322- An Instinct for Ruin
POV Seraphine Valerian:
“Come on! We can hear better from here!”
Adelina was climbing the tight spiral staircase of one of the castle’s towers, running so fast it was impossible to keep up. I followed as best I could, crying and nearly having a heart attack. There must have been over three hundred steps to the top.
What drove me was fear for my friends. I was weak, nervous. But I gave it my all. On the last few flights, she came back and helped me.
“You can’t see the gates from down there. But the sound carries, and my hearing is sharp. There are cameras everywhere, but only my father has access to them. We’re here!”
The tower was circular, three hundred and sixty degrees, with openings that let in a strong wind. A guard up there watched us but said nothing. We ran to one of the openings, and she pointed her index finger toward a cluster of trees beyond a road.
“It’s there, past the woods.” I leaned against the stone, dizzy, struggling to breathe. She went still. “Everything’s quiet.”
“Is he… is he really going to kill everyone?”
“Only if your people attack. My father is brutal, but he’s not a coward.”
I didn’t believe her, not after the orders I’d heard, the way he’d ignored my pleas. I started to pray softly.
“I still don’t understand what’s happening.” She turned to me. “Did he fall in love with you? Or is there something more?”
“We only saw each other yesterday! I don’t understand either.” I struggled against the tears. “He said he didn’t even know my name, it was Konrad who told him.”
“Alpha Konrad?”
“Is he really a wolf?”
“Yes.” She pointed to the left. “Just past the forest, down that slope. It’s the territory closest to ours. How do you know him?”
“I thought he was human and… my friend. Maybe even a future boyfriend. I don’t know anything anymore!” The agony was consuming me alive. “Is he a friend of your father’s?”
“I don’t know him, I’ve never seen him in person. I just hear the staff talk. But my father isn’t friends with them.”
With each moment, things became crazier and more confusing. I couldn’t even think straight, because the girl raised her hand, alert. A ferocious growl reached us, and I shuddered, my legs nearly giving out. It got worse when gunshots followed. Her expression was one of regret.
“My father transformed, others too.”
Shouts.
“Oh, God…”
I started to cry, imagining the slaughter. My father’s spirit would never forgive me. When I came back, I hadn’t signed just my own death sentence, but my people’s as well. Innocents being decimated by a demon.
“Calm down. Maybe it was just to scare them. Look, it’s all quiet now. It was too fast for much damage.”
“But the gunshots…”
Adelina came closer and stroked my back. I was afraid of her, too. She was a wolf; I barely knew her. The guard nearby kept us in his sights. No one was trustworthy, and this was a prison. But I didn’t back away, weakened, needing support.
She lifted her head, sniffing the air. Worried. My terror grew.
“What is it?”
“The smell of wolves.”
“But…”
More growls, the sound reaching us muffled, but losing none of its violent threat. Too real to be imaginary. I closed my eyes, praying.
They were butchering everyone. Maybe eating them alive.
I imagined Camélia and the other Romani women crying in the village when they learned of the losses. My fault.
I slid to the ground, unable to contain my despair. Leaning against the wall, I buried my face in my hands and cried without stopping. Adelina stood still, focused on what she could hear far better than I.
Long, drawn-out minutes passed until she murmured:
“It’s over.”
“All dead?”
“It sounded like a wolf fight. I don’t understand. Come, Seraphine. Let’s try to find out.”
She helped me up, pity in her eyes. She steadied me against the steps, because I was trembling and the tears blurred my vision.
I wanted to be a wolf too, so I could sink my claws into Viktor and rip his heart out. Hatred joined the panic, the terrifying sadness.
If I could, I would kill him!