Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 616

Chapter 116 : Tell Her I Loved Her

*Xander*

We'd hatched a practically impossible plan. It was a last-ditch effort, but there was a slim chance itcould buy the allied forces a full night to rest and regroup, and to hold onto Breles. Oliver wassitting next to me in Gideon's truck as we bounced over the rolling hills on the outskirts of CrimsonCreek, a massive tank of fuel jostling in the bed of the truck behind us. One wrong move and we'dtip over, potentially blowing the truck, and ourselves, up.

Oliver and I were absolutely covered in blood root. I glanced at him, seeing nothing but hismulticolored eyes as he peered through the windshield. I'd left my warriors and Gideon behind, so itwas just me and the fire-obsessed cousin of my mate.

We were nearly at the outcropping of dead trees and the dilapidated temple where both Lena and Ihad been held captive and tortured. I could see the portal now, wide and rippling with energy. Itreflected all of the colors of the incredible sunset behind it, but upside down, which was the onlyway to differentiate it from the landscape beyond.

“This is going to work," Oliver remarked, more to himself than to me.

“You just want to play with fire again,” I mused, and Oliver smirked, shrugging one shoulder.

“My uncle Keaton had me light all of his cigars as a kid. He thought it was the most useful trick, butmy parents thought differently. I caught the palace on fire more than once.”

I arched my brow at him, and he turned to me with a wry grin.

“Mischief is a family trait. No one can fault me for that."

“A family of menaces,” I breathed, shaking my head.

I wondered what my daughter would be like, who she would be like-Lena, with her strikingintelligence and beauty, but a flair for the dramatics and an affinity for acting without thinking, orme, damn near perfect in every way?

I chuckled to myself as I pulled the truck into the clearing near the temple. Oliver sighed deeply,looking around.

“We have about twenty minutes to do what we need to do,” I said in a whisper, a feeling of uneaserippling up my spine. Oliver was out of the truck before I'd even finished the sentence.

I stepped out of the truck as Oliver connected a hose to the fuel tank and began dragging it over tothe portal. I hissed at him to be careful, noticing how his copper curls seemed to drift toward theportal the closer he got to the opening, like he was being pulled inside. Oliver waved his hand at mein dismissal as he began to spray fuel in front of the portal, and within minutes he'd soaked thearea.

The smell of gasoline was sharp and made me slightly dizzy as I watched the fuel gauge drain.

"A little more,” I shouted, and Oliver continued to spray until the ground was so saturated with fuelthat Oliver's shoes made sloshing sounds as he walked through the grass and blood root back tothe truck.

“Let's get the tank out,” he said, removing the hose from the tank and tossing it nonchalantlytoward the portal. It took us several minutes to push the tank out of the bed of the truck, letting itfall and rest where it landed.

"We gotta get the hell out of here,” I said, motioning towards the sky. It was turning a rich violet, thefirst stars peaking through the ribbon like gray clouds as the sunset faded over the horizon.

Oliver walked past me and started yanking on one of the dead trees, pulling off several dried outbranches before we got back in the truck and drove onto a nearby ridge. I looked down at theportal, my hands gripping the steering wheel as Oliver stepped out of the truck.

“Drive it down there a bit so they can't see it sitting on the ridge,” he commanded, dropping hisbundle of branches on the ground.

I did just that and had just shut the driver's side door of the truck when Oliver used his powers toignite the first branch like a torch.

I ran up to him, taking the first branch from him as he lit another, then another, until we were bothholding two.

We waited. The flames were catching on the branches, turning that initial dull glow into ragingembers that made the branches burn like torches. Dusk faded into night, and through the portal, Isaw the first ripple of movement.

A group of vampires, Death Walkers, as Gideon had called them, stepped through the vortex andlooked around. Their expressionless faces could have been harboring shock based on the rigidnessof their bodies. One of them was dressed in red robes made of fine fabric, and I slowly nudgedXander with my elbow. That Death Walker must be a commander of some kind.

Another group came through the portal, then another, until at least a hundred vampires weregathered in the clearing.

Oliver opened his mouth wide and let out a howl so shrill it made the hair on my arms stand onend. The vampires snapped their heads at us, their teeth shining in the moonlight as hissing andscreeching filled the clearing. Oliver threw the first torch, and within a heartbeat the clearingerupted into flames.

Chaos ensued as the fire licked up the robes of the Death Walkers, the lot of them thrown into apanic. Another wave of them stepped out of the portal into the flames and were immediatelyengulfed in wave after wave of fire as Oliver and I began throwing the rest of the torches.

The entire valley was on fire now. The dry grass and blood root soaked in fuel set a black cloud oftoxic smoke into the air, making it almost impossible to see what was happening below. But I knewmore vampires were coming through the portal right into the fiery fray, and before they even had achance to react, they were lost to the choking swell of the smoke, and then surrounded by flames.An explosion rocked the valley and echoed through the surrounding landscape. Debris shot high inthe air as the fuel tank we'd left in the clearing exploded, sending a shower of metal and heat downon the vampires. None of them had been able to escape the chaos, at least not yet.

My ears were ringing from all the noise. I looked at Oliver, who was panting, his eyes reflecting inthe flames as he looked down at what we'd done.

Another wave of vampires came through the portal and tried to turn around, but were met by thenext group of their comrades trying to come through as well. Some of them began climbing up thehill toward us. Covered in blood root, we were damn near camouflaged against the night sky behindus. We charged them as they got near, throwing them back into the flames. Their screeches ofsurprise had alerted a fresh group of them coming through the portal, and at least a dozenvampires were now heading in our direction.

"Get back to that truck!" I cried, stumbling as I grabbed Oliver by the shoulder and turned him awayfrom the valley.

But then I heard them-the hybrid beasts. Their roars cut through the screeching below and rippedthe sky in two.

I had enough time to look down at the clearing once more before we bolted. I saw it there, flamesdancing across its outstretched wing-the hybrid who had taken Lena, then me... the hybrid wehadn't been able to kill.

"RUN!" I screamed at Oliver, damn near dragging him down the other side of the hill we'd beenstanding atop.

Oliver was panting, trying to replace his breath in the thick, smoky air as we ran toward the truck.

I jumped in through the passenger side door and crawled to the driver's seat, fumbling with theignition before the truck struggled to start with a cracking rumble of protest. Smoke was chokingthe engine. I pounded on the dash as I revved, begging it to start.

Oliver crawled in next to me and shut the door just as the winged hybrid landed mere feet awayfrom us.

The engine started, thank the Goddess, as the hybrid situated itself right in front of the truck.

"Hit it!" Oliver cried, and I slammed my foot on the gas. The truck flew forward and slammed intothe hybrid, sending it flying back. I threw the truck in reverse and sped backward, then drove thetruck in a circle so we were facing Crimson Creek once again. In the rearview mirror, I saw nothingbut flames as the fire crept up the valley, the fire spreading rapidly through the dry grass. Flameswere lashing at the portal now, fueled by the dead and dying below.

We fr**+g did it. We f****g did—

The truck lifted off the ground by several feet and slammed back to the earth. Oliver yelped insurprise, rolling down his window and sticking his head out, looking up.

"What the f**k are you doing?" I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by his panicked protestas we sped forward.

I was pinning the gas pedal to the floor with all my weight, the truck flying over the hills and landingso violently that pieces from the undercarriage were coming loose and flying out behind us.

Talons cut through the roof of the truck, mere inches from slicing through my scalp.

Again we were lifted into the air, this time much higher. Oliver unsheathed a knife from his pocketand climbed out of the window, his legs hooked on the underside of the seat.

I turned the steering wheel back and forth, trying to swing us. Oliver was screaming in frustration ashe swung his blade at the hybrid's feet. I heard a screech, and then the truck was sideways, Oliverhanging out the window.

I grabbed one of his ankles as he began to slide out.

f**k. This was really, really bad.

I grabbed his other ankle and pulled him back inside, his face reddened and eyes bulging from theblood rushing to his head.

“I cut off one leg,” he smirked, and I noticed his blood-drenched sleeves.

The hybrid was flying in a circle, trying to free its talons from the roof. Oliver sliced at the talons,which only caused the beast to fly upward in its haste to get away.

"Stop!" I cried, my head spinning as the truck swung in a circle. We were twenty feet off the groundnow, and my stomach was tied in knots as I caught a glimpse of the ground below.

But then we were falling, fast. I grabbed onto Oliver as the truck slammed violently onto the groundon its side.

I opened my eyes, blinking against the shower of glass from the windshield. I was on top of Oliver,who was groaning, his face covered in blood root, and now fresh blood.

I couldn't move.

Something sharp was caught in my lower back. I tried to raise my head but a surge of hot agonyripped over my body. I couldn't even scream.

Slowly, whatever was protruding from my back released itself, and I fell forward onto Oliver, whogrunted painfully.

I was choked on blood, unable to form the words to ask Oliver if he was okay. I felt a shadow moveover the truck, blocking the moonlight pouring through the shattered windshield. Two fiery red eyescame into view, and a gnarled, talon-tipped hand reached through the windshield and grabbed meby the throat.

Oliver screamed, but it was too late.

It was over.

Lena, I said through the bond. Tell her I love her. Tell her I love you both.

Then it went black.