House of Royals(36)

They both blow into something and it takes some time before I realize that they’re blow darts. Needles fly through the air, missing most, but Trinity gets caught in the leg and instantly collapses to the floor in spasms.

It was a man, a boy really, and a woman who broke into the House. And as soon as Trinity goes down, the woman flies at her, stake in hand. But Markov is already in the air. They collide. And his teeth sink into the woman’s neck. There’s a sick, wet shredding sound.

The boy leaps at Christian, and the two go down on the ground.

And I get to see, for the first time, real fangs. Long, extended, deadly sharp.

Every one of the House members has exposed teeth. Extended fangs are bared, and they all leap at the intruders with glowing red eyes. Everyone moves at impossible speeds, no more than a blur. Christian lifts the boy like he weighs nothing, pinning him against the wall.

I look back at Markov and the woman when there’s a snapping sound. There’s blood everywhere, and her arm now lies three feet from her body. He attacks her neck again, wrapping one arm and hand around her head as she frantically tries to escape. With a sickening snap, he rips her head clean off.

She flops limp to the floor and blood spills out of her wrecked body like a river.

Markov licks his lips with a smile on his bloody face.

I turn back, just in time to see a needle embed itself into Christian’s neck. He collapses back into Anna and Micah. Not wasting a second, the boy darts back for the window.

He pauses, just for a second, looking back at us with those yellow eyes. And I see something on the back of his hand. A red and angry burn—a brand. It’s the shape of a snake eating its own tail.

“Don’t let him escape!” Jasmine screams when the boy leaps from the window. With animalistic growls and hisses, Anna and Micah both fly after him into the night.

“Let’s get them to their rooms,” Jasmine commands.

There’s blood smeared all over the library, broken glass and slivers of wood line the floor. At least a dozen needles are embedded into walls and books, and roll around the floor.

The intruders had to have used up nearly a quarter of their stash in this attack, and they took down two members.

I realize something. There’s no point in simply immobilizing House members and putting them through a couple of hellish hours. You only immobilize a vampire to try and kill them.

Markov scoops Trinity up in his arms. She’s still twitching and spasming. Her eyes are screwed shut, and her teeth clench tightly. She hisses in pain. Samuel slings Christian over his shoulders. They exit the library.

“Get these needles taken care of,” Jasmine commands Cameron. “Carefully.”

He actually looks scared, but I see the terror in his eyes is directed at Trinity who is disappearing down the hallway. He’s worried about her. But he does as Jasmine says and starts collecting the needles.

Lillian squats by the woman, her hands on either side of the dismembered head. She studies her face. “I don’t recognize her. She isn’t from Silent Bend.”

My stomach turns at all the blood. It’s everywhere, seeping down into the floorboards, running in a river toward the door, in a giant pool under the dismembered body.

When my eyes shift to the severed arm, the symbol catches my attention.

“Does the snake mean anything to you?” I ask.

“Snake?” Jasmine asks.

I point to the arm, specifically, at the back of the hand. There, branded into the skin, is the same symbol of the snake eating its own tail.

Jasmine grabs the arm, which is all kinds of disturbing, and observes the brand.

“The boy who escaped, I saw the same symbol on the back of his hand,” I say. I want to go home, but suddenly, nowhere seems safe. Even a house full of Born just got broken into by a couple of Bitten.

“You’re sure?” Jasmine demands, looking sternly at me.

I nod.

“We’d be able to ask about this exact kind of thing if we had any Royal connections,” Lillian says. Not in defiance, just as a fact. “The Royals are a worldwide network. I’m sure they would know something about this.”

Jasmine doesn’t look happy about the statement, but she doesn’t make a fuss. “Eventually, we will have that ability. But we’re resourceful. We will find out who did this.”

I shuffle into the corner of the library, feeling overwhelmed. I want to disappear. I want to go back to last month when I had no clue this dark world existed. When all I did was worry if my dough would rise right and knew that it would.

Life was so simple.

“Henry was attacked, too,” I say quietly. “That’s how he was killed. Rath was incredibly surprised by it. It seemed random, as well. But I don’t think it was.”