Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
APRIL
I must’ve blacked out for a moment because I find myself curled up in a chair in one of the kitchens of the hotel.
Stainless steel appliances are gleaming in the bright light, containers placed neatly on counters, and pots and pans hanging from hooks on the walls while swaying gently on a nonexistent breeze.
Squinting, I focus on the blonde man I was chasing.
In the center of the kitchen, there is a large gas stovetop.
The Guardian is stretched on top, all burners lit at the lowest setting and burning his back.
Marcus and Andrei stand opposite each other, one holding the arms and the other gripping the legs of the whimpering man.
Sebastian is walking around slowly with his hands in his pockets, a bored expression on his face.
Bile rises in my throat from the stench of burned hair and skin that permeates the air around me.
It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, so I swallow thickly to push it down, then uncurl my limbs from the chair.
Three sets of eyes snap in my direction.
Just the Guardian keeps his tightly shut with a pinched expression on his face.
An argument on his behalf is on the tip of my tongue, but I bite my words, remembering that there was something wrong with this guy.
Something I can’t really put my finger on.
At least I remember most of the night for a change, so there is that.
Suck it up, April, I tell myself sternly and hesitantly walk closer to the gas stove.
“I don’t like the smell.” Wrinkling my nose, I glance at Sebastian.
There is a look in his dark gaze that flip flops my stomach and makes the blood pump faster through my veins. Racking my brain to see if I’ll remember anything I’ve said or done to invoke such a look, I’m left empty. After witnessing the Guardian run from us, I remember precisely zilch. Nada.
“You don’t have to be here for this, my redemption.” Sebastian moves his hand slowly, lifting it as if reaching for me, but he thinks better of it and lets it drop to his side. “You can wait upstairs. As soon as I have something, I’ll come find you.”
“I didn’t say I don’t want to be here.” Irked that he thinks I’m squeamish, I frown at him. “I’m one of the monsters now, remember? It doesn’t bother me. I just don’t like the stench, that’s all.”
After staring at me intently as if he can read every thought in my head with sheer will alone, Sebastian flicks his hand towards the gas stove.
Andrei releases one of the legs he was holding down and twists a dial, turning the burners off.
If I expected the Guardian to feel relieved, I was left disappointed.
His whimpering gets louder, and to my astonishment, I realize he is gaping at me in terror.
“There goes that idea,” I mumble under my breath, and all three of them chuckle. Assholes.
Sebastian walks to the side of the room, rummaging through drawers until he turns back to me, holding a gleaming knife as long as my forearm.
Lifting an eyebrow, he waits until I jerkily nod at him before sauntering back to the kitchen island.
With one last glance from the corner of his eye, he turns his attention back to the Guardian.
“You were just about to tell me who sent you here.” Casually poking the tip of the knife with his thumb, he cocks his head. “If you are hoping that I will kill you, you are mistaken. You will wish you were dead before that happens, so speak. I tire of you.”
“No one. I swear it.” Thrashing to free his limbs, the Guardian trips over his own words. “I was bonded to the Council before she was reborn. I came of my own will…no one sent me. I have nothing to tell.”
“Yet, you run when you see her.” Drawling, Sebastian grins menacingly. “It screams of loyalty.”
Faster than I can blink, he stabs the knife through the Guardian’s stomach.
The tip of the metal grinds on the stove under the man’s back embedding in it.
As if he didn’t mean to do it, Sebastian jiggles the knife, huffing.
The high-pitched scream echoes through the kitchen, hurting my ears.
The scent of fresh blood makes my fangs slide down, and I find myself panting, unable to look away from the red liquid gushing out from the wound.
“I have nothing to tell!” The Guardian screams, frantic with fear.
A peculiar smell mixes with the stench in the air. It’s so different from everything else that curiosity pulls me closer to Sebastian’s back. Pressing my hand on his shoulder, I lean over him, sniffing like a hound dog. It disappears too fast for my liking.
“Ask him again.” Murmuring, I don’t take my eyes off the Guardian.
“Who sent you to spy on us?” Sebastian yanks on the knife, repeating the question.
“No one…I came on my own to join you.” The Guardian shouts, pain lacing his words.
“Lies.” Clenching my jaw, I inhale deeply.
The same smell wafts off him in waves. I don’t know how I’m so sure, but everything in me says those words are a lie.
Marcus and Andrei are watching me like I’ve sprouted another head, but Sebastian has a calculating look when his head turns to me.
Without looking away, he slams the knife in the Guardian’s stomach, only a few inches from the previous wound. Seeing me watching, he smirks.
“I don’t want to sever his spine.” Turning back to the screaming Guardian, he chuckles, raising goosebumps over my arms. “Not, yet anyway.”
“Please…” the Guardian whimpers.
“You better start talking.” Speaking softly, Sebastian pulls the blade out slowly. “Try no lies this time.”
“Kali!” screaming the name, it’s like the gates were broken on the secret he was trying to hide. “Kali sent me.”
“Why? So Khan can find our weak points and attack?” Snarling, Sebastian stabs the man’s thigh in anger. “What have you told them?”
To my disbelief, the Guardian starts laughing like a lunatic.
“Khan?” Crazy laughter raises the hairs on the back of my neck.
“Khan is the least of your concerns, Italian.” Sneering, the man’s eyes are feverish with madness.
“He is just a puppet that my mistress uses. You think you are almighty and safe here?” Turning those wild eyes on me, he laughs in my face, blood and spittle flying out of his mouth.
“You think she will save you from what’s coming?
” A wet cough sprays blood over my face, making me jerk away from him.
“You are too late. I will wait for you in Hell!”
He mumbles something in a language I don’t understand.
It sounds vile and guttural, the words harsh and snapping in the air like a whip.
My heart jumps in my throat, making me dizzy, but I have no time to worry about that.
A blast of air sends all of us flying, hitting appliances and counters with loud crashing sounds.
My body screams in protest, the bones breaking and mending at the same time, and I almost blackout.
Shouts reverberate around me, but I can’t take my eyes away from the bloodied man on top of the island.
His body spasms, jerking and twisting in unnatural angles until it explodes, sending gore, guts, and body parts like projectiles at us.
Covering my head with my arms, I curl up in, hoping not to get as much debris stuck on me.
When silence finally spreads, with my ears ringing like a church bell where I’m crouched, I unfold my arms and look around.
“Minchia!” Sebastian rushes, pulling me up and checking me for injuries, his hands roaming my body from head to toe so he can assure himself that I’m whole.
Marcus and Andrei amble towards us, limping and swaying as they do.
I still stare at the spot where the Guardian literally exploded by saying a few words, my jaw touching my chest in shock.
With trembling hands, I grip Sebastian’s forearms, opening my mouth to ask him what the hell that was. My words are stuck in my throat when the hotel shudders around us, and an enormous explosion sends me down on my knees.