Fighting for the Lost (Sebastian's Daughter Book 4) (COMPLETE)

Chapter 13

I must have dozed off while I waited for them. The next thing I knew, Maria was kneeling before me, gently shaking me awake. I smiled at her. It felt like forever since I'd seen her, and after the incident yesterday...

"Are you alright, Selena?" she asked. "Why are you all the way down here?"

"I just woke up by myself and got worried," I replied. "I'm fine. I'm glad to see you're okay, though."

Maria smiled. "Nathaniel wouldn't dare hurt me. He knows that I could take him out."

I suddenly remembered that Maria was a Reaper. How had I forgotten?

She helped me to my feet. "Well, we should get you ready to leave. Finny can't wait to see you."

I felt my cheeks turn slightly pink. "I'd like to see him, too."

We made it back up to my room, where Maria helped me get ready to leave. I touched my mother's necklace around my neck, thinking back to that horrible nightmare Nathaniel had sent me. I blinked back tears, grabbed my charm bracelet off the table, and slipped it on. That was basically everything I had, so I waited for Maria, who took my hand and led me back out of the room and to the main hall.

Dad and Alex were there, along with the rest of the staff. I saw Samantha near the front, but with the others.

"Are you ready?" Dad asked.

I nodded, still staring at Samantha. "Is she not coming with us?"

"I can only bring along so many people, Selena. Outsiders aren't very welcome, where we're going."

"So then who all is going?" I asked, glancing back at him.

"Just me, you, and Alex. I sent Finny on ahead. He'll be expecting us soon."

"But what about Maria?"

Dad sighed. "Maria will be going back home with Peter. It's too dangerous to keep the boy with us, and she didn't want to leave him again."

I glanced at her with a frown. I understood her not wanting to leave her son anymore, but I worried about her. What if Nathaniel went back to their home and he tortured Maria by taking Peter away?

She gave me a sad smile. "We'll be alright. We don't even know where you're going, so he can't get any information from us."

I nodded, then turned back to my father. "So then if it's just the four of us, what difference does Samantha make? It's just one more person. She could help a lot. And it would be nice to have a girl there with me to talk to instead of a bunch of guys, no offense."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Samantha crack a smile. Dad sighed.

"Please?" I begged. "If Maria can't come, then Samantha should be allowed to take her place."

I saw Dad give a small smile. "I'll have a lot of explaining to do, but I suppose." He turned to Samantha. "Gather anything you might need. And do it quickly."

Samantha curtsied happily. "Yes, sir!" She ran up the stairs.

"Thanks, Dad," I smiled. He smiled back at me.

A moment later, Samantha was back with a small bag. She took my hand, and Maria released my other one. "Let's go!"

We started toward the door. After saying goodbye to everyone, I turned to Samantha. "You seen pretty excited. Do you know where we're going?"

She shook her head. "Sebastian didn't tell any of us that were staying. He didn't want them to be able to torture the information out of us."

That was understandable. Nathaniel would stop at nothing to find me, and if he had another demon helping him, he would easily be able to torture all the others.

We hopped into the carriage that was waiting for us. Alex was there shortly, and Dad got up front to lead us to our destination.

The road on the way was long, and I fell asleep leaning on Alex's shoulder. I awoke with a start when the carriage jolted to a stop. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and glanced around the inside of the carriage.

"Why'd we stop?" I asked tiredly.

"We're here," Alex said from beside me. He was staring out the window at what appeared to be a large manor. It looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. My mind was still fuzzy from sleep.

Suddenly, the door to the carriage opened, and the bright afternoon light burst through. I blinked my eyes at the sudden change, but soon adjusted.

Dad was standing there, smiling at me. He helped me out of the carriage, and I glanced back at the huge building standing before me. Suddenly, I realized where we were, and memories of trying to find it a few months ago came flooding back.

"The Phantomhive Manor...."

Dad smiled. "Yes. I thought this would be a very safe place for you. You may have to work to earn your stay, though."

I nodded. "He's not going to hurt you for staying away for so long, is he?"

Dad's smile changed from bright to reassuring. "He couldn't if he tried, Selena. Don't worry about me."

I glanced from him back to the estate. It was larger than I remembered, but the rest seemed the same. I glanced up at all the windows to the different rooms, and was easily able to locate the one that had been mine. The one I had jumped from when I had broken my wing what felt like forever ago.

"Let me go inside to make sure everything is ready. No doubt the young master will throw a tantrum about you staying with us. I'd rather you not see that."

I nodded, and Dad approached the manor.

Alex stood beside me, staring at the massive building. "So you've been here before?"

I nodded. "Dad's in a contract with the boy who lives here. This is where I found him after what felt like years of searching."

"Why exactly did you have to search for him?" Samantha asked, curious. Alex seemed to be wondering the same thing. "And how did you end up finding him?"

Seeing the genuine curiosity in both of them, I sighed, and told them my story.

(Hey everyone! So it's my birthday, and I wanted to give you guys an update, because why not? In case you haven't been follow, or simply forgot! I'm now officially 18! Where did the time go? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!)