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Istepped off the stairs and into a circle of hell.
Stellan staggered between me and Aurora, his arm clutched over the bleeding wound in his side and a bloody knife gripped in his other hand. He looked resolute and dangerous in the second before he recognized me.
Seven bodies littered the floor. Blood was everywhere, splattered on the walls and in puddles underfoot. My heart froze. Aurora…
And then I saw her among the chaos, kneeling, trying frantically to revive the seventh body.
Cain bulled past me. He’d been trying to get down here first, but I’d slipped past him.
“Aurora,” he snapped, sounding furious.
The next moment, he pulled her up from the floor and wrapped her in his arms. “Are you all right?”
He sounded nothing but pissed. This was probably the closest Cain could come to caring. It was cute, really.
“We’ve got to help her,” she said desperately.
Cain leaned down over the body and pressed his fingers to her throat. “She’s already gone.”
“No,” Aurora managed, looking heartbroken. “They were going to make her into another victim like all my father’s… I wanted to save her… to save someone for once…”
“Aurora,” Stellan reached for her, but I grabbed his shoulder and reeled him back.
“I think you’re in trouble,” I said mildly. “And I’m not sure if she wants you to touch her.”
Stellan tried to shake me off, but he’d clearly lost a lot of blood.
“It’s a good thing she’s dead,” Cain told Aurora harshly. “You don’t need to be tied to this mess. We’ll get it cleaned up and you can walk away like nothing ever happened.”
Aurora stared at him. “You’re a…”
“Psychopath who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but you? And…” Cain cast a quick glance around at the rest of us. “Maybe them. Maybe.”
“I know you love me, Cain. Your act doesn’t convince me,” I teased. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around Aurora and carry her out of this mess. Her eyes were still wide and she was soaked with blood. Anger tightened my stomach at the thought any of it could be hers.
“You’ve been stabbed,” Pax said to Stellan. “Are you alright? You dying?”
Stellan shook his head. “No, not dying. I’ll be fine.”
“Glad to hear it,” Pax said pleasantly, then punched Stellan across the face.
Stellan flew back, and it was only because I already had my hand on his shoulder that I was able to break his fall. I slowed his plummet toward the ground before he hit the cement on his shoulders.
Stellan lay there and groaned.
“Jesus Christ, Pax, not pulling your punches today, are you?” I asked.
Pax stood over Stellan, looking furious. “What the fuck did you do to Aurora?”
“This reckoning can wait until later,” I interrupted. God, these bastards needed me. “I need to call a clean-up crew in and…are we killing Stellan?”
My voice sounded conversational. Stellan sat up on the floor, groaning, and put his hand to his jaw. His face paled slightly at the threat.
“No,” Aurora exclaimed, sounding exasperated. “Stop it. No more hitting him.”
“I don’t need to hit him to kill him,” Cain said. “I can be creative.”
“No!” Aurora shook her finger in his face as if he were a naughty puppy. “No hurting Stellan.”
