Violet noticed that the palace was invaded as quicker as a tsunami wiping away everything ahead.
One minute they were entering it alone, and on the next, a lot of the members that went with them were inside the building, making sure the guards didn’t stop the three of them.
Violet saw Lucinda fighting two men at once, Mark and Fiona putting some wood to lock the door, and Dave helping to take someone out of Lance’s way.
She didn’t know what to do. She was supposed to follow Lance to the hidden room, but suddenly the main lobby of the palace was crowded and full of people and wolves fighting.
Violet made one woman that tried to hit her levitate and tossed her on the other side of the room with a bump against the wall.
Lance also got involved in an one-on-one battle with someone Violet didn’t recognize, but something caught her attention at that same moment.
Jack was being attacked by three men and two wolves. He was surrounded by them.
Somehow he managed to distance himself from her and Lance, and Violet wouldn’t be able to get to him in time.
Closing her eyes to concentrate, Violet felt her supernatural energy coming out of her hand and forming an invisible shield around Jack.
The wolves attacked him, unaware of her protection, and slammed their muzzles on it, feeling disturbed as why they weren’t able to hit Jack.
They looked at each other, alongside the other humans around, like they had no idea what type of prank that was.
Violet wanted to laugh, but then something occurred to her.
She could use her shield to get herself and the other two to the hidden room without them being attacked.
All she had to do was to get near Jack and Lance so they could walk by her side.
But the place was a complete chaos. She didn’t know how the situation got out of hand so quickly.
There were guards and staff from the palace coming out of every single exit in the hall.
The entrance door was finally closed with an enormous piece of wood, which meant that nobody could come in anymore.
Neither allies. Which was kind of a bummer.
They would have to deal with the enemies without counting with anyone else from outside.
“Lance, Jack! Come here, I will use the shield on us.” she yelled, and it was a good thing she was still in her human forms, otherwise she couldn’t communicate with such details.
Jack and Lance glanced at her, and she had to wait so they could take a few more steps closer to her and she could extend the shield she had now around Jack’s body.
Jack looked at her, already aware of why everyone around couldn’t reach him, but Lance was having a hard time fighting the man.
As Jack walked towards her, Violet tried to focus and make the shield surround all of them.
It took her a lot of strength to do it, since she had to use more energy and also sustain the invisible protection while being attacked from every corner.
“We need to get out of here.” she whispered, as Lance entered the protected circle.
Jack nodded, already knowing what she meant.
He whistled, and some of the guards from the Rebels looked at him.
They had talked about that before leaving the mansion, so they all knew what was the plan.
Lucinda and the others came in their direction and started to attack and get the others far from their way.
Violet had her eyes now on the exit that Lance had pointed out to her. Once they got there, it would be easier to get to Arden's secret room.
All they had to do was hope that they wouldn’t encounter more people on the way.
Violet, Jack and Lance started to run, because Violet could feel a breach on the shield now.
She was getting tired to hold that around the three of them. She never noticed that the hall was so big like that.
When they were almost getting to the door, a man appeared right in front of it, and Violet could barely believe their lack of luck.
They were so close.
She stooped abruptly, but Lance continued to walk.
“It’s Jeffrey. Come on, he’s on our side. I’ve talked to him before we came.” Lance explained. “He's my friend and is helping us. Come on, you two!”
Violet thought that Jack would think it was a trap from Lance, but he actually surprised her by nodding and continuing to walk as well.
Jeffrey shook his head slightly and let them pass:
“Go on, I’ll stay here to guard the door.” Jeffrey said, closing the door behind them.
Disabling the shield, Violet let her arms fall by her sides, taking a deep breath, as they were now in a desert hallway. They should be safe for a while.
Lance was now taking the lead, getting in and out of hallways she had never really been to.
But Violet didn’t have time to analyze the path they were taking, she had to follow Lance without losing her focus.
Jack was right behind her as they got to a darker and cold side of the palace.
She could feel they were going to a lower level, although it was hard to say. The way didn’t have windows, and it was getting really dark.
“I’ve never been around here before.” she whispered behind Lance.
“Yeah, we are under Arden’s office. I think he might have a secret passage to this place, but I can’t be sure. It would take a lot of time for us to search though.”
Violet looked from left to right finding everything really interesting. It was a great idea indeed, to have a hidden room under his office.
But Lance was right, they wouldn’t have time to figure out where it was or how to open it. And there was something else they had to worry about. Gwen should be inside the office.
And they were doing the best they could to avoid meeting her.
After a few minutes going down, Violet started to feel goosebumps. She couldn’t tell if it was from the cold walls around them or if it was fear finally kicking in.
Suddenly, Lance stopped, and she almost bumped into him.
As she lifted her head, she could see a big wooden door at the end of a lonely hallway.
“There it is.” Lance whispered.
She looked back to check if Jack was still behind them.
“You go in.” he said to her and Lance. “I'll be right here guarding the door. If someone comes, I can stall them. Take care and call me if you need any help.” he suggested, already shifting to his black wolf appearance.
Violet nodded and looked at him for the last time, walking to Lance’s side after.
“Are you ready?” her brother asked, and she could sense the apprehension on his voice.
It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one feeling that, but they had to pull themselves together.
If they were right, they were about to face the man that had raised and lied to them their whole lives in a few seconds.
And she had no idea of how that would end.
