ground.
He looked at Dax’s body and then at Ren.
Ren lowered his head.
Ren whimpered softly, leaning into my father.
I dropped to the ground, grief heavy in my bones, and stared up at the night sky. Bryn, covered in snow, snuggled in beside me with a low whine. I rested my head on her back, catching the scent of Fey’s blood in her fur. The moon was gone now, covered by thick bands of clouds. As tiny silver flakes drifted down to settle on our bodies-both the living and the dead-I thought perhaps the moon had hidden her face from us, as full of sorrow as we were. But she couldn’t stop her tears from spilling out in the form of silent snow.
TWENTY-FOUR
CONNOR STOOD BEFORE THE DOOR, reaching in his pocket for lock-picking tools. Ethan shook his head.
“Logan was supposed to leave it unlocked.”
Connor shrugged and tried the door. It swung open.
“That’s a good sign,” he said. “Right?”
“It’s a sign that Logan is at least pretending to be on our team,” Ethan said. “Let’s not read anything else into it.”
“Agreed.” Connor had his swords drawn and moved slowly into the kitchen.
We followed him into the cavernous room. In the darkness I could make out pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. A long prep table stretched nearly the length of the room, and a huge brick oven took up most of one wall.
“You could cook for all of Vail in here,” Adne said. “How many big parties does your uncle host? Like one a week?”
“None,” Shay said. “At least not that I’ve seen.”
“Does anyone even use this kitchen?” Connor asked.
“I came down here for snacks,” Shay said. “They keep the fridge stocked.” He pointed to a walk-in refrigeration unit beside an equally huge pantry.
“You ever find bodies in there?” Ethan muttered.
Shay didn’t answer, but he shuddered. I was sure he hadn’t ever considered that possibility before he learned the truth about his uncle. I wondered if coming back to Rowan Estate was as frightening for Shay as it was for me. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced it was probably much worse for him. He’d lived here, called this place home without knowing what lived in the walls, the tortured prisoners trapped in paintings. He’d laughed at statues of incubi that he now knew could come to life and attack. He must have felt as if the very ground was constantly rolling under his feet.
I trotted to his side and licked his fingers, hoping I could lend him some comfort. He smiled down at me.
“Home sweet home,” he said, but the haunted quality of his gaze let me know I’d been right about his feelings.
I glanced over my shoulder.
I bared my teeth at her.
When we were about to exit the kitchen, Shay paused. “Do yourselves a favor and don’t look at any of the paintings.”
Connor nodded, moving quietly into the hallway.
The corridor was dark. Connor led us at a cautious pace. I knew it was wise, but creeping forward set my teeth on edge. A stifled gasp hit my ears. Ethan’s head was bowed. Adne laid her hand on his arm, leaning in to him to whisper in a calm voice. When he lifted his face, I saw his jaw clench and the veins in his neck throb.
Shay glanced at him. “I told you not to look.”
“Just keep walking, Scion,” Ethan snarled, but his voice shook. “He wasn’t your brother, he was mine.”
I made the mistake of glancing over my shoulder at the painting Ethan had just passed. A man in tattered clothes lay stretched out on a table, agony etched on his face, his mouth open in an eternal cry of pain. Dark shapes loomed in the shadows at the edge of the painting, watching him. I wished I didn’t recognize the man, but I knew Ethan’s brother, Kyle, the moment I looked at the painting and I felt sick. It was my fault he was trapped forever, his torture feeding the wraiths. I’d thought I was doing my duty, protecting Shay, when I’d killed his partner, Stuart, and handed Kyle over to the Keepers for questioning. How many other choices had I made while serving the Keepers that had destroyed the lives of people I now called allies and friends?
A hand brushed my fur. I turned to find Shay watching me, his eyes bright with concern.
He offered me a thin smile. “I’m not trying to pet you. I just want to say that the past is the past. You didn’t know. Neither of us did.”
I pushed my nose against his palm as I tried to erase the horror of the painting from my mind.
We had turned the corner to enter the manor’s central corridor when Connor gave a shout. His blades flashed out, hitting something solid and then clanging off as the blow was deflected.
He spewed curses, stomping his feet and kicking the wall. “Statues! For the love-” He began to swear again.
“Connor, you’re making me blush,” Adne said, stepping forward to inspect the marble succubus.
I barked at Shay, wagging my tail. He flashed a grin at me, sharing the memory of my first visit to Rowan Estate. I couldn’t blame Connor for his reaction. The statues were just too realistic.
“You’ll have to watch out for that,” Shay said. “The statues are all over.”
“A ready-made army,” Connor said. He glared at the statue. “Just waiting.”
“An army that we fought during our last visit,” Ethan said. “Remember? How come these aren’t outside playing with their friends?”
“Rowan Estate’s creatures are still dormant.” Shay rapped his knuckles on the succubus’s stone forehead. “The minions outside must be the Keepers’ pets from Eden. That means Bosque isn’t here. He hasn’t summoned them.”
“Or he wants us to think he isn’t here,” Connor said.
Shay frowned. “I don’t think so. Only the wolves are fighting. Bosque had all his creatures in the mix in the last fight. He’s not here. Not yet.”
“Only one way to know for sure.” Connor made a rude gesture at the statue and then continued down the corridor.
My heart seemed to be stuck in my throat, beating hard as we stepped into the grand foyer of the manor. Suits of armor and more hideous creatures cast in marble circled the room, standing like guards before the immense staircase.
The Searchers’ footsteps and the clatter of our wolf nails echoed in the enormous space, bouncing off the walls all the way to the immense crystal chandelier hanging above our heads.
“Up the stairs,” Shay murmured.
Connor nodded and we began to ascend. With each step my body felt colder.
Ren brushed up against me.
