Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 409

Chapter 409

Natalia’s POV

I set the tray down on the floor and approached the cell slowly, glancing over my shoulder. The rubies were the only thing casting a light across Damon’s face, and…

Goddess, he looked like shit. His skin was so pale it was almost translucent, with dark circles under his eyes that made him look half–dead. His clothes were torn and dirty, and he was thinner than I’d ever seen him. But it was

him. The real Damon.

“Damon,” I whispered, pressing my face close to the bars.

His eyes cracked open. For a moment, they were unfocused and glazed over. Then they landed on me, and something flickered in their depths: recognition.

“Na…talia?”

“It’s me.” I checked again to make sure that the guard hadn’t followed me down. “I’m getting you out of here.”

He let out a weak laugh that turned into a cough. “You can’t.”

“The hell I can’t.” I grabbed the bars, testing them. They were solid iron, and the lock looked complicated. I’d need the right tools to pick it. Or a key would be better. Maybe the guard had one on him; I could take him down and get the keyring. “Just hold on-”

“The rubies.” Damon nodded toward the glowing stones embedded in the walls. “They’re draining me. That’s how he’s doing it. How he’s wearing my face.”

My stomach dropped. I looked at the rubies again, really looked at them. They pulsed in rhythm with Damon’s breathing, almost like they were feeding off of him. Sucking the life right out of his body so that bastard upstairs could play dress–up.

“I’ll destroy them,” I said, moving toward the nearest one. “I’ll smash them all—”

“No!” Damon blurted out. “The moment you do, he’ll know. The connection will break, and he’ll come down here. Neither of us will make it out.”

I clenched my jaw. “Then what am I supposed to do? Leave you here to die?”

“You’re supposed to survive. Are the twins with you?” I nodded slowly, and he cursed. “You need to fucking get out of here, Natalia. I’ve seen what he does to children-”

“I know. I saw it, too.” I crouched down so we were eye level. “But I’m not leaving you here. Do you think Grace would ever forgive me if I came back without you?”

At Grace’s name, something cracked in his expression. His jaw tightened, and he looked away. “How is she?”

“Worried sick. We all thought you might be dead.” I swallowed hard. “She and Andrei are probably marching here as we speak with the army. I was taken from Bloodmoon.”

“Shit.” Damon shut his eyes. “Grace isn’t a fighter, Natalia. She shouldn’t come here.”

“Well, it’s too late for that.”

1/2

Chapter 409

+25 Bonus

“They won’t make it in time.” Damon’s voice was flat. “That thing upstairs–he’s got hundreds of soldiers. Warriors who don’t feel pain, don’t question orders. He showed them off to me like his favorite pets. And he’ll give them ruby weapons.”

“We have ruby weapons, too.”

“It won’t be enough.” He coughed again, and I saw blood on his lips when he pulled his hand away. “You need to destroy them. The soldiers. Before Andrei gets here.”

I stared at him. “How?”

Damon reached into his torn shirt, fumbling for something. Finally, he pulled out a small ruby that looked different from the others. This one was darker, almost black at the center, with veins of red running through it.

“Take this,” he said, holding it out through the bars. “And be careful. Don’t drop it.”

I took it carefully. The ruby was warm in my palm, almost hot. It felt… wrong. It wasn’t like the others, which needed to bond with their user to work. This one felt like it had a mind of its own, and it was so much hungrier than my knife had ever been.

“What is it?”

“Explosive.” Damon leaned back against the wall as if exhausted from the mere effort of retrieving it. “I stole it when that freak was showing me his arsenal. Was going to wait until that bastard came down here, then blow us both to hell.”

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