Quill of Thieves

Chapter 23

It was difficult to rationalize the sharp tang of panic that tore through Sebastian when a handful of the Queen's guards separated him from Astrid. His final look of her as Melvin and four others closed ranks on him had been of her scowl; fierce eyes glazing, her hold on his abdomen somehow unrelenting even though her fingers were no longer there. Splashes of blood had decorated her face like silver-kissed freckles.

Because whatever she had killed hadn't been human. The blood had sprayed silver from her mutilated wounds, body lay limp, limbs bent at impossible angles, a ragged rip tearing her torso in two. And yet, being marched from the chaos and the princess responsible for the destruction had sent his every nerve on edge.

"Where's Astrid?"

The hallways of the fortress remained eerily empty as Melvin led him towards the rooms designated to him.

Melvin tightened his grip on Sebastian's elbow. It startled Sebastian's frayed nerves, and Melvin grimaced. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," he said, loosening his fingers. "The threats have been dealt with, it seems."

Threats? "There was more than one?" Well that wasn't at all reassuring. Perhaps he should have stayed with the girl who had the sword. "Where's Astrid?" he asked again.

"The interrogation cells, I imagine."

Sebastian's toe caught on the lip of a rug. "But she was protecting herself! Protecting us."

Melvin's jaw ticked. "She isn't the one under questioning."

Oh.

Sometimes, he was a real idiot. "If she isn't being interrogated, then she must be the one interrogating someone, but the intruder is dead. Astrid killed her."

They reached the double doors to his room. Melvin held him back, motioning the other four guards to enter first. They spread out in practiced formation, and Sebastian imagined them examining windows, looking behind doors, under the bed. For monsters that shouldn't exist.

It wasn't until their accompanying guards dispersed into the room that Melvin whispered, "There was more than one. Captain Soiree caught it."

"It?" Sebastian's fear doubled the pounding behind his eyes. "What was it?"

Melvin glanced at him. The visor of his helmet had remained up throughout their journey through the fortress, and his light eyes were somber. "I-I'm not entirely sure."

Sebastian held his breath.

"But that woman—the intruder—she wasn't human," Melvin continued. "Her blood..." His hand that held Sebastian shook. "Whatever the two of you did that night unleashed horrors that should have stayed forgotten, memories that perhaps Rainier would have been fine without. And for those of us born after the Purge, we know nothing of such demons, and how do we fight what we don't understand?"

Sebastian clenched, grinding his teeth. His ma had told him stories of demons growing up. The Abyss. The land of the undead. A place where darkness reigned and the sun never touched. But they were stories, nothing more than tall tales to scare children into behaving.

But his ma had also spun tales of the elements, and Sebastian was learning those were very much real.

Sebastian flexed his fingers as the guards returned from his room.

One of them alerted Melvin with a stiff salute. "All clear."

Melvin released Sebastian's arm but pushed him into the now vacated room. "We'll remain out here but keep the windows locked and eyes open."

The snap of the shutting door caused Sebastian to flinch. It had been the same sound the intruder's shoulder had made when Astrid had kicked it. With a strangled sigh, Sebastian collapsed against the door as if that would keep everyone else out. He ran a hand through his unruly hair, dropping to his knees, but he didn't dare close his eyes. He knew what he'd see when he did.