Chapter 92
Elizabeth
Damon didn’t let go of my hand.
Not once.
Not as we rushed up the stone staircase.
Not as we crossed the underground corridor.
Not even when we reached the hidden door leading back into the mansion.
His grip remained firm.
Focused.
Purposeful.
Like he’d already decided I wasn’t leaving his sight.
Not that I was complaining.
Okay.
Maybe I was a little.
Mostly because every time I remembered he was holding my hand, my heart started behaving strangely.
Which was incredibly inconvenient during a possible supernatural emergency.
The moment we stepped into the hallway, Damon stopped.
So suddenly I nearly walked straight into him.
Again.
At this point I was beginning to think embarrassing myself around him was becoming a personality trait.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
The kind of silence that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
Listening.
Somewhere in the distance—
A door slammed.
The sound echoed through the house.
My pulse jumped.
“There,” I whispered.
“I heard it.”
Of course he did.
He probably heard it before it happened.
Damon released my hand.
The sudden absence of warmth felt surprisingly noticeable.
I immediately hated that I noticed.
“Stay here.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
His gaze shifted toward me.
“No?”
“No.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Elizabeth.”
“I’m not standing alone in a creepy hallway while mysterious things run around the mansion.”
A pause.
Then—
“Fair.”
I blinked.
That had worked?
Apparently.
Because Damon started moving again.
This time I followed.
The mansion felt different.
Wrong.
As though something unseen had passed through it.
Every shadow seemed darker.
Every corner more threatening.
We reached the main staircase.
Nothing.
The dining room.
Nothing.
The library.
Still nothing.
The room looked exactly as we’d left it.
Books lined the shelves.
The massive desk sat untouched.
No creatures.
No monsters.
No evil versions of me.
Thank God.
I was getting tired of evil versions of me.
Then a voice spoke from behind us.
“Well, that’s dramatic.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Lucien stood in the doorway holding a glass of whiskey.
Looking entirely too relaxed.
My hand flew to my chest.
“Oh my God.”
Lucien grinned.
“Always lovely to see you too.”
Damon looked annoyed.
Which honestly seemed to be his default expression whenever Lucien existed.
“What was the crash?” Damon asked.
Lucien took a sip from his glass.
“A vase.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“A vase.”
“Very expensive vase.”
I continued staring.
Lucien sighed dramatically.
“What?”
“We thought something attacked the mansion.”
“It did.”
I froze.
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
Lucien pointed toward the entrance hall.
“The vase.”
For one brief second nobody spoke.
Then Damon looked like he was considering homicide.
Lucien immediately raised both hands.
“In my defense, I thought it was a creature too.”
“You shattered a vase.”
“It startled me.”
“It startled you?”
“It appeared unexpectedly.”
My eyes widened.
“The vase appeared unexpectedly?”
Lucien looked offended.
“When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”
“It is ridiculous.”
A familiar laugh echoed through the hallway.
Tristan appeared.
Shaking his head.
“He’s been arguing with the staff for twenty minutes.”
“It was a valuable vase.”
“You broke it.”
“It attacked my emotional well-being.”
I looked at Damon.
Damon looked at me.
For one brief second—
Neither of us could stop ourselves.
I laughed.
A real laugh.
The tension from the underground chamber eased slightly.
Not completely.
But enough.
Lucien pointed dramatically.
“See? Elizabeth understands me.”
“She absolutely does not.”
“Rude.”
Before Lucien could continue his assault on common sense, another voice entered the conversation.
“Damon.”
The amusement vanished instantly.
Adam.
He stood at the top of the staircase.
Perfectly composed as always.
Unlike his brothers.
Adam looked between us.
Then frowned.
“What happened?”
The question immediately sobered the room.
Damon’s expression hardened.
“The vault reacted.”
That got everyone’s attention.
Lucien lowered his glass.
Tristan straightened.
Adam descended the stairs.
Slowly.
Purposefully.
“The vault?”
Damon nodded once.
“The trigger seal activated.”
Silence.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Even Lucien stopped joking.
Which was honestly alarming.
Adam’s gaze shifted toward me.
“What did it do?”
I swallowed.
“It showed me something.”
“What?”
I hesitated.
The memory still felt strange.
Uncomfortable.
Like a puzzle with missing pieces.
“There were figures.”
The room grew quiet.
“They said I wasn’t supposed to awaken yet.”
Nobody spoke.
I continued.
“And they said I opened the mark.”
Adam and Damon exchanged a look.
A brief look.
But I caught it.
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
Neither answered.
Wonderful.
Again.
I folded my arms.
“You all keep doing that.”
Adam blinked.
“Doing what?”
“Looking at each other like you’re having an entire conversation without including me.”
Lucien nodded.
“To be fair, they do that.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Adam ignored both of us.
His expression remained thoughtful.
“The mark was dormant.”
My pulse quickened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Adam said carefully, “something changed.”
Not helpful.
At all.
Before I could argue, a soft chime echoed through the mansion.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from nowhere.
And everywhere.
Beautiful.
Ancient.
Wrong.
The air pressure shifted.
My hand burned.
Again.
I gasped softly.
The symbol beneath my skin glowed faintly.
Golden light.
The same light from the tablet.
Damon noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
His attention snapped toward me.
“Elizabeth.”
“I know.”
The burning intensified.
Not painful.
Just warm.
Almost…
Calling.
My stomach dropped.
Because suddenly I knew something.
Not how.
Not why.
I just knew.
The certainty arrived without warning.
Like a memory surfacing from deep water.
The Temple of Thorns.
The name appeared in my mind.
Clear as day.
My breath caught.
The room blurred for half a second.
Then steadied.
Adam was still talking.
Lucien was still holding his drink.
Everything looked normal.
Except my heart was racing.
“Elizabeth?”
Damon’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him.
Then at everyone else.
And slowly realized they were all staring at me.
“What?”
The burning mark pulsed once.
Bright.
Strong.
Certain.
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
“The Temple of Thorns.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Adam went still.
Tristan frowned.
Lucien lowered his glass.
Damon’s expression darkened immediately.
“How do you know that name?”
I swallowed.
Because honestly?
I had no idea.
And somehow that answer terrified me more than the question.
Then somewhere deep beneath the mansion—
Something knocked.
Once.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Like it knew I had finally heard it.