Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
CHERYL
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
P andemonium ensues the moment everyone realizes the manor is under attack by shadowbeasts. Guards storm the grand hall and quickly form a protective circle around Lord Valkor and Lady Nisha. Lord Indigo lifts me off the floor and unties me. “Can you fight?”
He’s blocking my view of Ronan now. I look over his shoulder, but there are too many guards in my way.
Lord Indigo grabs my arm and shakes me. “Can you fight or not?”
Pure terror shines in his eyes. It’s an emotion I never thought I’d see from any Nightingale, especially him. He always seems collected and in control, like an ice sculpture with psychotic tendencies.
“I’m deadlier in my wolf form.”
Perhaps taking my statement as my intention to shift, he replies, “You can’t change forms while you wear that collar. It’ll sever your head if you try.”
“What?” My heart leaps into my throat and gets stuck there. That was my intention. “You’re a bunch of psycho fucks, aren’t you?”
Ignoring my rhetorical question, he reaches inside his robes and pulls out a necklace with a skeleton key hanging from it. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“You need to remove Ronan’s too.”
“Nice try. He can fight with the collar on.”
Asshole. Watch me protect your ass—not.
The moment the collar is off, I step away from the fucker and initiate the shift. But whatever they’ve done to prevent me from connecting with my wolf still lingers in my system, and the shift doesn’t happen as quickly as it should.
Minutes go by before I’m finally in my wolf form, and by then, shadowbeasts are already inside the building.
This I know from the desperate screams that bounce off the walls.
I have no intention of helping any of these Nightingales.
My sole intention is to find Ronan and get the hell out of here, but then I remember Ollie and Heidi’s baby.
They’re innocent, and I can’t not protect them.
I search for Ronan in the melee because, as much as I want to help the children, I’m not leaving this place without him.
I finally locate him with a sword raised in front of him.
I break into a run, and a shadowbeast approaches on my left.
I leap out of the way of its gaping mouth and rows of sharp teeth, but instead of turning and coming after me, it continues on and attacks one of the guards.
The guard can’t see the monster and thus can’t defend himself.
The shadowbeast tears into him, drawing a desperate scream that I’ll never forget as long as I live.
There’s nothing I can do for him, so I whirl around and join Ronan. He’s breathing hard, and there are splashes of dark blood on his face and clothes, but he’s unharmed. I wish I could talk to him, but I don’t dare to shift back into my human form.
“Vampire warrior!” Lord Valkor yells not too far from us.
He’s running in our direction with his bitch of a daughter attached to his arm. There’s a guard with them. Even though they’re hateful beings, Ronan makes a motion to go to their aid, but a shadowbeast leaps in front of them, growling. They can’t see the monster, but they can hear it.
In a cowardly move, Lord Valkor uses the guard as a shield, and that’s who the shadowbeast gets first. Son of a bitch.
“Protect us!” Lady Nisha shouts. “I command you.”
Ronan lowers his sword. “No.”
Lord Valkor’s face twists into a grimace of rage. “You will obey me, or you will perish.”
“I don’t think so.” Ronan yanks the collar off his neck and drops it on the ground.
Both Lord Valkor’s and his daughter’s eyes turn as round as saucers as they realize they have no means to control us any longer. I wish I could savor their expressions, but more shadowbeasts enter the room. If we don’t get out of here, we’ll be overwhelmed.
I bite Ronan’s sleeve and pull him toward a hallway to our left. He follows me, leaving those two assholes to fend for themselves. Not much later, I hear their desperate screams, but even though it’s a fitting end for them, I take no satisfaction in it.
There are dead guards all along the hallway, but the shadowbeasts responsible for the carnage have moved on. The situation isn’t any better inside the room I shared with the other females. I only see mangled bodies and blood everywhere.
“God have mercy,” Ronan whispers.
I’d be crying if I were in my human form. I didn’t know these females well, but I’d never wish this ending for them. I can imagine the sheer terror they felt right before a shadowbeast tore their bodies to pieces.
“We have to go, Cher,” Ronan tells me.
He’s right, but I can’t go until I’m sure there aren’t any survivors.
I move farther into the room, sniffing the floor, then stop dead in my tracks when I find Lana’s body propped against the wardrobe.
Her throat has been torn out, and there’s also a gaping hole in her chest. Her heart is missing.
Next to her, I see Freya, who has met a similar fate.
A suspicion begins to nag at me. I whirl around and pay close attention to the other mangled bodies. Most are missing a heart or a head. What are the odds the shadowbeasts would know exactly how to kill a vampire?
“They’re all gone,” Ronan says.
My heart is heavy, but… where are Ollie and Heidi’s baby?
No sooner do I think of them than I hear a newborn wail come from inside the wardrobe. Oh my God. Could it be?
Ronan moves Lana’s body so he can open the door, and inside, we find Ollie holding the baby, wrapped in a bundle. The poor child is wide-eyed and shaking like a leaf.
“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m not going to hurt you.” Ronan drops into a crouch so he’s at eye level with her.
Ollie starts to cry in earnest, and the baby joins her. Ronan pulls them out of the wardrobe and cradles them against his chest. “Shh. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
I don’t sense the presence of shadowbeasts nearby, so I change into my human form, figuring it’ll be easier for Ollie to calm down if she sees a familiar face.
I crouch in front of Ronan and run my fingers through her curls. “We’ll protect you, Ollie.”
My eyes connect with Ronan’s, and the relief and love I see in his brings a lump to my throat. I shudder as I think of all the things I want to tell him and thought I was too late.
“Are you okay?” he asks in a tight voice.
“I’m fine. And you?”
“Same. We need to go.”
“I know.” I reach for the baby Ollie is still clutching. “Let me take Heidi’s baby, sweetheart.”
“His name is Rio.”
The baby stops crying the moment I cradle him in my arms. I stare at his pink cheeks and bright blue eyes and immediately fall in love.
He’s big for a newborn, and maybe that’s why Heidi had such a difficult delivery, being so petite.
I wonder what happened to her. I glance at Freya’s body.
If she left Heidi’s side, it’s because the female didn’t survive. She was likely trying to protect Rio.
“Come on, Cher. We’ve lingered here long eno?—”
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” a male voice says from the other side of the room.
Ronan and I jump to our feet and stare at the tall Nightingale we met back in Aquila. Castiel of Lynx, Rikkon’s friend.
“How did you find us?” Ronan asks, not keeping the suspicion from his tone.
“All your questions will be answered in due time. Now, do you know where I can find my brother?”
“I don’t know who your brother is,” Ronan replies.
Oh my God. I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection before. Ronan wouldn’t know, because he never interacted with the male. But I did. “Lord Indigo. He’s your brother.”
“Yes.” Castiel’s gaze darkens, which tells me he might not be his brother for much longer.