian. He was infamous for his cruel ways. I had seen a glimpse of it before Vlad pulled me out of there. Just the snippet had made me nauseous that day. And now, he had Avalyn in his filthy clutches.

I need to know the truth.

Just as expected, Vladimir was in the Council Room, having a very important and very serious discussion with our councilmen.

His eyes immediately fell on me the moment I entered. And judging my the look on his face, I knew that he knew that I knew.

"Is it true?" I needed to hear it from him.

"Yes." My hand reached to comfort my baby as soon as the word slipped past his lips.

I felt light headed and Vlad was next to me in an instant, holding me in his arms.

"Not Avalyn, Vlad. Not her. We need to help."

"Nikolai is on his way there, baby." He replied, rubbing my back. "Javier too."

Vladimir didn't speak much. But I understood all his unspoken words. Nikolai would have asked if he needed our help. And since he didn't, he was sure that he could handle it. There was no questioning his decisions, especially regarding Avalyn.

"And Dimitri?" I inquired about my brother.

"He's gone to Scholae Pythonissam with Natalia. Adrik is up to no good, as usual. He's managed to create zombie witches with the help of black magic. They are there to procure more information about it." He said.

Vladimir looked calm as usual. I couldn't get a hint through our bond either. He was a man of reason and he didn't get worried very easily. And right now, he truly believed that everything will be fine.

I wasn't so sure about that. So I turned to look at our men to gage the intensity of the situation. Rhazien. Ezra. Marc. Jester. Each of them looked extremely worried and stressed out.

"There's more. Isn't there?" I asked.

"Javier had changed the ocean currents. There shouldn't be a lot of water movements in our direction. But there is." Marc was the one to answer when everyone fell silent. "We believe that an attack is about to happen. In a couple of hours at the most."

I looked at Vlad for confirmation. He nodded.

Valeralyn shifted in my belly, sensing distress. I rubbed my belly to calm her.

"We are looking into it, Sofiya." He placed a hand on my belly and she shifted to press her hand in against her father's touch. "I don't want you to stress yourself out."

"I'll stress if I want to stress alright?" I retorted. "Never tell a pregnant woman what to do!" I said, moving out of his hold and walking further inside the council room. "Now tell me. What is our strategy going to be?"

Vasilik had most of the powerful vampires in his control. All of them were extremely loyal to him. So they were the ones who had been creating problems for us. We had tried to solve things with peace but it hadn't worked. The only solution was to kill them.

Unfortunately, they were the strongest vampires of our kingdom who had impressive powers. And only those vampires have powers who have higher blood. And one could be of higher blood if they have been selected and initiated as the councilmen by the King's blood. That automatically included their family as well. Or if someone is a direct descendants of the original vampires. But none of them were alive anymore. And the only councilmen alive that had been initiated by a king were Rhazien and Ezra. Marc and Jester were initiated by Vlad and I.

I could feel Vladimir give up when he turned around. He knows arguing with me is useless. I'm better than him with words and I don't give up easily. So the best option for him is to give in.

I smiled and pecked his lips quickly. He gave me a light, exasperated smile. The one that said 'what am I going to do with you?' and 'what I am going to do without you?' too.

I raised my brows, motioning him to tell me his plan.

"I'm going to create a maze around northern borders of Mozog. It will make them go in circles they won't be able to enter." Vladimir had the power to make people imagine stuff.

"Few of our men will be hidden in the woods and kill anyone they come across." Marc said. "They will know the map of the maze so they can enter and exit easily."

"I'll be there in south. I'll manipulate their desire—the desire to attack us." Rhazien said. He had the ability to manipulate desires of people. "And our men present there will kill those people."

"Can't you just send them back where they came from? Make them desire to go back home." I suggested. Normally, I wouldn't have cared if we were killing the people who wanted to kill us first. But Avalyn had rubbed off on me. On all of us. And now I saw loss of any life as a loss of my people. And these were just people who had been ordered to attack us, it wasn't personal.

"If I have to influence the minds of so many people, my powers work will only until they are within my range." Rhazien replied. "Even if I send them back, they will return after a while to do as they were ordered."

I nodded. Then making them not want to fight before killing them is the only way.

"I'll be the bait in the west." Ezra sighed. Her power was attraction. "I freaking hate my powers. Can't do anything useful."

"This will be helpful, Ezra." Vlad said kindly. "To draw out our enemies out in the open." We will be able to kill the, quickly like this.

"What is your superpower?" I asked Jessica. She was Rhazien's mate and had been turned into a vampire months ago. I know she had a power but apparently it was embarrassing so she refused to tell it to people.

"Do I have to?" She scowled, her face turning red.

"I think you should be forthcoming," Rhazien looked amused.

"I hate you," she hissed.

"I'm so glad you can't use your powers on those with a higher blood than you. Or else I would've gone crazy every time we have a disagreement." He grinned.

She shut her eyes in exasperation. "I can make people orgasm."

Everyone burst out laughing at that.

"I swear this is payback for what I did to that asshole Kaleb Karwells." She muttered under her breath. I grinned, knowing exactly what she had done. She had been in my good books ever since I came to know what she had done.

"Very well then," Jester said, barely keeping his laughter in. "You'll be in the east. You can make the people coming in our Kingdom cum."

"Ha. Ha," she said drily, rolling her eyes.

"General Eun-ho will be with Jessica for her protection." She was a new vampire and was still not used to our ways and war. "Now that everything is decided, it is best if we talk to the people." Vladimir said. "Ezra, call for a meeting in the training grounds in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, Prince Vladimir." She bowed her head.

"Marc, call those who cannot fight into the palace and assign appropriate number of warriors for the protection of the palace. Divide the rest into four equal parts, one for each direction. Each of you will be leading a group of warriors, make sure each of them knows the plan in detail. I want everything to be done in the next hour and a half. The ETA of the intruders a little over two hours." Vladimir said.

"Yes, Prince Vladimir," all of them bowed their heads before rushing out to do their jobs.

Vladimir turned to look at me, a slight hint of worry in his eyes. I didn't have any powers. And I couldn't fight. But I wanted to help. "I'll make sure to keep the people safe in the palace."

He lowered his head to kiss me softly, deeply. "Just keep yourself and Valeralyn safe. And that will be enough. Others will do the rest."

"Of course," I nodded. "Do we have an estimate of how many people are arriving?"

"We can't say for sure. But we've caught movements of around six hundred boats." He said truthfully. Oh damn. This isn't good. The population of Mozog was three thousand. If one boat had even five people in it, it will add up to three thousand people.

I closed my eyes and prayed to Moon Goddess. Please protect Avalyn. Help Nikolai find her. Please keep my family and people safe.

"I need to take care of a few things. I'll come to our bedroom for the ritual after I'm done." He tucked a lock behind my ear with a soft smile and I nodded.

"Be safe, Vladimir." I said and Valeralyn kicked in agreement. I smiled lightly and caressed my bump. "She needs her daddy."