by Sofia Daniel
“Who’s there?” I whispered.
“No one,” said a small voice.
“Shhh!” said someone else.
“Sorry,” the small voice whispered.
“I’m Alicia Stephens.”
“The Stryx brothers’ concubine?” said the voice I was beginning to suspect belonged to a first or second-year vampire.
“That’s right. Who are you?” I asked.
“We’re not going to say.”
“Are you hiding from the hunters?”
“They’re rounding us up,” said the young vampire.
I continued through the dark, my heart strumming a steady beat. Vampires couldn’t feed on frumosi without permission, and I couldn’t imagine a pair of young ones being able to mesmerize me into giving my consent. But they’d skipped a few meals and would probably be desperate.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Chrysanthemum,” she said. “Chrysanthemum Stark.”
“Are you here alone?”
She paused, and the other black spot shrank into the background. “Yes.”
“What happened to the other vampires?” I asked.
“They’re being kept in the kitchens in one of the storerooms next to the pigs,” she replied.
I nodded and continued toward Chrysanthemum and her friend. “How are you eating?”
“We catch rats and drink their blood,” she replied.
“You need to get out of the castle before they catch up with you.”
“W-we can’t,” she said. “The wolves are working with the hunters to trap us. It’s safer in these hallways because we can keep to the shadows and run away if someone dangerous comes.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
She cleared her throat. “Call Lord Dracula. He’ll kill the hunters and rescue us all.”
“I think Captain Tanar called him, but I’ll see what I can do to hurry him along.” As I approached the two young vampires, a tiny gust of wind told me they had used their superior speed to stay out of reach.
I kept to the wall with my hand on its rough surface, feeling for a door or a corner. Were Gates or Raphael watching out for me?
Moments later, a door creaked open, and a figure about my height with brighter-than-average chakras emerged. They were average-sized, but that didn’t mean they didn’t belong to a hunter. My heart quickened, and I curled my fists, wishing I had transferred the dagger in my knocker dress to my blazer.
“You drank the bloodroot,” said the voice of the onion woman.
My shoulders sagged with relief. “Did you see what happened in the ballroom?”
“No.”
“Zarah sucked the life-force out of a girl who didn’t drink the bloodroot.”
The onion woman didn’t reply for several moments. Probably because she realized I’d had no choice but to drink the bloodroot or end up a colorless husk.
I was about to ask why her chakras were so bright when she said, “You’d better come with me.”
We walked through a hallway and down another darkened staircase to a passageway whose floors seemed to be lined with rotten pieces of wood which creaked under each step. The walls here were narrower than the previous hallway, and I kept both hands on their cool plaster surface in case the wood rotted away underfoot.
The onion woman opened the door to a dimly lit storeroom and ushered me inside. It stretched twice the size of the cupboard I had used to hide in my first term, but a few thick, leather tomes lay sideways on its shelves.
She kicked a pair of cushions to the center of the storeroom and sat. “This is a bloody mess. You know that?”
“Yes.” I lowered myself into a cushion and crossed my legs.
“You should have killed Zarah,” she snapped. “Instead, you released her into the wild to bring a hoard of hunters. Not just any hunters, mind you, but Radu himself!”
I clenched my teeth and swallowed back an angry retort. What did she think I was, an oracle? “I wasn’t to know Zarah would come in contact with hunters. She was supposed to be vamp struck. The worst I thought would happen was that she’d end up being bitten and turned back into a blood whore.”
The onion woman struck a match and placed it to the wick of an oil lamp, filling the room with light. Angry lines etched her face. “Perhaps.”
My nostrils flared. There was no perhaps about it, but I wasn’t about to argue with her when she was my best chance of defeating the hunters. “We need to sabotage Radu. Do you know his weaknesses?”
“None,” she said. “He’s overcome them by drinking the blood of powerful vampires to extend his life.”
“And by stealing frumosi life-force,” I added.
“Bloody hell.” She rubbed her temples.
“Do you think Dracula and his guards can fight them?”
“Ha!” The onion woman sat back and rested her palms on the end of the cushion. “This entire academy was set up to protect young vampires from Radu and to create an army of day-walkers to battle the hunters. Radu is decades ahead of his brother.”
“There has to be something,” I said. “What about Lord Stryx or Lord Lilin?”
She nodded. “Powerful, ancient vampires who predate Dracula, but they won’t lift a finger when they dwell behind magically protected kingdoms.”
“What about poison?” I asked. “We can—”
“I have a plan,” she said.
My eyes bulged. “Already?”
“It’s been in the working for the past fifteen years,” she said, sounding offended. “I know how to defeat Dracula, and I think it will also work on Radu.”
Excitement quickened my pulse, and hope sprung in my chest. I placed both hands on my knees and leaned forward. “What can I do to help?”
“First of all, you need to bond with those boys of yours as soon as possible.”
“Right.” My brows drew together. “They’re injured.”
“You have everything you need to heal them between your legs.”
Heat rose to my cheeks as recent memories resurfaced of Gates talking dirty in my ear and making me squirt. Without his help, Raphael and I wouldn’t have been able to produce enough nectar to revive the brothers.
Shoving those thoughts aside, I focussed on the onion woman. “What’s the plan?”
She folded her arms and looked me straight in the eye. “I’m going to summon a spirit.”
Dread rolled through my belly. My experience so far with supernatural creatures hadn’t been great. Even the Stryx brothers, who had stolen my heart, had started as murdering, blackmailing assholes. I disliked the werewolves for their devotion to the vampires and despised the hunters.
I was about to question the wisdom of adding powerful spirits to the deadly minefield that had become our lives when I remembered something she’d once told me. “Are you talking about the spirit who gave Dracula and Radu their powers?”
The onion woman nodded. “That’s the one.”
“How?”
“The problem isn’t how,” she said. “It’s with what power. I’ve spent years building myself up with meditation and roots, summoning minor spirits to learn the name of the being who had met Dracula and Radu when they escaped the Ottoman Empire, but I’m not strong enough to summon it.”
My mouth dropped open. I hoped she wasn’t thinking of becoming a hunter.
“I need the help of another frumosi,” she said. “Preferably one with greater powers than me.”
“But they’re all loyal to Radu.” I leaned forward.
“Not them,” she said. “You, when you’ve completed your mating bonds.”
A gasp caught in my throat as I remembered Nero’s legend of the three vampire brothers who had mated with a frumosi woman. It had resulted in each of them being strong enough to fight Dracula and Lord Stryx.
“Why don’t we try it now? I’ve mated with Raphael—”
“It’s going to take a while to set up,” she reached into the pocket of her apron and pulle
d out a white string.
“How long?” I asked.
“I’ve got to steal vampire blood to write the runes. That will take a few days, and the incantation isn’t easy.”
I sucked in a deep breath. The plan sounded like it would backfire. “Will you make a deal?”
“Offer it Dracula’s soul. I know where he hid it.”
“Where?”
The onion woman didn’t answer, and I didn’t press. Given the rate of betrayal in the Sanguine Academy, I was surprised she was trusting me with the details of her plan.
“What will we do about the frumosi in the meantime? Radu is trying to turn us all into hunters.”
“I’ll have to complete the summoning circle before you all start thirsting for vampire blood.”
A shudder ran down my spine. “What happens if we drink it?”
“You’d better not. My parents told me it was the final stage of becoming a hunter.”
“We might not have a choice. If we don’t do what Radu says, he’ll absorb us.”
Clenching her jaw, she leaned across to the shelves and pulled open a heavy tome. “Then I’d better get to work right now. Remember, I won’t be able to do this without the power you’ll gain from mating with those three vampires.”
“What happens if I start thirsting for vampire blood?”
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll become loyal to Radu.” She glanced at her watch. “What time’s your next lesson?”
“Dinner’s at seven,” I said.
“I have nothing else to share with you. Turn right at the end of the hallway and take the stairs. You’ll end up near the courtyard of the embracing statues.”
I pulled myself to my feet and stretched. Hope mingled with dread that I might turn into a hunter before the onion woman got a chance to complete her summoning circle. I would have to bond with the boys before they were completely healed and hope that the process negated the sun damage.
As I padded to the door, I said, “Radu’s imprisoned all the vampires, and he’s taking their blood. Is there anything—”
“Focus,” she snapped.
I flinched at the harshness of her words.
“If you get caught releasing vampires who aren’t at risk of being murdered, Radu or one of his people will have you killed. Or absorbed.”
She opened her book at an image of a circle made up of runes. “We’re working toward the big prize - Radu’s death and hopefully the demise of his lieutenants. Don’t waste that trying to save a bunch of worthless vampires who were happy to sit by and watch you become a knocker.”
I blew out a long breath. She was right. But it was hard to do nothing when hunters had turned vampires into livestock and the kitchen into their farm. “Alright, I’ll focus on getting rid of Radu.”
“Good girl.” She stood, walked across the small cupboard, and opened the door. “Now, be a good trainee hunter, heal those boys on the sly and form those mating bonds. I don’t want to see you until you’re ready to help me with the summoning.”
I stepped out in the dark hallway. “You said your parents were hunters.”
“I did.”
“Are they in the building?” I asked.
“They are.”
“Who—”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shooed me away. “Dracula took me from them and taught me to fear and despise their ways. I still hold those beliefs. Even after he took my son and had me turned into a knocker.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Be ready for the summoning.”
“I won’t let you down.”
My steps down the hallway echoed with a renewed purpose. From now on, I would have to harden my heart. I had an important mission. One that would rid the world of Radu and rescue the academy.
But the onion woman had brought up an interesting point. The vampires I wanted to save would likely turn on me once again for the murder of Micalla and the Preta twins.
I curled my hands into fists and hurried toward the stairwell. Where everyone was either an enemy or a potential betrayer, I would have to watch my every step.
Chapter 7
I opened the door to the stairwell and stepped into the dark, my insides thrumming with a mix of excitement and trepidation.
According to the onion woman, the spirit had offered Dracula and Radu power in exchange for their souls. Dracula had cheated the spirit by hiding his soul using a technique he had learned from Lord Lilin, and Radu had promised the spirit his soul at the end of his natural lifespan.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I placed my fingertips on the cold, stone wall for balance. Radu had also cheated the spirit by extending his life. From consuming vampire blood, or from absorbing the lifespan of other frumosi, or both.
Hopefully, the spirit wouldn’t double-cross us and decide to take our souls in payment for claiming Radu, but what other options did we have?
As the stairwell twisted around, a dark figure stood up ahead. I slowed my steps. “Who’s that?”
“The alpha wants to have a word with you,” growled a deep voice.
My stomach dropped, and I stepped back a few paces. “I’ve got nothing to say to her.”
“That’s not what she says.” The werewolf galloped down the stairs at an alarming pace.
A shard of panic sliced through my chest. I stiffened, bracing myself for rough handling. It wasn’t like I could outrun him, and I was likely to trip myself up in the dark.
He arrived in second, his musk and moss and matted fur-scent filling my nostrils and making them twitch. I cringed away from his hot breath and tried to make myself small, but the werewolf closed his mighty paw around my neck and lifted me off my feet.
My throat tightened, and I rasped, “Stop.”
“What’s that, little blood whore?” he snarled.
“You’ll kill me.”
With a snort of laughter, he slung me up in the air. I thrashed out my arms and legs in an attempt to right myself but instead landed painfully on his shoulder. Every square inch of air rushed out of my lungs in a single outward breath.
“Please,” I whispered. “What have I done wrong?”
He brought his hand down on my ass and gave it a hard slap. “The alpha will explain it all.”
“I’ll scream if you don’t let go.”
“Don’t annoy a werewolf who can infect you outside the full moon,” he snarled.
My muscles turned to mush. I didn’t know if he was spouting bullshit to frighten me into submission, but I couldn’t risk becoming a werewolf. Especially not when I still needed to heal and bond with Dante and Nero.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll stop fighting, but I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Tell that to the alpha,” he muttered.
I thought he would take me back up the stairs but instead, he ran down to the bottom and turned right, taking us away from the onion woman’s cupboard.
Crying out was an option so that she could rush to my rescue, but I didn’t know the extent of the woman’s power. Based on what she’d said earlier, it wasn’t as impressive as I’d initially thought. Besides, apart from what Gates had done to help me heal the boys, I hadn’t done anything to offend the alpha.
Where were Raphael and Gates? I thought they would look out for me, hoped they would jump out of the shadows and fight the werewolf, but neither of them appeared. My heart sank. Did that mean something terrible had happened to Dante and Nero?
The werewolf secured me on his shoulder with a large hand. It stopped me from bouncing about and hurting my middle as he raced like a loon through the darkened hallways. I might have been grateful if he wasn’t bringing me to his alpha. What did that wretched she-wolf want with me, anyway?
“Little slut,” he said between panting breaths. “I can smell your pussy.”
I clenched my teeth and squeezed my knees together, not in the slightest bit turned on by his stench.
> Several moments later, he ran up a slope, and we arrived close to a burbling stream. Sunlight streamed through my eyelids, and I inhaled the scent of pine mingled with fresh water, a welcome change from the werewolf’s strong musk.
The sun hung low in the sky, its orange light streaming through the canopy and elongating our shadows.
“Nearly there,” he said in a voice that implied I had been impatient to meet his alpha.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
He walked through a thicket of gorse and into the clearing which housed the log cabin. I raised my head. This time, no werewolves were hanging around outside. I wondered if they were all busy doing the hunters’ bidding.
At the threshold, the werewolf set me on my feet and pushed open the door. Around a table large enough for twelve sat the white-haired alpha, picking her nails with a curved dagger that reminded me of the one Lady Mantis had pointed at my eye.
Ten males, some of whom I recognized from my previous encounter, stood to attention at the walls. They all wore jeans and denim jackets.
“The blood whore.” He shoved me in the back, sending me stumbling into the cabin and falling stomach-first into the table. “Just like you asked.”
She gave him an absent nod. “Take your place among your brothers.” A heartbeat later, she turned her sharp, amber eyes on me. “Where is the boy?”
Straightening, I drew my brows together and braced myself on the wood. “Boy?”
“Gates.”
“The last time I saw him was about a day ago at the wards.”
She slammed the butt of the dagger on the table, making my heart leap like a jumping bean. “Do not lie to me, blood whore! I smell him on you.”
“Because he carried me to the wards,” I said in a small voice. Since I had showered immediately after he had helped me produce nectar and that musky brute had carried me for several minutes, I doubted that she could really tell that I’d recently seen Gates.
The alpha placed her palms on the tabletop and leaned back in her seat. “You’re going to do us a favor.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“An escape from this shit hole.”
“Pardon?”