“What do you want?” I ask. My eyes cut to Emeric, looking for any clue as to what they are doing here and what they could possibly want.
Emeric barely shakes his head. I know he’s telling me to run, to get into the house like he told me to earlier.
I grind my teeth together. “Not happening,” I shoot back mentally to him, even though I know he won’t get my message.
One of the witches steps forward, until she’s standing next to Draven. She’s in long, white, willowy robes that her long white hair blends into. I can’t imagine the witches spend all their time in these robes, but so far, it’s the only thing I’ve seen them wear.
“You were right, Serenity,” Draven says.
“You’re a brave, foolish girl,” Serenity says, studying me a minute longer. They all study me, still waiting.
“Let Emeric go and take me in his place,” I say again, knowing I’m exactly as Serenity called me—brave and foolish. If they do take me, I’ll be dead by the end of the night.
Time goes still once again. All eyes lock in on me—waiting. Then I realize what they’re waiting for, a second before they say it.
“You really can’t shift?” Vespera says, whipping her long, thick brown curls over her shoulder in annoyance.
“I—” I start.
“She can shift,” Ambrose’s deep voice booms through the courtyard as his breath heats the skin of my neck. My entire body burns and aches to lean back into his chest, for his arms to wrap around me in a comforting embrace.
But I don’t dare move, and he doesn’t move to touch me either.
“But why waste her time doing so on the likes of any of you? You can hear her heart, how steady it is. She’s not afraid of any of you. But you should now all be afraid of me. Leave before I rip out your throats,” Ambrose growls.
I finally get the touch I’ve been seeking, but it doesn’t offer me any comfort. Ambrose grabs my bicep and practically throws me through the backdoor of his house.
“Will Emeric—?” I start, but Ambrose cuts me off.
“He’s fine,” he snaps.
“But—”
Ambrose moves so fast, stopping only millimeters in front of my face. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast, not even the attacking vampires I just witnessed.
My heart is pounding fast in my chest. It seems it only responds like that to Ambrose.
He growls. It’s an authoritative growl that rings through every bone in my body. A growl meant to serve as an alpha command.
He turns, and I feel the pull to follow him. I don’t speak, just follow. Step by step, my heartbeat quickens with each step.
I want to look back to see if Emeric is safe inside the house or if the others left so easily.Could Emeric really take on three vampires and two witches alone while under the mind control of a vampire?I don’t think so. But Ambrose is confident he’ll be fine.
I don’t look back. My eyes are laser-locked on Ambrose’s bare, muscled back, contracting with each step he takes. And then up to his hair that he’s pulled half up in a loose bun.
He opens a door I haven’t been through and starts walking down the steep staircase, not bothering to flick on the lights.But then, why would he when his vision is perfect in the dark?
Thankfully, mine is as well, or I’d be falling down the steep staircase.
Every instinct I have tells me not to follow Ambrose down the stairs. And yet, there’s a tiny part of me that tells me I must follow. That’s the part I have hope in. The part of me that is still a wolf. The part of me that is capable of shifting.
We reach the bottom of the stairs before Ambrose whips around.
“You disobeyed me,” Ambrose growls.
“Yes,” I nod.
“I can’t trust you.”
