Page 144 of The Wolf and the Chimera
Neither Kieran nor I spoke.
Melanie crossed her arms. “Are you going to decide to trust me, or wait until the next legion of Lyall’s cronies get here? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re all a bit worse for wear. I’m not sure how many more hits we can take, or how long until the Handmaidens comes for Elle.”
My blood chilled at the reminder.
“Do you know when she will be here?” Kieran asked.
Melanie shook her head. “I only know the High Witch is coming tonight. The doctors were talking about it on one of the feeds. They were trying to figure out how much power they can draw from Elle without killing her. Lyall is pushing for more and faster, but…”
“But what?” I snapped.
Her voice was uncharacteristically soft. “They’re worried he will push her too far—that she won’t survive the procedure.”
And nobody in this gods-damned place told Lyall no.
I barely contained the urge to shift, to tear my claws through the next adversary I found and keep spilling blood until the white walls were coated in gore.
Think, think, think.
“Do you know how to get to her?” Kieran asked.
“I think so,” Melanie said, “but first, I need to shut down the rest of the cameras. Barricade the door.”
As Melanie went to the wide keypad before the wall of screens, I slammed the metal door shut and threw the unconscious bodies of our enemies in front of it. One of them groaned, but my fist to his face had him out once more. Part of me wanted to keep punching—to kill them all—now that I knew exactly what they were helping do to Elle.
Lyall has lied and manipulated them for decades,I reminded myself.
If I were to be the next Sovereign, I wouldn’t slaughter my people—not unless it was the only way to save my mate.
“I don’t think that’s going to be enough,” Kieran warned and jerked his chin at the wall of screens.
The stairwell was a sea of white.
“The bastard has sent every damned guard he has after us,” Melanie muttered, but her face was pale.
I took a deep breath and summoned my dominance.
A bitter, earthy smell trickled into the room.
“Get down!” Kieran commanded.
Smoke curled through the vents and flooded the dark room. Bitter, spicy, and earthy scents burned my nose. I coughed and buried my face in my shoulder.
Wolfsbane.
Like sand slipping through my fingers, my power weakened. Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and guards threw themselves against the door. The first hit rattled the hinge. The second collision loosened it.
Sitting ducks,I realized.Here we were, thinking ourselves clever, but we’re nothing more than sitting ducks.
Across the cold, hard floor, Kieran’s panicked gaze met mine.
If Lyall was capable of hurting his mate, would hefollow through on his threats and hurt his son too?
I refused to find out.
“Put your mask back on,” I told my brother.
I turned to Melanie. With shaking fingers, she continued typing.
