IMPRESS.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Capital H For Hades.

(sorry for the errors in the chapter if there are any, haven't edited it yet)

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[Day After the Deadly Stage 3]

Zac's POV~

"I don't regret it," I gulped the rest of the thick and bitter liquid and placed the glass back down, "and besides, between you six and I, I am pretty sure I'm the one who is going to be king so I would prefer if none of you rebuked me."

Rolling the sleeve of my shirt up, I watched as four out of my six best men leave the room and two remain behind, Chris and Xavier.

I sighed aggravatedly, "what are you two still doing here?"

Chris and Xavier shared the same look of disappointment and frustration, they looked at each other briefly before turning to me, "Natalya was fucking sexy Zac and compared to the other girls, she was the most interesting and you must've been blind not to have seen that."

Was he wrong?

Of course, he wasn't.

Xavier only spoke the truth and it vexed me hearing him say those words since I knew what he and she had been recently getting up to.

All I could do was laugh out darkly and ragingly clap my hands together.

"When were you going to tell me, Xavier? You wanted her, didn't you? You touched her, felt her curves, ran your fingers through her hair, didn't you, Xavier?" I interrogated my friend, stepping towards him with an intense gaze penetrating into his soul.

Chris knitted his eyebrows together and widened his eyes when Xavier failed to reply to me, indicating that I was in fact right, "you fucked her?"

I saw a flash run past my vision and realised that my eyes were darkening at the thought and vivid memory of the way my friend caressed and held my girl in his arms like she belonged to him.

"I never," Xavier growled defensively, "but I did kiss her one, too many times. You can't blame me either, you know how I am, if I want something I seek out and get it and... I wanted her."

I venomously hummed eying my friend, "you always tell me when you want something, Xavier, what made her different from all the other girls you pursued in the past, that you thought you had to keep it secret from us all?"

I was beyond pissed, but, he was my friend and since I wasn't on good terms with Derek and Alaric, I couldn't lose another one in the space of forty-eight hours.

"The competition, Zac. The competition in general too, all the men that surrounded her, lusting for her since the day of her arrival. Everyone including the other guys, Chris, Derek and Xander, they all wanted her. Of course, I had to hide it, she was a competitor of IMPRESS," my friend continued to defend himself and I squinted my eyes at him.

Chris cleared his throat ready to make a confession of his own, "I hate to admit it, but bloody hell Zac, she smelt so good. If we are revealing things here and now, I'll come right out and say it. I wanted her too, I tasted her and I'm pretty sure our lips brushed once or twice."

I widened my eyes, oh wow. "So were all my friends just trying to fuck Natalya behind my back?"

This was ridiculous, I had a feeling Chris was up to no good a long time ago but the fact he confessed it angers me more. Angers me because Natalya was mine, nobody else's, well that's what I thought once upon a time until now...

"Why do you care anyway, you killed her remember? You hated her, Zac. We thought maybe you were just trying to make her your little submissive pet but after yesterday, it's clear you hated Alaric's sister the entire time..." Xavier pointed out changing the subject as a way to hide that he was in the wrong.

Everyone thinks I killed her out of spite. But, that is far from true. I had to make it look that way to keep royal tradition and to entertain our audience. I could not let the public know I was falling for a human.

That was just royal suicide.

So the plan to kill her was one I had since the end of stage two when I decided I hated the idea of her competing for what she already had, my heart.

And being tactful like I am, I already knew that my blood flowed through her veins after I fed her it to heal when she completed the royal punishment.

A punishment I wanted her to suffer from. One that I wanted to see her at her most vulnerable, at her worst and at her weakest. Call me twisted but I wanted to see the other side to the feisty and sexy brunette related to my best mate.

Once she survived the punishment, I knew she was strong enough to handle me because no human who had ever gone through that was able to pass the second whip, and she got through 10! More than I had anticipated.

The point I'm trying to make is Natalya died but the small amount of my blood running through her system was supposed to bring her back as a vampire, and apparently it hadn't yet which is worrying me.

I'm absolutely petrified she won't wake up but I'm Prince Zachary, I don't show fear to anyone and I don't show weakness either.

"I didn't hate her," I grumbled.

Chris ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out what I was thinking, "Zac, mate, you aren't making any sense. Why would you kill he-"

"-So she would turn into a vampire, Chris!!!" I roared inhaling and exhaling irritatedly. "I killed her with the intention of turning her into one of us," I breathed out.

Xavier wasn't registering my words well and had to take an extra minute to think, "how come she isn't waking up then, usually it should happen in a short space of time?"

I brought my hands to my face and dragged my fingers down to my chin, "I have no idea, honestly."

I thought killing and turning Natalya would stop me from having to constantly worry about her on a daily basis and after finding that boy spying on her the night before IMPRESS, I thought if she did become a vampire she would be able to know when someone was watching her in the future.

See all I wanted to do was protect her but things never go according to plan because now she won't bloody wake up.

"Maybe it hasn't worked and she's gone for good, I'm sorry to say it but it's not looking very promising. Have you seen the state of her?" Chris asked using his hands for expression.

I shook my head.

I hadn't even looked at her dead body since it happened.

At first, I thought she would wake up so what was the point so there is no point seeing her dead body but thing is, she hasn't woken up and it's been a good 24 hours.

Alaric currently hates me and I don't want to hear what he has to say because the guilt will begin to eat my insides out, and I had never ever felt the emotion of guilt before. It was new to me.

"I haven't seen her, I can't bring myself to it. I caused this and if she doesn't wake up, I have no idea how to erase this mess..." I said dryly, sighing frustratedly.

Xavier humourlessly stared at me and dropped his eyes to the floor, "fucking perfect."

"I know, congrats mate, your plan failed and now none of us will ever be able to fuck the hottest human girl who once lived," Chris was enraged and his eyes clouded with hatred as his fists clenched.

Before I could utter another word, he had followed after Xavier and sped off somewhere else.

Leaving me to stare at the wall and contemplate my life choices of the past years. "Who will satisfy me now?" I thought aloud.

Maybe, playing kill the servant with the desperate dog of competition will liven things up a bit.

"Greg!!! Send for Ella, will you... And Natalya's servants!"

I have a lot of anger boiling in my bloodstream and the only thing that sounds fun is playing with that dumb blonde backstabber's pathetic dreams of marrying me... And getting rid of those filthy human slaves a dead Natalya tried so hard to protect from my scary appetite when she was awake.

Something was telling me I would need more blood than just the blood of her slaves, before finding out for myself if she was truly dead and gone.

It wouldn't be long until Alaric would come barging in here to rip my head from my shoulders, so I might as well have a little fun.

Cathryn's POV~

"Why is our brother such a fool!" I screamed as I released the arrow and watched it easily hit the yellow bullseye.

My skills at archery were unquestionable and I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth at yet, another unmissed target, the third arrow to hit the bullseye in the past ten seconds.

Xander made his way to my side clapping very slowly, "he'll realise his mistake sooner or later, we both know our brother is an egotistical pain and would do anything to look good in front of the public, he liked Natalya and when he gets bored of the other girls, it will hit him, hard, sister."

I sighed shaking my head, "and I hope it does... I just feel so bad for Alaric, just imagine being in his position having lost his parents recently and now, his sister. Zac mercilessly sentenced his sister to death right in front of his eyes, that is unforgivable don't you think?"

Xander stole the bow from my hands and picked up the last arrow I had from next to my foot, "it is but you and I both know Alaric will forgive Zac sooner or later, he always does."

My brother positioned the bow in his hands and mounted the arrow before pointing at the same bullseye I had hit three times and releasing the arrow.

As it hit the bullseye he shook a victory fist in the air, "impressive..." I admired his talent but pfft, it was nothing compared to mine, "I don't think he will this time unless Natalya miraculously comes back to life, Alaric won't forgive Zac. I have seen the state he is in, his in the first stage of grief and hasn't left Natalya's bedchambers since the morning of her death."

"Have you spoken to him yet?" Xander questioned.

I shut my eyes briefly. I had a feeling he would ask me that.

"No," I lowered my head and then glanced up at my brother, "not yet but I will- actually- now you mention it... I haven't seen a change in you since yesterday's events, in fact, you don't seem fazed by the fact Natalya is gone and, everyone in this castle knows about the good boy act you played for her."

Squinting my eyes, I crossed my arms. "So, brother, why are you not mourning like the rest of us?"

Xander didn't hesitate in answering or even flinch at the suspicion that was growing within me, he answered my question with his head high, "because I don't want to believe she's gone, or else the thought will eat at my mind and I will lose it, and again, everyone knows what happens when I lose it."

My brother tapped my cheek playfully before spinning on his heel and speeding off.

I guess he has a point. If the thought of a dead Natalya shattered me, I can't believe what it's doing to Xander, especially when he was clearly in love with her.

Whilst in thought, my hair blew in the wind and loose hairs tickled at my fair skin... I guess it's time I pay a visit to a dead friend (practically sister) and console Alaric. He must be breaking without a shoulder to lean on.

I only hope it hits Zac as much as it does Alaric.

Natalya's POV~

"Wow, are you sure you teleported us to the right place?" I asked Ashira who had taken over Evelyn's body for the time being to follow me on a mission to convince the leaders of the Shadow Kingdom to side with the witches.

I wonder if she has an identity of her own? Maybe, well I guess she left her body back in her place of origin Hellstone and just let her mind magic travel and do all the work.

Before finding a bed to sleep in last night at the Shadow Ancestry, Aeliana explained to me that the reason they needed to join forces with the others was, believe it or not, because the vampires had made a pact with werewolves to join forces and keep Asten as it is.

The werewolves in the past years had learnt to live in the new system run by the vampires and apparently, they didn't want the new system to be tampered with. I think it was mostly because they had their own lands which no other creature who wasn't one of them could pass.

I hadn't realised that the royals and other vampires had been aware of a threat to the crown and had begun creating a plan of action which involved the countless packs of wolves hidden away in the untitled lands of Asten.

"Yep, this foggy forest of a nightmare is the Shadow Kingdom, careful this thick grey mist you see isn't natural, its made up of the aftermath and remains of dark magic," Ashira protectively stuck her arm out in front of my chest.

This place was unbelievable! It looked like one big giant haunted forest populated with wild creatures, magical tales and mysterious beings. The sky was a cloudy grey swarmed with black crows and added to the gloomy and disconcerting atmosphere of the Kingdom.

I felt disorientated in a realm I was not familiar with at all, I had never left Asten before just like the rest of the population back in the five regions. No one ever felt the need to leave the realm, not without a mission of course.

"Where are these leaders we have to meet with?" I questioned as Ashira lowered her arm and grabbed my hand in hers.

"I know it looks abandoned right now but when you look a little closer..." She spoke slowly pulling me into the thicker mist of shadows, "you find yourself stumbling upon what they would call the Hades Palace."

Within the foggy environment, the further and further we dived into this eternal dusk, the clearer my vision of the Kingdom became and out of nowhere, appeared a world of darkness and a tremendous and visually captivating castle.

A significantly tall building overcast by the grey, sombre clouds and adorned with aged stone-grey walls of wandering shadows.

"Oh- My God!" I hung my mouth open, blinking in astonishment at the castle that looked to be floating on a blanket of black mist. Stairs made entirely out of a duller stone stretched out from where both myself and Ashira stood- to two ink-black doors of the buildings. "This is mind-blowing, wait, where are the castle guards and where are we in the Kingdom?"

"Dark magic protects the castle from trespassers. We are in the capital of the realm, you know just like Aeralin back in Asten we are in a capital named after the God of the underworld, Hades..." Ashira responded, tugging me up the endless stairs leading to the double doors.

I allowed her to lead my body up the stairs as I muttered, "I feel sinful even breathing the air here."

The trail of the creme silk dress I wore draped from each stair I climbed and carefully I continued walking up the stairs without catching the trail on anything.

"The leader of the Shadow Kingdom is the current youngest ruler out of all the realms that exist, but when he begins to age, he will use shadow magic to maintain his youth. All I want to say is, a young ruler like him will love the company of a young and powerful girl like yourself... And I think if it comes to it and I hope it doesn't but if it does, you will have to use your beauty to persuade him."

I halt in my steps, "you want me to seduce a leader who sees bad as good?"

Ashira rolled her eyes at how quick I was to react negatively, "noooo dear, only if he becomes difficult and doesn't want to side with us. We need all the help we can get and we won't leave until they agree, got it?"

I swallowed nervously and hesitantly spoke, "will I have to do anything else?"

"I will do all the speaking but if you think of something smart to add, say it. And one last thing, if they begin to underestimate just how powerful you are, you always have your abilities..." Ashira notified and I wore an uneasy smile, "right, here we go," she dramatically cleared her throat before raising her fist to the door.

But before Ashira could knock, the doors opened.

I furrowed my eyebrows, okay this dark magic business is creepy.

"I think they got the message we'd be visiting," Ashira mumbled and I hummed not knowing what else to say to her, I was too busy being scared that I would get snatched by a demon from behind or something. "Come," she ordered and I slipped in through the doors after her.

Our footsteps echoed as we entered the haunted castle, and even the walls could pick up the sound of my silent breathing. "This is terrifying, aren't you getting chills?"

I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to keep myself warm but failed. "My dear, the worst thing to do is show that you are afraid, take it in, breathe and pretend this is another exciting adventure."

Following her advice, I inhaled taking in the abnormal, hair-raising interior of the castle. Why was all the furniture old, gothic and black? Even the paintings of the underworld God were as spooky as the dark walls, candlelights and eerie corridors.

The only normal thing here was the grey marbled flooring. That's it.

"Exciting adventure my ass," I muttered under my breath but Ashira heard and chortled at my comment. "This is far from my idea of a fun adventure, just putting it out there."

***

We followed the guards that had found us in the foyer of the castle to the doors of the throne room, where we patiently waited.

One of the brawny guards out of the two turned to Ashira and I and lifted his finger to lips, "King Preston requested that you be silent as he finishes his encounter with another, we will come back out and bring you in when he is done."

The man's raspy voice gave me goosebumps and my breath came out shaky as I nodded. "Ok," "Okay," me and Ashira discordantly replied.

The two guards entered the throne's room and shut the huge doors in our faces.

Like they had requested, Ashira and I kept our silence... However, that didn't mean whatever the King and whoever he was meeting with were very quiet. No, whatever they were doing in there was worrying.

When a gut-wrenching shriek echoed from the throne room to the hallway we stood in, my eyes widened in terror as my body stiffened and head whipped to face a relaxed Ashira.

How is she not scared right now?

The shrieking continued and turned into cries for "help!"

My body was trembling from the dread growing in my mind. Was the young King twice as evil as Zac? Was he twisted and murderous? I pondered on the thought.

The screams lasted for what felt like forever until suddenly, a loud crunching noise came from the room and the cries no longer echoed throughout the castle.

I gasped and Ashira shushed me.

Moments after, the two guards came back out and gestured for us to follow them back in, which we did.

And just like I had imagined, the throne room was made out of greyish marble and stone like the rest of the castle. Four tall pillars separated either side of the hall were carved with breathtaking imagery of the God of the underworld. Hades.

As the two guards that guided us parted out of the way, I was given view to another endless stairway leading up to the ultimate gem of the Shadow Kingdom, the ruler's seat.

This throne room was far more vast, earthly and epic than the one in Asten. Although it was cold, echoey and eerie in this hall, it still felt considerably grand and quite lavish. My eyes could not peel away from the giant, well-sculpted statue of Hades that towered over the ruler's seat.

You could tell they kissed this God's feet.

The two