Chapter 147

Hannah

“We need to get out of here,” Nora breathed. “I can’t stand it here for another moment.”

I agreed with her, but escaping wasn’t going to be that easy. Especially, when I was outnumbered.

“Have you seen Sebastian?” I asked.

“Yes!” she said. “He’s…” she paused for a moment. She was hesitant about continuing her sentence.

“He’s what?” I urged.

“He’s the reason I was able to escape from the cage I was held in,” she said softly. “He’s trying to find you as we speak.”

I looked around to see if anyone had noticed the return of my wolf. Nobody was paying any attention to me; they were all off in their own little worlds. Including my mother who was now speaking with a gentleman, I didn’t recognize. Liam was the only one who was eyeing me carefully; I could tell he was still worried for me.

I went to him, grabbing onto his arm gently and speaking in a tone so low that only he could hear me.

“You must listen to me. It’s not safe here. You need to come with us.”

He shook his head with a timid frown on his face.

“I like it here,” he said in return. “Mom’s here. I’m not sick. I finally feel good, Hannah. Can’t we stay and be a family like mom said?”

“I need to get back to my family,” I told him, meeting his eyes. “I need to return to my daughter, your niece. You haven’t even met her yet.” I could feel the tears burning my eyes. “I want her to meet her uncle Liam.”

He looked conflicted for a moment; this was the first time he’s heard about Wrenley.

“Hannah?” I heard a familiar voice in my head through a mindlink and I felt like my entire body was about to give way.

“Sebastian…” I breathed out in relief.

My entire body finally felt like it was relaxing at the sound of his voice; my heart fluttered excitedly, and I fought to keep away the smile from my lips.

“Where are you? I’ve been trying to find you.”

“In the dining hall,” I told him. “I’m not exactly sure what part of the underworld I’m in though. It must be a big building.”

“You must be in his palace,” Sebastian said. “If I remember correctly, I can break in through the underground vents. I think it leads to his library on the north end of the palace. Can you try to get there?”

I looked around at all the unfamiliar faces; I had no idea how to get around this palace and I knew the doors were probably locked. Gabe had instructions from the vampire king to bring me back to my room, or prison cell; whatever it was. I met Gabe’s eyes from across the room; he was probably under orders to not keep his eyes off me.

“Yes,” I answered Sebastian.

I wasn’t sure how, but I was determined to get to the library.

I went across the dining hall until I reached Gabe. He looked surprised to see me standing before him.

“You don’t need to return to your room until another 20 minutes,” he told me, raising his brows.

“I was hoping you can help me,” I said to him with a kind smile. “I heard rumors that there’s a library somewhere in this palace.”

“It’s not a rumor,” he said, eyeing me carefully. “It’s true. The king loves books and has one of the largest libraries that ever existed.”

My eyes lit up at the thought of that; I loved libraries and books.

“Can you show it to me?”

“I have orders to bring you straight to your room,” he told me, folding his arms across his chest.

“In 20 minutes,” I reminded him. “Has he ordered you to keep me in this ballroom as well?”

It was a long shot.

“No,” he answered. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t like you roaming the palace.”

“I wouldn’t be roaming the palace. I would be guided to the library. If I’m going to be locked away in my room, I’ll need something to occupy my attention. Would he let his future queen pick out a book of her liking for her room?”

Gabe looked like he was thinking hard about my request. He kept his eyes locked on me, trying to figure out if he should trust me or not.

“Honestly, Gabe. You can’t expect me to twiddle my thumbs all night in my room. I would simply die of boredom. How would that look to the king if his future queen died of boredom.”

“You are being dramatic,” he said, rolling his eyes.

I smiled sweetly at him.

“Even so, if this is going to be my home for the unforeseen future, I’d like to see it.”

He sighed.

“Fine,” he finally said. “But you have 15 minutes.”

I smiled again as he turned and lead me out of the dining hall. I didn’t give anyone behind me another look. I followed as we went down different hallways and foyers. This palace was huge; it was probably bigger than Sebastian’s if that was possible. We finally made our way toward the north wing of the palace. It was up a flight of stairs and threw multiple different doorways. He finally walked toward a final set of giant doors; they towered over me, and I stared up at the wooden frame in awe.

I had never seen doors quite as big.

He pushed the doors open and I was amazed by how large the library was. It was at least 4 stories tall, and the walls were covered in bookshelves. Each book was neatly in place; there were rows and rows of bookshelves that towered over me. As we entered the library, I realized quickly that we were on the top floor. I found it strange that the entrance was on the top floor and not the bottom floor.

“Woah…” I breathed.

“You have 10 minutes to find a book,” he said, staring at me intently.

I started down the stairs and he followed closely behind me. I needed to find the vent that Sebastian was going to come through. I just hoped he was going to be here within the next 10 minutes. I couldn’t search for the vent with Gabe close on my tail.

The library was quiet; there was no doubt that I’d be able to hear him if he climbed through a vent. I pretended to roam through the different aisles while I searched the ground for any kind of vent.

“This is a beautiful library,” I said to Gabe as we strolled casually through the aisles. “It’s kept nice and cool as well. There must be a lot of vents in here.”

“There’s a few,” he answered. “Powerful though.”

“Where are they located? They are kept quite hidden. I like that,” I said, trying to remain casual.

He frowned and looked around my face.

“Does it matter?” He asked. “We don’t have time. Just pick out a book.”

I felt my face heating.

“I can’t concentrate on finding a book with you breathing down my neck,” I said in return. “Can you give me space?”

“Excuse me?”

“Back up a little. Maybe wait somewhere for me so I can do this in peace. Finding the perfect book to occupy my time is a process that I’d prefer to do alone,” I told him.

He rolled his eyes and stopped walking.

“Make it quick,” he muttered. “I’ll be in the front waiting for you.”

He was finally out of sight, and I was able to continue my search.

“Are you here yet?” I mindlinked Sebastian.

“I found the end of the vent. I’m climbing through now…” he said. I heard the light rattling of a vent across a couple of aisles. I cleared my throat and then coughed to cover the sound. “I’m in aisle 8.”

I went toward the aisle; I could already sense Sebastian as I approached, and my entire insides melted as his scent filled my senses. I was finally going to see my husband again; I couldn’t wait to be embraced by him. But then something made me stop walking altogether.

It was my wolf; she said a word that caused my entire body to freeze. I mimicked her words in a hushed whisper as Sebastian’s handsome figure came into view.

“Mate…”