by Sela Croft
The silence between us was comfortable and easy.
“I really am sorry,” I said. “What happened?”
Logan turned to look at me. There was a storm of emotions brewing in his eyes. “There was an attack, and she was abducted.”
“By whom?”
“The same group that will be coming for you, Callie.”
I recoiled against his words and my hand fell to the bed between us. “What do you mean coming for me?”
“The Fae are getting stronger. Or bolder anyway. Using a human vampire as a vessel, a Rode Ogen was able to pass through the line separating the light from the dark. They knew what they were doing; they planned it all. They found a way into the city.”
My mind whirled, and I tried to make sense of what he was saying. So much still sounded foreign to me. I had heard some of the terms he used before, but they brought no clear images to my mind. To me, the Fae were nothing more than faceless monsters in the woods and the vampire hunters were merely humans trying to rid themselves of the tyrannical vampire rule.
“They came for my sister for a reason,” Logan said. “They wanted to use her gift against her, and against us.”
“Her gift?”
“We all have special abilities. They were bestowed upon us, when the witch’s spell created us. The magical abilities offered advantages against the Fae to rid our realm of the forces of darkness. It appears that may have backfired, since they’ve figured out how to use our abilities against us.”
“Wait,” I said and held up my hand. “Explain what you mean by abilities or gifts?”
Logan leaned his head to the side in thought. Then he looked intent.
A vase crashed to the ground behind me. I jumped to my feet and spun around, expecting another vampire to be standing at the doorway or hovering nearby. I feared that the Fae really had come for me—even though I still had no idea exactly what they were or what they wanted with me.
“What happened?” I turned to face Logan again, my hands shaking, to find him smiling up at me. It was a lazy smile, but it warmed my heart. “Did you do that?”
Logan nodded. “My gift is telekinesis. You witnessed it once before, although you were probably more preoccupied with the results than the process.”
“The man who tried to kidnap me,” I said, and walked back over to the bed. “You threw something at him. But you didn’t throw it, did you? You used your mind.”
He shrugged and smiled again. “I can fly, too.”
“Two for one…lucky you.”
He chuckled, and I liked the sound. The temporary peace between us was gone as quickly as it had come. His face hardened. “My sister has the ability to see the future.”
“Oh,” I said. “And these Fae people wanted to use that? Why? To see how the end of all of this will work out?”
“Perhaps, but I believe their desires were more complex than that. I think they wanted to find the key to the end of all of this. They wanted to find you.”
“Me? Why would they care about me?”
Logan sighed and got to his feet. He paced and ran his fingers through his hair. “When you arrived, my sister had a vision. It wasn’t clear, but she saw you. At least, she saw a girl with violet eyes.”
I wanted to argue that that could be anyone, but my experience had taught me that my eye color made me stand out.
“Callie, you’re going to play a role in all of this. You have to accept that.”
“That is ridiculous,” I said and stood up. “I don’t even know where I am. Remember, you said I don’t belong here. I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home. Please, just let me go home.”
Panic had overtaken me. I didn’t want to play a role in anything. I just wanted to be left alone. I didn’t want creatures hunting me down, and I didn’t want to have to turn to vampires for protection.
“You can’t go home,” Logan said, and took a step toward me. “You’re too important.”
“Important to whom, exactly? I’m not important to you. I’m just another pawn. I’m just another human you can bully into doing whatever you want.”
He shook his head, then let out a sigh of frustration. “Why do you insist on being so difficult?”
“Why do you insist on trying to make me something I’m not? You accuse me of coming here for evil reasons. You claim I’ve been lying to you. You hold me captive and now you tell me that I have to stay here to participate in a fight that isn’t mine?”
“This is my realm. If it means saving my people, you will remain where I tell you to.”
“It’s my life. I don’t want anything to do with your realm. I don’t want anything to do with you!”
Chapter 42
Callie
The room filled with electric tension—anger poured out of both of us. Frustration laced its way through our movements. My hands were clenched at my sides; his eyes pierced into mine. We were locked in a stand-off, and I was not going to be the first to back down.
I had let him control too much, already.
“You’re foolish, Callie. You’re foolish and blind.”
“Lowering yourself to insults? That’s not very princely of you,” I said.
“Do you realize what’s been going on since you’ve gotten here? Do you know the suffering that has transpired in the wake of your arrival?”
“’The wake of my arrival’? You say it as if I meant to bring suffering with me.”
“No,” Logan said, and took a step back. “I’m not saying that, Callie. What I am saying, though, is that your presence here means something—something huge. Everyone knows it. The vampires, the Fae, the humans… The unrest has grown—fires, insurgency, riots… my sister’s kidnapping.”
“I still don’t understand what I have to do with all of this, though. It’s all just a strange coincidence, a freak accident. I’m not supposed to be here. I didn’t want to come to Shadowland.”
“Do you refuse to acknowledge that there could be some sort of connection? Do you really not see it?”
“I don’t,” I said and shook my head.
His gaze was filled with scrutiny. For a second, I expected to find myself against the wall again.
“You’re hiding something from me,” he said between gritted teeth. “I know you’re hiding something from me.”
“Again, with the accusations.”
“They aren’t empty, Callie. And don’t pretend that they are. You’ve been keeping a secret from me since you arrived. By doing so, you have endangered those I care about.”
He turned on his heel and marched toward the door.
“You will remain here until you decide to confess,” Logan said. “I advise you to stay put this time, as well. If you escape again, I will be the one to find you. And you will learn what it really means to be my captive.”
As the door slammed shut behind him, I fell back onto the bed. When Logan stormed out, all the air in the room went with him. I could hardly breath. I struggled to recover from the loss of his intense presence.
I pinched my eyes shut, trying to process everything, but doing so only made me dizzy. When I opened my eyes again, I was shaking. I lifted my trembling hands to my face, then inhaled deeply.
I tried to figure out the meaning of my feelings. Logan had scared me before; he had terrified me more than anything else I’d experienced. Yet, in that moment, I hadn’t been afraid. I hadn’t been worried about my safety. Even with his sharply worded warning to stay put or risk dealing with him directly, I didn’t feel threatened by him.
I pushed myself up, so my legs dangled over the edge of the bed. My head spun as I struggled to relax.
Whatever I was feeling, it was real and strong and intense. It shook me to my core. It made me want to go after him.
I wanted him there. I wanted to talk to him, to confess everything about who I was and what I was doing there. I wanted to beg him to help me find my sister. And I wanted to help him save his realm. I wanted to make things right, to fix all the thi
ngs that had gone wrong since I’d arrived.
Even if I wasn’t responsible, Logan believed the events were linked to my arrival. His sister had seen a vision of me in their future.
It was all too much.
I wondered if it was too late to go back, or was I too caught up in the realm. Even if I found Rosamon, I wasn’t sure if I could turn my back on this world.
It seemed an odd thing to consider. My life back in Oregon had been so simple. It wasn’t perfect, but it was safe. I missed it. Yet it might as well be a million miles away. My home was lost in my past, a past that I couldn’t go back to.
Even if I could, it was difficult to imagine how that would feel. It seemed impossible that I’d return to my old life, as though none of this had happened. And I had a connection to the vampires, harbored empathy for a species who kept humans as slaves.
Or was it simply that I was attracted to Logan? And if that was it, that meant I cared about someone who’d done horrible things, actions that I couldn’t condone.
I remembered Sienna in the prison, Gretl and her family in the hills, and Bernadette in the kitchen. Their faces came to mind, each one bringing with it a sense of responsibility. And still, as I slumped back in the bed, overcome with dizziness, the last face to slice through my thoughts was Logan’s—twisted with fear and filled with worry.
Rolling onto my side, tears of frustration filled my eyes, the same tears that had been threatening to spill over since my arrival in this gilded prison.
I was alone, scared…and trapped.
Chapter 43
Callie
The conflict made me want to stay far away from Logan. Yet the grip he had on me, penetrated to the very core of my being.
I wanted to see him again.
I wasn’t sure if I would tell him about my sister, or if I would agree to help him. All I knew was that I had to talk to him.
Whether I wanted to admit it or not, a connect had formed between us. He was the one person I could reach out to.
When I walked over and tested the doorknob, I discovered that Logan hadn’t locked it when he left. Was it trust he was displaying? Or simply a mental slip brought on by anger?
I pulled the door open to peer down the hall. The guards were gone, and Henry wasn’t in sight. I stepped out into the hallway and looked around. I half expected to be instantly surrounded by angry, edgy vampires.
But I was alone.
I made my way through the house, trying different rooms and finding them all empty. When I spotted a guard at the end of a short hall, he turned to look at me.
“I’m looking for Logan. Can you tell me where he is?”
The guard raised his eyebrows, but his lips didn’t reply.
“Maybe I should have said his grace. Do you know where he is?”
The guard was silent.
Maybe solitude was Logan’s idea of punishment. The guard didn’t seem inclined to speak, and there was no sign of Logan. Discouraged, I returned to my room.
It has been a long day, or what must have been a day. It was hard to tell in a land of eternal twilight.
I leaned against the door, then closed my eyes. Emotional outbursts, arguments, and a failed escape had taken their toll on me. I had no way of knowing what time it was, and I didn’t really care that much.
There was nothing left to do but sleep.
I was out before my head hit the pillow. My dreams took me back to the life I had begun to accept as lost.
In my dreams, the sun shone brightly in the sky. The breeze blew through the trees. It was the perfect day, when it wasn’t too warm or too cold. It was one of those rare spring days in Oregon when it didn’t rain.
Those days were my favorite. The air was still damp, and the scent of nature saturated the surroundings. My sister and I played hide-and-seek. I began to count out loud and listened to Rosamon scurrying away to find a hiding place. She tried to be silent, but her thoughts were audible to me.
She tried to disguise her thinking, when finding a hiding spot. She decided to go in one direction, then go the other. I’d won countless games of hide-and-seek games, before she’d figured that out.
“Ten!” I shouted.
My hands fell to my sides and the sun warmed my face. I inhaled deeply, and spun on my heel. I laughed as I bounced forward, racing around the tree trunk in the back of the yard, leaping behind the shed, and falling to my stomach to look under the creaky, wooden picnic table.
Sometimes I could find her right away, others required prolonged searching. There were even times I’d had to admit defeat and beg her to reveal her perfectly chosen hiding spot. When I didn’t see her right away, I panicked.
The times I hadn’t been able to find her were the worst. Not only did it mean I’d lost the game but being separated from my sister overwhelmed and terrified me.
My sister was out there, and I’d be reunited with her, but the extended separation made anxiety build up in my chest and nervous butterflies form in my stomach.
When I awoke, I was anxious, nervous, and felt so alone.
My ears rang as the past melted away, and the present rose to the surface, once again. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep, so gazed out the window. But the shimmery stars gave no clue about the time of day.
I pushed myself out of bed and walked to the bathroom. I took time cleaning up, letting the water in the sink run over my hands and between my fingers, the cold liquid calming me slightly. It helped to shake what remained of my dream.
The game—the search—the anxiety—the separation.
I needed to push that all aside and focus on one thing at a time. I splashed water into my face as I decided what exactly that one thing would be—food. I couldn’t search for my sister on an empty stomach. I needed my strength.
Clothes had been left for me, but the new outfit felt a bid weird. I wasn’t used to the styles in the realm.
When I finished getting ready, I went to the kitchen.
“Bernadette?” My voice echoed in the kitchen. “Are you here?”
The walk to the kitchen was much like the earlier walk through the hallways. The place was empty and ominous. I didn’t know where everyone had gone.
Alone, I collected a plate, then began to fill it with the items Bernadette and I’d made earlier.
Although I was lacking company, I was not lacking food. At least I was able to find enough to fill my stomach. There was a container of something in the refrigerator that looked like milk.
I took a sip and frowned. Oddly, I craved another drink. I smacked my lips together and I tried to identify the substance. The first taste had been tarter than milk. But the bitterness subsided, giving way to a sweet, rich flavor that made my mouth water. I took one last sip then put the beverage down.
Amused as I was by my latest discovery, it hadn’t dispelled my sadness. What made it worse was that there was no one around to talk to. As I wandered from the kitchen toward the sitting room, I decided that I didn’t want just anyone around. I wished to speak with Logan.
I entered the sitting room and walked across the large space. The breeze from the window flowed through the room. It wafted passed, dancing through my hair. Like the milk, the experience was bitter and sweet.
Bitter because it reminded me of the freedom I couldn’t have.
But sweet because it soothed me to know that I was there. At least, I was somewhere I could feel the breeze. I wasn’t in the holding cells buried deep beneath the earth or trapped in a prison filled with cries of desperation and oozing with the stench of sweat and blood.
I reached out and took hold of the edge of the glass, leaning forward to take in my surroundings. For a world locked in a war, it appeared to emanate peace. People moved through the streets and along the docks, without appearing to be in a hurry. They smiled and waved to one another. They laughed as they talked, then hugged before parting ways.
Beyond the scenes of tranquility lay the rest of the kingdom. The rolling hills shimmered in the
silver light, and the trees reached up to the sky, swaying in the wind. The pitch-black sky, filled with countless stars, seemed to stretch for miles.
All of it was beautiful yet terrifying. I had no idea what was beyond the magic line that protected the people of Crystal City. The calm faces of those below didn’t reveal any awareness of threat. Maybe they didn’t know that enemies had crossed the line.
I pondered the Fae, and why they frightened Logan so much. More than that, I wondered what they wanted with me. I was a human girl with violet eyes, who seemed to attract trouble. But I had no idea why anyone would want to kidnap me, or why they’d even care about me.
Whether I wanted to accept it or not, it seemed that everyone in Shadowland wanted me—for undisclosed reasons. And in that moment, the only person I wanted to be with, the only person I wanted to entrust with my safety was Logan.
I longed to be free of my prison. But more than that I wanted to be in Logan’s presence, to have the air filled with intensity that only he seemed to possess. I shuddered to think of how he emanated power. I wanted to trust him but wasn’t certain if that was the wisest course. And he didn’t trust me. Yet I craved being near him.
Chapter 44
Callie
As I looked out over the realm that claimed to need me, watching the people I’d been told I was responsible for, I tried to clear my head. I’d come there with one mission—to find my sister.
Yet in the process, I’d found so much more. I had found adventure and danger and excitement. I had found Logan. And humans who needed my help, although I didn’t have a way to do that yet.
But I didn’t know how to help my sister, or even how to help myself.
As though the room had reacted to my confusion, the air filled with a heavy mist.
I stumbled back not sure what I’d done or how to fix it. The mist thickened, so I waved my hands about, trying to push it back out the open window.
When my hand hit something hidden in the fog, I leapt back.
Then a familiar voice spoke to me. “Callie?”