Page 21 of Tamed By Her Vampire Protector

I leaned down and examined it up close for myself.Amazing how such a tiny bit of glass contained the fate of the entire world.

With just Alex and myself on this mission, we moved swiftly.With all the breaches in our wards, Grant and Dante stayed behind to protect the headquarters and the women.It was unlikely, as I suspected my mother was acting on her own behalf, but this may turn out to be a trap to get us to leave the compound unguarded.We couldn’t take any chances.

The old warehouses near the docks of Piareus were long abandoned and looted even before the vampires took over.I looked up at the broken windows in the buildings that glared down at us like evil eyes.The ancient port city never recovered from the economic crisis at the beginning of the century, and the looming buildings were the perfect place for all sorts of unsavory activity and illegal business deals.Some of which, I had been a part of.

My boots crunched on broken glass and bits of broken pallet wood as we moved rapidly through the dark alleyways.It didn’t take long to reach our destination.The warehouse with the wooden doors covered in peeling green paint was forever etched in my memory.

“Wait,” I said, blocking Alex with my arm.“I’ll go first, in case it’s booby trapped.”

A woman’s pained scream tore through the silence in the air.

Alex’s fangs descended.“No time!”He growled his battle cry and pulled out a gun from his jacket.“Amanda’s in pain.”

He shoved me aside and kicked open the doors.Before I could stop him, he rushed in and disappeared into the pitch black room.

I swore under my breath.The only thing in the world that could make my master lose control like that was his mate.Running after Alex, I unsheathed my own weapons as I tracked him by the sound of his pounding footsteps.We were walled in on both sides by aisles of pallets stacked up to the ceiling.It would have been so easy to become disoriented and lose my sense of direction.

Soon, I didn’t need to follow Alex to know where to go.The muffled sounds of Amanda’s sobs and uneven breathing was like a homing beacon.She was chained to a concrete pillar and gagged with a dirty rag.A thin stream of dried blood ran from her temple down her cheek.The top of her head was stained and matted with dried blood.Her left eye was already swollen and turning a sick shade of maroon.

“Stop right there.”My mother aimed her gun at the side of Amanda’s head, all while keeping her eyes trained on Alex.

She cocked the gun and steadied her aim at Amanda’s head.“Where’s the orb?”

Alex held up the black bag.

“Show it to me.”

“Release her first,” Alex replied.

My mother let out a piercing laugh.“You must think I’m stupid.I hold all the power here.”She wrapped her free hand around Amanda’s hair and yanked her head back.

Amanda let out a yelp.Her eyes filled with tears at the pain.

“Your little bitch and unborn bastard are in my hands.I say jump, and you say how high.The orb, Alex.”

Alex unzipped the bag and held up the orb for a moment before shoving it back in the bag.“Where’s Cederic and the rest of the Aurelians?I’m surprised they trust you with the orb.”

I immediately caught on to what Alex was trying to do.Not only was he goading her, but he was trying to distract her enough, so she made a fatal mistake in our favor.

“They don’t know, do they?”I asked.“You’re going to keep the orb for yourself.”

My mother gave me a chilling smile.“You were always a clever boy.Just like your father.”

This was my chance.“Please, Mom.Let Amanda go and come back with us.You know Papa wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

She snarled.“Go back to what?My life is over as it is.It was over the moment your father stepped foot into this cursed place.There’s nothing there for me.”

I shoved down the pang in my gut as she finally said it out loud.I never mattered to her at all.In a way, I understood her.My loyalty was to my master and clan, but above all, to Meghan.Yet, I could never imagine abandoning my future children like my mother abandoned me.

“You’re not the only one who’s lost a lot.Your hatred for our master and clan means I lost more than one parent that day.”I kept my eyes focused on my mother.As I spoke, Alex was getting ready to attack.Only the twitch of his fingers gave him away.

He swung the bag with the orb in it, launching it straight at her hand, knocking the gun out of her grasp.The weapon skipped across the room like a stone skipping on a pond surface.

While my mother was distracted between going for the gun or grabbing the orb, Alex lunged at her and attacked.

I dived and seized the bag before she could get to it.Tucking the bag close to my chest, I shielded it as I rolled and landed on my feet next to Amanda.Keeping one eye on Alex and my mother as they battled, I worked at untying my master’s mate.

It was difficult to concentrate with the sickening sound of punches landing on flesh and the boom of bodies being slammed into the pillars of the concrete building.Summoning ever last bit of my strength, I wrenched the chain links between my hands and pulled until the metal snapped.

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