Chapter 119

Hannah

“Your solution is to kill my brother?” I asked in disbelief as I stared at my husband. He sighed and sat up in bed; I could tell from his face that this wasn’t something he wanted to do. But I was in such shock that he would even come up with something like this. “You know how much my brother means to me, Sebastian.”

“No, my solution is to save your brother.”

“By killing him?”

“Right now, his mind is trapped in the underworld. Unless we can get him out, we might not have many options. Gemma mentioned that it needs to be done by the full moon, or he will be trapped in the underworld forever,” Sebastian explained. I could hear my heart breaking in my chest at the sound of that. Sebastian placed both his hands on my shoulder, and I met his eyes. “Hope is not lost; she might think there are no other ways to help him, but clearly she doesn’t remember whom she’s dealing with.”

“You think we can find another way to help him?” I asked, tears welling in my eyes. He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“We can find another way,” he assured me softly. “We will go to the library first thing in the morning and research everything we can.”

“Why not today? If we need to figure this out by the full moon, we don’t have a lot of time.”

“Well, for starters the library isn’t open right now and that’s the only place we will be able to find information on this,” he said, humor clear in his eyes at my dumbfounded expression. “And also, this is Wrenley’s first night home. The cooks are already making a feast for later. I think we just need to calm down for tonight and get to work first thing in the morning.”

“Why is the library the only place I can find information? I’m going to search on my computer,” I said as I slid out of bed.

Sebastian watched me curiously as I went to my computer and started my research.

“You won’t find anything real,” Sebastian said from behind me. “The internet is filled with false facts and fairytales. The same stories you’ve probably been told your entire life.”

He was right; I didn’t find anything I haven’t already heard about it. I sighed in frustration, just in time for Wrenley to start crying from her room.

“We will figure it out,” he assured me calmly. “We always do.”

I knew he was right; at least I wanted him to be right. I turned to him and gave him a faint smile before leaving the room. Wrenley was still crying once I reached her room. I scooped her into my arms and sat down in a chair where I began breastfeeding. I couldn’t get over how small and gorgeous she was. It was like all my worries had completely disappeared. Sebastian was right; this was her first night home and we needed to make it special for her. She deserved the world.

I didn’t realize Sebastian was watching me from the doorway until he spoke.

“We created something incredible,” he said fondly. I gazed at him and saw the love and admiration in his eyes.

“I worry for her safety,” I admitted. “If what you’re saying is true about the underworld having Liam, how can we be sure of Wren’s safety?”

“We’ll do whatever we can to protect her,” Sebastian answered. “I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”

“Vampires are said to be vicious and ruthless creatures.”

Sebastian smirked.

“Not as vicious and ruthless as the Alpha King,” he said in response, causing me to smile.

“We should prepare the kingdom for any kind of attack,” I suggested; I hated the idea of there being an attack, but I needed to be sure everyone was safe. Sebastian nodded as he agreed with me.

“I’ll get a hold of Arnold and we will set something up,” Sebastian said.

I looked down at Wren as she stopped eating. I couldn’t help but worry that the worst was coming.

…

“Oh, my goddess!” Raya breathed. “She’s absolutely perfect, Hannah.”

She was rocking Wren in her arms as she cooed. I couldn’t help but smile at my best friend. Dinner was being served shortly and I could feel my stomach growling within my body. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. I’ve been so stressed out about everything going on lately that I haven’t really been taking care of myself.

“She looks just like you!” Raya continued.

“I can see a lot of Sebastian in her too,” I said to her.

At that moment, Sebastian and Arnold came into the living room; they had disappeared for a few moments. They looked tense, and I couldn’t help but worry that something was wrong. They were discussing something in private; something they didn’t want to discuss in front of us. Probably to not worry us.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as he approached.

“Yes,” he answered, but something was lingering in his eyes that gave me an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. “The chef just told me that the food will be ready shortly. We should get to the dining hall.”

He led the way, and we sat around our large dining table. Raya handed Wren back to me and I sat with her cradled in my arms. Valerie was the maid assigned to the dining hall this evening; she went around the table and poured glasses of wine. Once she reached me, she poured a glass of water. I smiled my thanks to her as she went to get the food.

“Have you brought Wrenley to see your father yet?” Raya asked. “He is her grandfather.”

I frowned as I thought about it; truth be told, I haven’t thought of my father in a long time. He’s been quiet since Naomi and Amy have been imprisoned.

I shook my head.

“I’m not sure I want to,” I told her. “I think it’s better if we continue our separate lives.”

Raya nodded in agreement while Sebastian took a sip of his wine. He was refusing to meet my eyes. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling me.

Arnold cleared his throat to cut through the silence that grew.

“How’s Liam?” Arnold asked, glancing over at me.

My heart squeezed painfully at the thought of my brother; if Sebastian was right, that meant Liam was being tortured internally and he was suffering. I hated that I didn’t know for sure what was going on. I also wasn’t sure how much Sebastian had told Arnold about the situation.

“No change,” I told him.

“He’s going to be okay,” Raya said, touching my arm gently. “He has to be.”

I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to Liam. Before I could say anything more, the food was being brought into the room. The smell was making my mouth water instantly. Valerie placed plates in front of each of us.

“Would you like me to take Wren so you can eat?” Valerie asked; I could hear the hopefulness in her tone. However, I didn’t want to let her go.

“No, it’s okay,” I told her. Her face fell slightly at my words. “I can hold her and eat at the same time. But thank you.”

She nodded and went away while we ate.

…

Sebastian

Sebastian was finding it difficult to maintain himself. The pain was growing even worse, despite the medication Gemma had given him. He knew there was no other way to release Liam from the underworld, but Hannah was refusing to believe that. Until Liam was no longer suffering, Sebastian would just have to suffer along with him.

Before dinner, he pulled Arnold away from everybody to tell him what was happening. Arnold believed him right away and expressed his worry about the vampires having control from inside the underworld.

“That’s why we need to be prepared,” Sebastian had told him. “I think we should open our training grounds and ensure every gamma and every Alpha is trained for any attack.”

“Will you be the one training them?” Arnold asked; Sebastian knew he was only asking because of how much pain Sebastian has been in. But Sebastian was anything but weak and has been fighting against this pain for too long to let it stop him now.

“As the Alpha King, I take responsibility for my kingdom and that means training my Alpha’s and my gammas. We will have them stay at the palace for the next couple of days while we train.”

As he sat across the dining table and watched Hannah speak of her father, a knot of guilt formed in his stomach.

“She needs to know,” Erik said from within him. “She knows to know that her father will be arriving at the palace tomorrow.”