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Then reappeared beside Duke Ravenshade. Solok bent the male’s body double as he broke his spine in half, the loud crack jolting the already terrified crowd into complete hysteria. Chaos reigned as people shoved and screamed, everyone racing for the doors, only to be taken down by slashing fangs and claws.
I fought my way through the melee to Ember and we shoved through the mob until our backs were flat against the wall. Chest heaving, we watched the Fae slaughter the Descendants like cattle.
These Fae…they were nothing like the Descendants. They were feral animals slaking their hunger with not a shred of mercy.
And Solok was right.
The Descendant’s power didn’t save a single one of them. Even the most powerful burst of their magic slid off the attacking Fae like water, whose magic was…
I didn’t have words to describe their power.
The entire room thrummed with raw, throbbing magic. I swallowed their power whole; energy filling me up like a supernova. I swayed toward the grisly chaos, completely lost before Ember dragged me away.
“We have to get out.” Em breathed; her eyes wide. “Now. While they’ve forgotten about us.”
She was right. I’d lost sight of Solok, and every soldier was…eating. My stomach heaved like a bellows while we worked our way along the wall until we came to the doors to the back hallway.
We raced for the kitchens—anywhere but the ballroom—anywhere there wasn’t blood and that sickening sound of rending flesh. I’d hear those screams for the rest of my life, would never be able to forget them.
We’d almost reached the kitchen when the Mistress stepped into our path.
8
ANARIA
“Where do you think you’re going?” The Mistress snarled, bared teeth every bit as sharp as Solok’s. “Things are just getting so…interesting.”
Death raged behind us, but freedom beckoned just beyond those open doors. I dodged around her, but she was too fast. She caught me, while I watched Ember dart through the opening.
Go.I mouthed to her.Run.
My stomach turned into a dark pit when Ember shook her head and slowly walked back. If we did not leave this castle right now, we would…well, I didn’t know what would happen, but it would be bad. Bad enough for me to shed years of obedience and kick the Mistress in the shin, my broken toes screaming.
“Let us go.” I worked my fingers beneath her hand and pried it off my arm. “If you want to die here, then fine. We’re getting out.”
“Die?” The Mistress laughed. “I’m being liberated. I get to leave this cesspool and go home.” Her nails grew long as knives, before she slashed her hand across my face. I screamed as blood spurted from my nose.
“What are you talking about?” Tears blinded me as I backed down the hall, getting further and further away from Ember. “Do you even know what’s happening in there?’ My voice shook, panic banding my chest so tightly I could barely draw breath.
“I know exactly what this is.” The Mistress stalked me like a feral Howler. “I have been stuck here for two decades, babysittingyou. Trying to break you. And what did I get for my loyalty?Nothing.”
I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know what to do. Behind her the screaming rose to a fever pitch, and then someone broke free of the melee, a Descendant in a shredded red dress, her eyes wild with fear, hair a tangled mess around her bone-white face.
Evangeline Ravenshade stared straight at me, her mouth open in a soundless scream, blood streaking down her side. She ricocheted off a wall before hurtling straight into the Mistress, sending her sprawling.
I didn’t look back.
I burst toward the door, shoved Ember through, and we didn’t stop until we passed the now-empty gardens, the faelights gleaming merrily over piles of glistening corpses.
I doubled over, hands on my knees, sucking in breath after breath of damp air.
“We have to get to the barracks.” Ember whispered. “Find you some clothes.” Her eyes traced my nude body, a blush staining her cheeks. “We can take anything we need, because…”
She didn’t need to say the rest.
Everyone else was dead.
“You have to run.” I panted as we jogged toward the building. “Head to Lord Whitehall’s estate, it’s only four miles. Tell them Solok came here and exacted the tithe. Tell them…” I sucked in another unsteady breath, ordering my thoughts enough to formulate a plan to save my friend.
