A Turn of Tides

by Bella Forrest

  I nodded, swallowing hard. “Thank you, Coen. I’ll think about it.”

  “You never know, it might help to take your mind off things.” He flashed me a smile before turning on his heel and vanishing.

  I stared at the empty space he’d just been standing in. I wondered if Brisalia might have put Coen up to seeking me out. I had mentioned Kiev briefly to her. Perhaps it had been her idea to give me a distraction.

  Whatever the case, I couldn’t deny now that I was desperate to start forgetting the vampire. Although the last thing I felt like doing was attending a party, perhaps I owed it to myself to go.

  I swam back to the opposite side of the gorge and climbed out. Drying myself with magic, I pulled on the dress and climbed back up to the bridge. I decided to walk the distance back to the palace. It would give me time to think about Coen’s proposal.

  I wasn’t paying much attention to the streets I was walking along as I made my way back. I was too absorbed with weighing up the pros and cons. But as I reached a particularly elevated area of the city, I snapped out of my reverie to realize I’d arrived at the end of my family’s old road.

  I shuddered as my eyes fixed on my old home. It was just as I’d remembered it—the gently sloping roof studded with crystals, the spacious verandas, the square lawn out front with a small toad pond in the corner…

  It took all I had to not break down again. I fought to steady my breathing and forced my eyes away from the sight, and onto the house opposite—Coen’s house.

  I hadn’t intended to arrive here. Hell, I didn’t feel I’d even made up my mind yet. But it seemed that my subconscious had decided for me: I was going to the party.

  Drawing in a deep breath, I walked up to the Brymers’ front door and knocked. Coen answered it after a few seconds. A wide grin spread across his sun-kissed face as soon as he laid eyes on me.

  “That was quick,” he said.

  I smiled sheepishly.

  “So you’re coming?”

  “Yeah… I’ll come.”

  “I’ll pick you up from your quarters later this evening, around nine o’clock. Which apartment are you staying in?”

  “I… uh…” My mind went blank. I hadn’t even noticed a number on my front door. “I’m not sure. It’s on the top floor. You could just ask someone when you arrive—”

  “Are you heading back there now?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I might as well escort you,” he said. Before I could even object, he’d stepped out onto the porch with me and closed the door behind him. He gestured toward the street. “Shall we?”

  I followed him away from his home and we continued walking together down the road. I looked sideways to see Coen stealing a glance at me. His cheeks flushed slightly as our eyes met and he cleared his throat.

  Coen Brymer was cute. That much I couldn’t deny.

  As we made our way along the peaceful streets back toward the palace, I couldn’t help but wonder if he might turn out to be the distraction I needed to take my mind off Kiev.

  Like I’d been the distraction Kiev had needed to take his mind off Sofia.

  Chapter 19: Micah

  Sitting still had never been something I was good at. I’d lost track of how much time I’d spent on the boat, waiting and hoping for someone to come and navigate it away, but now all I knew was that I’d had enough.

  Since the silence and boredom of the yacht was slowly driving me insane, anything seemed better than this—even risking my life.

  I managed to gather just enough patience to wait until night fell beyond the boundary of the island before I adopted my wolf form. Leaping from the deck, I landed on the frozen jetty. I threw myself into the nearest cluster of bushes. Straining all my senses, I tried to detect if anyone was within two miles of me. Unable to, I began running through the forest, sticking to the undergrowth and trying to make as few rustling noises as possible.

  I hurried toward the castle perched among the mountain peaks that loomed in the distance. On reaching the borders of the forest, I stopped. Once again, I utilized my sharp senses to evaluate the risk of moving closer to the castle. There were certainly a number of vampires and witches moving about within the castle, but I couldn’t detect anyone outside of it at this late hour. However, I had to be careful not to be seen. My dark coat stuck out like a sore thumb amidst this white snow. For that reason, I couldn’t take to the stairs. Instead, I left the shelter of the trees and bounded right toward the steep rocky slope leading up to the right half of the building.

  As I began to climb, I didn’t really have a plan. I just wanted to try to get some understanding of when the next batch of inhabitants would be leaving in one of the vessels. If I knew, there might be some way I could latch on to the vessel until it passed outside the boundary and then quietly slide off into the sea… Granted, I didn’t know what I’d do once stranded in the sea, but even that was a more hopeful situation than the one I was currently in.

  Fortunately, my body as a wolf was uniquely equipped for this terrain and the cold didn’t bother me. I was agile, even on the most treacherous of ledges, and it wasn’t long before I reached the base of the castle. I pulled myself up onto the narrow pathway that ran around the circumference of the building.

  I paused and looked around, straining my ears once again to hear snippets of conversations going on within the castle that might lead to a clue about when someone would next be departing from this place.

  There were dozens of conversations going on at once and they were all overlapping each other, so it was hard to focus on one. As the night drew on, I hoped that people would turn in to bed and there would be fewer conversations, thus making it easier for me to concentrate.

  I jumped down onto the rocks beneath the base of the castle and curled up in a nook beneath an overhanging rock, monitoring the conversations from this safer, less visible spot. As it turned out, I was right in my assumption that people would start going to sleep. What felt like a few hours passed and finally, I was left with only four conversations to decipher. One sounded like it was coming from the ground level—some argument about the amount of human blood someone was trying to consume—while the other three were drifting down from the floors above. As the argument on the ground floor faded away, I soon realized that the conversation on the floor most distant from me, perhaps even the top floor of the castle, was the most interesting.

  “How could we have run out?” It was the angry voice of Rhys. “I told Lilith we’d be ready to leave for The Shade!”

  A chill crept down my spine at mention of the island.

  “I’m sorry,” a quieter female voice replied. “Your palms were damaged much worse than I thought, and I underestimated our supply of mer-fin.”

  “What about the other two islands? Stellan’s, and our own back through the gate? There are kitchens full of ingredients there, Goddamn it.”

  “I already checked in both places. We’ve run out. I’ll need to make another trip to The Cove to retrieve some more.”

  Glass smashed.

  “And how long will that take?” he seethed.

  “You know that’s a question I can’t accurately answer. But while I’m gone, keep drinking as much were-blood as you can down. I’ll instruct Arielle to bring you a goblet five times a day. It will help to build your strength until I can brew up my potion again… I’ll leave through the gate now. And, Rhys, I promise I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Rhys grunted angrily as the conversation came to an end.

  My mind was still fixed on The Shade. What did they plan to do exactly? Were they finally going to attempt a full-blown invasion?

  At least, for now, it seemed that some time had been bought for the island.

  But how much?

  Chapter 20: Annora

  I had to admit, I thought that the night Caleb finally sank his fangs into me might have been my last. The hunger in his eyes was both terrifying and exhilarating. He drank deep. So deep my hea
d began to feel faint. But even as my vision became fuzzy, I didn’t struggle. I still clung onto him tight, beckoning him to take more of me—all of me, if that was what he wanted.

  But then he stopped. Wiping my blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, he staggered back, as far away from me as he could on the deck. His chest heaving, he turned his back on me and forced his gaze out toward the ocean.

  I could only take his restraint and self-control as evidence that he didn’t want to end me. I’d been right all along: he did still love me, and I just had to prove to him that I was still the girl he’d sworn to marry.

  I felt a sense of elation as I stood there, watching him struggle to control his hunger on the other side of the boat. His refusal to end me was the first step toward recovering what we’d once had. I’d survived Caleb’s initial attack, and now he craved me. Madly. Deliriously.

  I kept my distance from him for the rest of the night, as well as the following morning. I noticed him putting more effort into navigating us toward a shore where he could drop me off, though I could still see land nowhere in sight. In this old boat—unless we came across another ship—we had no chance of reaching land any time soon.

  He fasted for the entire day, but as evening fell again and I settled down to sleep in my corner, he approached behind me, grabbed my waist and pulled me back against him as he once again gave into his craving for me. I reached my arm around the back of his neck, once again pulling him closer, inviting him to take me fully, even though pain was shooting through me from his bite.

  But as he’d done the night before, he regained control over himself. I stared into his eyes—turned almost black with bloodlust—and brushed my fingers against his cheek. He flinched as I leaned forward and kissed his neck, and shot back toward the opposite end of the boat again, cursing and slamming his fist against the wood.

  But as morning broke, I woke up to a cupful of blood next to my head. A long metal spear lay a few feet away from me, its tip tinged with red. Caleb was nowhere in sight—though his breathing came from the inside of the cabin. I smiled knowingly as I lifted the blood to my lips. It was Caleb’s blood. He couldn’t afford for me to waste away now, or he’d no longer be able to satisfy his craving.

  He was addicted to my blood.

  Now, it was only a matter of time before he became addicted to me.

  Chapter 21: Rose

  I couldn’t keep my head above the cloth for long if I wanted to stand a chance of clinging to Bella’s waist. I found myself shivering. I didn’t know how high up the dragon had brought us now. A fierce wind whipped past us as it flew with breathtaking speed. The cloak was damp against my back. I wasn’t sure whether it was from sweat or rain.

  I dared not ask more questions now that we were so close to the dragon. I wondered if the beast had even noticed that it was carrying me along with Bella. Bella had said they ate ogres. I wondered if they ate humans too.

  I lost track of how much time had passed. Hours, certainly. I managed to peek out a few more times and saw nothing but a vast expanse of ocean beneath us. I was growing increasingly nervous as the time passed, because Bella’s arms seemed to be loosening around me, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep holding onto her without her support. I closed my eyes, shutting out all other distraction, and just focused on holding onto her.

  Even though I might have a better chance of survival dropping into the ocean than allowing myself to be dragged along to the realm of the dragons, dropping into the ocean from this height would be certain death. There was clearly no land for miles, and I had no idea what kind of creatures lurked within these strange waters.

  So I closed my eyes and held on tight. I was holding onto Bella so hard, I could hear every beat of her heart against her chest.

  Suddenly, the dragon began to descend. My stomach turned. There was no warning as the dragon swooped in what felt like a freefall dive. And the further we flew, the hotter it became.

  Bella grunted. I was about to peek out behind the cloth again to see what on earth was happening when the dragon jolted, pulling out of the dive so suddenly not even Bella could hold onto me any longer. Our grip on each other loosened and the next thing I knew, I was falling. I barely had a chance to take in my surroundings, much less scream, before my back hit the ground, my head slamming back against grass. I was lucky that it hadn’t been a rock.

  Groaning, I rubbed my head and sat up. Although my back ached, it didn’t feel like I’d damaged anything seriously. It seemed that I hadn’t fallen far.

  My eyes widened as I took in my surroundings. I was on the top of a hill. The sky was a clear blue—not a single cloud in sight—and a bright sun beat down on me. A few miles behind me was ocean, and spreading out in all other directions were ranges of hills and mountains, dipping down occasionally into lush green valleys.

  My eyes fixed on the group of dragons carrying ogres in their claws as they disappeared behind a mountain.

  Well, crap.

  What do I do now?

  I was away from the ogres’ nightmarish kingdom, but where was I now? Somehow, I doubted that I was any safer here.

  I figured that the first thing I ought to do was get out of sight. I felt so vulnerable on this hilltop. There could be another wave of dragons passing this way any time, for all I knew. Although my body was weak, I forced myself to scramble down the slope, toward the lush valley below.

  It seemed that the one thing the ogres and dragons shared in common was a mountainous realm.

  Dragons. I still felt insane just thinking the word.

  As I reached the dip of the valley closest to me—just a few hundred yards away from my hill—I realized that the green substance I’d thought was grass at the bottom was actually a swamp. I climbed down toward it and stopped at its edge. I eyed it warily, trying to figure out if there was any easy way to cross it or if I’d have to walk around it. I had to swallow a scream as what I’d presumed to be a mossy log opened two gleaming yellow eyes and began moving toward me. I stumbled back, reaching for the knife I still had on me and pulling it out as a giant reptilian creature began to crawl out of the water. It looked similar to a crocodile, with its long sharp tail and gnashing jaws, except this was three times as long and wide as any crocodile I’d seen. And much faster, too.

  As it scurried after me, its jaws snapped near my feet. I reached for the branch of a small tree nearest to me and managed to swing myself up just as its jaws closed on where my ankle would have been. I forced myself up as high in the tree as I could and stared down at the beast. It looked almost as ferocious as the dragons themselves.

  I stared at the creature with bated breath as it turned its head upward to eye me. For one terrifying moment, I thought that it was about to climb up the tree after me, but, snorting, it backed off and slunk back into the water. It certainly didn’t look like the kind of creature that would be able to climb trees.

  Great. Now I’m stuck up a tree. I can’t even get to the ground to explore without fearing that thing will notice and come chasing after me.

  Goddamn it. What is it with me and crocodiles?

  Only this time, I had to fend for myself. Caleb wasn’t around to save my skin.

  I cursed beneath my breath as I tried to find a more comfortable position perched in the treetop. It was hard to do, considering that the tips of the branches were laced with thorns. Once it was clear I wasn’t going to find a more comfortable position, I leaned my head back against the trunk, breathing out deeply.

  My body was aching for rest. Every part of me was beat. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and sleep, if only for half an hour. I was sure that I’d be able to think more clearly about my next move if I did.

  Gripping the branches and lodging my elbows between them so it would be difficult to fall, I closed my eyes.

  Unsurprisingly, I didn’t manage to sleep, though resting my eyelids did seem to do some good. When I opened them again, I felt a little calmer.

  I shift
ed in the branch, rubbing my eyes. I looked back at the swamp. The creature had resumed its place, playing a dead log as it waited for the next unfortunate passerby.

  I looked back up toward the top of the hill I’d climbed down from. Once I worked up the courage to climb down again, I’d have to backtrack and find another path to travel along—hopefully a less treacherous one.

  I was about to begin climbing down the tree, my eyes fixed on the swamp monster for even the smallest sign of movement, when I heard it. A strange, monotonous chanting. It sounded like it was echoing up from the bowels of one of the mountains, on my side of the swamp. The words were spoken by deep male voices. The words, the way they were pronounced, and the intonation sounded like they were being chanted by humans, or perhaps witches—albeit in some strange tongue.

  Bewildered, I lowered myself down slowly from the tree. The swamp monster’s eyes didn’t open, so I jumped to the ground and began scrambling back up the hill, casting glances back every few paces to check that it wasn’t following me.

  I was panting by the time I reached the top of the mountain where I thought the voices were coming from, and my mouth was parched. I crouched down low on the grassy glade, afraid that more dragons might come flying by. I scanned the area, trying to figure out where the voices could possibly be emanating from. As I moved forward, I spotted a crater. I crawled closer to the edge of it and peered down.

  My eyes were almost scorched as flames burned up from the hole. I crawled backward, moving around the other side of the hole to see if I could see any better. The flames died and I found myself staring down at a circle of seven men, kneeling with their heads bowed. At least, I thought they were men. But on second glance, although they had humanoid features, they were clearly anything but human. They were naked from the waist upward. Their limbs were constructed as a human’s. I could see that their shoulder blades were capped with shining scales, and their ears were sharp and pointed. They all had dark skin, and their muscles looked inhumanly large.