Chapter 20
L ukas
Cassia’s scent surrounded me, and her blood soared through my veins, buoying me and giving me a deep sense of peace. She’d been marked and claimed. She was now untouchable by law.
That promise gave me the boost of energy I needed to get through the next couple of days, enhanced by sleeping by her side at night. Maybe “sleeping” wasn’t the right word, since I didn’t need it. Nevertheless, I held her while she slumbered, after taking my fill of her body and blood.
I had chosen well, even if she was a impossible brat at times.
This was probably the first time I ever entered the dungeons and jail with a smile on my face. The guard standing by the entry table paled upon seeing my grin—quite a feat seeing as he was typically near-transparent. I relaxed my face and crossed to the cell where Zaynan was interred.
He wasn’t there, and neither was the door. At least not in the same shape as I’d left it. The bars were curved down towards the floor as if they’d been melted and molded into a graceful slide.
“Guard!” I raised my voice.
The man hurried over. “Yes, my Lord?”
My hand raised and I seized his energy field, gripping him and dragging him to the cell’s entryway. “The prisoner. Why was I not informed?”
“Queen’s orders, my Lord. You were not to be disturbed.”
My vision went red and I squeezed my fist. My nails crushed into my palm and the man fell into a pile of dust. Footsteps pounded against granite, and I turned. The guard’s two friends stopped in their tracks and began backing away.
Storming past them, I sent myself back to the upper hallway and to the entrance to the throne room. If Zaynan did anything, he’d probably gone in search of his mother. As it was, I caught his faint scent.
The men stationed before me stood resolute, staring straight forward. I didn’t bother with them and waved the doors open. The rush of wind blew my hair back over my shoulders as I proceeded forward.
The candles flickered in the vast space, overhead, and along the mirrored walls. Streams of sunlight warmed the air along the left side and illuminated Zaynan’s pale face and hair as he fluttered his fingers under one of the beams.
“Zaynan,” I called to him. He glanced at me and resumed staring at his hand.
“You can’t cage me,” he said, not meeting my gaze.
Almost immediately, I realized what had captured his attention. The sunlight was different in the Third compared to all the other Realms. Here, it was purer, clearer, and the colors were different. He was fully admiring the crystalline nature of his fingernails under the untainted light.
“You can’t do whatever you want. We have laws here. It is not a free-for-all like other Realms.”
“Alexander told me about the Second and the Fourth,” he said.
“Have you been?” I circled him, examining his aura and energy.
I’d never spent any time with any Fae, though I did have knowledge of some of their ways.
Perhaps not all the wisdom necessary to handle what had been dropped in my lap, but enough to know it’d be wise to tread carefully.
Particularly after the strength I’d just witnessed.
“Have you been?” I repeated myself when he didn’t answer.
His chest rose and fell with a sigh. “No. It didn’t seem necessary.” He dropped his hands to his sides. “I mean, it sounded interesting, but I had work to do and then I found something, so...” he trailed off.
“What did you find?”
He shook his head. “Nothing, I just had plenty to do. I’m going to go back but first, I want to meet my mom.”
“Mm,” I hummed. It remained to be seen whether his tainted blood would allow him to transition out of here. It was a skill and privilege not afforded many, and I was all too aware that given his potential parentage, he may just very well be able to go wherever he wanted.
“Let’s not keep her waiting. Come.”
He trailed after me and I stopped right before her door. “She may be your mother, but it is expected you will bow before her. Touch the floor.”
Zaynan sneered at me, “Yeah, right.”
The problem of a long-lost son may be sorting itself out much faster than anticipated. I knocked on the door.
Annalise’s favorite slave opened the door, giving Zaynan a look of pure lust when he spotted him. He glared at the slave as we brushed past him.
Our Queen was lounging on a sofa eating dark purple grapes when we entered her sitting room, wearing only a gauzy, see-through skirt and strands of rubies around her neck. The room stank of sex and perfume.
Lowering myself, my forehead touched the floor while Zaynan stood upright snickering at me and Annalise.
“That’s my mom?” He laughed. “What the fuck? That’s not... that can’t be.”
“Lukas, you may rise.” Bare feet appeared before me and I got up. “Zaynan, my love.”
The Queen clasped him straight on, shoving her breasts against him. I swallowed, trying to ignore the confusing mass of Zaynan’s energy. His horror, fascination, and complete disgust wafted through the air in the perfect storm of emotions.
Annalise seemed oblivious, ignoring what she would usually cut someone into tiny, irreparable ribbons over.
I wanted to warn him, interfere somehow. I don’t know when or how it happened, but it seemed I suddenly developed protective feelings for the younger vampire. The best course of action was to see how this all unfolded.
“You’re my mother? You’re not very, uhh... how are you my mom?”
“Lukas, I’m still angry with you. Come, sit down, my beautiful son. We have much to discuss.”
Pouring myself a much-needed glass of wine and blood mix, I watched the two of them sit on the sofa. Zaynan tried to keep as much space as he could, but she scooted closer to him. I settled in one of the armchairs facing the two.
Annalise stretched one of her long, slim fingers and tucked a lock of his hair behind his head. He cringed, but she ignored his faux pax. “Can I get a glass of that? Please?” Zaynan asked.
She snapped her fingers, and her slave stumbled into the room and followed her command before retreating back to wherever he’d gone. I’d sensed him lurking around behind the wall, trying to eavesdrop. Pointless, as she told him everything.
“It's so good to have you here,” she cooed, reaching for the other side of his head. He batted her arm away and she smiled at him.
“So, basically, you ignored me for hundreds of years and then had me kidnapped by some goon. Great job, mom.” He took two long swallows of his drink.
“Have you seen this place?” Annalise waved her hand. “This is no place to raise a child.”
“Ha. You’re fucking loaded. Don’t tell me you can’t afford a nanny. You’re here hanging out with your tits out. It's not like you work in a warehouse. And Lukas said you’re a Queen. Queen of what? Where’s my father?”
Annalise’s back stiffened. “I am Queen of this kingdom, the southern Kingdom. Trust me when I say this is no place for a child. What if I’d eaten you?”
Zaynan’s head jolted forward. “Nobody does that.” He stood. “You know, I don’t think I’m going to stay here. You could have left well enough alone.”
A tear ran down her cheek and Zaynan’s face fell. “You’re all I have. Lukas has forsaken me.” He glanced at me incredulously.
She continued, “I’m all alone. Your father left me and our King slumbers. Stay with your mother, please.”
He turned toward me. “She’s your mom, too?”
Annalise sprang up from the couch with her nails extended she and gripped his face. “Your father was an emperor of the Seventh Realm. I killed him. You’ll never meet him. I’m all you have in this world.”
Her voice was soft, but it dripped with poison. “It’s you and me, baby .” Zaynan likely didn’t realize it, but she was threatening him. “You’re a prince—my prince. Take your seat at my side.”
“What was my dad’s name?” He asked softly.
Her nails retracted as she answered, “Zachariah. He was a beautiful man like you. Very talented.”
Zaynan backed away a step. “Did you combine his name and yours to make mine?”
“You’re looking for any little thing to give yourself a sense of where you came from. I can give you that here. Show you what has been denied you all these years.”
He set his glass down on the low table. “Maybe we can hang out some time.” He shrugged his shoulder. “If you want. I’ve got some stuff I gotta do though.”
“Don’t look to him for help, he’ll do nothing but mislead you,” her gaze burned into me.
Keeping my face blank, I took another sip of my beverage.
“Lukas, you are dismissed,” she ordered. Standing, I gave Zaynan a nod and then I bowed my head to my Queen.
There was nothing I could do for him, not at the moment, but I determined I’d teach him what I could when I had the opportunity. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
* * *
Zaynan’s eyes held a small flicker of concern as I walked away before he quickly schooled his expression. Maybe the man would survive Annalise.
As I strode down the hallway, giving myself time to think, I considered all the changes that had taken place recently.
Besides the chaos in the Second Realm and the discontent in the Fourth—which bore minimal, if any, consequence for my own other than a minor interest, things were moving quickly here.
I had a woman to marry. Kalix was leaving for the northern kingdom, given the title of King himself, by our Queen.
I’d displeased her by turning her down. That act of defiance from me, along with bringing a human fiancé here, would not go unpunished. She was a master manipulator as well as cunning and patient. On the one hand, I was curious what she would attempt but on the other, I was worried.
Letting myself into what had become Cassia’s room, I found her painting by the window. Katarina hovered nearby, dusting a gleamingly clean table. She took one look at me and jogged out the door.
“I should probably talk to her about that.” Cassia frowned. “But it's also kinda cute. Her hands are healed, did you see?”