Danielle
We sat frozen in horror, our eyes glued to the blue-ish glow of the TV screen. I hugged my arms around my knees, pulling them closer to my chest. This was bad. So bad.
It was funny how one phone call could change your life forever.
Moments ago, things seemed as if they’d finally settled down. Thanks to Grace, Xander was back to normal, and I was no longer being hunted. I could finally breathe.
Or so I thought...
I should have known better. Somehow, chaos always seemed to find us in Crescent Cape.
Grace had hardly finished the spell to save Victoria when Ben called, urging Aiden to turn on the news. I didn’t know exactly what Ben said to him, but I’d never seen the color drain from a person’s face so quickly.
This should have been one of the happiest moments of Aiden’s life. He’d finally gotten everything he ever wanted. When Julian bit him, the vampirism curse lifted. He was human again. And now, thanks to Grace securing the leaf from the Silverleaf sapling and performing the counter-spell to her father’s cruel curse, Victoria was no longer slipping away.
They could finally be together.
Taking Victoria’s now permanently translucent hand in his, Aiden led her downstairs, shouting for the rest of us to follow.
Victoria was frantic, begging Aiden to tell her what was wrong. But he couldn’t find the words.
“Is it Uncle Ben?” she pressed. “Did something happen to him?”
“No, he’s fine.” His tone was cold and sharp.
“Then what is it?”
Aiden swerved past the bottom of the staircase, marching straight for the living room. “You’ll see for yourself in a moment.”
We hurried to catch up with him. His eyes were wide with absolute terror.
I gulped. What one earth could make one of the most fearsome vampires in all of history look so horrified?
With the press of a button, a hidden television set rose from what I had thought to be mere mahogany cabinetry. I exchanged a look with Grace. All this time in the castle and no one had mentioned to us that there was a TV? She suppressed a smile, reading my mind, but then refocused her attention on what Aiden was doing.
He pulled a remote out of one of the drawers and pulled up the TV guide, scanning through the channels, knowing exactly what he was looking for. He settled on the national news.
“What’s going on?” Julian pressed as he came up behind me, snaking his arm around my waist.
“Oh, you know,” Aiden answered in a zombie-like voice, “the end of the world as we know it.”
Julian straightened. “Very funny.”
Aiden jerked his head toward the TV, encouraging us to pay attention to the newscast. A reporter stood on a street corner, the bright lights illuminating the otherwise dark sky behind him, and my eyes widened with recognition. I swallowed hard. I knew those buildings. I’d seen them before.
He was reporting from downtown Quarter Square.
As realization dawned on us, the room fell silent. Aiden turned up the volume.
The salt-and-pepper-haired journalist continued with his report. “...mere hours ago, areas once hidden to the human eye were revealed through satellite imagery across the globe. Now, scientists and government officials alike are left scratching their heads as they question why no map, no satellite image, no GPS signal ever picked up on these places existing before. One of our sources told us that it defies logic.”
Julian released his hold on me. “That’s impossible...”
Aiden shook his head, his jaw line so sharp it could cut a knife. “The boundary is down.”
Charlotte blinked. Then, turning around to face her brother, she said, “So, get it back up.”
“The Albrights aren’t going to help us,” he snapped. “Evanna is dead. That’s the second witch from their coven who had died on our watch. And they didn’t even want her to come here.” His lips twitched, the loss of the witch weighing heavily on his heart. He lowered his voice. “They won’t even let us attend her funeral. There’s no way they’re going to help us.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. Evanna had died earlier today. But so much had happened in the hours since that it felt like weeks had passed.
Maybe it was the adrenaline, but her passing hadn’t even hit me yet. I hadn’t shed a tear.
I was an awful person. Truly awful.
How was I not mourning right now?
When had I become so callous?
No, I wasn’t particularly close to her. But she was a person. She mattered.
Xander finished blowing his gum into a giant bubble and popped it. “Won’t do us any good now anyway,” he said, responding to Aiden. “Everyone knows something is here.” He gestured toward the TV screen, which now featured an image of Crescent Cape.
My heart skipped. It was night, so the view wasn’t perfectly clear. But the massive structure on the left side of the screen was impossible to ignore.
Charlotte stood abruptly. She pulled her emerald sweater tighter around herself. “The castle,” she said breathlessly. Her bright green eyes flashed to her brothers for guidance. “What are we going to do?”
Aiden paced, rubbing his forehead all the while. Victoria came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. It seemed to help a little. He slowed to a stop. “We have to get out of here,” he said to no one in particular. I’d never heard him sound so somber. “It’s the only way.”
Charlotte folded her arms across her chest. “Aiden, this is our home. We can’t leave.”
“And what will become of us if we stay? Sure, we could fight off the first people who come looking. But more will come. Plus, there are cameras everywhere. It’s not safe here.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “This is the only home I’ve ever known. Our parents built this kingdom. This is their legacy. Our legacy.”
“No offense,” Grace piped up, “but your legacy kind of sucks. You just corral innocent people in an undisclosed location and feed off of them.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes, not acknowledging Grace at all. “Come on,” she said, now focusing her attention on Julian. “You don’t want to leave, do you? You’ve never been one to give up. You can’t tell me you’re really considering—”
I held up my hand to silence her. “Do you hear that?”
She scrunched her nose. “Hear what?”
Julian jerked his head toward me. “Hybrid hearing,” he mouthed.
I marched toward the window. Shoving the heavy maroon curtains aside, I cupped my hands against the cool glass, peering out into the darkness.
I scanned the area, searching for the source of the sound.
Exhaling, I calmed myself so I could sharpen my senses.
There.
Above the tree line, to the bottom right of the crescent moon, was the sound’s source.
I narrowed my eyes, honing in on the buzzing object.
It was some sort of flying contraption, but I had no idea what it was.
The others came over to join me, pushing and shoving one another so that they could each get a good view.
Grace’s mouth fell open when she spotted it. “They sent drones. They’re already watching.”
“Who is?” I asked.
“The news stations? The government? Who knows? But this isn’t good,” she said flatly. “Aiden’s right. We have to get out of here.”