“Hey, Pen!” Orianna called out, starting toward the kitchen from the front hallway. “Ready for that ice—”
The explosion that rocked the very foundation of the mansion sent Orianna stumbling, the blast from behind her, knocking her forward and into the stone fireplace. For a moment, she thought she’d been knocked unconscious, because the entire mansion went dark.
When she realized she was, in fact, still awake, Orianna’s attention splintered, going in several directions at once. She could hear shouting and screams, even got the scent of smoke, but she had no idea where it was coming from. Fear washed over her as she tried to determine which direction to go first. She hadn’t gotten a handle on that whole vanishing thing, so she was helpless in that regard. But she needed to find her mother. Penelope. Miklós. Bijou. Acadia. Zeus and Aphrodite.
Oh, God.
As some of the smoke cleared, she realized the entire front section of the mansion was missing. From where she was kneeling, just inside the formal living room, the kitchen at her back, she could see the darkened trees in the distance, the moon’s light casting their shadows over the front lawn.
Her heart began to pound as she glanced around, not sure which direction to go. If anyone had been at the front of the mansion… She didn’t even want to think about what that meant. Her best bet was to go to those at the back, but she feared what might be coming in through the now massive hole in the front wall. After all, she knew that explosion hadn’t happened all by itself.
As she got to her feet, prepared to head toward Penelope, her eyes caught on something at the front, just beyond the drive that curled around beneath the portico. Her eyes skimmed the darkness, tracking every detail, pulling it together into an image that made sense. The explosion that came next was not one ignited by some sort of explosive. It was like thunder, and it roared again and again, one right after the other, the ground shaking beneath her feet. She stepped forward to see what it was, and that was when her breath hitched in her throat.
Those massive sounds were males as they landed in front of the mansion. First Obsidian, then Stygian, followed by Eclipse, Aphotic, Shadow, Piceous, and last but not least, Cimmerian. Their wings—one black, one white—expanded outward, stretching to meet the next until there was a solid wall of angels standing sentry at the front of the mansion, blocking the vulnerable section that was missing.
Her heart pounded when she realized that was exactly what they were doing. The warriors had created a barrier separating whatever was coming at them from those who were trapped in the mansion behind them.
“Orianna!”
She spun around to see Oliver racing toward her. His eyes were wide, and there was a cut on his forehead, soot along his jawline.
“Come on,” he urged, reaching for her arm but stopping quickly as though he just realized the pain it would cause her. “We have to get you to safety.”
“Penelope?” she asked. “Where’s Penelope?”
“Kaj and Acadia came for her. They’re taking her to the Lair.”
“My mother?”
“Bijou’s got her.”
“But how?” With the power out, the elevators wouldn’t work. How…?
The words died in her throat when she saw the female carrying Elizabeth in her arms as though it was no effort whatsoever. She marched toward them, paused as she waited.
“This way,” Oliver said again. “We have to get out of here now.”
Orianna glanced once more at the front of the house, noticed the warriors were still there, still holding their ground, but there were more out there, thefiestreighhaving come to fight on the front lines against whatever evil was coming for them.
“Zeus! Aphrodite!” Orianna became frantic as she sought the dogs. “Zeus!”
There was a single bark in answer, but it wasn’t from the main floor, she realized. No, had it not been for her new and improved hearing, she probably wouldn’t have heard it.
“Orianna, we have—”
“I’m not leaving without them,” she insisted, running for the stairs at the back of the mansion. She took them up to the third floor, then sent up another thank-you to the man upstairs when she realized the electronic scanners ran on a backup generator or battery. Once she was let through, she slammed the door inward and came to an abrupt halt. The damage here was far greater. Not only was the front of the mansion obliterated, the ceiling above had started to crumble.
Orianna kicked through the rock and debris on the floor. “Zeus! Aphrodite!”
The bark came from the corner of the living room, where the two canines spent most of their time. It took a minute, but she managed to dig through the downed boards and stone until…
Her relief was nearly too much. Her head spun from the light-headedness, but she held it together as she dragged the boards away and freed both dogs. Neither appeared to be hurt, but they’d been trapped.
“Good boy,” she told Zeus when he nudged Aphrodite toward her. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
With the dogs on her heels, they made it back down to the main floor, then deeper, below the mansion to the underground tunnels. She followed, noticing the gas lamps were lit, which meant others had moved through there recently. She and the dogs circumvented the tunnels and finally ended up in the mansion the vampires had moved into.
“We need to stay together,” Oliver said, his voice surprisingly calm and collected as he motioned her to join the others.
