Page 135 of Tainted Souls
I’m left alone in the corridor, hiding behind a pillar, the sounds of fighting echoing from every direction.
The mansion has become a slaughterhouse. Bodies litter the floors, furniture lies in splinters, and the walls themselves seem to weep with vitae. Through the chaos, I spot Saul helping Irene to her feet, looking dazed but grateful.
“This way!” Ace’s voice cuts through the din as he clears the end of the corridor, gesturing urgently. “Everyone to the vault!”
The Ravens begin to converge, fiercely fighting their way toward their leader’s position. Once grouped, we descend a narrow staircase, the sounds of pursuit thundering behind us. At the bottom, a massive iron door looms over the entry like a silent guardian, its surface etched with symbols that seem to pulse with a faint purple light.
“Get inside,” Ace commands, positioning himself behind us to hold off the approaching vampires.
Kale rushes to place his palm against the lock, its symbols glowing an electric blue. The door groans open, revealing a cavernous chamber beyond. The Ravens hurry inside, dragging wounded comrades with them. I hesitate at the threshold, turning back to see Saul still fighting alongside Ace, buying time for the others to escape.
“Saul!” I call out, my voice tight with panic.
My brother glances back, nodding for me to go ahead. “I’m right behind you!”
I step through reluctantly, joining the others in the vault. Ace backs toward the door, still facing the oncoming horde.
“Now, Saul!” he shouts.
Saul turns to follow, but as he reaches the threshold, one vampire lunges from the shadows, wrapping powerful arms around his torso. Before anyone can react, three more appear, seizing Saul’s limbs as he struggles violently. With horrifying speed, they drag him back into the darkness of the corridor.
“Saul!” I scream, lunging through the doorway, but Ace catches me by the waist, hauling me back with a growl of frustration.
“Get him!” Irene cries, vitae still streaming from a deep gash on her forehead.
Ace shoves me back into the room, his eyes locked on the direction in which the vampires vanished. Before he can pursue,a fresh wave of vampires surges from the shadows, cutting him off.
He turns back and dives through the doorway just as Kale slams his palm against the lock inside, sealing the vault shut behind them with a deafening boom.
“No!” I pound my fists against the adamantine metal. “We have to go after him! Open the door!”
“We can’t,” Ace snaps. “Not anymore.” He strides to the center of the vault, where a table stands covered in maps and diagrams. “They’ve got us cornered.”
I swallow hard, the guilt rising like bile. Was I the delay?
“I don’t care.” I spin to face him, fear and fury clouding my mind. “That’s my brother out there!”
“And he’s my second.” Ace’s eyes flash dangerously. “Do you think I want to leave him? That any of us do?” He gestures to the assembled Ravens, their faces drawn with the same anguish I feel. “If we open that door now, some of us could die. And Saul’s sacrifice would be in vain.”
I advance on Ace with clenched fists. “So we just abandon him? Let Cain take him like he took my mother?!”
He places a firm hand on my shoulder to hold me back. “We assess our losses, tend to our wounded, and form a plan.” His gaze sweeps the room, commanding attention. “No one goes after Saul alone. No one breaks rank. We move together, or not at all.”
“He’s right,” Irene says, stepping forward despite her injuries. “The Veltri will be expecting us to rush after Saul. They’ll have traps set and ambushes ready.”
I want to scream, to rage against their logic, but the rational part of me knows they are right. Charging blindly after Saul would only get us killed or captured. And if we’re captured, who will be left to save him?
I direct my fists into the edge of the table, trembling with rage I can’t aim anywhere useful.
“What if we wait too long? What if there’ll be nothing left to save?” I choke out the words, tears streaming down my face.
“You forget it’syouthey want,” Ace says, his expression hardening. “Cain isn’t just playing a game. He is orchestrating a message, counting on you to attempt to rescue everyone you love.” He fixes me with an unrelenting look. “So, don’t. You do exactly what he’s not expecting. You stay alive. You stay smart. And when we strike, we don’t miss.”
Irene places a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not the only one who cares about him, Seraph. We’ll get him back, but we have to be smart about it.”
I sniff away the last of my tears when a realization hits me. “If they took down the mansion’s barriers, what’s stopping them from getting in here?”
Ace doesn’t look at me when he speaks, his eyes busy scanning the papers in front of him. “This vault operates on different principles than the outer defenses. It’s older, deeper magic. It’ll take time for them to figure it out.”
