“Excuse me,” he said, his voice hoarse.
I couldn’t help but look up at him: a man of no more than thirty years. Though his eyes looked like he had seen more than any hundred-year-old could have. From his features, he had once been handsome.
He reached his hand through the bars and stretched out his fingers to reveal a folded-up piece of yellowing parchment.
“I wrote this for my wife a year ago.” He unfolded the parchment to reveal a note etched with black charcoal he must have found near his cell. “I haven’t been allowed to see her since. The ogres who come in here to clean have always ignored my request. Please… you have kind eyes… if you could just give this to her. I need her to read this in case she or I… in case we don’t see each other again—”
The man choked up and fell to his knees. Tears spilled from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks onto the dusty floor.
“O-of course. I’ll take it to her right away.” I took the note from him with trembling hands. “What’s the name of your wife?”
“Cherie,” he choked.
I nodded and gripped his hand through the bars, hoping he could draw comfort from me even though I felt just as broken as he. I dropped the cleaning equipment and ran across the chamber to the hall next door.
The man is next door to his wife. He hasn’t laid eyes on her in a year. I couldn’t shake the thought away and it made me shake as I scanned the women’s cells.
“E-excuse me,” I called out, trying to steady my voice. “Which one of you is Cherie?”
They all looked around at me blankly, so much that I wondered if they had understood what I’d said.
“Please shout out if your name is Cherie!”
Silence followed again. Then a faint voice called out from the center of the chamber. “I can help.” A short blonde woman raised a feeble hand in the air.
I made my way toward her. “Cherie?”
She looked at me with hollow eyes.
“No. She died three months ago.”
I dropped the note and gripped the bars as my knees buckled beneath me.
Chapter 9: Kiev
After searching the island a second time and still having no luck, I decided that I had no other choice but to seek out the vampire. On entering the castle, however, I stopped in my tracks.
Sitting at the bottom of the wide staircase in the hall was a girl. She wore a long purple dress, her hands folded on her lap. She stood up abruptly as soon as she saw me enter and began to hurry away toward the other side of the room.
“Wait!” I caught up with her before she disappeared through the back door of the hall. I twisted her around to face me. She flinched but didn’t struggle. I stared down at her, taking in her appearance.
She was a plain girl. Light blue eyes, curly brown hair, and a soft, round face that indicated she was perhaps shy by nature. Now that I was closer, I realized that she was much younger than I had initially thought. She couldn’t have been older than eighteen.
“Who are you?” she asked, staring up at me.
“I’m a guest of honor here.”
“Damion never mentioned anything about any guests arriving,” she muttered.
Damion must be the vampire who took me in.
“My name is Kiev Novalic.”
Her lips parted in a gasp.
“Kiev Novalic,” she whispered. She eyed me closely for several moments. I tried to read her expression, and could have sworn that I saw a flicker of attraction in her eyes. Eventually, she composed herself and asked, “What do you want?”
“I… I’m looking for somebody to show me around,” I said. “I just arrived a short while ago.”
“Why me?” She looked up at me coyly.
“I doubt I’ll find a prettier girl here than you to keep me company.”
She blushed a little.
“May I?” I asked, holding out my hand.
She hesitated, but then slipped her arm through mine. We walked out the door, through the courtyard and straight toward the woods, in the direction of the beach. My mind worked furiously as to what my plan of action could possibly be. I knew I couldn’t use any kind of force, or she could disappear into thin air. I had to somehow convince her to come with me. I had to think of some excuse, some reason why I wanted to take her to Matteo’s island.
Once we were there. I had no idea how I’d persuade her to stay. But one step at a time. First just get her off this island.
In the meantime, it was vital that I keep her interested in me. She already seemed quite taken with me—for whatever reason, she was impressed with Kiev Novalic. And blushing at my compliment was a good sign that she was easily impressed. Much easier to get through to than that other witch.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Celice,” she replied.
“Are you and Damion the only ones on this island?”
“No. My two older sisters are here too. I… I’m… we’re witches. In case you didn’t realize.”
“Oh, really?” I said, widening my eyes. “I suspected you might be human… your blood smells so sweet.”
She exhaled, but from the smile creeping across her lips, she took it as another compliment. I bent down and breathed into her neck, inhaling her scent.
As we walked deeper into the forest, I placed my arm round her waist and pulled her against me. Again, she didn’t resist, but rather seemed pleased by my advances.
This might just be easier than I thought.
“Actually, showing me around was just an excuse to take a walk with you,” I said in my huskiest voice. “I think you’re beautiful. I’d like to go on a boat ride with you and show you my dolphins.”
She stopped short.
Damn. Too much too soon. But I don’t have much time. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to spend alone with her. I also don’t know if her sisters will be this amenable. I’ve got to give this all that I’ve got.
“But… I don’t know you,” she stuttered.
“Ah, but I think you know more about me than you’re admitting to,” I whispered. “Isn’t that true?”
“It’s true, I suppose… and if you’re anything—”
She paused.
“Anything?” I reached for her face and lifted her chin up toward me. She was hiding something from me.
“Nothing…”
“Tell me, Celice.” I ran my hands down her back, drawing her closer against my chest.
Suddenly she spluttered out, “It’s just that they always steal the best-looking men for themselves!”
She betrayed at that moment what she was—a hot-headed teenager. The second she realized how those words sounded spoken out loud, she looked mortified.
“Who steals them?” I asked.
“My sisters,” she sighed. “I’m always stuck living in their shadow.”
I lifted both hands to her face and caressed her heated cheeks with my thumbs.
“I understand how you feel, Celice. And do you know a way that they’ll never take me away from you? Come with me. Because I can’t promise that I also won’t fall for their charms…”
She looked agitated just at the thought of it. This girl is more desperate than a drowning cat.
“Come away with me, Celice.” I ran my hands through her hair and gently massaged her scalp. She closed her eyes and parted her lips. I pressed my mouth against the base of her neck. “Then I’ll be yours. All yours. And only yours. No one will ever take me away.”
She seemed so naive—so full of gusto to outdo her sisters—that she might have agreed to any proposal that came out of my mouth.
She was on the verge of answering me when two female voices shouted out from the distance. The voices drifted through the woods, from the direction of the castle.
“Celice! Girl, where are you? They’re back early! Come here.”
No.
No.
I looked at Celice. This really could be my last chance. Everything would be ten times harder once the vampires a
rrived back on the island. And I doubted that her elder sisters would ever approve of me taking her—they would be older and wiser, and would become suspicious, unlike this naive girl.
“Listen to me, Celice,” I breathed into her ear. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take you now. We’ll go somewhere we can be together. Alone. Your sisters will never steal me from you. I’ll be yours all day… and all night…”
I gave her the most smoldering gaze I could manage before pressing my mouth against hers and kissing her slowly and tenderly. I let my lips linger against hers for several moments.
If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.
I breathed out a deep sigh of relief when she said, “Very well. Have your wicked way with me… Novalic.” She grinned mischievously. I’d sparked exactly what I’d needed to in this repressed teenager. Recklessness. Rebellion.
As soon as she uttered the words, I scooped her up in my arms and raced toward the beach.
“Who goes there?”
This time, it was a male voice.
But not that of Damion.
It came from behind me. I whirled around to see a crowd of vampires walking toward us along the sand. The great ship that was The Black Bell was moored in the distance behind them.
“It’s them! The Lord and Lady!” Celice squealed. “Kiev, hurry! I can make us vanish if you tell me…”
But I no longer heard what she was saying. Her voice faded away into the distance. I found myself rooted to the spot. For the Lord and Lady had just swept back their hoods, revealing their faces.
I lost all strength in my arms and Celice tumbled to the ground.
If I ever truly believed that I was trapped inside a dream, it was then.
Chapter 10: Mona
I ran back upstairs to my room. I slammed the door shut and slid down to the floor. All the tears that I had kept pent up for the past few days came rushing out.
I had left my cleaning duties before Mogda had given me permission. If I am to be punished for it, so be it. I couldn’t stand one more minute in those dungeons.
I crawled over to my straw mattress and laid down my head, looking up at the damp ceiling.
What the hell was I expecting? I shouldn’t have expected anything less than this from these monsters.
I didn’t know what was worse about being in that place—witnessing all the misery, or the fact that I was powerless to do anything about it.
I realized that it was the latter. What tormented me more than the horrors that went on within the bowels of these mountains was that I had to stand by and watch. And in standing by, it felt like I was supporting their atrocities.
I couldn’t get that man out of my head. He must be sitting in that dark cell, waiting with his hands clenched for me to return and tell him that I’d delivered his note. I was too cowardly to go back there and inform him of the bad news. He would still be hoping that his wife was still alive and that he might one day be able to see her again. I supposed that it was kinder not to tell him the truth.
My heart leapt into my throat as a shrill scream echoed from down the corridor.
That scream made all my hairs stand on end. It made every nerve in my body tingle. It brought all my fury and frustration boiling to the surface.
I couldn’t contain it any longer.
“Elsbeth!”
I flung my door open and raced down the corridor toward Elsbeth’s room. It was empty. The sounds were coming from Dorian’s room. I pushed his door open and inhaled sharply. Dorian had his sister pinned on the bed, a blade poised in the air, threatening to strike her. She screamed and struggled beneath his grip.
“Stop fighting. I warn you, Elsbeth,” he hissed down at her.
I saw red.
Launching forward with all the force my body could muster, I threw myself against Dorian. It wasn’t my strength that sent him crashing to the floor, but my speed and the element of surprise. Before he could get to his feet again, I jumped down on top of him, knocking his head against the floor. I stamped on his back and crushed his hand against the floor with my heel. He cried out and released the dagger. I picked it up, and without a second thought, drove it right into the back of his neck.
Dark blood splattered everywhere as his life force drained from him.
It was only once he became still that I realized the gravity of what I’d just done. I looked at Elsbeth, and saw nothing but relief… which soon turned to panic.
“Come with me!” she whispered urgently. Blood stained my skin, clothes and hair. She grabbed my hand. “You must leave this place before someone comes.”
She ran to the bedside table and opened its drawer, retrieving a key. Then she caught my hand and pulled me to the edge of his room, where she moved aside a tapestry, revealing a narrow door. Opening it, she pulled me through and shut it behind us. There was a narrow staircase leading downward. It was dark, and Elsbeth ran forward with alarming speed. It was all I could do to not trip up and fall.
After several minutes, we hit a flat surface. She gripped my hand as she pulled me forward through a series of tunnels.
“Hurry!” she panted. “Faster!”
We ran for what felt like almost half an hour until finally we reached another door. She pulled out a key from her cloak and opened it. We both stumbled into the sunshine of the beach. Blinded by the sun, I staggered around on the sand, trying to scan the coastline.
“I have to leave you here now,” Elsbeth gasped.
“What will happen to you?” I asked.
“I’ll be all right,” she said. “But you must flee. As fast as you can! I don’t know how long I can keep his body hidden.”
I gripped her head and planted a kiss on her rough sweaty forehead before running off along the beach, trying to keep to the trees lining the border of the beach so that I wasn’t in direct view of the mountains.
I ran along the sand until I reached the spot where I had first arrived. I breathed out a sigh of relief to see that my boat was still moored there. I raced across the stony beach and leapt into the boat. Of course, I had no dolphins now. My only option was to grab the oars that were stored beneath the floorboards of the deck and begin rowing.
I rowed for hours, far past the point where my arms felt like they were burning off. I forced myself to move forward until the peaks of the mountains disappeared from view. By this time, I was on the verge of passing out. The oars fell limp in my hands and I lay stretched out on my back, gazing up at the sky which was beginning to darken.
It was becoming cold.
I had no spare clothes—and the clothes that I had were soaked with seawater and blood. I crawled to the cabinet at the front of the boat and breathed out a sigh of relief to find a blanket there. I stripped out of my old clothes and, now completely naked, wrapped myself tightly within the blanket. Then, unable to move my aching limbs anymore, I curled up on the narrow bench in the center of the boat and closed my eyes.
* * *
The sun shone down as we swam in the river. The handsome dark-haired boy surfaced with a small red ruby that he held out to me with outstretched palms.
“Come on, Rhys,” I said, shoving his hand away from me. “You can do better than that.”
He grinned, before diving back into the river and resurfacing with a sparkling round diamond. He took my hand and placed the gem on my palm. Then, still holding my hand, he pulled me into the river with him.
Before I could make sense of what he was doing, he ducked his head beneath the surface and pulled me down under with him.
We both resurfaced seconds later, gasping.
It was nighttime now. The moon shone overhead.
As we climbed out of the river, I caught sight of a group of witches huddled together over a large black metal pot. Whispering in hushed tones. All wearing black.
I tugged on Rhys.
“I don’t like these people,” I said.
He looked back at me. “Are you scared, Mona?”
Pride bubbled up within me.<
br />
“No,” I spat. “I’m not a coward.”
“Then come,” he said, tugging me forward until we joined the circle.
I gazed into the cauldron they were all gathered round. Reflected in the liquid bubbling was the image of our teacher—the head teacher of our school in The Sanctuary.
It showed her lying in her bed. One of the witches started whispering a strange spell. I’d never heard it before, but I could tell just by the sound of it that it was a chant forbidden to ever be uttered in The Sanctuary.
“Stop,” I muttered.
“What?” Rhys looked at me. “Just keep quiet and watch.”
Our teacher’s body soon began to writhe until she screamed out in pain as our fellow classmates continued to cast their spell.
The teacher shook violently until blood started streaming from every orifice in her body. She writhed for several more minutes until she became still.
I gasped.
“Rhys!”
He turned on me. “You’re a coward, Mona.”
“I am not!”
“Then prove it.”
The river and everyone around me disappeared. The next moment I was wrapped up in something heavy and dark. A cocoon. Just as I felt that I was suffocating, a knife slit through the thick substance directly in front of me, and a face appeared through the hole. Rhys, older—now a man—his eyes blacker than I’d ever seen them.
“Return to me, Mona,” he whispered. He was so close, I could feel his cool breath. “I only want what’s best for you…”
“No!” I panted, sitting bolt upright. “I can’t. Not again…”
It took me a few seconds to remember that I was on my boat. It was a nightmare. My hands were still shaking from the terror that dream had evoked in me. Beads of sweat dripped from my forehead. I pulled the blanket tighter against my shivering body. Breathing deeply, I tried to calm my nerves.
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