“The fact that their marriage wasn’t for love speaks in his favor,” I mutter.
“King Ruel foresaw that Manu wouldn’t cross the portal. He?—”
“Wait?” I lift my hand, interrupting him. “Rikkon’s father has visions of the future too?”
“Yes, Rikkon inherited that trait from him.”
“What happened?” Ronan asks, getting us back on track.
“He instructed Telar to apprehend Manu and bring her to him.”
“What for?” I ask, not that I worry too much about that female. She’s a backstabbing bitch who made Karl suffer for centuries and somehow implicated Ronan in her schemes.
“King Ruel has found a way to strip Queen Maewe of her power, but he needs a special object to do it. Your friends are on a mission to retrieve that object.”
“And they agreed to help, just like that?” Ronan arches a brow.
Castiel shifts in his seat, and his jaw tightens before he answers, “There weren’t given a choice.”
I curl my hands into fists, closing my eyes for a second. Karl would do anything to help his mate, even go on a dangerous mission. I have no illusions that this object King Ruel wants is easy to find or he would have already done it.
“The fact that he coerced Manu and Karl to do his bidding doesn’t raise any red flags in your mind?” Ronan asks in a dangerously low tone. “How can you trust his reign will be better than Queen Maewe’s?”
Castiel leans forward, his eyes narrowing. “Who says King Ruel will be the next ruler?”
I sit straighter, all my muscles tensing. “If he isn’t, then who?”
“The Aquila Kingdom has two heirs.”
He means Vivi and Rikkon, but neither has any desire to return to Ellnesari.
“They don’t want the crown,” Ronan retorts.
“I know, and that’s precisely why we must make sure one of them becomes the next ruler of Aquila. The survival of the vampire race depends on it.”
Forty-Three
KARL
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
My head is pounding, and my mouth is unbearably dry. I haven’t slept a minute since we were captured by Queen Maewe. I’m in a small, windowless pitch-black prison cell. There isn’t a bed or even a cot on the cold ground. I can’t tell how long I’ve been here. I can smell nothing save for my own scent, and no one has come in what feels like an eternity. I haven’t eaten anything or drunk any water either. Dehydration will become a problem soon, but it’s the constant buzzing in my ears that’s driving me crazy. It’s like there’s a bee inside my skull.
The worst torture is not feeling Manu anymore. It’s like my connection to her was severed. I know she isn’t dead, because I’m still alive, but it worries me sick that I can’t feel her. Queen Maewe hates her, and I can’t imagine what she’s doing to Manu.
I already tried shifting to see if, in my wolf form, I would have a better sense of where I am, but the noise in my ears became worse, so I shifted back to my human form.
I’m about to lose my mind when hinges creak loudly and a sliver of light penetrates my prison cell. The buzzing in my head finally stops, which means I can shift.
“Don’t get any ideas, wolf. If you shift, your mate dies,” the guard I can’t quite see warns me.
“Where is she?”
“Turn around and put your hands flat against the wall.”
Fat chance of that happening. I charge the male instead, banking on catching him off guard. But I don’t make it far before I’m hit by an electric blast that flings me backward. I hit the far wall, and before I even drop to the ground, my mouth is filled with blood. The pain is excruciating, and it seems to go on forever.
Eventually, the shock waves reverberating through my body stop, but I can’t move. I can’t speak. My muscles are like pudding, and my tongue is thick in my mouth.
