Gone: A Shadow Slayers Story (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 3) by Nellie Steele (best books for 20 year olds txt) 📕

not sit well with Celine. She viewed it as a sign that they were worsening rather than improving. While Millie assured her this wasn’t the case, she refused to believe it. Millie departed to make the necessary arrangements, leaving Gray and Celine alone with Damien.

Celine stood at the foot of the bed, staring at Damien. “He looks so peaceful,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Celine,” Gray soothed, pulling her into his arms. “Don’t cry. Millie said they weren’t worse.”

“But they aren’t better, either,” Celine lamented.

“They will be.”

“You don’t know that, Gray. For once, none of us does. I feel so helpless. They are laying there, and we cannot help them, not with medicine, not with our powers. We don’t even realize what’s causing this!”

“I agree this is frustrating. Alexander has come across nothing in his research to help, either.”

Celine sighed. She wandered to the side of the bed, sinking onto it. She rubbed Damien’s arm. “I want to help, and I don’t know how.”

Gray rubbed her shoulders. “Let’s let Millie help them. Perhaps we can discover something from her monitoring.”

Celine nodded in agreement, hoping the equipment was a blessing rather than a curse. They spent the afternoon assisting Millie in setting up a variety of items designed to monitor their vitals. Celine stared at the monitors set up, all recording different items, beeping and blinking various displays. She watched the heart rate monitor, counting with bated breath until the next beat displayed on the screen.

Millie also recommended monitoring Michael’s and Damien’s brainwaves. She wanted to log their brain activity to determine if there were any patterns. Celine gazed at the equipment, the various wires and tubes leading from Damien. She shook her head in sadness. “Please come back, Damien, please.”

Chapter 18

1812, London

Damien knocked at Michael’s door before breakfast. Michael opened it, standing back as he entered the room.

“Ha, I beat you today!” Damien joked.

“Yeah, I actually slept. Did you?”

“I did! I’m shocked. With the ball tonight and no plan, I assumed I’d be up for hours, tossing and turning, but I fell asleep and stayed asleep. Must have been all that fresh air we got yesterday,” Damien surmised.

“Mmm, yeah, all the fresh air.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I realize you don’t like the past.”

“Not really, but it was a nice distraction, I’ll admit that much.”

“Ready for breakfast?” Damien inquired.

“Yeah, then let’s try to piece together more of our memories.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

They met Gray and Alexander for breakfast. Gray planned to attend the ball with them, and Alexander offered them clothes to borrow. They agreed to attend and observe rather than enact any sort of plan, hoping the night provided them with more information to work with. With their evening plans settled, Michael and Damien withdrew to the sitting room to continue their discussion regarding their memories.

“Okay, how did we find Celine?” Michael questioned as they sat in armchairs near the fireplace.

Damien walked through his memory. “I remember her telling me not to come to the mill until Celeste was cured.”

“But we went anyway,” Michael answered.

“We did? I don’t recall that,” Damien argued.

“Yeah, we went with Millie. We were…” Michael stopped dead.

“What?”

“We hid until Gray and Alexander made sure no one was there. But you weren’t there!” Michael exclaimed. “Just Millie and I were there.”

“That can’t be true. Where was I? I wouldn’t have missed that!”

“Were you sick again?” Michael mused.

“No!” Damien answered. “No, I wasn’t! I was with Celine!”

“What?!”

“Yes. When I showered that morning, the Duke somehow let himself into my bathroom and asked if I wanted to see Celine. He said I had to come alone. So, I did. I met him by the cliffs, and he took me to Celine.” He paused a moment. “He walked out right through a wall… weird.”

“You met with the Duke?” Michael inquired.

“Yeah, I did. What the hell was I thinking?” Damien questioned himself.

“You weren’t. That guy is crazy. Like deranged crazy. I can’t believe you did that! I’m not that brave.”

“Yes, you are,” Damien countered. “And you would have done it for Celine.”

“I’m glad you regard me so highly,” Michael replied. “Okay, so you were with Celine. Yes, that’s right, now I remember. We went searching for you.”

“Yeah, and you spilled the beans to the Duke in the process. He was there when you came in. And Gray spoke with Celine, told her not to contact me because I was missing.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” Michael answered.

“Nope, it wasn’t. This memory is so clear now. No wonder I repressed it. It gives me the creeps even reflecting on it now. The Duke was furious! He screamed at Celine about betraying him and he grabbed her. I tried to stop him, but he threw me across the room. The next thing I remember is waking up in a cave with Celine.”

“Wow, sorry, man. That’s crazy,” Michael said.

“Anyway, Celeste was there. She said she was going to tell everyone where Celine was so they could rescue us. Did she?”

Damien furrowed his brow, trying to determine what happened next. “She did,” Michael confirmed. “She came to the house. Gray was concerned about me, but I was fine. It was during the day. So, she is cured!” Michael surmised. “Anyway, she told us, and we went to the cave to get you. But the Duke came. Alexander pushed me behind a tree. There was a massive fight. He almost killed Gray.”

“Yes, but Celeste somehow dissolved the enchantment surrounding us. And Celine was super mad and came out of the cave like a bat out of hell after the Duke. She told me to run as soon as I could and take you back to the house.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Michael agreed. “Did we run?”

“Yes, we did,” Damien confirmed. “Did we get to the house?”

“I don’t remember,” Michael confessed. “No, wait. The last thing I recall is turning around. Celine and Marcus both launched some kind of attack at the same time, and this big blue arc exploded from between them. It was coming right for us.