Queen of Darkness WATTPAD VERSION [Inter-Universal Protectors: Book 3]

19

"Do I want to know?"

When she did not respond, Colt gently tugged Amneris' braided hair. She was lying face down on the bed and looked an awful lot like she had been screaming into a pillow. It wouldn't have surprised him if she had. She didn't seem to know he was there . . . Colt frowned. He pulled her hair back further and laughed before pulling out one of her earphones.

Pop music spilled from it as Amneris sat upright, surprised. He could swear she was blushing, having been caught in the act of listening to Earth music. It was strange that this woman, who had a serious hatred for Humanity which was known to many throughout the worlds, enjoyed listening to their music.

"Did you say something?" she asked, winding up the now-silent earphones and acting like nothing had happened.

Colt laughed again. "I asked if I wanted to know why you were in that position."

"Why?" That famed fiendish grin crossed her features. "Did it give you ideas?"

Because just looking at you doesn't give me ideas? "Of course not."

"Uh-huh."

Colt grasped her waist as he sat, the both of them falling backwards onto the bed where he proceeded to attack her with kisses to her neck and shoulder. Amneris yelped in surprise and tried to roll away from him. His grip on her waist only tightened.

He pulled her back until she was half on top of him. "Where do you think you are going?"

"Away from you."

"I am offended! Don't you want to give me affection?"

"You get plenty of affection!"

He paused, giving her a look which he knew said: Well, you're not wrong.

"See?" Amneris said as she laughed. "So stop complaining."

Colt pouted, releasing her. Instead of scrambling away, she settled beside him, pressing her head against his neck and shoulder. He slipped an arm around her waist. He didn't know how long they lay there. Didn't care.

"I got a call from Tara today," Amneris eventually said.

Colt looked down at her. "And?"

"And it looks like that rumour of Enliatu having a kid may actually be true." She tilted her head back to look up at him. "Her name's Xix."

"Xix?"

"It means Dusk in the Old Language."

Dusk. Why did that as a name sound so familiar?

You're making thinking face," Amneris said, poking his cheek. "What are you thinking."

Colt frowned. "Remember when we were captured by the Terpolites and held in the dreamscape?"

She snorted. "It's not really something one forgets."

"Bast was in one of my dreams," he said before she could begin whatever rant of the day she was about to have. "She said, 'Find her before Dusk.' and I'm pretty sure 'Dusk' was a name."

"Huh." Amneris' features because thoughtful. "Now there's something strange."

"I know," he agreed.

"As I said to Tara, Xix is a rare name. If we can find a record of people with that name, it shouldn't be too hard to find the right one."

"If we find any record."

A questioning look.

"You said it yourself," Colt explained. "Xix is a rare name. There may not be any record of her outside of what Tara has told us."

"Since when are you such a pessimist?"

Colt smirked. "I must have gained it from you."

She whacked his arm. "I am not a pessimist."

"Says the female who blew herself up because there was no other way." A pointed look.

Amneris grimaced. "You're really never letting me hear the end of that, are you?"

"Never."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't."

* * * * * * * *

After dinner, Colt made his way to the Palace dungeons, underneath the Palace itself. They were almost never used but did hold a few people at the moment. The cells themselves looked simple - pale brown stone made up three walls while metal bars covered the entrance. Hell, they looked extremely easy to break out of!

But there was a catch. It was something Colt hadn't realised until it was pointed out to him.

If one were to look between the metal bars, they would see a shield. It was almost invisible to the naked eye and you had to really concentrate to see it. However, touching the bars made it very clear something was there. As soon as skin touched either the shield or metal, an electric charge was sent through the body. Enough to stun. Of course, the charge itself varied depending on the prisoner it was holding. Colt had never asked how that worked.

The guards standing post recognized Colt and allowed him to enter. As a member of the Queen's Court and her rumoured consort-to-be, he was given access to many areas off limits to the general public. That included the cells, almost all of the Palace's 'secret' rooms, and the upper areas of the five-story-high library.

Kek was lazing in his cell on the thin makeshift bed. He spotted Colt, flipped him off as a greeting, and returned to his relaxed, uncaring position. Colt kindly but forcefully requested the guards leave. He waited until the moved outside, no doubt standing post at the single entrance.

"Somehow," Kek said, "I doubt you've come to break me out."

Colt used the keycard he'd swiped from Amneris earlier in the day to unlock the cell door and let himself in. The door was firmly closed behind him and the keycard secured around his neck on a chain, out of Kek's sight.

"Or maybe you did come to break me out," Kek said, surprised.

His surprised furthered when Colt grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the stone wall. A knife was angled below the man's throat.

Kek glanced at the position he was in. "Dude, I know I'm good looking, but this is hardly the place. And you have a girlfriend. What would she think?"

Colt threw him to the ground, picked him up, and threw him again, only this time Kek hit the shield. He roared as the electrical current shot through his body. Somehow, when Kek fell to the ground, he was still conscious.

"I thought your sister was the merciless one," Kek spat. "We both know I'm not referring to Tara."

"Who do you think taught her mercy?" Colt growled.

Fear crossed the man's dark eyes though it was quickly replaced with slyness. "So, the future King has a dark side. Oh, what would the people say to that?" He grinned. "Maybe they'll overthrow Amneris because she married a Terpolite. That would be fun to watch."

"I'm not-"

"What?" he interrupted, staggering to his feet. "Not Terpolite? Maybe in the past you weren't, but you are now." Kek leaned against a stone wall for support. "What do you think will happen when the Lyriumians - who have been at war with the Terpolites for billions of years - find out that their future King really will be a Terpolite?" He waved a hand. "Sure, soul-wise you aren't one. But body wise."

Colt cocked his head. "You know what, you're right."

"I'm what?"

Whack!

With one swift punch, Kek lay face-down on the ground. Unconscious.

"You're right," Colt repeated. "I am Terpolite now but that doesn't make me evil." He stepped outside the cell, using the keycard to once again lock the door. He frowned at the unconscious man. "Killing you for what you did to my Tali would be too easy. You can deal with her on your trial day."