Escape From Zulaire by Veronica Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

She’d taken an automatic step toward the chief of household before she noticed the jagged, bloody knife in his hand. Her gaze traveled to his face, which was contorted in rage, eyes wild.   Hands up in self defense, Andi skidded to a halt, averting her eyes, only to see the bodies of several women lying just inside the room Iraku had come from. Paralyzed by horror, crumpling to her knees, Andi screamed as the Naranti took a step in her direction.
    Deverane fired his blaster from behind her, but the angle was off. Iraku dodged the beam, running across the hall into another chamber, slamming the heavy door. Andi heard the locking mechanism slid into place. She knew there was a balcony, with a tree growing right next to it under that room’s window. If you try to escape that way, you son of a bitch, I hope you break your neck. Hands pressed against her eyelids, she tried to blot out the mental picture of the corpses of the women he’d obviously just murdered. Head spinning, she thought she was going to pass out under the nonstop onslaught of horror.
    Deverane squatted beside her, jaw clenched, his face expressionless. ”Andi, we have to keep moving.” He pulled her to her feet. “Which way to the nursery?”
    Andi braced herself with one hand on the wall for a heartbeat, before running down the hall, counting off the doors to herself as she proceeded in the increasing smoke and heat. The nursery door swung open under her touch. Coughing, covering her mouth and nose against the thick smoke, she advanced into the center of the room, the captain on her heels.
    “Stay here for a second.” Deverane stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, before striding over to the nearest crib, his face set like stone. Andi held her breath as she watched Deverane peer into the small bed. Turning, he shook his head. “Empty.” He glanced at the other beds with the same result.“Time to go.”
    “Thank the Lords of Space.” Wiping tears from her cheeks, she said, “Maybe their parents have been and gone already. Maybe they took Sadu to safety with their own kids.”
    A faint whimpering sound caught her attention. She stepped further into the room. “Wait, I heard something, I know I did.” Andi ran to the storage area at the back of the room, finding the door ajar. Breathing a tiny prayer, she knelt and slid the mirrored panel open, shoving aside the hanging clothes, tossing large plush toys out into the room to crawl inside. Homing in on the whimpering, she felt around on the floor in front of her as she went deeper into the spacious closet, until she touched a toddler’s chubby legs. Locking her grip on the boy’s ankles even as he tried to kick her, she dragged him free of his hiding place. “Sadu, it’s okay. It’s Andi, I’ve got you.” Taking a quick look, she confirmed that he was the only child in the small space. No sign of his cousins. Clumsily, off balance, she reemerged into the room with the toddler, his arms locked around her neck.
    Repressing an I told you so, Andi gave Deverane a triumphant look. “It’s Sadu, Lord Tonkiln’s youngest son.”
    “I don’t care who he is, we’ve got to get out of here now .”   The captain’s whole body was tensed for action, his face stern, jaw set and eyes narrowed. “Follow me and stay close.”
    He led her back into the hall, where flames now fully engulfed the ceiling. Doing her best to shield the toddler in her arms, pushing his face against her shoulder, Andi made it to the top of the stairs and sprinted down, staying close to Deverane. Sadu clung to her for dear life. In the foyer, Deverane held up a clenched fist and signaled her to wait while he checked the side corridor. She had to force herself to stay where he’d left her, listening to the great house creak and groan as the fire attacked its supporting timbers. She was coughing nonstop by the time the captain returned, carrying a stack of dripping towels.
    His eyes streamed from the smoke, and there was a