Noble knew Mordret's emotional signature well. It was unlike any other one she had encountered, and it was not one that she would ever forget.
'What is he doing here?'
Had he seen the flames and come to investigate as well? Although he had helped her with Skinwalker that once, he didn't exactly seem like a Good Samaritan who would show up whenever help was needed.
Leaping from the wall, the figure ran around the smoke and flames to join the rest of the group.
Only when he came into view, the handsome visage of the pale Prince of Nothing was nowhere to be seen. This man had thick, knotted hair and a sharp jawline chiseled from stone.
The only thing that reminded Noble of the mysterious Saint that had promised to help protect Ravenheart was the reflexive glint in his eyes.
"Master Neris." Naeve stepped forward to meet the newcomer. "You're alive."
"Neris?" Noble wasn't sure what to make of it. She covered the lower part of her face with her hand and ducked behind Aether and his current patient as she listened.
"I was thrown over the wall by the blast. I am back now." The man responded, out of breath. "Did everyone make it out alive?"
"You were the one we were missing! We were worried!" Ralia beamed.
"I was worried, too! I would be devastated if you were harmed." The Master gazed at the lady lovingly, but Noble could feel there was no affection in his heart.
The sirens around them faded, and two more individuals appeared at the front gate.
"We came as fast as we could!"
Noble had expected policemen or firefighters, but she was not only disappointed...
She was horrified.
The two Awakened who had appeared seemed normal enough on the outside– pleasant and welcoming even.
But inside…
'Mordret! They are both Mordret too!'
Noble knew that Coy could make a copy of himself, but this was something different. All three individuals were flesh and blood, and all had an identical emotional signature.
That broken, incomplete signature belonged to Mordret.
Yet the voice that answered Naeve was not one she had ever heard. And the two newcomers? They looked about as much like the handsome Saint as chairs looked like a table.
What was going on?
"Saint Vorn?" Naeve's eyes opened wider. "What are you and your son doing here?"
"I called them to help." The man called Master Neris answered for them.
Aether removed his hand from the newly healed arm of one of his companions to come to Naeve's side. "But they shouldn't be in the NQSC. When did you arrive?"
Vorn frowned. "Does it matter? We can discuss that when there's more time. We need to get out of here!" He urged, taking a step into the courtyard.
"The authorities are here now." Dawn shook her head. "We cannot just leave."
The younger man next to Vorn furrowed his brow. "You don't understand. The sirens have stopped because the enemy is holding back the officers. We need to go. Father has a way out, but we must act quickly."
"Our original escape route was blocked by the flames. Vorn's way is the only way." Neris's voice was full of pleading.
Naeve and Aether exchanged glances.
Nothing they had done today was going according to plan. They needed to act fast and decisively, but the third Saint and the most senior of the three was absent from their company.
Saint Bloodwave and the group with him had become unreachable shortly before the explosion, which only added to the mounting tension of the moment.
With their plan already off course, their options were limited. If what Vorn said was true, what other option did they have?
"It's settled then." Saint Vorn nodded. "Follow me."
'Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! This is all wrong!' Noble wanted to scream.
Her words seemed caught in her throat. Things suddenly made horrible sense.
The reason that Mordret had been able to take care of the Skinwalker vessels with such ease is that the process of possession and conquest was one he knew intimately…
Because he practiced it too.
The concern that Aether had voiced about people changing wasn't just paranoia or a general worry about the direction his clan was heading. The people of the House of Night may have looked the same, but that had actually become new people—or rather, a new person.
They were Mordret. And now three of those vessels had them surrounded.
For a moment, the fear in Noble made her want to pull on her tether. This wasn't her fight, and this was more than the simple warning that she had come to give.
However, she couldn't abandon the people she had just saved. Noble didn't know why Mordret had chosen to target the House of Night, but she was almost certain that if these people left with their fake compatriots, they would all die one way or another.
Only, how could Noble go against Mordret when he saved her life from the Skinwalker?
That was something that she would have to wrestle with later. The moment she looked into Rhode's innocent eyes, the decision had already been made.
"Your uncle thought he knew who was behind this. Without him, we don't know where to run. Where do we go?" Aether's low voice was directed to Naeve, but Noble could hear it clearly.
'Was that why they were meeting today?' Noble couldn't be sure, but she guessed that was one of the reasons. That would explain why the attacks happening all over the city coincided with this event.
Naeve opened his mouth to answer when he felt something slip around his ear. He kept his face neutral even as a voice entered his head.
'Go anywhere but with those men.' Noble spoke through the Memory. 'He doesn't have your best interests at heart.'
'Which he?' Naeve asked.
'All three of them…Neris and those other two. They are all him–' Noble grabbed her ear as a ringing filled it.
She dismissed the Other's Voice before her eardrum burst. Naeve seemed similarly stunned. Had he gotten the message?
A soft laughter filled the air as the gentle expression on Neris's face melted away. His mouth contorted into a familiar sardonic grin.
"Tsk, Noble. You almost had me fooled. I did not think you would be so sneaky. Did you expect me not to notice you and that communication Memory of yours? Oh my. I should have gone with my gut and challenged you when last we met. Ah, well, you were interesting and still are. It's only too bad you chose the wrong side."
"What's he talking about?" Aether's wary expression was mirrored in the other members of the House of Night.
Another explosion detonated in the remains of the home. Noble wasn't sure if it was caused by Mordret or simply a coincidence, but the sudden outburst put the people around her on edge.
"Trust me, Aether, and don't fight it, please." Noble's eyes began to swirl.
She couldn't wait for his response. As the emotions of the three vessels of Mordret spiked, Noble latched onto the survivors around her and took to the air with all of them in tow.
All around them, the world erupted.