Chapter 144

Sebastian

“Where’s Hannah?” Sebastian demanded to know.

“All you need to know is that she’s safe,” Xander said, his tone darkening. “If you knew what was good for you, you would leave here now.”

“I’m not leaving without her. Bring her to me.”

“I’m afraid she’s busy right now,” he chuckled. “But as I said, she’s perfectly safe. My servants have orders to keep her protected at all costs.”

“What is it you want with her?”

“I think you know exactly what it is I want,” Xander answered. “Once I’m in complete control of both our territories, I’m going to need a queen to rule with me. That’s where the lovely Hannah comes to play.”

Sebastian felt fury rising through his body. There was no doubt that if he had his wolf, he would have lost control by now.

“I seem to have taken a liking to her as I watched her interactions with my servant boy Henry. She’s feisty and strong. She’s exactly the woman I need by my side.”

Sebastian knew that Hannah would never be swayed by the likes of the vampire king. He would have laughed at the very thought if he wasn’t so infuriated. He needed to find her and get her out of there; but to do that, he was going to need his wolf back. He is powerless against Xander without control of his wolf. He was treading on the unfamiliar territory; a territory that didn’t belong to him.

“This isn’t going to end well for you, Xander,” Sebastian threatened.

Xander turned away.

“If you’ll excuse me, your majesty,” Xander said sarcastically. “I have a date to attend.”

Sebastian glanced over at his wolf as his blood continued to boil. To his surprise, one of Erik’s eyes opened and was looking at him.

He was awake.

…

Hannah

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing standing before me. My mother wore a maroon dress which resembled my red dress. Her light brown hair was much longer than I remembered it being and she had life filling her features.

This couldn’t be real. My mother died years ago.

“I never thought I would see you again…” she breathed as she rushed toward me.

She was about my height; I remembered when I was young, I always thought of her as so tall. She wrapped her arms around me, enclosing me in her warm and tight embrace. She smelled of cherries; a scent that I could easily melt into. She didn’t look depressed, sad, or scared. She just looked like my mom. My carefree, funning-loving, mom.

“How are you here?” I asked, feeling a steady stream of tears leaving my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t try to,” she said, placing a hand on each side of my head so she can take a long look at me. “I’m just so glad to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”

My heart squeezed painfully for her; she must have been here since the day she died. A life she thought she was escaping, ended up trapping her in a place filled with torture and misfortune. This wasn’t fair. How could the moon goddess allow this to happen to her?

“Mom…” I breathed, still not believing she was standing before me. “I thought you were dead…”

She looked sad for a moment; she glanced over at Liam who was watching us from a distance. I knew they must have already had their reunion. Maybe this was why he liked it here so much; maybe this was how the vampire king brainwashed him.

“I am,” she said, looking back at me. “I slit my wrists with a dagger that has been poisoned. I didn’t know it until it was too late, but my soul was trapped in the underworld.”

“Why didn’t you try to get out?”

“Of course, I tried,” she answered slowly. “But it was too late. My body was far too gone for me to return. I had no form to return to. I was stuck…”

“So, you’ve been here this whole time? Being tortured by the vampire king?”

“After a while, the torturing stops. It became my new normal. And it can be yours too, Hannah. We are together again. The three of us…” she reached her hand out for Liam to grab.

He came over to us and gave me a small grin; my mother held onto both of our hands and squeezed them tightly.

“We are finally together again as a family, and nothing can tear us apart. We can live here, and we can be happy. This can be our normal…”

“No,” I said pulling away from her; she looked surprised. “This isn’t my normal. I have a life that I love. I have a husband that I adore and a daughter that I can’t bare to live without. She’s waiting for me at home, and I need to get back to her. I’m only here to get my brother out and to get my wolf back…”

Her eyes widened as she looked up at Liam; she looked back at me and narrowed her eyes.

“He doesn’t want to leave. He’s happy here… he’s…”

“Being tortured daily…” I said firmly. “He’s being tortured. My husband, Sebastian, has been linked to him and can feel what he feels.”

“You don’t understand; he’s only being tortured to get you here sooner,” my mom said.

There was no way she was okay with this; she wouldn’t want this for her children. It was making me question if she really was my mother.

“Hannah… please try to understand…”

“I do understand,” I told her. “I understand that you aren’t on our side. I can’t stay here. I need to find Sebastian and I’m taking Liam with me. He still has a chance at life. His body is being kept safe on our land.”

I grabbed onto Liam’s arm and pulled him along with me; he reluctantly followed but I could feel his hesitation. He didn’t want to come with me, but he also didn’t want to go against me. I hated how conflicted he felt, but this was for his own good. I needed to get him out of here. I needed to find Sebastian.

I shoved through the small crowd of guests who were paying no attention to me. There was a door on the far side of the room that I knew would probably be locked. But I needed to try anyway; just as I was about to grab the knob to turn it, the door swung open.

Standing before me was a tall gentleman wearing one of those shadow cloaks everyone else seems to be wearing. Accept his hood was up and his face wasn’t visible to me. He was the tallest of everyone I’d seen there, and his build was almost as strong as Sebastian’s. His aura was also chilling and dark.

I took a step back; he didn’t need to introduce himself for me to know who he was.

“Leaving so soon?” He asked.

“Xander…” I said, keeping my eyes locked on his hidden face.

He reached up and tugged at his hood until it fell, revealing to me his face. His long, sleek, jet-black hair ran over his shoulders, and he had one side tucked neatly behind his ear. His narrow face structure was also very muscular. His eyes were dark with a golden tint around his pupils. I could definitely tell he was the vampire king.

“You can’t leave without joining us for a feast,” he said loudly so everyone could hear.

The entire dining hall had fallen silent; he offered me his arm, which I refused. He gave me a smug smile as he led me toward the dining table. He, of course, sat at the head of the table. He motioned for the seat beside his. I couldn’t help but look at the door I was so close to escaping through. I knew there was no use in escaping, not without my wolf. I wouldn’t be fast enough in comparison to the vampire king.

“Let the feast begin!” He announced, clapping his hands twice.

Servants began piling into the dining hall from the kitchen with platters of food that they began serving in front of us. One of the servants poured me a glass of red liquid. I stared at the glass, wondering if it was blood or wine.

My mother had a glass as well and she sipped it slowly, looking over at me with a worried expression. Liam sat beside her, waiting for his food to be served. I wondered how often they fed him while he was here.

Xander kept his eyes on me, and he gave me a faint smile.

“Eat up,” he said, once the food was finished being served. “You’ll need your energy, my bride.”