after dousing our passion we strolled up to my friends hand in hand. I couldn’t stop the heat that rushed to my cheeks in embarrassment. That wasn’t exactly a situation I wanted an audience for.
Arrick and Dmitry carried most of the luggage as we made our way to the Château. Louie growled angrily as I hefted him in my arms, refusing to let him go until we were safely inside. This was a new place for him and I didn’t want him wandering around until he understood this would be our new home.
The moment I stepped into the entry relief washed over me. Being home made all the fears, and doubts I had disappear. Maybe everything was really going to be okay? My parents were healing, the Noire region was going to join forces with us, I had my friends with me and Arrick by my side. We had everything going for us. The possibility of winning this war finally broke through my pessimistic nature.
Chapter 6
Arrick and Dmitry deposited our bags by the door for the eager hands of the servants who had been awaiting our arrival. Of all the servants there, I recognized one face. It was the girl who had warned me about Bennett. I couldn’t remember her name, but I was still very happy to see that she had survived the attack. She smiled at me happily, taking in the others in my group.
“Would you take Louie to my room?” I asked her, offering her my furry friend who had finally giving up fighting my grasp.
“Of course, princess. We’re so happy to have you back home.” Her genuine smile stretched across her face, and the others joined in with her, nodding their agreement.
“I’m happy to be home. Do you know where my parents are?”
“They’re in the throne room,” she answered cheerily, like my arrival had broken through the storm cloud that hung over the Château.
“Oh, Princess!” Liz drawled sarcastically before nudging me with her elbow. “I sure hope you don’t expect me to call you that.”
“I don’t expect anyone to call me that, Lizzy!” I teased, using the nickname that her mother had given her that she absolutely hated. As soon as the kids in grade school learned that one, she was dubbed Dizzy Lizzy. And that’s when Liz’s career in playground fights began.
“Hey!” She pointed her finger at me with a stern look on her face. I’d definitely pushed a button, but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
“Oh, I think Lizzy is a pretty name,” Robin sided with me, a smile making way for her ivory fangs.
“Great!” Liz threw her hands up in the air, giving up.
“I’m just teasing, Liz. You know I love you.” I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her toward me. She crossed her arms against her chest and glared at me, but the corners of her lips were curling up and I knew she wasn’t really mad.
“All right, let’s go,” Arrick said, after giving orders on where all our luggage should go. He and Dmitry led the way, while the girls and I hung back. I pointed out every piece of artwork that I thought Robin would enjoy.
Massive double doors lay open to the throne room as we approached. The sight of it didn’t rattle my nerves as I had expected it to. In fact, all I could think of were the two vampires I saw standing before me. I pushed past my friends, running to the giant table that stood in the center of the room. I recognized it from the strategy room. I wondered why they had brought it in here. Did the strategy room get destroyed?
I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I closed the gap between my parents and me in the blink of an eye. I fell into my mother’s waiting arms, and my father wrapped us both in the cocoon of his embrace.
“I missed you,” I said, buried in their arms.
“We missed you too, Claire. Let us have a look at you,” my father said, pulling away from me. He looked me up and down, ensuring that I truly wasn’t hurt.
I blinked away the tears that wanted to fall, as nightmarish flashes played through my mind. My father’s motionless body on the floor, my mother’s blood dripping into a pool and the fear in her eyes. I didn’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t survived, but they did and I needed to focus on that. My stomach lurched