Chapter 165
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55 vouchers
I used to believe Vampires were the greatest trackers ever, but seeing them work up close is proving otherwise. Ragnar and I had to take over because they were heading in the wrong direction. I want to laugh out loud so much, but I don’t want to give the Vampire King another excuse to complain.
He hasn’t stopped talking about how King Baldr accused him of something he didn’t do. He threw in, “If I wanted the girl dead, she would be, and none of you would have ever known it was me.” If his tracking skills are as bad as his killing ones, I wouldn’t bet on it.
“I can hear you,” Aurora huffs.
“I know. It’s making it that much funnier,” I admit. She playfully bumps me with her shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she says when the guys go up ahead.
Santiago is here with us. Ana sent him. She appears to have left the country for some reason. She sent me a text saying she will be back as soon as she can, but that something important came up. It has to be because she’s been obsessed with all of this from the moment we let her in.
“I’m really happy you weren’t there. I was so scared,” I admit. She takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. When I look up, her father is watching us. He goes back to what he was doing without saying anything.
“How is your head?”
“Better, I’ve been taking recovery supplements to help my skull heal faster. I have to admit, being able to heal this fast would have been so much more convenient when I was younger.”
“I read your medical reports. I honestly don’t know how you didn’t die,” she shakes her head. I see Ragnar tense up and glance back at us. “Sorry, but it’s the truth.”
“How did you see my medical records?” I ask.
“Someone posted them online. All of them. Even the sealed parts,” she says nonchalantly as she walks over to her father. I look at Ragnar, who is trying his best not to smile.
“I’ll get on that as soon as we get back. I promise,” he cracks and lets out a laugh.
“It’s not funny,” I sigh. “Those things are private.”
“They got out during your trials,” he reminds me.
“That doesn’t mean I want people to see all the ugly details,” I roll my eyes.
“Why don’t you have Ivar look up your digital profiles and remove what you don’t want to be public?”
“You mean Ivar, who left after you accused his mate of trying to murder me?”
“Yeah, that Ivar,” he smirks.
20:12 Mon, Apr 27
Chapter 165
“And you wonder why he wants to punch you in the face,” I sigh.
65 vouchers
We take cover right outside the compound. We can clearly see the Rogue King talking to some of his betas up ahead. Ragnar wanted to target him because I told him he might be the youngest of the two, and when the Vampires pulled up their files, it was true.
The man is surrounded by guards. Rogues are unpredictable and will do anything to ensure their way of life. This guy has really settled into the role of Rogue King, which leads me to believe that they’ve been in their position longer than we think.
This is simply the immediate problem. What are we going to tell the Kings mates when we retrieve the Kings and expose these things as impostors? How do they not notice that it’s not their mate sleeping beside them? Is the transformation that exact? Are they still linked to their mates? Don’t the Kings feel when their mates are being unfaithful?
“I didn’t even think of that,” Aurora whispers from behind me. Ragnar looks over at me questioningly. “Did you feel it when your former mate was unfaithful to you?”
“We weren’t bound, so no.”
I’ve never even considered the fact that Santiago was cheating on me before he married Poppy. Not that it matters anymore, but I think that would have hurt me a lot more than it all did. I honestly believe it would have been worse if they had shown any signs of an affair.
When the target steps out from the compound, someone fires their dart gun and hits him right in the neck. We all step back to take cover when he growls. I watch as he removes the dart and looks around. He shouts something in a language I don’t know, and the alarms flare.
I reach out for the water inside of him and feel it when he starts to try and shift. I sit back against the tree and slow his pulse. When I look up, I see him slap his chest a couple of times. One of the guys who had been helping the man usurping the Alpha King comes out of the compound to check on him. I slow his pulse a little more and straighten up when I see him cover his mouth. Another dart is fired at them, hitting the brother. Panicked, the brother tries to help him and escorts him inside. He takes the dart with him.
“What did you do?” Ragnar whispers in my ear. I can hear the amusement in his voice.
“It’s like when I calmed you. If I calm him enough, the skin begins to shed,” I whisper with equal enthusiasm. “We should hang out with the vampires more.”
“I agree,” Aurora laughs.
It doesn’t take long for them to pack up and leave. Ragnar crouches down in front of me, and I hop on his back. We all head back to the cars and follow behind the Tahoe that leaves the compound in a hurry. The vampires and Lycan retreat, having gotten what they wanted.
I can feel both of them inside that car. The vampire king keeps us at a distance, but we’re driving towards the Elysia Castle. Ragnar and I smile, knowing that he’s leading us to the Alpha King. He pulls out his phone and starts giving my grandmother orders.
Before he can even ask, I holster my dart gun and double-check my things in case I have to fight. The truck takes a back road towards the back woods.
20:13 Mon, Apr 27
Chapter 165
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38
55 Vouchers
“That road leads to the dungeons,” I inform them. “They have a huge underground facility. I’ve seen it before.”
“How huge?” the vampire King asks.
“It’s twelve sub levels. The lower the floor, the higher the threat the inmates pose. I know that because Kaylee’s brother was on the tenth floor as a class A replacement Alpha. If the Kings are in there, they might be keeping him on the twelfth floor just to make sure no one gets to them that easily.”
“I agree,” Ragnar nods. “Fuck.”
“We have a team that can get inside,” the vampire King says and pulls out his phone.
“Everything is DNA encoded. We’d need spit or blood from the Kings themselves or their mates,” I shake my
head.
“No one else?”
“I’m not sure. When I came here to visit Alexander Stathom, Luna Queen Natalie was bragging about her and the king. She’s a pureblood,” I shrug. “They kind of stay wrapped up in how awesome they are. This one in particular likes to gossip. I had also just turned eighteen.”
“Do you think you can get an audience with her?”
“After telling everyone they’re stealing money and allowing Rogues to kill wolves, no,” I shake my head. “I doubt we can even call them.”
“I still have a DNA sample from the skin Sophie picked up,” Aurora says, reaching into her coat pocket to retrieve a little box.
“Eww,” I lean away from her and the box.
“If it doesn’t work. We bail,” Ragnar looks over at the King. “And we regroup in the evening.”
“I’m good with that plan,” he agrees without hesitation. “Just use a small amount. We might need more inside. We also need to talk about your strange affliction with mementoes, Aurie.”
20:13 Mon, Apr 27
