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What happened to Kamila?

Ross

We run at full speed while Tristan and I return to the castle. We have been silent in our mental links because none of us want to even think about the horrible possibilities running through our minds, much less talk about them. We just need to get back as soon as possible.

I don't know where Mark is, but I as...ume ET2 Adam has alerted him as well. He left when Tristan showed up to check on the troops, and since I knew ET1 Oliver, our ally who was gathering his troops to join us in the fight against Kane, I had gone to help him while Tristan and I continued searching for Eli.

My mind was racing through so many different images of what could have happened to Kamila that it was hard to concentrate on running through the forest, but basic instincts had taken over at this point, and Tristan and I were jumping over fallen trees and dodging areas of thick undergrowth to practically fly through the area.

I also had thoughts about Eli in my mind. As we got closer to Kamila, or the place where Kamila was last seen, anyway, we were moving away from wherever Eli was being held. He's a strong ET1, and I know he can defend himself, but the fact that they're drugging him unconscious terrifies me.

I'm also terrified by the fact that I can't contact Kamila. I know Tristan must be trying too, and if he had caught up with her, I think she would tell me. But there is only silence between us, and desperation in my mind as I call her repeatedly. She must also be unconscious somewhere, and the pain in my chest is unbearable imagining what is happening to her and our puppies right now.

We left the forest and continued running at full speed. I remember Tristan's hip is still hurt, but you wouldn't know it because he easily keeps pace with me. I can feel the emotional pain he is feeling too. Once again, we are on the same page.

We just have to get back to the castle as quickly as possible.


Merck

My heart pounds in my chest as I run towards the castle.

My mind is filled with terrifying thoughts about what is happening right now with Kamila and the puppies. I have tried dozens of times to contact her and still get no response.

Luckily, all the guards recognize me and move out of the way as I practically smash through the main door of the castle and run towards Kamila's room.

The door is open when I get there, and Shelby is standing in the center of the room with a horrified look on her face. She startles a little when she runs in still in my ET form. I transform and grab a blanket, which is on the floor for some reason, and wrap myself in it.

“Mark!” she says, putting her hand over her heart as if he had scared her.

"What happened?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "They must have taken her that way," she says, pointing to the door to the secret pas...age. —Tristan and Reece are on their way. Adam went in there to see if he could find her.

With a quick nod, I also pas... through the door. It's dark here, so I transform to be faster and have more precise senses, leaving the blanket on the ground behind me. I can still smell her beautiful scent faintly, and it breaks my heart in two. I should have been here to protect her!

I didn't have time to scold Shelby for not guarding the inner door, but from the look on her face, she was already beating herself up about it. Adam will get a good dressing down when he gets my hands on him, though.

I see a figure up ahead in the dark hallway, and I instantly recognize him as Adam. However, I don't have time to scold him, and I don't bother transforming, but since he seems scared, I talk to him on the mental link.

“I'm Mark,” I say.

He sighs in relief, but then I see his eyes widen. He knows he's in trouble, and he looks at my sharp teeth.

“I'm not going to hurt you,” I tell him. I have more important things to do right now than take it out on Adam. It's only partially his fault because we should all have been keeping an eye on Kamila.

'I think Malena Milly took her,' he says.

'Malena Milly? She's in the dungeon,' I say.

He shakes his head, and we follow Kamila's scent trail. 'She escaped,' he explains to me. 'We don't know where she is. We found a syringe on the floor, one like the ones guards use to control prisoners. She must have been wearing a guard's uniform to escape. Kamila's blanket is missing, so he must have wrapped her in that.'

'Did he drug her?!' No wonder he didn't respond to my mental link. He's unconscious! Who knows how that medicine could affect them!

'Yes,' he says.

The trail leads to the library, where Kamila's smell is slightly stronger because it is newer. It's obvious that Malena Milly, or whoever she took Kamila, dragged her away using her bedding. The trail leads through the bookshelves and out the library door, into the hallway. Surely, there were guards out here. They were involved? How could Malena Milly walk past them dragging someone wrapped in sheets?

Sure enough, the trail continues down the hallway and out the door, where the drag marks end. There is blood here on the floor, and a horrible pain hits deep in my chest. But when I smell the blood, it's clearly not Kamila's. A guard appears around the corner.

"What happened here?" Adam asks.

The guard looks at me nervously, then turns back to Adam as he answers, “Some shapeshifters were here looking like they were trying to break into the castle.” Our guards attacked them and eliminated them, all except one, who surrendered.

"Where is he?" Adam asks.

“We have brought him to King Gene,” the guard says.

Shit. The last thing I want is for a prisoner with information about Kamila to go to Gene, who we all know wants to kill Kamila.

Before Adam can react, I turn and run back inside, running through the hallways to reach Gene's chambers. When I arrive, the door is ajar, so I burst in.

"What the hell?!" Gene bellows, recoiling in terror when he sees me in my ET form.

I could really finish him off quickly right now, but the rest of the ET1s and I have decided that regicide is not the right path. We are going to take control of the kingdom legitimately so that Kamila and our children can live in peace.

I transform to show him that I'm not going to kill him, and I can see the relief wash over him.

“ET1 Mark!” he says, grabbing a pair of pants from a drawer and throwing them at me. —Put on clothes in the presence of the king!

I do it because I really don't want to be here naked anyway, and they fit like a pair of capri pants, barely reaching below my knees. They won't come close to buckling up.

"Where is the prisoner?" I ask.

"What prisoner?" he asks in return. —I have a lot of prisoners in the castle dungeons.

“The one your guards captured right outside the castle,” I say. I'm silently praying to the Moon Goddess that Gene doesn't know that the guy is connected to Kamila's disappearance. —It just happened not long ago.

“Oh, that idiot,” Gene says. "The poor bastard is probably getting a beating from one of the guards down there as we speak." Why do you give a damn about some idiot who's trying to break into my castle?

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act nonchalant, but it's almost impossible with the fear I feel for Kamila. But I make it work anyway, since I need information on where to find Kamila, and that prisoner is the answer.

“No reason,” I say. —I just don't want anyone to penetrate the fortress.

"Good man," he says. He then sits in a chair and takes a sip of a drink. He looks at me. —Shouldn't you be defending our lands? We are fighting on two fronts, you know!

“We've taken care of Stephen's army,” I say.

"Have you done it?" He seems honestly surprised. —Oh. Good man! Keep up the good work! —He returns to his drink, sipping and smiling.

I nod and turn around. I have no more time to waste talking to this babbling idiot. I run through the hallways towards the dungeons. I have to get to this man and question him.

I have to find out where they took Kamila!

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