Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 592

*Lena*

We spent the remainder of the day in Brune and had dinner with Kiern, Costas, and their court once again. I sat in relative silence during dinner, picking at my food while Xander and Costas leaned into each other and spoke in low murmurs. Costas was animated, obviously trying to convince Xander to open the portal and allow all-out war between our two realms.

I didn't have a chance to utter a single word to Xander until we were in our bedroom after dinner, preparing to leave Brune altogether.

“Costas said we have roughly two hours before daybreak above ground," he said as he laid out a variety of different items on the bed he meant to pack in a backpack he had sitting on the floor. “You should try to sleep."

I crossed my arms over my chest, watching as he tossed the backpack on the bed and began to pack it with dried food, water bottles, and an assortment of first aid items.

“I'm not opening the portal–"

“I know. I told him no," Xander breathed, glancing up at me as he zipped up the backpack and reached for a leather belt he'd laid out over the bed. Four knives were sheathed and hanging on the leather. It was a gift from Costas. Xander looked down at it in regret.

“I don't understand the hierarchy here," I hissed, sitting on the edge of the bed as he weighed the belt in his hands. “Kiern said there are multiple underground cities like Brune–"

“None like Brune, from what I understand. Brune has farms, agriculture. They trade goods with the other cities but they all consider Kiern and Costas the king and queen of the lower vampires. He could… he could give us an army, Lena, against King Nikolas." He met my eye, uncertainty etched on every line of his face.

“But you don't trust him?"

“Something about him is just… off. I don't know how to explain it. What about Kiern? How was your day with her?"

I opened my mouth to tell him about meeting Narcissa, the High Vampire, but then closed my mouth, pursing my lips. Something inside of me was telling me to keep quiet, damn near begging me not to utter a word.

“It–it was fine. We explored the kingdom."

“Fascinating, isn't it? All of this… magic. That's the only way to describe it, really. Costas doesn't even know how the lights work in this place, the lights that come through the crystals. He said it's been like this for thousands of years."

Thousands of years–Brune had been here for thousands of years. Narcissa was just as old, old enough to have known Morrighan somehow. And her brother? Nikolas?

I swallowed against the terror creeping up my throat as I scooted off the bed and turned away from Xander, pretending to be invested in something on the other side of the room.

Clothes for our journey had been laid out on one of the sofas near the fireplace–a simple white cotton shirt and a pair of trousers, as well as a leather vest, a belt similar to Xander's, and a jacket made of an odd, scale-like material that was faintly silver in color. Boots and socks in my size sat near the door.

I glanced at Xander over my shoulder, feeling suddenly sick to my stomach as I gazed up at his face. He had no idea what I was about to do. He wouldn't ever understand why I'd chosen to leave him out of it.

I laid down on one of the plush sofas and closed my eyes, drifting into a shallow slumber before I was woken by Xander an hour or so later. I got dressed, and Xander helped me put on the leather belt, which was heavy with knives that were so long they hung mid-thigh. I unsheathed one, perplexed as I turned it from side to side.

The tip and blade was made of iron, sharpened so violently it sliced through the sleeve of my shirt without an ounce of pressure as I tested it on the fabric. But the body of the knife was made of wood. I turned to Xander, who took the knife from my hands and twirled it over his fingers in an expert fashion.

He jabbed, the tip of the knife fixed right over my heart. I didn't move as his eyes locked on mine. “Don't stab," he said in a soft, seductive whisper and then withdrew the knife. “s***h. It's more effective, contrary to popular belief, and easier." He placed two fingers against my side, along my ribs. “If you need to stab someone in the chest to kill them, you've already lost." His free hand ran up my side, his fingers brushing along my collarbone as he found the soft divet between my neck and collarbone where my pulse was hammering against his touch. “s***h," he repeated. “But if you must stab, do it here, and aim down. Drive the knife down."

His words were a command.

“Okay," I whispered, the intimacy of the brief introduction to fighting with knives setting me on fire.

He sheathed the knife on my belt and returned to readying himself as if nothing had just happened between us.

“Why is it made of wood?" I asked as I shrugged on the leather vest.

It had a high collar that covered my neck, and my stomach turned as I realized its significance. I'd seen a feeder earlier in the day–a man, walking alongside one of the servants as they passed me in the hallway outside the dining hall. One side of his neck was bandaged, while the other sported two red marks, teeth marks.

The collar of the vest felt incredibly tight all of the sudden, and I found it hard to swallow as I pushed my hands through the scaled jacket, running my fingers over the heavy, solid fabric.

It was armor.

“Costas said a wooden stake through the heart is the only way to truly kill a vampire," he said, extending his hand to mine.

I looked up at Xander, fear rippling through me as I thought of Narcissa and how terrified I'd been of her, even though she'd be friendly and caring.

“We're going to be fine," he whispered, and he bent his head to brush a soft kiss across my lips. “It's time."

***

Xander and Costas were several paces ahead of me as we walked across the rolling hills outside of the crystal palace toward a set of inconspicuous golden doors in the distance.

Starla, to my surprise, had accompanied us. She was walking next to me, her face twisted in a scowl. I glanced at her as we made our way toward the entrance of their refuge, and she met my eye, glaring.

“What?" I whispered, furrowing my brows at her.

“This is suicide. You know that, right?"

“What is?"

“Don't play dumb. Do you really think you can defeat King Nikolas?"

I paled, glancing at Xander before shushing Starla firmly and grabbing onto her arm, pulling her to a stop. “Xander doesn't know–"

“Do you still have the sunstone?"

“Yes, why? What does it do?"

Starla narrowed her eyes at me, studying my face. I didn't understand her temper. She wasn't nice, and had barely said a word to me at Narcissa's house earlier in the day. All around us night was falling in the cave, the crystals high above us reflecting a vivid violet light.

“Bring it to the witches. It has to be you."

“Witches? What–"

“They won't let anyone else on their island. Go to the sea; they'll be expecting you."

“Starla, I can't–"

She ripped her arm out of my grip and turned on her heel, walking away. I gaped after her, my brow furrowed so deeply it was starting to give me a headache.

“Lena? What's going on?" Xander said, and I turned to him, noticing him standing with Costas in the distance as they waited for me to catch up.

I shook my head, walking briskly to catch up with them.

“Don't mind Starla. She is a pest," Costas smiled.

I resisted the urge to look him up and down as I waited for him to turn away from me and continue walking toward the door.

“She was the one who found us in the forest," Xander told Costas.

“That's because she spends most nights out there in the dark hunting for the flowers that only bloom in the moonlight–blood orchids, mostly, and moon mushrooms, midnight roses, and so on and so forth. She uses them for tonics and teas for our people."

“She's a healer?" I asked.

“Mhmm, sure. I'd say so. But she's a nightmare, truly. I don't know what her problem is. I've spent the last four hundred years or so avoiding her at all costs. She's rather close with Kiern, however."

I realized he likely had no idea Narcissa lived in his Kingdom. He would've mentioned her to Xander, surely. Costas would have gloated over her presence.

We'd reached the doorway but had to wait to go through for approximately seventeen minutes. Costas explained that while the sun had set in Brune, the sun was just coming up in the Realm of Night, and we'd have exactly five hours before the sun set again.

“King Nicolas has spies everywhere. Trust no one, and find shelter after dark if you're unable to open a portal home right away. Return here, if you must. You're always welcome."

Xander only nodded, his gaze fixed on Costas's face.

“And," Costas continued, tossing a velvet pouch to Xander, “if you change your mind about our deal, use these."

I knew what was in the bag without Xander needing to open it–bloodstones, the same ruby-like gems King Nikolas was using to create the temporary breaks between our realms to traffic young shifter women into his clutches.

We exited through the doors without so much as a goodbye, or good luck.

***

*Xander*

We didn't have time to walk back to the gorge, and I didn't know the way there anyway. But Lena was dragging her feet, refusing to use her powers to open a portal back to her realm. She was acting… tired, maybe even a little sick.

She was pregnant, of course, and I knew that was weighing on her, but she'd been fine when we'd left Brune and returned to the surface, which was just as ugly and barren as I'd remembered it being when Henry led me into his cave.

“Do you want to rest?" I asked, but she shook her head, her face drained of all color as we walked through the forest at a slow crawl. “Lena, come on. We need to do this."

“No," she breathed, meeting my eye.

“What? What do you mean, no?"

“No. I'm not going back. Not yet."

I gaped at her, shaking my head. “Lena, we have to."

“And let this continue? King Nikolas is going to find a way into my realm one way or another. He'll make more Hybrids like Maxwell said he would."

I ran my tongue along my lower lip, glancing up at the sky. The pinkish hue in the sky was already starting to fade. If we didn't do this now, well, we'd have to turn back for Brune.

“Lena, do it now–"

“No."

“Lena!"

Movement caught my eye, directly behind where she was standing. My body went rigid as a shadow moved behind the gnarled, blacked trees. Lena's lower lip trembled, and she whimpered, sucking in her breath as she looked up into my eyes.

I hadn't noticed the trail of blood. I hadn't noticed the deliberate cut on the palm of her hand.

“No. You didn't."

“Xander, I'm sorry. I have to stay–"

“Lena!" I roared, lunging for her and throwing my shadow of power over her just as a creature stalked out of the trees and rose to its feet behind her.

Six vampires dressed in long, hooded cloaks came up behind it, sniffing the air. Lena held up her hand, white light ebbing between us.

I screamed her name before it all went black.