Aiden's shoulders are tense as he gazes in the direction where the sound has come from.

The sound of footsteps echos the hallway from which we had come. Aiden starts vibrating, and his skin starts heating up as if he is ready to shift in a few moments.

The power coming off of him is so strong that it reminds me of the incident on the plane, and I feel almost suffocated. I try to rub his back and calm him down, but he gives me such a look that has me backing off.

His wolf flashes in his eyes, and I get a feeling that it is better to let him take the lead. I open my mouth to speak out loud but then decide against it and mind-link him.

'What is wrong? It must be one of the staff, you know.'

'No, Aurelia. I had explicitly stated that no one was to enter this wing. Furthermore, I just checked in on the link for royal servants. They deny their presence here. Whoever is wandering around is uninvited.'

This means it is another Ambush. How is the Blood Mafia powerful enough to break into the King's castle? But then I get reminded of Ethan. If he was one of them, then I wonder how deep this conspiracy goes.

I fold my lips into a silent 'O'. He nods at me and then links,' Come on. Only one way to find out who it is'

Aiden starts moving towards the sound, me on his trail. It is dark. The usually well-lit hallway is now dark. Even with our heightened senses, it is difficult to see. Today is a no-moon day, and the only light is from another tower of the palace.

The sounds of footsteps are now gone, and the only sounds echoing in the corridor are from us. We try to tread lightly and even our breathing so that we do not give away where we are.

Soon, we reach the broken window. A stone rests on the ground, with a vial of blood that lies on the ground with broken pieces. Sweetness emanates from blood. It is fae blood.

There is a trail of blood that leads a bit farther. We follow it to find another vial of blood. A strange, salty scent comes off of it. In front of us is a white curtain hung as a banner across the hallway.

The banner says, "Only your blood is needed."

Aiden lets out a loud roar upon seeing those words and suddenly the lights switch back on. We hear some more footsteps behind us.

Aiden is now completely agitated as he turns on his heels. I too turn and find Henry rushing towards us with some weres in tow.

"What is going on here, Henry? You are an Epsilon, aren't you? Can't you keep the palace safe? There's been a breach again. "

Henry bows his head in shame and says, "We were diverted. There was another breach on the other side of the castle, and we were focused on securing that breach. Later, we came to know that it was a diversion, and we rushed here."

Aiden snarls and says, "Did you capture the source of the breach?"

Now, Henry raises his head and says, "Yes. We caught a vampire. He is being led to the dungeons as we speak. Should I contact the vampire king?"

Aiden's anger resides a bit as he contemplates for a little while. "Not yet. I want to interrogate him first."

He then looks at me for a moment before saying to Henry, "Arrange trained female escorts for Aurelia. They must be stationed at our room every time I am not present with her."

My eyes bulge at his words. Female escorts. No way am I going to let that happen. I think of rebuking him before looking at the blood vial lying beneath my feet.

That discussion will have to wait for a bit longer, as I want to be there when he interrogates this vampire. I think of calling him out loud, but then decide against it as I see speculating eyes directed at me.

'Aiden.' I call out.

Aiden, who had already started walking, stops in his tracks and turns around, looking at me, perplexed.

'Yes?'

'Can I accompany you for interrogation?' I ask him politely, though I doubt he would agree. As expected, he glares at me and gritts his teeth.

'No. Go to your room.'

Maybe I should use some blackmailing tricks, like Grandma. 'Ok. May be I should go back home, as apparently I am a prisoner here.'

His glare intensifies, and I glare back at him, arms folded in front of me in defiance. 'You are not going to listen to me. Are you?'

His eyes narrow as he takes in my defiant upturned chin and my stance.

'Nope.'

My reply has him groaning and glaring at the ground for a few moments before an annoyed growl leaves his mouth as he comes to a conclusion.

'Fine. But you have to stay behind me and do as I say.' His words are unyielding. Not meant to be crossed. I don't like his terms but agree with him, nodding at him. He lets out a sigh and turns around, dashing towards the end of the hallway.

Apparently, he is not going to wait for me. I increase my pace to keep up with him and the group trailing him.

As I near them, they part and form a protective circle around us, with Aiden in the center and me behind him. It's still a long way, and it takes us a while before we reach the dungeons.

It is dark—really dark. A huge room is the entry point of dungeons. Many weres fill the room.

There are many desks in the room. White boards line the right wall, and the room opens into a long hallway with a series of wall-mounted lanterns lighting it. As we enter it, all the weres stand and bow to Aiden.

The men who were earlier surrounding us as a protective circle now break their formation and stand behind us. Well, behind Aiden and I am the awkward bystander who has forced my way into this meeting.

"Update."

One of the men runs forward and starts speaking, "Sir, he is comatose right now. But he did have the Blood Mafia symbol on his shoulder."

"Wake him. We want to interrogate him."

He used the term we to refer to us. It means that he includes me in whatever he is planning.

Warmth spreads through out my body before I force myself to focus on what's happening around us. At the very least, he remembers I am going to join him on the questioning. The man in front of him nods before moving aside, giving him the way.

Aiden's pace is almost a jog. He takes up the floor with his long strides. Even though I am just a few inches shorter than him, I struggle to keep up with him.

We pass by various cells, lining up the right side of the hallway. We soon come to stop at a cell as the man who was earlier walking beside me jogs forward and unlocks the door.

The cell is dark except for a light bulb hanging in the middle of the cell. The vampire is shackled to the wall. His feet and hands are cuffed to chains locked in the wall.

The man who had unlocked the door reaches for a bucket of water and throws it on the vampire, splashing it's entire contents on him.

The vampire jerks awake, hissing at us. His eyes slowly come into focus, and they are pitch black, like the darkness that surrounds us. He then scans the people in front of him one by one before his gaze lands on me.

He then smirks and says, "Hello. Aurelia, babe. Whoah, you look more beautiful in person than the images."

I don't understand. He's seen my pictures. That means many others have too.

Aiden snarls at him upon listening to his words. He starts to vibrate while he moves ahead and punches the vampire. The vampire takes the hit, then laughs, spitting the blood that had come in his mouth, to the side.

"Do you believe that harming or killing me would benefit you in any way? If so, you are gravely mistaken. You are unaware of the intricate web in which you are ensnared."

"Then you can help us by telling us what you know." I say, from behind Aiden.

He shoots me a sharp glare, but he doesn't do anything other than that. Well, he was the one who said I had to be behind him. He did not say I could not speak.

"What good would it do? I will be killed anyway. But you have a message, Aurelia Connor. Why do you think I am here? It is not because they captured me but because I volunteered to be here." Aiden's anger increases as he hears those words.

"What is the message?" Aiden rumbles out those words, his teeth gritting together, his hands clenched into a fist. He looks like he will transform and kill the vampire any second.

The vampire just scoffs in response. It looks like he is not afraid, even for a bit.

"It looks like your big bad mate is angry. Nevermind. So this message is for you, Aurelia. A drop of lupus, a drop of mare, a drop of fate. one more step, one more drop—that is, vos and collate. Within them lies your indagation, and so does ours. for the salus and damnatio go hand in hand."

"Huh," I say, unable to comprehend his words.

Aiden, too, looks as confused as I do, and so do the other weres standing around us. "What does that mean?"

Aiden glances towards me, hoping I would explain, but I just shrug in response. I am as clueless as he is.

"Hmm, it looks like he's going to speak only in riddles. Henry call the Kappa. Maybe he can break him down. I don't want my hands dirtied with his blood."

Aiden commands Henry, then holds my hand, pulling me along with him. The vampire starts whistling as we begin to leave and is halted by Henry sending a punch to his face.

The vampire bursts into hysterical laughter, only to be hushed by Henry once more. Aiden keeps pulling me, though. He has asked to bring the Kappa.

Kappas are specialized in investigation. They often torture their subjects and break their resilience until they spill out the beans. They are also known to have psychic abilities. They can break into anyone's mind and see what's going on in their thoughts

But only passing thoughts, though. That's why they employ various physical methods on their subjects to make them think of what's needed. There must be only a few kappas in the world.

Kappas are paid hefty amounts for their skills. Even though they might be born in a pack, their allegiance lies with no one. Their wolves are too volatile for pack life. So they mostly live on their own, not affiliated with any packs. But they have to update themselves in the royal pack records so that they are not counted as rogues.

I am lost in thoughts as I walk with Aiden. We are soon near his room, and he almost pushes me in before shutting the door behind us and hugging me tight.

His breaths come out in sighs, and he keeps inhaling my scent. Mates proximity causes relaxing sensations.

He soon steps back and looks at me, assessing and searching for something before nodding at himself and asking, "Do you know what that vampire meant?"

"No idea, Aiden, but it must be something related to my research. A drop of lupus means us because lupus translates into wolf. Did you notice the way he spoke? He used ensnared and Latin. Because lupus is a Latin word. And the curtain near the balcony. It said your blood needed. So they are after me. They need my blood."

For so long, I didn't think of this, but it's me they are after. Maybe I should escape. I look around the office where we stand, in the Aidens suite.

My focus narrows on the window. What if I jump out the window? But even then, Aiden will find me. I turn to look at Aiden and find his gaze on me. His eyes are narrowed, as if I have done something wrong.

"Whatever you are thinking of doing, forget about it. It's not going to work. You can't escape me. I will keep you as a captive in the dungeons if needed, but you won't be rid of me."

My eyes widen at his words. How does he even know what I'm thinking about?

"Yes, I know what you are thinking about. It's clear on your face. It's full of guilt. Do you think once they get your blood, they will stop? No. They won't. It's much greater than you or I. Blood Mafia doesn't usually target Weres. If they are targeting Weres, it means it's very serious. If you escape and then get caught by them, they will get what they want, and we can't let that happen."

He is right. It's not just about me or Nana's safety anymore. I drop my shoulders at his words in defeat. "What should I do then?"

Aiden tilts my head up with his fingers under my chin. "Follow my lead."

"Huh?"

He chuckles at my expression, slightly pecking at my scrunched brows. He says, "You need to finish your research. But for that, you will need to be somewhere safe. How do you feel about a holiday?"

He had me at the word research but lost me when he said holiday. What on earth is he planning?

He smirks looking at me, and I feel like I need to brace myself for whatever he has in store.

Word Count: 2317

Sorry for a very late update!!