Page 16 of Deadly Alliances

Hadrian patted Alexander’s head, careful not to ruffle his hair. “Well, I’ll leave you both to it.” Hadrian smiled diplomatically and turned for the open door. But then he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Oh, and Arya, please don’t do anything foolish. The security here is quite extensive, and it would devastate me to see you injured.” Then he disappeared without so much as a change in the air, his silent threat hanging like a cloud over my head.

But the door was open, and young Alexander had taken my hand and was tugging me toward the stairwell beyond. I felt uneasy about leaving the presumed safety of these four walls, but the morbid curiosity of seeing the inside of Hadrian’s secret headquarters pressed me forward.

And despite Hadrian’s warning, an escape attempt was inevitable. I’d need to know every inch of this place if I had anyhope of being successful.

We exited the room and proceeded down the stairwell. I was keenly aware of the fact that my two guards followed us. I wasn’t sure if I was comforted or unnerved by their presence.

“This is my room,” Alexander said, pointing to a door as we passed. “Our rooms are right on top of each other, so you can come visit me any time.” His tone was so restrained, which was odd for such a youthful voice. Like he was always holding back any strong emotions he may be feeling. “If you want,” he added with a shrug.

My previously creased brows smoothed. “I’d like that.” I offered him a small smile, and he smiled back briefly before continuing to guide me forward.

“We’re in the tallest tower of the castle,” he explained. “Only the Elite live up here.”

We came to the large room I remembered going through before, and Alexander led me to an elevator tucked between two pillars. He tugged me inside as the doors slid open, the guards following behind. The light inside was surprisingly dim, intensifying my claustrophobia. Alexander slid his keycard through a slot by the door, then pushed a button as the doors closed, and we descended.

When the elevator stopped, the four of us walked into a central foyer from which it seemed all other halls and rooms branched. It was filled with both vampires and humans bustling about. The sight of so much warm flesh in this place was alarming, like seeing cattle roaming obliviously through a pack of drooling wolves.

“This is the Great Hall,” Alexander said. “Through those doors are the training rooms and the conference room, and over thereis the library. The kitchen is toward the back. And the human’s quarters are downstairs. I’m not allowed to go there.” He leaned close and whispered, “At dawn, all the vampires start setting up for classes, and I sneak into the kitchen sometimes for a snack.”

I wanted to smile at his confiding in me, but I couldn’t get over the disturbing mix of living and undead around me.

“Alexander, why are there so many humans here? Don’t they know...?” I stopped, unsure if Alexander was even capable of understanding the question, or if he was aware that his father was a vampire and he was human.

He nodded with an understanding beyond his years. “The humans are here because they want to become vampires. The change is the greatest honor anyone can ever get. They study below until they can prove they deserve the privilege.”

My heart thudded. He was completely brainwashed. Pity stabbed at my gut.

“What happens to the ones who don’t make the cut?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

He shrugged. “They become donors.”

“Donors,” I repeated. What a clever yet calloused word for it. My stomach twisted.

Alexander showed me all the places of leisure in the castle: the library, the game room, the spa where humans were nervously eager to massage and please, the pool—which my skin and inner tail ached for. But for all the prettiness that I saw, I knew ugliness hid in the shadows of this place. Alexander said the human’s quarters were downstairs. I doubted they were as nice as my room.

After the tour, we went back up the elevator—using a separateentrance on the top level of the school—and rode it back to the large room with the pillars.

Alexander hadn’t let go of my hand through the entire walk, and holding his little hand gave me more comfort than I ever expected to find in this place. So warm and frail. I held onto him as tightly as he held onto me.

“Father says we’re to eat breakfast in my room,” he said, leading me there.

At his door, he slid his keycard through the scanner and went inside. His room was nothing like I expected. The décor was all red, like my room, but the space was much bigger. In one corner stood a long, rectangular dining table made of the same black wood as my bed, and a serving table sat against the wall. In the opposite corner was his bed—smaller than mine, the four-poster bed was covered in sheets depicting some popular kid’s show character—and at the foot of the bed was a round, plush carpet, where a toy chest sat wide open. In the middle of the room was a desk, behind which was a freshly wiped, free-standing dry erase board.

“Alexander, do you ever get to leave this room?”

“Of course,” was all he said.

“Do you...eat all your meals in here?”

“Yes. Father says it’s unbecoming of the Heir to eat with humans.”

“So you always eat alone?”

He shook his head, his black tufts of hair swaying as he did. “Agnes eats with me. And sometimes Father comes, too. And now, I have you.” He smiled so big it made my heart squeeze.

“What about school? Do you go to school?”

“He’s given the best education money can buy,” a dry female voice interrupted from the left corner of the room. I turned to see a middle-aged woman emerge from a hidden door in the wall. She approached me with a cold smile on her stern face. “You must be the Master’s daughter, Arya. I’ve waited a very long time to meet you. I’m Agnes, Alex’s governess.”

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