Chapter 41

‘What will he be doing in the dungeons? Training new vampires? Hannah might be amongst them but when I checked the other day before leaving the higher council, she was not here, and I am not picking up her scent,’ Paris thought but continued to follow the scent.
Paris noticed there were no guards or prisoners in the Dungeons, but continued to follow Andre’s scent.
“Paris, my old friend, where is your girlfriend?” Paris heard Torvald just as he was about to leave the dungeons through the back to a part of the castle he has never been to.
“Torvald? You are still alive,” Paris paused in front of his cell that was at the very end.
“Let me drink from you,” Torvald compelled Paris.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot you are actually prehistoric,” Paris said, giving his palm to Torvald, while hyming the shaman rhym. Being amongst Prehistoric all the time now, Paris made sure to wear a shaman necklace, especially since the females continued to try their luck with him.
Just as Torvald reached out to take Paris’s palm, Paris retracted, “shaman neckless,” he showed him.
“Where is your girlfriend?” Torvald asked, desperate, wondering how the capturing of Jessica was going.
“First, tell me where Andre and Hannah are,” Paris asked.
Torvald pointed in the direction that Paris was going, and Paris walked.
“Wait, where is Shysie?” Torvald asked again.
“I don’t know. I am no longer her pet,” Paris said with a chuckle.
“Wait,” Torvald said, but Paris ignored him.
“I know where your wife is,” Torvald said, making Paris backtrack.
“Six feet under the ground,” Paris said, thinking of the painful memory that Shysie caused 900 years ago when she killed his wife of a day.
“Not necessarily,” Torvald said, luring Paris in.
“Speak,” Paris demanded, coming to a halt in front of Torvald's cell again.
“Let me drink first,” Torvald requested.
“How do I know you will keep your end of the deal?” Paris asked, hesitantly.
“I promise if you let me drink, I will show you what really happened to your wife,” Torvald promised.
“Promise that you won't drink me to death,” Paris said.
“I promise,” Torvald promised.
“You must take me for a fool?” Paris said, walking away.
“I promise to not drink you to death,” Torvald called after him.
Paris put his wrist through the bars of the cell and Torvald grabbed his arm before he could change his mind.
Paris felt the intoxication sweeping through him. ‘No wonder the humans get so addicted.'
Paris felt himself slipping away and was about to tell Torvald to stop when Torvald stopped.
“I need more,” Torvald said, putting his arm through the cell so that Paris can drink from him.
Paris looked at him, thinking, ‘does he want me to drink from him?’
“Go on. Surely by now you know you can drink from a prehistoric vampire,” Torvald said.
Paris sunk his teeth hesitantly into Torvald’s arm and saw that Shysie never killed his wife. ‘That is why Shysie never got punished,’ Paris thought, searching Torvald's mind for his wife’s location.
Torvald ripped his arm away, tearing some of his skin off, but licks his own flesh to heal up the damage. “I need more blood, or at least bring me some food.”
“So Shysie knew all this time what you truly are and that is why you kept her secret? You helped Prince Andre kill Dario? Dario has been loyal to you all this time, and this is how you repay him?” Paris asked, anger boiling in him, wishing he could rip Torvald’s throat out and leave him to bleed to death, but Michael made everyone promise to not harm or kill Torvald, his brother.
Paris walked away as he could feel his skin boil at just the thought of breaking his promise, ‘Hanna first then Soraya,’ he thought.
Paris walked through a passage that seemed like it was from a different era altogether, but the further he went, the cleaner it got. White bare walls with only dimmed lights. Paris went through a door, still tracking Andre’s scent, and was greeted by a wide stone spiral staircase that went down.
At the bottom of the spiral staircase, he walked through another hallway only to be met with another wide spiral staircase, but this time it went up, double the length of the one that was going down.
Near the top he could hear a woman laugh, ‘Hanna?’ he thought, recognizing her laughter.
Paris froze and listened, ‘did they plan this?’ he wondered as he heard Andre and Hanna conversing as if everything was sunshine and roses.
Paris retreated going down the double-length stone staircase, feeling betrayed. ‘After all these years? Why did she not marry Prince Andre a hundred years ago when she had the opportunity?’ Paris thought, speeding down the stairs and through the short hallway and up the short stairs and through the hallway, coming to a halt in front of Torvald’s cell.
“Not what you expected?” Torvald laughed.
“Why is Prince Andre not helping you since you helped him?” Paris wanted to know.
“You know Andre, he only helps when he can benefit,” Torvald said, swallowing his laughter, wondering if he can get Paris to help him.
“Don’t even ask. Your brother, the new king, made us promise not to help you without his permission,” Paris said before speeding off to find his wife of a day.
'Will she still be human, or would she have turned by now? What if she decided to grow old and die of old age?' Paris wondered as he sped past Wynn.
“Wait up,” Wynn stopped Paris.
“Hanna doesn’t need our help. She is happy in the arms of Prince Andre,” Paris said with a distraught look on his face.
“They are here? She is fine?” Wynn asked.
“Yes, she is fine. I have to go. Go through the Dungeons if you want to see for yourself,” Paris said, speeding off.
Wynn went to the dungeons and got stopped by Torvald. “Let me drink from you and I will show you who you really are.”

“I know who I am. Wynn Mateo,” Wynn said, about to leave.
“Wicked,” Torvald corrected him, which made Wynn give a step back.
“Go on,” Wynn said, remembering what people told him about what name he used to go by before he lost his memory.
“Sure, your name is Wynn Mateo, but there was a time that people called you the Wicked one. You liked it so much that you made everyone call you Wicked,” Torvald said.
“That is nothing new to me,” Wynn said, laughing.
“Let me drink from you and I will show you,” Torvald said.
“Maybe some things are better left in the past,” Wynn said, speeding off, and soon found himself looking at Andre and Hanna.
Wynn’s presence gave Andre a fright. “Wynn, what are you doing here?”
“I can ask you the same thing. Hanna? What is going on?” Wynn asked, confused as to why Hanna was in Andre’s arms after what he did.
“How can you be with him after he killed Dario? The love of your life, your husband?” Wynn asked, ready to rip Andre’s throat out.
“I don’t understand. Dario? I have not seen him for years,” Hanna laughed, trying to think, but her memories seemed as if they have gaps in them.
“What have you done with her?” Wynn asked, grabbing Andre and pressing him against the wall.
“Need I remind you of who I am?” Andre choked.
“How about I remind you who I am,” Wynn said, pulling Andre forward and slamming Andre’s head against the wall.
“Stop!” Hanna cried out.
“What have you done to her?” Wynn repeated his question.
“He has done nothing to me!” Hanna cried, trying to pull Wynn off him.
“If he did nothing to you, then why can you not remember Dario?” Wynn asked, letting go of Andre.
Wynn reached for his shaman necklace and started to hymn over Hanna.
“Do you remember Dario now?” Wynn asked, looking at Hanna.
“Years ago,” Hanna explained.
“Why is it not working? What have you done?” Wynn asked, focusing his attention on Andre again.
“Honey, I will come to visit you later again,” Andre said, cooping Hanna’s face and giving her a kiss.
“I am scared. What is going on?” Hanna asked.
“Don’t be scared. Enjoy your feed. I will send someone,” Andre said.
“Come, I will explain,” Andre said, showing Wynn to leave with him.
After they exit the room, Andre locked the door.
“Why are you locking her up?” Wynn asked, not liking it one bit.
“You know she just became a vampire, and you know they spent their first year under lock and key,” Andre said as he made his way down the stairs.
“Where are the rest of them?” Wynn wondered, remembering that Hanna was not the only one that got turned.
“Dead, I presume,” Andre said.
“You presume?” Wynn asked as they reached the second staircase.
“I manage to save Hanna when we returned a few days later. The cells were empty, with only King Torvald there,” Andre explained.
“He is just Torvald now,” Wynn reminded him.
“Sure, whatever,” Andre said as they walk through the hallway that lead to the dungeons.
“Andre, my friend, send me someone to drink,” Thorvald pleaded when Andre and Wynn walked into the dungeons.
Andre just walked through, ignoring Torvald.
“Why are you ignoring him?” Wynn asked.
“What is it to you?” Andre asked.
“You better start explaining yourself real soon,” Wynn warned him.
“Or what?” Andre challenged.
“Or I will make you,” Wynn said, grabbing Andre just as they exited the dungeons.
“You should really stop doing this,” Andre tried to get himself loose from Wynn, using his Kingship authority that was passed onto him when his father died.
Wynn strengthen his grip on Andre when he felt the Kingship authority pushing down on him. ‘maybe you should make friends with Torvald, before you try to outrank me again,’ Wynn mind linked Andre.
‘How are you doing this?’ Andre mind linked back, unable to talk as Wynn was crushing his throat.
Wynn forced himself into Andre’s mind, searching for answers to what he did with Hanna to make her forget what she had with Dario.
Andre tried to block him out, but failed.
“So that is what you did. Did Dario really have to die?” Wynn tossed Andre aside.
“I will punish you for this!” Andre choked out, grabbing his throat.
“You and which army?” Wynn asked with a smug look on his face before speeding off, wondering how he was going to restore Hanna’s memory or if he even should. ‘She will be devastated if she remembers that she drank the man she loved to death.’
Andre immediately mind-linked his mother. ‘Do you know Wynn can mind link with us?’
‘What?’ Queen Amirah mind linked back.
‘He just forced himself into my mind and communicated with me,’ Andre mind linked his mother.
‘That is only possible if,’ Queen Amirah mind linked but then went silent for a moment.
‘If what?’ Andre mind linked her back.
‘Mother?’ Andre mind linked Queen Amirah but didn't get a response.
Queen Amirah stood up from her former, now dead husband’s throne and mind linked her entire flock of were-owls. ‘If you see Wynn, let me know.’ ‘Wynn is the perfect match for Ami,’ she thought, ‘the key to making the were-owls Kings of the supernatural world.’
Within the next second, she got a response that he just left the vampire wing and appeared to be on his way to the werewolf wing.
Queen Amirah made her way over to the werewolf wing and caught Wynn’s scent. ‘So it is him who smelled so good earlier. Why have I not smelled him before?’ she thought, following his scent that lead her to the werewolf throne room.
Deacon and Wynn sat on the two thrones, Deacon on the one that was actually meant for a Queen and Wynn on the one that was meant for the King.
‘How fitting, it suits him,’ Queen Amirah thought. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ she stopped her thoughts.
“Wynn, a word, please?” Queen Amirah asked, wondering how he can even be in Deacon’s company after what Deacon did to him.
‘I take it Andre told you about our little faceoff,’ Wynn mind linked her, knowing she will be open.