I must have fallen asleep because I was suddenly jolted awake by an icy hand against my arm. I blinked several times to clear my vision, but the world around me tilted anyway, so I closed them again.
“Do you want that one, my dear?”
I forced my eyes open to see what horrible thing was trying to buy me, and my heart sank. Very slowly, I pulled my arm away but the ice-cold fingers only latched on harder. Lily smiled, her black eyes staring deep at me as she reached for the cord that bound my hands together. She terrified me more than Slimy Soo, or any of the other creatures I had met. There was a haunted, wild quality about her, and she looked like death. Not like she had died, no…Lily looked as if she would feel comfortable harvesting souls.
“Not you,” I breathed, recoiling. “Please.”
Lily's smile widened, showing pointed teeth, and then she tilted her head back and chirruped her odd little call. My head flicked to where she had turned, and I allowed a small amount of my fear to turn to hope.
He moved painfully slowly towards us, running his long fingers over the glass bottles. He grabbed at Lily's hand and pulled her away without as much as a glance at me.
“What do you want for the girl?” he asked in a bored voice, not looking away from Slimy Soo.
“Three vials of blood and the memory of your first love.”
“Come now, she'll be dead by morning.” he replied laughing, cupping Lily's face in his hand and turning it away from him.
“She's cost me a lot more.” Slimy Soo snapped. “That's my price.”
Pushing Lily away, he stepped closer to Slimy Soo who scowled up at him. “How about one vial of blood and a month of dreams? That is a very generous offer, do you not think?”
My mouth dropped open as he openly haggled for me. It would have been tempting to tell him to stuff it, if I weren't quite so desperate.
“Do you want her or not?” Slimy Soo said, and a beautiful smile spread over his face.
“You see,” he began, as he leant over the table to whisper to the old hag. “My servant seems to have taken a liking to the girl, and I am fond of her...loyalty, if you understand me? I am rather reluctant to displease her.”
Slimy Soo drooped a little where she stood, and I remembered how I had all but melted when I had stared into those violet eyes.
“Two vials then,” she gushed, a deep rose flooding the wrinkles of her cheeks. “and I want a decent supply of dreams from you. I don't suppose there are any nightmares lingering around in that pretty head?”
“None that you'll be able to reach.”
“Pity.”
Slimy Soo held out her hand for his, and I watched as she closed her fingers around his wrist and sliced it open with her fingernail. Blood pooled over his skin, dripping down into a glass vial Slimy Soo held beneath with her free hand. She filled both vials to the brim, and never spilled a drop. With a satisfied smile, she placed them beside the baby teeth on her cart.
“Now close your eyes,” the hag ordered. “This may sting a little.”
Whereas he had shown no reaction to getting his wrist cut, he tensed as Slimy Soo placed a hand on either side of his head. He closed his eyes, his fists balling at his sides as the hag began to pull a swirling fog away with her fingers. Blues and purples glimmered against the black, and then there were flashes of green…flecks of pink, all mingling together like an oil spill. She coiled the ghostly mist just like strands of thread, winding the fog tightly around her hands until I could barely see them beneath the dreams. She took a wooden box from the cart, and carefully lifted the lid to sweep the dark fog in amongst the other collection of dreams, and snapped it shut.
“That was more than a month's worth, witch!”
“And yet you are robbing me blind!” snapped Slimy Soo. “Now take her away before she keels over. I do not give refunds.”
He finally looked at me, his eyes dark and cold as they travelled the length of my body. I wanted to believe that he was trying to help me, because the alternative was too much for me to think about. I couldn't dwell on what a man would want with a woman who was too weak to defend herself.
“Go home,” he ordered Lily, grabbing her hand as she made to touch me again. She hissed and he kicked her. “Now!”
Lily glared at me, her black eyes filling with tears before she turned her back on me and ran off into the shadows. I shuddered, knowing that somehow I had made an enemy. I was studying the shadowy trees where Lily had disappeared, when I was suddenly lifted off my feet and scooped up into strong arms as if I weighed nothing.
“I think I can walk.” I said.
“I doubt it.”
He was right; with my head against his shoulder any fight I had left just vanished. I sighed, feeling the subtle sting of tears push against my eyes, and I swallowed a sob.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“I have no idea what I am going to do with you,” he replied, sounding disappointed. “But no, I'm not going to kill you, the picksie venom will probably do that.”
“I think you may have overpaid,” I smiled weakly.
“I think you should have gone home,” He replied.
I didn't answer, allowing myself instead to be carried until the faint light of dawn began to creep through the trees, stirring the slumbering blossom into wakefulness. He set me down outside his front door, and opened it for me with a gesture to enter. I took a step forward and swayed, and if it weren't for his quick hands, I would have smacked the floor. My head swam as he pulled me to my feet, and my legs buckled. There was a glimpse of concern on his lovely face as he caught me, and before I sank into oblivion my stomach heaved and I vomited on his feet.
Chapter Eight
I screamed as he held me down. His hands found mine and yanked them behind my head so hard I could feel the skin bruise. I kicked him away, using the last of my strength to fight him off, but he was stronger...so much stronger. My head was forced back, my lips parted before a vile, hot liquid was thrust down my throat. I choked. Gagged. Then spat the treacle-like substance out, as my eyes and throat burned.
“Drink this!” he ordered, pushing the steaming liquid to my lips again. “Drink it, or you will die tonight.”
Fog filled my brain; swirling shadows appearing in front of my eyes that I wasn't sure were there at all. Monsters in the dark clawed at me, bit me, strangled me and pulled at my hair...but when I turned my head and opened my eyes, they were gone. There was nothing in the darkness but him. And it was dark, so dark...too dark.
I panicked, and fear made me lash out. My fist connected with the side of his face and I heard him snarl. The feral sound resonated through the darkness, and I made to bolt off the bed. He grabbed me, cursed me and rammed his potion down my throat, holding his hand over my mouth until I finally swallowed.
“That's it,” he said, his voice softer. “You can stop fighting me now. Get some sleep, and maybe you'll get to wake up in the morning.”
Candlelight flickered on a table nearby, heavy furs covered me, smelling of pine and moss. I fell against the pillows and closed my eyes. Exhaustion dragged me under before I could fight it. Sleep came quick and unforgiving, bringing with it nightmares and monsters and all the other demons that had chased me throughout my life. There was no escape from it, and the dark, enchanted forest I slept beneath only further fuelled my terrors. I stirred a few times in the night, startled awake by nightmares, only to fall back under before I could take in where I was.
I caught a slight movement in the room just as my eyes began to open, and the constant fear of monsters in the dark had me wide-awake again. I sat up, my eyes darting around the room as my spine prickled. I took a breath, feeling it shudder through my teeth as I found what had come uninvited into my room.
She sat in the far corner, her eyes glistening opaque as the light flickered across her face, her long arms stretched in front of her, cat-like and ready to strike. I stared and Lily stared back, her bluish lips pulled back against her teeth as they twisted in
to a smile. She crept closer, slinking over the wooden floor with a strange sort of grace. Utterly silent. When she reached the edge of the bed, she pulled herself up and climbed toward me, her smile widening while my scream lodged uselessly in my throat. She lay over me, her haunting face just inches from mine. She was so close; I could smell the spice in her hair as it fell across my face. My heart whacked against my ribcage, my mouth too dry to call out, even as she placed her cold hand against my chest and listened to the song my fear made. Then with surprising gentleness, she ran those cold fingers down my cheek, trailing them down my collarbone to rest against my throat.
“He...” she rasped, her voice terrifying. “is mine.”
I didn't move as she recoiled from the bed, slinking deep into the shadows. She turned once, her grin still on her face as she lifted one long finger to her lips, then she disappeared through the doorway, shutting the door silently as she went.
Shaking, I shoved back the heavy covers and stepped out of bed, reaching quickly for the bedpost when my legs refused to take my weight. It was then I noticed that I was no longer dressed in Slimy Soo's nasty clothes. Someone, I could guess who, had stripped me of the coarse dress, and had hopefully tossed it onto a fire and watched it burn. That same someone had then dressed me in a clean shirt that trailed past my knees and smelt vaguely familiar. All whilst I was sleeping.
With a deep breath I walked shakily to the doorway and ran my fingers over the keyhole, heart sinking as I realised there was no key. Sweat trickled down my back, my body exhausted by the journey from the bed to halfway across the room. I turned my gaze onto a heavy looking chair in the corner, and smiled to myself at the thought of jamming it under the door handle, keeping any further creepy things from sneaking in. However, it was much heavier than I had anticipated, a solid antique with carved legs and headrest that shimmered with butterflies as the candlelight settled upon it. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, but it was a complete nightmare to drag across the room. I grabbed it and pulled, wincing slightly as the legs screeched along the wooden floor.
“What on earth are you doing?”
I jumped and turned around, seeing my saviour standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame.
“I couldn't lock the door, there's no key,” I said, breathing hard.
“Because I do not need one,” he said simply, as he took a step toward me. His dark eyes flicked down to my hands clutching the chair, which were shaking with the effort of keeping me upright. I was never one for exercise, but I made a quick mental note to perhaps take up weightlifting...or yoga.
“I just wanted to keep the door shut,” I mumbled, taking a heavy breath. “Don't panic, but I think I'm just going to sit down for a minute.”
I sat with a sigh, tilting my head back as my limbs groaned in relief. In a flurry of movement that made me feel faintly sick, he was at my side, kneeling down so his violet eyes were level with mine.
I lifted my head. “Hi.”
“You shouldn't be up yet.”
“Noted.”
The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, a few buttons left open as if he had quickly thrown it on. There were red marks down his arms, the signs of bruises that were already starting to heal. He watched as I raised my hand, not moving as I placed my fingers over the marks where they matched perfectly. I dropped my hand, and looked away.
“Sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
“I wonder,” he breathed, seemingly to himself as he tilted my chin up with a long finger.
“What?”
Keeping his finger against my skin, his mouth lifted into a small smile, his lips parting slightly in a flash of white teeth. “If I'll regret saving you.”
I jerked away from him, leaning back into the chair and absently picked at the frayed velvet of the seat pad. “It would be a shame to waste blood and dreams on something not worth saving.”
“I never said you weren't worth saving," he countered. "I've yet to make up my mind.”
“Would you have left me?”
He cocked his head to the side, his eyes unsure, as if he hadn't understood the question. The movement was fluid, purposeful. I had no doubts that he didn't move an inch unless he needed to.
I shifted in my seat, swallowing down my unease of the man in front of me. “If Slimy Soo wanted what she asked for me, would I be dead by now?”
He leant away from me, his hands curled tightly over the armrests, effectively trapping me in the chair. “I value my memories Teya.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I don't know,” he said with a subtle lift of his shoulders. He dropped his hands from the chair and stood up so he loomed over me.
“The way you move is so strange, did you know that?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“It's too perfect, too graceful, too...”
“Inhuman?” he finished for me, the word hissing through his teeth. I jumped and watched a look of satisfaction wash over his features.
“Yes,” I replied, meeting his gaze. “You all seem to move like that, like there is a song you are dancing to and no one else can hear it. It reminds me of the monster that stole my sister away, she moved like the wind, finding a melody in the storm.”
The candlelight flickered across his face, causing his eyes to darken to an almost black as he glared back at me from the shadows.
“The way I move makes me a monster in your eyes?”
“Are you denying that you are?”
He did smile then, a cruel smile that made him appear just as inhuman as he said he was. “Not at all. I just wanted to hear your definition.”
“And I wanted to know if your kind is capable of any sort of empathy, if there’s anything beneath all that cold beauty that resembles a soul.”
He bristled, all colour disappearing from his eyes. “My kind?” he sneered, and I flinched. “If I were not capable of empathy or pity, girl, you would be dead and don't ever forget that. If by some misconception you want me to apologise for what I am, then you will be waiting a long time, do you understand me?”
“Do you make a habit of tormenting your houseguests?” I asked.
“Is that what I am doing?” he replied. “Then I do apologise. May I ask you a question?”
I nodded, the tone of his voice making my body go cold.
“Do you make a habit,” he began. “of sleeping in a man's bed whose name you have yet to learn?”
My skin flushed scarlet, cheeks reddening as I lost the battle to keep my gaze on his and I looked away. He caught my chin in his hand, forcing my head back to look at him.
“You're just a toy,” he whispered, leaning closer so I could feel his breath against my face. The scent of spice and moss engulfed my senses. “A piece of meat, something to be bought and sold and broken. If we do not kill you, we forget about you, and then you starve. These woods are filled with wolves all too eager to devour you whole. The trouble is, many stand upon two legs and look too much as if they are helping.”
“I'm not afraid of you,” I said, as he laughed, the sound a cold, humourless bark that slid effortlessly from his twisted smile.
“Really?”
I recoiled as he came closer, shifting as he knelt beside me and began to wind my hair around his fingers. I tried to pull away, but he held tighter.
“You are a terrible liar.”
“Almost as good as you,” I countered, and he rose an eyebrow. “Let go of me.”
He held my gaze, opening his hand to release my hair, fingers coming down to trail along my cheek. I held my breath, tensing as if he were a wild animal.
“You didn’t tell me your name,” I breathed, relieved and equally disturbed as purple seeped back into his irises.
For a moment I didn’t think he was going to answer; he just stared at me with his head tilted to the side, taking up far too much of my personal space.
“Laphaniel,” he said at last, the strange sound of his name lilting and soft.
/> “I read somewhere that your name has some sort of power, I’m guessing that’s not true or you wouldn’t have given it to me.”
“It’s a myth,” he said. “One of many, conjured up when humans were only discovering flame. It’s why humans have a middle name, so they wouldn’t have to disclose their true one, lest it gave someone power over them. Nonsense of course.”
“So, words have no real power?”
“I never said that,” Laphaniel answered, making my head ache. I suddenly felt very tired and incredibly vulnerable.
Barely stifling a yawn, I raked a hand through my filthy hair. My fingers caught in the matted tangles, and for one horrible moment I thought I was going to cry. All I wanted to do was crawl back under the covers and sleep. With a shaking hand I scrubbed at my eyes, quickly hiding the tears that threatened to fall. Laphaniel stood, disgust or pity, I couldn’t tell which shadowed his features.
“You should rest, you look...”
“Disgusting?” I finished for him, my voice wavering.
“I was going to say you look like you could do with more sleep.”
“Your bed is rather comfortable.” I tried to smile, but it was too much hard work and all I could manage was a lopsided lift of my mouth.
Laphaniel gestured to the bed, grabbing my arm quickly when I stumbled into him. “Try not to die in your sleep.”
I sunk back into the soft mattress, enjoying the comfort before I registered what he had said, dread chasing the sleepiness away.
“Wait…wait!” I grabbed at him, my words heavy as sleep threatened to pull me under before I was ready. “My mum doesn’t know I’m here…she won’t know where I’ve gone…if I don’t come back.”
“What concern is that of mine?” he answered, pushing my hand off so it thumped down beside me.
“Please.” I whispered, and he hesitated, waiting. “Six Mulberry Close…it has the roses at the front…they’re nearly dead because she forgets to water them.”
“Perhaps you should not have left her,” he said, pressing the back of his hand against my forehead, his eyes narrowing. “Would you like me to return your broken little body to her?”
Darling, There Are Wolves in the Woods Page 6