by K. A. Poe
“Right …”
Despite the cold, sweat beaded on his forehead as he picked me up again and began walking.
I looked up and admired the architecture of the building some more as we crept by the thick wall of stone and up the slippery, snow-coated steps. Noah kept me steady so that I wouldn’t fall, and I was thankful to have his warmth against me again. We passed beneath one of the massive archways; menacing-looking icicles clung overhead. There were two large, iron doors ahead of us. Noah let go of me with one hand to knock on them, but before his fist made it to the surface, the door swung open seemingly of its own accord. I swallowed and looked worriedly into the darkness that had previously been concealed by the door.
Noah stepped through the threshold and into the blackness; the doors slammed behind us with a loud bang that startled me and echoed through the structure. Noah notably jumped as well, but continued walking forward as though unafraid. Candlelight began filling the room — first in black iron sconces on the walls, then on a table in the entrance room, and then finally began trailing up either side of a staircase to our left.
A voice from atop the stairs, its owner still shrouded in shadow, spoke. “Ah, of all the places in the world, I never once thought you would turn up here without my intervention.”
I struggled to see who was speaking, but all I could tell was that they were robed, and definitely a man judging by their voice. Noah leaned forward and stood me up the best he could with the ropes wrapped around me.
The man descended the steps, his cloak flowing down the stairs behind him like a black waterfall in his wake. As he moved, I noticed other doors opening and eyes peering out at us from the halls and upper floor. I had never imagined there could have been so many Nefastus here, there had to be at least forty or more. My mind went down the familiar road of wondering if Noah was bad, and how stupid I had been to agree to join him regardless, but there was no turning back now.
The figure came into full view, his robe was black silk with blood-red trim, the hood lowered and revealed his face in its entirety. He was young — younger than Artemis, but older than me — handsome, with short light brown hair and pale blue eyes, angular features, and a sense of authority about him.
This can’t be Constantine, I thought to myself as I looked him over again. He’s too young.
“Oh, but I am,” he said with a smirk.
Startled, I tried to step back, almost falling and bumping into Noah. Could he read minds? Was that his gift?
“No, Daughter of Luna, I cannot read minds. Faces, however ... the emotions you wear are as clear as though you were speaking to me. It isn’t even a magical gift, that, just … experience,” he said and turned his attention to Noah, extending a pale, bony finger in his direction. “And who might you be? Ah, wait, I believe I know the answer to that one as well.”
Constantine turned his head and looked over his shoulder, back toward the dark halls above. “Chloe, dear, do make yourself present.”
A slight figure gracefully stepped down the stairs behind Constantine, sheepishly peering from behind him. She was Noah’s sister, there was no doubting it. Those same gray eyes and dark brown hair with tints of gold.
“I said to present yourself, not cower behind me, stupid girl,” he snarled and whipped his head around to look at her. “Come down. Now.”
Chloe obeyed, walking past Constantine and standing beside him.
“This is your brother, is it not?” he asked, gesturing again toward Noah.
The girl nodded.
Constantine smiled, pleased with himself. “You have done well, Nefastus Palmer.” Noah noticeably flinched at the title given to his younger sister. “It would appear that your brother has finally come to his senses and decided to join his dear sister.”
Noah shifted uncomfortably and let go of my arm. “I ... yeah ... well, maybe,” he stammered and looked at his sister. “Look, I got the Summoner girl to turn herself in ... I mean I captured her ... sort of.”
The Nefastus leader looked amused. “Well, which is it, then? Did you catch her, or did she turn herself in? Did you forget how to speak coherently?”
Noah gulped and went to answer, but I spoke up instead. “I told him I would turn myself in.”
Constantine’s attention was back on me and he sneered, seeming disappointed that I had answered and not Noah. I got the impression that he had been enjoying watching Noah squirm. “Foolish Daughter of Luna,” he said with a shake of his head. “Or, perhaps, smart? You have decided to join us, willingly? Is that it?”
“I ... no. Do whatever you want to me, but I made a deal with Noah.”
He looked from me to Noah and then back again. “Oh, really? A deal? This I must hear, do go on.”
“He said that if I turned myself in you’d free my aunt and help save my friend. And …” I looked over at Noah. “And free his sister, too.”
Noah’s eyebrows scrunched and he looked at me in utter shock. If it were possible … if I were somehow going to die here … I might as well get as much out of it as I could.
“Oh, did he now?” His eyes flickered to Noah once again. “So, you made a deal with this boy, expecting something from me in return? Not very smart of him to promise things that he cannot deliver, especially when they are not his to offer. I have you here now. I need to give nothing to have you. You aren’t a very intelligent girl, are you?” He shook his head with disappointment. “Such great power wasted on someone that cannot even understand how a negotiation works.” He laughed and I heard snickers and giggles from the myriad of hidden faces throughout the room.
“Silence!” They stopped at his command.
Scared, but unwilling to back down, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. “Do you have my aunt or not? Tell me that, at least.”
“Your aunt? I am afraid I am unfamiliar with any relative of yours that I am aware of. Tell me, who is this aunt of yours?”
“She’s ... she’s a vampire,” I spat out.
Constantine looked surprised for a fleeting moment, then his expression grew serious. The mentioning of the word vampire seemed to cause an abundance of quiet whispering throughout the lair.
“I don’t imagine that she is the little blonde creature that was climbing the east tower three or four nights ago, was she?” he mused. “If so, it is no wonder that you have little brains or wit if your heritage derives from her lot.”
I was beginning to get tired of being called stupid over and over. “She’s not stupid, and neither am I! She was just trying to help me.”
“Oh?” He seemed legitimately intrigued, but it was hard to tell. If anything, every attempt at getting my point across was humorous to him.
“She was trying to find out about a cure for ... for my friend.”
“A cure? Whatever could you mean?” He smiled, and I had the sudden feeling that he already knew what I meant, but there was no way to tell for sure.
“She was looking for the Shimmerer that lives here.”
He laughed. “Dominic?” A shake of his head. “Pity. Dominic has been absent for months on some … business of mine.”
Sadness and defeat was beginning to overwhelm me; had what Noah said about the Shimmerer — this Dominic person — been false? How long ago had he heard about it? We’d gone through all of this trouble and the guy wasn’t even there anymore. I’d sent my aunt, and now myself, into this for nothing.
“Where is he exactly?”
Constantine shrugged. “It matters not to you.”
I sighed and looked at Chloe who seemed lost, standing beside the man that controlled her life. “How is it that he hasn’t died? I mean ... my friend ... he’s a Shimmerer too and he’s starting to —”
“Fade away?” Constantine grinned knowingly.
I nodded and Noah stepped closer to me, almost protectively, but not enough that anyone would be able to notice. “Do you know the cure?”
“Know it? I’m the one that created it for Dominic.”
“
Are ... are you serious?” I asked in awe. “I’ve turned myself in and given you permission to do whatever you want with me. All I ask is that you let Hannah go and send the cure back with Noah to Mathias and … and release his sister.”
Constantine looked almost to be weighing the options, then shook his head. “I don’t think I will. As I already said, what is the point? I already quite clearly have you in my possession.”
“Please!” I begged desperately. “For once in your life just do something for someone else. Do something good! He’s so young ... you can’t just let him die ... he’s — he’s Artemis’s nephew!” I shouted, unsure why I felt the need to point that out. Noah stiffened beside me, obviously having been unaware of the fact, and probably because I’d just given Constantine even more reason to let Mathias die — why would he want someone important to his enemy to live? I had been so stupid. Reckless. Maybe he was right …
I was sure I’d seen a hint of shock and horror cross over his face for a brief, fleeting moment, but it turned back to his normal, devilish expression almost as quickly as it had changed. He turned to Noah’s sister, who was looking blankly at the two of us.
“Nefastus Palmer, go upstairs to my alchemy room. There are a number of vials on the slate desk. Bring me the white one.”
Chloe looked scared and confused. It was crazy how even Constantine’s own followers were afraid of him. She started to walk away but her Clan leader quickly turned and caught her by the wrist.
“What color, Nefastus Palmer?” he demanded — was this all just a game to him? I felt sickened by how he was treating her and could only imagine what was going through Noah’s head.
“Wh-white,” she stammered.
“Good girl,” he said and released her hand, nearly pushing her into the steps. “Now go.”
Chloe raced up the stairs and out of sight.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
During Chloe’s absence, I spotted a woman — probably a few years older than me — approaching quickly from the stairs on the other side of the room. She was dressed in a flowing black gown that sparkled as though dusted with glitter, and her hair blended in with the color. Her eyes were burning orange embers, brighter than any I’d ever seen before. She rushed to Constantine’s side and looked distraught.
“You cannot be serious, Constantine!” she exclaimed. I was surprised by how she addressed him, but I somehow got the feeling she wasn’t on the same status level as Chloe or the others were.
“Isa —”
The woman interrupted, “We have the girl right here, right now, and you’re going to cave in and just give her what she wants? Why? I —”
“Isabelle!” Constantine said fiercely, but it didn’t stop the woman from continuing.
“What the hell are you thinking? There was a time when you would have torn her throat out by now and thrown her to the wolves! Are you getting soft or what?”
Constantine slapped the woman hard across the face, sending her staggering toward the stone floor. Isabelle slapped the ground and looked up at him. She looked hurt, a mixture of pain and sadness, and the color in her eyes seemed to dim.
“You will remember your place and who you are speaking to,” Constantine warned through his teeth.
Isabelle gazed at him with a look that, to me, said ‘I wish I could kill you where you stand’, but she only said, “Yes ... master.”
Chloe came back down the stairs, eying the woman on the ground briefly, before offering the vial to Constantine. He took it from her, observing the shimmering liquid before addressing her. “Good. Now, be gone. I don’t want to look at you anymore.”
She gave a fleeting glance at her brother before running back up the stairs and out of sight. I wondered if she was really there by choice or if she’d been brought against her will. She obviously wasn’t happy, so why had she declined to leave when Noah asked her to?
Isabelle stood with a blank expression, biting her lip and seemingly forcing back a rueful look in her master’s direction. She wiped her dress and ran a thin finger along the glaring red mark on her cheek.
“Now, Isabelle, make yourself useful and untie our guest, would you?”
The fiery-eyed woman looked at him in shock. “What …? You’re not serious.”
Constantine looked at her, his eyes narrowing and the corner of a lip beginning to form a snarl. She seemed to shrink down and backed away in fear. Without another word, she stepped forward and began untying the rope from my hands, torso, and legs. She was rough about it, scraping her long, sharpened nails against the skin of my wrists, but no one stopped her or even commented. I pulled my hands away and examined the reddening rope welts that itched and burned as well as the fresh lines of blood where she’d scratched me.
Constantine looked at the vial once more before extending it out to me. I was reluctant to take it from him, wondering if it was some sort of sick trick somehow. Despite my concerns, I reached out and grabbed it from his hand; it felt warm against my palm.
“Take this to your friend. Have him drink all of it. Every last drop. You will see his problems … disappear right before your eyes.”
I nodded and secured the vial in the pocket of my coat. “You’re just letting me go, then …?”
“You could say that,” he replied and lowered his hands to his sides. “But you will return.”
“Why should I?”
He smiled darkly. “Because I have collateral.”
With a snap of his fingers, two burly Nefastus witches entered the room, dragging Hannah out. She was chained to a small chair with her arms bound, mouth gagged, and her hair a tousled mess. It was obvious that she’d been tortured repeatedly and her vampiric healing wasn’t able to keep up with the beatings — bruises marred her face and arms, scratches lined her throat.
“Hannah!” I shrieked.
Hannah’s head bobbed around a little as if she heard me, but wasn’t entirely aware that I’d been calling to her. Constantine delivered another of his devilish smirks while Isabelle looked from me to Hannah and laughed. She strutted over to my aunt and punched her straight in the jaw. Hannah barely whimpered, but her face showed how much pain she’d felt.
“Hannah!” I shouted again and ran toward my aunt. “Stop! Please! Stop!”
A firm hand gripped me by the shoulder and pulled me back with remarkable strength. I knew it was Constantine who had a hold of me. He forced me to watch as Isabelle pushed over the chair and kicked Hannah in the ribs. Grimacing, I clenched my fists at my sides — this had all been my fault. Had I listened to her and everyone else, none of this would have happened.
“If you don’t return, we will kill her. And ...” Constantine paused as he turned me toward Noah who looked ashen in the face. “We’ll kill him, too. And you know what? For good measure, his little sister as well.”
Shock and fury swept across Noah’s pallid face. “What?! You said you’d let her go!”
“Oh, did I? I seem to recall you and your friend here making that part of the deal, not I.”
“Y-you can’t … you wouldn’t!” I said, turning away from my aunt momentarily.
“Oh, but I can, and I will.” He released me. “Now, go. And if you are not back within three days,” he said with a nod in the other direction. “I will kill all three of them.”
Noah was suddenly struck in the back of the knees with what looked to be a blue piece of metal. He gasped and yelped in pain before buckling over. The man that had hit him pulled him up slightly and began winding strange, steaming, blue chains around him. I realized that it was Terry … the ice-wielding witch from what felt like so long ago.
I gulped, speechless, and nodded slowly as I backed away toward the doors.
“Oh, and Madison?” he called.
I turned.
“I promise I’ll enjoy it.”
Scared, sickened, and furious, I pushed myself through the iron doors and out into the cold. The frosty weather hit me hard, sending waves of shivers through my body. The sun w
as no longer hiding behind the horizon and had fully illuminated the mountainside, causing the snow on the ground to be nearly blinding. I ran toward where I knew we’d left the truck, stumbling and falling once or twice but forcing myself back up despite the pain. I had three — four if you counted Mathias — lives depending on me. When I finally reached the truck, I pulled open the passenger side door which had been left ajar when we’d abandoned it. As soon as I had the door shut, I began bawling relentlessly and slammed my fist against the dash in frustration over my own stupidity. I should have just waited. I should have listened to everyone else. But instead I now had Noah, his sister, and Hannah in danger, and my own life was as good as forfeited. Then an even worse thought crept in. Constantine was a monster – a liar. He would never let them go, even if I did come back.
I tried to calm myself as I looked at the steering wheel across from me. Then a realization set in, I was going to have to figure out how to drive this thing. I could remember Jason trying to show me how to drive over the last few years at some off-road place not far from his and Eila’s house, and I’d successfully driven a four-wheeler before, but this was way different.
I climbed over to the driver side seat and was fortunate to find that Noah had left the key in the ignition. I attempted to start it, but nothing happened.
“No … no, no, no!” My panic was short lived as another turn of the key brought the engine rumbling to life. The heat came streaming out of the vents and quickly warmed up my shaking body, but it was little relief — I had so much on my mind that it was hard to really focus on anything else. I struggled to get the truck to turn around and was terrified that I’d veer off the cliff, then realized I had no idea where I was even going. Along the way there, I hadn’t paid much attention to the route Noah had taken, plus it had been dark, and having no license and little knowledge of driving, I didn’t feel it was necessary to watch out for those sorts of things.
I remembered my phone was in the pocket of my coat that wasn’t occupied by the vial. I took it out and input the address to Haven and started up the GPS. I began following the directions and was starting to calm down and feel comfortable behind the wheel, although I was going at a snail’s pace — mainly because I didn’t want to get myself killed or arrested.