I try to act as if I’m paying attention to Phillipe, Caspian’s third cousin twice removed…or something like that, as we move around on the dance floor. He asked me to dance earlier, and I reluctantly accepted.
Apparently, Phillipe is 12th in line to the throne. Evidently, he doesn’t know when to stop talking. What a great loss to my fellow womenfolk everywhere, for such a good looking man, he’s such a bore. Well…okay, so he’s not a bad person, just the
most self-absorbed man I’ve ever met. I don’t know if any of the stories he told me so far has any point to them other than how great he thinks he is. It’s like listening to a bad joke without the punchline. It drives me nuts. I’ve stopped listening after less than a minute. If I keep listening, I might
“accidentally” kick him in the nuts.
I furiously rub my chest, telling my mate that I’m thinking about him and hoping in vain that he’d come and save me from this fate. I think I have that glazed look in my eyes. The image of my own tombstone is floating in my head. Engraved clearly for all to see on the said tombstone: “Here lies Penny. Cause of death: boredom.”
I suspect Caspian must’ve known what a bore his cousin is because he practically pushed me onto the dance floor with Phillipe and told me to ‘have fun’. He must be laughing at me right now.
That thought is pissing me enough that I start imagining different ways to torture the annoying Prince Caspian…right after this dance.
I almost tripped over my own feet when Phillipe suddenly says,
“I guess very soon you’ll be the Queen, huh?
“My mother used to say that I could make a great king. She said I have a lot to say,” he explains. “Oh, look full moon! I think it’s time I return you to Prince Caspian’s side. Did you know that the moon goddess….”
I tune him out again when I see the dome-like roof over the platform where the thrones are, opens up to the night sky,
revealing the full moon. King Alexandros stands up and a few of his ministers step forward.
I realize that Phillipe is still not done talking. This man really loves the sound of his own voice. I nod as if I’m listening while I crane my neck in search of Darius, Caspian, and the rest of my pack mates.
Cracking sounds much like the sound of firecrackers erupt above the sound of the music, the talking and the laughter around me. I look around searching for the source, expecting to see fireworks.
I hear someone screaming and people start pushing and
running around us. We are being shoved and jostled and Phillipe is gripping my shoulders tightly and won’t let go.
I try to push my way through to the front where the Royalties are. I catch a glimpse of the Royal guards forming a protective wall around the royalties. My heart starts hammering in my chest. What’s going on?
My brain is slow in making the connection, but I think those cracking sounds weren’t fireworks, they were shots being fired.
“I don’t think those were fireworks, Phillipe,” I tell him. “I think we’re under attack.” His hazel eyes are now wide with fear.
Another round of cracking sound can be heard followed by more ear-splitting screams around us. Phillipe stumbles into me as people around us start to push and shove more violently, trying to get away. I try to hold Phillipe upright, but he slides
down and crumples to the floor. Crimson red blood is slowly spreading on the back of his pristine white jacket.
I drop down to my knees. I think I’m in shock. People are still shoving and rushing in panic around us. A few are lying on the ground, bleeding.
“Phillipe?” He’s soaking wet with blood. I gingerly grip his shoulder and shake him. “Wake up, Phillipe. Phillipe!” Oh, no!
‘Keep talking, Phillipe!’ I can’t believe I just said that.
I know he isn’t dead. It takes more than a bullet to kill a lycan but a good shot like that could knock him out for a bit. He’ll stop bleeding soon, but it’ll take a few days, at least for him to recover from the shot.
I try to stop people from stepping on him. It’s no use, people are stepping all over the both of us. I let out a scream when somebody steps on my hand with the pointy heel of her shoe, drawing blood. I cradle my bleeding hand to my chest. A big burly man trips and falls on me, knocking the wind out of me.
That’s it! We can’t stay here.
I hear another round of shots being fired above the thunderous footsteps and the screaming. Chaos. More bloody bodies drop to the floor.
I get up and try to pull Phillipe’s unmoving form away. I can’t just leave him lying there. He’ll get trampled on and get more bullets in him.
A big powerful body suddenly knocked me to the ground from behind.
“Get off me! Get off me!!!” I start punching and kicking wildly, trying to get the person off me when I hear his voice and notice his familiar scent. “Malyshka, it’s me! It’s me.”
“Darius?” I collapsed to the floor as my body sagged in relief.
He wraps an arm around me and tucks my body close to his.
My back is pressed against his chest. That’s when I realize that I’m shaking. “What’s going on?”
“Malyshka, I’m…” I hear him say before a deafening explosion blast through the air. Everything shakes, even the ground beneath us. I cling to him as the glass ceiling and the wall mirrors shatter and fall around us like rain.
I try to peek out from underneath his body, but all I see is a few bloody bodies lying close by and a thick cloud of smoke everywhere. Shards of broken glass and mirrors littering the floor. The smoke grows thicker as I watch until I can barely see anything at all. I feel like I’m deaf and blind. The pungent iron stench of blood and the acrid smell of something burning permeate the air.
Are they blowing the castle up? Gunshots we can recover from, but being blown to bits and pieces…that’s not something even a mighty lycan can survive.
My pack mates. My family.“Where is everybody? Are they safe?” I shudder at the thought of losing any of them. “We have to find them, Darius. We have to make sure they’re safe.”
I can’t hear his answer. In fact, I can’t even hear my own voice.
I can’t hear anything. My ears are ringing from the loud blast of the explosion.
Right now I don’t know much. I don’t know what’s really happening. I don’t know where my pack mates are. I can’t think of anything much except that I know my mate is
sheltering me from the shards of glass, the stampede of people and whatever danger we’re in with his own body.
“Darius, you must be hurt,” I tell him, desperately trying to wiggle out from under him. I imagine the shards of broken glass and mirrors slicing and embedding itself in his skin. I can’t hear his response, but his arms around me and his grip on my hip tighten.
Another powerful blast penetrates through the ringing sound in my ears. I feel the ground move beneath us. More chaos ensues all around us, but my mate holds me steady.
I shift and angle my body so that I’m facing him. I look up and we both stare into each other’s eyes. His impeccable hair is now messy and a few fair locks falling over his eyebrow. He has a thin cut with a smear of blood across his cheek.
My breath caught in my throat when I notice that the grey of his tuxedo jacket is red with blood on his left shoulder. It’s now soaking wet and spreading fast.
“You got shot,” I whisper desperately. The thought of my mate being hurt is more than I can bear. “We’ve got to get out of here and get that fixed.”
I see his lips moving as if he’s talking to me but I can’t make out what he’s saying. The ringing in my ears has stopped, but everything still sounds garbled and muffled as if I’m listening to him talking while I’m underwater.
“I can’t hear you…I think I’ve gone deaf,” I tell him sadly.
His eyes soften as he gazes down at me. He touches my cheek and mouths something that looks like “I love you” before he kisses my forehead.
I can feel his love for me through our connection. He loves me so unselfishly and unconditionally that he’s willing to give up his life for me.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I shake my head as I stare up at him. “Don’t you dare die on me.”
He’s about to say something when I suddenly feel his body stiffens and his mood shifts.
He looks up and I catch a glimpse of a man standing over us with an MP5 (submachine gun) pointing at Darius’s head. My mate swiftly shifts his body so that I’m completely covered. Too late, I already saw the threat to my mate. My heartbeat spikes up. My chest burns and my vision turns red. My hearing is suddenly back and very sensitive.
My sensitive ears pick up a slight clicking noise. I raise my head to see another gun pointing at my head. Darius’s grip on me tightens and that’s when his eyes suddenly turn menacing black.
