Chapter 26
Sebastian knelt at the base of his small closet in his bedroom, rifling through a few things on the floor. He pushed aside shoes and some clothes that had fallen off their hangers and finally found what he’d been looking for.
He pulled out a small, locked, dark box. Leaning back on his heels, he stared at it for nearly a minute. His breathing became slightly labored and it was as if time stood still. He reached into his pocket for his house keys and shifted to a very small one hidden on the ring. While he inserted it into the box’s lock, the tremor in his hand grew more dramatic. Turning the key, a small click! sounded and he took the key out.
Opening the box revealed a small cloth. Sebastian unraveled it and stared down at the black Magnum handgun lying there. It looked so… normal, despite it being the chain holding the wrecking ball that shattered his life so many years ago. Gently, carefully, as if it would burn him if he made the wrong move, he ran his fingers over the cool metal. Images raced through his mind of the horrible night he lost his poor mother. All the screams, the shouts, the bangs, the metallic scent piercing through the air so much that he had nearly forgotten how to breathe, all came flooding back to his senses.
After he shot his father, Victor had been the first one he called. He had been so distraught on the phone that the blonde hadn’t even known what happened until he got there and saw the scene. The next call was to Mr. Labasque, who was over just as quick. If Sebastian didn’t know better, he’d have thought this wasn’t the first murder Victor’s dad had seen before. Everything had moved so quickly — too quickly. Sebastian lost parts of that day forever, his brain blocking them from ever being retrieved. Victor’s father had instructed his son to get the murder weapon and get rid of it. It wasn’t until years later that Sebastian found it hidden away in Victor’s basement along with some Christmas decorations. He had never mentioned it to his friend, considering it was a piece of evidence, and bringing up that day was never a good idea. But he supposed hiding it with pretty lights and garland was as good a place as any. He would have gone with the bottom of the bayou, but… it wasn’t his call. And they had been little more than teenagers.
But now, he was thankful. Because every wrong that gun helped commit was about to be reversed when he buried as many bullets as he could into the devil himself.
Sebastian was pulled from his reverie by knocking on the door. He grabbed the gun and closed the box. Hiding it again, he put the gun in the pocket of his coat and stood up to go to the front of the house.
Opening the door, Sebastian met eyes with too many fucking immortals. How had his life come to this?
“You ready to go?” Whitney asked. “You got your wooden stakes and garlic knots?”
“And silver bullets to match,” Sebastian sighed. They had instructed him to pack light — he couldn’t even bring a bag with him. But the thought of being in the same clothes for however long wasn’t really the priority in his head. He’d go nude if it meant getting Leona back safely.
The dark-haired man stepped out of the threshold of the front door and locked the place up. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Though Sebastian had evanesced with Leona short distances throughout the city, they had never had the chance or reason to travel further than that. Doing so across an entire ocean made his head spin. Piper had carried him and Charlotte, and Whitney had carried Victor. Though Charlotte had shown great potential with evanescing as a new vampire, Piper and Whitney stressed that they would need their entire strengths to go against Gideon, and they couldn’t risk Charlotte or Victor tiring themselves out beforehand with the travel. Plus, this journey was one the older vampires had made countless times.
Not necessarily with two new vampires and a human in tow, but… first time for everything.
Sebastian had been sick practically the entire time, his nerves consuming him. His brain was whirring with constant worries about Leona. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Was she alive? Was she even at this psychopath’s castle? Both Whitney and Piper assured him this was a pattern, and this would be the most likely place she’d be. Gideon was far too arrogant to stay hidden from his home. But they had taken her multiple times before, they could do it again.
Whitney had not been able to get much information from Damien on the situation. She had briefly been in contact with him via phone when they landed in England, but that was it. He had hurriedly told her to go back home and not start this again, but she was having none of it. She knew he wouldn’t be there to fight against them, but he wouldn’t be there to fight with them either. She had also heard nothing from Theodore, which meant he was likely with Damien during their conversation and had heard everything. Usually, he was the most level-headed of the group, and stayed in the neutral zone. But… a fight with Gideon wasn’t something anyone wanted to be caught in the middle of.
The closest they were able to evanesce to Gideon’s estate was the outskirts of the woods surrounding the property. He would be able to sense and smell their magic otherwise, and the element of surprise was everything to their mission. All Sebastian could do was take in the scenery as they went on their hike through the forest. It was the only distraction his brain could latch onto in the moment.
He just prayed they weren’t too late. He hoped her spirits weren’t broken and that she knew in her heart they would rescue her.
He was also grappling with the fact that he was probably about to die. Closing his eyes, it took everything to keep his breathing calm. His friends were concerned, but they knew better than to bother him at the moment. They had tried, all the way up until they started their trek to the forest, to talk him out of coming. They’d probably try some more on their hike and before they eventually made their way into Gideon’s castle. Nothing they could say would ever change his mind.
He had been at peace with the thought of dying for years now — decades, even. Not that he ever thought his demise would come from a jealous, controlling vampiric overlord, but there were less cool ways to die, he supposed. Overall, he would be giving his life so she could get away, she could escape and be happy. Maybe with all of them combined, Gideon would finally be defeated and nobody would have to look over their shoulders anymore. If that was possible, then… he’d happily lay his life down for their futures.
The hike wasn’t as long as he predicted, given Victor had picked Sebastian up to speed things along. He hadn’t minded. Whatever got them there the quickest was what he wanted to do.
They hid behind a thick wall of trees, glimpses of Gideon’s castle poking through the foliage. Sebastian stared up at it, his heart racing. She was in there. He knew it.
And he was going to get her out.
“There’s a servants” entrance around the back,” Whitney said quietly, looking between them. “I’m unsure if he’s closed it off. We used it last time. If he hasn’t, it will lead us into the slave quarters, which is near the dungeon. Leona might be there. Unless he’s decided to keep her elsewhere. Best case scenario, we grab her before Gideon even knows we’re there, and we get the fuck out of there hopefully with all our heads attached to our bodies.”
“And… the worst case?” Charlotte asked, her eyebrows stitched together in concern.
“He finds us and kills all of us,” Piper deadpanned, folding her arms. “But thinking about that possibility isn’t going to do anyone any good. We need to focus. We need to be quiet. Sebastian’s scent is a problem. It will be a miracle if he hasn’t caught it already. He can’t move as fast or quiet as us. He’s a liability.”
“No offense taken,” Sebastian muttered with a roll of his eyes. “I know I’m not as badass as everyone here, but I have a weapon, I’m used to fighting, and I am quicker than most on my feet. I used to break into houses for money growing up. I know how to sneak around.”
“One of you needs to stay with Sebastian at all times. It might be enough to mask his scent,” Piper added, looking between everyone. “We’re going to go in and pray we can get to the dungeons without being seen. Then, we’re going to pray some more that Leona is actually there. If she isn’t, we’ll need to split up and go looking for her. Whitney and I will be able to catch her scent, so we’ll go in pairs. Well… one trio,” she said, glancing at Sebastian. “But we need to accept that Gideon will probably find us before we find her. We need to distract him long enough to get to her, then just try to make a run for it. Fighting him is useless.”
“You know he’s going to try to fight,” Whitney said. “There’s four of us now. Not two.”
“Five,” Sebastian cut in.
“Four immortals,” Whitney corrected. “And a gun. At the very least, a gunshot will catch him off guard and distract him momentarily. All we need is a moment.”
Piper looked at her dubiously, then sighed. “A moment is the best chance we have.”