More lanterns blazed to life in the houses surrounding them and residents spilled into the street to see what was going on. The growing voices rang off the buildings until they echoed all around her. Even the animals were roused as a pair of spooked chickens ran across the road before them.
Melinda kept her chin raised and displayed an air of calm she didn’t feel as they hurried up the hill toward the front door of the palace. Before Ashby could grab the handle, the door swung open and the vampire within stepped aside to give them entrance.
“Is Gideon in his rooms?” Ashby demanded.
“Why, yes… milord,” the guard stammered out, his eyes raking over their torn and bloodied clothes. “I believe he is sleeping, but I’ll wake him for you if you would like?”
“No, I will get him.”
Ashby kept his hold on her elbow as they strode across the glistening marble floor and beneath the chandelier to the stairs at the far end of the hall. They ascended to the second floor, where the remaining members of The Council still living in the palace resided. Gideon’s rooms were at the end of the hall, the largest and most lavish of all the rooms in this section. Ashby knocked loudly on the door, but he didn’t wait for a response before opening it.
“Gideon!” he called into the dark sitting room they entered. “Gideon! Get up!”
A woman’s startled cry came from the adjoining bedroom and curses sounded as feet hit the floor.
“Get out!” Gideon barked from the other room and a young vampire scurried out from the bedroom with her clothes still in hand. Melinda lifted an eyebrow at the unfamiliar girl, but Gideon wasn’t known for his lasting relationships.
“What is the meaning of this, Ash?” Gideon demanded as he strode into the sitting room, tying the belt on his red robe as he walked.
Ashby stiffened at the much hated nickname; the two men glowered at each other. Before they could really start going at each other, Melinda stepped forward to end any further bickering between them. Gideon’s hazel eyes narrowed on her over the bridge of his hawkish nose. His straight brown hair was tussled around his face.
“We have a problem, Giddy,” Ashby said and Gideon’s eyes shot toward him. Ashby smirked in return.
“Enough!” Melinda snapped. “Now is not the time.”
Gideon’s eyes came back to her. “What is going on?”
Melinda walked back to close and lock the door of Gideon’s apartment. “Is there anyone else in here?” she asked, well aware there could be a few more women lingering about.
Gideon frowned at her. “No, we are alone now.”
She glanced at Ashby who took hold of her hand for support. “Braith is dead,” she said bluntly, but she had no idea how she could sugarcoat the news.
The color drained from Gideon’s face. He took a startled step back, his knees connecting with the sofa behind him. He sank onto it before rising again. “You’re joking!” he blurted.
“I’m not. We were ambushed. He saved the rest of us, but was shot through the heart with an arrow. He’s dead, Gideon.”
“Ambushed by who?” Gideon demanded.
“We believe it was Sabine, Atticus’s mother,” she replied.
“She’s dead.”
“And so was Atticus, but he came back.”
Gideon blinked at them before spinning away. He stalked over to the sideboard and the cluster of liquors set up on top of it. He poured himself a generous glass of whiskey before turning to face them again. With a trembling hand, he lifted the glass to his lips and drank it all in one gulp. He ran the back of his hand across his mouth before staring at the empty glass as if it had somehow betrayed him.
“Where is Braith’s body? If they came back, he could too,” Gideon finally said.
“Safe, hidden with Jack,” Ashby replied.
Gideon lowered the glass and poured himself another drink. “Where is Aria?”
“Aria, William, and his bloodlink, Tempest, led our attackers away from where Braith is hidden,” Melinda said. “He died shortly after they left us.”
“Shit,” Gideon muttered.
“There’s more,” Melinda said and proceeded to fill him in on everything that had happened with Tempest and William, the new residents they now had within the palace walls, and the ones who would soon be joining them from the outer town, if all went well. “If it really is Sabine, and we all believe or want to believe Aria is right about her, she’s most likely going to come here.”
“Most likely,” Gideon agreed.
“She looks like Atticus,” Ashby said, and Gideon lifted his eyes from his whiskey glass to Ashby. “And the amount of power coming off of her, it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
“Nothing like either of us have ever experienced,” Melinda replied.