Maybe this way was better.
No, she thought, anger blooming inside her. It’s not.
She stepped through the Arch… and nothing changed. She wasn’t atop the lighthouse again. She was still on that bleak plain, where the winds whistled and nothing seemed to be alive.
Something had happened to the Arch before Zack could come through. That had to be the answer. A moment of relief transformed into a blast of fear.
She didn’t know if the old woman had been lying about Vardok’s attacks on her kingdom, but time was running out. She didn’t know how long she had left until his deadline.
Alix searched the ground until she found a rock with a sharp enough point. Grimacing, she gouged the palm of her hand, cutting deep enough to bring a good amount of blood. If Zack could make it through, maybe he could follow her trail. She couldn’t let it end this way, without even saying goodbye.
Tears clouding her vision, Alix took a few running steps and shifted into her dragon form, spreading her wings wide to catch the wind.
Alix had no idea how long she had been flying. Every now and then she would land for a few minutes, just long enough to sprinkle blood on the ground. She knew that the chances of Zack finding her were nearly zero. Even if he found another Arch nearby, she didn’t think he would be able to track her. He might head towards Vardok’s castle in search of her, but by the time he found her it would likely be too late.
Hopeless.
At dawn, she finally saw the first hints of life in the cold wasteland below. A few thatched roofed huts. Tilled soil. Rutted roads. The shifters who finally came out into the light were mostly dark-hued dragons with the scarlet sign of the Caligo clan on their bellies. The bigger ones were obviously Vardok’s mercenaries; they strutted through the village as if they themselves were royalty.
The Caligo castle loomed over the small village, crumbling but still standing. It had been built on a mountaintop, designed to intimidate and control the villagers of Caligo. It was an ugly place, rotting and decrepit. Alix had heard stories that the Caligo clan preferred it that way. She had no doubts that they did.
Before she could be seen, Alix glided to the ground near a small, blackened forest. Most of the trees had been burned to ash, but a few newer growths were enough to give her some cover. A moment after she landed, teams of Vardok’s soldiers blasted out of the castle. Alix watched them disappear into the horizon. Were they heading towards her family? Were Vardok’s mercenaries already there?
Alix found a hollow in the trunk of a large, burned out tree and carefully climbed inside, pulling her knees up to her chin as she finally allowed the tears to truly come. She wept until her head and stomach ached, silently saying goodbye to her family and her life as she had once known it. She tried to remember their happier times, tried to picture her mother and father laughing, Braydon and Casey’s joy at their wedding.
She couldn’t bring herself to picture Zack. Not yet. If she thought of him now, she would never be able to do what she had to do.
Exhaustion burned through her, and she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She felt safe enough hiding in the tree, so she let herself drift away, hoping that she wouldn’t dream.
Alix woke with no idea how long she had slept.
The skies were just as gray and dark as before. The wind felt colder; its bite chilled her to the bone. She climbed out of the tree trunk and stretched, aching from the cramped position she’d held for hours. Gazing at the castle, she felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.
It was time to go.
She took a deep breath, fighting down the rising anxiety, and began to make her way towards the edge of the copse. She could do this. She could endure this. For her family and for Zack, she could do this.
Alix!
She froze, almost afraid to turn around. Because if she turned around and it wasn’t Zack calling to her, she would shatter. Maybe she was just imagining it because she longed so badly to hear his voice again. Maybe—
Alix! Wait!
Slowly, she turned around. A huge gray wolf bounded out of the blackened forest. It leaped forward and shifted.
Zack.
Alix ran to him, nearly collapsing against him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly for a few long moments, neither of them able to speak. She raised her head to look at him, tears blurring her vision.
“What happened?” she whispered.
Zack shook his head slightly. “The old woman was one of Vardok’s. She tricked you and attacked me after you crossed over.”
Alix pulled away, noticing his new wounds for the first time. “Are you okay? What did she do?”
“I’m fine.” He smiled faintly. “But the Arch was destroyed. I had to go back to Brady’s club. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
Alix embraced him again. He felt so solid, so warm. How could she have thought he would abandon her?
“And your family’s safe,” he murmured against her ear. “Vardok hasn’t attacked them.”
Alix felt tears of sheer relief rising in her eyes but she blinked them away. The time for weeping was past.
“I have to go,” she said, looking up to him again.
“No,” Zack whispered. “You can break the agreement. Your family’s safe—”
“But for how long?” Alix gazed steadily into his eyes, trying to make him understand. “We don’t have a choice.”
Zack said nothing for a few moments, then closed his eyes and nodded. “I know.”
When he looked at her again, the grief in his eyes broke her heart. She rose up on her toes and kissed him, pressing herself as tightly as she could against his body. His arms surrounded her, comforted her. In this moment, as long as she was with him, she was safe.
They made love one last time, as if they had all the time in the world.
Both of them knew it was a farewell, that after this moment together they would have only memories. As Zack touched her, slowly, as if wanting to make time stand still, Alix bit back tears. She wanted to remember everything: the taste of his mouth, the scent of his skin, the feel of his hands on her body. At least she’d had a chance to know love once before life as she knew it ended. If nothing else, she had that.
When he entered her, she clutched him tightly. His kisses tasted salty, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that he was silently weeping as well. It broke her. She couldn’t fight her tears anymore.
They moved together languidly, gazing into each other’s eyes. Saying goodbye.
Something ripped her out of Zack’s arms.
Alix had barely opened her eyes when she heard cruel laughter, followed by a grunt of pain. Zack lay on the ground, doubled over into a fetal position, clutching his stomach as a tall male wearing the black uniform of Vardok’s army kicked him again and again. Two others held her by the arms, their grips painfully tight.
“Don’t hurt him!” She screamed. “Stop it!”
More laughter.
“I think we need to take this thief to Vardok,” the one standing over Zack said, a dark smile on his face. “I believe he’s stolen his wife’s virginity.”
He kicked again, viciously, and blood spewed out of Zack’s mouth.
“No,” Alix shouted, fighting to keep her voice steady. “He was escorting me to Vardok. I was cold and he was just trying to keep me warm!”
“Lies,” the soldier muttered, delivering another kick to Zack’s ribs. He looked to one of the males holding Alix’s arms. “Take her to the castle. Let Vardok deal with his lying bride.”
Alix shifted into her dragon form, hoping to slip out of his grip, but the male was bigger, and when he shifted he dwarfed her. He held her wings with one claw, preventing her from moving, and wrapped his other around her neck. He rose from the ground with a single, mighty flap of his wings.
Below them, Alix saw the other two males shift into their dragon forms as they surrounded Zack, who still lay gasping on the ground. They advanced on him… and then she was pulled above the
clouds and could see no more.
14
Alix
“Welcome home, Princess!”
The male who threw her into the room laughed as she stumbled and fell to the ground. She had been forced to shift back into her human form. The ceilings in the room were very low, not even tall enough to allow her to stand, much less shift. Straw littered the floor, and a single torch hung on the wall, casting long shadows.
The door slammed and locked.
Alix heard whispers in the darkness surrounding her. She managed to get to her knees, searching the dim shadows for the source of the sounds.
“Who’s there?”
“So you’re the fresh meat,” a female voice said. “We’ve heard all about you, Princess.”
Alix’s eyes refocused and she could see them more clearly now. Five—no, six—females lay in a shallow pit in the center of the room. She caught their scents: dragons, foxes, horses—all in their human forms.
“Who are you?” she asked, sensing that she already knew the answer. “Vardok’s wives?”
The female’s laugh was ugly, sharp. “Wives? No, no… we’re just his—”
“Trophies,” another female said. drawing laughter from the others.
“We’re not special enough to be his wives,” the first female said. “Not like you.”
“He takes us when he wants to play,” a third female said. “He likes to use his whips on me.”
“He ties me up,” another said, her voice hoarse. She coughed thickly. “He likes when I weep and beg.”
Alix saw them all more clearly now. The females were beautiful once, but now they looked as if they could die at any moment. Their bodies were emaciated, covered with dirt and infected wounds. One of them had had her hair cut completely off. The other females’ hair was matted and filthy.
“Why does he do this to you?” Alix asked quietly.
“Because he can,” the first female said. She crawled closer to Alix, her arms as thin and fragile as twigs. “He might treat you better… at first. But you’ll probably end up here. With us.”
“What’s your name?” another female asked.
“Alix Markonian,” Alix whispered.
“Nella,” the first female said. The others answered in turn. Shia. Jaysa. Zara. Arielle. Cae. Their voices were rough, exhausted. Beaten.
“Why don’t you shift?” Alix asked. “Together you could all overtake the guards—”
“No, we couldn’t.” Nella held up her arm and Alix noticed the thick silver band around her wrist. “We can’t shift. Not with this. No one in the village is allowed to shift except for Vardok and his army.”
“You’ll get your band when you’re married,” one of the others, Zara, said with a humorless laugh.
“So you’re trapped in this form?” Alix couldn’t imagine it. She enjoyed her human form, but to be locked into it forever? Unable to shift?
“Sometimes he lets us shift,” Nella said. “The dragons, at least. Sometimes he gets tired of mating in his human form. He doesn’t have to be as careful.”
Alix looked around the room, searching for some weak spot, something she could take advantage of to escape. These females didn’t deserve any of this. Surely there was something she could do; she couldn’t just allow this to continue.
“Don’t bother,” Nella said quietly. “There’s no way out.”
I can’t accept that, Alix thought, leaning back against the wall and stretching her legs out in front of her. The other females were staring at her clothing, and Alix realized how strange she must look to them. They all wore scraps of tunics, barely enough material to cover their bodies, much less keep them warm in this frigid prison.
“Did Vardok take you away from your mate?” Cae spoke this time, her voice timid and soft. “He killed mine when he tried to protect me.”
Alix thought of Zack writhing in pain on the ground, Vardok’s soldiers advancing. She knew that Zack was strong, that he had lived through beatings and shootings and countless other things, but she didn’t know if he’d be able to fight two of Vardok’s giant dragon soldiers. Even if he shifted, what could one wolf do against two dragons?
Grief choked her, took her voice for a few moments. All she could do was nod in agreement. Yes, Vardok had taken her away from her mate. He’d taken her away from the only love she would ever have in her life.
“When he comes to you,” Nella said, “give in to him. Don’t try to fight. He likes to hurt, so don’t resist him. Just let him do as he pleases.”
“There were more females in here once,” Zara said quietly. “Sometimes he likes to kill us just because he can.”
“It might be different for you, since you’re going to be wed.” Nella shook her head sadly. “But I doubt it very much. He hates females. All of us. He’ll hurt you without thinking twice about it.”
Alix’s grief began to diminish, transformed into pure rage. What Vardok had done to Zack, to these females, to everyone in his kingdom…
She would make him answer for it. Or she would die trying.
Alix didn’t know if it was hours or days later before the door opened again.
The light from the torch in the guard’s hand blinded her for a moment as she scrambled to her knees. The other females cowered away from the door, huddled together in the corner of their pit. Alix met Nella’s eyes and saw that despite her fear, there was anger in them as well.
Good, Alix thought. Stay strong.
“Markonian,” the guard growled. He waved the torch toward the others. “You stay back! Vardok’ll have his turn with you later,” he said with a filthy laugh.
Alix managed to get to her feet, her head brushing the ceiling as she hunched over. “I’m Alix Markonian,” she said in her most commanding voice. It was time to remember her training to be Queen.
“Come ‘ere, you.” He grabbed her roughly by the upper arm and she caught an unpleasant whiff of him. He was a pig shifter, and even in his human form he had the tiny eyes and ugly snout of a pig.
He dragged her out of the room, and Alix’s back sang with pain as she stood straight. Silent, he pulled her through endless dark hallways and up spiral columns of stone stairs. The castle was freezing, wind whistling through the cracks in the mortar. It was like being in a dead body, rotting from the inside. There was no laughter here. No light.
“I’d advise you not to get any smart ideas about shifting,” the pig said as he opened a huge wooden door and flung her into the room. “Vardok’ll kill ya as soon as look at ya if you try.”
With a smirk, he slammed the door behind her. Alix turned and took her measure of the cavernous room. A fire roared in a huge stone fireplace, its mantle covered with displays of skulls of all different shifters. Two overstuffed chairs sat in front of the hearth. Heavy scarlet drapes covered the walls, each of them painted with murals of Vardok’s various victories. A massive bed sat in the corner of the room, draped with more of the thick red material.
Alix imagined that she could feel the decades of pain and suffering that had been inflicted in his room.
“Finally… the princess returns.” Vardok stepped out of the shadows, a hideous smile on his face. He was nearly naked, only a piece of cloth wrapped around his waist. His long black hair hung loosely over his shoulders, and he dripped from his bath. His human form was intimidating, thick and slabbed with muscles. He towered over her as he stepped closer.
Am I supposed to find you attractive? she wondered, unwilling to look away from his arrogant gaze. Is this some pathetic attempt at seduction?
His smile widened, teeth perfectly white against the darkness of his neatly trimmed beard. Slowly, he walked over to his bed, giving her a better look at his body. She could easily imagine him torturing the females in the dungeon. His hands were massive. She remembered from his stranglehold on her before how easily he would be able to choke the life out of someone.
“You’re late,” he said as he whipped the cloth from around his waist and began to dry his h
air. He faced her again and she saw that his manhood was grotesquely large. It hung, limp, and nearly reached the center of his thigh. She could only cringe at the thought of it being driven inside her.
“I gave your father a week to get you to me,” he continued, eyes dark. “You are several days past your deadline.”
Alix said nothing. She sensed that he was trying to make her apologize, to surrender herself to him in abject terror.
“You were with your dog, weren’t you?” He sat on the edge of his bed. “Don’t lie. My soldier has already reported back to me.”
“My wolf,” she said quietly, her voice firm. “And yes, I was with him.”
He raised the cloth to his head and rubbed his still wet hair. “Have you fucked him?”
Alix blinked in surprise at the casual anger in his voice.
“Don’t bother answering,” he said, tossing the cloth to the side. “I know you have. I could smell his stench on you when you walked into the room.”
He rose in one fluid motion and slowly crossed the room to her. Alix took a deep breath and stiffened her shoulders. He loomed over her.
“Now what should I do with you,” he said with a faint, crooked smile, “since you’re not a virgin anymore?”
Alix said nothing, matching his gaze blink for blink.
“I could let my army have you,” he said and chuckled. “There wouldn’t be much left of you after they finished, but you’re strong… I’m sure you could handle almost all of them.”
He brushed a strand of white blonde hair from her eyes. Alix stiffened but didn’t jerk away from his touch. She couldn’t let her true feelings show.
“Or I could keep you with the others,” he continued, “and bring you out when I had the urge to see that lovely white flesh…”
Vardok’s hand cupped her breast roughly, and Alix winced. He caught the wince and squeezed. Hard.
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