The Alpha’s Contract

Madison is hundreds of miles from me, but it was not an option to stop and think about her. Not when she was being kept safe.

Indy is a confident Wolf, but even confident Wolves can get backed into a corner where they see no way out. They eventually give in to defeat. But this was not defeat, not yet. Not until that Witch is dead. Turning around, I find Klaus still looking out the window. The white Wolf stands on his hind legs, his front feet propped up on the windowsill right next to Klaus.

"Anything?" I press. The wolf gives me a condescending side glance.

Klaus shakes his head at me. "There are less and less people passing by. Indy is right. Now is the time."

"You really want to do this?" In the past he had never been one to jump head over heels into an attack.

He briefly frowns and turns to Indy "Tell me everything you know."

"There isn't much else. I told you, it was made to look like she didn't exist. I think we are the only ones who remember her. If she is anywhere, it will be the dungeons, I'm sure of it."

"Did she try to overthrow Serkan?" I ask, remembering what Silas had told us,

"I don't know. If she did, I don't know anything about that. I do know that Amelia hasn't always been crazy." Indy tuts. "Maybe, a little longer than when everyone else started acting weird. When I was little, she would always walk Silas around and play games with the other children." She looks at Orion and shrugs her shoulders. "He thinks maybe it started just before everyone else was affected, but he can't be sure."

"There is only one way to find out. Where is that potion?"

Orion passes me the small vial of blue liquid. Carefully untwisting the lid. I drop a tiny spot on my tongue and pass it to Klaus. He repeats the process and then gives Xavi an extra drop. Orion and Indy do the same.

Pulling the door open, music fills the courtyard. No one of any kind could be seen though I did wonder how the others were not being influenced by the sounds. A question for another time.

The sun had already set and stars dotted the sky. Somewhere, the laughter of many could be heard. The smell of food wafted around us and still the dead didn't smell.

I step forward as Indy starts making 'pss pss' noises behind me. She hands me a jacket. "It's obvious if you are walking around in just shorts." She tuts

The others follow her out of the house and she heads in a different direction to the smell of food. She takes us along the wall that separates us from the outside world. Indy is quick. Her feet move without making any noise. Impressive when we are sneaking across gravel. She pauses in her tracks, looking in all directions and races across the grounds and into a dark shadow.

""You're up." Klaus mutters to me.

I repeat the process and as I disappear into the shadow, hands settle around my ankles, pulling me down into a thick swamp. The smell

of

V

it lingers in the air.

"Are you seriously telling me this is the way into the dungeons?" I snap

"Do you want to find her or not?" She whispers

Klaus crashes into me before I have a chance to answer

"It's just rotting food." Indy tells

as I'm splattered with son isdyin

rancid. This time, I know she isdying,

but it's not to hide a secret. It's to keep me quiet.

The white Wolf and Orion join us as Indy leads us through the rotting sewage.

"This way." She whispers

"How do you know this?"

"Silas." She mutters. "He used to sneak out at night before he was moved out of the castle."

The spell on him is strong if he cannot remember the connection they had. From what she tells me, it sounds like their connection is similar to Neah and Danes.

"I don't know exactly where the dungeons are." She adds, "But I know they are not far. Silas used visit the prisoners when he was younger. Take them food and

water. He didn't agree with them being

locked up. Then he would sneak out to meet me."

She hops out of the sewage and offers me a hand. I roll my eyes and jump up with ease.

We stand in the doorway. A corridor built out of stone with no windows heads in either direction. We could go either way. "Split up." I suggest

Xavi, Orion and Klaus take the left while Indy and I head right. The place was a maze. Dead ends, loops and somehow twice we ended back right by the sewage.

"This shouldn't be that hard." She sighs as she leans against the wall. "Silas did it all the time."

"You are right. It shouldn't be."

Somehow with all the turns we took, we never bumped into the others.

Thalia knows we are here.