Chapter 124

Hannah

I went to the hospital to see Liam. I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I wanted him to know that we are doing everything we can to help him. Sebastian was kind enough to give us some privacy, so he waited in the waiting room with Wren while I saw my brother. I sat at his bedside, grasping his hand. I hated knowing that he was being tortured somewhere I couldn’t reach him. I hated that he was suffering so much. Sebastian’s pain has only been getting worse; that meant Liam’s pain was getting worse.

“We are going to do whatever it takes to help you, Liam,” I whispered to him. “Just hold out a little bit longer.”

The underworld portal was supposed to be sealed by the moon goddess, so I wasn’t understanding how the vampires could have so much control over our people. Maybe Gemma would be able to shed some clarity on us later when she arrives.

“I’m not going to let you die,” I said to him, standing from his bed.

I went to join Sebastian in the waiting room.

“How is he?” Sebastian asked, eyeing me carefully.

“No change,” I told him. He looked uncertain for a moment. “How’s the pain?”

“Also no change. Which isn’t always a bad thing. It’s not worse or better. It just is…”

“I know,” I said to him, trying not to sound worried.

We went from the hospital to the library; this time Wren went with us. I didn’t want her in the palace knowing my father was there.

“What if we can make something to help Liam? Like a sage or something,” I asked, keeping my eyes on the pages before me.

“This is different from managing my madness, Hannah,” he said in return. “We are talking about the underworld. A sage isn’t going to help us.”

“It says in this book that sage can keep the darkness away. So, why not the underworld? Isn’t that where darkness was born?”

“It’s where darkness was banished to,” he answered. “It’s a place where darkness lives. If the moon goddess can’t keep them from tormenting our kind, then sage isn’t going to do anything.”

I said nothing more as I flipped through the pages of the book. As I flipped a page, I came across a large image of a man. He looked intimidating and fierce; he had long, jet-black hair, and eyes that were dark with ringlets of gold around his pupils. He had markings, like tattoos, along his bare chest that expanded across his shoulder and down his arms. His skin was flawless and yet so pale, reminding me of a porcelain doll.

“Who is this man?” I asked, unable to look away from the image. Something about him gave me an unsettling vibe.

Sebastian glanced at the book, and I felt him freeze for a moment as he processed what he was looking at.

“Xander,” he said; his voice sounding almost grave. “He’s the vampire king.”

“The vampire king?” I gasped a little too loudly. I saw some wandering eyes from around the library and I gave them an apologetic smile before turning back to the book.

“You’ve met him?” I asked, glancing up at him.

“I’ve done more than meet,” Sebastian answered. “I battled him.”

“You remember?” I asked.

“I remember his face,” Sebastian said. “Not much more though. He’s in charge of the underworld. So, if anyone would be responsible for what’s happening to Liam, it would be him.”

I thought about it for a moment and that unsettled feeling only grew more intense.

“Both you and Dr. Davis mentioned seeing and hooded shadow figure. The one Dr. Davis saw was leaving Liam’s room the night he went into a coma, and you saw the same figure when you saw Liam being tortured. Do you think that could have been Xander?”

“No,” he answered without hesitation. “It definitely wasn’t Xander that I saw; I would have known from his aura alone. He has the darkest aura there is. There’s no mistaking it. I also don’t think he would have the ability to come here himself.”

“So, what are you saying?” I asked. “He’s using others to do his bidding for him?”

“Possibly,” he answered. “I’m just not sure how he’s doing it.”

“None of it is making sense,” I whispered, looking back at the book.

As I continued reading, I saw something else that caught my interest. It was saying that the portal of the underworld was sealed centuries ago by the moon goddess when the vampires and other creatures of the night turned on her. But it hasn’t been centuries since Sebastian battled with them. That was only a decade ago. So that must have meant the portal had been opened somehow and they were wreaking havoc across our lands. But how was the portal opened the first time? And if it was opened once, could it be opened again?

I could feel the unease of Nora from inside of me and I had to take a couple of deep breaths to keep her calm. Wrenley began getting a little fussy from beside me; she was probably getting hungry. I put the book down so I could wrap her in my arms.

“We shouldn’t stay much longer; we need to get back and train,” I told him.

He nodded in agreement. I watched as he put the books away and then I went back with him to the palace. My father was the first I saw once we entered, and I had to keep myself from groaning. The last thing I wanted was for him to meet Wrenley, but it didn’t look like I had much of a choice now.

“Shouldn’t you be at the arena with the others?” Sebastian asked, his tone hardening.

My father kept his eyes locked on me.

“I wanted to meet my granddaughter,” he said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “She’s family; you can’t keep her from me, Hannah.”

“You haven’t been a part of my family in a long time,” I said, keeping my tone low. “You wanted nothing to do with us. You abandoned us. You have a new family now.”

“You are still my daughter,” he said firmly, and I could see a flash of anger in his eyes.

“Alpha Steven I will ask once more for you to return to the arena with the others,” Sebastian said calmly.

My father looked like there was much more he wanted to say, but he refrained from doing so. He cleared his throat and turned away. I looked up at Sebastian with a thankful smile before heading upstairs to put Wren down for a nap.

…

Sebastian

Evening rolled around quickly, and Gemma would be arriving at the palace soon. He could already smell her scent nearby. He didn’t want Hannah to hear whatever Gemma had to say. These were his memories and the feared only for the worst. Hannah, of course, protested, but then eventually agreed to stay with Wren in her room while Sebastian spoke to Gemma alone. Besides, Hannah had fresh wounds to care for from their evening of training.

Just as Hannah disappeared up the stairs, there was a faint knock on the door. He knew the knock was out of hesitation, and possibly even fear. The doorman opened the door, bringing Gemma into view. She held a small handbag, and she looked uncertain before entering the palace. Then her eyes landed on Sebastian, and she looked even more nervous.

“Thank you for coming,” Sebastian said kindly as he motioned for her to follow him. She stood where she was for a moment, unsure if she should go with him.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she said slowly, keeping her eyes on him.

“You traveled all this way, Gemma,” he said. “There must be a reason for that.”

She looked like she wanted to say something but thought against it. She finally walked behind Sebastian until they reached the living room.

“Please, take a seat,” he said, as he sat in a chair. She hesitantly sat on the couch, crossing her legs in front of her, and setting her handbag beside her.

“I’m sorry to say that I can’t restore your memory,” she said. “But I can tell you everything I remember of that night.”