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“That it needed to end. T-Tori’s dead,” I stammered. Seb’s eyes filled with tears, and he rested his forehead to mine.
Nat came running from behind Seb, and I was relieved to see Cory and Evie struggling to keep up behind her, along with Helios and the rest of the warriors, who spread out along the corridors at his order. They were alright and I felt a small weight lift from my shoulders. Nat fell down on her knees beside me, looking at the dagger in my stomach.
“Violet?” I asked when Celeste came into my field of vision. By the way her face was covered in blood except for the lines running down her face from the tears, I feared the worst.
“Alive,” she said, but the manner in which she said it didn’t help my anxiety.
“This is going to hurt,” Nat warned before she pulled the handmade dagger out of my stomach. I grunted in pain and held onto Seb’s hand. Blood gushed out of the wound, Nat’s hands covering it quickly, and warmth spread from where her hands touched me.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Cory,” I said, nodding at him while I let Nat’s healing powers knit my flesh back together. Cory looked a little worse for wear, but otherwise, he was in one piece and standing.
Nickolas gurgled a laugh from the side, making everyone turn to look at him.
“He’s not the one you should be worried about,” he coughed.
“Then who?” I asked.
“Roses wither when you don’t water the earth they’re planted in. The earth will harden and choke out life.” Nickolas gurgled out.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Seb asked, but Nickolas only laughed a bit more before we heard his death rattle. His chest stopped moving, and the light in his eyes left.
Kassie came forward and checked his pulse.
“He’s dead,” Kassie answered and I took notice of how saturated in blood she was. She and Celeste.
“Has everything been cleared?” I asked, standing once Nat had finished her miracle work.
“Just the rest of this hall to clear,” Seb answered.
“Most of the suites were empty for the last bit, but Nickolas had to come from somewhere,” I said, pushing forward.
“Maybe take a break, Theo. We can finish up,” Helios suggested.
“I’m fine, Helios, but you should take Nat up and make sure she rests.”
“I’m fine, Theo,” Nat said stubbornly.
“There were a lot of people in the rooms,” I mentioned.
“They’re being escorted to the top floor. Markus called a few buses to take them to Guardian Moon so we can help find their family. Valeria is checking them over. If any need me, she’ll call me,” she answered.
“Is it wise to bring humans along?” I asked, opening one of the remaining doors and seeing the room empty.
“We don’t have a choice. Some will need to be healed, and they all need to be sedated. They’ve seen us fighting, porting, fire, claws. We’ll have to have Adrien and Kassie compel them before we can let them go,” Helios answered.
I walked over to where the body of Nickolas lay. I wanted to feel grief or love for the man I thought he was, but I felt nothing but rage and disgust. I turned my eyes to Celeste.
“Burn him, Celeste. Don’t give him any chance to come back. We don’t know what kind of black magic he’s been using.”
I walked up to the large door I’d seen Nickolas closing behind him when she nodded, asking Jo and James to drag his body into one of the rooms so we didn’t smell the burning flesh. I tried to push inward, but the door was locked. I pulled, instead, but the door still didn’t give. I went to the pad, which looked different from the rest wondering how we would open it.
“I thought Evergreen unlocked everything?” Seb asked, coming up and trying it too.
“I haven’t come across a locked door until this one,” Kassie said, coming and trying to force the door down.
“Let me see,” Evie left Cory leaning against James, and looked over the lock. She inspected the pad and shook her head. “I don’t think it’s connected with the rest. I’ll need a tablet to bypass the lock.”
“Your dad’s on his way down,” Helios responded, looking at the door with speculative and wary eyes.
