The Consort's Will 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Tegan leads us down hallway after hallway. More camouflaged men and women silently watch us as we pass. Only the whites of their eyes give them away. Nobody speaks to Tegan, but I notice a few of them nod their heads as a sign of respect as she passes. They do watch us as we move past, however.

Their varying shades of irises never leave us, but their expressions remain hidden beneath layers of decorative rock that I have never seen before. Bogdan grips me tighter as we move deeper and deeper into the mountain. He must be thinking this isn't safe, because if this turns out to be dangerous, we have little chance of escaping without being caught.

We follow Tegan and turn a final corner, and a brilliant hue of light fills the space around us. I suck in a breath of disbelief as I glance at the commodious, wide ceiling. Pieces of rock have been scraped out and replaced with lights. Their placements are random and vary in intensity. It reminds me of sparkling lights poking through the branches of a Christmas tree.

My eyes fall to the floor of this spacious room. Couches and rugs of all different types, colors and sizes are everywhere. Filling every seat are Secondaries. The cacophony of their voices ricochet against the rock walls. Some are reading, some are talking, some are laughing, and some are simply resting.

But oh, they are all so eloquent.

They don't have the same edge to their features as vampires, and the softness only adds more depth to the immortal portion of their flawless looks. Bogdan moves us closer to the wall, attempting to keep us out of the line of attention. Already our presence is becoming noticed.

Tegan moves swiftly through the masses of people, leading us to another tunnel along the far wall. This time there is no whispering or words of protest for the man in front to step aside. Tegan opens the door and we follow until the voices in the main room echo into silence.

"Where are you taking us?" Bogdan growls once the door behind us closes with a heavy thud.

Tegan doesn't answer, but after we pass through another hallway, she stops at a door and knocks a single time. The door creaks open slowly, not wide enough for us to see the person on the other side. Tegan leans forward and whispers again. It's soft enough that I can't hear, but Bogdan's eyes narrow at whatever she says.

Large hands move through the door and gently remove Leo from her arms. His body looks so weak, so sickly pale. My eyes catch on the blood that has soaked through the final shirt I pressed against his stomach. He's lost so much. Too much. His eyes don't open as he's pulled inside, and the tendrils of his shaggy blonde hair are the last thing I see before the door is closed again.

I swallow hard, and the familiar fingertips of fear clutch my emotions in their grasps. Tegan backs away from the door. She glances around the floor, peering at the single drop of blood spilled from Leo's stomach before he was taken.

She moves her boot over it, scraping it across the uneven floor until the drop becomes hidden beneath a streak of mud. Then she glances down at her shirt and scoffs.

"I'm going to have to get cleaned up," she mutters.

"Will he be alright?"

I whisper the question even though she asked me not to talk. Tegan's head snaps up in my direction and her expression is so menacing that I find myself huddling further into Bogdan's touch for protection.

"They'll do what they can for him," she answers evenly. She glances between Bogdan and me before her eyes slide down to his waist. "I'll be needing my gun back."