Chapter 6
AXEL
Balancing precariously on a step stool, he reached for a leather case on the top shelf.
It was a canister, and when he finally grabbed hold of the thing, he twisted off the cap as he leapt down to the floor.
Inside was a map of the Underground. He could have looked at one in various books, but this map was large and would span the entire work table across the room from the desk.
Axel carefully unrolled it, placing weights in the shapes of skulls on the corners, and then he stood over it, studying the thing.
This was Theon’s place, not his. Theon could stare at a map for hours, days even, and when he finally came out of his scholarly stupor, he’d have a fully formed plan.
Axel knew that would never be the case for him.
He could study this thing all he wanted, maybe even come up with some half-formed plan, but in the end, he operated more on instinct.
It had served him well as he’d navigated the Underground for his father.
He wasn’t entirely sure why he was contemplating changing tactics now.
Probably because he’d implied the Underground was his kingdom and had all but started a war for it.
Fucking reckless, but there was no going back. He refused to pledge fealty to Bree, and he’d seen the way she’d looked at Kat. Or, more precisely, at Kat’s belly.
While trying to formulate a plan had certainly been part of the reason he’d come to this study today, it wasn’t the only one.
His rations were low. Too low. Pretty much depleted.
He’d never thought it necessary to keep a large stock.
He could have gotten blood anywhere in the Underground until Bree had struck the first blow before he’d even realized it.
She’d come to his home that day already having cleaned out the blood suppliers.
This was different from when he’d needed the blood to fill his power reserves.
Blood was needed to survive now. He wasn’t entirely sure what happened when a vampyre went too long without, but he wasn’t too keen on finding out.
He’d already experienced the craze of bloodlust. If it was even close to that, he couldn’t risk it.
If it was worse than that, he couldn’t fathom it.
But his mouth was already starting to feel too dry.
He’d been limiting himself, and he was feeling the effects of it.
His senses were heightened even more than a Legacy’s, particularly when it came to smell.
He could scent Kat’s blood from the floor above, and it made him grip the table so tightly his knuckles were white.
He’d finish off his rations in the next day or two, and then what the fuck was he going to do?
Stretching his neck from side to side, he tried to ward off the need to feed.
How did Night Children learn to control this anyway?
The only time he’d ever felt fully satisfied was when he’d taken far too much from Kat.
Then again, maybe he’d simply been too lost to the bloodlust and the curse.
Too much had been happening in that moment.
Focus.
He needed to focus on what he was going to do.
Picking up a mug of coffee, he studied the map, trying to ignore how the hot liquid was very much not blood. How it wasn’t quenching any thirst or hunger or need. How it was—
Focus.
He set the mug down, swiping up a glass of water instead as he forced himself to study the map.
They were at one end of the Underground.
Bree and the Night Children occupied the Dispensary District on the opposite side.
That left a lot of territory in between and a lot of potential allies that could be swayed either way.
People who had been stuck here for decades.
Centuries even. Many of them hadn’t seen the sun or the sky in just as long.
It was one of the things he was missing most. Fresh air.
The air down here was musty and dry. Not that he could go in the sun anyway. Not anymore.
Focus.
Who did he go to first? He had relations with all the Districts, but that was as an Arius Heir.
Now he was one of them. They might turn on him out of pure spite, and he couldn’t really blame them.
The other three Night Child Houses wouldn’t turn on Bree.
They still hadn’t replaced Henry. Rayell was too entertained by dramatics.
Cade would listen and hear him out, but he would ultimately decline to side with him in the end because the male would see him as a threat to his own position of power.
Which led him back to the remaining territories.
He was on good terms with many Fae in the Apparel District, but they were still Fae who had a grudge against the Legacy.
Again, for good reason. The Shifters in the Leisure District would be ideal.
They were fickle beings who refused to be on the losing side, putting the victory above all else.
Which was good if they were on your side.
It was devastating if they weren’t.
And they always chose carefully to ensure they were on the winning side. Which meant he needed to have other allies already on board before he went to the Alpha and Beta.
Which left the Apothecary District and the Witches.
He would probably have good luck there. His relationship with Cienna had put him on good terms with many of the Witches.
Miara was the leader of the District, and she would be the most logical one to approach.
He couldn’t just keep hiding out in the Charter District, especially with his blood stores nearly depleted.
More than that, he refused to cower before Bree.
“I woke to a cold bed. Again.”
His hand clenched around the water glass as her scent hit him a moment before her voice filled the room.
Carefully, his hand shaking a fraction with the movement, he set the glass back on the table.
He glanced to the doorway, finding Kat standing there.
Her hand resting on her stomach, the babe was growing more every day.
Her coils of black hair were piled on top of her head, and her warm dark skin seemed to glow in the low lighting.
She wore one of his shirts and her own pair of lounge pants with her feet clad in slippers they’d purchased in the Apparel District last week.
Looking back at the map, he gripped the edge of the table. “I slept—”
“I know where you slept, Axel,” she interrupted sharply.
“I would have heard you if you’d needed anything,” he replied, staring at the map but not really seeing it. The territories were all blurring together before him.
“I need a husband who sleeps in my bed with me,” she retorted. “Or was that just a ‘heat of the moment’ thing?”
His head snapped up. “You know that’s not the case, Katya.”
“I clearly do not know that, or I wouldn’t have suggested it,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. The Union Mark on the back of her hand was visible now, and he glanced at his own, along with the onyx band on his finger.
“I’ve given you no reason to doubt my intentions,” he argued, picking up the water glass again. Then he hissed, the glass slipping from his grasp as it became too hot to hold. It hit the floor and shattered, shards of glass flying everywhere and scalding water splattering.
He slowly lifted his gaze back to her. She was glaring at him, not an ounce of remorse on her face.
In fact, he could see the faint flames flickering in her eyes from here, and those were wisps of shadows floating around her, courtesy of the child in her belly.
If he wasn’t riding an edge of his own right now, he’d be gathering her up in his arms. He loved it when she got like this.
Would purposely irritate her because she came out of her shell so much more like this. But now wasn’t the time.
“I’m protecting you, Kat,” he replied. “I’m on the last dregs of rations, and you’re right here.”
She rolled her eyes, and Axel straightened at the action. Did she truly not grasp the severity of this situation?
“You are just like Theon,” she chided. “Thinking you have to do everything yourself. I’m right here, Axel. Instead of talking to me and coming up with a plan together, you—”
He snapped to attention, moving fast and suddenly in front of her.
“Stop doing that,” she gritted out, shoving at his chest. Not that it mattered. He didn’t even stumble.
But he gently took her shoulders, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Someone crossed the wards. They’re on their way up. Stay here. Please.”
“Axel—”
“Please stay here,” he repeated.
Her mouth pressed to a thin line as she held his stare for another few seconds before she looked away from him, dipping her chin in the barest of nods.
“We’ll talk more,” he promised.
But he heard her mutter, “Somehow I doubt that,” as he left her standing in the study doorway.
This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. It wasn’t how anything in his life was supposed to go. Then again, that seemed to be the way of fate for an Arius Heir.
He bounded down the stairs to the main floor, moving to stand several feet from the lift doors.
Security hadn’t called up to ask about allowing someone passage.
So either they forced their way through, or this was someone with unfettered access to the penthouse.
If it was his father, he was fucked. He had no desire to see his mother, but he’d placate her.
If it was Tessa… They weren’t exactly on the best of terms right now, and Theon and Luka had their hands full with her.
In the end, he had no idea who to expect when those lift doors opened, but it certainly wasn’t Theon laden down with arms full of shit.
His brother strode into the room, immediately looking him up and down. Always worried about those he viewed himself responsible for before himself.
Looking beyond him as the lift doors closed, Axel’s brow furrowed. He was alone.