Chapter 172

Amaris looked between the King and the man on the floor. She was not sure if she had heard him right. Amaris pulled out of the King's grasp before he could restrain her, and stepped forward. She bent down and gently put a hand on the man's shoulder "Lyle?" She said softly. The man looked up and for the first time Amaris could see his face. Like many of the other men here, he had been beaten badly, but his beating was different. It was clear that his face and chest had deep lacerations. Amaris was shocked at the state of him and horrified and disgusted at what they had done to him and the state that he was forced to live in. If it weren't for the eyes, Amaris would not have known him. The momentary hope in those eyes disappeared when he misinterpreted the look of horror and disgust on Amaris' face. Amaris briefly wished that her powers would work in here. Although she had not tried them in this room. Amaris put both hands on Lyle's arm as he turned away and became a heap on the floor once more. "Your powers will not work in here either." Adam said as he stepped forward toward his brother. He seemed to know what she was thinking. "After seeing what you could do back at the camp and the fact that you would not share it with me, I made sure that you would not be able to use those powers in Hermes temple." Adam looked very proud of himself. The King came forward suddenly and waved his fist at him. "What did you do boy?" Adam folded his arms and gave the King a rare smile. "Don't worry. The Cadeusus still works doesn't it? It's fine. I just stopped her from doing anything in here for now." Adam winked at the King rather cheekily. Sveta came over and stood by Adam as if to bask in his self proclaimed glory. The King did not look convinced. "Hey, if I hadn't we would all be turned into slugs and everyone would be set free by now. I have seen it she has the power to do it, and more. She simply does not know what to do with what she has. She has simply been going around healing people and allowing everyone to speak to each other with their mind." There was a lot of envy and anger in Adams words. He clearly thought that Amaris was waisting her gifts. Suddenly Adams words came back to Amaris. "How do you know what I did at the camp? Most of the time I was surrounded by soldiers, and in a tent." This seemed to be very funny to Adam and Sveta, as well as a great number of the vampires. Sveta looked at her and spoke this time. "You really are a dewey eyed unimaginative girl. Adam was there the whole time with you." She said exasperated like Amaris should know exactly what she was talking about. " What are you talking about? I never saw him. Was he hiding in the trees and then spying in the tent?" Amaris said confused. She was still missing something here. They seemed to think that she should have caught on by now. Adam walked forward and stood right next to Lyle who was still slumped over on the floor. "This is Lyle. He has been in prison since Jason over there turned him and his own brother into the King. I had the misfortune to turn into Lyle and sit in a different cell with Jason's brother and wait for you to come rescue us. I figured you would be all excited to make up and remark and mate with your true mate, only it seems that you are not really into him and no longer trust him. So instead of you marking me and giving me your powers, you ignored me. I thought that maybe I could convince you to just give me the powers to help you free the prisoners, but that did not work either. When I finally convinced you to try, you said to mark Lyle when you tried to transfer your power, and not give it to the man that was in front of you. Luckily for us this place is protected by Hermes' power and you did not transfer powers to the real Lyle. Lyle would have enjoyed that, if he only had the energy. Oh yes and the Adam that you thought that you killed back at the shed was this guy and not me." Adam said pointing his hand to one of the vampires that dragged Lyle over. The vampire feined tipping his hat to her. "Virgil at your service Mum." All the vampires laughed raucously again. That was why he was able to walk out of the shed after he seemed to die Amaris thought in surprise. Adam leaned closer to her with a sneer on his face. "I played you like a violin. It was my misfortune that you did not trust my brother after his dumb stunt to try and keep you safe." Amaris' eyes shot to Adam, and then she slowly looked at the man lying on the floor in a heap. Had Lyle really erased their mate bond to try and keep her safe? If that was true, what else did Lyle know that she did not. There had to be something that would make him erase their bond to try and protect her. Amaris suddenly felt sick at the thought of him being locked in a prison this whole time and being tortured, and she had no idea. She also felt terrible that she did not know right away that it was Adam posing as Lyle. Amaris felt more nauseous the more she thought about it. Amaris pulled out of the King's grasp once more and dropped to a knee next to Lyle's side. The King seemed to accept her actions with a nod of his head. "I will give you a few minutes to say goodbye to him, and then I will let the vampires have him." The King turned and walked away. Virgil and the other vampire who were still standing on either side of Lyle chuckled. Amaris looked around in panic. "Wait! Why are you giving him to the vampires? You don't need him Let him go." Amaris pleaded to the back of the King. The King stopped mid step and turned around quickly and spread his arms. "Mari dear he is going to the vampires because he is breaking my decree from earlier and is a complete lay about. He has not moved off the floor."