8. Nathan

Chapter 8

Nathan

I jolted awake with a silent gasp. A pang of panic rang through my body. My back and shoulders ached, and it only took a second to figure out why. Someone had suspended me from the ceiling with a braided rope tied around my wrists. Not just any rope, one spelled by the fae not to break. I'd seen them several times throughout my long life and had never met anyone who could free themselves.

Plain white walls covered the large room surrounding me, and white tiled floors were beneath my bare feet. I hung in the middle of the room. I could barely touch the floor–not enough to alleviate the strain on my shoulders. Someone had stripped off my shirt, belt, shoes, and socks, leaving me in the same slacks I'd worn to our meeting.

Where was I? The last thing I remembered was telling Damon to assist Kenrid with whatever conflict Brance had stirred up. No, that wasn't the last thing. A hazy memory emerged of Brance approaching just before I stepped into the elevator. Then someone's palm bracing against the back of my neck.

I'd watched Kenrid put enough people to sleep to understand what that meant.

I'd let down my guard and paid the price. The damned fae had knocked me out and brought me here. The cowards had deliberately lured Damon away from me, knowing that the demon could easily stop them. I should've known that Brance would pull a stunt like this. He'd made his discontent clear after our meeting. No one appreciates being called a liar, especially the fae, who technically cannot lie.

I'd told everyone else to be careful and failed to follow my own warning. I was an idiot not to see this coming. My lack of attention to my surroundings would hurt more than just me. I had an entire clan depending on me to make good decisions, and I'd completely failed them.

Even worse, the telltale exhaustion that came with the morning's sun was quickly draining my strength. In another half hour, I wouldn't be able to fight against my captors.

"Nathan?"

My head jerked toward the voice to my right. It sounded vaguely like Kenrid. My body swung with the movement, and the muscles in my shoulders screamed in agony. The pain didn't compare to the sight of my lieutenant. They'd wrapped him in chains, laid him out spread-eagle on his back, and locked his hands and feet to bolts embedded in the floor.

He wore only a pair of slacks, making it easy to see the dark bruises on his pale skin and the burn marks from what must have been iron chains. Iron. The only thing that would truly weaken and effectively contain the fae.

The tiny bird on Kenrid's chest—Lorna's mark—fluttered its wings, almost like it, too, endured his pain. Kenrid's eyes pleaded with me, but I had no idea what he wanted or what he thought I could do about our situation.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Where are we?"

"There are a dozen listening spells throughout the room," he replied, and I was immediately grateful for the warning. "We're at one of Alyssa's rental homes. This room is typically used for entertainment, not torture."

"Lovely. Do you know why we're here?"

Kenrid's eyes slid to his left. I followed his gaze to the door on the far wall. Was someone on the other side of the door? I couldn't sense anyone, which meant the fae had wrapped the room in more than just listening spells.

"They intend to deliver me to my parents," Kenrid replied, dragging my attention back to him. "They insist I have found my fated mate and that the queen should know about it."

Which would not bode well for Kenrid or Lorna. I didn't want to be right about Lorna's show of affection for him, but I'd suspected it. She couldn't be near him without touching his arm or leaning into his space.

"What makes them think you've found your mate?" I asked, playing along with Kenrid's conversation. He had to have a reason for talking about this.

He tapped his chin on his chest. "Damon has the same mark."

My eyes widened. Of course. Damon didn't hide his mate's mark; he'd even boasted about it several times, just to solidify his claim. Had Brance seen Kenrid's mark and jumped to the conclusion that Lorna was Kenrid's mate, too. Brance and Alyssa weren't stupid enough to ignore that. But I couldn't say that. I couldn't ask any other questions, not with the listening spells.

"What do they hope to accomplish by having me here?" I asked instead.

Kenrid closed his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line. A faint trace of his magic lifted into the air, but it didn't last. I was shocked that he was able to reach his magic at all with the amount of iron burning his skin. He sighed but didn't open his eyes. Whatever he was trying to do wouldn't work, but I had to admire his efforts.

"They intend to use me as bait to lure Lorna here, then prove that their theory about her is correct," he whispered.

A gasp rippled up my throat, but I snapped my mouth shut. I couldn't react to his statement with anything other than derision and disbelief. I couldn't let the fae think I was worried about them discovering a hidden truth. No matter how much I wanted to panic, I couldn't. There was too much at stake.

If the fae discovered for certain what Lorna was, they would lock her in a cage and start their experiments all over again. The only way to get her back would be to reveal the fae's plans to imprison the vampires to feed the dhampir army they wanted to create. War would engulf both realms. None of the supernatural families wanted the fae to rule over them. Hell, we didn't want anyone ruling over us. My clan was the only example of cooperation.

And why would the fae want a war, anyway? What could they possibly gain by controlling Earth? Maybe I was making the wrong assumptions. What if Earth wasn't their target? Just because it was the most important realm to me, didn't make it the most important.

I didn't know, and hanging from the ceiling in Alyssa's home wouldn't get me answers. Or would it? Did Brance know the queens' intentions? Hopefully the fae prick would show up while I was still coherent enough to ask questions.

No matter what happened, we couldn't let them get their hands on Lorna. Damon would burn all the realms to retrieve his mate. I'd happily fight by his side. As I'd told Lorna the day before, I'd given in to fate. I'd accepted that she might be my soulmate. I never dreamed it would be possible for a vampire, but Lorna was special. She demonstrated so much self-control—possibly more than my own. I was determined to find a way to make her mine without trading blood.

I just had to get out of this mess first.

With a snarl, I tucked all my emotions away and let my monster rise to the surface. "They're idiots. Lorna has no way of finding you. Damon would never allow her to come here, regardless. The fae will face the wrath of my demon brother and Elliott's allies."

Determination burned away my pain, and my vampire fully emerged. I would not let these entitled pricks ruin everything I'd worked so hard to accomplish. It wasn't like they even had a good reason to destroy my life.

During my meeting with the fae, Brance and Alyssa had informed me that they'd convinced the other exiled fae that they could return to Fairie. Which was absurd! Everyone knew that once someone was exiled from Fairie, they couldn't go back. It wasn't just the royal families saying, ‘ Get out! ' The magic of the realm prevented re-entry. I'd said as much to them. They didn't appreciate my comments.

I had no idea how they thought they'd get Kenrid home.

"Ah, you're awake."

Brance's voice made me spin around. I hadn't even heard him come in, but there he was, standing in the open doorway Kenrid had pointed out a few minutes ago. I snarled at him, making no attempt to reign in my monster.

"Has your cute little dhampir seen this side of you?" Brance asked, closing the door and strolling toward me. "I can't imagine she'll find it attractive." He stopped several paces away and curled his lip. "Or maybe she will. She's obviously attracted to the demon, who is even more of a monster."

I hissed, but that was the only response he would get from me. I knew he was baiting me. Yes, I was angry, but I wasn't stupid. I wouldn't let myself get drawn into a pointless argument and reveal something we'd all regret .

Brance slipped his hands into his pockets and frowned. "Nothing to say? No questions about how you got here or for what purpose?"

I snarled again but refused to speak.

"I see," Brance said, pivoting on his heel and heading toward Kenrid. "Our dear prince is much stronger than I gave him credit for. I knew he held many secrets, but I didn't anticipate the strength of his magic." Brance stopped a few inches from Kenrid's torso and looked down at him. "Even now, I can feel his magic. The amount of iron covering his body should leave him as helpless as a newborn human."

"I will kill you for this treachery," Kenrid snapped.

Brance flinched. He must have felt the promise in Kenrid's words just as clearly as I had. I also knew that Kenrid held his secrets close. He'd been with me for over thirty years before he revealed his role in the fae experiments with the dhampir. If we hadn't found Lorna, I doubted he ever would have told me.

Had I also underestimated his power, though? I knew no one could match Kenrid's wards. I also knew how intelligent he was. Did he have more magic? If so, why did he hide it? Or was it something new because of his connection to Lorna?

"You'll do nothing," Brance said, interrupting my line of thought. "As soon as your mate arrives, we'll have all the proof we need for the Winter Queen to allow us back into Fairie. You'll be delivered to the Summer Court and promptly killed, and I will be known as the one who reinvigorated our research with the dhampir. We'll create the perfect weapon and rule as we were always meant to rule."

I laughed. Brance was a complete idiot! I'd just asked myself why the fae wanted a war, but hearing Brance's cult-like monologue made the whole scheme sound utterly ridiculous. Surely the queens had not fallen into the ‘I want to rule the universe' delusion, right?

Brance whipped around and pointed a long, bony finger at me. A bolt of lightning darted across the room and slammed into my chest. My body went rigid, every single muscle screaming in agony from the jolt of electricity surging through me. I bit my tongue and blood filled my mouth.

"Laugh all you want!" Brance bellowed. "Your kind will be the fuel for our army. I'll force you to sire every single vampire we enslave."

The thought of being forced to sire a generation of slaves hurt worse than the magic threatening to stop my heart. I would die before I allowed that to happen.

Thankfully, Brance's phone rang. He stopped his assault on me and answered the call.

"What?"

I reveled in the seconds that followed. My body sagged with relief, but I knew it wouldn't last. Especially when Brance's scowl turned into a feral grin.

"Very good, Alyssa. We'll see you in a few minutes."

Brance ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket. "Your dhampir is on her way. Let's get you ready for her arrival."

My skin crawled as I watched Brance cross the room. He pressed his hand against the wall and a door slid open. I would've been amazed by the hidden room if Brance hadn't emerged with a long, serrated knife.

Panic replaced my unease. He was going to bring Lorna into the room with a bleeding vampire.