His Little Fae

Alliances

"If I told you of the darkness inside me,

would you still look at me like I am the sun?"
_____________________

Livius' POV:

The Fae King stood across from me in my personal meeting room. And beside him stood Queen Valerie. She was pale, as any vampire was, her eyes blood red, her lips equally crimson, but she was smaller, much smaller than anyone would've dared to predict.

But Alexius... Alexius had Alexandria's tan skin, her golden eyes, her now silver hair. Or perhaps it was better to say she had his.

I remembered what Levon had told me of the fae. How only those of royal blood retained their pale eyes and silver hair even when unshifted, making them easy to distinguish among the others. There was no doubt in my mind that this was my mate's brother, the same man I'd briefly met years ago, the man whose life my father had destroyed.

But what the hell was he here for? He had her. He'd sent Gabriel to wreak havoc in my territory, to steal her away from me, to murder and devastate and destroy, and now he dared to show his face here under parlay? He had brought this to us and now he stood here as if my instincts didn't shout at me to kill him.

Alaric and Aria. Alexandria's near death. Her kidnapping. The demolished forest. The vampires in the woods. The new curfew. All this chaos was on him. Gabriel had served him, had followed his orders.

Was he here to state his terms? To taunt me?

My face twitched, my hands itching to reach for him. Levon remained close to my side, as if waiting for me to snap just so he could pull me back. But even he couldn't keep pace with me anymore. 

I was on Alexius in an instant, my hands curling around the lapels of his shirt and throwing him against the wall, my own anger leaving no room for thoughts or discussion. "Pretty fucking bold of you to show your face here, Your Majesty."

Behind me, I heard a small yawn and then the creaking of a chair as Valerie casually settled down into one of the seats at the table. "If you two could please hurry the fuck up and clear the damn air. I'd like to go home, thanks."

In front of me, Alexius rolled his eyes at her remarks but my fingers only tightened. "We wouldn't have come here if we didn't have to," he finally spoke quietly.

Another response came from behind me, "I didn't have to. I'm just a really good ally," Valerie chirped. A slight shift, the rustle of papers being shoved. She'd propped her feet up on the table.

"Where is she?" I growled, practically shaking him in my anger.

"I don't know. Gabriel has been acting alone since Castiel left him in your forest. His orders were to bring her back to the palace and avoid any serious confrontations. He did neither."

"He killed two of my own, two children. And then tried to kill her," I growled out, watching carefully when Alexius flinched at my words. He didn't attempt to shove me away or fight back. There was no malice in his gaze, no sign that he was waiting to snap back or dangle Alexandria's whereabouts in my face.

"That was not on my orders, but I take full responsibility for his conduct." His voice was cool, calm, collected. But I could feel his pulse, hear his heart racing, see the uncertain dip of his brow. It was the only thing that made me loosen my grip.

We wouldn't be here if we didn't have to.

"Gabriel is a traitor," Alexius continued, his voice low, his eyes darkening in a way that was so similar to Alexandria. "But I can't do anything against him if he has my little sister."