Chapter 26

MELVIN’S POV

Niko hopped through the stairs immediately and I forced my body to follow him. If it was Ariel I had to get there on time and I would think of what to do next after I had seen her.

I hope I could save her. Goddess, tender mercy!

“Darius, where are you?!” Niko called out, stopping abruptly at the top of the first flight of stairs.

“Top floor, Niko!” Darius’ voice rang back.

Niko started up the stairs again. He was always alert. We got to the top floor in no time and I could already hear the hearts beating rapidly. One, two, three, four. I counted three different heartbeats, including Darius’ own, two especially beating very fast.

I could tell Niko was listening to the heartbeats too because we didn’t know the exact room they were in when we got to the top floor but he knew where to go just like I did.

We got to the room and Darius’ back was what we first saw. I looked down and noticed that he was standing over someone because of the clamped legs that poked out between his