I blinked a few times, feeling like there were shards of glass under my eyelids, but I could still make out that we were in some sort of… belfry? Or maybe just a tower. Judging by the nausea roiling through me, the burning in my wrists, the numbness in my arms, we were bound with wolfsbane-infused ropes. Utterly fantastic. There was a spell circle at our feet, which indicated that we weren’t in for a pleasant time.
But that was when my brain kicked in and my mind glitched at an error.
Five pillars?
Craning my neck to the side as far as I could, I realized that there was indeed someone tied to the final pillar, but it wasn’t Luther—not that it made sense that it would be. No, instead it was a… random woman?
I blinked several more times, desperately wishing I could rub my eyes, but the woman remained there. Not a figment of my imagination. That was good.
I didn’t recognize her at all, but she certainly looked worse for wear. She had new, deep purple bruises over fading, yellow bruises, a split lip and eyebrow, which told me she likely wasn’t a shifter at all.
Who was she and why was she tied up with me and my siblings?
Maybe it was the weight alone of my gaze that roused her, but she went from unconscious to peering at me. At first her face was completely blank, but then it was as if she recognized me.
“I’m sorry,” she rasped, and Gods, it sounded like she’d been screaming for hours. I hated to think what could have caused that kind of trauma. “It’s all my fault.”
“What is?” Not my most eloquent repartee, but it wasn’t like I was exactly firing on all cylinders.
But her swollen, red-rimmed eyes fluttered closed again, and her body went completely lax. No doubt she would have toppled forward if it weren’t for the ropes holding her in place.
I stared at her in puzzlement, but I was coming back to myself more and more as the seconds passed. I inhaled, then realized I recognized the scent surrounding me. It was one I was incredibly familiar with, as it belonged to a family I’d known since birth.
The Parracidas.
The realization hit me, and some faint part of my memory recalled that Cherry had cried something about knowing who the masterminds were right before all hell broke loose. Had she come to the same conclusion?
I supposed I would never find out, considering that she was…
That she was…
I couldn’t bring myself to even think it, let alone say it. Internally, my wolf whispered, and I was sure he would be howling if he wasn’t buried below the effects of wolfsbane.
Then, as if summoned by my epiphany, a door somewhere below us opened. I heard confident footsteps coming up the stairs. Sure enough, it was the head of the Parracida family, his wife, an older man—Mr. Parracida’s father, I think—and their children, Alexandria and Sergio.
I couldn’t believe it. After hundreds of years of being taken care of, of atoning for the truly horrific ways of their ancestors, now they were throwing it all away?
“Look who woke up. Hello, Chris, we’ve—” Mr. Parracida started to say, and although it was ill-advised, Ihadto cut him off.
“Paul,” I said hotly. “I’mPaul.”
The man had the gall to look confused. “Paul? Wait, since when?—”
“You worked on and off as a staff director in my house until I was thirteen!”
“I… Oh,Paul!Of course, the one with the glasses.”
I stared at him, completely taken aback. Yes, I was quite aware that I was potentially living the last moments of my life, but I couldn’t believe that said life was reduced to me being the VanMarche sibling that wore glasses!Was that really the impression I was leaving on the world?
“Anyway,” Mr. Parracida cleared his throat. “Sergio, wake them up.”
My gaze went to the strapping young man, who had just done a pretty good job fighting me and my siblings without being able to shift. None of the Parracidas had been able to shift in at least three generations, although they still had the enhanced senses and healing abilities.
“Yes, Father,” he said before raising his hand, which I hadn’t realized was holding a hose. He gave a couple yanks, which I assumed signaled to someone downstairs, and suddenly cold water sprayed onto Chris, who was tied directly next to me.
It was a decidedly unpleasant way to be roused, I was sure, but I was helpless to stop it as one by one my siblings were forced back to consciousness, coughing and sputtering.
I wanted to transform, to rip each of them apart limb by limb until they couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. To wipe that stupid, gloating look off all their faces.