The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 19

The arrow hit Marnix square in the throat. He stumbled backwards, hands flailing in the air as he smashed into the cabinets. Blood spilled from his neck and stained his white collared shirt. I watched in horror as he collapsed wide-eyed to the floor, wheezing horribly.

I spun to face the attacker. He moved from behind the protection of the shadow, his arms maintained in a poised position, ready to fire another arrow. I held my breath as the soft light reached his face, highlighting his strong jaw and cheekbones, as well as a set of dark, focused eyes.

"Please don't kill me," I squeaked, clamping my eyes shut and holding my breath. I tucked Leo even closer to my chest.

"You?" Alek asked, genuinely surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I fired back, opening one of my eyes to see if he was still holding up his weapon. Alek saw my gaze land on his crossbow, and he lowered it back to his side and sighed.

"You can stop playing peek-a-boo now. I'm not going to shoot you," he said.

"It wouldn't be the first time you aimed a weapon at me," I muttered under my breath. He looked at me as though he knew exactly what I'd said.

"I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to kill him," he said, nodding in Marnix's direction. His eyes widened. "Shit."

"What?"

An alarm blared into the room so loudly it almost made me drop Leo. Marnix had managed to crawl himself across the floor just far enough to reach the underside of his desk. I only had to duck to see there was a red emergency alarm hidden there.

"This will alert the entire underground!" I exclaimed over the blaring noise.

Alek looked at me as if to say, 'no shit', and purposefully walked towards Marnix's side, dark intent in his eyes.

Look away, Serena, I told myself. Nothing good is going to–

Alek leaned over Marnix, said something quietly to him and then ripped the arrow from his neck. The blaring alarm was not enough to cover the sound of arrow being ripped from flesh. Tendons and blood squelched together as one. Marnix stopped moving immediately.

My stomach turned and I forced myself to look away, trying to push way the sensation of being sick. I was beginning to worry I'd pass out, when Alek met me at my side, clutching all three arrows he'd fired. He checked the hallway was clear before darting through the doorway, leaving me alone.

My heart beat wildly in my chest as I tried not to stare at the three bodies. One of them looked to still be alive, as from their fingers that gently grazed the ground. As if the timing couldn't be worse, Leo stirred ever so slightly in my grasp.

"Well?" a voice called. Alek. He ducked his head back into the room, agitation pulling his lips into a frown. "Are you coming, or should we say our goodbyes to the guards, too?"

My breath hitched. "You want me to come with you?"

He just stared at me. "Do you want to die down here?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I hurried, hitching Leo into a better position and chasing after him. "But what about everyone else?"

He scoffed. "Do you have any other children I'm unaware of?"

I drew my eyebrows together. "No, I mean the rest of the slaves. Can't we help them, too?"

Alek rounded on me, his eyes darkening. "Do I look like a whole army? You're lucky I'm even going to bring you – and that kid of yours – with me. Just stay behind me."