Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 74 Strange man

CA SSANDRA

My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at the bottle. My hands began to shake so hard that for a moment, I nearly slipped and dropped the container on the ground.

Were all of these bottles full of poison?

Did someone raise these vipers here?

Everything was so strange and confusing and my mind began to drown in the possibilities.

Just as I started to steady myself, I heard something move behind me. I started to turn around, but I was shoved forward before I could. A cry rose up from my chest, and when I whipped around, a tall, dark figure stood behind me.

The light down here was too dim to make out his features, and even if I could, he was moving far too quickly for me to recognize him.

The man lunged at me, and suddenly, my mask was knocked off and crashed to the floor. As it broke into pieces, the smell of the basement hit me in full force. I plugged my nostrils as I tried to put some distance between my assailant and me, but it was too late. The scent of the anesthetics was too strong. My knees began to wobble involuntarily and my head swam with dizziness.

I tried to run, but the man was too fast. He came up behind me and shoved a cloth over my mouth. I tried to scream, but the sound was mu ffled. Another pungent scent reached my nose before I could stop it. There was something on the cloth, something toxic, and it was strong enough to finally send me to my knees. I collapsed halfway and then moments later, I was completely on the ground.

I wanted to scream and cry out for help, but I was frozen, paralyzed. A wounded animal trapped on a cold dark floor.

This feeling was all too familiar. It was similar to how I’d felt just before the inferno five years ago. My eyes were swollen and my legs were completely numb.

Even though the effort was nearly impossible, I strained to keep my eyes open. Beyond me, the man stood at the table with his back turned. When he shifted, I could see him gathering up all of the books and bottles. He threw them into the bag. he had draped on his shoulder, and once they were all collected, he turned to look.

at me.

Fear ran through me.

Now that he’d collected what he wanted, what was he going to do to me?

He began to walk toward me and I wanted nothing more than to disappear. I’d been through hell all those years ago, but every day I’d spent here in Anemond had become nightmarish in of itself.

face.

but the effort was of no use. I

me, he squatted down, and I

Well, sort of.

that made my stomach turn. Whoever he was,

moment’s hesitation, he scooped me up off of the cold

scream as he gripped my paralyzed body

was no use.

he going to take

tried again to make a sound, but none would escape me. The anesthetics thrown into the basement coupled with whatever chemical the man had put on the cloth were

through the darkness, I

see a small button on

A button?

that

to rotate. Dread rose within me as the rotating door revealed a hallway. The corridor was dimly lit and appeared to be never-ending. I couldn’t

tried.

far was he going to

soft sigh and just as he was about to take a

“Ca ssandra?”

managed a

It was Asher.

tone full of concern. “Ca ssandra, where are

to call out after him, but I couldn’t. Everything

heard Asher order his men to break through the corridor. A few other voices, those of his guards, urged the king to reconsider. One

it. Do

rang out, and my assailant let out a curse. The guards sounded like they

whipped around and practically threw me to the ground. As I

meanwhile, the man grasped the hidden door and ran through it into the strange corridor. The door closed behind him, and as

reached me.

down on the ground. Even in the darkness, I could see the worry that