With clipped tones, the witch told him of the fight witnessed, and Lachlan realized with a sense of shock that Tehdra El Kyn, sister to his good friend Drac had bonded with her demon beast. For her to have revealed herself in Nuria, someone precious to her would have been threatened. Her mission had been one of pivotal secrecy to uncover who in the Kingdom of Eternal fire plotted to murder their shadow king—Gidon Al Shra, and to prevent any assassination attempts on the Nurian King by Dark
ans.
It was imperative Lachlan returned to the Darkage. A meeting needed to be convened with the war council. The Emperor’s action could not be allowed to stand. “Are there more Darkans being experimented on?”
She swallowed. “There are three captives in the dungeon.”
“Do you know how to access the dungeon?”
“I do not. It is enchanted.”
He considered her unable to detect if she spoke the truth. “In what manner?”
“I do not know. It is rumored a coven of witches designed the spell for the emperor. After they bestowed on him the words and the talisman, he had them slaughtered.”
Such a ruthless move sounded like the emperor. Lachlan withdrew his dagger.
The witch’s eyes widened with shock. “You are going to kill me.”
“You are a weapon of Mevia, one used to kidnap and torture my people for the power housed inside them. As an enforcer for my king, I judge you guilty. You are a weapon that cannot be allowed existence.”
She jerked, paling even further. “If you kill me, Emperor Khan will replace me by dawn. What will you do then, eliminate all witches from Amagarie?”
“I felt your power witch as you tried to read my chakra. Only a few have your strength. I believe you will not be so readily replaced.”
“I am a white witch, and there are more powerful witches than I am. The Emperor has a few red witches in his army,” she said, desperation throbbing in her voice.
At his lack of response, her eyes glistened with enraged tears, and she demanded, “Will you kill the princess too? Or is it only witches who are expendable?”
“She will die.” The words were cold and implacable.
The witch backed away, going as far as to hop onto her bed, the thin mattress sinking below her weight. She shrugged the quilt from her shoulders, tensing to defend her life. She waited, her breath sawing from her throat, and Lachlan considered imprisonment for the sake of the babe she carried.
“By the laws of the Darkage, you cannot bring me harm. I am with child and...and....” She took a deep, steady breath. “My child belongs to the realm of demons and shadows.”
For a timeless moment, Lachlan could not breathe. “Who is your mate?”
She flushed. “I have no mate,” she said firmly. “But the father of my child is a Darkan.”
“And who is this Darkan?”
Fear and doubt clouded her gaze before she lowered her lids. It amused him to see a blush climbing her cheeks. “I met him at the Inn. I do not know his name. It was only…it was only the one night.”
No Darkan would bed his mate and then allow her from his sight.
“You know nothing of him?”
“No.” And her blush became redder.
He arched a brow. “Then I can only surmise you lie, witch.”
Her eyes flashed. “They called him Hunter, and he wore an amulet with the king’s sigil.”
Lachlan’s muscles locked. She carried the child of Ramiel Hunter, the leader of the small band of warlords of the Darkage. A man who was solitary and wished for no ties as he executed one of the most hated tasks of being the judge and executioner for the Senjis—those who had lost their sanity to their demons and fallen under its bloodthirsty control.
It was possible Ramiel had known the witch was with child and walked away. It was rumored a Darkan could sense the moment of conception. And Ramiel was one of the most merciless of their kind, called an abomination by those with little tolerance because he housed two demon beasts. It was possible he had walked away because she would become his weakness, and the enemy would know it and move to secure her at all cost. And the damn hunter had more enemies than a sea with sand. And if the witch were his mate, and she was taken, killed, then he could become the very thing that he hunted. An outcome his enemies would rejoice in. If the emperor knew the powerful bargaining chip he held, he would try to bend the hunter to his will.
They stared at each other, and the fear in her eyes left a vile taste in Lachlan’s mouth. He lowered his eyes to her stomach, for the first time wishing he had access to his beast. Then he would be able to touch her stomach and feel if the child had a demon beast. Power would have bowed to power and darkness to darkness.