He hurried to Bell’s side, staring down at him and feeling as if his world was about to crumble. His face was ghostly white and his lips a dull grayish color that made him sick. Was he dead? He couldn’t be. What have those bastards done? Pandemonium went on around them, but all he could focus on was his mate. Alek bent down and buried his face deep in the side of Bell’s throat, pressing his lips against his mark, praying to the Mother for a miracle. He barely felt Bell’s faint pulse. He was slipping away. Alek’s panic and anguish made his chest rumble and the air shimmer around him. The king’s guards kept a wide arc around the table. His brother and sister joined him, their massive wolves eliminating any threat that tried to get close. Alek was so glad they were there. Farica sent a burst of comfort towards him, all while she watched Mac’s six as he leaped four feet into the air, catching a vampire mid-attack.
Alek let that comfort in, allowing Wrath to feel it as well. They were both extremely disappointed in Wolf for tearing them apart, but he and Wrath were still one. Wolf became desolate as he listened to Bell’s pulse get weaker and weaker. Stay with us, Wolf. But all they heard was quiet moans deep inside them.
Wrath sent a surge of heat and dominance to Alek that made him leap onto the table, his feet landing on either side of Bell’s body. He kneeled over his mate and tore the remaining shreds of Bell’s shirt away, grimacing when he saw the skin around the blade was purple and a moldy green. The very visible blood vessels were tinged oil-black from the poison, which was spreading fast. Wrath saw red and turned his fiery gaze on the one he recognized from the video. The leader. The one who had done this.
“Alessandro, we have to retreat now or we won’t have a rebellion left. We know what we’re up against now. The new ones aren’t ready for this. We need a new strategy!” someone yelled in the rebel-conqueror’s ear. Alessandro met and returned Wrath’s glare, then flashed in the opposite direction to the tunnels opening to a back stairwell.
Wrath wanted to chase them and send them all to the depths of hell for what they’d done, but Bell didn’t have precious seconds to waste. Alek was glad Wrath didn’t leave him. He felt the demigod’s fury and rage, held it tight within them, controlled it, and this time the power didn’t frighten him. He gripped the massive chains, reared back and released a deafening cry that shook the walls around them. He kept his mind wrapped around Wrath’s and together they yanked on the chains and snapped the links in two, sending metal pieces flying, doing that with each one until Bell was free.
Alek wrapped one hand around the blade of the sword and closed his eyes.
“Careful brother, it’s poisoned,” Mac hurried to say.
Alek concentrated. He shook slightly when Wrath sent a bolt of flames to his hands that disintegrated the sword and handle to ashes. The heat singed the wound, causing Bell to release a startled wail before falling unconscious again.
“My Lord. The tomb is secure. The reserves have moved in and detained some of the insurgents, for interrogation. But I am afraid the leader got away,” one of the king’s guard reported to Ramon.
“Let the troops know we’re going to rendezvous at the safe house. The Lord High can’t fly in this condition,” Ramon directed.
Alek didn’t argue that. Wrath agreed. Bell was just clinging to life. They needed to get him somewhere where he could feed him. Alek hefted Bell into his arms and bounded off the table. “How close is that? We have no time.” Alek’s heart beat wildly. What if they’d done all this for nothing? Come all this way just for his mate to die in his arms. Wolf lifted his muzzle and howled miserably inside.
“Just a couple miles north of here at the base of the falls. It’s empty. It’s where the guards stay during long shift rotations,” Ramon answered.
“I’ll see you there. Make sure no one comes in the room with me and my mate. Clear?” Alek told the Lord Protector, and everyone who could hear him.
“We have healers that—”
Alek didn’t hear anything else because Wrath shot them up two floors, out of the belly of the hill, through the tunnel’s narrow opening and into the brisk night air, making a beeline for the path that’d led them there. Alek blinked, urging his mind to keep up. He ran faster than he thought imaginable with Bell tucked closely to his chest, cradled in his arms like a newborn child. Wrath’s eyes glowed bright enough that he saw everything. Nocturnal wildlife scattered out of their way as he ran in the direction Ramon had told him. He was being followed by his siblings and a few of the guards, but they weren’t keeping pace with him.