Having heard Zeidan’s decree to have her arrested and prosecuted, Luana could not go back to the palace and she decided to return to Shelbrooke as there was no better place for her to go. Somehow, she was fortunate not to have been in the palace when they got to find out the truth about her, whose side she was truly on, and how she had been poisoning Zeidan. What could have followed after that could have been very tragic. Things have been going on smoothly until Lyne showed up. The hatred she possessed for Lyne was now so great. Right from the moment Lyne stepped back into the palace, she knew she needed to be very careful.

All that she dreamt of achieving was all gone, well not totally gone anyway. 

Perhaps, she should have killed Zeidan when she had the chance. But people would have noticed and she won’t be able to escape it. There was no turning back now and she could not afford regrets. One good thing now was that Chloe was dead. Facing Maya and Chloe will have been a suicide mission. Now it leaves Maya as the only one she had to worry about.

She had left Vampire City very late at night to avoid getting caught. She had managed to leave with some of her clothes. Some guards were loyal to her. They had helped her steal some clothes and informed her about the whole thing. Poor Stevenson, she hopes he is aware that the king knows their secret now so that he can run for his dear life. When she arrived at Shelbrooke’s place, he was very shocked to see her. She explained that she was on the run and Shelbrooke had accepted her into his home and he had given her a place to stay. She had promised to fill him in on what had happened so far in Vampire City.

Luana freshened up and wore a blue velvet crop top with sleeves and black leather pants. It was one of the few clothes she had managed to escape with. She went to meet Zeidan in his office where he likes to spend most of his time especially when he needs to think. She knocked gently on the office door and she heard Shelbrooke’s voice asking her to come in. He was seated at his desk with a smoke in his hand as usual. 

“Hey Luana, I’m sure you had a rough night.” He beamed with a smile as she stepped into the office 

“Hell yeah.” She walked towards his wine shelf to pour herself a glass of wine. She moved to seat on the sofa close to Shelbrooke. Then she started to narrate her experience of how she managed to kill Chloe and some other things she was able to do in Vampire City. She took a sip of her wine and paused for a while before speaking.

“I couldn’t stay anymore. They found out.”

She glanced at Shelbrooke and she managed to see him nodding his head amidst the smoke surrounding his face 

“Lyne returned to Vampire City surprisingly with her daughter. If you recall that she was pregnant before she was thought to be dead.” 

“How could she have survived?” Shelbrooke asked suddenly sitting well in his chair.

“I don’t know how, but she is back. I was surprised to see her myself and even found it hard to believe the day she walked into the palace. I am sure she was part of the reason why Zeidan got to find out about what I had done. I have been poisoning the bastard slowly only for Lyne to show up.”

“Well that’s terrible, it seems like you had a good thing going on back there.”

“Yeah, I really did.”

“That Lyne girl is such a pain in the ass,” Shelbrooke said with a squeezed face.

“I managed to kill Chloe though,” Luana said with pride as she took another sip of her wine. 

“No way. You did? How did you…?” Shelbrooke asked now showing so much interest. 

“I tricked her into fighting Maya. It was not that hard anyway as the two had history. They both had a score to settle. That was what made it easier.” 

“That makes you the smartest one on my team,” Shelbrooke said as he laughed heartily. He dragged his smoke and trashed the rest in the ashtray. What they needed now according to Shelbrooke was a new strategy, although they have to bear in mind that Lyne was now the queen and they needed to be extra careful with whatever they planned on doing next. Lyne could perceive danger and suspect just about the right person, and now that she was now a queen, no one could afford to make any mistakes at all.

“I also tried to kill some of them though. I had a crowd slaughtered right in front of the palace once.”

“No way. Didn’t Zeidan find out?” 

“He couldn’t, he could barely walk at the time.” She gazed at Shelbrooke and saw him staring at her in admiration.

“Charles has been made the crown prince. You heard that?” 

“Wow. Honestly, I did not. That is very good for him.” She downed the rest of her wine and held on to the cup.

Suddenly Charles barged into the office looking very disturbed startling Luana in the process. He went directly to Shelbrooke’s table, hardly paying attention to Luana. 

“I am doomed Shelbrooke.”

“I am doomed.” He said again emphatically hitting Shelbrooke’s table as he said each word. 

“Ok calm down and tell us what happened damn it,” Shelbrooke said sternly. Charles rammed his hands through his hair. He appeared to be very close to tears. 

“My father heard of Lyne’s arrival from Akila, our town’s seer. I presume her return is why you are also here Luana.” He said now looking back as if he suddenly noticed she was in the room with them. She raised both hands in the air and tilted her head slightly to affirm what he had just said. 

“He postponed the coronation for the sixth time now. He knows she is not dead and now I cannot be the alpha again. Why is this even happening?”

“That is rather unfortunate,” Luana said pitifully.

“I don’t know what to do Shelbrooke, I could not convince my father to continue the ceremony.” Shelbrooke remained speechless. When he finally decided to speak, he exhaled sharply, drew out another cigarette, and lighted it. He dragged and puffed out the smoke while they both watched him.

“So Lyne is the cause of your misfortunes. One girl shows up and everything is falling apart.” 

“Well Charles, I am pleased to announce the death of Chloe to you. Luana here was able to get rid of her. Now we have one less person to worry about.” He stood up from where he sat and took some steps closer to cover the distance between him, Luana, and Charles.

“We are still in this. We will find a way to strike back.” He said looking at Luana and Charles.

“Be strong Charles.” He tapped him on the shoulders and headed for the door.