War of Hearts (True Immortality 1)

Thea slowly stood to face him. “I didn’t kill her.”

The muscle in his jaw flexed but to her relief, he nodded. “I know. My father thinks I’m an idiot. But I bribed the guards who were there … I know she died helping you escape, and that it was one of his men who put the bullet in her head.”

Despite her gratitude that Devon knew the truth, Thea couldn’t understand why he was here. And why he was looking at her as if she meant nothing to him when once upon a time, he’d loved her like a sister. “Then why are you here?”

“I told him I wanted to be here to watch him make you suffer for her death.”

Thea took a wary step back.

Devon shook his head and pushed the door open wider. “I just wanted to be here to finish what she started.”

“Devon,” Thea whispered.

“End this, Thea, or he’ll never stop.” He lifted his hand and in it was a gun. It had a silencer on it. “I’ve taken care of the guards in this part of the castle. They’re gearing up to get out of here before your pack arrives to attempt rescue, so they’re distracted. I said I’d watch over you while they organize our departure. Instead, I’ll lead you to the great hall and then I’ll trick my father into coming to you. Alone.”

Sickness roiled in Thea’s gut.

This was it.

This was the moment.

“Are you sure you want to be a part of this, Devon? You don’t know how this will affect you.”

Rage flashed across his face. “My mother was murdered, and it’s his fault. His obsession led to this. Let’s go.”

There were two dead guards outside her room, bullet holes in their heads. Devon must have been quick with the gun. Thea glanced away, despair washing over her. What had Ashforth done to his family? Tortured his adoptive daughter, inadvertently murdered his wife, and turned his son into a cold-blooded killer. It was horrifyingly tragic.

They hurried down the narrow, dark, windowless hallway and when they reached a tight, turreted staircase at the end of the hall, Devon raised a finger to his lips. Thea sent out her shadow energy that cloaked them both in silence. Being human, Devon didn’t feel it, but neither of them could be heard as they slowly took the uneven spiral stairway down to the first floor.

To their left was an archway that led to what looked like the kitchens. Thankfully, they were empty. To the right they crept past two small rooms that served as pantries, stocked to the brim with food. The dark hall was empty as they moved silently along it, coming to a small set of stairs that went up, leveled out, and then went downstairs.

Devon stopped her where a light shone on their left from a doorway. A chill wind swept over her and he turned to mouth “Exit” as he pointed to the opening. Then he gestured ahead and mouthed, “Hall.”

Thea nodded, and they made to move off when voices from outside caused them to halt. It sounded like the two voices were getting nearer.

“I’ll be glad to be out of this place,” a deep male, American voice said.

“Yeah, me too. I’m sick of being this close to vamps.”

A snort. “Yeah, lucky bastards, get to sleep in the fucking wine cellar while we do all the grunt work.”

“Let’s just get Rick and Drew and get this bitch on the boat.”

Their footsteps came closer.

Thea gently pulled Devon toward her and then urged him behind her. He scowled but acquiesced as she pressed her back to the entrance wall and waited. Twin earthy scents hit her nostrils. They were werewolves.

As soon as the first booted foot appeared, Thea attacked. She grabbed the large wolves by the scruff of the neck and yanked them deeper into the castle hallway so no one outside would see. Before they could get their heads around what was happening, Thea smacked them together. They snarled, staggering apart, and she threw a punch at the bigger out of the two, hard enough to knock him on his ass.

Once he was down and dazed, Thea spun as the other swiped out, claws protracted. She ducked, narrowly missing a hit, balanced her hands on the cold castle floor and swung a leg out, catching his with enough force to put him on his ass too.

Thea whirled to her feet as the big guy recovered, fists guarding his face, ready to fight.

So she opted to hit him in the place he wasn’t protecting. His balls.

He dropped with a muffled yell; Thea cut him off with a quick twist of his neck and the sickening crack echoed around the entrance hall. She hoped he was the one who’d broken her neck earlier.

Tit for tat and all that.

A popping sound startled her, and Thea jerked around to find Devon pointing a gun at her.