closer.
I slipped from the saddle and walked toward him. “Where’s my sister?”
“Well, I hope she and Kalon made it out of there okay,” Ansel replied.
Fear got the better of me, and I gripped his shoulders tightly enough to make him tremble. Maybe on a better day he would’ve been more assertive, perhaps even push me away, but he’d clearly been shaken to the core since long before he crossed our path. “Where is Esme? What happened?”
“Tristan, hold on,” Valaine said as she joined us. Measuring the boy from head to toe, she reached out and brushed some of the hair from his forehead, revealing scratches that were in the process of healing. “Were you in a fight?”
Ansel took a deep breath, his slim brows furrowed. “I couldn’t do anything to help them.”
Without any information, I was already imagining the worst. Valaine was quick enough to notice, so she convinced the boy to tell us what had happened. He told us everything, from the moment he’d been brought back to the mansion to the events that had led to his escape.
My blood ran cold, and my throat tightened. “Esme…” I murmured.
Our next move became obvious, as Valaine got back on her horse and took Ansel with her. “Come on. We’re going there. We need to help Kalon and Esme!”
I didn’t hesitate. My heart was pounding in my ears. Fear had all but frozen the blood in my veins. I tried to reach my sister through Telluris, but I couldn’t feel our connection anymore. We flew through the streets, the Visions running faster than the wind, their hooves thundering across the cobblestones.
The rest of the trip was like a distant dream. I didn’t register any details. By the time we reached the Visentis mansion, I couldn’t even remember how we’d gotten there. Valaine had told Ansel to stay back, but I didn’t trust him.
“You’re coming with us,” I said firmly.
Valaine wasn’t comfortable with the idea, but she didn’t object. She knew I was in no mood to accommodate a young Darkling, no matter whose brother he was. She kept a hand on Ansel’s shoulder, just to make sure he didn’t slip away for whatever reason, as we went inside the mansion. The door was unlocked, and there was no sign of any servants. Their faint scents lingered, but they’d already left. Something told me they might never come back.
Upstairs, there was one hell of a mess waiting. Darklings lying in puddles of their own congealed blood, heads severed, eyes glassy and empty. I could smell the violence that had occurred here.
We checked every corner of the room, running our hands along the walls, capturing every scent we could find, observing every scratch and blood smear. None of the blood was my sister’s, and I took some comfort in that.
“They left,” Ansel whispered. “I think they took Veliko with them. And Atlas, for sure.”
“I think I would’ve seen a massive ghoul around here, even in his subtle form,” I said. “Where could they have gone?”
“There’s an escape tunnel beneath the house,” Ansel replied.
He took us downstairs and through the secret doors. I couldn’t sense Esme anymore. “I don’t think Esme went through here,” I said.
“Neither did Kalon,” Valaine confirmed with a slight nod.
“It means they escaped,” Ansel interjected as we stopped in front of the tunnel opening, a big black mouth of stone gaping before us. Chills moved up my spine, and I had a hard time focusing as I wondered where my sister was and why I couldn’t reach her anymore. “Mother went through here.”
“Her scent is fresh,” Valaine said. “Along with your other brothers, your uncle, and… yeah, I recognize that stench… Veliko. Definitely him, and he’s alive.”
“He wanted to kill me,” Ansel said, crossing his arms.
“Where could Kalon and Esme have gone? And how did we not know about Kalon’s Darkling connection?” I asked Valaine, struggling to contain my anger. These were pretty disturbing revelations for me to deal with, and there wasn’t time to process any of them adequately. It led to some intense reactions that I couldn’t control. Not when my sister’s life was in danger.
“I… I don’t know.” Valaine’s shoulders slumped. Ansel had already explained how much Kalon had tried to stay away from the Darklings, but I still couldn’t forgive the fact that he hadn’t shared any of that intel with us.
“He brought Esme here, knowing full well that his mother is the friggin’ Whip of the Darklings!” I snarled, punching the wall. The stone crackled,