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The answer came in the form of a deep reverberation, the drums thundering with renewed vigour just outside the temple. Alastor's jaw set hard. "Because we've got bigger problems right now."
I couldn't help but agree. "We need to go see what it is."
"Must be more hellions," Carlisle muttered, eyeing the doorway warily.
"Wouldn't bet on it." I shook my head, tuning into my other senses. "Alastor and I would smell their stink from here. And that," I gestured toward the unseen source of the sound, "doesn't sound like any hellion I've ever heard."
"Then what?" Ash asked.
"Let's find out," Alastor said, already moving towards the entrance.
I caught up with him. “Should we strip first? Without the extra packs, I’m low on spare clothes, and I don’t fancy doing the trek back in my birthday suit.”
Alastor shook his head. “Let’s see what it is first. We can always pull back in here and barricade the doors to the column room.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “I’ll…”
My voice trailed off as the drumming stopped abruptly and silence fell, more chilling than the ominous beats that had filled it before. I exchanged a quick glance with Alastor who seemed just as startled.
"That’s not good," I muttered, my voice sounding too loud in the sudden stillness.
"Back to the entrance," Alastor commanded, his tone brooking no argument.
We moved steadily, but not rushing. With the doors busted open, there was no defence between us and whatever was outside, and we weren’t about to rush headlong into the unknown.
Sariel was quiet, her face set with determination. I reached out, threading my fingers through hers, suddenly needing to feel her touch, even if only for a minute. It felt way too long since I’d felt it. She looked up at me, eyes dark shadows in the dim light, face pale and framed by her dark hair, escaping the tight bun again. God, I wanted to pull those pins out and see what she’d look like with those black satin lengths drifting around her shoulders. She was all warrior, but the mate in me wanted to see the woman underneath.
"Hey," I said softly. She squeezed my fingers.
“Hey….” She trailed off, her eyes moving past me, and I turned, still holding her hand to see what she was looking at.
"Look," she whispered, her voice barely carrying over the sound of our breathing.
My eyes followed hers, and for a moment, all I could do was stare. We had reached the point that we could see straight out into the relative brightness of the fire lit city, and the cause of the drumming sound became clear. A chill ran down my spine as I saw that what waited for us outside the temple entrance wasn't what any of us were expecting. Not by a long shot.
Chapter Twenty-Six
SARIEL
Iedged toward the temple entrance, my heart hammering a rapid tattoo against my ribs as I moved up next to Alastor and Theo. Carlisle and Ash followed close behind. The guys hadn’t been able to tell what the sound had been, but I had known. I had recognised it. Centuries upon centuries of drilling, training and commanding meticulously obedient troops. Yes, I knew that sound. The sound of hundreds of feet marching impeccably in time with each other, like a steady drumbeat calling them on to war.
"Where the fuck did they come from?" Theo's voice, usually laced with humour, now held a raw edge of shock.
Alastor’s voice was flat. "The city," he said flatly, his gaze locked onto the silent army before us. "We walked right past them."
The garden lay before us, once an empty eerie sanctuary, now a parade ground. The statues stood still as gravestones; their numbers now swelled into the hundreds. Each one was a silent sentinel, their clay eyes fixed unnervingly upon our little band of intruders.
"Christ," Carlisle muttered under his breath. “Now what?”
"Any idea how we missed an entire legion of clay ninjas on our way in?" Theo asked.
Ash was staring at the army, his gaze curious rather than showing any sign of shock or fear. "They must have been dormant," he finally said. "Only activated by our intrusion."
"No shit Sherlock," Theo muttered under his breath.
Alastor turned and looked at me. “The circle you crossed inside the temple. That must have set off some kind of alarm that activated them.”
"But they're just statues," Theo insisted. “I’ve never heard of a supernatural booby trap that activates statues.”
