Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Voices raise; words are spoken in so many different languages that my head starts hurting.
Everyone moves, the sentinels around Sebastian already fighting off those that reach them first. The Guardians that are assembled in the lobby of the hotel pour inside the throne room like ants after someone stepped on the anthill.
Heads and limbs start rolling, the blood coating the marble tiles like paint.
Now I think I understand Andrei’s comment about the carpet being removed.
Does this mean the Council knew about our plans? And if so, who told them?
Grabbing my hand, Marcus starts pulling me behind him towards Sebastian.
Andrei is guarding my back, leaving the crunching of bones and the shrill screams in his wake.
Through the throng of fighting people, their bodies twisting and turning, making them resemble acrobats, I spot Irina.
She is fighting her way towards us, nails slashing throats and fangs ripping limbs.
Blood covers her lower face and chest, blending in with her dress.
“Marcus!” Yanking on his hand that has a death grip on my fingers, I point at her. Stopping for a second, I pull the heels off my feet. Grabbing one in my free hand, I continue following Marcus. He redoubles his efforts to reach the crystal casket.
“Keep moving, April.” Andrei pants behind me.
“I’m trying.” Growling through clenched teeth, I jump and kick at the bodies at my feet.
“Almost there,” Marcus calls over his shoulder. How he manages to fight while never letting go of my hand, I will never know. His body moves like water, twisting and turning, evading kicks and punches but delivering his own with accuracy.
When a body barrels through from the side, I plant both feet firmly on the ground. Pulling my hand back, as soon as the snarling face is within reach, I plant the thin heel of my sandal in his forehead. “I don’t think so, asshole.” Jerking it back out, I watch him drop on the floor.
“Remind me not to piss you off.” Andrei chuckles, Marcus joining him right after.
They push me further inside the fray. So much for the plans we made for hours. Pulling on my hand, I try to free Marcus so he can fight better, but he refuses to release me.
“I’ll follow at your back; you’ll fight easier if you’re not holding my hand.” Obviously, I have to tell him since he ignores my efforts.
“If I let go, I can’t move towards Sebastian. Remember the oath?”
“Oh, shit.” I totally forgot about that.
“Yeah.” Andrei chirps from behind me.
None of us see Irina getting closer. We are within reach of the casket, and I can almost feel the crystal vibrating from the thuds and screams. One second, Marcus is in front of me, the next, a cry is wrenched from my throat when he flies to the side, almost ripping my arm out of the socket.
A cold hand with thin fingers and long sharp nails wraps around my throat.
“Stop!”
Khan’s voice sounds like a boom inside the closed space. My ears are ringing for long moments after that sound. Everyone stops at once. The silence that follows is louder than anything I’ve heard before.
“Well, what do you know.” Coming down from his throne, he glides towards me. “The runner is not lost, after all.”
Irina’s hand tightens around my throat. She rips the mask off that somehow stayed on my face until now with the other. Twisting her mouth as if not impressed, she glances at Andrei over my head. “I see nothing special,” she tells him like they are talking about livestock.
“Neither do I.” Scowling at her, I lift on my tippy toes when she pulls me up.
“And why do you suppose they go to great lengths to protect her?” Khan finally stops next to Irina. Prepared for shit to hit the fan, I put my own plan in action.
“They were bringing me as a gift to you.” Rasping through my crushed windpipe, I glare at the blonde. “They were not protecting me.” She tightens her grip so much I can feel my head going numb.
“Let her speak.” Grabbing Irina by the shoulder, Khan flings her away from me. Lucky for me, she releases my throat. “And why is that, human? Why would they bring you now after sacrificing their Sire for you?”
“How should I know why you monsters do the things you do?” Rubbing my neck, I gulp much-needed air. “I would rather be anywhere else but here.”
“That, I believe.” Turning to Andrei who hasn’t left my side, Khan looks expectantly.
“It’s true.” Clenching his fists at his side, Andrei watches the Council member without an expression on his face. “We saw the error of our ways, so we found her and brought her here. You took a liking to her.”
“That I did.” Smoothing his goatee with one hand, Khan looks me over. My skin crawls from having his eyes on me. At least Andrei is playing along. “That will still not save your Sire.”
“We brought her to you. There must be a way to let him live.”
After Andrei’s words, I’m holding my breath.
I don’t even know why I want to hear that they won’t kill Sebastian, but I do.
I want to hear it with every part of my being, even though it doesn’t matter because I just signed my own death sentence.
At least the others will live, my mind reminds me. There is that.
“For hiding a runner, he would’ve lived,” Khan tells him nonchalantly. “For starting a revolution, he dies.”
“Or you die.”
Startled at my own words, I watch like I’m standing outside of my body when my hand lifts and slams the heel of my sandal between Khan’s eyes.
You can hear a pin drop. He locks his eyes on me, an incredulous expression on his face.
Very slowly, he lifts his hand and pulls the dangling shoe off his face.
The hole trickling blood down his nose closes in front of my eyes.
“Oh, shit.” My whispered words make Khan smile.