by R. L. Perez
Leo’s lips pressed together, and his eyes danced with amusement. I got the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh at me.
I leveled a hard stare at him. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s amusing how many times I must remind you that most of us are vampires in this coven. We don’t sleep. And many of us are uncomfortable in the sunlight.” He gestured toward the bed and the light filtering through the ceiling. “This is our guest room.”
I dropped my arms. “Oh.” Embarrassment washed over me, warming my face and bringing with it a twinge of annoyance. “And does your shapeshifting vampire clan get many guests?” I raised my eyebrows.
Leo’s face sobered. “We used to.”
All feeling fled from me, leaving me cold and empty. Oh. Before the time loop, he means. Before he lost his brother and his sister.
Ronaldo. I straightened, suddenly remembering. “Leo, I . . . I met your brother.”
Leo went very still, his dark eyes boring into mine. “Ronaldo?” he said softly.
I nodded.
In just a few strides, Leo emerged from the shadows until he stood only a few feet in front of me. Sunlight blazed on his face, and his jaw went rigid. His fingers clenched into fists, but he still stood in front of me, watching me. His eyes burned with intensity. “What happened to him?” His voice broke, but I couldn’t tell if it was from emotion or the pain of being in the sun.
My mouth opened and closed. I glanced up at the sunlight and pointed to him. “You don’t have to—”
“Tell me.” He stepped even closer to me, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.
I swallowed. “He’s dead. Or at least, I’m almost certain he is.”
Leo stared hard at me for several seconds as if waiting for me to say I was joking. “How?” he demanded, his tone icy.
I took a deep breath and told him everything—that Ronaldo had tried to rescue their sister. That Lilith had taken over, and Lucia’s body had given out. That Ronaldo was imprisoned and tortured. When I told Leo about how the Count and his mages had cut off Ronaldo’s legs, Leo swore and whirled away from me, running a hand over his face.
I stopped talking, waiting for him to process everything. Then, still facing away from me, Leo waved a hand and said weakly, “Go on.”
I told him of how Ronaldo had sacrificed himself to help me escape—how all the demons had come to my aid. How without them, I never would’ve made it.
And Izzy. I owed her my life.
When I finished, I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of those traumatic memories sink into my stomach, dragging me down.
“Why?” Leo said in a haggard whisper. “Why did he sacrifice himself? For you?” He practically spat the word.
I flinched. I couldn’t help it. Though I’d always seen Leo as my enemy, he’d been nothing but pleasant toward me. Flirtatious. Arrogant.
To see—and feel—such hostility from him was surprisingly jarring.
“The Count revealed to us that he was the one who cursed the city,” I said. “He’s responsible for the time loop.”
Leo’s brows knitted together. “Impossible.”
“He told us himself. He’s a Jumper.”
Leo cocked his head at me. “A what?”
I shook my head. “A Teleporter. He can get out of the city. But he chooses not to. He cast this spell to trap everyone here so he could find Lilith’s cursed witch. So he could find . . . me.”
There it was. The truth. I couldn’t hide from it now.
A small, insane part of me was hoping Leo would end my life right then and there. It was because of me that the Count imprisoned and killed his brother and sister. The Count had been looking for me the entire time. How many people had suffered because of it?
Leo straightened and lifted his chin. “If my brother saw you worthy enough to die for, then . . . I must offer you my assistance. For his sake. And for Lucia’s.”
I stilled. “You don’t owe me anything, Leo. I’ve done nothing to deserve anyone’s help.”
Half of Leo’s mouth curved upward, but the anguish lingered in his eyes. “On the contrary, Brielle. Lucia died because she wasn’t strong enough for Lilith’s soul. If I can help you in the ways I failed her, it will feel like I have . . . redeemed myself somehow.”
Something within me jolted, and it took me a moment to realize why: it was the first time he’d used my name. I tried to ignore how pleasant it sounded, rolling off his tongue with his accent.
“And if working with you will help break this curse,” Leo went on, “then I will feel the same satisfaction in regard to my brother.”
I stepped toward him so we were almost touching. “You aren’t responsible for their deaths.”
“Perhaps not directly. But if I’d done more—if I’d found a solution sooner—they might still be with us.”
His words struck a chord with me. If only I’d had the foresight, the wisdom to refuse Councilman Solano—to flee when he told me he was taking me away, I wouldn’t have ever come here. This city would never have been endangered. And I’d still be with my family.
But I swallowed down those thoughts, determined not to drown myself in regret and possibilities of what might have been.
“Leo,” I said in a broken voice, unable to look him in the eye. “You need to send me away. Lock me up. Strap me down or something. I’m the one responsible for killing innocent people, for destroying this city. You shouldn’t give me a damn guest room to sleep in.” I waved a hand toward the bed behind me. “You should chain me up! I’m a danger to everyone here.”
Leo stared at me. Something unreadable stirred in his eyes. “I would never chain you up.”
I shook my head. “Leo—”
“The Count may have believed you were doomed from the start. But I don’t. I didn’t believe it of my sister, either. I will find a way to free you.”
“And if you can’t?”
Leo said nothing. For a long moment, we watched each other as if waiting for the other to give in. To concede the staring contest.
But I knew why he couldn’t answer—because he had no solution. If I was doomed to surrender myself to Lilith, there was nothing he could do.
Except kill me.
Leo changed the subject. “There’s something I don’t understand.” His gaze grew distant, and the silver rings in his eyes glinted with the sunlight. “If the Count can Teleport, why didn’t he just apprehend you himself?”
I thought for a moment. “Because I wasn’t supposed to know about his powers. If he used them out in the open and tried to find me, people would know. Your coven might’ve found out. He couldn’t have that. He needs people to believe he’s as innocent as the rest of us with this time loop.”
Leo frowned. “Yes, you’ve said that before. ‘Time loop.’ What does that mean?”
I quickly explained the year that repeated itself and how Leo’s coven had finally broken free.
Leo’s face went pale, though his skin was already paper-white. “So, every year—for years, we . . . we never . . .” He broke off and swallowed. “Merciful Lilith.” He exhaled long and slow. “We knew he’d formed a magical barrier around Segovia, but we didn’t realize the entire city was repeating the same year over and over.”
“How did you do it?” I asked. “How did you break out of the time loop?”
Leo shook his head. “We were trying to find a way out of the city. Past the barrier. Using my research, we cast a spell, but we assumed it didn’t work. Then, we felt something. A similar feeling to when we enter the Castillo de Coca. We discovered he’d cast multiple enchantments—not just surrounding the city, but the castle as well. And we’d broken through the castle’s spell. So, we sent word through our spies, luring the Count and his men to us so we could attack the Castillo and investigate for ourselves.”
My brows knitted together. “But I found you in the armory trying to steal weapons.”
Leo chuckled and rubbed his jaw. “Yes, well . . .
we had other needs too.” His eyes flashed with amusement. Suddenly, he stiffened. His face went taut, and the veins and tendons of his neck popped. “Forgive me.” He drew away, retreating to the shadows.
Chagrin washed over me. He’d been in physical pain that whole time, and I’d just stood there chatting with him. Forgetting about his needs. Idiot, I chided myself.
“You must be Second Tier,” I said, referring to the pecking order of demons. When a demon performed a specific blood ritual, they Ascended to another Tier, tapping into more and more power with each Ascension.
“I am.” He paused. “Does that frighten you?”
“Not in the slightest.”
Leo laughed.
I cocked my head at him. “How old are you?”
Humor danced in his eyes. “How many years have I lived, or how old is my body?”
“Both.”
“I have lived for sixty-five years. But this body is nineteen years old.”
A jolt of surprise rippled through me. I tried to smooth the shock from my face, but he must have noticed. His eyebrows lifted. “You’re surprised?”
I shifted my weight. “A little. I thought you were older. I mean, coven leader, Second Tier demon . . .” I waved a hand toward him. “Your facial hair.” It had all been terribly misleading.
Leo flashed a wide grin at me. “I need the illusion of maturity to lead. To frighten my enemies. If they knew how young I was, they wouldn’t see me as much of a threat.”
I frowned and nodded, understanding the logic behind this. It was still jarring to know he wasn’t much older than I was. Well, his body wasn’t. But even his vampire years were a shock to me. I’d been expecting him to be hundreds of years old for some reason.
Leo exhaled. “Well, I will leave you to dress, Little Nightmare. Someone will fetch you for dinner shortly.”
The shadows around him rippled before swallowing him up, concealing him like a dark curtain. Then, a flapping sound echoed in the cave, and he disappeared, leaving me completely alone.
I stood there for a long moment, feeling like I’d forgotten to say something. Discomfort swirled within me until I finally realized what it was: I’d never apologized for attacking him. For abducting him. For interrogating him. And it seemed he didn’t harbor any negative feelings toward me for that.
Nausea roiled in my stomach at the thought. I felt vile. Like I was no better than the Count for the methods I used to get what I needed.
With that sour thought, I collapsed on the bed, dropping my head into my hands as regret and anguish smothered me.
31
Brielle
TO MY DISMAY, ALL THE clothes in the wardrobe were floor-length satin gowns. I chose the least conspicuous one—a black gown with gleaming silver buttons on the bodice. I fidgeted with the many layers of fabric until someone cleared their throat from the cave entrance.
I jumped with a yelp, whirling to see who the intruder was.
A woman stood leaning against the rocky wall, dressed in a blood-red dress with a plunging neckline. Her alabaster skin shone, even in the shadows. Her long dark hair fell over one shoulder in elegant tresses.
I swallowed, realizing my heart rate had picked up and my face was on fire. For one wild moment, I’d thought Leo had come back, and the idea of him witnessing my struggle with this damn dress would’ve been mortifying. Though I wasn’t sure why.
“You look as if you could use some assistance,” the woman said, her voice a low, soothing timbre. Her dark eyes gleamed with the same silver rings that Leo’s had.
I watched the woman carefully. I didn’t like the way she eyed me—like a predator. “I’m fine, thanks.”
The woman chuckled, pushing off the wall and striding toward me, her skirt sweeping gracefully along the floor. “Nonsense. I won’t bite.” She smirked at me, and I felt a chill race down my spine. With a swift movement, she took the gown and sifted through the layers. “Besides,” she added. “I’ve dressed you before.”
I stiffened. “You’re Guadalupe then?”
“I am.”
“Nice to finally meet you. I’m Brielle Gerrick.”
“So I’ve heard. Leo calls you Lady Pesadilla.” Guadalupe helped me into the gown and then spun me to fasten the buttons.
My eyebrows lowered as irritation prickled through me. Pesadilla meant “nightmare.”
Guadalupe laughed, no doubt sensing my annoyance. “He only behaves like that because your reaction fuels him.”
“I know.” That didn’t make it any less irritating.
Guadalupe tightened the strings at the back of my dress. Then, she patted my shoulders. “A vision.”
I gazed up and down my body and wrinkled my nose. “I look like an old lady at a funeral.”
Guadalupe cocked her head at me and frowned.
I shook my head. “Never mind. Thank you.”
“You know this is a dress ordinarily worn by commoners, right?”
I shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Guadalupe crossed her arms and looked me over. “Why are you here, Miss Gerrick?”
I fidgeted under her scrutiny. “Because the Count has to be stopped.”
Guadalupe studied me, her eyes gleaming. “No, I don’t think that’s the whole reason. You see, if you wanted to stop the Count, you would have just returned to the Castillo yourself. Why are you here?”
I sucked in a breath. “Because I can’t do it alone.” The words actually caused me physical pain. I clenched my fingers into fists. “Because I’m dangerous. And I think Leo is the only one who can help me.”
Guadalupe’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “Leo?” she repeated. Then, she laughed again. “You refer to him so informally.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Yes, well, where I come from, that’s the norm.”
“And where is it you come from?”
“Somewhere far away. Somewhere no one around here has even heard of.”
Guadalupe’s eyes glinted with interest, but she made no reply.
My stomach growled, and I grimaced. “Sorry, uh . . . do you know when dinner will be served?”
Guadalupe smirked at me, and in that moment, she looked just like Leo. “Most of us don’t eat like the mortals do. Are you sure you wish to be a part of it?”
Discomfort roiled in my stomach, but I lifted my chin. “I don’t expect your coven to pander to my needs. I can make do.”
Guadalupe frowned, looking impressed. “Very well. Follow me, Miss Gerrick.”
“You can call me Brielle.”
Guadalupe’s lips pinched as she suppressed a smile. “As you wish.”
Guadalupe led me back into the shadowy cave entrance, and I struggled to keep up with her loping strides. The darkness engulfed her almost completely. I squinted and barely made out the glow of her white skin that served as my only light. We weaved through a narrow tunnel, and my shoulders bumped against rocky edges. My feet ran into a wall several times, and I uttered many unladylike sounds in the process.
Guadalupe only laughed. “I forget how hard it is for you mortals to see in the dark.”
“I am not a mortal,” I grunted as I sidestepped another rocky surface. “I’m a witch.” Though I wasn’t entirely sure this was true. Most witches and warlocks could live much longer lifespans than mortals due to the magic within them. But how did that work when my magic was so broken?
Guadalupe slowed for a moment and sniffed the air. “You don’t smell like a witch.”
“I know,” I grumbled. Had Leo not told her I was cursed? I imagined that was a big piece of information everyone in his coven ought to know.
“I should warn you,” Guadalupe said, leading me onward. “Many of the demons here might not take too kindly to your presence. They know you’ve lived in the Castillo for a long time. They think you are a spy.”
I nodded, expecting this. “I understand.”
Guadalupe was silent for a moment. Then, she said, “This does not bother you?”
; “I expected Leo to throw me in prison as soon as I arrived here. I expected to be treated with hostility and suspicion. Of course it doesn’t surprise me. Up till now, this coven and I have been enemies.”
“And still you sought us for help?”
“I had no other choice,” I muttered.
The winding cave tunnels finally widened into a large cavern about twice the size of my room. Dim lanterns hung from the cavern walls. Large round cushions formed a wide circle in the middle of the room where several figures were seated. My stomach did a backflip. At first glance, it looked like the figures were wrapped in a sensual embrace, but when I looked closer, I realized they were vampires feasting on—
My stomach lurched forward painfully. The vampires were feasting on humans. I could smell the mortals—their sweat and excitement; the stale smell that meant an absence of magic. It was what most demons smelled when they encountered me.
The vampires were on their knees behind the cushions, drinking freely from the humans’ throats. Some humans were men, but most of them were women. Their heads were thrown back to expose their necks, and a look of pure ecstasy filled their faces as they lounged comfortably on the cushions.
They looked like they were hookers. Or on drugs. Or both.
Guadalupe, who stood a few feet in front of me, turned to see why I’d stopped in my tracks. The corners of her mouth quirked up in a knowing smile, as if she reveled in my disgust. She gestured to the few remaining cushions that were unoccupied. “Have a seat.”
“I—what—what’s to stop them from—” I stopped short, my words choking off.
Guadalupe’s smile faded. “We never feed from unwilling Donors.” Her voice was hard. “No one will harm you. Not unless they want to incur Leo’s wrath.”
My limbs were stiff as I shuffled forward, trying to swallow down my discomfort. Your dad’s a demon, I tried to remind myself.
But this was different. My dad was a warlock. He just practiced dark magic.
These creatures, however, were dark creatures. Feasting on humans was in their nature.
I shook my head, knowing that wasn’t the case for all demons. My dad was an advocate for law-abiding demons. There were plenty of them who didn’t kill or attack innocents. Perhaps this coven was like that too.