EXTRA 2

Although Luciano knew that Seth would be safe in the bedroom, especially with the amount of guards that were placed at the door, he still was reluctant to leave her alone.

Dominic, Ryder and Vlad stood at the door, discussing something with the guards, just to give the King a moment to spend with her.

Once Luciano tucked her in, he sat on the bed and brushed her hair off her face.

“How can such an innocent, kind-hearted woman like you suffer so much?” He whispered, well aware Seth didn’t hear a word.

The question was as much meant for her as it was for the universe and fate. The Moon Goddess had pulled a vile stunt on them, taking away so many babies and causing so much pain for their blended family.

Luciano had spent hours, days, weeks, and even months, trying to figure out what went wrong. One doctor came after another, he had called witches and warlocks to help, even faes came, but all of them claimed the Queen was healthy.

That was when the intense self-hatred appeared. Seth and Luciano both started looking for blames within themselves.

At the end of the day, they all knew that neither of them were to blame for the vicious cycle of miscarriages, but there had to be something… And once they realized there was nothing - both found at least something to blame.

“I will get to the bottom of this even if it costs my life, kitten. Whoever, whatever the fuck is to blame, rest assured I will destroy everything in my way to make sure it burns to ashes. And even if I don’t, Council be damned, fuck the title, I rather lose everything I have than I risk losing you,” Luciano whispered the promise, leaned down to press his lips to Seth’s forehead and left the bedroom shortly after.

The more time he spent around her, the more tempted he was to lay next to her and hide from the world.

As soon as he stepped into the hall, everyone’s eyes focused on him.

“Ah, there he is. We had a quick chat with the guards, there’s a patrol under the windows as well, so she’s safe. No one gets in or out without your knowledge.” Ryder announced, a sheepish grin on his lips.

“Ready to go?” Dominic jumped in, slapping the back of Ryder’s head.

Luciano raised an eyebrow at their behavior, but nodded, unwilling to waste his breath on more words. He was too tired to get involved in conversations that would lead nowhere.

Now, he wanted answers. If there were none, he would settle for clues and hints to those answers, nothing less or more.

He nodded at the guards to acknowledge his men and addressed the Alphas. “What are you waiting for then? Lead the way.”

Vlad was the only one who looked relieved by Luciano’s no bullshit approach to the situation. He had always been the more gentle type of them all, but while Dominic and Ryder loved messing around, at least Vlad was serious.

“Follow me,” Vlad nodded his head in the direction of another hall, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked away.

Luciano was hot on his heels even before dumb and dumber registered that they were supposed to follow them too.

Despite the storm of questions that kept circling his mind, Luciano didn’t try talking. There was no point in asking anything if the Alphas were leading him to those answers.

“Hey, wait for us!” Dominic called from behind, but neither Luciano nor Vlad acknowledged him.

Vlad knew where they were heading, so did Dominic and Ryder. In this situation, Luciano was the only one who followed someone, so there wasn’t much sense in waiting for those two.

“You know where we are heading,” Vlad called out, voicing Luciano’s thoughts.

Sometimes, the King appreciated it if someone could speak his mind. Especially in situations as such, when he didn’t want to utter a word unless it was needed.

They walked for what seemed to be hours. Vlad kept leading Lucano down the halls, rounding corners and muttering something about shortcuts so many times that the King got lost in his own castle.

It took about ten minutes for Luciano to realize he had no idea where they were anymore and where they could be heading. He knew the castle from top to bottom, every corner of it, but now, he didn’t recognize where they stood.

Just as he was about to break the silence, Vlad stopped in front of a door and pulled a key out of his pocket. Luciano’s eyes followed his hand as the Alpha shoved the key into the lock and twisted it.

The door opened with a loud shriek that echoed against the walls. Now, Luciano had a slight idea about where they could be heading.

When Vlad grabbed his phone and turned on the flashlight, Luciano noticed the cobweb covered staircase that led down to the old cells.

Although the place wasn’t quite a secret, Luciano couldn’t understand why the Alphas felt the need to bring him down there.

No one used those cells. No one had access to them. Well, unless like Vlad, they had a key to the lock. There was no way in and out of there without that very lock. The cells had no windows, no entrance other than the door they were using, so it couldn’t be that someone snuck in.

“Why are we going there?” Luciano asked as soon as Dominic and Ryder caught up with them.

“Because we found something down there and you definitely should see it.” Dominic interjected and slapped his hand on Luciano’s shoulder, effectively starting the King. “Jeez, no need to be so jumpy, my little grasshopper,” Dominic added with a chuckle.

As much as Luciano wanted to rip off his best friend’s head, he ignored the sudden urge along with the words. There were more important matters that needed his attention than Dominic, being a little shit again.

“While I have no damn clue why any of you clowns would think of going down there, I will do the most stupid thing a sane person could do and trust you on this one. Lead the way.” Luciano grumbled as Vlad took the first step down the dirty stairs.

As soon as Luciano joined him, he had to fight a gag. The stench was awful. It wasn’t the smell of something old and dust as something he would expect. No, the place reeked of something rotten. Maybe a dead racoon?

“I know it stinks, but pull your big boy panties on and hurry downstairs, trust me, you really want to see what’s hidden there.”

Luciano’s heart was pounding in his chest as they headed down the stairs. With each step he took, the King felt as if his heart tried to escape his body with more eagerness.

At one point, he feared the organ was so loud, everyone could hear it. Even though none of the Alphas brought up the fact, deep down, he knew they could sense how uneasy he was.

Vlad kept muttering something under his breath as he cleared out the path for them while Dominic and Ryder discussed their dinner ideas.

Were they serious? This was a life or death situation in Luciano’s eyes while his best friends acted like they had no damn worries in the world.

“Could you all stop acting like children?” Luciano snapped once Dominic and Ryder decided to argue about which food was more superior.

“We could. As soon as you stop acting like a pissy boy, we fuckin’ will.” Dominic snapped back.

“I have the right to be terrified of whatever awaits us down there. You three are aware of something I am about to see, so forgive me if I’m at the end of my rope with our Queen suffering and some unknown shit being hidden here.” Luciano answered as calmly as he could.

Them, arguing like kids, wouldn’t lead anywhere. The main concern was Seth and whatever was happening to her, not them.

“You’re right. Sorry,” Dominic quickly apologized.

They all knew that Luciano wouldn’t be angry for long. He never was when it came to Seth and their Alphas. But there also was no need for him to voice that.

The staircase was too long to be true. Once silence surrounded them, Luciano focused on counting the steps to distract himself.

He hadn’t gone to the old cells even once, the place didn’t poke his interest, but now that he saw for himself how deep underneath the castle the place was, he wanted to see what it hid.

The old King ruled for ages, he was the one who built the castle, so if he planned a place like this - he had some serious secrets. Or, something very dangerous to hide away from everyone.

“This shithole still gives me the creeps.” Dominic was the one to break the silence.

“Assuming you have been here more than once. Am I correct?” Luciano chucked to ease the tension that surrounded them all.

“Unfortunately,” Dominic grumbled.

Ryder instantly laughed. At first, Luciano assumed it was because Dom sounded butt-hurt, but once Ryder explained why he was so amused, it made more sense. “Dominic was the one who found this place. You know how he is, our good ol’ friend Dom. He broke the previous lock and went into the unknown without checking. Bet your ass he rolled down the stairs like a ball of yarn.”

Just imagining the view brought a slight smile to Luciano’s lips. He didn’t want to laugh or make his friend feel bad about what had happened, but he would be a liar if he claimed that he wouldn’t pay to see the view with his own eyes.

“Zip it or I will tell him how your ass flew out of that stupid Rapunzel tower,” Dominic growled.

“Assuming the staircase is neverending, please, do tell me. I need something to keep my mind off the unknown,” Luciano encouraged Dominic to distract him.

Ryder tried to protest, but it was too late. “While you were busy with your royal schedule, we needed something to fill our days with, so we decided to explore. As Ry here so kindly already told you, I rolled down these stairs. Ryder broke into that fancy ass tower you have above the library and locked himself in. I would assume it was an accident, but we all know he ain’t the brightest star in the sky, so I can bet it’s because he isn’t that smart. Anyway, Ry, the man bat decided to use the vindown as his escape. It went as well as you can imagine. Oh and Vlad here-” before Dominic could add more, Vlad stopped him.

“One more word and for dinner, I will shove your dick down your throat, Dominic.”

All of them laughed at the unusual aggressive tone Vlad was using. Luciano made a mental note to ask Dom what had happened with Vlad later. Surely, a reaction as such had to be for a reason.

“Besides, we are almost at our goal, so this is where the fun and games end,” Vlad added, instantly catching Luciano’s attention.

The King’s heart started beating twice as hard again. Luciano could barely contain his emotions as they finally reached the ground and the awful staircase was behind them.

While they were closer to the answers, he still didn’t feel like he could breathe. Until they found the source of their misfortune, no one really could.

“Okay, now before we go any further, there is something you need to know,” Vlad muttered as he spun on his heel to face Luciano.

Dominic and Ryder walked in front of him too and stood at Vlad’s side. They looked like teenagers who were trying to scare their friends with some voodoo stuff, but Luciano didn’t focus on the silly ideas.

The looks on their faces was enough to remind him of how truly serious this was.

Luciano crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded. “I’m listening.”

All three of them exchanged nervous glances before Vlad spoke again. “Try to be as open minded as you can be once we get there, okay? And please, for all faith in the Moon Goddess, don’t speak. We will, but you can’t. You will understand why later, but as soon as you move your ass from the spot you stand on now, keep quiet and listen. Can you do that?”

The more Vlad spoke, the less sense he was making. Everything within Luciano made him doubt every word that left his friend’s lips, but instead of being as he always was, the King decided to let them lead this thing and nodded in agreement.

Vlad didn’t want Luciano to talk? Staying quiet, yeah, that much he could do.

All three Alphas breathed out simultaneously. They sounded like massive weight fell from their shoulders. The sudden relief made no sense to Luciano, but once again, he ignored it all.

Vlad spun around, so did Dom and Ryder, and all of them started moving further down the disgusting hall. They might have taken no more than ten steps until they all froze in front of a half-open door and gasped.

“Did you fucking leave it open?” Vlad hissed.

Luciano was about to ask what was going on, but he pressed his lips in a thin line to remain silent as Vlad’s words echoed in his mind. He wasn’t allowed to speak.

“No, I locked it. Checked twice and then, when I reached the top of the stairs, I ran back here again because my brain was like ‘did I really lock it’, made sure it was locked as fuck and left. I didn’t come here again after that.” Dominic raised his hands as he spoke.

While the Alphas argued about whatever it was, Luciano stood aside and watched them. He felt oddly calm and even a little unconcerned until he felt a presence behind him.

“Well, well, well, the King himself has graced me with his presence. To what do I owe this pleasure?”