A Shade of Vampire 40: A Throne of Fire(5)

“Let’s explore,” I announced, wanting to get the barriers up as soon as possible. “We can find somewhere to camp, at least.”

“Are you kidding?” Lucas retorted. “This place could collapse at any moment.”

“It already has. Some of the castle still might be habitable. Everyone spread out!”

The group splintered off, the jinn sticking together, and the werewolves and witches doing the same. Rose and Caleb joined the rest of the parents—Landis, Ashley, Claudia and Yuri. Kiev and his family headed straight for the main keep of the castle, to the ruins where the entrance would have been, Brock’s arms half-outstretched like the rest of the witches’, trying to sense what had come this way before us. Sherus and his sister waited uneasily by the portcullis, more timid than the rest of us about venturing toward the castle.

“Wait!” Micah’s wife Kira called out to Rose before she could walk off. “I think I can smell the kids—over here.”

In a flash, my daughter was by the werewolves, standing by a fallen tower to the right of the main castle. Sofia and I, and the rest of the GASP members joined them.

“You’re right—they were here!” Rose exclaimed, clutching at Caleb’s shirt in excitement.

“Actually, the whole place smells of them. They spent a long time around this castle…” Micah started to sniff around, shoving his blond hair away from his face as he tried to get a better scent. Suddenly, he pulled back in disgust. “And the dead. A lot of creatures died here…”

I had thought I’d smelt burning flesh. It made sense—if there had been inhabitants within the castle when it had started to fall, it would have been nearly impossible to get them out.

“But not your kids,” Micah hastened to add as he caught the expression on my daughter’s and Sofia’s faces. “They’re still alive—when they left this place, they were still alive.”

Rose nodded slowly, and I could hear her heart rate returning to normal.

“What kind of creatures were the others?” I asked the werewolves.

“Part human for sure.” Bastien spoke up. “There’s something else in there too…but I can’t understand what it is—something we’ve never come across before.”

The werewolves continued to roam through the ruble and debris of the castle, stopping short when they reached Kiev. He and Erik were lifting the stone arches that would have once held up the entrance. The werewolves started to back away in disgust. The reek of burnt flesh hit me full force.

“Wait here,” I muttered to Sofia, indicating that she should watch Rose—make sure our daughter and the other parents didn’t come any closer. Even though the werewolves had assured us that the kids had left here alive, I didn’t want to take any chances.

“They’ve been roasted beyond recognition,” Kiev growled, throwing a stone down in disgust. “Whatever creatures these were, they all died trying to get out of here. Some by falling rock, some later by carbon monoxide poisoning.”

I nodded, looking down at the body he’d revealed—or what was left of it. The face had been burnt away completely, and the only noticeably non-human aspect about the figure was its height—the body was freakishly tall.

“They’re all like that.” Kiev gestured to the rest of the bodies he’d unearthed. “Tall. Human faces, though—but definitely not human.”

I nodded my thanks. I had seen enough.

“We’re going to set up camp here tonight,” I ordered the rest of the GASP members. “Find somewhere safe within the outer walls of the castle. Mona, Corrine, Ibrahim—get to work on the barriers. We should also take turns standing watch.”

“I’ll take the first few hours with Ben and Jeramiah,” Lucas replied, glancing over at our sons.

I headed back up to Sofia and the rest of my family, looking around for a place to set up camp.

“At least it’s vamp-friendly.” Xavier gazed out beyond the walls of the castle with steel-gray eyes. “Not much else going for it.”

“It will have to do until the dragons get back.” I sighed. “Maybe they’ll have come across something more suitable. I still feel like we’re exposed out here, but it’s better than nothing.”

Rose shrugged. “I’m just glad to be in a place that’s connected to the kids. At least we finally have proof that they’re here…somewhere.”

I nodded. Somewhere. I just prayed they were still alive.





Hazel





I watched as the ministers got to work creating barriers around the castle. The plan was that they would work in shifts—the ministers would maintain the force field around us night and day, protecting not only the castle but the multitude of villagers and guards who were camped within its grounds.