Ryker
The door swung open to reveal the empty library. The bodies of the guards that Samael killed and the rows of books were the only things within the room.
We made our way around the shelves as the battle continued outside. The thick walls muffled the screams and thuds of bodies hitting the palace, but they were still loud enough to be heard.
Through one of the windows, the glow of a fire illuminated the inky black sky and the tornadoes swirling across the field. It looked like the end of times out there, and in a way, it was. One way or another, either the duke or our fight would come to an end tonight.
From the first floor, the shouts of the soldiers running down the hall penetrated the thick, closed library doors. Mixed with those shouts were the screams of the servants; I couldn’t know what was happening there, but it didn’t sound good.
“The duke must have ordered them to round up the servants,” Samael said.
“Why?” Ellery inquired.
“Because he’s afraid they’ll turn on him like we turned on the earl at the ball,” Luna said. “If he knew we’ve already killed the other aristocrats, he would have ordered their deaths.”
“What’s he going to do with them?” Scarlet asked.
“I don’t know,” Samael answered. “He could have ordered them placed in the dungeon, locked them up somewhere, or killed them.”
Ellery and Scarlet inhaled sharply at his last two words, but Luna and Callan didn’t look astonished. I wasn’t shocked either. It was the most likely scenario.
The duke wouldn’t take the chance of having the servants turn on him during this battle. He couldn’t have what might turn into enemies within the palace while more enemies tried to take him down from outside.
In his head, he would survive this and find new servants. Until then, he’d have the guards wait on him.
“We have to do something to stop that from happening,” Ellery said.
“You already are doing something. What more would you like to do? Expose yourself? Run out there and play hero? You’ll never save them all, and you’ll ruin any chance we have of getting to the duke if you reveal you’re already inside the palace and that Ryker is free,” Samael said. “Plus, what would you do with the servants if you could save them? You can’t trust them. The duke will probably try to kill them, but they might see you as their way of saving themselves.”
Ellery glowered at him, but though she didn’t like his words, they were true. Her mouth flattened into a thin line as she glanced toward the closed doors.
She winced every time a scream pierced the doors and reverberated throughout the library. This would become one more thing to haunt her nightmares.
When I took her hand, she tore her attention away from the doors. “We can only do so much.”
“I know,” she murmured, but her eyes were haunted when they met mine. “It never feels like enough.”
“It has to be enough. Think of all those we’ll set free by destroying Veni.”
She closed her eyes, and her hand tightened around mine before she released it. Without another word, we followed Samael across the library to the hidden passage.
We were almost to it when a loud bang behind us spun me around as the others jumped. Shouts resonated within the room, but this time, the closed doors didn’t muffle them.
I didn’t have to see the entrance to know the doors had flung open and the duke’s soldiers were flooding the room.
“Search everywhere for them,” someone commanded.
“Do you think they’re looking for more servants or us?” Scarlet whispered.
“Does it matter?” Samael asked.
No, it didn’t, and Scarlet must have agreed, as she didn’t respond. Ellery took a step toward the banisters lining the second-floor balcony, but I grasped her arm, holding her in place.
She glanced at me and lifted her hand to reveal the lightning dancing between her fingers.
I understood her intentions but shook my head. “This might just be for the servants. We can’t let them know we’re here if it is.”
Ellery hesitated; she wanted to destroy these men and women unleashing such cruelty on the realm, but eventually she relaxed beneath my hand.
