“What do you want to know?”
“What don’t I want to know?”
I blushed. The music pulsated in my mind.
“Where are you the most ticklish?”
“Behind my earlobe,” I laughed.
“What would happen if I touched you there right now?” He smiled at me. “Would you laugh uncontrollably?”
“Go ahead—test me.”
“Maybe I will, but not now. I want to ask you more questions. I want to know more.” He paused and looked up at the light ball. “You’re scent, your smell—what is that?”
“It’s my own secret witch’s potion.”
“How do I open your secret?”
“The secret only opens for a very select few.”
“So how do I become one of the select? Do I have to make magical incantations? Do I have to walk through fire?”
“Yes, you’re going to let blood and swear an oath of eternal fidelity and service.”
He laughed heartily. “Yes, My lady, I will pledge eternal love and slavish devotion to unlock such secrets.” He held out his hand before me and released a water lily from his palm. It lifted in the air and he blew it at me. It turned to sparkling faerie dust.
My heart raced. Every moment with Shaul was like living in a delightfully magical world. I wondered if his was hearing the same romantic melody in his mind now as I was.
The night flew by. By daybreak, Shaul knew more about me than I thought possible. I was floating in the clouds as I lay in his lap while he stroked my hair.
“I have breakfast for you,” he whispered as a wry smile lifted on his unfathomably gorgeous face. He said some spells in Latin and a silver tray of exotic fruits appeared in his free hand. He spun it around on his finger playfully.
I laughed. “Pretty talented there. Aren’t you?”
“I’d say so.” His silky voice was confident.
He sat the tray beside us and fed me big, bulbous grapes one by one. The intense flavors burst in my mouth.
“Wow. These are really good.”
“Israeli grapes from biblical times when the Hebrews entered the land for the first time. The flavors are unheard of in our days.”
Before I could respond, we heard footsteps rushing down the dungeon stairs. One of the guards was on his way to the cell!
24
“Hurry,” Shaul commanded. We both rushed to our feet. “Go back to your cell.”
I was terrified we would be caught together in Shaul’s cell. If the guard found us together he would surely torture us and then find a way to separate us forever.
I heard the cell door unlocking. Quickly, I began to crawl through the wall. The door opened to Shaul’s cell.
“Up—off the floor.” I recognized Wardo’s voice.
My foot was still sticking out of the wall as he spoke. Quickly, I pulled it into my cell as I tumbled to the floor. My pulse raced as I put the stones back in place.
Still panting from the rush, I could hear Wardo’s voice through the wall over the faint music lulling my mind. “Yearly lice check,” he said to Shaul as I imagined him setting his lantern down on the floor. “Strip down for inspection.” He must not have seen me.
I couldn’t hear Shaul’s response, but then Wardo went into a rage. “How did you get this?” There was a clatter. It sounded like he picked something up and then threw it.
Shaul didn’t respond. Then I realized what was happening. Wardo must have found the silver platter of exotic fruits Shaul had magically brought to his cell. In the rush, he must have forgotten to make it disappear.
“Who brought this to you?” Wardo demanded. “Lucindean wouldn’t do it. She hates the inmates.” I could hear Wardo’s footsteps as he walked around the room. “We don’t have fruit like this in the woods. I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere.”
“I can explain,” Shaul said calmly.
“This is magic,” Wardo’s gruff voice shook slightly. “Only the serpent people can perform such tricks. I’ve seen them with their extravagance.”
I wanted Shaul to say something to make it all better, but he remained silent.
“You’re a serpent,” Wardo said in a shocked tone.
“Yes, I am,” Shaul’s voice was ironic.
Then Wardo screamed. It was unsettling hearing such a huge threatening man cry out like that. After that, Shaul hollered out. There was a shuffle. Then I heard bones crunching and then silence.
I was terrified. What had he done to Shaul? At once, I pulled the stones out of the wall and crawled through to the other side. I didn’t care about my life. I only wanted to save Shaul.
When I entered the cell, Wardo was laying on the stone floor next to his lit lantern with his body twisted something awful. He was dead.
I turned to Shaul in the dim light. For a flash of a second, Shaul’s body was entirely black and scaly. He looked like a cobra in human form with silver piercing eyes.
I flinched and coward away. But, a second later, his body shape shifted back to his usual gorgeous self.
I was surprised to see that when he was in his serpent form, he looked so much more sleek and stunning than the usual green serpent people I had seen. I wouldn’t say he was handsome, but he was impressive and fierce in a grand way.
“Shaul.” I rushed over to him. “Are you Ok?”
“I’m fine,” he said wryly, “…but he’s not.” He pointed at Wardo.
I didn’t know what to say. On one hand, I was happy Wardo was dead. I hated him for locking me in the black box way back when upon original attainment. He had mistreated my mother and he had brutalized me in this dungeon. I felt he should die. But, on the other hand, I was worried about what would happen to Shaul when the guards found Wardo missing.
When I looked into Shaul’s eyes, they were glistening. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” He motioned to the dead body on the floor.
I was surprised to see a smile spread across his face. “Do you like killing people?” I tried to speak nonchalantly so not to reveal the alarm ringing in my mind.
“Do snakes enjoy the bite?” He shrugged.
Fear rose up inside of me. “I really don’t know.”
“Are you afraid of me?” His voice was cautious now.
“Maybe I should be.”
The expression on his face was serious. “You’re right—you should be afraid of me.”
“You’re not the one I’m frightened of. I’m much more afraid of what the other guards might do to you when they find Wardo dead on the floor.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can take care of myself.” He laughed.
I felt queasy. “What are you going to do?”
“Eat him.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
“What?!” My chin jutted back involuntarily.
He laughed.
I remembered how I had been told that the serpent people eat human beings whole just as snakes swallow mice. “Are you joking?” I asked hesitantly. I hoped he was kidding because I didn’t think I could stomach seeing him swallow Wardo whole.
A crooked smile formed on his dazzling face. “I don’t care for dead food. If he was still alive it might be a different story.”
My eyes widened.
“I’m joking.” His tone was adamant.
“Well, that’s a relief. So, I don’t have to worry about you eating people alive?”
“No,” he chuckled. “That’s more my brother’s thing.”
“Ooh, really?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.” He looked amused with the thought.
“What are you going to do with Wardo’s body if not eat it?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t figured that out yet.”
My eyes widened. “You mean you just killed him without a plan?”
“Pretty much.” He sat down on the edge of the bathtub. “Want to take a bath together?” He smiled charmingly.
I put my hands on my hips. “Very funny.”
“She doth protes
t too much.”
“Taking a bath with you could cause hell on Earth.”
“Or heaven on Earth.”
“Earth could never be heaven without you. Either way, I lose.”
“You’re right—no baths.” His expression was ambiguous.
Even in the presence of a dead body, I felt light headed being near Shaul. I wanted to touch him and that frustrated me. “Can you make Wardo’s body disappear magically?”
“No. I can only make my own magic disappear.” He was contemplative.
“Maybe you can cover him with a blanket so we don’t have to look at him.”
“Yes, can do.” He waved his arms and chanted something in Latin.
An extravagant velvet jeweled blanket fell from the air and covered Wardo’s body perfectly.
“Wow. You treat your dead enemies well.” The covering was lined in huge diamonds and rubies with fringe and golden tassels.
“Why not go all the way,” he smiled facetiously and then said some more chants.
A huge tombstone appeared with massive stone angel wings extending from the top edge. White flowers of every variety bloomed up from the floor surrounding the deceased.
“Not bad.” I nodded in approval.
Shaul looked contemplative. “I’ll have to get rid of all this before the guard comes. But, when she does, I’ll tell her Wardo had a heart attack…”
I rolled my eyes. “And when he fell, he broke all his bones.”
He chuckled. “Bad idea.”
“Looks like we’re in a real bind here.” I sat down on the edge of the bathtub next to him, trying to ignore my racing heart, the music in my mind, and my overall dizziness from being so close to him. “When the guard finds the body, you’ll be charged with murder. I think the penalty for murder is public hanging.”
He looked at me with his entrancing silver eyes that bored into my soul. “I only came to this dungeon to get away from you.”
“Thanks a lot,” I said in mock protest.
He raised an eyebrow facetiously. “But, now we’re together all the time, so there’s no real point in staying here.”
“Do you think we can break out of this dungeon?”
“Because the cells are made of shoham stone from the Garden of Eden, I can only enter the structure, but cannot exit. The only way I can leave is if someone else collapses the stones. If you cry loud enough, I think you can destroy the building with one of your earthquakes.”
“I was wondering about that.” I looked at him inquisitively. “Did I create those earthquakes by myself or did you help me somehow?”
“It was all you.” He winked and I wondered what he meant by that.
“Oh.” I held my forehead in my hands for a moment trying to process everything. “If I created a big earthquake, wouldn’t the stones fall on us and maybe even crush our bodies?”
“I can manifest shields for us as protection.”
That sounded like a good idea to me. “Let’s say we’re actually successful and escape from this dungeon.” I looked at him uncomfortably. “Where would we go?”
His face lit up. “We could go anywhere in the world, but we both know, the only place we want to go is…”
“…to the lake.” I finished his sentence with a smile.
“We’ll live at the lake.”
“Won’t Mazen Tratzel and his army come after us?”
“Not if they don’t know we’re there.”
“But, what about my mother? We can’t leave her in Tratzel’s community. I’m sure she’s worried sick about me.”
“We’ll save your mom, but don’t be so sure she’ll agree to come with us. Remember, she said she would never allow you to go to the lake. She might not want to go there either.”
“You’re right. Why doesn’t she want me to go to the lake?” I looked at him inquisitively. “I can’t figure that out.”
“She must know something about your part in the Garden of Eden prophesy.”
“If she knows about it, maybe she’s afraid the serpent will not return the apple, but will eat from the Tree of Life instead.”
“I’m sure that’s a concern.” His expression was devilish.
“How could she know my part in that?” I shook my head. “She must know I am a josephine because she vaguely warned me about puberty. I just don’t understand how she knows all this. Who told her?”
His eyes were sparkling as he gazed at me. “There’s more to the story than you know. I have a surprise for you when we get to the lake.”
My eyes widened.
“You might not like the surprise.”
“Oh, no.” I was concerned.
“Then again, you might like it. We’ll see. You’re a complicated one.” He smiled and ran his finger across my cheek, which sent my body aflame.
I wanted to kiss him more than anything I ever wanted in my entire life. My body tingled all over. Just looking at him made me want to die to gain relief. The music was erotic in mind. I could hardly stand it.
He must have sensed my strong desires because he leaned into me and our lips touched tenderly. I felt light headed and euphoric all at once. His lips were so soft and the way he touched my hair made me yearn for him entirely.
Suddenly, the cell door flew open. In the passion of the moment, we hadn’t even heard the key turn. It was Lucindean, the woman guard with her electrical baton and whip.
25
Lucindean’s eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw Shaul and me sitting on the edge of the bathtub kissing with the grand tombstone, jeweled covering, and stunning array of white flowers before us.
“What is this?” Her voice cackled in alarm. “Serpents!” she cried. She grabbed her electrical baton and pointed it at Shaul.
He fell to the floor twitching in the strong electrical current.
At once, I started to scream. My voice lifted to the highest of pitches, growing and growing in volume at a rapid pace. I pushed the strong, massive woman. She stumbled forward in the motion of the earthquake and my thrust as the floor started shaking. The baton fell from her hand. It rolled across the floor as the walls began trembling something terrible. The woman tried to regain her balance.
Holding onto the bathtub for support, I watched Shaul stand up. He looked dazed. His eyes were glazed over, but he managed to keep a fairly steady stance. He reached for the baton. It fumbled in his hands as the building shook.
A beam from the ceiling fell just missing my head by an inch. I couldn’t stop screaming even though I wanted to. The sounds had somehow taken over.
Once Shaul had a firm grasp on the baton, he swiftly made his way over to the woman. When he reached her near the doorway, he flipped the switch and pointed it at her.
Immediately, she went into convulsions. Her body writhed and contorted on the shaking floor. Bile spewed from her mouth.
He dropped the baton, a rushed, but satisfied expression on his face, and grabbed a sharp edged stone that had fallen amongst some new formed rubble. With the rock in his hand, he swung his arm back to gain momentum and stabbed it fiercely into her eye.
I covered my face in horror, but the escalation of my uncontrollable screams threw my head backwards, making passageway for the ever increasing sounds which had reached astonishing heights. The noise lifted higher and higher out of my throat without my direction.
I managed to change my body position and get a steadier grip on the tub. When I looked at Lucindean, I saw that her face was covered in blood, her expression contorted in terror. She reached pleadingly at the air.
Shaul threw his hand back again as if to further ravage the woman with the sharp edged stone, but the floor broke away, throwing him back against the wall.
With Shaul out of the way, Lucindean tried to crawl out of the cell, but fell onto her back.
Shaul reached for her leg, but slid back toward me as the stone floor rolled in great waves now.
Regaining her position, the woman struggled to drag her body over the cha
os. A piece of the roof fell on her back. She didn’t give up. As she pulled her torso over the floor, the skin on her underside tore across the sharp broken edges of the stones. Blood gushed forth, but she managed in her relentless determination to make her way on out of the cell alive.
I thought about how much I hated her, Mazen Tratzel, and Jezebel Bradeere. The more I filled with hatred and pain, the more uncontrollably intense my cries became. The severity of thought was just what was necessary to collapse the building. I yearned for my mother desperately. With that thought, the structure thrust violently from side to side. I was terrified.
And just as it began to give way and fall completely, Shaul threw his body over mine and yanked the bathtub out of the floor and over the top of us.
I guess that was his idea of a shield. I was expecting something more supernatural and full proof, but I couldn’t even stop my screaming to say anything.
Stones and beams crashed down upon the ceramic basin, splitting it apart but still providing enough protection to keep us safe.
My screaming stopped and I heard Shaul chanting Latin faintly in my ear. I felt the rise and fall of his chest on top of me. His voice waned. I closed my eyes tightly.
He sighed and carefully lifted the bathtub pieces off of us, tossing the large sections over the sides of the rubble and refuge walls that had formed around us in the collapse.
I opened my eyes. Dust filled the open air. I coughed. My throat was dry. The destruction was shocking and marvelous to the eyes.
We were under the night sky now. It was amazing to be alive and in the outdoors after being trapped inside for so long.
The music was so much more intense and seductive now that we were outside of the dungeon. I yearned more than ever for the lake as the splendorous symphony played in my mind.
“Cordellia,” Shaul whispered as he put his hand gently to my cheek.
The smile on my face was huge.
He helped me to my feet and lifted me over a pile of stones to boost me out of the rubble. “Careful,” he said as I made my way to a more level surface.
I managed to stand up on top of the refuge as he made his way to me with such agility reminding me that he was anything but human. He held his hand out to me and when I took it, butterflies fluttered something wild in my stomach. Then at once they shot out of my body and into the air. I couldn’t help but laugh as we climbed over the rock expanse together.
Girl Possessed (Book 1 of The Girl Trilogy) Page 11