by Tricia Barr
Char stiffened.
“And why humans are so unaware of them.”
Kol didn’t feel the need to answer the question. Dragons kept track of each other. If one died in dragon form, the body was taken care of to avoid detection from humans.
“But if one lost only one scale, say in battle or an unfortunate accident...” In one quick motion, Draven ripped one of Kol’s stony blue scales from his side, not even bothering to make sure he took the scale from Kol and not Char. The surprise and ripping of his flesh was too much, and Kol let out a roar. Unfortunately, there was still no fire within to retaliate against the bloodsucker.
Draven palmed the brilliant blue scale, though it was much bigger than his hand.
“It’s almost like a stone,” he said, testing the weight of it. “It’ll last forever. Unlike you and your friend.”
Kol willed his fire chamber to ignite as he pressed harder against the lead bars in an attempt to break free. But his insides were cold, and the bars didn’t even groan with the pressure.
Draven handed the scale to Hair Gel behind him, before turning back to the dragons in the cage. “You might not know about shifter military plans,” he continued. “Your father is a smart man. But you’ve attended that fishbowl of a school for long enough that I’m sure you’re in the good graces of the headmaster? Oberon Rex?”
“Oberon?” Kol blurted. “You want to know about Oberon?” He was feeling hysterical, probably the result of the stinging wound where his scale was torn from. “I highly doubt you would have any interest in what Oberon Rex is currently doing.”
This got Draven’s attention. “Oh?”
Char cleared her throat.
“He isn’t in charge of the school!” Kol said, feeling like his voice was too high-pitched, even in his dragon growl. “My father is.”
“Interesting.” Draven rubbed the stubble of his chin. “I’ll have to look into the gryphon’s whereabouts.”
Char shifted uncomfortably next to him before he finally realized what he’d done. What would Draven do with that information? Was Oberon in more danger? Was the school?
Draven snapped his fingers at Hair Gel. “Take one from her,” he said, handing over the pliers. “Then shift them back and cuff him.” Draven pointed at Kol before turning to walk away.
“Yes, sir.” Hair Gel muttered.
Draven paused. “Also put the belt on him,” he said. “The one that shoots out lead barbs whenever the wearer speaks. He’s too mouthy for my liking.”
“Yes, sir,” Hair Gel said, with more enthusiasm than Kol thought necessary.
Draven hadn’t even reached the doorway before Char screamed.
Chapter 28: Myreen
As Myreen traipsed back toward the steps of the dungeons, inserting her hands into her rear pockets, she realized her keycard was no longer there. Fear instantly spiked through her at the consequences of losing it—in the dungeon, of all places! Draven’s daywalker spell would be completed soon, and she had no doubt he’d pay a visit to Kol right after. If Draven found her keycard down here, she’d lose any chance of breaking Kol out.
She raced back down the stairs, scanning every inch of the floor until she saw the shiny white plastic winking at her in the darkness. Flooded with relief, she knelt and picked it up, clutching it to her chest as if it were something precious.
“I don’t think you triggered the curse,” Char’s voice carried from down the hall.
Curse? What are they talking about?
Myreen told herself that curses weren’t real. And yet, neither were dragons and mermaids and spells that allowed vampires to walk in the day, but she’d encountered them, nonetheless. What kind of curse could Kol have triggered?
Myreen crept closer, hiding herself in a little shadowed nook in front of the first cell, and listened.
Kol’s hollow voice carried toward her, echoing cynicism down the hallway. “I should’ve stayed away from her, but I couldn’t. We became a thing instead. I even went to her selkie friend to try to lift the curse when I felt myself getting close. But it didn’t work...”
Kenzie? Kol went to Kenzie to lift a curse? And this curse has something to do with me?
“I saw the look in her eyes the instant the curse was triggered,” Kol said before drawing a ragged breath. “I felt it, and then saw the change in her.”
Myreen hugged her knees, staring into the blackness. What did this all mean? She continued to listen, trying to derive some kind of understanding. Kol and Char talked more, about his parents, how his mom loved his dad but wasn’t loved in return. And how Char felt the same way, loving Kol without being loved in return. Was that because of this curse they were talking about?
“Do you... love me?” Char asked, and Myreen held her breath as she waited for Kol’s answer.
There was a long silence, and Myreen’s eyes were practically bulging from her skull by the time Kol finally answered.
“I do love you, Char. Always have.”
And for the hundredth time at Kol’s hand, Myreen’s heart broke. She squeezed her eyes shut as the stabbing pain of rejection split her chest open.
“But I love her.”
Myreen’s eyes popped open, and for a moment, her heart ceased to beat.
“I fell in love with her... and triggered the curse.”
Love? He loves me? Could Kol still be lying? He couldn’t know she was listening, but maybe he just needed an excuse to reject Char’s affections. But she didn’t really believe that. Part of her wanted more than anything to believe he was telling the truth. Because a very big part of her still—
“I hate to interrupt, but you and I have some business to take care of, Malkolm Dracul.”
Oh no.
Draven was here! He’d sped right past her and she didn’t even know it.
She covered her mouth and stifled her breathing. If Draven caught her down here... She didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.
After mentioning how Kol had broken Myreen’s heart, implanting the idea in Kol’s head that what he was about to endure was somehow her wish, Draven drilled Kol about the shifter military. Myreen silently pleaded for this interrogation to end quickly. Kol was the General’s son, but Kol hated the military, avoiding dealing with it at all costs, and he couldn’t give Draven information he didn’t have. Torturing Kol over that kind of intel would be pointless, and possibly endless.
She heard strange sounds, then a familiar yellow fog filled the air.
No!
It was the same gas he’d pumped into the training room to force her to shift. She couldn’t transform into an ursa now! She’d expose herself for sure! Her only comfort was that she still wore the necklace. Maybe she’d be able to control herself.
But before she could fully process the thought, agonizing pain splintered across her back and in every bone in her feet. She clenched her jaw tight to keep a scream from slipping out as the transformation rapidly progressed. She squeezed her eyes so tight that her face hurt as her wings bulged under her sweater and eventually burst through the fabric, and her talons shredded through her tennis shoes.
In seconds, the nightmarish mutation was over, and she could once again take a silent, steadying breath.
It wasn’t her ursa that came out, but her harpy. Why? Was it because her ursa had been so closely under the surface that first time she’d been exposed to the gas?
She didn’t have much time to ponder, because an ear-splitting, pain-filled roar wracked the dungeon walls, and Myreen knew it came from Kol. Tears freely spilled down her face. The torture had begun. It was all she could do to keep herself from bursting in to come to his rescue. But this was a fight she couldn’t win. Not here in the heart of Draven’s dungeon with hundreds of vampires above that could be at his defense in a heartbeat.
No, she had to keep herself hidden and hear every horrible second of it.
“Shift them back and cuff him,” Draven finally told his lackey after a bit more interrogation. “Also attac
h the belt, the one that shoots out lead barbs whenever the wearer speaks. He’s too mouthy for my liking.” Then Draven sauntered down the hallway, walking at a human pace this time, no doubt so he could savor the screams as his minion tortured them further.
As he walked past her hiding place, he paused. Myreen held her breath. Did he know she was here? Did he smell her harpy scent? Could he hear her heart beating rapidly out of control? She was done for.
But after a moment of standing perfectly still, he continued forward. Myreen didn’t release the breath she was holding until she heard his footsteps fade down the hall and ascend the staircase, the door to the dungeon booming closed.
She got to her feet—or talons rather—and hovered in the shadows in indecision. Draven’s lackey was going to torture Kol further, using some device that would once again force lead pellets into his body. She couldn’t bear the thought. Even though she couldn’t use her siren voice on Draven, she might be lucky enough to catch his lackey off-guard and use her voice on him.
But she wasn’t ready to help them escape yet. She had no plan. Sure, she could get them out of the cell right now, but not out of the fortress.
There was a hiss, and green vapors rolled around the corner and filled her nostrils. She welcomed the rapid shift back to her human form, though she dreaded it for Kol and Char. At least in their dragon forms, they were more formidable. As humans, they were completely at the vampire’s mercy.
Metal clanked, and Kol groaned painfully, weakly.
That’s it! Myreen was damned if she was going to just stand here and do nothing while the man she... had confused feelings for... was tortured! She had to do something to stop it.
She spun out of her hiding place, strode up behind the vampire with way too much hair gel, and tapped him on the shoulder. “Stop,” she ordered, her voice deep, melodious and resonating.
The vampire froze in the middle of locking the second lead cuff around Kol’s still-free wrist.
Those were the first things that had to go.
“Remove those cuffs and slam them on the floor,” she commanded. “You will tell your master that the Dracul boy was stronger than you thought and broke them himself.”
As instructed, the vampire unshackled Kol’s wrists and smashed the cuffs against the hard floor, breaking them beyond repair.
Kol and Char gawked at her as if they’d seen a ghost, their mouths hanging open.
She ignored them and kept her eyes trained on the vampire, not wanting to break her concentration. There was a strange looking object at his feet, a thick metal oval with bolts at both ends. That must be the belt Draven mentioned.
“Now, the belt,” she said, her voice still musical and compelling. “Break it in the most believable way possible and tell Draven it was already broken.”
Without hesitation, the vampire picked up the large belt and jammed his razor-like thumb nail into the edge of the control panel on the outer wall, making little sparks fly and sputter.
Satisfied with that, Myreen commanded, “Leave and make yourself scarce until Draven calls for you, and only then will you report to him.”
The vampire robotically stood up and marched down the hall and up the stairs.
The dungeon was silent after he left, and Kol and Char continued to stare at Myreen like she’d just turned water into wine.
“Myreen,” Kol said slowly. His arms still hung awkwardly at his sides, but she didn’t have the means to heal him, not with the little amount of light in this place.
“I’ll come back for you,” she said. “As soon as I can. Kenzie and I will get you both out.”
With a newfound determination, she stalked out of the dungeons to find Kenzie.
***
The Grand Hall was a circus of celebration. Vampires and humans were dancing about, rejoicing in the victory of Draven’s new status as a daywalker—the only one in existence, now that Leif’s ability had been stripped. Scattered throughout the frolic, Myreen could see vampires locked in intimate embraces with their Initiates for a twisted kind of toast. It made her stomach turn, and she wondered if she’d find Kenzie in the arms of Adam.
She scanned the crowd, searching for the two of them. When she did spot Kenzie’s unmistakable bright-red bob, she was relieved to see that she was unaccompanied.
Myreen pushed her way through the melee—which wasn’t easy to do with vampires, and she was sure she ended up with quite a few bruises.
“Hey, Kenz,” she said.
Kenzie turned around, her expression giddy and her eyes glazed. She looked a little intoxicated.
“Myreen, there you are, I was looking all over for you.” Her speech was slurred, and she actually looked like she might fall over.
Myreen slipped her arm around Kenzie’s waist supportively. “Let’s get you to the kitchens. You look like you need something to eat. And maybe some coffee.”
Kenzie gave her a playful navy salute and allowed Myreen to escort her through the mob, and around to where the kitchen stood, which was thankfully empty. Myreen sat Kenzie at a table and raided the fridge for any protein-rich food, then brought them back to Kenzie, who promptly dug in.
“Kenzie, are you drunk?” Myreen asked bluntly.
“Who, me?” Kenzie asked with a mouthful. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Well... you can barely walk, for one.”
Kenzie swallowed. “Oh, that. Um...” She blinked hard and rubbed her eyes. “Have you ever been bitten before? Not like attacked, but... eaten, I guess? Vampire venom has a kind of... inebriating effect on humans, you could say. Adam doesn’t quite know when to stop yet.”
Myreen’s stomach lurched, and suddenly the food in front of Kenzie looked disgusting. Kenzie must have had the same thought, because she pushed the plate of food away, her face turning a shade of green. Poor Kenzie.
Myreen coaxed the plate back toward Kenzie, urging her to fill her belly, making sure she drank plenty of water between bites. Slowly, the color returned to Kenzie’s complexion, and the gloss left her eyes. When the loopy demeanor vanished, Myreen was confident the venom had worn off.
“Are you okay?” Myreen finally asked.
Kenzie stared blankly forward. “I just made the most powerful vampire in the world even more powerful, and I’m officially a snack. What do you think?”
Myreen put her hand on Kenzie’s back and began to slowly rub up and down. Neither of them said anything for a moment.
“I’ve decided to go with you,” Myreen said softly.
Kenzie’s face blossomed with hope as she turned her face to Myreen.
“Draven visited Kol just now, I guess right after you performed the spell, and I had to listen the whole time as he tortured him.”
Kenzie cringed, that hopeful blossom wilting.
“We need to leave before Draven decides he’s done with Kol.”
“I thought you hated Kol,” Kenzie said, a knowing look in her eyes.
“Yeah, about that. Before Draven showed up, I overheard Kol and Char talking about something quite interesting... Something that involves you.”
Those knowing eyes played dumb as they looked up at the ceiling evasively.
Myreen didn’t buy it.
“He said he asked you to break some curse for him?” she continued. “I need to know about it.”
Kenzie sighed. “He made me promise not to tell you.”
Myreen grabbed Kenzie by the shoulders, albeit a little too roughly. “Well, right now he’s inches away from dying. You need to tell me everything you know.”
Kenzie’s shoulders slumped under Myreen’s grasp. “Alright. So a long time ago, some pissed off selkies—my ancestors, if you can believe that—cast a curse on Kol’s family. Basically, whenever a Dracul falls in love, the object of their affection will hate them in return. It’s why he tried so hard to be Mr. Robot. But then you came along.” The corner of Kenzie’s mouth twitched, a sad sort-of smile. “He remembered that I was a selkie and tricked me into meeting hi
m to ask me if I could break the curse. For you. So I did. Maybe.”
Now everything was starting to make sense. All his hot-and-cold behavior, it was all because he was afraid he’d get too close and trigger the curse.
“Wait, Kol said it didn’t work.” Myreen shook her head. “He was telling that dragon girl that he triggered the curse.”
Kenzie shook her head. “I don’t know. I know we did the spell right, but when you said you hated Kol...” Kenzie shrugged. “But now... Well, why don’t you tell me? Do you hate Kol? Like, cursed to despise him forever, kind of hate?”
Myreen straightened her back and analyzed her feelings. Kol had used her. He lied to get close to her because his daddy told him to. Curse or no curse, anyone would be furious at someone for doing that to them. But did she hate him?
No. She still felt drawn to him, bound to him in some way. And the thought of any harm coming to him made her angry and sad and crazy! No, what she felt toward Kol wasn’t hatred; it was just the aches of a broken heart, one that yearned to be mended.
“I think that answers our question,” Kenzie said quietly. “He loves you, and you... well, I’ll let you figure that out.”
Which Myreen was still no closer to doing. Kol claimed to love her. They’d had quite a few wonderful moments together, but she couldn’t be certain which of those were real and which were an act. And sure, Kol had risked his life, attacking the headquarters of the most dangerous vampire on the planet just to rescue her, but he still spent the first half of their relationship pretending to like her just so he could report back to the general. Did any of this really make up for that? There was still the possibility that his father had sent him here to retrieve his secret weapon, and that it had nothing to do with his feelings for her.
She just didn’t know how to feel. But she knew she didn’t want to see him die in that cell. That was the last thing she could ever want.
“Either way, we need to start formulating an escape plan,” Myreen declared.
Kenzie nodded. “Yes. We do. Any ideas?”
Myreen pursed her lips, pondering. “Well, one. It’s gonna be tricky, but it’s the best chance we’ve got.”