Blood Series: Green - PROLOGUE

When Zayn heard Nasir’s words come through the receiver of his cell phone, he was rendered motionless and in shock. After the seconds ticked by and he registered the news of Adara’s kidnapping, he crumbled the phone in his hand and flashed himself to the hospital where he had just been moments ago, with Adara, at her bedside. His eyes began to swirl iridescent shades of yellow as he inhaled her scent mixed with something foreign, something male. “Haydar,” he growled.

“Nasir!” The name of his Emir bellowed off of his lips while he stormed through the hospital. He ripped doors from their hinges and tossed them to the floor, discarding debris in his wake. His subjects moved out of his warpath as he passed by each of them. The anger and hatred he felt permeated off his body, visible to anyone who looked in his direction.

He let out another roar, “Nasir!” There were footsteps coming from behind him. Zayn swirled around and met his Emir’s stare.

Nasir began to speak. “Zayn, I…” his words were cut off when Zayn’s hand shot up to Nasir’s throat.

“Silence! I do not want to hear any excuses. We are going to kill them, all of them, right now.”

All Nasir could do was nod in compliance. Moments later they were traveling around Colorado. Zayn focused his thoughts on his blood. He reached out and felt for Adara. Once he’d zoned in on her essence, they made it to the hideout Haydar and Leigh were using within minutes.

As the time passed, Zayn felt the seconds ticking by in slow motion. In one hundred and eighty seconds he went through all of the memories he had of the woman he loved. The first time they’d met, when Nikole brought Adara home from Club Impact. Their first kiss. The first time they’d made love. And then the image of their daughter on the piece of photo paper.

Their first meeting played in his mind like a movie reel. He relived the start of what would end up as a glorious relationship.

Nikole’s voice carried from the stairwell and into Zayn’s office. He pushed back from his desk and came out into the hallway to see what the commotion was that his okht had been causing. When he got to the hallway, he saw two women getting ready to walk into Nikole’s room.

Zayn called out to the women down the hallway, “Nik, get back here. What the hell are you doing?”

“Nothing, Zayn, just spending time with Adara.”

“Who?” he asked.

“You know, Ghazi’s bent. I am sure you have met before.”

He watched with intensity as the two women walked towards him. He always noticed the cocky strut his overly confident okht possessed. He had tried to break her of that, but recently he had given up on her acquiring proper manners.

“Zayn, meet Adara. Adara, meet the controlling king of our race, Zayn.” He watched his okht step back slightly while she shuffled her feet. This gave him a better view of the woman who was inside his home. He observed Adara bow her head, a sign of respect he so rarely saw with the current female population.

“Adara, you do know that our location is secret? No one is to know of it.” The sight of Adara herself was breathtaking, like most of Nikole’s friends. She appeared calm and mild mannered. He thought about that and considered that maybe this would help calm Nikole’s demeanor some.

“Oh come on, Zayn. I flashed us here,” Nikole began to protest, but Zayn raised his hand in an authoritative manner, silencing her in the same motion.

“I want to hear the beautiful bent of Ghazi speak.” He could hear Adara’s heart picking up pace as she raised her eyes up to him.

“Yes, sire, I swear, your location will not be given from me.”

“And you know that a betrayal is punished only one way? Death.”

“Death! Zayn! Are you crazy?” Nikole again was silenced in the middle of her protest when her akh’s yellow eyes shot her a glare.

Adara began to nod. “Yes, death. My abb trained me in all the old laws.”

“Good. Now that this matter has been settled, I offer to you my kitchen and any other services you require while you accompany my okht inside our home.” He turned and looked at his beloved okht and smiled. “Do try and keep it down, please.”

Nikole rolled her eyes at her big akh and reached out for Adara’s hand. She grabbed it and pulled at her at the same time. “We got this. Back to what you were doing. Come on, Adara. We will not be bothering our king anymore.”

“Doubtful, little okht, but do try.”

The painful reminders of losing his Adara hit his reality when Zayn and Nasir arrived inside the compound that she had been forced to enter. There was a putrid smell of death surrounding them. It made Zayn’s internal organs flip flop in disgust when he thought about what could be happening to Adara.

“Any idea where we have landed, Nasir?” His eyes trailed over every inch of the room they were in, assessing any potential danger that lurked in the unfamiliar territory.

“Judging by the environment of the room, I would guess we are in some kind of battle room, possibly a combat training room based on the endless amounts of blood splatter.”

“Her blood brought us here for a reason. She must be close.” Zayn looked around the room and then said, “You go right; I’ll go left. We will find her.”

Zayn started to move towards the door to go out in search of his missing bride-to-be, when he felt Nasir’s strong hand engulf his arm, holding him back and keeping him in place.

“I don’t think so, Your Highness. There is too much at stake. We stay together.”

After careful consideration, Zayn nodded, and then they both drew their weapons from their sides. They hadn’t fought side by side in over a century. Part of Zayn was pumped up on adrenaline, ready for action. The other part was nervous and scared, worried about his treasured Adara.

They began walking out of the doorway and down the hall. Zayn felt her close; he could practically taste her on his lips. Her presence was surrounding him, and his mind began to go crazy with need for her immediately.

“She’s here. I can feel her behind this door. I can taste her, Nasir.” He started to approach and heard his advisor speak. “It could be a trap, Zayn.”

“Good, I hope so. Then I can kill all those fuckers at one time, punishing them for touching what’s mine.” Zayn turned back to the door and let out the most vicious roar he ever had, “Haydar!”

Within seconds of the cry leaving his lips, the metal doors in front of him opened, displaying the woman he’d come to free lying on the ground, legs parted, and his bent  khaly Leigh kneeling between them. He looked around the room to assess the situation, and confusion struck him when he saw vines holding Haydar against the wall. He started to speak, to demand that Leigh back away from his woman, when he heard the most beautiful sound in the world. His eyes shot to Adara and to the treasure she was now holding in her arms..