Gloom's Whisper

by Sela Croft

  Chapter 5

  Logan

  I scoffed. “Loyal? Perhaps it is you that has forgotten the events that unfolded in the abandoned building. You were going to cut a deal with the Fae, our mortal enemies. You know as well as anyone that their one, singular goal is to destroy us. And you were bartering with them. You were going to give Callie to their princess.”

  “Is that all you remember?” Raulia shook her head. “Has she really skewed your perception of reality that much?”

  “Hold your tongue,” I said. “Remember that I am your prince.”

  My voice echoed off the walls around us. In the heat of the moment, I’d momentarily forgotten where we were and the dangers that our surroundings presented. Raulia grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me back, farther into the alley. We waited in tense silence to ensure that no one had heard our heated discussion.

  “Perhaps it is you who should remember that you are the prince,” she said. “You are the leader. We need you to lead us to victory, not on frantic chases through Fae territory in search of a human.”

  There was hesitance in her voice that I knew didn’t come from the perils of our situation. She wanted to speak her mind but feared angering me. She was right to be afraid, since the topic of Callie was one that could easily send me into a rage. Especially given that we still had no idea where she was.

  “I know who I am,” I said, turning to face her. “Believe me…I am reminded of my position, daily.”

  “You’ve changed.” Raulia paused. “Ever since that human girl appeared, you’ve become distracted. I don’t doubt that you still carry the burden of your crown, with all seriousness. It only seems that there are times when that burden becomes lost in the midst of another—protecting her.”

  “You are overstepping your bounds,” I said. “Be careful how you choose to proceed.”

  “This is the problem. Don’t you see it? I can’t even voice my well-founded concerns, without you becoming completely irrational.”

  “Irrational?”

  My anger was brewing again. But I was careful to keep my voice low, letting my body language communicate my emotions. My shoulders were squared, and my hands were clenched into fists. Raulia cowered away from me, to avoid my intimidating glare.

  “Look at yourself, Logan. You’re prepared to turn on me, because you’re so worried about what might happen to—”

  “Don’t!” I ordered. “Don’t call her the human girl. You know her name.”

  “What I know is that her presence in your life is clouding your judgement, and such could end up allowing the Fae to destroy Shadowland. You were so focused on losing Callie in the exchange, that you didn’t think about what alternatives could have been offered us. That’s what I was doing there. I was trying to do what was best for us.”

  “By giving Callie to the princess? There’s a reason why they want her.”

  “And now we’ll never know what that reason was. I had a plan, Logan. I knew what I was doing.”

  “You were betraying us!”

  “No, I was trying to save our world. The only betrayal was a personal one. I knew you wouldn’t see the advantage of creating a treaty with the Fae ruler, especially since that treaty involved giving up the… giving up Callie.”

  “A treaty? You really think she would have agreed to peace in our lands, in exchange for Callie? She wants her to use her against us.”

  “But how?” Raulia said. “And why? I wanted to figure that out. The princess trusted Dequan, so she would trust another. And I would have remained loyal to you. I would have…it doesn’t matter.” She threw up here hands. “That chance has long passed. We should be focusing on ensuring that Crystal City remains united. They need their ruler, more than ever. We need to return.”

  “I won’t go without Callie.”

  “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You have no idea what’s going on back home, and you don’t care. You only care about finding her. Let me take you home, and I will return to find her. Let the Fae have her, temporarily. We can deal with them, once we’re certain that we have the strength to do so.”

  I loomed over her, my eyes fixed on hers. I could feel my rage coursing through my veins. “I won’t do that.”

  All she’d said was true. It was something I’d struggled with, and I didn’t need an inferior bringing it to my attention. Her words infuriated me because, on some level, I knew she was right.

  I didn’t care about that, though. Not then. All I cared about was finding Callie. And I was not going to leave the Fae lands until I was reunited with her. I wasn’t going to be this close and just give up.

  “If anything happens to her…if I find her with so much as a scratch, I will be sure that you are the one to pay the consequences. Do I make myself clear?”

  Raulia didn’t flinch. “And if the city is in ruins… who will pay the consequences for that?”

  My heart pounded in my chest and my blood boiled. My frustration had reached a peak. My balled-up fist flew forward, crashing into the stone wall beside her. She didn’t move to avoid the impact, knowing that I wouldn’t strike her. But still, as the air around us filled with smoke, I feared that a physical fight might be the only way to resolve our differences.

  I stepped back and prepared to fight, expecting Raulia to shift into her wolf form. When she didn’t, we both exchanged a puzzled look.

  “It’s not smoke,” I said, spinning around. “It’s mist.”

  As the fog began to clear, a familiar figure stepped forward.

  “Noah,” I said. “There you are.”

  Noah walked towards us. “I’ve been looking for you.” Then he stepped to the side, revealing his companion.

  She had long, blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and couldn’t have been out of her teens. She was petite, but had confidence in her movements. She smiled at me, tossed a strand of hair over her shoulder, then introduced herself. “I’m Rosamon.”

  I sensed Raulia tense up. A low snarl filled the air as she moved forward, examining the girl.

  “Where did you come from?” Raulia demanded. “Who are you really?”

  “Raulia,” I said, pulling her back. “This is Callie’s sister. She’s been trapped here since Callie arrived in our realm.”

  Raulia eyed the girl suspiciously, but gave into my tug, allowing Rosamon space. She seemed relieved at this. I wasn’t sure if it was from being freed of Raulia’s glare or something else.

  But that wasn’t the burning question in my mind.

  “Where’s Callie?” I said, glancing at Rosamon, then Noah.

  “We don’t know,” Noah said. “At first, I’d hoped she was with you.”

  “At first?”

  Rosamon and Noah exchanged a look that made my stomach knot with fear.

  “We suspect the princess has her,” Noah said. “And that splitting us up was strategic, to give herself time.”

  “Time for what?” Raulia asked.

  “To enact her plans,” Rosamon said.

  Chapter 6

  Logan

  “Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Raulia noted, looking up at me. “What should we do?”

  “We have to find her,” I said.

  Noah furrowed his brow. “We do, and soon. We need to get back to our city—all of us.”

  Rosamon shifted her feet, her glance meeting Noah’s for a split second. Something passed between them in that exchange. There was an understanding that Raulia and I were not privy to.

  “Callie came here looking for you,” I said, drawing Rosamon’s attention. “She won’t leave the Fae realm without you.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we found her,” Raulia said, still eyeing the girl suspiciously.

  “Is it?” I said. “Because it seems to me that you don’t plan on leaving with us.”

  “It’s complicated,” Rosamon said, and exchanged that familiar glance with Noah. “But it’s not important, right now. What is important, is finding my sister.”

  “We know th
at the princess wanted her, because she has a use for both of you. Do you have any idea what that might be?” I said.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head.

  Her hair tousled about her shoulders, in the way that Callie’s so often had. But it was different when Rosamon did it. There was no scent.

  “I do know,” Rosamon said, “that Amalia—the princess—has taken her to her palace of illusions. That’s where she plans to utilize Callie to enact her curse and destroy the vampires.”

  “Palace of illusions?” Raulia said. “What is that?”

  “It’s a horrible place,” Rosamon said, her eyes big. “That’s where she gets into your head. She makes you see what she wants, and controls everything. She plays games with people lost in that place. Runs them through her mazes like mice.”

  “We have to get Callie out of there,” Noah said.

  Rosamon turned to look up at him. Again, her hair danced about. And again, no scent wafted through the air. Something was wrong.

  “I can get us to the palace,” Noah said. “But we have to go, right away, before Amalia discovers that we’re working together.”

  No scent. I remembered the way that Raulia had reacted to Callie when she’d arrived. Callie’s scent had been so strong, it brought even the most disciplined vampire to the brink of losing control.

  “You’re not really here,” I said, eyeing Rosamon. “You’re an illusion.”

  Everyone turned to face me, although no one seemed overly surprised. “I knew it,” Raulia snorted, and Noah sighed.

  Rosamon nodded. “It’s true that I’m nothing more than a projection of my self. I’m being held prisoner and cannot leave.”

  “How do we know we can trust her?” Raulia said, stepping forward to examine the girl again.

  “Back off,” Noah said, pushing against her.

  “Whoa,” Raulia said with a chuckle. “What is it about these girls that’s got you men all worked up?”

  Noah’s cheeks flushed and he shifted his weight forward, as if ready to strike. I lifted my hand, stopping him, and turned my attention back to Rosamon. “You said that the princess has the ability to create illusions, correct? Then how can we know that you are not merely a product of that ability?”

  “I understand your concern,” Rosamon said. “As I’ve come to learn that not trusting anyone around here is the only way to survive.”

  “She’s not lying,” Noah said defensively. “She is Rosamon.”

  “And you’re sure?”

  Noah looked from me back to the girl. Their eyes met again, in that way that made me miss Callie even more, and another moment of unspoken understanding passed between them.

  “I’m sure.”

  “Please,” Rosamon said, “you must believe me. We don’t have time to waste debating this. I am doing everything I can to help you—all of you. I will do anything I can to help you find and save my sister.”

  “She’s right,” Noah said. “We need to find Callie and get her out of here.”

  “I know you would do anything for my sister,” Rosamon said to me. “I can see it in your eyes every time her name is mentioned. You care about her. Please…find her.”

  Chapter 7

  Callie

  The princess hovered over me, her laugh dancing through the air around me. And the Redcap ogled me, like a piece of meat being served up for dinner.

  I took in the menacing nature of my surroundings, and a chill ran down my spine. My heart pounded in my chest and I ached to run, but there were no clear exits.

  The room was a dark and eerie place. It was devoid of shape, with no walls or doors to be found. The ground beneath my feet was stone, and the ceilings reached up so far that they were barely visible.

  I spun in circles, trying to take it all in.

  “She’s going to make herself sick,” one of the Redcaps sneered.

  “Give her time,” the princess said. “She’ll come around.”

  “And around and around and around,” another Redcap added with a chuckle. “Look at her go.”

  Their mocking annoyed me. It was just what I needed to find my courage and stand up to them. Spinning around one more time, I came to an abrupt halt, my eyes on the princess.

  “Where am I?” I said. “Where is my sister? Where is Logan?”

  “So many questions,” the princess said. “And not one about me.”

  “I don’t care about you,” I said and stomped my foot on the ground.

  My attempts to appear strong and defiant were coming out more like a child throwing a temper tantrum. “Just tell me where I am,” I said again.

  “You are in my palace. My name is Amalia. Thank you for asking. I am the princess of—”

  “I already said that I don’t care about you or who you are. I just want to know where my sister is.” My voice was raspy. I was no longer the child in the throes of a tantrum. I was the lost child searching for comfort, frightened and timid.

  “I do all of this for you,” Amalia said, moving toward me, “re-create the life you had, the one you miss ever so dearly, and all you can do is demand answers? Not even an utterance of thanks?”

  “Why would I thank you for that? It was horrible.”

  “So, I have a few tweaks to make. Perhaps I’ll get it right next time.”

  The princess continued to move toward me. It seemed as if she was floating, her gown billowing out around her feet. Her arms were outstretched, a smile stretched across her face. The expression looked almost painful on her.

  I backed up as far as I dared. I didn’t want the Redcaps coming after me, after all. “I don’t want to go back there,” I said.

  “Where?” she said, leaning her head to the side. “Back to Logan? But I thought you wanted to find your sister.”

  “I want to get away from you is what I want,” I said, mustering every ounce of defiance.

  She threw her head back and laughed. The Redcaps joined in, until the sound consumed the space and hung in the air like a damp fog.

  “Now, why would you want to do that?” she said, with her eyes fixing on mine. “You must know by now that I mean you no harm. I only intend to help you, Callie.”

  “Help me?” It was my turn to laugh, hysterically. “Why would I believe that you want to help me?”

  “Don’t you remember? When we first met, I told you I would bring you to your sister, and that is what I intend to do.”

  The princess was trying to distract me by bringing up our last encounter, when she had beckoned from beyond the mirror. It was an attempt to muddle my thoughts. During that exchange, I’d been lost in a trance, enthralled by her words and the awe of her presence.

  But I didn’t intend to fall prey so easily. “You have my sister, then? You took her, didn’t you? Like you kidnapped Logan’s sister.”

  I had her attention, so I continued. “You’ve been attacking and raiding Crystal City for years. And my guess is, all that commotion going on when I left was yet another one of your attempts to take Logan’s territory.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but I raised my hand.

  “I’m not finished. Ever since arrived, I’ve been warned about you. Logan has told me of your plans to take possession of me, to use me against him and all the vampires. I’ve faced one threat after the next. Dequan manipulated and kidnapped me for you, in exchange for some heinous favor, I’m sure. And then there was the last time I was in the Fae lands, when a Redcap tried to kill me with the help of his demon cats.”

  Amalia seemed surprised by my last statement; her composure faltered. But she recovered quickly and straightened up, with the same painful smile on her face.

  “One thing at a time, little one,” she said calmly. “As there is an answer to each of your well-voiced concerns. Dequan was driven by his own greed. He acted on his own accord, twisting an act meant to be good into something evil with his scheming ways and selfish nature. You needn’t worry about him any longer. He is being dealt with accordingly.”


  “Something meant to be good?” I asked. “Kidnapping me was meant to be good?”

  “Bringing you to me,” she said. “I didn’t ask him to hurt you, in any way. I expected that he would have explained everything to you from the start. If he had, well, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

  “What was there to explain? You want me so you can harm the vampires. You want to use me, and my sister, too.”

  “Even there, you’re showing your ignorance of the situation. You have no idea why you’re really here, do you?”

  “I know why I’m here.” I opened my arms. “I know why I’m in this horrible place…because of you. You took my sister from me then you took Logan. I demand to know what’s going on.”

  “Oh, Callie,” she said. “You have so much to learn.”

  Chapter 8

  Callie

  She was treating me like a child, the same as I’d been treated in the alternate world she’d created for me. Her condescending tone angered me. The guards who stood behind her caused me to reconsider any idea of acting against her.

  I recalled how powerful she’d been, even from the other side of the mirror. It wasn’t possible to attack successfully, so I’d bide my time. There would be a better opportunity for escape.

  “If I have so much to learn, then teach me.”

  Amalia waved her hand. “For starters, you’ve simply stumbled into a centuries-old conflict and you seem to think you have it all figured out. Hundreds of years of battles and hardships, and you understand it all after, what a week…two weeks?”

  I had no idea how long I’d been in Shadowland. It seemed much longer than that, though. It was as if I’d endured the harshness of the magic-filled realm, for longer than I cared to face.

  I lifted my chin. “I know enough.”

  “You know what they’ve told you,” the princess said. “I would have thought, as skeptical and wary as you are, that you’d have had the common sense to ask questions.”

  “I have asked plenty of questions.”

  “Not the right ones,” she said, her calm façade cracking just a little. Instead of trying to hide her shift in mood, she took a breath and said, “This is a subject I’m very passionate about.”