Under the Blood Moon~ The Guild Leader Chronicles Book Two (COMPLETE)

Chapter Twenty

Under the Blood Moon

Twenty

Cauis

The flight across the Atlantic was long. Esmerelda should know better than to tell me not to come after her. She's putting her life in serious danger. If Achilles gets a chance, he will kill her, and I won't sit by and let her get herself killed. That was always his plan. To kill Esmerelda and I. Achilles had thought he was untouchable. That's why he raped Esmerelda. He thought he had time. He hadn't anticipated what I would do when he actually got his hands on her. After seeing what he did to Hope, I knew he would be worse with Esmerelda herself.

I fought with everything I had to get out of that cell. In the end, it paid off because I was able to get out and get Hope, but I was too late to save Esmerelda from such a cruel fate. My inability to save her will always be there in the back of my head, no matter how much she is able to recover. Just knowing that I failed her, even if she doesn't see it that way, will plague me for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I know that had Achilles not been with Esmerelda at the time, I wouldn't have been able to get out. Esmerelda had distracted him, but the price was a heavy one.

And now here I am, four days after Esmerelda left, standing in a hotel room trying to come up with a plan on how to find Esmerelda, Hope and Miles. I'm just grateful that Eric and Abigail were able to get out of Catanzaro safely. I sent Abigail home as soon as they called telling me they made it out undetected. Abigail is our weakest fighter, not that I plan on fighting Esmerelda or anything, but if Achilles somehow makes contact with us while we're so close to him, Abigail won't be of much use. Instead of Nikiya staying home with the kids, she's here with us now. As useful as Luke is during a fight against Achilles, I'm betting Nikiya is just as affective.

"Septimus," I begin looking over a map of our hometown. "I want you to search the hotels that are along the eastern side of the river. Eric, take the western side. Luke, Nikiya, when it gets dark I want you to go to this area right here," I indicate the location where Esmerelda's family home once sat. "As for me, I'm going here," I point to another location. "This is where Master Druses' house was."

"And you're sure she's here?" Septimus asks me looking down at the map.

I nod my head at him. "She's here." Esmerelda may have our link closed, but I know her. I know her habits, her way of thinking. Rome is just far enough away that she feels safe, yet not so close that Achilles will have people looking here for her.

"And what exactly are we supposed to do if we do find them?" Nikiya presses with her arms across her chest. "All three of them know we lied to them for the better part of a year."

"You do nothing except keep an eye on them until I get there." I order her in a hard tone. I look around the group. "I made the mistake of not telling the three of them Achilles was alive again. I knew it was a gamble, but I also hadn't expect Esmerelda to take off like this when she did find out. Keep in mind though that she's not running from you. She's going after Achilles. That's her priority. Not staying away from us."

Septimus shuffles uncomfortably on his feet and looks down at the floor. The entire plane ride over, he wouldn't say a word to anyone. To say this is hard on him is an understatement. Being present for his own son's second death, regardless of how he felt about him, was almost unbearable for him. And now Septimus has to live through it all over again.

"Oh, she's running from us." Luke states. "We lied to all of them, Cauis. And it wasn't a little white lie either."

I shake my head at him. "She's not running from you guys." I tell everyone, looking back down to the map. "If she's running from anyone here, she's running from me. It was my call to keep it from her."