25
Romy
Bright lights shine from the gate as it opens in front of us, and the bus pulls into a long, packed gravel drive. I shield my eyes against the onslaught of pupil-piercing brightness as the bus lets off the airbrakes and moves once again, standing from my seat and moving to the front.
My feet are bloody from running in heels for the first mile, and the soles, cracked from running the second when I took them off. My hair is disheveled and my makeup a mess, and the scrape on my palm from the fall I took climbing through the thorns at the edge of the road still stings.
But when the light fades and settles, the last sight I’d ever expect comes into view.
I swear, this is a drive I’ve made before.
A drive that brought me to hell three days ago.
A drive that ends at the place from which we just escaped.
The stonework is the same color and texture, and the still, quiet of fog over the grounds sends an eerie shiver down my spine.
It can’t be. It can’t .
Tears prick my eyes as overwhelm slams into me.
For some reason, instead of taking us to a secure location far away, the savior bus I was so sure of has brought us right back to the place we’ve spent the last two hours running away from, and who knows what monsters lurk.
The Elite Council? Punishment for our escape?
“What the hell is going on?” one of the other girls asks, her voice shrill and panicked, watching as we round the circle and the palatial front staircase comes into view. As the other women take notice, the volume of palpable fear on the bus only grows.
“Why are we back here?” Hillary questions, devolving almost immediately into tears. “I thought you said we were going somewhere safe!” she accuses then, turning directly to Blair and Kylie.
She put her trust in the three of us—all these women did. It’s monumental when I think about how impossible it seemed at the start. And now, it looks as though we’ve betrayed them.
“If we’re back here, it’s for a reason. Kane will have a reason,” Blair argues confidently. “Trust me, I’ve been through some absolutely wild shit with them that I thought was the end of the world, and I know now how necessary it all was.”
“Rook, too,” Kylie agrees. “He would never put any of us back in danger. He’s put his life on the line too many times to save mine.”
They do their best to set everyone’s nerves at ease, but it’s a losing battle with a hundred hysterical women. I don’t bother with my own anecdote about Cal literally snapping a man’s neck to save me earlier, because with emotions this high, it won’t do any good.
“Yeah, sure, if either of them is still alive,” a woman named Whitney hisses. “Maybe your precious mates lost the fight. Did you ever think of that?”
Unfortunately, I didn’t. In my mind, there was no possibility that Cal could lose. Fate, surely, wouldn’t give me the biggest gift of my life, just to rip it away before we ever got started.
Would it?
As chaos builds, I make my way to the front windshield and grab on to the handle to open the door. As soon as we come to a stop, I pull it and hit the ground running.
My feet are already torn apart—they can’t get any worse. And if Cal is somehow dead without my knowing, I’d rather be dead myself anyway. It doesn’t matter what dangers face me. Not knowing if Cal is alive or not is worse.
I haven’t been able to reach him since we made it to the bus, but I told myself it was just the distance. That our communication somehow lost signal like a walkie-freaking-talkie.
My knees shake and my hips jolt as I take the stairs two at a time despite a raging pain in my feet. As the door opens and Lucian appears at the threshold, I slide to a stop, a cry sticking precariously in my throat.
No. No!
His eyes are keen as ever as he recognizes me, a small, sad smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
“Romy, my dear—”
“Cal!” I yell, daring to cut him off, no matter the risk. “Where’s Cal?”
He nods. “Don’t worry—”
“Romy!” Cal’s yell is guttural as he bursts through the door and pulls me into his arms.
I shake and cry, burying my face in his neck as he gathers me as close as he can. “Shh, it’s okay. Shh.”
“I couldn’t get in touch with you, and then when we got back here, I thought…” My sniffles make it nearly impossible to continue.
Lucian, though not part of our conversation at all, chimes in. “I’m afraid that’s my fault, and I apologize. When I get worked up, my shielding runs a little overactive. I was likely blocking you from each other unintentionally.”
Rook and Kylie and Kane and Blair reunite on the steps just below us, and while I’m on edge, the three Slater brothers seem to be mostly at ease. I don’t fully understand it—how they’re so calm with Lucian right here talking about shielding us from communicating, but they are.
Cal’s face softens in understanding when I jerk my head toward the old, evil vampire in question. “Turns out, he’s on our side.”
My eyes narrow, and he laughs. “I know, we were skeptical too. But Kane confirmed. His intention is pure.”
“But he’s a shield,” I argue. “I read something about shields—”
Lucian interrupts my rant with a laugh. “What a smart, tough woman you’ve been given, Calloway. Cherish her.”
Cal nods. “I will.”
“Ladies,” Lucian calls, addressing the crowd of women who’ve now amassed at the bottom of the grand stairs.
“I want to thank you for your unyielding patience and apologize for the atrocities you’ve been subjected to while here.
I know this is what some of you were raised to expect, but no woman should have to forfeit her autonomy for the chance at a better life for her family. Period.”
He pauses briefly for a roll of chatter to die down before he goes on.
“You have a choice. The first one: you can leave now, with all your belongings and a sworn vow of no further interference in your lives. Your families will still receive the dowry they were promised, and it’ll be your preference whether you find companionship in a vampire of any stature, a human, or no one at all.
The second: if you want help finding a mate, whether destined or courted, of vampire descent, you’ll be given it.
I will be vacating these grounds and returning to the Cape, but anyone who chooses to stay will be welcome.
You’ll be serviced by a fully female staff and assisted with job opportunities in the area if you wish. ”
“The point, I suppose, is that the choice is yours,” Lucian continues. “For the first time in two hundred years, you are invited to be the architects of your own lives. Your new Elite Council—who’ve elected to be known only as The Council now—will fight for it. They’ve proven that today.”
He gestures with a wide arm, opening it to Rook and Kane and Cal.
I stare up at Cal with wide eyes, and he looks down at me with a little grin.
“Oh, so, by the way…” he whispers. “Something worth noting—I’m in charge now.”
The bomb hasn’t even fully detonated before he’s stepping slightly away to join his brothers.
“Ladies, meet your new Council,” Lucian announces. “The Slater brothers. Rook, Kane, and Calloway. I assure you, with them at the helm, you’re in good hands.”