Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 602

Chapter 102 : Escape the Castle

*Lena*®

I clutched Penny to my chest and released the full force of my powers of light. I prayed that theburst of sun and heat hadn't wounded her. I heard the Vampire King scream, his voice so shrill itmade the entire castle tremble.

I opened my eyes, my breath catching in my throat as I pushed Penny away, holding her at arm's.length to check her for injury. But then I felt it, that dark embrace, that blackened net only oneperson could cast.

I turned toward the doorway just as the Vampire King struggled to his feet, his skin reddened andblistered, some places black with burns. He held up his hands to his face, inspecting the damagewith wide eyes.

His eyes turned to me, blazing with fury.

I held out my hand to send my powers forth again but felt them falter, weakened. I didn't let myface show my panic, but the act of raising my hand to him had been enough. He staggered out ofthe doorway, his expressions washed with pain.

I screamed Xander's name through the bond as I clutched the book and sunstone in one arm andan entirely confused Penny in the other.

"Come on,” I whispered, pulling her along as we stepped into the corridor.

The blackened, ashen bodies of the King's guards were scattered throughout the corridor, smokingwith heat. I blinked, my chest tightening as I looked down at the c*****e I had caused. I'd killedthese... things. They were more demon than person, but still. I'd killed them. My hands were redwith their blood.

This wasn't what I wanted to be, but what choice did I have?

"Come," I said sternly, tugging on Penny's arm as we stepped over the bodies and made our waydown the corridor. “How do we get out of here?"

“There's a door, and a drawbridge. It's a few levels below."

“Show me the way," I whispered, unsure of how far my powers had reached. How many moreguards were coming our way? I needed to replace Xander. We all needed to get out of here, and weneeded to do it immediately.

Penny was whimpering behind me as we ran through the windowless castle, cloaks dusting theground in our wake. We reached a sharp corner and a steep set of stone stairs, and Penny pointedfrantically downward.

Behind us, voices rang out, followed by growling. All the downy hair on my body stood on end asthe sound of snapping jaws echoed through the corridor behind us. I knew that sound-hybrids,maybe many of them.

"Go!" I cried, practically pushing Penny down the stairs as we stumbled, running down the steps intodarkness.

I continued to call out to Xander through our bond, but nothing came in response. It was silent,shockingly so for how near he must have been if he was able to cloak Penny and me in his shadow.We reached the bottom of the stairwell and turned into a narrow corridor filled with what lookedlike the servants of the castle rushing about, all lower vampires in varying states of distress.

"Get out!" I cried. “All of you, run! Get out of the castle!”

Several of them looked at me, wide eyed and frantic as they sucked in their breath. Penny clutchedmy arm as she said, “Free-you're free, if you can run. Please"

A thundering screech filled the castle, and we all cowered, covering our ears. I hadn't even fully risenbefore everyone in the corridor began pushing and shoving in one direction, which was wherePenny was directing me to go.

We fled through an inconspicuous wooden door, a tangle of bodies and noise as servants spilledout behind us, some crawling on all fours as they tried to escape the fray.

Xander was a blur of movement as he pushed through a barricade of guards, and to my absoluteshock, a flash of red filled my vision as Oliver leaped over several guards, his wolf body gleaning inthe moonlight drifting through the open doors to the drawbridge.

"Xander!" I cried, but his wolf was busy tearing a group of guards to shreds.

Servants were spilling out onto the drawbridge, running as fast as they could into the darkenedlandscape beyond the castle.

Penny screeched beside me as a tall, handsome lower vampire walked up to us, taking Penny by thearm and pulling her away from me. I shoved him hard, my free hand extended to scratch him on theface.

“I'm with Xander," he hissed. “We need to go, now!"

The chaos behind us was fading, but above our heads the castle was still echoing with noise.

“We need to get across the bridge. Hurry!" the vampire said sharply.

I looked back at Xander and Oliver, who had taken out at least two dozen of the guards, andwatched as Xander shifted back his human form and ripped the clothes off a vampire and began toput them on, Oliver following suit.

Xander met my eye and gave me a wry, boyish grin.

Thank the Goddess.

None of us spoke of what happened before we'd traveled far enough away from the castle that itwas no longer in sight. Zeke, the vampire male who had escorted us out of the castle, had usheredus into a narrow cave, and the men barricaded it closed from the inside with rocks while Penny and Ilingered in the back of the cave with only a few candles lighting the area.

Xander, Oliver, and Zeke had to duck to fit inside the cave, and in moments we were all sitting downin a circle, listening to the muted screeching of the winged hybrids as they canvased the rocky cliffsthat sheltered the castle.

It was an ugly kingdom, nothing but endless rock. I sat in silence as morsels of food were passedaround, wondering if the enslaved servants of the castle had made it to safety, at least a few ofthem.

Xander was seated next to me, his hand resting on my leg. I stole a glance at him, feeling anoverwhelming sense of comfort as my eyes met his. We had so much to talk about. I had so muchto apologize for.

But we were in the company of others.

Oliver was staring at Penny, his brow furrowed deeply as he watched her pick at a piece of bread.Penny looked absolutely terrified and was refusing to meet the eye of anyone but me. Zeke wasseated next to her, a little closer than I would have liked.

"Did she kidnap you?" Oliver asked Penny, and I snapped my head in his direction.

"What?" I snapped, but Penny paled, her eyes lifted to mine with a shrug.

"Goddess, Lena. You dragged this poor girl against her will out of that castle?"

“I saved her life," I growled, and Penny did give a little nod of agreement to that, but kept hermouth shut. "Why the hell are you here, anyway?"

Oliver narrowed his eyes at me, a playful smirk lining his lips. He looked so much like my auntMaeve, his mother, whenever he was up to something devious.

Xander cleared his throat, casting a quick glance at Zeke before looking at me.

“Oliver believes his mate is in this realm.”

“What? How would-"

“It's Abigail's sister,” Oliver quipped, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"Abigail doesn't have a sister,” I argued, scoffing as I shook my head. “Do you have any idea howdangerous of a position we're in right now? How dangerous this could be for our home?"

“It's Elaine,” Xander said quietly.

Gooseflesh rippled over my skin at the sound of her name. I didn't have the words to convey how Ifelt. My mind was reeling, and the only thing I could think of was my friends-Abigail, with her darkred hair and green eyes... Elaine, with her hair the same shade, her eyes just a slightly different color,and shape.

I remembered feeling at home with Elaine, like I'd known her for a long, long time. We'd becomefast friends, and her stubborn personality had seemed so familiar.

How had I not noticed?

"How?" I stammered, blinking into the candlelight between us.

"She was kidnapped as a child, from what Abigail remembers," Oliver answered, and my eyes flew tohis.

He explained everything that had happened in my absence. Six weeks had passed in our realm,which made my stomach twist as I counted the days I'd spent here, in the realm of night. It had onlybeen a week and a half by my estimation, maybe less. I looked up at Xander.

“We need to go home," he said, brushing my hair from my face. His eyes were soft, but somethingwas lingering behind them that told me he and I would be having a very uncomfortableconversation the first chance we had some time alone.

“We can't,” I said quickly, pointing to the book in my lap. The sunstone was tucked safely in theinner pocket of my cloak. “I need to take this somewhere.”

"Why?" Oliver asked.

“I was told to take it to the Great Witch, and then... to the twentieth White Queen. That's Maeve." Iwatched Oliver's face shadow in confusion, but Zeke, who was sitting next to him, went rigid.“What significance does the book have that would require it to be delivered to the Great Witch?" heasked sharply.

I tilted my head as I looked at him, noticing how familiar his face and coloring were. He looked likeKiern, and I realized a moment later that he must be her son. He seemed too youthful to be abrother, despite the fact he looked as though he could be as old as Kiern.

“I don't know, but I was able to... reveal something inside of it. I haven't had a chance to read it-"

I explained what had happened in the bathroom when the title page had given me a papercut, andeveryone listened intently. Penny nodded at several parts of my story, a soft smile touching hermouth as I spoke of how I'd hid it behind the toilet.

“I was wondering about that,” she said, her voice a long sigh.

I looked up at Xander and noticed that stare he was giving to Zeke, who was looking right back athim.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

It was Zeke who spoke next.

“I can take you to the witches," he said, which must have defied whatever silent conversation waspassing between him and Xander. “But, you need to use the sunstone on Penny and me if we're toaid you in this journey."

“What? What does it do?" I asked.

To my surprise, Zeke smiled.