Queen (Cats of Felidae Academy #4) - River Ramsey Page 0,22

forming a plan, and while she had no idea if it was going to work, it was better than just waiting. Better than nothing. She waited until she heard the footsteps of the guard making his rounds again, and let out the most bloodcurdling scream she could manage. The footsteps quickened and she kept screaming, thrashing against her restraints.

The man appeared at the door, barking, "What the fuck are you doing in there?"

Ella let out a sharp gasp, her fists clenched at her sides as if she was in horrific pain. "It's the baby. Something is wrong… Get a doctor, please," she cried desperately.

The guard hesitated and continued to watch her "suffer" for another few moments as he tried to come to a decision. It was obvious this was his first ritual sacrifice, or whatever the hell they thought they were doing, and he was out of his element.

Ella felt a surge of relief and adrenaline as she heard him rattling his keys. He fumbled with them a few moments before opening the door and walking into the room, leaving the door open behind him.

"What is it?" he demanded, looking her over warily. "I don't see anything wrong with you."

"It's my stomach, it feels like someone stabbed me with a knife," she sobbed. "Something's wrong with the baby. I can feel it."

His eyes widened in fear. She knew for sure he didn't care about the well-being of her or her child, but his reaction confirmed that they needed at least one of them to be alive for the ritual.

"I can't breathe," she choked, making her voice sound as strained as possible. "The restraints, please—"

He grew hesitant, watching her suspiciously, but when she let out another piercing scream of anguish, he started loosening the restraints around her chest. Ella waited until he'd unfastened the ones around her legs to throw herself off the table and headbutt him as hard as she could.

The impact of her skull colliding with his made her even dizzier, but the guard was the one who got the worst of it, since momentum was on her side. Blood sprayed the room and the man collapsed, unconscious the instant he hit the floor. Ella wasn't sure if he was just unconscious, or if she had managed to drive the cartilage of his nose into his brain like she'd seen in a movie once, but she didn't much care to stick around and find out. She could hope for the latter, though.

She bent down and grabbed the ring of keys off his belt before rushing to the door. She peeked out to make sure no one else was in the hall. Evidently, they weren't too worried about her escaping. To be fair, at seven months pregnant, she wouldn't have thought herself much of a threat either.

That was a mistake. They had no fucking idea what a lioness was capable of doing to protect her cub.

Ella ran out into the hall in her bare feet, lifting up the bottom of her gown so she wouldn't trip. She paused at a fork in the tunnels of the underground facility, and now she knew it really was a dungeon.

Natalia had to be here somewhere. This must be where they were keeping her. There was no way she had any idea what her sons and the rest of Felidae were planning. Ella wouldn’t let herself believe it. For all she knew, Natalia was in even more danger than she was, considering how intent Bishop was on taking his "rightful" place as the colony’s ruler.

Once, Ella never would have fathomed Bishop was capable of killing his own mother to gain power, but she had finally accepted that she didn’t really know him at all.

Ella padded down the hall on bare feet, using only instinct and what little she remembered from being taken downstairs to guide her way. There were so many cells, the place was like an underground prison. How many people had Felidae kept here over the years?

She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know the answer to that question. The truth she'd been able to cobble together that night was far more sinister than she had ever imagined. Not only was the society not the social club it pretended to be, but they seem to be attempting to overthrow the temple entirely.

If Bishop was actually insane enough to think he could overthrow the moon goddess, Ella didn't know what else he was capable of.

She didn't want to believe it. She had to