Chapter 143

Hannah

“Liam…” I breathed again; my brother stood before me at the doorway with his boyish grin.

He looked well; he didn’t look like someone who’s been tortured for months, and he didn’t look ill. I found it hard to believe that this wasn’t his actual body and that his body was on our land in a hospital bed decaying as time passed.

My body finally unfroze, and I ran to him, wrapping my arms tightly around him and holding him close to me. My little brother was with me, and he seemed okay.

“I came here looking for you,” I whispered to him. “I didn’t think it would be this easy but I’m so glad to see you.”

I forgot how tall my brother is; he towered over me. I was so used to seeing him lying down. I pulled away from him and held him at arm’s length so I could scan his face and his body.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay,” he answered softly. “This place is really weird though… I can’t explain it. It just… is…”

“We are going to get out of here, Liam,” I assured him. “I promise, I’m not leaving here without you.”

“Leave?” Liam asked blankly. “Why would you want to leave? It’s nice here.”

“Nice?” I asked in disbelief. “Liam, we are in the underworld. It’s not nice here. You are being tortured and don’t try to hide that. I know what’s been going on.”

He frowned and shook his head.

“But they heal me right after,” he explained. “Then I don’t hurt anymore.”

“That’s still not right, Liam,” I told him. “We need to get you back to your body. You’ve been lying in the hospital bed this entire time.”

“But I’m not sick here. I can walk and run and not worry about falling ill or hurting myself. Mr. Xander says that I only have to be tortured until you arrive. Now I don’t have to be tortured anymore because you’re here!”

My heart fell into my stomach at his words. I stared around his face in disbelief; he was serious.

“Mr. Xander?” I asked; it was getting harder to speak with each passing moment. It was like the air was growing hotter. The vampire king brainwashed my brother. Getting him out of here was going to be more difficult than I thought.

I needed to find Sebastian quickly.

Before I had the chance to say anything else, I heard a light knock on the door. I tensed, but Liam didn’t seem to be as worried. The door opened slightly. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting a regular-looking guy to be standing before me. Like the hooded clothing Henry wore, this man also wore a dark hooded coat, but he didn’t have the hood covering his face. He was a tall and muscular-looking gentleman with a gentle face. He had short dark hair and a scar that went across his left cheek, but it wasn’t anything too gruesome. His eyes were a dark brown, they almost looked black, but they weren’t lifeless like I imagined those in the underworld to have.

I could tell just from looking at him that he doesn’t smile often.

“What are you doing in here?” The man asked, narrowing his eyes at Liam. “You had orders to go straight to the dining room.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I just wanted to see my sister…” Liam said, I could see his face reddening slightly as he bowed his head in shame.

Could this man be Xander?

No. He didn’t have a dark enough aura and I wasn’t getting a king vibe from him.

“You don’t want to piss the king off again, do you, Liam?” The stranger asked; his tone seemed dark and threatening. “Remember what happened the last time you disobeyed his orders?”

Liam swallowed the lump in his throat, and he nodded his head. He glanced over at me, trying to give me a brave smile, but I could see in his eyes that he was miserable.

“I’ll see you soon, Hannah,” he said as he left the room.

Now it was just me and the strange man, staring at each other without blinking. I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes at him, waiting for him to speak.

“You need to get dressed,” he muttered, turning away from me. “I’ll wait outside the door.”

“Dressed?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes and pointed at the bed. I completely missed the glistening red dress and matching red heels. Red must have been the color of the underworld; I was sensing a theme.

“Where is my husband?” I asked, turning away from the dress.

“Do I look like I would know that answer? He’s probably with the king.”

“Where’s the king?”

“You’ll see him soon enough,” he answered. “Get dressed.”

He left the room without saying anything more. I stared at the dress for a moment longer. If putting on this dress meant I got to leave this room, then I would have to put it on. I needed to find Sebastian.

I slipped the dress over my head and allowed the silky fabric to flow to the ground. I put the shoes on next. I never liked wearing heels until I became the luna queen; now it feels like I need to wear heels in order to pull off an elegant lifestyle in the palace. I was amazed that this clothing fit me perfectly.

How did they know my size?

I decided not to dwell too much on that and went to the door; I paused before touching the knob, remembering how it was locked the last time I tried to open it. I sucked in a deep breath and opened the door with ease.

The strange man stood before me in the same spot he told me he would be. He looked me over with a look of dismay written all over his face. I wondered what he was thinking. Maybe it was because I didn’t do my hair and makeup. He didn’t honestly expect me to dress up for this occasion, did he?

“Come on,” he muttered, turning away from me and walking down the narrow hall.

I might have been in my old bedroom, but I certainly wasn’t in my old house. This hall was lit by lanterns; the walls were maroon and matched the maroon rug we walked on. There were multiple doors, including the door to my room. I only assumed these doors lead to other rooms maybe like mine. It was like a nicely decorated prison.

“So, are you like his footman or something?” I asked as we continued to walk through the halls and around different corners.

“Something like that,” he muttered.

“What’s your name?”

He was quiet for a moment; I didn’t think he was going to answer me.

“Gabe,” he finally answered.

“Well, Gabe, where exactly are we? Where are you taking me?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” he said as he continued to walk in front of me.

I wasn’t going to get any answers out of him. I tried to channel my senses for Sebastian again, but I was getting nothing. I clenched my fists to my sides; it was taking everything I had not to shove him away and make a run for it. But I had no idea where I was, and I would certainly get lost if I tried to do that. I just had to hope that wherever Gabe was taking me Sebastian would be there too.

He stopped in front of a large set of doors before he pushed it open. Inside was a large dining hall with numerous different people standing around and talking amongst one another. Some servants wore dark cloaks but kept their hoods down like Gabe, who was setting the large table in the center of the hall.

I could smell the food cooking in the nearby kitchen; I didn’t think they ate normal food in the underworld.

I saw Liam nearby as well and I felt a sudden relief seeing my brother again.

“The king will be here shortly,” he told me, sounding disinterested. “Until then, you may mingle.”

I rolled my eyes at him and went straight to my brother.

“Liam…” I breathed. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

“Mr. Xander wanted to have a formal dinner to welcome you,” he said, keeping his eyes on me. “I’m not sure why though. He didn’t say.”

“Have you seen Sebastian? I can’t sense him.”

Liam frowned and shook his head.

I went to say something more, but then I heard a voice coming from behind me.

“Hannah?”

I turned and my entire body froze; I felt my heart sinking into the ground and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

“Mom?”