“Why do you like spanking me so much,” she whined, wiggling below me.

I bent down and spoke softly in her ear. “As if you don’t love it.” She giggled and then moaned when she saw me unclasp my belt. Mabel licked her lips as I backed away to remove my pants and sat up, her hands reaching for my waist.

The pounding of a fist on the bedroom door brought everything to a halt. “What?” I yelled.

“Something’s going on, you need to come out,” Jack barked. His tone conveyed his urgency.

Bending down, I pressed a kiss to Mabel’s lips. “Get dressed,” I told her cautiously.

“What’s going on?” Her brow furrowed in concern.

Hurriedly, I put all my clothing back on. “I don’t know but Jack isn’t the type to raise a false alarm.”

Mabel shoved herself off the bed and began getting dressed as I walked out.

Benjamin and Jack were in the receiving room, the door to the hall wide open. Lights were flickering up and down the expanse of the walkway, Benjamin’s face pale.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but we wanted you to see this,” he said, eyes darting back and forth.

Mabel joined us, poking her head out into the hall. I wrapped my arm around her and gently pushed her back inside. “This is weird,” she remarked.

Just then a group of the Black Guard could be seen running down the far end of the hall. Jack, Benjamin, and I all glanced at each other.

“What?” Mabel asked, looking between the three of us.

There was shouting, and more running. “I need to go, wait here,” I said to no one in particular.

27

MABEL

Stefan saidfor us to wait, but I didn’t. The chaos allowed me to trail after Stefan as Benjamin and Jack were distracted by other guards striding up to our doorway. Stefan glanced at me, a flicker of annoyance briefly covering his eyes. He saw the determination in my gaze and didn’t say a word.

We followed the corridor until we reached the main hall. People were streaming out of the castle, hustling each other through the exit. The air turned gritty and a faint burning smell entered the air. Stefan stiffened and grabbed my upper arm, pulling me through the people, against the tide.

“I want to tell you to get out of here but there’s nowhere safer than with me. Promise me you’ll listen,” he kept his voice low beside my ear.

“I will,” I said.

Tugging me down another hallway, he said, “Ilya’s down this way, his rooms.”

Smoke began thickening in the distance and more people trickled past us, some waving a hand in front of their faces. A man stopped us short. “You can’t go down there, smoke’s too thick,” he informed Stefan.

“What’s going on? What’s on fire?” Stefan gripped the man’s shoulder.

“The prince’s chambers,” The man muttered, shaking his head before he left us.

Stefan turned to me, “I’m going down there, wait here.”

“No,” I retorted.

He turned and glared at me, “Wait here. I can’t worry about both of you.”

“No,” I repeated as his eyes widened. He glared at me and began walking away.

“Clear the air,” I said, hoping I’d translated the Sentient correctly.

The air cleared and Stefan halted his steps, his head twisting right and left. “Go,” I said, coming up alongside him.