Kaelos' POV
*****
I didn't wait for the guard to speak again. I had already bolted off the throne and stormed past him before his lips could form another word. My blood was boiling, hot with irritation, and something else I didn't know how to name.
Celine's scream hadn't just been fear.
It had been grief.
Pain like that didn't wouldn't have left her lips unless something permanent had been lost.
Footsteps thundered behind me as I pushed through the winding halls of the Alpha mansion, scenting the air out of instinct. I caught the faintest trail of blood, old perfume, and something else… Something final.
'Death.' Damon commented in my head, causing my expression to turn grim.
Death had a smell. Some people liked to pretend it didn't, but I knew it too well.
I turned a sharp corner, nearly slamming into another guard who stood frozen outside Celine's quarters. My presence jolted him, and he stepped back without a word, his eyes wide with horror.
