Her Alpha - Complete

Chapter 37

There was no way of knowing how long it had been since Belikov had thrown him into the dank, dark cell—but if he had to hazard a guess, Adrian would say at least twenty-four hours. He'd crawled around and eventually located a metal frame with thick interwoven fabric straps that served as a bed and passed out for some time. It was still dark when he woke, the only light a dim line emanating from beneath the holding cell door some distance away. It took Adrian time to crawl around the cell, finally discovering the only way to activate the motion-censored lights was to wedge himself in the front corner of the bars, passing an arm through the metal and waving vigorously. If he did that, it guaranteed him ninety seconds of illumination, but the exertion hardly seemed worth it.

They wouldn't let him starve, of that Adrian was certain. Nothing was likely to enrage his family and their political cohorts more than a young Royal Lord arrested, then imprisoned without nourishment. That said, he was certain when food came it would be in the form of a blood bag and not a feeder. But hey—at this stage he'd suck on anything if it gave him sustenance!

He closed his eyes and prepared for another hour of hunger pains and the unfortunate side-effects of spirit when he heard the mechanical bolt to the door open.

"You're here to release me?" Adrian joked, his eyes closed as he got used to the sudden illumination. Appreciating he'd be at the very bottom of any Moroi plan of extrication, he understood whoever was visiting would not be an ally. In fact, he would bet that other than his mother, and possibly his father, no one else would concern themselves he'd been arrested and was currently detained against his will!

"I'm afraid not," a languorous Russian accent drawled. As a potential target to be reclaimed during the rally, Dimitri had volunteered to oversee Adrian. He stepped into the space carrying a soft plastic tray with a single plastic bottle of water, a pouch of blood, and a small plate of sautéed veal and greens. A better-quality meal than the average working Guardian could expect, Dimitri saw the irony. Even imprisoned in a dungeon, Moroi were treated better than hard-working Dhampir!

"You can't expect me to eat this?!" Adrian growled, looking at the food in front of him in disgust. Blood in a pouch was disgusting! And the other food looked like it was only lukewarm. Despite his earlier hunger pains, Adrian considered not eating it.

"You have two options, cousin... Take it, or leave it!" Dimitri smirked as he placed the meager offering on the ground in front of his cousin's cell and used his foot to nudge it beneath the bars. "Either way, I'll activate three light sequences. Assuming my addition is correct, that gives you four and a half minutes to enjoy it."

Not waiting for Adrian to say anything more, Dimitri let himself out of the holding room, locking the main door behind him. The rally should take a few hours. In the meantime, Dimitri was content to guard Ivashkov's cell door. He wasn't expecting trouble, which left him free to tune in to his wife's current mood. Of all of them, she had the most important role, today.