I’m pushed into a soft chair. Someone is breathing hard, the sobbing sounds loud in the small room. They should stop doing that, really. There are so many vampires in here.
I’m vaguely aware of someone kneeling in front of me, taking my hands. I’m cold, the room withdrawing slowly so everything seems far away.
‘She’s going into shock. We need to get her lying down, elevate her feet.’ I’m lifted, moved from the chair and laid down on something else soft. Someone places a cushion under my feet, I don’t know why. The sobbing noises continue. I wish they would stop, because something just happened, something just…
‘Emelia.’ A voice I know, and love. Someone lies down next to me, their entire body against mine. Warmth seeps into my icy bones. A gentle hand strokes my cheek. I start to come back to myself.
And I realise I’m the one who’s sobbing.
Michael lies next to me, his body half covering mine as though to protect me. Blood is smeared across his face, his eyes dark with sorrow. I try to speak but I can’t. Something’s choking me, and I know when it comes out I’ll break again. Because something just happened and I can’t, I cannot, I…
‘Is she safe?’ A door closes with a clang. My body trembles so much I can’t control it.
‘Uninjured. But she’s in shock.’
‘We all are.’
All these voices around me. Michael keeps stroking my cheek, holding me as though I might break into pieces if he lets go.
‘Where’s her father?’
‘He’s still out there. He won’t come in here until it’s finished.’
I flinch, whimpering.
‘Shh, Emelia. I have you. I’m with you.’ Michael kisses my temple, and I can feel wetness on his face, his voice choked. ‘You’re safe in here.’
‘You need to move away from her. Mistral are finished now.’ The voice is stern, and Michael is gone, suddenly.
I scream, reaching for him.
‘Let him go.’ The other voice sounds like Bertrand, but the iciest, angriest version of him I’ve ever heard. ‘He is not part of this. She’ll have need of him in the times to come.’
Arms come around me again, wrapping me in warmth. Tears trickle down the sides of my face, catching in my ears. It’s as though the scream has cracked whatever’s choking me, and it’s starting to spill out. But I can’t go back, don’t make me go back to what just happened, I cannot, I…
ChapterFifty-Two
BLACK HOLE
‘We leave. Now.’ I flinch at the ice and darkness in the voice, the crash of the door opening.
‘My lord, you are?—’
‘I want my daughter out of here. Now.’ A rasp of death. I’ve never heard him speak like that. I remember being near a bomb blast in the Safe Zone with Kyle, and feeling as though I was underwater, time stretching around us like some strange bubble. It’s the same now. As though a bomb has gone off and I’m lost, scattered, waiting for my pieces to come back together.
‘I’ll bring her.’ Michael’s arm comes around my shoulders, sitting me up.
My father stands in front of us, almost entirely covered in blood. Sword in hand, gore still sliding from the long, curved blade. Splashed in great gouts across the white silk shirt, the finely cut dark trousers. Smeared across his lean face, in his dark hair. I only know it’s him by the hard golden glitter of hiseyes.
Joaquin is next to him. Also covered in blood, his sword raised, his face a snarling mask of rage. For a moment all is still, just the dripping of blood onto stone. Then his sword drops.
My father meets it, mid-air, with his own blade. ‘The kill is mine, if needed,’ he growls.
The kill?Nothing makes sense, nothing… I don’t, I cannot. Please don’t make me….
As though in a dream I watch my father lift his blade again, pointing it at me. No, it’s pointed at Michael, who still has his arm around me. ‘Did you know?’ The words are a howl of pain. ‘Did you fucking know?’ I don’t think I’ve ever heard my father swear.
‘I swear I did not. I swear it on my life. I would never—’ Michael’s voice breaks.
