Free A Shade of Vampire 16: An End of Night by Bella Forrest

will help to soften things a little.”
    “All right,” my father said after a pause, reluctance in his tone. “So, Corrine, you will need to remove Rose’s and my invisibility now.”
    “Also, Corrine, stop suppressing their scent,” Micah said. “If the wolves can’t smell them, that will also make them distrustful.”
    My father appeared before me, and then I became visible as well. I walked toward him, but bumped into someone.
    “It’s me,” Corrine said.
    “Sorry,” I said, closing the distance between me and my father. He held out his hand for me to take.
    “Micah,” my father said, looking around, unsure of where to focus his attention. “Where is the entrance to the chieftain’s quarters?”
    “Make it halfway up,” Micah said, “and you will see a number of open tunnels. Start walking down one, and it will lead you toward the center of the mountain. By the time you reach the first chamber… well, you should have met with a wolf already. As soon as you see one, start explaining your reason for being here. Their first instinct will be to attack you, but do all you can to avoid shooting flames.”
    “Understood,” my father said. He looked down at me and nodded.
    A cold hand squeezed my arm. Then lips brushed against my cheek. “Be careful.” Caleb’s voice.
    “I will,” I said.
    Then a pair of cold arms wrapped around me. My mother this time.
    I rolled my eyes. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m going with Dad. I would probably manage even by myself.”
    My father tugged on me and we hurried toward the mountain. We looked around, wondering how to even start climbing up it.
    “Look to your left,” Micah called behind us.
    We did, and that was when we spotted the beginning of a wide jagged staircase, etched into the side of the mountain. The steps were wide and very thick—clearly designed for wolves. My father’s legs were long enough to climb them, but I found myself climbing them on all fours, as a toddler would. My father offered to carry me on his back, but I declined. I spent too much time on other people’s backs.
    I was feeling breathless by the time we were a quarter of the way up, despite my father and me having superhuman speed.
    We paused, looking downward. My stomach lurched at how high up we were. The wind was harsher; it seemed to be getting stronger and stronger the higher we climbed. As a particularly strong gust passed by us, I was afraid that I might be blown away. I gripped the rocks so tight my knuckles grew white.
    It was clear when we’d made it halfway up. The stairs gave way to a wide ridge and, as Micah had said, there were tunnels—lots of dark tunnels. I counted seven of them on our side of the mountain.
    “Which do you think we should enter?” I asked.
    My father pointed to the one nearest to us and led me through it. It was winding and narrow, though not too narrow for a wolf to comfortably travel down. The light outside of the tunnel soon disappeared as we traveled down several twists and turns.
    The silence was eerie, the sound of my uneven breathing only adding to my nervousness. I clutched my father’s hand tighter. The tunnel gave way to a large circular chamber with a high ceiling. It was dark, though unlike the tunnel we had just passed through, there were dim lanterns lining the walls. There was a strange musty smell that could only be described as wolf .
    “Hello?” my father called out. When nobody responded, he called out again louder this time. Still no sign of anybody approaching.
    “Micah said that we should have met one of the wolves by now,” I said.
    “We just need to keep looking,” my father replied.
    He pointed to the tunnel opposite us. I followed him as he crossed the chamber and entered through it. We passed along more twists and turns until we reached yet another, larger chamber. I could feel the damp of the walls, and it was colder here. I wondered how much further we would have to travel before we reached the center of the