“Mistel, what did they tell you? Why are you here? Why are you working with them?” Adelaide bombarded the shade with questions.
“So many questions. You’re curious, aren’t you?” the male shade suddenly said. Adelaide swung around to look at him again, despite her fear.
Below his outdated cap, he had blonde hair that threatened to touch his shoulders. The locks were dirty and tangled, like he just got off of a farm from a stereotypical movie. His well-manicured scruff and vest jacket completed the look.
“I like to know what I’m dealing with. Tell me,” she said quietly. She worked to project as much confidence as possible, but it was difficult. The shade’s head tilted to the side and he stared right through her. Just when she thought he didn’t buy it, he gave her a bitter smile.
“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. My name is Zachary,” he said but thankfully never attempted to touch her.
“Hi,” Adelaide bit off shortly.
Mistel finally released her and circled to the back of the room.
“How old are you, Adelaide?” Zachary asked next. His blue eyes blatantly scanned her figure until they settled on her face again. His expression did little to reveal his thoughts.
“I don’t know what this has to do with anything.”
“She’s nineteen,” Mistel suddenly interjected. “And she doesn’t know when to shut up.”
His eyebrow rose.
“Nineteen. How young.”
Adelaide itched in her skin, desperate to get his gaze off of her. Zachary didn’t give her any information so she returned to Mistel.
“Tell me what they are going to do with us,” she demanded.
Mistel motioned to Zachary for a moment. He surprisingly gave in to her and stepped back. Adelaide watched him go but he still stood to close for her to escape. Mistel closed the distance and grabbed her shoulder in a brutal hold.
“Shut up. I am going to do the talking here.”
“What talking? You never even told me what you are doing here!” Adelaide’s hysteria prevented her from whispering and Mistel twitched at the loud nose.
“I told you the Hawthorns cut me a deal to help them with Leon Colton.”
“I didn’t even know the Hawthorns would work with another shade!”
“They worked with a mage now, didn’t they?” Mistel pointed out with a smirk.
“Yea, and look where that’s gotten me. I spent who knows how long in a dirty pit in a torture chamber!”
Mistel pinched her shoulder until the pain silenced her.
“You should not have brought Adam Colton here. Any deal you had with them was promptly ruined.”
Adelaide’s chin dropped.
“What are they going to do with me, Mistel?” she whimpered.
“It depends. If you let me do the talking, I might be able to save you.”
Adelaide did a double take. Something about Mistel seemed off. Adelaide couldn’t pinpoint what had changed. The red hue lingered around the shade’s blue eyes and the starch blonde hair still framed her cracking porcelain skin. But something strange showed in her face. Something human.
What the shade said next though destroyed the image.
“They offered me a place in their coven, Adelaide. I am one of them. I just need my mark rebranded and away we go.”
“You’re insane.”
“You should be so lucky!”
This time Adelaide squeaked when her vice-like grip tightened. Her noise of distress prompted Zachary to return and the group began moving again. Mistel only lingered long enough to say one more thing.
“You offered to help me once. Let me help you.”
Mistel led her through one last door and into a grand hall with vaulted ceilings but no furniture. A male and female shade waited there, but it was the female that was clearly in charge. Brown hair was stacked upon her head like a crown and her presence felt bigger than her five-foot frame. Zachary left their side to stand by the others and the three lined up like a hanging committee.
“What do we have here?” the woman said.
Mistel maneuvered to stand in front of Adelaide then. She was too small to offer any protection from the prying eyes of the other shades in the room, but the gesture was supposed to be comforting.
“This is Adelaide, the mage.”
“A mage?”
“She has no visible aura but she is a mage. She is also the one we have discussed, Margo,” Mistel insisted.
The leader named Margo clicked her tongue. Though short, she raised her chin as if she towered over everyone in room.
“I don’t remember discussing this mage. Who is she? Why should I care?”
“This is the mage that you spared because you sent her on a mission. You sent her to dose Leon Colton with the potion that allowed me to bring him here,” Mistel explained.
Margo shook her head.
“I did no such thing.”
Since this was the first time Adelaide had actually met Margo, she knew this was true. The shades that had cut the deal with her had probably been at the bottom of the pack. Zachary suddenly interjected.
“She made the deal with Smith. He sent her after Leon a few weeks ago,” Zachary whispered but the sound of his voice carried.
Margo tilted her head as she listened to him.
“So we sent a weak, useless mage after Leon Colton?”
Zachary laughed.
“Well, I guess they believed it wouldn’t hurt anything. We could not find him or capture him since his escape,” he said.
“And what was the reward for her deal?” Margo asked then, looking bored. “She was to be spared and protected from shades everywhere. That’s how she cut it. But then she double-crossed us long enough to bring other mages straight into our home—the mages that nearly burned this place to the ground.”
Margo suddenly perked up again. She stepped away from Zachary and watched Adelaide now. Adelaide scooted back but resisted the urge to bolt. Without a proper opening, the shades would blast her to pieces. Mistel choose this time to intervene again.
“Adelaide has still provided a priceless service to you. She deserves some mercy,” Mistel contended vehemently. Margo walked by her side and paused only a few feet from Adelaide. Adelaide refused to meet her gaze.
“And what mercy did you have in mind?”
“Let her join the coven too. It’s both a reward and a punishment.”
Adelaide’s blood turned to ice. Fear rushing through her, Adelaide couldn’t stay quiet.
“No,” she gasped. ”You can’t. You can’t!”
Mistel whirled to grab her but Adelaide backpedaled. She staggered and slammed into the wall. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest and blood pounded in her ears. Adelaide looked for the exits in a hurry. No shades immediately pursued her into the corner and she could run. But Margo spoke, interrupting her getaway plan.
“No! She’s too weak!” the shade laughed.
Adelaide flattened her body against the wall to keep away from Margo now. Thankfully Margo exhibited no interest in touching her. The shade paced closer before she returned to center of the room.
“She’s strong enough. She just doesn’t know how to use her magic. She came from a strong family,” Mistel said.
“No!” Adelaide shouted, but a look from Margo silenced her.
“I do commend you though, for trying to bring your family back together even on the flipside,” Margo said, but it sounded bitterly condescending.
Mistel’s body heaved.
“Adelaide was always meant to be with me,” she said quietly.
Zachary abruptly turned his back and whispered to the leader. Their conversation was inaudible from her corner, but Adelaide didn’t care what they had to say. Her eyes went to the door from which they came. If they tried to change her, she’d at least run. She’d go out swinging like Adam planned and hopefully her mercy would be a quick death.
Mistel took a second to turn and face Adelaide agai
n. The red hue had returned to her irises and the cracks in her skin appeared worse.
“You’ve doomed yourself,” Mistel hissed darkly. The scent of smoke grew worse with Mistel’s anger and Adelaide gagged.
“Wait,” Margo abruptly called the attention of the room. Zachary had left her side and maneuvered to stand by the door. Adelaide shifted against the wall to stay away from him. While the shade almost never showed emotions on his face, he wore a small smirk now. The sight of it made her feel uneasy.
“I’ve changed my mind. I will allow the mage to join our coven.”
“No! No!” Adelaide screamed.
“Not a choice, my dear.”
Adelaide ran for the door but Mistel seized her. She tore at the shade’s arms frantically, tapping an aura and sending out a wild manifestation of magic but Mistel dropped her. Stomach aching from the blow, Adelaide doubled over. She groaned and moved to sit up. Zachary had crossed the room and knelt next to her. The other female shade also inched closer. Adelaide felt boxed in. She had to run. She had to get out.
“Don’t fight dear, it’s not happening now, of course,” Margo said from her spot in the center of the room. Adelaide thrashed anyway until the last of her energy escaped. She wasn’t putting a dent in these shades. It took another minute for the comment to sink in and she remembered how to breathe.
“It doesn’t need to happen. I don’t want to be a shade. I’d rather die.” Adelaide cried.
“It’s not so bad.” Zachary held out a hand, but Adelaide watched him in disbelief. “I’ll take you back to your friend,” he added.
The abrupt and potent desire to return to Adam flooded over her, but once back in the pit, she wouldn’t have the chance to get out. The wheels in her mind spun.
“Take my hand, Adelaide. I’m not going to hurt you,” Zachary said. She watched him suspiciously. The Hawthorn shades stood too alert and too close to be casual.
She stood up on her own and Zachary rose by her side. When he did nothing to intercept her, she inched toward the door and grabbed the brass handle.
“When is it going to happen, Margo?” Mistel asked as if she too harbored reservations.
“A few days. We need time to set everything up,” Margo said.
Mistel’s lips thinned. She took a few steps to see Adelaide behind the blockade of bodies. The woman wore an indiscernible expression, but her gaze met Adelaide’s. That’s when Margo shifted. The shade lashed out and Mistel hit the wall. The brick shuddered under the force of the impact.
Zachary snatched Adelaide in a painful hold.
“Mistel, we promised you membership because you brought Leon to us. But apparently his fall was not really your doing but this mage’s. That deal is void and we’ll take the mage instead,” Margo spoke above the noise.
The other female shade charged Mistel. Adelaide screamed and thrashed, but Zachary’s grip held her tight. Mistel was torn to pieces in front of her. Adelaide screamed until she couldn’t breathe anymore.
Thirty
Mistel was dead in a second. Adelaide knew it but she still reached out for her fallen cousin. While she was shell shocked, the Hawthorn shades were not. The woman hauled Mistel’s body up as Zachary lifted Adelaide’s limp form in the opposite direction. The sensation of his hands on her finally snapped her from the daze. She tapped her aura and threw it again. The magic was weak but Zachary let her go. She scrambled to her feet, barreled through the door, and sprinted down the hall.
She didn’t hear anyone chase her immediately but didn’t wait around long enough for anyone to start. Sliding into another room, she saw no windows or doors but a massive maze of halls. Adelaide hurried to the left for no other reason but to keep moving.
“Kathy?”
She stopped when she heard the croak. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Leon!” she exclaimed, having never felt this happy to see him.
Despite her sudden burst of happiness, her surroundings sunk in. In the corner of the room was Leon. He wore a chain around his neck, bolted into cement, in a scene worse than the cellar. Purple and crimson decorated his face and both of his cheeks were swollen. He might have been out of it but he was alive and she would take the miracle as she found it.
“Hey,” she called, and hit her knees before him. Focusing on the chains that bound him, she tore at the rusted metal madly. Her fingernails bled but the latch wasn’t coming off. Adelaide tried to focus on her aura next and utilize magic, but Zachary and the female shade entered the room.
“Leave him alone,” Zachary ordered, sounding exasperated.
Adelaide whirled and put herself in front of Leon. She wasn’t sure exactly what she would be able to do, besides gather Leon a few extra seconds to become more coherent.
“You know you’re going to see him soon enough, on the flipside at least.”
“I’m not becoming a shade. Neither is he!” Adelaide protested with much more courage than she actually felt.
Zachary shook his head.
“You don’t have much of a choice on that matter, my dear. You will be first, before him. And then you can be his greeting party.”
“Quit stalling,” the female shade snarled.
Zachary silenced her with a single finger in the air. They both went quiet. Adelaide struggled to hear anything above her ragged breathing, but the shades heard something. Whatever they heard, Zachary acted on it.
“Go outside,” Zachary whispered. “Go find out…”
The female shade obeyed and disappeared from the room. A new strike of hope dared to spark in Adelaide. There was only one shade and two mages—she could keep him at bay.
She turned on Leon again. She dropped the chains that lingered in her grip and clutched his face instead. He flinched at the contact. She laid a kiss on his lips. Sloppy and wet, the move of desperation surprised them both. Leon finally blinked and lit up.
“Adelaide,” he whispered. He smiled crookedly. “Oops,” he quipped.
“Of course you’d remember that,” she commented, feeling an insane laugh bubbling up inside her chest.
“Stop!” Zachary almost screamed. He grabbed her shoulder but Leon hurried to her hold her too.
“Leon, do something!” she begged. How much of Leon was actually there was a mystery, but he was ruining her only chance.
“Don’t fight. Not yet,” he said.
Zachary tore her free and hauled her without mercy into the other room before dropping her. She hit the marble floor and the shock reverberated up her spine. She cried and struggled to right herself.
“I don’t want to watch you embarrass yourself with that kind of behavior again. Especially when you are joining our coven.”
“I don’t want to join your coven!” she screamed right back.
“It’s that or death.”
Adelaide shook her head.
“Turning into a shade is death. I want to live, but that’s not living. I won’t do it willingly.”
Zachary watched her for a long moment. His expression changed, for the first time since she’d met him, into a genuine look of interest. Wrapping her arms around herself, she trembled in her own skin as he scanned her up in down.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“What did you tell Margo that I couldn’t hear? Did you talk her into letting me stay?” Adelaide’s voice hit an all-time high pitch and she had to clear her throat before finishing the sentence.
Zachary smiled.
“Yes,” he said.
“Why?”
“Well, if I have another member in the coven, I’d like it to be someone beautiful.”
“Ew,” she let slip. There was no doubt in her mind that Zachary had saved her partially because of her looks. She’d never pictured shades as remotely sexual creatures, but now she found new meaning to his actions. Thinking about it threatened to make her sick.
“Don’t be too flattered though. Margo partially picked you because
you are weak and will be easily controlled. We can’t have shades with the strength of Leon Colton running around at once.”
“I’m not,” she huffed. She considered fighting again but she wasn’t sure how. Her strength was tapped and her magic was nearly useless. But then she needed to see Adam.
“Take me back to my cell,” she demanded.
Zachary didn’t budge at first. Just when she thought he wouldn’t give in to her demand, he finally made a small gesture with his hands. Zachary never held nor dragged her, he allowed her to trail behind him, which she did reluctantly. Instead of fighting though, she took the time to look for the exits, the doors, and the windows. She listened for sounds of the others but heard nothing when she reached the basement. Zachary opened the lid on the pit for her but refused to allow her a better way down.
Adelaide jumped before she was pushed. She braced for impact but never hit the ground—arms caught her during her fall. Surprise made her struggle and she broke free from the hold. The subsequent landing though was hardly painful in comparison.
She recognized Adam while the light streamed into the pit, but she didn’t expect what happened next. Adam came at her and pulled her forward. She squeaked when she hit his chest and was encompassed in his crushing hold. His chest muscles flexed against her cheek.
“Are you all right? Are you all right? I heard you screaming. I thought they were killing you!”
Adelaide swallowed the lump in her throat. If she’d managed to forget Mistel’s brutal fate, she remembered it now. Adam kept rambling.
“You’re okay? You’re okay!”
He trembled but the shaking calmed within a minute. His grip loosened on her, as if he suddenly thought better of it, but he never let her go. Adelaide used her elbows to wrench herself free and laid her eyes on his face. She saw nothing but a raw expression and a cold fear. She remembered how to speak.
“Leon’s up there. He’s alive and they haven’t turned him yet.”
Adam’s face lit up.
“Thank heaven,” he gasped as if he abruptly remembered the outside world.
Up top, Zachary replaced the lid on the pit and left them in darkness. Because she couldn’t see him, Adelaide touched his arm.
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