Elara's pov
A high-pitched hum tore through the air, exploding into an ear-splitting howl that made my head pound.
Lucian flinched hard, his hands covering his ears, even Killian, who never seemed shaken by anything, dropped to one knee with a pained groan.
I didn't have wolf senses like they did, but maybe because Lucian's blood was still in my veins, I felt his pain too. Maybe not all of it, because he was still standing, but I felt like I'd been stabbed straight through the chest.
The study windows blew inward. Glass rained everywhere, cutting into the mahogany desk and the rug where I had just been crying.
"Lucian!" I screamed, but my voice was swallowed by the blaring alarm and the heavy thud of boots pounding down the hallway.
Then the doors burst open. Men in green tactical gear stormed into the room, their eyes glowing a sick yellow. Shifters. But they didn't move like pack men. They moved like mercenaries. Rebels.
Lucian moved first. One second he was beside me, the next a blur of silver and shadow. His blade tore through the first three men, blood splashing across the white marble near the fireplace.
He looked terrifying, like death itself had stepped into the room wearing his face. I understood now why he was feared.
He grabbed my arm and shoved me toward Killian.
"Get her out of here!" Lucian roared. "Take the tunnels! Don't stop until you hit the treeline!"
Then he turned back to the fight, his shoulders already splattered with blood.
"Move, Elara!" Killian grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the hidden bookshelf.
Mina was already there, pale and tense, clutching Killian's sleeve. I almost scoffed at the show. She was definitely pretending. She was the omega for a reason so, why wasn't she fighting?
"Killian, the back stairs are blocked! I heard the breaching charges!" she cried.
"Then we go through the wine cellar," he said.
He didn't wait. He dragged me with him, my legs struggling to keep up. I almost wanted to remind him that I was human. I didn't have their strength or their agility. The servant's passage was damp and cold, smelling like old stone and rot.
I stumbled, and my knees slammed into the floor. It wasn't that I was weak, well, maybe that too but I was more terrified. My body just couldn't keep up with monsters.
Every explosion from above shook the walls around us. Every time it did, I felt Lucian. He was still fighting and alive, which comforted me. I didn't know who his uncle was, but I preferred being with the devil I knew than the angel I didn't.
Killian looked back once, then at me. Without a word, he scooped me up. I pressed my face into his neck, breathing in the scent of fresh rain on cut grass.
Mina stayed close beside us, one hand gripping Killian's shoulder. I could feel her eyes on me.
"Is she okay?" Mina whispered.
"She's fine. Just shaken," Killian muttered, never slowing down.
I hated that. I hated that she was being kind while I was the one being carried like I was useless. And I hated the way she looked at Killian, like she trusted him completely, like she belonged beside him.
When we reached a steep set of stairs, Killian slowed just enough for Mina to lean against him. His hand brushed her back for a second. That was all it took. Jealousy stabbed deep into my stomach. I wanted to tell her to get her hands off him. I wanted to tell her he was mine.
The thought shocked me. I couldn't understand why I felt so possessive over him.
We were almost at the exit when the floor hummed again.
"Shh," Killian hissed, pulling us into a dark space behind a row of massive wine barrels.
Footsteps crunched nearby. Two men walked past our hiding spot.
"The Alpha is pinned in the study," one of them rasped. "He wants the girl alive. Find her and kill the brother if he gets in the way."
Mina let out a shaky breath and pressed into Killian's chest. He held her close, jaw tight, eyes flicking toward me.
And then it hit me. They weren't here for the crown. They were here for me.
Once the footsteps passed, Killian moved again, his hold on me tightening. We reached the main cellar, a huge room swallowed in darkness. Then the ceiling above us groaned.
BOOM.
A massive explosion shook the floor above. Stone and wood came crashing down. The ground lurched beneath us and threw us forward.
"Killian!" Mina screamed.
Dust filled my lungs. I couldn't see. Killian tried to shield me, but the force was too much. A huge wooden beam slammed down between us, and the floor gave way under my feet.
I hit the ground hard and rolled into a dark corner just as a wall of stone collapsed between us.
"Elara!" Killian shouted from the other side. "Elara, can you hear me?"
I heard Mina crying. I heard Killian trying to move the rubble.
"Killian!" I coughed, crawling toward the sound. My fingers scraped against broken stone. I clawed at the rocks until my skin split, but it was useless. The stones were too big and too heavy.
I was trapped.
Then everything went quiet. The silence in the cellar was worse than the screams upstairs. I could still feel Lucian, but he was far away now, just a faint, flickering heat in the back of my mind.
Then a heavy footstep crunched on the gravel behind me.
I turned slowly, my back pressing against a wine rack.
A man stood in the shadows. He was older than Lucian, with the same sharp jaw but eyes that glowed orange. He looked at me and smiled. Slow. Sick. Disgusting.
His hands stayed tucked into the pockets of his long black coat.
"So," he rasped. "This is the little anchor my nephew is so obsessed with."
I tried to back away, but my spine hit the stone wall.
"You look human," he said, stepping closer.
Then his hand shot out and wrapped around my throat.He didn't squeeze, he just held me there, his thumb brushing across my jaw.
"But I can smell him on you," he said softly. "You drank from him, didn't you? Staining your soul with his filth."
"Let... go," I choked out, reaching for the cold spark of the Void inside me. I wanted to blast him away. I wanted to prove I wasn't just a toy to be traded.
Nothing came.
"Don't bother," the man sneered, his eyes glowing brighter. "Lucian isn't coming. I sent my best to keep him busy while I claimed the real prize. And his brother?" He gave a dark, cruel smile. "He's too busy saving his whore to worry about you."
He leaned closer. His breath stank so badly, even the Void inside me seemed to hide.
"My name is Malakor."
He pulled a small blade from his coat and pressed the cold tip of the blade against the pulse point on my neck.
"And you're going to help me tear down everything my nephew built," he whispered.
I looked toward the rubble, hoping to hear Killian's voice one last time. But there was only the sound of shifting stone and the fading cries of Mina. He was gone. They were both gone. They left me.
Malakor's smile widened, revealing teeth so yellowed and rotten even Mr. Luke, my dentist, would have refused to touch them.
"Let the hunt begin," he smirked.
Then, he slammed the hilt of the blade into my temple, and the darkness took me.