Devour, A Paranormal Romance (Warm Delicacy Series, Book 3) (35 page)

“Where’s Ana?” I asked, looking around for her. I didn’t even see the soldier who had been holding her.

“From what I heard she took off as soon as she got out. Seems like she’s more accustomed to portal travel than the rest of us.”

I sighed my frustration, but it was just another thing that couldn’t be helped.

Ronon was down to his last group of ten and looked at me expectantly. “What’s the plan?”

“Plan?”

“You do have one, don’t you?” he asked, his tone was as sharp as the blades on his back.

“Yes, I do, I just didn’t
plan
on them involving you,” I flung the words at him, tired of standing on the hillside. I was ready to make my way to the Château and see the state of things. There wasn’t a roaring fire like before, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t carnage hidden behind the walls.

“You’re not going alone,” his voice sounded deadly. “Now, what’s the plan?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but the ferocity it his eyes shut me up. There wasn’t time to fight, not him at least.

“Well, if Baal really is down there, then I need to make a little pit stop,” I said, turning my sights down the hillside.

“Oh, he is,” Titan said menacingly, as he strode up beside me.

“How do you know?”

“I just do,” he said, with no explanation. “I can
feel
it.” A low growl rumbled through Titan. Ronon turned to his father, joining forearms for a long moment before Titan bolted toward the Château and seemingly disappeared. Ronon’s shoulders slumped briefly and I wondered if he feared this might be the last time he’d ever see his father again. The last time Titan went toe-to-toe with Baal, it resulted in his mother’s death.

If he was worried, it didn’t show in his impassive expression. He seemed to remain unruffled by the night’s events. I, on the other hand, was barely holding it together.

“Where’s this pit stop of yours at?”

“My bedroom,” I answered, not bothering to gauge his reaction. “You ready?”

He’d barely lifted his head to nod before I rocketed down the hillside. Everything seemed like it had any other night in Naos. The city below was peaceful and quiet, the ocean waves crashed soothingly against the rocky shore; the sound echoing its tranquil melody for all to hear. Even the warm lights of the Château glowed like a massive lantern for all to see.

It wasn’t until I was far enough away from the sound of the waves that I could hear the clang of battle. My legs quickened their pace and I barreled through the side entrance near the outdoor carport. The very same door I’d used when Bennett and I had seen it on fire. It felt like it was years ago when it had only been a couple of weeks.

The side hallway was spookily silent, only the echoes of fighting reverberating to where I stood. Aside from the fallen picture frames, and rumpled carpet, everything looked as it usually did.

I wanted to tip-toe, and sneak up to my bedroom unnoticed, but that was impossible. I knew we would run into some dark vampires long before that happened.

Ronon and his soldiers crept in behind me, tightening their grip on their bladed shields as we made our way deeper. I found the back stairwell and jogged up it, taking two or three steps at a time. The throne room was on the second floor, and the living quarters on the third. It took all my willpower to keep heading upward once I’d made it to the second landing. But, there was something very important in my room that I needed before I faced Baal again. Something that could change the outcome of this battle.

The bodies of three dark vampires were lying in mutilated heaps at the landing of the third floor. Their blood oozed and dripped down the steps, making a smile spread across my grave features. Seeing them solidified that Baal had indeed returned, but it also meant we wouldn’t be going down without a fight. There was no way to tell who had killed them, but all that mattered was that there were three less monsters to attack us.

Ronon and his men kicked the dark vampire bodies out of the way as we ran down the hallway of the third floor. They didn’t seem fazed by their graying skin, mammoth size, or their overall gargoyle-like appearance. After seeing a sylph who could blame them? Something told me that the dark vampires had nothing on Titan’s army.

I half expected to find my room in complete chaos. The door crashed open, everything destroyed and probably Bennett and a dark vampire duking it out. But, it was none of those things. I ran up to my door, turned the knob and pushed. Nothing happened.

“What’s wrong?” Ronon asked, his eyes darting every which way like he expected a member of the dark to come barreling toward us at any minute. Seeing his edginess only made me
more
tense. A dark vampire
really could
come barreling toward us at any second.

“I think it’s jammed,” I said, ramming my body against the door to force it open.

Ronon pushed me aside, preparing to ram the door himself. “Let me have a go at it.” He took a few steps back, and collided with the door as if it were a brick wall. He staggered, looking offended by the opposing door.

“Let us try,” two of his hybrid soldiers stepped forward, eyeing the door with so much disgust I would have thought they were staring at Baal himself. Ronon stepped aside allowing them to attempt entry.

I eyed the pair, and watched as they ran forward and kicked the door in unison. An audible crack sounded like a bolt of lightning, but it was the scream from inside the room that really surprised me.

“Who’s in there?” I pressed my face against the minute space between the door and its frame. Had one of Baal’s dark vampires locked itself up with one of my friends? Panic ripped at my heart and I signaled for the duo to kick again. They happily obeyed, kicking the door with another loud snap as the door began to give way.

Like before, another cry spilled from my room, as sheer terror was ripped from the lungs of whoever was inside. I kicked at the door myself this time, grunting with effort and shouting threats to whatever dark vampire was dumb enough to hurt my friends. I swore to rip its head off, and as the door broke from its hinges I propelled myself inside ready to bash some skulls.

“Claire?” A quivering voice called my name from a dark corner. A voice I knew as well as my own.

“Liz? Where are you?”

She stepped forward, her face covered in snotty tears. Blood dripped from her nose, and a blood-soaked makeshift bandage was covering her left arm. She looked like hell.

“Are you okay?” I pulled her to me, carefully inspecting her injured arm. “What are you doing in here?”

“B-B-Bennett,” she stammered, shaking with fright as she watched Ronon and his soldiers flood into the room and inspect every nook and cranny as if a dark vampire could hide under a chair or something.

“He left you in here?” I couldn’t keep the heat from my voice. He swore to me he’d look after her.

“N-no, he s-saved me. T-they appeared out of n-nowhere, Claire,” she began sobbing again. I wrapped an arm around her, ushering her to the couch as I rubbed her back and tried calming her down. I needed information from her and it didn’t help that she was stammering like a terrified kitten.

“It’s okay. I’m here now,” I cooed.

“A-and you brought f-friends,” she said, eyeing Ronon suspiciously as he strode up behind me.

“I did,” a laughed escaped me. “Now take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”

She did as I ordered, and seemed to find a sense of calm. One of Ronon’s soldiers handed me a small handkerchief, and I nodded my appreciation. As I dabbed the blood away from Liz’s face she began to recount what happened.

“Portals opened up all over the place. Those nasty vampires started running out like damn roaches, Claire!” Her voice steadily grew into the mouthy girl I’d known my whole life. “I was on my way to show your mother some of my plans for building the new addition when it happened. They saw me coming down the stairs and I ran.”

She took a deep breath, and I nodded for her to continue.

“I barely made it half way up the stairs when they grabbed me. I tried to fight them off, but they were too strong. One of them cut my arm, and I thought for sure I was going to die, but then Bennett showed up. He killed them and then he locked me up in your room and told me not to open the door until he came back.”

“You did good,” I praised her. The fact that a human encountered a dark vampire and lived to talk about it spoke volumes. Liz was a lot tougher than I thought. I couldn’t have been more grateful that I’d insisted she had some training with Eli. Even though she hadn’t lasted more than a few sessions, it had been enough for her to hold her own until Bennett arrived to help her.

“How did you guys get back here in time? Bennett said…”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re here now. Okay?” She nodded.

“What are you going to do?” she eyed our small group, holding the cloth to her nose to stop the bleeding.

“We’re going to kill them,” I answered with deadly resolve. “We’re going to kill them all.”

Liz shook her head like she didn’t believe me. “But there’re so many of them.”

“We have many soldiers spreading throughout the Château. They will not escape,” Ronon said, stepping closer. “You said you needed to get something here. Is this woman what you were talking about?” Liz scoffed at him, flinging daggers with her eyes. He didn’t seem to notice.

“No,” I said, squeezing Liz’s hand to let her know I was still happy I’d found her.

“Then I suggest we continue our mission before we run out of time,” he barked at me.

“Hey! Don’t talk to her like that! She’s a princess!” Liz’s bitchy attitude returned without hesitation, and I couldn’t keep the small laugh bubbling up inside me contained.

“Liz, it’s okay. He’s right; we’ll have to play catch up later.” She looked pricklier than a cactus, but she sat back down beside me. “I want two guards to stay behind and watch her,” I ordered.

The second I finished my sentence, the two who had helped me kick down the door stepped forward. They bowed their heads to me, and marched over to stand beside Liz. She shivered at their closeness.

“They’ll protect you, okay?” She nodded, wide-eyed. “When we leave, board up that door again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, princess,” they replied in unison.

“Ronon, come with me.” I didn’t wait to see if he obeyed, stomping through my bedroom and into my closet. Digging through the stack of linens I dug out the box I had buried there.

As I pulled it out a thumping rattled my bathroom door. Both Ronon and I jumped, ready to pounce on whatever was sneaking up on us. The light of the closet was flickering, but I could easily make out the outline of the bathroom door. The light inside was on and a shadow was pacing back and forth.

Ronon pulled one of his knives free, holding it before him as he slowly stepped forward. The rattling continued again, only this time I saw what had caused it.

“Stop!” I yanked on his shoulder, pulling him back as I rushed to the bathroom door and pulled it open. Louie’s angry face meowed at me as I snatched him up before he scampered away. “Not today, big boy.” I planted a kiss on his head and shoved him back into the bathroom. He’d be safe in there, and I didn’t want to worry about him getting stepped on by a dark vampire, or worse.

“Is that your cat?” Ronon asked.

“Yes, now get over here.” I walked back to where I’d left the box on the floor and took a seat on the chaise. Dropping the box on my lap I looked up at him. He was eyeing the ebony carvings, glaring more and more as he surveyed each one.

“You ready for this?” I asked him.

“For what, exactly?”

I didn’t reply. I simply opened the box and listened to his intake of breath. If Ronon had ever looked like he was going to faint, it had been this very moment. He stepped back, wiping his hands on his face as if the images of what lie inside could be forgotten. He was reacting like I’d just opened Pandora’s Box, but in a way, I guess I had.

“What the hell are you doing with those?” Disgust dripped from his voice, and I did my best to hide how much it made me shiver. He still kept his blade free and at any moment he could lop off my head. I just had to remember he was on my side, even though he looked outraged.

“I took them from his minions the last time Baal attacked.”

“And what the hell do you plan on doing with them?” He was stepping away from me like he didn’t trust me.

I pulled the stones from their box, lifting them up and dropping them into my palm. “We are going to be wearing them.”

“Like hell I am!” Ronon shouted, storming away from me.

I followed after him. “You have to, Ronon. I’m sorry, but there’s no other way.”

“No other way? No other way!” he repeated, sounding delirious.

“We can’t face Baal without them,” I tried explaining, walking closer to him to only have him step further away from me again. Liz and the rest of the hybrids were looking at us like we were completely insane, while some of them were working on fortifying the door we’d kicked in.

“And why not?” he asked, completely livid as spittle flew from his mouth. He was as angry as a rabid dog.

“Because you just can’t, Ronon. Trust me on this.”

“Why should I trust you? You’ve already betrayed us once.”

I sighed, sagging my shoulders. There wasn’t time to fight with him. “Fine.
I’ll
wear them, but you’re going to wish you’d listened to me when the rest of his minions are making you drop to your knees.” At that, I glared at him, looped the stones around my neck and made my way to Liz.

“Do you know where everyone else is?”

“I t-think Robin and Dmitry were in the library when it h-happened, but I don’t know where they are now.”

“Okay. You three,” I pointed to three of the hybrids, who were standing behind the sofa. “Head to the library and save whoever you can. Look for a red-haired vampire named Robin, or a tall blonde male with a scar across his face named Dmitry. They’ll need your help and protection. Bring them back here and anyone else you find. Got it?”

They nodded and looked to Ronon to see if he approved of my orders. He signaled for them to head for the door. “Go,” he ordered, firmly.