Page 49

Sat inside the main dining room, I forced myself to partake in the meal. The scent of savory meat, buttery potatoes, and herb smothered vegetables caused my stomach to rumble with hunger. The servers had taken away the dishes of tangy, scrumptious fruit moments before the main course was in front of me.

My brothers had bailed on dinner to go check out what the issue in town was. It left time for all the girls to enjoy a meal and relax without their high energy. It had done little to ease the nervousness or worry sitting heavily on my chest, though.

I’d changed after they’d left, needing to remove the annoying chlorine clinging to the clothes I’d worn outside. Dressed in a soft green sundress, I’d forgone my shoes since I’d intended to retire once I’d finished dinner.

“This is delicious!” Abigail stammered with a mouth full of meat.

Winchester’s head nodded in agreement. Once she’d finished chewing, she dotted her lips with the napkin before responding. “I personally flew the chef in from Paris. She’s part of the staff from the chateau there who agreed to join us here.”

Glancing around the table, I noticed my sisters all used similar mannerisms. My friends, on the other hand, did not. Nyx was spooning onion soup in at an alarming rate, which had a smile spreading over my face. The omegas had forgone their silverware, choosing to use their hands even though the meat was slathered in savory gravy.

A bubble of laughter escaped as Savage’s face twisted in confusion as she studied the way the omegas grabbed from their plates. It was a mixture of something between disgust and envy. Daisy sat beside Beretta, both of their heads bowed toward one another, deep in conversation.

“Savage,” I called across the table, which had her head whipping toward where I sat. Sliding her eyes to me, I watched the guilt wash over her delicate features. Smiling impishly, I forked a large chunk of meat, shoveling it between my lips.

We shared a knowing look, both recalling the horrors of our childhood in the moment. Our mother wasn’t only hard on us about training with weapons. Far from it, in fact. Roslyn had instructed us on how we dressed, ate, and presented ourselves from the moment we woke until we found respite from her as we slept.

“A lady doesn’t speak when she chews,” mimicked Savage, face grimacing at mother’s instructions on etiquette leaving her lips. “If you refuse, you’ll be stuck with a fork like the pig you’re eating, akin to.”

“You’ll bear the scars to remind you forever more,” Daisy whispered, eyes swimming with angry, unshed tears. “I’ve never been so glad another being is dead as I am about her.” Using her hand, she reached forward, grabbed a large chunk of meat, then shoved it into her mouth.

Savage’s jaw dropped. But as we watched, she reached forward, shoving meat into her mouth as well. There was no judgment from anyone at the table. Instead, everyone followed her lead. One after another, we all began forgoing our silverware. It wasn’t until we’d finished it off that we realized we couldn’t do the same with the mashed potatoes.

I barely held my laughter as I shoved an entire meatball into my mouth, uncaring that juices sloshed down my chin. It was freeing to be able to do as one wanted, ignoring basic etiquette.

Winchester had mashed potatoes on her chest, which caused my eyes to widen as Savage leaned over, scooping it up, then feeding it to her. Daisy chewed a large mouthful as she attempted to say something, failing to get anything out.

“What is that, Daisy? I couldn’t hear you over the balls of meat in your mouth,” Beretta stated with a mouth full of potatoes.

Looking around the table, warmth washed through me. The familiarity of family, mixed with friends, made me feel strangely whole. As if I weren’t doomed to sulk forever after a man who didn’t want anything to do with me.

Laughter echoed throughout the chamber. Then, we noticed the omegas were eating undisturbed. That fact caused another bout of laughter to explode around the table. Nyx silently stared at each one of us with curiosity in her violet eyes.

“That was . . . educational. I’ve never seen you eat without utensils or a napkin in your lap, Remi,” she muttered.

“You’ve seen the scars on my elbows, Nyx.” The moment I’d blurted it out, she flinched. “Our mother had an unhealthy obsession with dining etiquette. If we slipped up, she’d stab us with silverware.”

Nyx’s eyes rounded as her mouth formed a perfect O. “What a bitch,” she blurted out, then swung her gaze toward my sisters. “I mean—I—”

“She was horrendous.” At my agreement, the others nodded in agreement. “They’ll not correct you. No one here felt any love loss when she ceased to exist.”

Nyx snorted her relief, then produced her phone from beneath the table. “Is anyone else not getting a signal?” My forehead creased as she held her phone up, showing off the symbol for no signal. “I’m trying to reach Acyn to figure out what is happening, but it’s been like this since your brothers left.”

Peeking towards Winchester, I found her face pinched in suspicion. “That’s strange. We have a satellite dish to ensure we don’t have internet issues so far out of the city center,”

she muttered.

Daisy, Savage, and Beretta all checked theirs before Winchester excused herself to reset the router. The others glanced around, causing worry to drift throughout the room. Standing up, Savage walked to the sideboard, pouring two fingers of whisky into a goblet.

“Is it me, or is anyone else finding it strange that Rhys Van Helsing called away his skilled, battle-hardened knights right as a large group of knights entered town?” Tapping her fingers on her goblet, she frowned as Daisy cleared her throat.

“Technically, Luis removed them,” Daisy corrected. “The timing is strange, though. I’ll agree with that. Also, every Van Helsing bailed as well.”

My palms settled on my swollen abdomen. “Rhys wouldn’t have called them off unless it was an emergency.”

Nyx nodded emphatically in agreement. “Acyn wouldn’t either. He was outside earlier. When the others bailed, he followed them.”

Winchester stepped into the room, her eyes scanning the exits as she slowly released a breath. “Something is wrong. The wires to the servers in the control room are cut. Someone disabled the alarm system.”

Beretta snorted, then stated what everyone was thinking. “That would mean someone’s inside the chateau with us. Are you telling us the enemy is inside our home?” All eyes turned toward where she wiped her gravy-covered hands with her napkin. “Well—fucking hell.”

“Remington, I need you to come with me. The rest, you should retire to your rooms for the night. We need to act as if we’re unaware they’ve infiltrated the house.”

Savage groaned but muttered softly. “You had the witch return to strengthen the wards. You had a second one here to check that she’d reinforced them, along with adding a secondary layer. How the fuck did they bypass the layers so easily?”

“They brought their witch along with them,” I pointed out softly. “Call forth your silver, now,” I demanded as the faint sound of feet inching closer touched my ears. “Now!” I shouted as the men nearing us gave up attempting to get the jump.

The hum of silver tearing through the air sang around the house. Magic fused, exploding inside the house to shield against the fast moving missiles. A dark, sinister shadow hovered over the chateau as battle cries erupted.

Nyx climbed beneath the table, yanking each omega down as she crawled the length of it. My sisters took positions at each of the four exits of the dining hall, each one looking to the other for direction.

Fear sliced through me as my mind whirled with what was happening. My hand lifted, palm sweaty as I rubbed the back of my neck, uncertain about how to protect both myself and my family from the current predicament.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the heartbeats outside of the chamber. Each one beat rapidly, ensuring we couldn’t unleash silver blindly and hurt an innocent within the house. The witch they employed was at ease wielding magic. Their heart wasn’t erratic like most other witches during the unleashing of a spell.

“They’re outside every exit,” Winchester stated calmly. “The witch is blocking the silver from entering the corridors they’re occupying. They outnumber us ten to one. If you want my guess, they called the knights away after they’d infiltrated the house. They’re going to try to take Remington from us by force.”

“Over my dead body,” Savage growled.

“They don’t care if the rest of us live or die,” Daisy growled. “They proved that when they murdered Colt.”

My stomach tightened as nausea threatened to spew from my lips. Closing my eyes, I pushed up from the table and turned to look at Winchester. Her color paled as she saw the resolve in my eyes.

“It will buy us time for you to figure out how to save me,” I stated, shaking my head. “Nyx, silence your phone and hand it to me. Now. Tell Rhys I have it. The tracker is on.”

It was something we’d been taught at E.V.I.E. to ensure we were all trackable. Savage tossed me her leather jacket, allowing me to shove the phone into the inside pocket.

“What good will that do?” Winchester asked, her eyes swimming with unshed tears.

Straightening my spine, I slowly released the breath I’d been holding. Inside, I was a flurry of uncertainty and fear. Fear of this going wrong rather quickly. This plan only worked if Rhys came, then worked alongside my siblings to save me.

“Trust me. He’ll know what to do. Winchester, work with him and his siblings. Now step away from the door. No heroics.”