The Chosen (26 page)

He shook of the dizziness and stood. He caught a glimpse of Dorian going through the door and descending a set of stairs. His men stood off to the side, their gazes straight ahead and blank. He called out to them, but none of them answered, their gazes still trained ahead as if they were frozen in time. Dorian was using black magic.

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He raced toward the door and down the stone stairs, no light penetrating the unusual darkness that greeted him. He could smell Lana’s blood, and it became stronger the farther he went. The stairs ended, and a dirt floor greeted him, the smell of rich earth thick in his nose. No light penetrated the stone walls on either side of him, but it made little difference against Aleksei’s superior vision. He moved quickly but cautiously, not wanting any surprises on the way. The tunnel opened up to reveal a large cavern. Stalagmites and stalactites littered the cavern and looked out of place around the modern furniture sporadically placed around the room. Candles flared to life, their shadows moving against the rock walls as if they were living, breathing entities.

A huge bed took up one wall, its black silk canopy hanging around it. Water dripped from somewhere within the room, and the earth scent did little to mask Lana’s blood. He inhaled deeply and moved toward the massive bed. He reached out and pulled the black draping that hung from the canopy away.

Lana lay pale against the dark sheets, her blood steadily dripping from the twin puncture marks that marred her neck. Inhaling deeply, Aleksei tried to pinpoint Dorian’s scent but had no luck. He bent down and swiped his tongue across the small holes on her neck, sealing them and stopping the flow of blood. His jaw clenched at the taste of his brother on her skin. His hands fisted on the sheets around her as his gaze traveled across her body to assess any damages. Aside from the marks on her neck, she appeared unmarked.

“I’m sorry, my love.”

“That really is a beautiful sight.” Dorian’s amused voice boomed in the room.

Aleksei spun around and hissed as Dorian’s scent finally hit him.

“Why am I just now sensing you?”

“I have friends with benefits, and well, let’s just say they’ve shown me a thing or two.” He looked behind Aleksei, a smile
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covering his lips. “She really is splendid, dear brother. She tastes better than the oldest aged wine.”

Aleksei launched himself toward Dorian, who in turn did the same, causing the two to crash together in the air. Aleksei wrapped his hands around Dorian’s neck as the two fell to the floor. Aleksei swung his arm out, catching Dorian in the head, and causing him to stumble back and laugh.

“You have trained well, brother. How about we skip the new age shit and go back to the old ways?” Dorian circled him as he reached behind his back and withdrew a sword Aleksei remembered well.

“Ah, you remember this don’t you?” Dorian spun the sword in his hand and took a fighting stance.

Aleksei reached behind him and withdrew his own sword,

smelling the blood that marred the steel from his earlier killings. He gripped the sword in his hand, bringing the metal over his head and around his body before taking up a similar stance.

“You were always good with the steel, weren’t you, Alek?”

“Don’t call me that. You are my enemy now, and you shall die at my blade like they all do.” Dorian took a step toward Aleksei and brought his sword down.

Metal clashed together, the sound echoing off the large cavern walls. For several minutes, their swords slammed together as metal against metal created a deafening roar in the cavern. Dorian’s blade occasionally caught Aleksei in the arm or thigh, but that didn’t cause him to falter in his moves. He welcomed the pain—it reminded him of what he was fighting for…Lana.

“I remember when we used to spar together in the forest behind mother and father’s home.”

“Shut the fuck up! You are no longer my brother.”

“You were always good in a fight. Although I do remember beating you a few times.” Dorian flipped into the air and brought his sword down across Aleksei’s leg. The blade came down, cutting into his flesh and hitting the bone. He hissed in pain but didn’t let it slow
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him down. The injury slowly started to knit itself back together, leaving a raised pink scar. By tomorrow the skin would be unmarred.

“It’s really a shame. Our injuries heal so quickly you can’t fully bask in the pleasure of inflicting your enemy, or in this case,
my
brother, with pain.”

Aleksei crouched down and brought his leg out, bringing Dorian’s legs out from under him. Jumping up, Aleskei spun his sword around his head and brought it toward Dorian’s sword arm. Dorian fell to the ground and rolled out of the way. Aleskei launched himself at Dorian again and brought his sword across Dorian’s stomach. Dorian howled in pain and looked down to see blood gush out of the wound. Dorian’s face changed from amusement to fury, and he lunged at Aleksei, sword dropped on the ground and fists raised. His fist connected with Aleksei’s face, crushing bone and sending him slamming into jagged wall. Aleskei shook his head, his brain scrambled from the impact and his bones crushed beneath his skin. Flesh wounds healed instantly, but broken bones took a little longer to heal. Spitting blood out, Aleskei wiped his arm across his mouth and stared at Dorian.

“Your little
Chosen
will be a good fuck,
brother
.”

He stared at Dorian, his adrenaline surging within him and allowing him to stand even with his broken bones. “You will never have her!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Her blood is in my body, and so you see, she is already a part of me.”

He roared and charged toward Dorian. The two of them slammed together, two massive bodies locked in violence. His body screamed in protest, his broken ribs rubbing together and causing him excruciating pain. He gritted his teeth and thought of Lana, her sweet face giving him the strength he needed.

Aleksei threw his fist repeatedly into Dorian, the blood that ran down Aleksei’s face starting to make it difficult to see. “You will never have her!”

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He fell to the ground with Dorian, and the two rolled around.

Crunching bone echoed off the walls, and blood coated the floor as his fists continued to plow into Dorian. He rolled him over and pinned him on the ground, all the while bringing his fists against his face. His knuckles were bloody and swollen, but Aleksei relished the pain, it was what made him stronger. He was vaguely aware of Dorian lying lifeless on the ground beneath him, but he still didn’t ease up on his brother—his enemy.

“Aleksei?” Lana’s weak voice came like a shot to Aleksei’s violence-filled brain.

He stopped throwing the punches and turned to see Lana sitting up, dazed and confused, on the bed. She looked so pale and fragile, the dark circles around her eyes standing out in contrast to her pale skin. She stared at him like he was a monster. He knew he looked like a monster. Blood covered every part of him, even dripping from his hair. The ground was slick with the fluid, and he slipped as he stood.

Dorian lay unconscious on the ground, his face unrecognizable for the moment until his body healed itself. He wouldn’t be out for long, but long enough that Aleksei’s men could transport him back to a holding cell. As much as he wanted to kill his brother right now, he knew that wasn’t the best course of action. Questions needed to be asked, and answers needed to be given. He didn’t move toward her, didn’t want to frighten her any more then she was. It was hard, though, so very hard not to pull her into his arms and kiss her soft lips.

* * * *

Lana looked at Aleksei as he got off the lifeless form on the ground. She couldn’t tell who it was because the face was so beaten up it was unrecognizable, but she had a good idea of who it might be.

“Aleksei?”

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She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t remember what happened after Aleksei burst through the door. Everything seemed so fuzzy and mixed up, a cloud of disorientation still surrounding her.

Her neck hurt, and she felt so cold. He held up his hands and slowly walked toward her. It was Aleksei, but there was something different about him, something dangerous and powerful.

“Lana, please don’t be afraid.”

She was so tired and let her body fall back on the pillows. He was in front of her in a heartbeat, his body covered in blood and the air around him charged with energy.

Loud footsteps sounded near yet far, and she saw out of the corner of her eye men rush in. She recognized some of them from the club, but the others drew up blank. Lana looked into their faces, all of her memories crashing back to her in a wave of clarity. She rolled over and emptied her stomach as nausea washed through her.

Pregnant
.

The word bounced around in her heard, and she instinctively placed her hand on her stomach and looked into Aleksei’s worried eyes. He still stayed a distance from her, and she knew it was because he didn’t want to touch her with all the violence on him.

“Is it true?”

Aleksei stared at her for long moments as if he didn’t know how to answer her question. He finally closed his eyes and nodded.

“I’m so sorry, Lana. I didn’t mean to bring you into this, I swear it.”

He sounded so torn and hurt, so distant. She smiled and spoke the words that would either tie them together or tear them apart.

“I love you.”

He stared at her with wide eyes, and to Lana’s amazement walked toward her and dropped to his knees. He took her hand and placed it on his chest—over his heart.

“You are my life, my world, my very soul. You are what makes me whole. I love you with everything I have, and will do so for as
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long as I still have air in my body.” He lowered his head and stroked her hand.

She was speechless, utterly speechless. She looked over at the men watching her and saw amazement and confusion in their eyes.

No doubt they had never seen their leader do something like this before. He stood up, giving Lana’s hand one last kiss and turned toward his men.

“Adrik, Milo, and Luca, take him to the holding chambers.” He pointed behind him at the bloodied and mangled body. Everyone was quiet.

“Who? There isn’t anyone there. Just a lot of blood.”

Lana pulled herself up, looking around Aleksei and the empty floor. Her heart pounded in fear. “Oh my gosh, please, don’t let him come for me.” She couldn’t stop herself from crying, the very idea of being a prisoner again too much to bear. Aleksei took her hand and kissed it, telling her everything would be okay and that he would never let anything happen to her again.

“Search for him.” Aleksei didn’t let go of her as he continued to speak to the men. “What about Stefan? Is he being held?”

They stared at each other before one of them stepped forward, head bent low but voice strong. “He escaped as well, my lord. We were not able to move until just moments ago. We rushed down here as soon as we were able to. Some unforeseen force held us, my lord.”

Aleksei let out a string of curses that made Lana blush.

“No, it’s not your fault. He used black magic.”

“I don’t feel so well, Aleksei.” She didn’t mean to jump right in, but staying in this creepy cave wasn’t helping matters.

“Let’s go home.” He gently picked her up and made his way out of the cavern, his men tight on his heels.

* * * *

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Lana heard voices but nothing really registered. She couldn’t lift her eyes, but in all honesty she didn’t have the strength. She couldn’t remember anything after being carried out of the cave by Aleksei. She strained to understand the voices, but they were muffled. It was almost like she was under water and trying to hear what the people above her where saying. Her mouth felt so dry she would have killed for a glass of water. The voices faded out, and she let herself succumb to sleep. She heard a moan, or maybe it came from her. She could hear voices again, but this time she actually could understand what they were saying.

“The doctor came by today and said the blood loss wasn’t too significant. He said she would be weak for a while but that we shouldn’t worry.”

The gruff voice she knew right away was Aleksei, and all she wanted to do was roll toward the sound that seemed to bring her the most comfort.

“Are you going to change her?” The feminine voice came from Aniya. They sounded close—as if they stood right by her.

“No, Dr. Chenobova said because she is with child turning her would not be a wise decision. He said that she could possibly die along with the baby.”

* * * *

“Uhhh.” Lana’s voice came through like a beacon of light in Aleksei’s darkness. He had been sitting in a chair next to her bed for days now and was worried about how she was doing. She hadn’t so much as moved an inch since he brought her back to his house.

The Breed doctor assured him her body just needed to recuperate from the blood loss, but the fear griped him like an iron fist. Dr.

Chenobova hooked her up to an IV and assured him they would provide her with the required fluids and nutrients her body would
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need to heal. He placed his hand over her much smaller one and rubbed it in slow circles.

“Where am I?” She coughed and then groaned as if in pain.

“Water, please.”

She moaned when he gave her a glass of water and the liquid poured into her mouth. She opened her eyes, the blue orbs shinning up at him brightly. He ran his hand over her hair and kissed her forehead. “You’re back at my home in the mountains. Do you remember what happened?”

She nodded and ran a shaky hand over her face. “Are they dead?”

He knew who she spoke of and wanted to tell her that yes, Dorian and Stefan were dead, but that would have been a lie.