The murderous, hungry way they looked at her as she rode past was an almost dead giveaway.

That and the icy sensation rippling across her spine.

Now that the harrowing part of her journey to the castle was over, specifically the part where Russel ran full out across the road, Lola could now focus on other things besides her own terror. Things like the weird sensation she kept feeling. It was impossible to ignore now. She wanted to, mostly because she had no idea what it meant, only that somehow, it was connected to supernatural creatures. That was the only time she ever felt it.

That wasn’t quite all of it, she knew. Supernatural creatures seemed to be the trigger but not all the time. When she first met Russel after she had trapped herself under a fallen tree, she hadn’t felt it then. It wasn’t until later, when he tried sneaking up on her, that she felt anything. What was different then?

There was something to that, she could feel it but with all the wild emotions still surging through her, she couldn’t think straight. A tiny scrap of something, an idea perhaps or a guess of some kind, floated up to the surface but it was too unstable to grasp and it flitted away, back down into the depths of her brain.

She didn’t have much more time to consider it anyway. Russel and his brothers had come to the focal point of the city. The castle. It was situated about three or four levels above anything else on a massive rock formation. Guards and soldiers manned the immediate area but as the easily recognized princes of the king, they were let through without question.

They passed through the castle’s first set of doors. They were massive and made from a heavy, dark wood that looked almost black. They went through a short hallway with slits on both sides of the walls and then went through a final door. They came out onto an expansive courtyard filled with tall, gorgeous fruit trees. They were completely at odds with the gray, dreariness of Oclan she’d seen so far. Past the courtyard and through another door, they finally found themselves in the main foyer of the castle. Lola was shocked to see the place was beautifully appointed, full of impressive oil paintings, tapestries, thick rugs, and beautiful fixtures and furniture. A grand staircase was in the direct center of the enormous foyer.

The brothers all stopped at the foot of the stairs and started to shift back. With their clothes shredded during the shift, they returned to normal completely naked. Lola had no desire to see the other brothers, however, she couldn’t help but let her eyes wander over Russel’s body as he returned to his human form. She tried not to make it obvious, at least, but she wasn’t sure how successful she was at that.

Out of nowhere, and completely silently, came a group of five human servants. Not one of them said a word or even really looked at Russel and his brothers. They just held out elegant, silk robes for them to take so they could cover themselves. The brothers took the robes without a word and didn’t even glance at the humans as they put them on but as Russel took his, he gave the human bearing it a quiet word of appreciation.

Once their task was completed, the humans left, just as silently as they entered.

“This is where you grew up?” Lola asked, looking around with appreciation. She had never in her life been inside any building as massive and impressive as the Polver family castle.

“It is,” he replied, keeping his tone neutral. He didn’t look at her when she asked that.

“Come on,” Roland said. “No talking. No stalling.”