Page 104 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“You did everything you could. Dani is strong. Now you need to be strong for her.”

“You’re right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Sera was amazing. She managed to get the bleeding stopped. I was sure we would never get enough blood into her to get the turning process started, but somehow, we did.”

“I just texted Isabella again.” Dante came into the room and quietly shut the door behind him. “She didn’t answer.”

“She’s probably busy in the lab. You know how she gets.”

“She left me on read. And this is the second message I’ve sent that she’s ignored. I don’t like this.”

An uneasy feeling churned in Alex’s gut. “We knew this was never going to be easy for her, going against Judas. She got us the information we needed.”

“I know you want to believe she’s with us, Alex,” Dante said quietly. “But I’m not sure we can trust her.”

“I said some harsh things when I confronted her. The conversation got very heated. I think she needs the help that she never truly got after Mom passed and maybe is now at a place where she can finally acknowledge that.”

Henri cleared his throat. “How many prisoners do we think are down there?”

“About three dozen at last count, but that number may have changed. I’ll work on unlocking the shackles and you and Dante can take them out two at a time.”

“Even taking them in groups, that’s going to be a lot of trips. And it runs the risk either of us might not be able to dematerialize in to get the last groups out.”

Alex sighed. He’d considered that, of course. Most vampires couldn’t shift into smoke and travel at all. For the few that could, making too many jumps in a row was taxing.

“As soon as I get all the shackles unlocked, I’ll be able to help. The wards in the castle prevent anyone who isn’t recognized from passing through. Sera was supposed to be here, but she can’t leave Dani. That leaves just the three of us.”

“We’ll make it work.” Dante checked his phone. “We should go. They’re moving on the research facility now.”

“On three,” Alex said, making sure he had the fae dagger secured. “One… two…”

The moment he reformed in the prison ward, he yanked one of the preloaded syringes Sera had given them from his pocket, prepared to jab it into the neck of the first guard they encountered. He turned, scanning the long cell block.

Dante reformed beside him a few seconds later. “There’s no one posted at the north end of the unit. Henri’s checking the other side.”

“You think they got pulled in order to double the security detail on the king? Maybe they were tipped off about the attack on the research facility.”

“Could be.” His brother nodded towards the first cell. “Either way, we won’t get a second shot at this.”

Alex recognized the woman with dark curly hair he’d spoken to on their first visit.

“Your Highness.” Her face broke into a broad grin. “I knew I recognized you. You came back for us.”

“We don’t have much time. Put your hands through the bars. We’re going to get these off and then my brother is going to take you someplace safe.”

He touched the dagger to the lock, and carefully said the words in Elvish to unlock the spell. He held his breath, feeling briefly dizzy for a second as he pictured it failing, all of this having been for nothing. But then the shackles glowed blue and fell away.

“Hurry,” Dante urged him. “Henri is checking the rest of the ward, but this is taking too long for my liking.”

Her cellmate hurried forward. Alex freed her. Dante grabbed their hands. “This is going to feel a little weird.”

The first woman turned to Alex. “I’ll never forget this, Your Highness.”

A second later, they vanished in a swirl of smoke.

Two lives saved, he thought, hurrying to the next cell.

They quickly fell into a rhythm. The aberrant prisoners held their arms through the bars. He released the shackles. Dante and Henri ghosted them out of the prison in pairs. It took several minutes to clear each cell. Alex could feel Dante’s eyes on him as he began to make mistakes reciting the words, his pronunciation getting sloppier.

They were down to the final ten prisoners they still needed to free when he realized he was sweating through his clothes.