Chapter 8 Lennox
LENNOX
It had been three days since Adreona had dropped Nol into my cell. We had been left alone for a few hours before he was abruptly ripped from my room and I hadn’t seen him since.
Not long afterward, I was drugged so we could move to another location.
We were moving more and more frequently these days.
Usually when we moved Adreona didn’t call on me for several days while everyone got settled, but we had been in the new location for less than a day when she summoned me.
My hands were chained in front of me once again, the magic-enhanced cuffs rubbing against my wrists as Nakul led me to Adreona’s new office.
I had learned one thing since my capture: my cell was the only room spelled against magic, which is why they insisted on the cuffs anytime they took me to Adreona.
I didn’t know how Adreona possessed such magic, it had to be the work of a witch.
But if she had a witch at her disposal, why did she need me?
If only I could find a way out of the cuffs—with my back now healed, I spent my spare moments wracking my brain for any ideas as to how Nol and I would escape.
I had to get him out of here.
The only furniture in Adreona’s new office was a desk and the chair she sat on, the rest of the room remained empty. I expected to find Nol waiting for me with her; surely, she’d start using him as motivation for me to cooperate now that she’d revealed her newest weapon against me.
But it wasn’t Nol standing next to Adreona.
“Lorenzo,” I seethed.
Part of me wasn’t surprised to find Luka’s uncle standing beside the head of the Panateia. His dark hair was pulled half back, hiding the gray stands, and emphasizing the sharp lines of his face. His pitless black eyes bore into mine. They were a perfect match to Adreona’s.
“Lennox,” he drawled, his voice was like oil on my skin. “What a surprise to find you here.”
“I doubt that,” I seethed. “I should have known you were involved in all this. You and Arlo.”
Lorenzo chuckled. “There are a lot of things you don’t know, Lennox.”
“So tell me,” I bit out. I looked between Lorenzo and Adreona, “If you’re making me work for you the least you owe me is an explanation.”
Adreona laughed. “Working for me is a stretch, don’t you think? You’ve yet to do a thing for me.”
I turned my attention to Luka’s uncle. “Tell me.”
He looked to Adreona, and she sighed. “We won’t be leaving her alive.” She waved a hand dismissively. “If you want to talk, then talk.”
She rolled her eyes as Lorenzo rubbed his hands together. “It is quite the story, and I never get to share it. Secrecy and all.”
I really fucking hated him.
“Did Luka ever tell you of his cousin who went missing?”
“He did, your daughter, Este.”
A muscle feathered in his jaw. “Yes, my precious daughter, she was all I had after my wife died. My dear Este went missing one day, never to be found again. We searched for her for months with no avail, not even a clue as to what happened to her. My father declared her dead after six months and everyone stopped looking, but I never did.” He rounded Adreona’s desk to sit perched on the front.
“Some might say it became an obsession, but I was a father searching for his daughter. I would not stop until I discovered the truth.”
The list of disappearances we found in Arlo’s office, Luka had been correct about the connection. But it didn’t sound like Lorenzo knew his father was looking into the disappearances, that Arlo didn’t think Este’s disappearance was a one-time occurrence. But what did any of this have to do with me?
“For years I searched, until several years ago, my father told me of reports of an ancient vampire rebel group resurfacing. The Vanir were leaving victims dead across the Blood Court. I thought for certain it had to be them who were responsible for Este’s death.
I tracked them for months. I learned their habits and routines until I was able to break into one of their camps.
But my plan failed, they caught me and held me for ransom against my father.
He paid a hefty sum to free me and insisted I stop looking or it would cost me my life.
” Had the Vanir threatened Arlo? Why would he tip Lorenzo off to the Vanir just to tell him to stop looking into it?
“But I couldn’t stop. I had to find answers. So I went back to the Vanir, this time I walked in their front door, and told them what I wanted. They promised me information on Este, but I had to do something for them in return.”
A slow, cruel smile crept up his face. “They had gotten intel that someone had the information about a spell that could reverse vampirism.”
The breath stilled in my lungs. There was no way—he couldn’t have known my father had that information. I swallowed, trying to quell the panic climbing up my throat and the pit growing in my stomach. “So you went searching for the spell?”
His gaze narrowed in on me as he smiled cruelly. “I didn’t need to search for it, someone else had already found it for me. I just had to retrieve it.”
My stomach clenched. I knew there was a reason I never trusted Lorenzo.
“You helped the Vanir kill my parents,” I said through the lump in my throat.
“I only let them in the front door.”
“How?” I choked out. It hadn’t been Arlo after all, it was Lorenzo. I should have fucking known.
“An old friend of mine worked on the Star Court Royal Guard. All it took was a generous bribe, and he let the Vanir in—opened the front gate.” Who?
When I got out of here, I’d question them all, find the traitor in their mix.
I’d gut them. No wonder our enemies were getting in so easily—they were being let in.
“They weren’t supposed to kill your parents, that was an added bonus.”
“And taking Nol?” I choked out.
“They were going to kill him, but they realized after killing your parents having the new High King as a captive would be beneficial to them.” His nose scrunched. “We were all disappointed to learn the power descended on you instead. So we had to shift our plans.”
“The Vanir and Panateia have always been at odds,” Adreona interjected.
“The Vanir didn’t want vampires eradicated as we did, but when Dhampirs continued to infiltrate their camps, we struck a deal.
They knew I was in need of a witch and since the documents your father had gathered were nearly pointless, they gave us your brother in exchange for protection from our Dhampirs.
That’s why Dhampirs have made their way into the cities in the last couple of years; we had no place to put them anymore. ”
I turned my attention back to Lorenzo. “What does this all have to do with Este?”
“After I helped the Vanir into the palace, they directed me to the Panateia; the Vanir suspected it was a Dhampir who killed Este. But it was Adreona who told me it was a vampire in blood lust that killed Este, they found her body, drained of blood, in the woods outside Cel Nox.”
“Poor Lorenzo was devastated when I told him it wasn’t a Dhampir after all, but a bloodthirsty vampire that took his precious daughter, like my partner was taken from me. With little convincing, Lorenzo joined our fight.”
I slid my gaze to Adreona, I didn’t believe a word from her lips. If it was a vampire that killed Este, why didn’t Lorenzo find her body before the Panateia when he had been searching for her so mercilessly?
“Anyways, Lorenzo is now a large supporter of our organization,” Adreona continued.
“Does Arlo know what you’re doing? What you aim to accomplish?”
Lorenzo scoffed, “My father caught wind of a large amount of coin I was taking to support the Panateia, when I explained to him what it was for I thought he’d want to join, avenge his granddaughter.
But no, all he cared about was the impact this would have on Luka.
He’s been trying to shut us all down ever since. ”
So Arlo did know, but he wasn’t doing anything. He was letting this all happen under his nose and doing nothing. Was this—was this the dark things he had been alluding to? If so, why hadn’t he told me when he had the chance?
“But enough about me, I came to deliver a message.” Lorenzo pushed off the desk, producing an envelope from his pocket.
“It appears your husband has told the entire continent of your disappearance.” A tiny seed of hope bloomed in my chest. Luka was looking for me. I hoped he was, but this confirmation—
“He’s outed the Vanir and Panateia. He’s got the support of the Aquatic, Mystic, and even from the Blood Court, from my dear father. They’ve each spoken out directly about their support in getting you back home and bringing both organizations down.” He threw the letters down on the desk.
“Even my own father is conspiring against me. Not that’s anything new,” he mumbled.
I smiled. “Looks like my people don’t take well to their High Queen being kidnapped.”
“You gave yourself up willingly, Lennox. Or did you forget?” Adreona snapped. “Because your mate forgot to mention that.”
“I wouldn’t call sacrificing myself to save my sister’s life giving myself willingly,” I countered.
“Semantics.” Adreona wrinkled her nose. “Anyways, you know what that means, Lennox.” Adreona nodded to the guards. “Our timeline has moved up.”
“If you don’t need me anymore, I should be going.” Lorenzo placed a kiss on Adreona’s cheek before exiting out the door I came in.
Only once the door closed behind Lorenzo did I address Adreona, “You lied to him, didn’t you?”
She turned her gaze on me. “Lied to him about what?”
“It was a Dhampir that killed his daughter, wasn’t it?”
“Why would you say that?”
“King Arlo has been looking into a string of disappearing vampires, starting after Este disappeared. It’s you, isn’t it? You’ve been capturing innocent vampires to use for your experiments.”
She sighed dramatically. “I do hate how intuitive you are. Why couldn’t you be utterly and completely stupid?” She moved to the front of the desk.
“Of course it was me. But I could never tell him that. His support is too important. I need his money, his influence.”
“So you lied to him about how his daughter died.”
“More like twisted the truth.”
“You’re despicable. You’ve been taking innocent people off the streets and turning them into monsters.”
“I never intended on creating monsters. There is still so much you don’t understand, Lennox Adair.
The Dhampirs are a result of our trying to reverse the curse of vampirism.
We do not view what we are doing as turning innocent people into monsters, they are a sacrifice for the greater good of Lethenia.
If only you would cooperate and use the real spell to turn vampires back into High Fae I wouldn’t have to continue my own attempts to reverse vampirism, which results in the creation of Dhampirs.
Do you know how infuriating it is to have the reminders of my failures around every corner?
Yes, I might be creating monsters in the form of the Dhampirs, but I do this all with the purpose of eliminating the real monsters.
Lorenzo’s girl was a mere coincidence. She wandered into my territory. ”
“What about the rest of your test subjects? Did they all just wander into your territory? Or did you rip them from their beds in the middle of the night?”
Her face paled slightly. “I’ve had enough of this conversation.” She rose from her perch. “Galib, bring in the vampire.”
“You’re no different from the monsters you aim to destroy!
” I thrashed against the guard’s hold as the door behind Adreona’s desk opened, and Galib ushered in the innocent vampire.
She couldn’t have been older than twenty—how had she ended up here—in this fate?
The other guard, Damla, led in Nol, he wore fresh clothes since I had seen him last, his arms secured in front of him.
Adreona rounded the desk, twirling a dagger between her fingers.
“Now, with the entire continent looking for you, we don’t have time to waste. Try the spell or your brother pays the price.”
Nol’s scream echoed in my ears as Adreona’s dagger embedded itself in his side.
“No!” I thrashed against Nakul, who held me tighter to his chest.
“I’m not worth it Lennox,” Nol panted. “Don’t do it.” His blood dripped onto the floor. He screamed again, keeling over as Adreona slammed her dagger into his leg.
“Tik tok, Lennox.” Adreona sing-songed as she removed the blade once again. “Where will it be next?” She drawled as she looked Nol up and down.
I looked between Nol and the innocent. Nol had fallen to his knees, his arms still restrained in front of him as he breathed heavily. He looked up at me, dark hair falling across his pain-streaked face, but his eyes pierced into my soul.
“I’m fine, Lennox.” He panted as his blood continued to spill. I had already lost him once, I just got him back, I couldn’t lose him again.
I closed my eyes as Nol screamed again.
I opened my eyes, meeting the green-eyed gaze of the innocent female they had brought in, her entire body trembled with fear. Her eyes were the same color as mine and Kara’s, the same as my mother’s.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, blinking back a tear.
I closed my eyes and began the spell.
“Are you okay?”
I rushed to Nol as he was deposited in my room.
“I’m fine.” He brushed me away. “They brought me to the healer before bringing me here.”
“I’m so sorry, Nol.” I let my arms drop to my sides.
“Don’t you dare apologize. I can take it, Lennox. You forget I’ve been a prisoner for three years.”
“Still—”
“Did you think the spell would work?” he interrupted.
I leaned in close, whispering in Nol’s ear. “I didn’t even try the reversal spell, I made it look like I was before I made the female’s heart stop.”
Nol’s eyes widened, but he said nothing.
I’d wear her life on my soul for eternity, but I had to, I had to for Nol, for Luka. I couldn’t do the spell, I never would. I’d fake it until Nol and I made it out of here.
Or Adreona killed me.
Whichever happened first.