Page 144 of The Prince's Curse

He was gone.

Anguish clawed at him, but he shoved it down, pulled on the stony mask of the court’s Elder. He went upstairs and found Alistair staring at Shoshanna, his eyes wide and fearful. “Why won’t she wake?” he asked in a small voice.

“I don’t know, but she’s in good hands right now,” Julian said.

Alistair looked up at him, brow furrowed. “She shouldn’t have done this tonight. She was?—”

“If you want to be angry at me, I understand. Right now, I need you. We just got the shit kicked out of us, and I need your help. Please,” Julian pleaded.

Swallowing hard, Alistair nodded and said, “Later.”

“Go with Kova and sweep the residential buildings,” he said. He kissed the back of Scarlett’s hand, then said, “Stay with Misha in case anyone comes back.”

“I could come with you,” she said hopefully.

“Stay here with them,” he said firmly. “Keep them safe.”

Her brow furrowed, but she nodded. With Alistair on his heels, Julian headed downstairs, then across the compound to the administrative building. He had to check on Olivia, then put her on the job of checking for everyone.

He knew it was selfish, but he was furious. All he wanted to think about was Scarlett, and everything lay in ruins. Making a sweep of the compound’s outer perimeter, he found fresh tire tracks and a dozen sets of footprints. The earth was scorched in strangely neat patterns, which made him suspect Lux had broken Shoshanna’s spells here to breach their security.

His stomach churning, he hurried back to the administrative building. Inside, the smell of blood—human blood—was thick in the air. Julian raced down the hall and found Olivia’s office ransacked. Smoke and gunpowder burnt in the air, and her desk was overturned, papers strewn everywhere.

Behind the massive wooden desk, Nikko sat on the floor with Olivia cradled in his arms.

“What happened?” Julian blurted.

When Nikko looked up, he saw the terrible bite marks on Olivia’s throat and arms. Chilling dread trickled down his spine.The other man’s blonde hair was stained with blood.

“No,” Julian murmured.

Nikko was eerily calm as he stroked her hair, trying to tuck the messy strands back into her neat twist. Julian couldn’t help noticing the dark red on her lips. “I didn’t want to turn her like this. I promised her it would only be when she was ready. But it was already so late.” His arm was bloody, clearly ripped open by his own fangs in his rush.He was pale, not yet recovered from his brutal injuries.

Julian knelt at his side, gently brushing hair away from Olivia’s face. “She’ll understand.”

Nikko’s harsh gaze hit him like a punch. “This ends with Armina Voss’s head on a platter. I will not rest until I see her dead. If you argue with me, I will?—”

“I agree,” Julian said.

Tears gleamed in Nikko’s red eyes, and he nodded slowly, leaning down to kiss Olivia’s brow. “It’s okay,” he murmured to her. “I’ll be here the whole time. I’ve got you.”

His throat tightened, and he left them alone as he finished his sweep of the building. Safira was in the old library, barely conscious. She’d been hit with a hefty dose of wood poison, but she’d killed her attacker before the poison left her incapacitated. Another of those metal stakes lay on the ground near her dead assailant, which indicated he’d probably been trying to get it into her when he died.

Even Karina Nowak had been roughed up, but she proudly told him she’d put three bullets into one of those bastards and sent them running when they came for her lab. Kristina was nowhere to be found, so her allies had probably carried her off.

Returning to his office, he found it untouched, though there was the smell of strange vampires inside. He grabbed his laptop and accessed their security software. Using the admin account, he sent a warning message to the court that announced a security breach from an unknown threat. It required everyone to respond with their locations.

As he was walking across the compound again, his watch buzzed with alerts, but he continued his grim march before checking it. Inside Building Five, he found the vampire with the buzzcut and the broken neck still lying on the floor, groaning wordlessly. A strange black sigil was etched onto his neck where most vampires would have borne a Covenant mark. While he was investigating, feet scuffed on the tile.

As soon as he turned, he heard Kova’s voice announcing, “It’s just me. Buildings are clear. Redhead named Phoebe was holed up with a couple of veravin and told me to tell you she was ready to help with whatever you need. Dominic’s with Rachel in the infirmary and said he’ll bring her out for triage at your orders.”

He nodded, peering around Kova to see the pale, sickly-looking vampire witch behind him. “Are you going to light us up with that sunlight mess again?”

Stella shook her head. “Hurts me, too,” she croaked.

He nodded and said, “Come up with me.”

Upstairs in the ritual room, he found Misha still holding Shoshanna. His eyes were haunted. “Where’s Paris? Why isn’t he answering me?” The other man’s phone lay by his feet, the screen still glowing.

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