CHAPTER 491: FOR ALL OF US

"The real question is why are you here all alone?" Cynric led Allegra to the nearest chair and helped get her seated.

Images and snippets of recent conversations and events flashed before Arabella’s eyes at those words.

In the end, she merely cleared her throat and said, "It is a long story," her eyes avoided theirs at all costs for a short moment until another question popped in mind, "How did you know I was here anyways?"

The look on Cynric’s face was enough as an answer.

"Right! Your sense of smell... I suppose I keep on forgetting about it but, never mind that for now. We need to find Silas!" the urgency had never truly left her voice and eyes, though it had taken a backseat until then.

Allegra and Cynric exchanged a glance, with the wolf man furrowing his eyebrows whereas the vampiress donned a look of terror.

"Why do we need to find him?" Allegra’s words came with a lot of hesitance.

"Because after leaving me here, I think he went after the prince of Lustris," her chest rose and fell at a quicker pace with every second that passed.

"Why?" Allegra’s voice broke.

But before Arabella could say a thing, Cynric beat her to the mark, "That is all the more strange," he stroked at his own chin, "She actually asked me to find silver warrior first," he, sort of pointed towards Allegra without looking her way, "But I was forced to follow your scent instead because other than the manor this place is where his is more concentrated. I had the impression he was moving really fast and then just like that... Nothing. It became impossible for me to pinpoint his whereabouts,"

"What do you mean? How can you of all people fail at tracking him?" instinctively, one of her feet took a step forward, closer to Cynric, tears already threatening to smear her cheeks.

"Oh Lord...," Allegra whispered.

The vampiress had sat so quietly ’til then that Arabella nearly forgot her presence entirely.

"What is it?" the young woman rushed and knelt before the lost looking Allegra.

"I think I know what happened," she murmured.

"Well, go on then, girl," Cynric crossed his arms over his chest.

"It was Lauden," Allegra munched on her own nails while speaking, eyes crazed and teary, "He was the one that abducted me,"

"I already suspected Dragomir’s involvement in your abduction and I promise you we will deal with them once we-"

"No!" Allegra rose to her feet at once, "My father had no hand in it. His servant Lauden acted on his own," she shook her head.

"Your... Father?" at first, Arabella’s brows furrowed but then they rose as her eyes opened wide, "Dragomir is...,"

"Yes, he is my biological father, but the important thing now is that Lauden knows about what Lord Silas’ blood can do. He knows that it brought you back to life and now," the vampiress turned towards Cynric, "You’re telling me that his trace has basically vanished,"

Everything fell on her at once. Everything clicked...Allegra had been the spy all along as Arabella had suspected it. She just didn’t realize it went that deep.

"Before you ask, yes, I was always aware of Lord Silas’ particularities, but I had never told my father about it because he never asked and I wasn’t willing to give him more information than necessary,"

That information would’ve been of a great help one or two days prior. However, right then there, it was still irrelevant to the fact that... Silas might have been taken. Although, something didn’t make much sense.

"Why would Lauden abduct you if you worked for your father in the first place? I mean wouldn’t he run with the information to his employer instead of the prince. None of this makes sense, Allegra,"

"Edna," she mumbled, "He cared for Edna more than he let on,"

"He did all of this because you killed Edna," Arabella half asked, looking Allegra up and down before taking her butchered hand upon noting her severed finger.

"I am not surprised you knew about that too," an empty chuckle escaped the vampiress.

"I am frankly surprised we are still standing here," Cynic’s thick timbre shook the walls, earning their attention, "Did you want to find your husband or not?"

With that, they exited the house and faced the horizon. The women watched as Cynric shifted to his full wolf form which Arabella marveled at for through all of their encounters, she had never gotten the occasion to behold his wolf body in its full glory.

Her eyes had always only caught a glimpse of him as he leaped to dive among the trees.

"You," he growled at Arabella, "Hop on first, she can support your weight through our travel despite her condition," he obviously spoke of Allegra.

Looking back at the vampiress, her still glazed eyes were in no way a reassuring sign, prompting Arabella to pull her dagger out.

"What are you doing?" Allegra stepped back seemingly skeptical at first.

That was until Arabella brought the blade towards her own palm.

"No, stop!" Allegra did not reach her in time to stop her from breaking her skin.

"Drink quickly," Arabella ordered, more composed than before, "You need all of your strength," she pushed her palm towards Allegra’s face.

The vampiress stepped back again, "I... I can’t. I could never do that to Lord Silas," she shook her head, waving her hand in front of her face, clearly struggling to contain her urges.

"No offense to you, Allegra, but you’ve already done a lot to hurt your Lord, your mother, your sisters and everyone that ever trusted you for that matter, so you owe me this now. If you won’t do it for your own sake, then do it for all of them. All of us," Arabella did not back down.

Eventually, Allegra accepted her offer, latching onto Arabella’s hand, slurping on the blood without planting her fangs into her flesh while the tears never stopped running down her cheeks.