“Wait,” Wraith commanded pointing to the marble floor. My feet obeyed instantly. With his shoulders back, his strides naturally confident, he pushed open the double doors and disappeared.
“Who are you?” a muffled male voice boomed, followed by a distinct clicking sound—a gun. Wraith didn’t answer. “Stand back or you’re dead!” the man threatened. I pictured him holding the gun up to Wraith’s head.
“What on earth—” a female voice said, but broke off. I imagined her incomplete sentence was courtesy of Wraith’s hand clamping onto her wrist as she fell to her knees, dying. Three ear-splitting shots rang out and I stumbled back, my heart in my throat, wary of stray bullets. With my back pressed against the opposite wall, my heart pounded in my ears as I scanned the halls, straining to listen for footsteps. Surely with all that noise, someone would come. Surely we’d be caught. Surely—
“It is safe now,” Wraith announced, poking his head out, a calm, disinterested expression on his face. Clambering into the Red Room, I almost fell over the male prone on the floor—chest down and face up. A little farther over, I saw the woman, the witch, who had the clear misfortune of believing her magic could stop Wraith, now nothing more than a shrunken corpse. Looking away, I concentrated on the frail shell of a body lying on the king-sized bed, taking in her swollen mess of bruises and burns, her clothes in bloodstained tatters.
“Veronique?” I called out in a strangled gasp. No answer. No flicker of life. Terror’s icy hand seized my organs as I ran to her. I leaned over to inspect her face. “Veronique?” Glossy slits opened to gaze back at me.
“Eve?” My name came out in a croak.
My knees buckled with relief. “Oh, thank God, Veronique. Yes, it’s me. We’re going to get you out of here. Now.” One tear rolled out the corner of her right eye, trailing down to hit the red pillowcase. What they had done to her …
What they must be doing to Julian. I did a sweep of the room to confirm it was empty. “Do you know where they’ve taken my friend?”
All I got was a small negative grunt in response.
An ache formed in the back of my throat. He could be anywhere! How would I find him? In that moment, I prayed for Sofie and Caden. They always knew what to do. They were always taking care of things. Not this time. This time, I was alone. It was all on me.
God help Julian and Veronique.
Okay. I took a deep breath. First things first. I turned to Wraith. “Can you carry her? And make sure you don’t accidently kill her …”
Without answering, he quickly swooped in and, with gentle motion I didn’t think possible of Death himself, he slipped his arms under her frail body. She wriggled her brow. “Nathan?”
“Hurry,” I demanded, ignoring her confusion. There’d be plenty of time to explain later. He scooped her up and followed me out. We tore down five sets of stairs, struggling to keep quiet, rushing blood in my ears disorienting. I barreled through the red doors into the atrium …
And slammed into Caden. “Evangeline!” Caden hissed, grabbing my biceps with a death grip, murder on his face. “Are you fucking crazy?” He wasn’t alone. Amelie, Max and brothers, the wolves, Lilly, and her posse stood in a wall behind him with equally unimpressed faces.
“I had to …,” I faltered, my face burning.
He wasn’t having any of it. “What the hell do you think you’re doing in here! I tell you you’re not coming in here and so you sneak out?” His eyes turned cold and hard. I had never seen him this angry. It was a struggle not to be terrified. But now was not the time. I swallowed back the tears forming as a storm of indignation brewed within me over his chastising.
“They have Julian, Caden. I saw it. They had him and they wanted you all here so they could kill you.”
“Where?” Amelie’s lips trembled, her head whipping around in every direction.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. No one’s here. Would they have left?”
“Not likely,” Lilly murmured, cool eyes rolling over the atrium.
Caden took Veronique from Wraith’s hands. “Wraith—you idiot. You shouldn’t have brought her here. But you need to get her out. Now. Lilly, Amelie. The rest of you. Go find Julian.” They vanished without a second’s delay.
To Wraith, Max, and his brothers, Caden directed, “Help me get them both out of here and we’ll come back.” We took off, picking our steps around the upturned cobblestone and charred bodies across the atrium, back to the entrance that would lead to the garage.
“Hurry up!” Caden hissed, his brow wrinkled. “This is too easy,” I heard him mutter.