Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Brian had his arm wrapped around Alexa's waist as they walked outside and toward the large white tents that were put up for the dinner parties.
It was customary for the dragons to come together for dinner in the evenings.
This was when the acceptance kisses usually took place—under the very public eye of all the dragons from around the kingdom.
Mikah suddenly reached out and gripped Alexa's arm tightly, causing Brian to also stop abruptly.
Mikah stood frozen as he stared off into the distance. His eyes flickered toward the dark woods.
“Mikah, what is it?” Brian asked as he searched for the hidden danger.
“Something’s out there. Can’t you sense it? Can you not smell the blood in the air?” Mikah didn’t take his eyes off of the tree line.
Alexa furrowed her brows as she tried to concentrate. Unfortunately, her dragon and wolf were still recovering, so her senses weren’t as sharp as they usually were. But why couldn’t Brian sense anything? No one else around seemed to notice it either.
“I don’t sense anything.” Brian glanced down at Alexa and squeezed her waist tighter. “Maybe I should take you inside.”
“Yes.”
“No!”
Alexa turned and stared at Mikah. She pulled herself away from Brian and Mikah’s grip. “Let’s go see what it is. All three of us.”
“That isn’t a good idea.” Mikah shook his head, completely against it.
“Well, if you’re afraid to go, I’ll check it out on my own.
” Alexa grinned, biting her bottom lip. She received two unamused glances from the men in front of her, both shaking their heads.
“Well, what exactly can you two do about it? It isn’t like you can stop me.
Unless you want to run and get my daddy. ”
“Alexa, quit acting like a child and stay here!” Mikah growled angrily.
Alexa let out a dry laugh and nodded her head as she clicked her tongue.
“I see. I’m acting like a child.” An idea popped into her head as she met their gazes with confidence.
“Well, I wasn’t acting like a child, but if I’m going to get accused of it …
” She shrugged slightly as her lips twitched upward.
Alexa suddenly shot out a blast of ice toward Brian and Mikah, creating a thick, solid barrier around them, momentarily holding them in place.
Then she sprinted, using her ice to ski away.
She heard ice sizzling behind her, but she didn’t dare stop.
A thudding sound let her know that Mikah had shifted.
A dark shadow soared above her as Brian’s dragon took to the skies.
She smirked and rolled her eyes. Even without shifting, she could still evade them for a short time, and that was all she needed.
She created a blinding thick mist, using it as cover as she finally reached the woods.
She heard Brian’s dragon crash into the trees.
He would now continue to follow her on foot.
The sounds of Mikah’s bear were getting closer, though.
He was the hardest to escape because he was naturally drawn to her.
The wind swirled around her, bringing the scent of iron with it. There was also the smell of rotting flesh burning. Grunting and the sounds of fighting pricked at her ears as she ran deeper into the woods. What was going on?
Alexa abruptly stopped. Brian and Mikah were at her side instantly, staring at the sight in front of them.
There were dozens of voidless lying dead on the ground.
A young woman with dark brown hair, caramel skin, and hazel eyes shot a red streak from her hand, killing three more voidless instantly.
The young woman looked up in shock, seeing the three people standing there.
“Alexa! You shouldn’t be out here! Why did you let her come out here?! Do your job!” the woman growled angrily.
Alexa glanced at Mikah and Brian. Mikah growled lowly and shifted back into his human form. He wasn’t threatened by whatever this woman was and felt confident in his raw strength if the need arose.
“Do we know you?” Alexa asked, gripping onto Mikah’s shirt to stop him from engaging with the woman.
“Oh. Um … yeah.” The woman looked down at herself. She was covered in blood and was a sight to behold. She kept her gaze on the ground and poked at the dirt with her foot. “Don’t look at me. I’m …” She tucked her hands behind her back, trying to hide the blood staining them.
Alexa tilted her head, studying the young woman curiously. “It’s okay. We aren’t bothered by blood. What’s your name? How do you know us?” Mikah growled lowly, and she bumped him with her elbow.
Behave! Let’s see who she is.
Or I can kill her and ask questions later, Mikah mentally snorted back at her.
“My name is Terra. I … I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to see me. I had this area masked. Damn … Ken is going to be so mad.”
Alexa's ears perked up and she stepped closer to the girl.
“Ken? You know Ken? Who are you?” Alexa asked, feeling Mikah and Brian both stepping next to her in a protective stance. Clearly, neither one of them trusted Terra.
“I’m not … just so you know … He and I … we aren’t anything. He took care of me after I lost my parents, and I serve him now. I watch over you when he can’t.” Terra chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she glanced between the three people in front of her.
Alexa stood there quietly, taking this information in. Ken made sure she was always being watched and protected. She couldn’t believe there were times when she doubted he wanted her.
“Ken took you in? What about your own kind?” Brian raised a brow at her in question.
“My own kind,” Terra whispered and shook her head.
“No one wants me. I don’t belong to any kind.
I am a demonic hybrid crossed with a pure-blooded vampire.
A dhampir … I’m a vamon.” She squeezed her eyes shut and squeezed her fists together.
“My parents … they fought on the other side of the war. I’m sorry.
It probably makes you uncomfortable to know I’m around. I didn’t mean to—”
“Terra.” Alexa smiled at the beautiful woman. Even with her hair messed up and dripping in blood, there was no arguing her beauty. “If Ken trusts you, then I trust you. I don’t care what your parents did. That isn’t what you did.”
Terra’s hazel eyes met Alexa’s sapphire ones. She was in shock and didn’t know what to say. There was no way she felt okay about her, right? Because she’d convinced herself she was a creature that everyone would hate. No one could ever see her as anything but vermin. A tear streamed down her cheek.
They heard loud, grunting noises again as several more voidless appeared from the brush. This time they fixated on Alexa and charged toward her. Terra immediately intercepted, burning them instantly with her powers. All but one. One of them kept moving forward.
Mikah stepped forward, pushing Alexa back to confront the voidless. But the creature stopped. A light came from its body, and it collapsed to the ground. The dark light circled in the air before charging toward Alexa. It enveloped all four people and a voice emanated from it.
“Alexa.”
Erebus’ familiar, deep voice echoed around them. Terra quickly stood in front of her while Brian wrapped her in his arms. Mikah looked around, shaking his head.
“He isn’t here,” Mikah growled, moving closer to Alexa. This was just his voice, but his presence was nowhere to be felt.
“I wanted to send you a little message because I know you probably miss me.” He chuckled darkly.
“Listen, I can wait for you. A dragon won’t live forever.
You and I will. Ken needs to feel pain, and I refuse to allow him to have you.
You don’t know what he’s like. I’ll be watching you.
Make sure your chosen mate marks you tonight.
Otherwise, I’m afraid your grandfather isn’t going to make it.
Or maybe one of your cousins will have a horrible accident.
So many possibilities. You know what to do, don’t you? Until next time, my treasure.”
The message ended and the air cleared, leaving the four of them standing there quietly.
Alexa felt her heart beating out of control.
Erebus was watching her, and if she didn’t let Brian mark her, he would kill someone in her family.
This man was a monster. All of this was just to hurt Ken.
What choice did she have here? She had to protect her family.
Of course, Erebus didn’t care if Brian took her as his mate because of the curse he put on her. He probably created a curse that would hurt anyone around her or something equally cruel. What he didn’t know was that she would be purifying the curse before it took effect.
“I need to find Ken,” Terra said finally.
“You know how to find him?” Alexa asked as she watched Terra shrug her shoulders and shake her head.
“No, but I know he’s in the demon realm.
” Terra looked at Alexa and pursed her lips.
“I’ll try to find him before … but do what you must. Protect your family.
Maybe there is a way to reverse a mark. But we can’t reverse death.
Well, a necromancer can, but it’s not the same.
” She shook her head. “I’ll do my best.”
Alexa watched as the girl flashed away, leaving her alone with Brian and Mikah. They were all quiet as they stood there, letting their brains process the moment.
“What do we do now?” Brian asked, his voice almost a whisper.
“Do you guys even have a choice?” Mikah rubbed his forehead as a scowl formed on his face.
Alexa closed her eyes. Even if Ken showed up, what could it change?
Unless he found Erebus and killed him before tonight, there was no other option.
She would have to let Brian mark her as his mate and hope that there was a way to reverse it.
She needed to talk with Brian about what this would mean.
The trickling ramifications from the acceptance kiss.
“We need to find our parents.” Brian squeezed Alexa's shoulder. “We have a lot to discuss before tonight.”