“He’s outed the Vanir and Panateia. He’s got the support of the Aquatic, Mystic, and even from the Blood Court, from my dear father. They’ve each spoken out directly about their support in getting you back home and bringing both organizations down.” He threw the letters down on the desk.
“Even my own father is conspiring against me. Not that’s anything new,” he mumbled.
I smiled. “Looks like my people don’t take well to their High Queen being kidnapped.”
“You gave yourself up willingly, Lennox. Or did you forget?” Adreona snapped. “Because your mate forgot to mention that.”
“I wouldn’t call sacrificing myself to save my sister’s life giving myself willingly,” I countered.
“Semantics.” Adreona wrinkled her nose. “Anyways, you know what that means, Lennox.” Adreona nodded to the guards. “Our timeline has moved up.”
“If you don’t need me anymore, I should be going.” Lorenzo placed a kiss on Adreona’s cheek before exiting out the door I came in.
Only once the door closed behind Lorenzo did I address Adreona, “You lied to him, didn’t you?”
She turned her gaze on me. “Lied to him about what?”
“It was a Dhampir that killed his daughter, wasn’t it?”
“Why would you say that?”
“King Arlo has been looking into a string of disappearing vampires, starting after Este disappeared. It’s you,isn’t it? You’ve been capturing innocent vampires to use for your experiments.”
She sighed dramatically. “I do hate how intuitive you are. Why couldn’t you be utterly and completely stupid?” She moved to the front of the desk.
“Of course it was me. But I could never tell him that. His support is too important. I need his money, his influence.”
“So you lied to him about how his daughter died.”
“More like twisted the truth.”
“You’re despicable. You’ve been taking innocent people off the streets and turning them into monsters.”
“I never intended on creating monsters. There is still so much you don’t understand, Lennox Adair. The Dhampirs are a result of our trying to reverse the curse of vampirism. We do not view what we are doing as turning innocent people into monsters, they are a sacrifice for the greater good of Lethenia. If only you would cooperate and use the real spell to turn vampires back into High Fae I wouldn’t have to continue my own attempts to reverse vampirism, which results in the creation of Dhampirs. Do you know how infuriating it is to have the reminders of my failures around every corner? Yes, I might be creating monsters in the form of the Dhampirs, but I do this all with the purpose of eliminating the real monsters. Lorenzo’s girl was a mere coincidence. She wandered into my territory.”
“What about the rest of your test subjects? Did they all just wander into your territory? Or did you rip them from their beds in the middle of the night?”
Her face paled slightly. “I’ve had enough of this conversation.” She rose from her perch. “Galib, bring in the vampire.”
“You’re no different from the monsters you aim to destroy!” I thrashed against the guard’s hold as the door behind Adreona’s desk opened, and Galib ushered in theinnocent vampire. She couldn’t have been older than twenty—how had she ended up here—in this fate? The other guard, Damla, led in Nol, he wore fresh clothes since I had seen him last, his arms secured in front of him. Adreona rounded the desk, twirling a dagger between her fingers.
“Now, with the entire continent looking for you, we don’t have time to waste. Try the spell or your brother pays the price.”
Nol’s scream echoed in my ears as Adreona’s dagger embedded itself in his side.
“No!” I thrashed against Nakul, who held me tighter to his chest.
“I’m not worth it Lennox,” Nol panted. “Don’t do it.” His blood dripped onto the floor. He screamed again, keeling over as Adreona slammed her dagger into his leg.
“Tik tok, Lennox.” Adreona sing-songed as she removed the blade once again. “Where will it be next?” She drawled as she looked Nol up and down.
I looked between Nol and the innocent. Nol had fallen to his knees, his arms still restrained in front of him as he breathed heavily. He looked up at me, dark hair falling across his pain-streaked face, but his eyes pierced into my soul.
“I’m fine, Lennox.” He panted as his blood continued to spill. I had already lost him once, I just got him back, I couldn’t lose him again.
I closed my eyes as Nol screamed again.
I opened my eyes, meeting the green-eyed gaze of the innocent female they had brought in, her entire body trembled with fear. Her eyes were the same color as mine and Kara’s, the same as my mother’s.
