“Tristan,” I call out, leaning forward. “Cass said you’re a kind of shifter, but I never saw you shifting into anything. Do you have another form?”
A couple of beats of solid silence pass. “Maybe?” he answers. “I don’t look all that different, just... tougher. I guess. My body becomes more like rock than flesh.”
“That sounds...” Apollo starts.
“Strong,” Ren finishes his sentence, and I can hear the smile on his face. “That’s our chance, Tristan. You shift, and I’m pretty sure you can break these cell doors open no problem.”
Tristan seems to think this over. “I don’t know how well I can control it, but it might be our only chance to do what Cass asked.” The sound of metal creaking makes me wince, like nails on a blackboard. It stops, and Tristan releases a disappointed huff. “It didn’t work,” he says.
“Breathe, Tristan,” Ren instructs. “Close your eyes. Let the creature inside you take over.”
“I don’t want him to take over,” says Tristan, an edge of doubt in his voice.
Apollo shuffles, then gets to his feet. “This creature is not something else, Tristan. It’s you. It’s just another part of you. Let him come out. He also wants to avenge Cassandra. I know it.”
Another beat passes, and the sound of ripping flesh hits me, then the metal again. This time, it happens faster. It’s like the metal doesn’t stand a chance. I hear the cell to my right screeching open. The soft steps of a four-legged animal come closer, followed by the earth-shaking stomps of Tristan.
“You did it!” Ren cheers. “No, wait. Do Apollo’s first.”
Tristan obeys, and the cell to my left opens a moment later. Then it’s Ren’s, and lastly, mine. His hands come around my ankles, rough and cold like the ground. “This might hurt,” Tristan warns.
“It’s okay,” I breathe out. “My bones can break. They’ll mend, anyway.”
“Vampires are weird,” a female voice whispers behind the others. It must be Ren’s sister. The poor thing got mixed up in the worst of messes.
“Ren,” I call out. “You should stay behind and sneak out with your sister as soon as—”
“No,” she cuts me in. “Cassandra came after me. I won’t let her down.”
And in her voice, there’s the same fierceness I hear in Ren’s. We’re all broken, men without our mate, our bodies not the same as they used to be. Even so, for her, we’d give anything. Even if it’s our lives.
CHAPTER22
TRISTAN
This is where it ends. In a place I don’t know, hunted by enemies, without ever learning if I truly have a soul or not. After having lived so little and seen nothing of the world. After an existence that could be called empty.
There’s no way I can escape this place alive. Not with this many vampires, not when they’ll be coming for us the second they learn we escaped. Kayn’s entire army can come for us, but I am strong. I believe the strength of my inner shifter now, and I will not let the others get hurt. Even if that means my death.
Cassandra made me a new man. She believed me when no one would. She wanted me when all I ever had was rejection. And she brought me into a family of our own, people who believe me and protect me, even when it’s not their responsibility. Cassandra is the best thing that could have ever happened to me, and she was ripped from our lives.
Together, we stride up the elegantly decorated, carpet-laid corridors of Kayn’s house. It’s a huge but empty place, like the Little Palace. I bet the servants have to keep to the inner corridors, and whoever Kayn invites inside can only come out when Kayn lets them. A false family, where no one cares about anything other than themselves.
I look over my shoulder at the others following me. Ren is in his wolf form, keeping to my right. Oreo is running to keep up with me from the left. Apollo’s breath catches in his throat as he darts wide eyes from side to side, paying attention to any sound. He knows the hardships of fighting vampires, and though his body has been broken, the only sign of it is the hand he keeps curled around his lower stomach.
Donatello is not well. I may have been too rough to break his shackles, but he said nothing as he accepted Mei’s help. She keeps him upright against her body, helping him keep his balance. Out of all of us, he’s the one in the worst shape. Though he scratched his eyes and now manages to open them, his orbs are an angry red and I’m not sure he’s seeing anything. At least he’s got good hearing.
I don’t know what Mei can do, but she told Ren one night she’s not able to shift into her wolf. Maybe because of the trauma, but we don’t have the time to explore that now. With Mei and Donatello out of the game, and without Cassandra leading us, our odds are beyond abysmal.
Making it to where Cassandra’s body is and burning it is essential. Apart from that, I have to keep them alive. I have to, no matter what.
Looking down at my hands, I gape at the change in my skin color. Usually pale, my arm has a strange, grayish hue now. As if I were more stone than man. My wings stretch behind me, like muscles responding by themselves, and I force myself to tuck them back in. I have no control over them whatsoever, and this is not the time to screw everything up by trying something new.
“Get ready,” Apollo barks, pointing at a corridor to the left.
I stop, dropping into a fighting stance. This is it. This is where it begins.
“Is something burning?” a voice asks, and a small group of vampires appear from the corner. They halt, looking at us with hanging jaws and wide eyes. The one who spoke gapes over my shoulder. “Donatello? What the—?”