Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder -
Chapter 581
Chapter 81: Breeder to the Night King
*Lena*®
The man from my nightmare flitted through my mind as I slowly raised my cheek from the stonefloor of my cell, looking Slate straight in the eyes.
"Vampire?" I asked, a violent chill descending on me and making my skin burn with bitter cold."You're kidding, right? You didn't know?" Slate laughed, actually laughed, and leaned backward,hugging himself. “You-you have to be joking, Lena. Seriously."
“I don't know what you're talking about"
“That's enough,” came a gruff voice down the corridor, followed by echoing footsteps.
My heart sank as Maxwell Radcliff's voice filled my ears. The last time I'd seen him, I'd hit him in thehead with a flashlight. “She needs to eat something, and rest-"
“I'm just having a little fun,” Slate pouted as Maxwell stopped at his side. Maxwell nudged him withthe toe of his boot. Slate groaned, then hopped to his feet, scowling at me as he tucked his hands inhis pockets. “She stinks. She needs a bath too. I can do the honors-"
"No," Maxwell said firmly as he unlocked the cell, glancing at Slate with a snarl on his face. Slatepaled, sheepishly shrugging one shoulder as he rocked on heels. Maxwell held his gaze, hisdarkened eyes cutting through Slate like a blade, and Slate cowered before he turned on his heeland walked away. “I'm sorry about him-"
"Get away from me!" I screeched, which caused Maxwell to startle in surprise
He raised his brow, shaking his head as he set a brown paper bag on the ground in front of me.“Food, and a water bottle,” he said with a gentleness that made me want to vomit.
I bared my teeth at him as he took a step in his direction, and he halted.
“Eat.”
I spit at him, and he backed up a step, a wry smile touching his lips. “He'll be impressed with you.You should be grateful for that."
“I'm not going anywhere-"
“That's not up to you. You're going to open a portal for us into King Nikolas's realm-"
“No, I am not!"
“You are," he growled, crouching down to look me in the eye. “You don't have a choice.”
“I'd rather die"
“Then I'll turn you, Lena, into something like Jen. That's what those beasts are-did you know?They're shifters who had the blood drained from their bodies and replaced with the blood of mykind. We need access to his whole army, not just the handful of creatures roaming Crimson Creek.You killed them all, Lena. And now the king would like to meet you."
“ can't do that"
“If you are what they say you are, you can. And you will, or we will ravage the pack lands and killeveryone. Your family and friends will be first.”
I swallowed back the bile rising in my throat as I pressed my cheek back to the ground. “What doesSlate have to do with this?"
"He's been working for us for a while now,” Maxwell sighed as he leaned his shoulder against thewall. “He brings the women the king needs for, well, what you're going to be used for in that realm.”"What do you mean?”
“You're his breeder, of course. No one else can handle his, uh... Well, here's the thing—" he kicked offthe wall and took a few steps toward me. I flinched away from him as he crouched in front of meagain. “There's two types of vampires. There's the High Vampires, the elite, the immortal. And thenthere's the Lower Vampires, or Vamps. They're not immortal, and can have children, which allows theHigh Vampires to maintain a large slave and feeder population.”
I needed to throw up. My stomach clenched as I mulled over his words. Feeder? Vampires ate...other vampires?
“The Vamps follow some pagan religion tracing back to the witches of the realm.... I don't reallyknow, “ he waved a hand in dismissal. “They revolted against the prior king, and a massive civil warbroke out and lasted for nearly two hundred years. Some of the Vamps, freed from their shackles,were able to escape and crossed to this realm with the help of the witches. They set up here, inCrimson Creek, having their children and living in secret among your kind."
I thought of Gideon and his family, my heart breaking with this new knowledge.
“I'm a Vamp," Maxwell said with a shrug. “But I won't be for long... no. See, Vamps aren't immortal,but we do live for a long, long time. I'd like to make that... forever. The king is willing to grant methat wish in exchange for you."
“I won't help you."
“Slate,” he continued, “has been essential in replaceing young women to bring to Crimson Creek.Normally they're just brought to the barrier between our realms as sacrifices—"
"You said you needed me to open a portal, but you already have one?"
“It's not that simple,” he hissed, his canine teeth elongated. “The Vamps in the Night Realm areslaves, remember? They mine the bloodstones needed to activate the witches’ powers to opensmall, temporary portals to this realm. The captured witches often refuse to do it, and are tortured ifthey do not comply. For centuries, the king has been trying to open a permanent portal to thisrealm to no avail. But then... the prophecy of the moonstones came to fruition, a prophecy sharedwith the Night Realm. The Moon Goddess would come back, to walk among the mortals again.”“So he needs me-"
"High Vampires have been around since the dawn of time, Lena. They were created alongside thegods, according to legend. The king believes that you, a goddess, is the only way he can produce atrue blood heir. He is at risk of losing his stronghold on the Night Realm, but if he produced anheir-a child of a goddess, well... he could retain his power forever, cementing his positions amongthe gods.”
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered, wanting nothing more than to close my eyes.
“This is reality, and you will obey him, and me, while you're in my possession.”
"What happened to Carly?" I whispered.
To my surprise his face fell, his eyes shadowed by a sudden, undeniable sadness. “Slate brought herto me to bring her to the king. I tried to wipe her memory by draining her, essentially killing her, butshe was... strong willed-a fighter. The king had been looking for women who had White Queenblood, and Slate thought, based on her appearance, she may be related to the White Queen line insome capacity. I think he was right. She healed when she shouldn't have. She was likely some long-lost cousin of yours from a distance branch of your lineage, Lena. And I..." Maxwell hesitated,swallowing painfully as he met my eye. “I fell in love with her. Unrequited, of course, but I loved her.I loved her to the point that I defied the king. I lied about her, hiding her away and telling him shewas dead. He believed me."
“Where is she now?"
His face hardened and he looked away, refusing to answer.
"Where are you keeping her?" I pressed, but he clamped his mouth shut for what felt like severalminutes.
“The blood root is a substitute for the blood Vampires need to survive. We purposely infectedCrimson Creek with it. Usually, it kills shifters. We knew you and Xander were different after Jen...after she bit Xander and Henry had to use it on him as a last resort to save his life. The kingoriginally wanted Xander, as well, to turn him and keep him as a feeder to harness his shadowpowers, but now that you're mated to him, he's a threat.”
“I'll kill you all if you touch a single hair on his head," I hissed, and I felt the fire burning within meagain. I clenched my fists, preventing the light from spilling forth against my will, but Maxwellnoticed and rose to his full height, a smug smile on his face.
“Interesting,” he mused, rocking on his heel.
“Leave him alone,” I warned, feeling the power course through my veins.
"We'll talk more after you eat," he said casually and turned to walk away, but then stopped, lookingdown at me. “You should give Slate some credit, Lena. He did actually like you. He wanted to keepyou for himself."
“I'll kill Slate too, I don't care—"
“The king told him he'd give him a territory within the Night Realm if he did his bidding, and saidyou could be his Luna once the child you will bear for the king is born. I don't believe it, but Slatedoes."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because," Maxwell said with a moment of hesitation, “if there was anyone who would be willing tohelp you, to make you more comfortable, it would be Slate. Maybe he could, I don't know, locateXander—"
“You're trying to trick me into bringing Xander here, and I won't fall for it." I wanted to blast him intooblivion, to scar his face with my fire and light like I had done to Slate. I knew what I was capable ofnow, but I was holding myself back, my mind overwhelmed with the need to protect what I carriedwith me in my heart, and in my womb-my child... our child. What if I harmed her while taking downmy enemies?
“Do you want to know what happened to Henry and Elaine?" he asked, his hand resting on the bars.I did want to know, and maybe that showed on my face as tears began to well in the corners of myeyes.
Maxwell looked pleased by my pained reaction, smirking as he relaxed his shoulders. “You'll behappy to know that we have no idea where they are. Elaine was lured into the Night Realm, andHenry followed, trying to save her before it was too late. But they were never captured; they gotaway. Maybe if you opened the portal, you could replace them-"
“lwon't," I said with a heavy hurt. I felt completely shattered as he shrugged, walking out of the celland closing the door behind him, stopping only to say, “Suit yourself,” before a massive padlockclicked back into place.
I curled my knees into my belly and whimpered, trembling from the horrible truths he'd thrown atme. I knew he'd replace Xander and bring him here. I knew Xander was likely on his way and would doanything to get to me, to save me.
This was a trap set to replace him, I realized. Maxwell's eyes had given it away. The mention of Xanderhad reignited my powers, the powers they needed to open a portal to a realm of nightmares.
And they'd use Xander to make me do it.
And I would... if it meant saving his life.
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