CHAPTER 18 #4
“I’ve told Lara several times to call this debacle off,” Luciano continued.
“I believe that perhaps it’s time the monarchy comes to an end so a new ruling class can rise from its ashes.
But my daughter truly cares for you, Alex, despite everything you’ve done to hurt her. That’s what disappoints me the most.”
Alex had the dagger in the lock. But with all eyes on him, he couldn’t risk uttering the Elvish spell or all hell would break loose. No, he had to keep them talking.
“How many vampires develop cancer?” he asked instead.
When Cavalieri began to sweat, he forged ahead.
“I’m guessing he’s been treated around the clock with drugs provided exclusively by your company.
It would allow you to continue to deliver a slow dose of poison that might not be easy to find using traditional testing, drugs that might mimic the effects his doctors would expect to see.
And how interesting that our father falling ill would be just the push it would take to drive Isabella over the edge.
If we look far enough back, would we find evidence you had something to do with our mother’s deterioration as well? ”
“That’s preposterous.” Luciano turned to Judas.
“The boy is out of his mind, surely you can see that? I have tried everything within my power to eradicate your disease, as has Isabella, whose work on the new drug we’ve been developing has been groundbreaking.
Your cancer is rare and very advanced. We’ve tried to give you more time.
I can’t believe you would entertain any of this nonsense. ”
But Alex wasn’t so sure. Judas was frowning. They all knew how desperately Cavalieri wanted his daughter to ascend to the throne and be queen. Enough that he’d been secretly poisoning the king? Quietly supplying a new wonder drug to treat his cancer, knowing all along that it was actually toxic.
Lara’s eyes flicked to her father’s. And in that instant, Alex knew. They would never admit it. Judas was too prideful and stubborn to ever acknowledge he’d been played for a fool. But he knew the truth, even if the rest of the world might never see it.
Seizing the second of opportunity while Lara’s attention was diverted, he whispered the Elvish spell.
A second passed.
Sweat trickled down his back as he waited for the cuffs to fall free.
Nothing happened.
He glanced to Finneas, who stood several yards away, frowning. When he shook his head, Finneas swore under his breath. Maybe the cuffs had drained all his energy, or maybe he’d just said the spell wrong. Whatever the case, it hadn’t worked.
Flicking a glance towards Judas and Cavalieri, who were now arguing, Finneas started slowly towards him. Alex held Dani’s eyes from across the room, trying to take deep breaths, to do anything to keep his heartrate even and avoid drawing Lara’s notice.
Finneas was nearly to him when Lara whirled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Alexander looks unwell.” The fae king put his hands up. “I thought I should check on him.”
“I don’t like this.” Eyes wild, Lara turned to her guards. “Get rid of him.”
Alex saw the gun a second before Sera did.
“Finn, get down,” she screamed.
Time seemed to blur. Finneas slammed into him, shoving him to the ground. The air was knocked from his lungs.
Gunshots rang out. He was fighting then, struggling to get free, the damned cuffs suddenly back on his wrists, his only thoughts of getting to Dani. If anything had happened to her—
“Hold still,” Finneas hissed in his ear. He felt the dagger ripped from his hand, and then a second later, the indescribable relief as the cuffs fell away. “Can you dematerialize?”
“I’m not leaving her.”
The room was chaos. Sera had dematerialized to the gunman, ripping the firearm away from him, but they were still outnumbered by Cavalieri’s guards.
Dante and Evan, the two guards who’d escorted Sera and Dani in under glamour, were in a standoff with two of Cavalieri’s men, no one willing to lower their weapons.
Judas had two guards holding Sera. And—
His breath froze when he saw that Luciano had a knife pressed to Dani’s throat.
“It’s over Alex. Unless you want her to die right now.”
“Do it, Daddy,” Lara pleaded. “Please.”
It was that same feeling of helplessness he’d experienced the day she’d fallen to her knees in the auction house, dress in tatters around her, vampire males swarming like sharks, hungry to use and dispose of her.
When just like now, he’d been convinced he was powerless to help without cursing her to a far worse fate.
“Let her go,” he said, voice one he barely recognized. “Lara, please. This… has always been about you and me. Let them all go, and I’ll consent willingly to whatever you want. We can finally be together.”
The words burned like acid in his stomach as he said them, but if it was the only way to save Dani, to save his family and friends—
Lara’s expression changed, eyes going soft and hopeful, and for just a second, he thought it might have worked. But then her chin began to quiver.
“Never once have you shown even a fraction of that same worry about my safety. You’ve never once even pretended to care about my feelings. It’s always, always about Dani Girard.” Tears filled her eyes. “You will never let her go. Not as long as she’s alive. Not as long as any of them are alive.”
“Lara,” he began, but she cut him off with a slash of her hand.
“I’m through with this. You will stop fixating on her and humiliating me. Sadly, if that means your family and all the prisoners we were set to release must be executed as punishment for your act of defiance, then you’re leaving me no choice.”