Page 65 of Dark Reign

To say that I didn’t understand her was perhaps the biggest understatement of all time. Her entire existence was shrouded in mystery, and now I’d lost her, which meant the temp of the hot water I’d gotten myself into trying to save her was now boiling.

“We’ll have to spread out,” I suggested, knowing right away Colin would object.

“Your Highness, I—”

“It’s the only way we’ll find her,” I interjected.

There was a standoff between us, one for which I didn’t have time. Already, people were starting to take notice of who I was, whispering among themselves as they passed. We were wasting precious time.

Eventually, Colin nodded, sending Winston north in the opposite direction down the sidewalk when he turned to head south. I continued on track, peering through shop windows to see if she’d ducked inside one to hide, but found nothing.

I could already hear my father scolding me for letting my guard down, for not planning ahead for something like this. It wasn’t like I could have predicted she’d jump out of my car and into traffic, but I still should have kept a closer watch. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what she was capable of, wasn’t like I hadn’t witnessed firsthand how deceptive she could be. This incident was just another to add to the long list.

My pace slowed when I started losing hope. No word from Elle or the guards meant they were all still emptyhanded, as well. Our recovery mission was a bust and I was already beginning to draft a letter to issue to the press, stating that I’d decided against following in my father’s footsteps due to ‘unforeseencircumstances’. If I was lucky, they wouldn’t dig too deep into my story, somaybeI’d avoid having to go in front of the magistrates, but there was no guarantee.

Time was slipping through my fingers. At this point, I almosthopedshe got away. If she hadn’t, it would mean she’d been captured and, if that happened, her fate was sealed. All I’d risked to ensure her safety was in vain—the lies I’d told the sentinels, my father … myself. All for nothing because, in the end, I couldn’t do the one thing I set out to do.

Protect her.

“I’ve scanned five blocks, Your Highness.”

Elle’s update confirmed what I already knew; we were done.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and accepted that Corina had made a fool of me twice now. As if I hadn’t learned my lesson the first time, I gave her a second opportunity to prove that this fascination I had with her made me behave completely out of character. It made me one-hundred-percent irresponsible.

Beautiful or not, she was nothing but trouble.

“Should I come to you now?” Elle asked, taking me from my thoughts. “Or if you’d like, I can double-check the alleys,” she offered. “Statistically speaking, that’s the most likely place a human would hide under these circumstances.”

When Elle finished, a flicker of regret came over me. I’d ventured down a few alleys, but with time being of the essence, I had definitely bypassed several. Meaning, there was still a chance she was out here.

I rushed up and down the first three backstreets I came to, ignoring the curious stares of onlookers as I searched. The first came to a dead end with a vicious pack of dogs chained nearby. The other two let out onto busy streets on both sides, so a quick run from one end to the next proved she was nowhere in the vicinity.

I didn’t give up despite the first endeavors being a bust. I rushed down another of the tight pathways situated between two buildings—an imported blood distributor and a high-end jewelry store. Spotting nothing at first, my thought was that I’d revived my search for nothing, but then… I noticed something.

Several yards away, jean-clad legs and bare feet jutted out from behind the partial covering of a dumpster. I rushed over at the first hint of blood in the air, thinking the worst—that someone had gotten to her before me. Thinking I’d get close and find that her legs were all there was left. A civilized Ianite would at least request to see the mark of a stray human, and forego the inclination to make lunch of one with proper paperwork.

However, not all Ianites were as civilized as they liked to claim.

I approached, rounding the dumpster slowly, completely surprised when I realized she was somehow in one piece. Unconscious and now filthy, but alive. The lone heel she’d worn after losing the other during her escape was stuck in the chain-link fence and I pieced the clues together. She’d tried to climb, hoping to put further distance between us, and lost her footing. What I saw before me was the result of the fall.

The red pool beneath her head revealed the source of the bitter, metallic odor that hung in the air. It was enough to make my fangs ache to protrude. I suppressed the urge, but keeping my composure wouldn’t be so easy. I was usually strong enough to keep the hunger at bay, but with all that had gone on today, there hadn’t been time for a meal.

I didn’t give it a second thought when I knelt to the ground as rain soaked my hair and pelted my shoulders. I hovered over Corina’s lifeless body, checking for a breath, but assuming the worse when I considered the state in which she appeared to be. After a moment, her chest rose and fell, but the breath was shallow. That didn’t stop the surge of relief that swelled within me, though.

I didn’t understand it. Didn’t understand why I cared what happened to her one way or another. She, this human girl, aliar, an imposter, shouldn’t have mattered to me, shouldn’t have made me care.

But I did.

The rosiness in her cheeks had faded, leaving a pale, graying tone that struck panic within me. Being careful not to do further damage, I turned her a bit and discovered the gash at the back of her head, soaking her hair, and now my hands and suit.

Time was of the essence and I knew I had to think fast as her life hung in the balance. If she died here, I’d have to answer for that, explaining why she’d run off if we were trying to sell the idea that she was my Doll. However, what would carry evenworseconsequences, would be if I did the one thing that could save her.

Deliver a dose of venom straight to her bloodstream that would heal her body, but …anyamount would inevitably turn her.

There were a number of reasons that couldn’t happen, and at the top of that list was that doing so had been ruled illegal over two centuries ago. With there being a need to preserve our human blood supply, Ianites were forbidden to diminish that supply even more by turning a human into one of us. So … the dilemma only complicated itself as the seconds ticked past.

Seconds I realized Corina didn’t have, with those already shallow breaths so faint, I guessed she was near the end.

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