Chapter 71
Chapter Seventy-One
“This way, Mistress.” One of the guardians points to a tunnel on our right.
“April.” Glaring at him, I sigh. “I told you to call me April.”
After slinking away from the hotel, we find ourselves in the sewers.
It’s like no matter what I am, the sewers under this city are my destiny.
I can’t escape their misty stench, regardless of whether it is monster or human.
Clutching the soft fabric of the dress in my fists, my bare feet slush through the murky water.
The Guardians walk one in front of me and one behind me, refusing to call me by my name no matter how many times I ask them to do it.
They insist on calling me Mistress, and first I giggle like an idiot, but now it’s getting on my nerves.
I have a name, damn it. It might be from this lifetime, but it’s mine.
They’ll start using it if it’s the last thing they do.
My toes squish something mushy, and revulsion sends a shiver up my spine.
Glancing over my shoulder, I eye the strappy sandals the Guardian carries in his hands reverently, and you might think I’ve given him the holy grail.
I don’t have the heart to take them from his hands, the squishy things, or even under my feet.
I don’t doubt he will look like a kicked puppy if I do that.
With a snort, shaking my head, I continue following the one ahead of me.
They told me their names, and I forgot them.
Now I feel stupid asking again, so I keep my mouth shut.
Guardian one, and guardian two it is, at least in my head.
The one in front lifts his hand, the wide, blue lacy ribbon that Andrei gave me to tie around my eyes twisted between his fingers, and we all freeze.
Tilting my head like the predator that I am, I strain to hear what got his attention.
He is a good few feet ahead, and it takes long moments for the murmured voices to reach my ears.
When they do, I have to forcefully unclench my fingers, so I don’t shred the dress to ribbons.
I would recognize Khan’s voice anywhere.
That slimy bastard will be the last to go tonight.
I want to see him sweat and squirm in front of me.
My fingers brush my thigh where I strapped the wooden stakes carved with runes.
By leaving those behind, the idiots made this too easy on me.
My grin grows, and the Guardian in front of me pales.
Dismissing his worry with a wave of my hand, I grip the skirts of the dress in my fingers and move silently closer to where the voices are coming from.
The Guardian hurries to walk before me, determination set in his square jaw.
Silly men, thinking they need to die to prove loyalty.
With a smile, I follow behind him, the other Guardian at my back, only the sluggish beat of his heart giving me an idea of his position.
“You thought you were too clever, didn’t you?” Khan’s words stop our advance. He sounds as if he is just on the other side of the damp walls. “Well, here we are again, Vincenza.” I jerk back from his tone as he says the name I used to have centuries ago. “Or should I call you April now?” he sneers.
“Fuck you, monster.” Recognizing the voice of the woman that took my place when she snaps at him, a weight lifts off my chest. She is alive.
“You are lucky I want to make this a spectacle.”
A crashing sound accompanies Khan’s growl.
They are not on the other side of the wall.
They are above us. My eyes fly up to stare at the carved roof of the tunnel.
I move in the middle of it, not taking my eyes off the spot where I felt something breaking.
When a hand tentatively touches my arm, I’m surprised to see I’m crouched, ready to go through the wall if need be, so I can wrap my claws around that asshole’s throat.
“Tonight, all will see their great matron die, and for good this time.” Gloating, Khan keeps talking.
“They don’t know you’re still human. You had us all fooled when you saved that bastard Sebastian.
How I will enjoy draining him so all can see.
” Chuckling like he is deranged, I can hear him pacing above my head.
“Should I let him watch you die first, huh? Or should I give you the pleasure of seeing his lifeless body before I take your life?”
“Sebastian will kill you.” I’m proud of the calm way the woman says that. Just for this alone, I’ll do everything to ensure she stays alive.
“No one!” Khan screams. “No one takes a hit on me and lives!”
“I thought there were eight of you. The others don’t care?” she taunts him. If only she knew, I think gloomily.
“Those fools are useful but unnecessary.” The Khan I know, the arrogant, greedy bastard that he is, sounds clear in the words he speaks.
“It’s a good way to keep the masses under control.
The idiots think power is in numbers. If they only knew.
” His manic laugh grinds in my ears. “After you are gone for good, I’m going to kill them all.
I will drain them dry and take their powers. None of them will see that coming.”
He has gone crazier over the years. Khan has always been a power-hungry leech but still calculating.
Always with back up plans. Can it be that taking my immortality and the bond to all of our kind with it has driven him insane?
It was never a burden on me, but it was freely given.
He forcefully took it, so that might have scrambled his brain.
It’s silent for too long and I want nothing more than to rush in there just to see if the woman is okay.
There is something in her that’s special.
Something that I can’t put my finger on.
Pushing it aside, I concentrate on Khan and his craziness.
He finally moves, his footsteps like shots in the silent tunnel.
“The time nears.” His voice is back to normal.
“Not long now before those that were so loved by you, and those that tried to bring you back, watch you bleed again. Love and mercy have no room in my world. Tonight, everyone will see that and pledge their allegiance to me. Including your precious Eshe.” Chuckling gleefully, he claps his hands.
“Oh, you look confused. Maybe you thought I didn’t know she is still loyal to you.
How pathetic!” Khan sneers. “I will get rid of all of you tonight. It’s a new era, and it will be mine. ”
His footsteps sound even over the closing of a door, sending a thump of finality in the air.
Taking my eyes off the roof, I finally look at the two Guardians standing stock still around me.
Their fangs are peeking out under their upper lips, hands clenched at their sides.
I realize my emotions must be leaking to them, the slight golden glow in their irises reminding me of my own.
“I have a job for the two of you,” I tell them with a smile.
Determination sets on both their faces, none of the reluctance that Andrei had when I said the same thing to him before I left the hotel.
Ah, yes. We all have jobs to do tonight.
Only, I have a feeling I’m the only one looking forward to doing mine.
Squaring my shoulders, I wind through the tunnels, searching for an entrance to the Council Towers.
Along the way, I explain to the guardians what I need them to get done.
All we need to do now is wait. It’s the first time I’m looking forward to sunset as well.