Xavier bent to kiss Tess. The emotion between them was so deep and evident, Melly felt like she was witnessing something meant to be private. Turning away, she went back to her team waiting by the suite entrance.

Xavier joined them. The frustration and tenderness Melly had witnessed so briefly had vanished. He looked sharp-eyed, collected and calm.

He gave her a small smile. “Let’s go save some people, shall we?”

She turned to her team. “Now, we can go.”

They headed out. Melly, Xavier and Shane led the way, flanked on either side by guards. Moving quickly and quietly, on high alert, they swept through ominously empty hallways until they reached the castle’s great hall.

Unlike the Nightkind council chambers and meeting rooms, which were areas designed for smaller, more private assemblies, the great hall was a large space used for public gatherings. The design was classically simple and grand. The hall had a high vaulted ceiling, huge support columns, and a golden marble floor.

As they drew close, the sound of arguing voices echoed off the walls. Slowing, Melly, Xavier and Shane eased up to look into the large space. Four Vampyres wearing the black uniform of the Nightkind guard stood in a semicircle around a group of people who huddled back against one wall.

Swearing internally, Melly did a quick head count — there were over thirty in the group of prisoners. Most of them were Vampyres, but some were human, and a few were ghouls.

“… holding us here for hours without any kind of explanation,” a Vampyre woman said icily. She stood at the forefront of the group and looked furious. “I demand to speak to Dominic.”

“As I’ve already told you, Dominic is busy at the moment,” one of the guards snapped. “He’ll come as soon as he can. Then you’ll get all the explanations you want. Until then, you’re all staying right here.”

Melly recognized the woman. Her name was Annis, and she was a member of the Nightkind council. Melly exchanged a frown with Xavier and Shane.

Keeping his voice so soft it was a bare thread of sound, Shane whispered, “That guard speaking — who is it?”

“His name is Benet,” Xavier replied just as quietly. His gaze had turned hard until his eyes glittered like bottle glass. “He’s a captain who has apparently made some very unwise decisions. His three companions are from his unit. There’s supposed to be another council member in residence, Leopold, but I don’t see him in this group.”

“He could be in his suite,” Melly whispered. “If he is, he’s probably being held there. Dominic and Justine would be working to control and suppress movement. They wouldn’t want council members wandering about and possibly taking matters into their own hands.”

“Agreed,” said Xavier. “Neither Leopold nor Annis are warriors, but they have enough authority that people would listen to what they said.”

Shane nudged Melly’s arm. “I think I can take care of this without any of the prisoners being hurt. May I?”

She raised her eyebrows. “By all means, knock yourself out.”

He hesitated and his eyes narrowed. “It necessitates stretching the Queen’s orders a wee bit thin, so be sure you don’t get hurt while I’m busy, you hear?”

Impatiently, she waved that away. “I’ll be fine. Do it.”

He closed his eyes, and a shimmer of magic rippled over his body. Suddenly Dominic stood in front of them, his scarred, handsome face cold and assessing. He asked Xavier, “Will this do?”

Staring, Xavier nodded. “You’ve nailed him exactly.”

Melly stared too. She had heard of this kind of illusion spell before, but they were rare. They took a great deal of Power and training, and they were extremely difficult to maintain. They were risky too, as a strong wave of disbelief could dispel them.

She hissed, “Shane Mac Carthaigh, don’t you dare get yourself shot, because I’m not going to be the one to tell Mom.”

“This will only take a few minutes,” said Shane/Dominic. He gave her a faint, reassuring smile. “Be ready to follow up.”

He strode into the hall, conquering the distance to the group in a long, arrogant stride, while he held his semiautomatic in a loose, relaxed position at his side.

“Will you look at that,” Xavier muttered. “He even moves like Dominic. How did he learn to do that?”

She whispered, “Shane watches everybody and everything. He could probably impersonate any one of the Nightkind council if he had to.”

Xavier gave her a sidelong glance. He looked extremely thoughtful. “Good to know.”

In the great hall, the four Nightkind guards, along with their hostages, all turned to Shane/Dominic.

“Benet,” said Shane/Dominic as he approached. “Send your men to help keep guard over Leopold. You stay with me.”

Everything Melly had ever heard about illusion spells unfolded now like a textbook case.

People tend to see what they’re expecting to see, what fits the stories they know. They believe the evidence of their eyes, because it takes far too much effort for the brain to question every bit of information it accumulates. The more outlandish the illusion, the more difficult and fragile the spell became.

Shane was a clever, very dangerous man. This illusion apparently fit with the stories in the guards’ minds.

“Yes, sir,” said Benet. He snapped his fingers at the other three guards. “Go.”

They shouldered their weapons and headed toward Melly, Xavier and the Light Fae guard. Whirling at the same time, Melly and Xavier waved the Light Fae back. They retreated back down the hallway several yards, weapons trained on the open space in front of them.

Moments later the three Nightkind guards walked around the corner. As they came face-to-face with ten soldiers pointing guns at them, they froze. One by one they raised their hands in a universal gesture of surrender.

From the great hall, a single shot rang out.

In the split second that followed, while the hostages in the great hall screamed or exclaimed, Xavier raised his gun and double-tapped each Nightkind guard in the head. They vanished into dust, their weapons clattering to the floor.

Recoiling, Melly stared at Xavier’s hard expression.

He said, “Once a traitor, always a traitor.”

The Nightkind was Xavier’s demesne too. She didn’t question his right to execute the soldiers. It wasn’t her place to do so. Turning, she ran into the great hall, followed by the rest of her team.

Benet had disappeared, and so had the Dominic illusion. In his place, Shane stood with his hands up, his gun pointing to the ceiling. He was speaking calmly as he tried to deescalate the group’s panic.

Melly didn’t bother trying to talk over the hostages’ noisy reactions. Instead, she raced straight to Annis. The Vampyre gave her a wild-eyed look. “Melisande? What on earth are you doing here?”

Melly told the other woman, “I’m glad to see you’re all right, Annis. Evenfall isn’t secured, so we don’t have time for extensive explanations. Julian’s battling Dominic and Justine, and we’re here to help you get to safety. Get your people under control and follow me.”

Melly gestured her team back while Annis and Xavier worked to calm down the group. In short order, they headed back down the hallway toward Julian’s suite.

Annis joined Melly, Xavier and Shane. Melly told her, “We’re going to send you down a tunnel. There’s no real shelter at the other end — the tunnel lets out into the woods — but it’s shaded enough that it’s safe for Vampyres, and it’s a good distance from Evenfall. It’s the most safety we can offer you on such short notice.”

“It will do,” Annis said. She was a tall, spare woman who looked to be in her late forties, with straight black hair, stern features and gray eyes. “I want to know if we’ll be able to get cell reception.”

“I tried when we were out earlier,” Xavier told her. “It’s patchy, but if you search around, you might be able to make a connection.”