His eyes lifted, sweeping over me. He planted the glass on the table before approaching me.
A shiver ran through me as stood before me, his chest gleaming, his armour removed.
“What do you want?” I snarled, my hands balling into fists.
I was not going to have sex with him, but from the size of him, I didn't know if he'd give me a choice. I eyed the knife at his hip, wondering what would happen to me if I managed to get hold of it and stab him.
“I don't want to be impaled,” he mused, taking the knife from his hip and chucking it across the room. It clattered over the floorboards and silence reigned between us.
“I'm not going to sleep with you,” I broke the quiet.
He hmphed and a smile pulled at his lips.
My nose wrinkled and I took a measured step back.
“I'm not going to sleep with you either.” He laughed suddenly, the rumbling noise making me jump.
I folded my arms, glaring at him. “So what do you want from me?”
He closed the distance between us and I stilled as he lifted a hand, pinching my chin between his rough finger and thumb. His eyes roamed down to my neck. “Blood.”
I sighed with relief, turning my head. That, I could give. I didn't give a crap about that.
He raised his brows in surprise. “Strange...the other girls would prefer I did sleep with them I think.”
I pursed my lips. “But you don't?”
He laughed again. “No, Helsing girl. I'm not a rapist. Though that cannot be said of all the leaders.” His eyes darkened.
“Bain?” I guessed, my skin crawling.
He inclined his head, but didn't answer. I had to thank my stars I'd not been delivered into his hands instead of Hawke's.
Curiosity filled me and a question rolled into my mind. “Did you...” I trailed off, unsure if I should ask, or if I was being ridiculous.
He lifted a brow, waiting for me to continue.
“Is that why you offered me a place in Nox?” I asked, swallowing hard.
He considered that, tilting his head to one side. I eyed the tattoos crawling up one side of his neck, hooking around his left ear.
“Do you think I saved you?” he asked, amused again.
I cleared my throat, feeling foolish. “No, I suppose not. Why would you?”
“Why indeed...” He grinned, tilting my head further to the side.
I shut my eyes, thinking of the last time I'd done this, offering blood to Varick. It hadn't been so bad. But I imagined it depended on how rough the Vampire was.
He dipped his head, his mouth brushing my neck and I stiffened, waiting for the slice of his fangs. He breathed in my scent, tugging me flush against his hard body. “Helsings are notoriously delicious. Perhaps that's why you're here in Nox.”
“Perhaps?” I whispered.
“Yes, or perhaps I saved you. You can decide for yourself.” Before I could answer, he bit into me and I suppressed a cry of pain. His grip on me firmed and my thoughts grew fuzzy as he fed from me.
His skin was cold against mine, making me shiver. He grew frantic, holding my head in place and I stumbled back from his ferocity.
I started to grow woozy and my legs gave out. I crashed to the ground and he fell atop me, his weight like a boulder. I tried to push him off, but he was out of control, his hips pinning me down as he drank too much of my blood.
I threw punches at his side and he yanked his teeth free, rearing up from me. His eyes were wild with bloodlust. He gazed down at me, seeming confused for a moment before he took my hand and dragged me upright.
“Forgive me...I didn't expect it taste that good.”
I shoved him back, angry as I staggered away from him, clutching the wound on my neck. I fell to my knees with a gasp of rage.
“You bastard,” I snarled, my vision curtained with shadows.
He scooped me up, placing me on the bed of furs and I wriggled away from him, glaring.
He knelt on the edge of the bed, tearing his wrist open with his teeth and holding it out to me.
“Drink,” he commanded.
I shrank away, scowling.
“Please,” he urged, reaching out to me.
I pressed my lips together then leant up, taking his bloody wrist and drinking the blood. I needed to heal. No point being weaker than necessary in this place. As the metallic taste flooded over my tongue, a tingling wave of warmth ran through me and my dizziness eased.
I leaned away, watching as the skin on his wrist healed over. He surveyed me a moment, his eyes bright. “You may rest here a while. You'll need your strength for tonight.”
“Why? What happens tonight?” I asked in alarm.
He shook his head, standing. “That isn't for me to say.”
“Why not? You're the leader, aren't you?”
“It is tradition,” he said simply. He marched across the room to a cupboard, taking hold of the glass of whiskey. “You'll be given Iris's pod to sleep in. Her things are now yours. You won them fair and square. If you want more clothes, you'll have to earn them.”
I nodded, frowning as I eyed his tattoos again. “How's it possible you have tattoos? Vs can't normally keep them.”
Hawke sniffed his drink again. “They're done with V blood. It's the only substance our body doesn't reject.”
I wrinkled my nose and he chuckled darkly.
“What's with the whiskey? Can you even drink it?”
“No,” he sighed. “But I like the smell.”
I nodded, resting my head back on the pillow, tiredness tugging at me. I'd barely slept since the trial. There in Hawke's bed, was the first time I'd felt safe since. Which was odd considering how worried I'd been entering his room.
My eyes fluttered closed and I let exhaustion take over, dragging me into a deep, dreamless sleep.
✭☠✭
I was woken barely an hour later by Hawke tugging me up by the arm. He pulled me across the room, passing through the curtain and onto the balcony. He raised a fist into the air, keeping his other hand around my wrist.
I blinked groggily down at Nox Clan, all of whom had amassed below us. They cried out at the sight of us, pumping their fists above them. As one, they started chanting, “Ooh-rah!”
Hawke bellowed it back and I fixed a scowl onto my face. He tugged me under his arm, his manly scent rolling over me. “Smile, girl. They'd prefer it if they think you've pleased me.”
“Ergh,” I pretended to gag and he smirked at me.
I spotted Tykera amongst the crowd, a dark look on her face. She gazed around at the clan, not joining in with the chanting. I wondered why, but didn't have long to think about it as Hawke lifted me by the waist, planting me on the edge of the balcony.
I cried out, flailing madly as he pushed me over the edge. The crowd surged forward as I fell toward them, a scream ripping from my throat. I was caught by muscular arms and my heart dove into my stomach.
I surfed across the group, being tossed and thrown into the air as I went. Eventually, someone planted me on my feet and my legs trembled beneath me. I was pushed and nudged toward the edge of the room and Tykera weaved her way toward me, taking my arm as I arrived before a ladder.
“Iris's pod is the third one up on the left,” she breathed in my ear, pointing.
I nodded, placing my hands on the first rung, urged on by the crowing masses.
I climbed up, my hands sweating as I went, reaching over with one leg as I tried to climb into Iris's pod. I dropped into it, sighing a breath of relief as I headed deeper into the space.
It was large and oval-shaped with a make-shift bed at the heart of it. Clothes were folded either side of the furs between which were a couple of candles and a box of matches. I dropped firmly onto the bed and pain shot up through my knees. It was barely more than a blanket over the black rock.
I huffed, crawling further up it and tugging another fur over my back, resting my head on the thin pillow.
My heart was beating a wild tune
in my chest, but at least I was away from the eyes of the clan.
I pulled my knees to my chest, taking a steadying breath. Sleep was the only reprieve I was going to get from this place. And I willed it to come for me again with all my heart.
I entered Arabella's quarters. They were located in a wooden house suspended above the huge cave the rest of the clan called home. The only access to it was via a ladder up one wall, then a thin wooden bridge to cross the cavern.
I stepped through the door, dressed in a green robe and a pair of soft linen trousers.
I'd expected this prison to be deadly, but I'd not predicted the strange rituals or the division of the masses into four clans.
Arabella was waiting inside. The place was like a nest. Fluffy white furs laid around the room, surrounding a large bed at the heart of the floor stacked with plush cushions.
Ravens were perched on a dried log that rested against one wall, six of them all staring back at me.
Arabella turned to me, her body wrapped in a black dress, a white fur hugging her shoulders.
“Come closer, Accolt,” she whispered, moving to her ravens and stroking one of their heads.
I swerved around the large bed on the floor, moving within a few paces of her before halting.
“I will ask you three questions, if you answer well you will be rewarded.” She smiled and I folded my arms, waiting.
What was this about? I knew how to fight. Hell, I knew how to kill. But this hadn't been in the holiday brochure. I didn't want whatever reward she had in mind for me. Still, I knew I had to play by her rules. So I offered her a nod.
“What is your biggest regret?” She eyed me curiously and I considered not answering. But I guessed I'd have to go along with this crap for now. My main focus, however, was how to break out of this prison. Sure, it had never been done before. But I'd always been ambitious. Courtesy of my father, I suppose.
I took a breath, wondering if I should be entirely honest. Building bridges with Arabella wasn't a bad plan. She obviously had a lot of power in this place. And I was going to need people like her on my side if I was going to find out everything I needed to about Dødstårn to escape.
“My biggest regret is getting caught.” I smirked and she gave me a keen smile.
“Interesting....My second question is this: what is your happiest memory?”
I frowned, an old wound splitting apart inside my chest. She waited for me to answer and I eventually gave in. “The last day I spent with my mother before she died. We went hunting in the summer on our home island of Øyafrelse. It rained most of the day, but it didn't matter. It felt warm after the harsh winter we'd had. We strolled through the melting snow, soaking in the sunlight and the way it made the world sparkle.” I was drawn back to that moment, the rain, the wind, the way the starkly white world had turned grey before our eyes.
My mother had said to me, “Most people never see the world, they only live in it. See it Colt. Experience all of it. Squeeze every drop out of life.”
I'd been fourteen. I'd not really understood what she meant. Not until later when I really looked at my father's world. Tried to understand why he did what he did. And it sparked a change in me I could never return from.
Arabella moved closer, eyeing my expression with longing. “I miss the rain. Sometimes I miss it more than the sun. The way humans run from it is a sad thing. To feel is an awfully great gift.”
I nodded, a lump lodging in my throat.
I will get out of here. I won't end up like her, longing for the outside world. Drinking in other people's memories.
“You smell of the earth still. The other leaders have their new clan members wash immediately. But you carry the scent of freedom on your skin. Don't wash it away until you must.” She was only a foot away now, her hands twitching as if she wanted to touch me. Her desperation was clear. And that gave me hope. Plenty of Immortals wanted out of this place. Escaping together was bound to be easier.
“What's the last question?” I asked.
She closed the distance between us, gazing directly into my eyes. She was almost as tall as me and her eyes were deepest blue. “What is it you fear most in this place?”
The answer came to me easily. “Living out my sentence here.”
Her brows lowered. “You wish to die?”
“No... I wish to escape.”
She laughed, her eyes bright. “Most people give death as their answer. Few even consider escape.”
“Why?” I growled, my shoulders tensing.
“Because it is impossible. Do you think we haven't tried?”
“Of course not,” I said stiffly. “But perhaps you haven't tried hard enough.”
“And what of the Watchers? We would be caught.”
“There's a lot more of us than there is them,” I pointed out.
“True,” she said, smiling curiously. “Well, Accolt, I'm glad I offered you a place in my clan. Exile is for useless people. You are clearly not one of them. But your ideas of escape will get you nowhere I'm afraid. It cannot be done. The strongest Immortals in hundreds of centuries have never managed it. Why would a half-blood like yourself be any different?”
I pressed my tongue into my cheek, deliberating whether to tell her the truth. “Because I have a plan,” I said at last.
“There have been plans before,” she said simply.
I shrugged. “Not my plan.”
“Which is?” she purred.
I gave her a blank look. “I believe I was only required to answer three questions.”
She slid her hand around the back of my neck, pressing against me. “Indeed, you were. Would you like your reward?”
“Depends what it is,” I said stiffly, fighting the urge to push her away.
“Most of my harem choose me as their gift.” She took my hand, laying it on her waist. I immediately removed it and she chuckled a laugh, stepping back. “But it seems you are different, so...” She moved across the room, opening a small cabinet with a key she took from a chain around her neck. She returned to me a moment later, a scroll in her hand.
She held it out to me and I took it, unfurling the parchment. It was a hand-drawn map that looked like it had been added to by different people. I spied the names of the four clans around the cave system and my heart rate lifted.
“This is Dødstårn?” I asked.
She nodded. “Every inch has been explored by people searching for a way out. Everywhere but here...” she Pointed to a large, dark circle with the words 'the ring of silence' penned in the middle of it. “Anyone that goes there in exile never returns,” Arabella sighed.
“What's down there?” I asked.
She shrugged. “No one really knows. I believe it is where the infected used to go, when the prison was first established. Some believe the Red Plague lives on down there.”
My gut lurched. I'd heard of that. A thousand years ago, a virus had spread through Immortals, killing hundreds of our kind. It was deadly to anyone who came into contact with it. A cure was eventually found; there was no chance of that being kept down here in Dødstårn. But that gave me a tantalising idea...
“Your ravens can get out of the prison, yes?” I asked.
She inclined her head. “Are you truly going to try and escape, Accolt?”
“Call me Colt. And yes, I am.”
“Perhaps you will do better than those who have tried in the past. So I want to be a part of it,” she said. “Whatever you need, you have it. But I cannot say I have any confidence in truly escaping.”
“I want to send a message,” I said and Arabella moved to one of her smallest ravens, lifting it onto her arms.
“Who to?” she inquired.
I frowned, knowing my plan relied on the one man who could help me. And the one man who might not care to. “My father.”
EIGHTY YEARS AGO
“Not yet,” my mother pleaded of my father. We were in our home on the edge of my father's resort. Frost clung to the windows, but through
the haze I could see the flashing lights of the strip, far across the snowy land. My room was fit for a king; I had a fourposter bed and all the toys I wanted. My toy soldier collection was lined up on the windowsill, standing sentinel. But I was growing tired of them. I wasn't allowed into the events. But today, father had promised to take me. To show me his work.
“He's only a boy,” my mother continued, pacing the room in front of me. She was the exact opposite of me and my father, fair-skinned and light-eyed with a tangle of auburn hair. She looked like a snow princess, her gait slender and somehow regal. She always dressed in bright ball gowns and had my father's name tattooed across one wrist. She'd promised to add my name one day.
“He's thirteen,” my father said, pulling on a fine red jacket with gold buttons. “I was younger when I made my first Vampire kill.”
My heart hammered with excitement. He hadn't told me much about the games he ran, but I'd heard the servants talking of contestants and dangerous trials. I didn't know if I was capable of killing Vampires, but father had taken me hunting over the years to get me used to using weapons. Blades, bows and guns. I'd killed a bear one year and Father had organised a feast to celebrate.
“Rockley,” my mum begged harder. “I don't think he's ready for this life.”
“Please, Mum,” I asked, grabbing a dark coat and tugging it on. I'd barely slept all night, knowing Father was going to come for me in the morning.
She sighed, pushing a hand into her hair. “I'm competing today...I don't want Accolt there.”
“Agreed,” my father said, moving toward her and sliding his hands around her waist. “I don't like to miss out, though.”
A smile pulled at my mother's mouth. “You know I'll come back to you.”
“Always.” He beamed, dipping his head to kiss her.
I grimaced, turning away, stamping my foot. “Can we go now?”
“Yes, my boy.” My father stepped away from Mum, gesturing for me to follow.
A horse and cart waited outside. The black stone house was so tall, it cast a huge square shadow across the ground. In the summer, when the sun didn't set for months on end, the snow melted away, bringing the world to life. But I liked the winter months. Liked the drums pounding from within Father's resort. And now I'd finally get a chance to take part.
Hunter Trials Page 3