9 EIGHT

ALANNA

Pain shoots through my skull when I gain consciousness. I slowly sit up with my hand pressed to my temple. Blinking away the dark spots that dance across my vision, I quietly take in the sight of the bedroom I'm now lying in. The ceilings are bright red and white. The room is very spacious and most of the things in it are colored red and white, including the bed clothes. Panic washes over me as soon as I recall how the red head had taken me away against my will. I have to get out of here; he's clearly a psychopath. As soon as I slip out of the bed, the door jerks open and the redhead walks in with a smile on his face. I scowl at him and shuffle away from him. I can't trust him; not after the stunt he'd pulled back in my room. "Awake, I see" he rasps and I look away. He sighs and moves closer to me. "Leave me alone" I spit and he frowns.

"Look, I know that I took you away without your consent, but I need you to know that I did you a favor. I helped you escape that monster. Look at those bruises around your throat. He hurt you, Alanna. You deserve to be treated like a queen not a slave and I just couldn't sit back and watch that monster tear you apart. You deserve so much better and that's why I'm here" he says. I squeeze my eyes shut and turn away from him. I have failed Azalea and Taera. But most importantly, what is Zeron going to think? He's going to think that I ran away from him because of what he is. He's going to get worse. This is all this stupid red head's fault. "No" I say, shaking my head vigorously."You didn't help me because you think I deserve better. It's all bullshit. You kidnapped me because you hate Zeron! You have only made everything worse!" I continue and he blinks at me. "Why won't you believe me? Would you rather stay with a monster who has no heart?" He asks and I clench my fist, a massive wave of tension building up within me. He suddenly cups my cheek and I stiffen, shocked by how warm he is. His touch is completely different from Zeron's. Zeron has a cold touch and when he isn't hurting me, it actually feels nice. I can't describe how much I'm disgusted by the mere fact that the red head is touching me. My husband might be a total asshole but I am still married to him. "Look into my eyes and tell me that you don't see the sincerity within them" the redhead says and I stare at him. Just looking into his eyes feels so wrong. A sickening feeling grips me when our gazes lock. It feels like he has me under a spell and as a result of this, my mental siren is going off. What is he doing to me?

"Everything will be fine, Alanna, I promise. You hate Zeron and you only want to stay here with me, right?" He whispers and I slowly nod, robotically. I seem to have lost the ability to control myself. "You trust me, don't you?" He asks and I feel myself smiling at him. "Of course, I do" I reply and he grins."While we're at it, won't you tell me your name?" I ask, pouting at him. He presses a kiss to my temple and rises to his full height. "It's Lochan. Stay here in this room. Don't go anywhere. When I get back, we'll be having lunch with my mother" he says and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him. As soon as he leaves, I feel like I'm finally able to breathe after spending hours underwater. Only now do I notice that my wedding necklace is glowing a bright shade of red. I quickly rise to my feet with one thought in mind. I need to get out of here before he returns and tries to pull me back under whatever spell he'd placed on me earlier. I rush to the door and try to open it, only to find out that Lochan had locked it, possibly with magic. Frustrated, I peer at the door knob, trying to figure out how to open it without using magic. As I lean closer to the door, my marital necklace begins to glow brighter. Suddenly, the door makes a small click sound and creaks open. A small gasp leaves my lips as I gaze at the necklace. Zeron must have placed some sort of protection spell on the necklace. Maybe that's why I was able to resist Lochan's spell as soon as he left the room. Taking a deep breath, I step out of the room and I'm met with the typical longass royal hallway. Hiking up my dress, I hurry down the hall only to bump into a raven haired woman who's dressed in a black dress. She has dark circles under her eyes and she looks so thin and exhausted. Her eyes are icy blue and that's what makes me realize with a jolt that she might be an ice witch. Maybe she can help me get out of here. Her eyes widen as soon as her gaze locks with mine and my breath hitches in my throat when I notice the strong ressemblance between her and my husband, Zeron. "Alanna?" She rasps and my eyes widen when I notice how deep and masculine her voice is. "How do you know my name?" I whisper and she grabs my arm and steers me towards another room down the hall. "Where are you taking me?! I need to get out of here, please!" I cry. "Quiet!" She hisses, her ridiculously deep voice sending shivers down my spine. She drags me into a poorly furnished room and shuts the door behind her. She mumbles something under her breath and a click sound emanates from the door. "You spelled the door" I point out but she doesn't move. My necklace begins to glow again but just before I make a move, the ice witch turns around. "Please, don't. I'm already exhausted from spelling the door" she rasps and my frown deepens. Suddenly, right before my eyes she transforms into a male! That explains the deep voice. Now that I think about it he really looks a lot like Zeron; but, he looks so weak and thin. "You should sit down" he says, gesturing at the bed in the middle of the room. He sniffs and wearily makes his way to a chair and drops onto it. "This is really not the way I wanted to meet my sister-in-law but I guess, there's nothing we can do about it" he states and my eyes widen. "You're Zeron's brother?" I ask and he nods slowly. "Why are you here? What is this place?" I ask and he exhales slowly, his hand clutching his rib. I frown when I notice that he looks like he's in pain. "Are you okay?" I ask and his eyes widen."You really are observant, aren't you?" He states letting out a small chuckle that instantly turns to a grimace.

"I'm hurt but I'm used to it, don't worry, I'll be fine" he says and I nod, still concerned though. His hands are trembling and his breathing is quite uneven and laboured. "You must be wondering what I'm doing here" he begins and I nod.

"My name is Talon and I'm two years younger than Zeron. I was kidnapped when I was twelve and ever since then, I've been living in this castle as a slave. Escaping this place isn't a cake walk and believe me when I say that I have tried to escape several times but I keep failing. But today, I sensed my brother's shadow magic and I was able to see past the wards. I found a way we can escape" he says and my eyes go wide."You've been here since you were twelve? Why didn't Zeron do anything about it?" I ask and he shrugs."My brother has not been himself for quite a long time, Alanna. These past few years has taken it's toll on him. I'm not surprised he might've actually forgotten about me" he states and I sigh, feeling bad for him. "I'm so sorry you've had to suffer" I say and he gives me a smile. "It's fine" he replies."What is Lochan exactly?" I ask and he bites his lower lip pensively ."Lochan is the bane of Zeron's existence, that is one thing you should know..." He frowns, his eyes dazed. "Lochan is on his way to his chamber. We don't have much time. Go to him. After you have lunch with his mother, meet me here" he says and I nod. We both rise to our feet and he opens the door. I hurry down the hallway until I get to Lochan's bedroom. Then, I lay down on his bed, feeling absolutely disgusted. The door creaks open and the devil walks in. "My, my, looks like someone is getting too comfortable in my own bed" he says and I sit up, stretching my arms above my head. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine, beautiful. I really don't mind" he says, brushing my hair out of my eyes. "Come on, mother is waiting for you" He takes my hand and brings me to my feet before leading me out of the room. As we walk down the hallway, I turn to look at Talon who's standing half hidden by a pillar. He's no longer in his masculine form. His icy blue eyes meets mine and he gives me a firm nod. Taking a deep breath, I look away. I notice the markings on Lochan's right hand and I reach out to touch it. He moves his hand away and I frown. "What's that?" I ask and he smiles."It's a traditional marking for royals around here" he responds and I nod.When we walk into the dinning,

I unconsciously begin to compare it with the dinning area in Zeron's castle. No doubt, my husband's castle is a hundred times more sophisticated than Lochan's castle. I take note of the paintings on the wall as well as the flames on some of the pillars. Lochan must be a fire witch then. We finally approach a woman who's already sitting on one of the chairs. Her hair is shaven clean and she has amber colored eyes. She's wearing a green shirt and a pair of black pants and boots. She's wearing a total of four earrings on each ear and her wrists and fingers are adorned with several jewelries."Mother, meet Alanna" he states and she beams at me."It's nice to meet you, Alanna. Why don't you have a seat?"

I slowly lower myself onto one of the chairs while Lochan takes his mother's hand and presses a kiss to the royal signet on her index finger. It's at this point that I notice it. On her left hand, there's a dark marking on it. This marking is just the same as the one on Lochan's hand and when she smiles at me, my stomach begins to churn as realization sets in.

Talon had told me that Lochan is the bane of Zeron's existence and Zeron had told me about the witch who had cursed him. He'd told me that the witch and her son both share a life force through a rune and if the markings on their hands are actually runes, then these people are the people who are responsible for Zeron's suffering. The woman sitting in front of me is Rohanne, the witch who had cursed my husband and the man sitting beside me is her son.