Zone Zero: Redemption (Book 2 of 3)

Chapter 20

"Cail. Where are you going? Where are you taking her?" Giselle's words fall on deaf ears as Cail quickens the pace and pulls me along faster. I almost have to run to keep up with his long strides and I can feel panic begin to rise in the pit of my stomach.

Where is he taking me?

He pulls me along into another darkened corridor and down a set of stairs until we are in the darkness of the dungeon of the castle. Is he going to lock me away in a cell? Am I about to be punished? But i did nothing wrong.

"Cail. What are you trying to prove?" Giselle speaks but Cail doesn't listen. He just continues to drag me towards a large door and pushes it open with one hand.

Fear strikes into me and I try to pull away from him but he steps inside the room and then throws me to floor in front of him. I land on my hands and knees staring at the stone floors but quickly look back up to him as he slams the door in Giselle's face.

Her banging on the door is the only sound that I can take in but there is another sound as well. The sound of a man yelling.

Cail stands above me smiling toward a man in a silver cage and I let my eyes take him in. He is so familiar. He is handsome even though it is clear he has been imprisoned for far too long. He looks weak and tired, even a little stressed. His sunken eyes and ruffled hair tells me that he has barely slept or eaten. Why is this man even locked up like this?

"Cail, what the fuck have you done to her? I will kill you if you have hurt even a single hair on her head!" The caged man screams at Cail as I try to remember him.

I know him. I know that I have met him before. He was, or is, important to me. So why can't I remember him?

"I haven't done anything to her that she didn't want. She is my protégé, brother. Not just that, she is my lover."

Cail's words are enough to send this man into a furious rage as he claws at the silver cage and locks eyes with me. His gaze is intense yet somehow warm. He looks at me like I am something that must be protected. I am special to him. If i didn't know amy better, i would say that this man loves me.

"Tell him, Evie. Tell Alex how you have shared my bed with me ever since you were turned." Cail pulls me to my feet by my elbow and pushes me closer toward this man.

I can't take my eyes off of his. I feel my brows furrow with confusion as I try my hardest to remember. Why can't I remember?

"Evie, has he hurt you in anyway? Has he...forced himself...on you?" He struggles to get the last question out but his voice remains calm and soothing. It is almost like I have a calming presence over him. But not just me over him but him over me as well. I feel safe just by being in his proximity.

"No he hasn't hurt me. Cail is helping me learn to become the best vampire I can be." I speak only good things about my maker, especially since he is right behind me to hear all I have to say.

Alex's eyes begin to soften and he breaks his gaze with me to run his hands through his hair and stare at the ground. He has just came to a realisation and he is trying to process it. I know it.

"You don't remember me, do you?" he says calmly before reconnecting with our gaze once more. His eyes this time are filled with sadness. Sadness and longing.

I can hear Cail chuckle from behind me but I choose to ignore it. I know that I may get in serious trouble for what I am about to say and do but I don't care. I need to know the truth.

"You are so familiar but I can't place you." I step closer so I am only inches from the cage and he does the same. "But I know that you are important to me somehow, and I am important to you."