CHAPTER 28
SAUL JOINS ME at the window, his expression darkening as he takes in the sight.
A loud, thunderous crash echoes through the mansion, followed by shouts and the sound of breaking glass. The floor beneath us starts to tremble. His head snaps toward the door, his body instantly alert. There’s no surprise in his eyes, only dire resignation.
“We need to move,” he says, grabbing my arm. “Now.”
I don’t question him, but the sight of Max has me stumbling as Saul pulls me toward the door.
There’s another crash, closer this time, followed by screams.
The sound of furniture splintering, bodies slamming against walls, and the wet, meaty thud of flesh being torn intensifies as we emerge in the hallways.
Saul checks both directions. “We have a rendezvous point. If we can get there, we’ll be safe.”
We round a corner and come face to face with three vampires, their laughs cruel and determined.
They move with blinding speed, converging on us from three sides.
Saul meets the first with his fist, knocking him back before engaging another in feral combat.
I dodge the third, trying to rely on my instinctive fighting responses.
Saul takes the two of them down, then helps me with mine. Four more appear, the numbers definitely not on our side.
With my weapons, this would’ve been over in a couple of seconds.
Two vampires slam into Saul, driving him up against the wall with enough force to chip it. I duck as two others lunge for me, their claws grazing my cheek as I roll away.
“Run!” Saul shouts, struggling under the weight of his attackers as more and more appear.
I scramble to my feet, my escape already being blocked, one from the front, the other from the back. Fear paws up my throat as I back away, desperately searching for the comfort of a weapon. My back hits the wall, nowhere left to run. The vampires smile, savoring my terror.
“Don’t worry,” one of them says, reaching for me. “We won’t kill you, but we will make you bleed.”
They lunge for me at the same time when a blur of motion tears through the corridor.
One of their heads snaps back at an impossible angle, her body lifted and hurled against the ceiling with spine-shattering force before dropping to the floor in a broken heap.
The other meets the same fate, only slower, caught mid-snarl by an unseen grip and slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a crater of cracked stone and pulverized bone.
His body twitches once, then goes still.
Ace stands before me, his hair wild, and his clothes splattered with vitae. He turns to the remaining vampires. “You dare enter my home?”
The vampires pinning a thrashing Saul hesitate for a fraction of a second, leaving just enough time for Ace to cross the distance between them and drive his hands through two of their chests in one clean shot.
He pulls back, still-beating hearts clutched in his fists, then tosses them aside as the bodies crumple.
Upon seeing their deaths, the others try to flee. Ace catches two of them by the back of their necks, lifting them effortlessly.
“The next time Cain sends his dogs to my door, I’ll send back more than just their hearts.” With that, he smashes them into each other and snaps their necks with a single twist, casting their corpses to the floor.
“The barriers are down,” he tells Saul, wiping vitae from his hands. “The cloaking spells, the wards, all of them.”
Saul pushes himself away from the wall, cursing under his breath.
“Max is outside,” I interject, still processing the situation and what I’ve just witnessed. “I saw him from the window, just sitting there—”
“That’s not Max.” Ace is already moving down the corridor. “What you saw is his body, nothing more. He’s being channeled by a witch, used as a host and a meat shield while they work their incantation.”
Panic rises in my chest. “How can we stop it? We have to stop it!”
Saul’s hand clamps around my arm, his grip unyielding. “Killing the host will sever the connection. Is that what you want?”
“What? No! I meant—”
“Then get your head straight and start moving.”
My brother and I follow Ace through the twisting passages of the mansion’s underbelly, the sounds of fighting growing louder again as we ascend.
“There has to be another way to help him,” I press as we emerge into a wider corridor.
Ace stops at an intersection to check for enemies. “Not right now.”
A scream echoes from somewhere ahead, followed by the sound of splintering wood. Ace motions for us to stay close as he takes a sharp turn down a side passage.
We move swiftly through the mansion, encountering small pockets of fighting.
I catch glimpses of Reece fighting back-to-back with Kale, and Palina using her petite stature to her advantage as she darts between attackers.
Irene has been cornered by a group of vampires ahead of us, her limbs pressed against the wall, terror in her eyes as clawed fingers reach for her heart.
Ace breaks formation, hurling himself between them and catching the vampire’s wrist mere inches from Irene’s chest, twisting until bones snap with a sickening crack. The vampire howls, her free hand slashing across Ace’s face, leaving deep gashes that immediately well with vitae.
My brother launches himself toward the other vampires trying to overwhelm the duo.
I’m left alone in the corridor, hiding behind a pillar, the sounds of fighting echoing from every direction.
The mansion has become a slaughterhouse. Bodies litter the floors, furniture lies in splinters, and the walls themselves seem to weep with vitae. Through the chaos, I spot Saul helping Irene to her feet, looking dazed but grateful.
“This way!” Ace’s voice cuts through the din as he clears the end of the corridor, gesturing urgently. “Everyone to the vault!”
The Ravens begin to converge, fiercely fighting their way toward their leader’s position.
Once grouped, we descend a narrow staircase, the sounds of pursuit thundering behind us.
At the bottom, a massive iron door looms over the entry like a silent guardian, its surface etched with symbols that seem to pulse with a faint purple light.
“Get inside,” Ace commands, positioning himself behind us to hold off the approaching vampires.
Kale rushes to place his palm against the lock, its symbols glowing an electric blue.
The door groans open, revealing a cavernous chamber beyond.
The Ravens hurry inside, dragging wounded comrades with them.
I hesitate at the threshold, turning back to see Saul still fighting alongside Ace, buying time for the others to escape.
“Saul!” I call out, my voice tight with panic.
My brother glances back, nodding for me to go ahead. “I’m right behind you!”
I step through reluctantly, joining the others in the vault. Ace backs toward the door, still facing the oncoming horde.
“Now, Saul!” he shouts.
Saul turns to follow, but as he reaches the threshold, one vampire lunges from the shadows, wrapping powerful arms around his torso.
Before anyone can react, three more appear, seizing Saul’s limbs as he struggles violently.
With horrifying speed, they drag him back into the darkness of the corridor.
“Saul!” I scream, lunging through the doorway, but Ace catches me by the waist, hauling me back with a growl of frustration.
“Get him!” Irene cries, vitae still streaming from a deep gash on her forehead.
Ace shoves me back into the room, his eyes locked on the direction in which the vampires vanished. Before he can pursue, a fresh wave of vampires surges from the shadows, cutting him off.
He turns back and dives through the doorway just as Kale slams his palm against the lock inside, sealing the vault shut behind them with a deafening boom.
“No!” I pound my fists against the adamantine metal. “We have to go after him! Open the door!”
“We can’t,” Ace snaps. “Not anymore.” He strides to the center of the vault, where a table stands covered in maps and diagrams. “They’ve got us cornered.”
I swallow hard, the guilt rising like bile. Was I the delay?
“I don’t care.” I spin to face him, fear and fury clouding my mind. “That’s my brother out there!”
“And he’s my second.” Ace’s eyes flash dangerously. “Do you think I want to leave him? That any of us do?” He gestures to the assembled Ravens, their faces drawn with the same anguish I feel. “If we open that door now, some of us could die. And Saul’s sacrifice would be in vain.”
I advance on Ace with clenched fists. “So we just abandon him? Let Cain take him like he took my mother?!”
He places a firm hand on my shoulder to hold me back. “We assess our losses, tend to our wounded, and form a plan.” His gaze sweeps the room, commanding attention. “No one goes after Saul alone. No one breaks rank. We move together, or not at all.”
“He’s right,” Irene says, stepping forward despite her injuries. “The Veltri will be expecting us to rush after Saul. They’ll have traps set and ambushes ready.”
I want to scream, to rage against their logic, but the rational part of me knows they are right. Charging blindly after Saul would only get us killed or captured. And if we’re captured, who will be left to save him?
I direct my fists into the edge of the table, trembling with rage I can’t aim anywhere useful.
“What if we wait too long? What if there’ll be nothing left to save?” I choke out the words, tears streaming down my face.
“You forget it’s you they want,” Ace says, his expression hardening.
“Cain isn’t just playing a game. He is orchestrating a message, counting on you to attempt to rescue everyone you love.
” He fixes me with an unrelenting look. “So, don’t.
You do exactly what he’s not expecting. You stay alive.
You stay smart. And when we strike, we don’t miss. ”
Irene places a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not the only one who cares about him, Seraph. We’ll get him back, but we have to be smart about it.”