Blood King

by Becca Blake

  Nero was so lost in his own thoughts that he at first didn’t notice when the carriage came to a halt, too early in the night and too deep in the woods for them to be stopping to rest for the day.

  Neryssa leaned across the carriage and shook his arm. “Something’s happening.”

  Nero pushed aside the curtain and looked out, but aside from the glow coming from the front of the carriage, there was nothing but an ocean of darkness surrounding them.

  Adrius rapped his knuckles on the door harshly before pulling it open. “Out.”

  The twins shared a nervous glance before obeying the command and stepping out into the chilly night. Even the trees didn’t seem to do much to slow the howling wind that swirled around them.

  The vampire dropped a pouch full of coins into the driver’s palm and whispered to him. The driver turned the horses around and departed with nothing more than a wave, leaving Nero and Neryssa alone with Adrius in the dark forest.

  “We walk from here,” Adrius said. He handed the lantern to Nero. “You’ll need this much more than I will. I suggest you watch your footsteps and tread carefully. Do not stray from the path. Whether by the fall or by my hand, you will die if you do.”

  Nero was too cold and tired to argue, and he’d seen too much of Adrius’ violence to dare defy him. The moonlight and the dim glow from the lantern guided them up the side of the mountain. Rocks crunched as Neryssa’s foot slipped, and she let out a sharp gasp. Before Nero could turn around and respond, she fell forward into him.

  Nero helped her to her feet. “Would it be easier for you to walk if you hold the lantern?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine. I’ll be more careful.”

  “Hurry up,” Adrius called over his shoulder. Nero couldn’t see the vampire’s face, but his voice lifted with amusement. “We’re almost there.”

  Though there was a high drop to the ground, the path didn’t seem like it would be a difficult one to climb in the light of day. But with only the moonlight and the lantern to guide their steps, the rocky trail up the mountain became treacherous. Despite Adrius’ warning to hurry, Nero slowed his pace as he helped his sister along the path. By the time they reached the entrance to a cave, they’d been walking nearly an hour. The tunnel’s walls were lined with sconces that held small crystals. The pale light that emanated from each bathed the tunnel in a soft glow.

  “Leyline crystals,” Neryssa said, breathless from their walk. “I haven’t seen any of these since we lived on the palace grounds in Caracta.”

  The rare, valuable gems were a power source, used for light and energy since the fall of magic in the world. They were the type of luxury that belonged only to powerful lords and ladies, yet they lined the wall of this cave, spread out every ten feet. There were more than Nero had ever seen in one place— even at the palace. If he could somehow manage to steal just a few, he could live like a nobleman for years to come.

  “Where did you get so many?” Nero asked.

  Adrius didn’t reply. As they turned a corner, a massive cavern large enough to hold an entire city came into view. Not quite as large as Caracta, Nero thought, but perhaps close. The walls glowed softly from the leyline crystals scattered across the rocky surface like stars. A huge formation in the center of the cavern stretched from top to bottom. At the far end, past the sharp drop of two cliffs that led deeper into the cave, a river flowed through from one side to the other. Rock formations were scattered across the cavern, covering the ceiling and ground with massive spikes. Nero had seen formations like these in drawings of caves during his studies at the palace, though he couldn’t quite remember what they were called. He’d never expected to see any in person.

  “Welcome to Terra Nocturne,” Adrius said as they walked. “This cavern will become one of the greatest cities on the continent. A city for my people, somewhere we no longer have to live in hiding.”

  The only completed structure in the cave was a castle nestled into the cave walls, its arches and spires built amongst the rock formations. Pale light glowed from its windows, promising more leyline crystals within. Buildings in various stages of completion surrounded the castle, and piles of stone, wood, and other building supplies littered the cavern floor.

  When Adrius had mentioned that he was the lord of a city, Nero imagined it would be like any other. Streets and alleyways, plenty of buildings with places for him to hide, just as he always had. Maybe one day, this cavern would become exactly that. For now, though, it was nothing more than a hollow, empty shell that would provide him no cover if he needed to run.

  As they passed through the construction area surrounding the castle, the workers there paid them no attention. Unlike workers Nero had seen in Caracta, these people were nearly silent. There was no friendly banter as they went about their work, and they cast nervous glances at Adrius as he strode past them.

  One of the workers sat on a particularly large stone, flipping through various pieces of parchment. When Adrius stopped in front of him, he jumped to his feet and greeted him with a stiff bow. “Welcome home, my lord.”

  Adrius gave the man a curt nod in return. “Any news during my absence?”

  “Ah, yes. Viridi was pleased to accept another shipment of leyline crystals in exchange for us clearing out their prisons.”

  “And the prisoners?”

  “In the dungeons with the other mortals, my lord. Should I take these two down to join them?” the worker inclined his head toward Nero and Neryssa and flashed a smile that revealed a set of fangs identical to Adrius’.

  Adrius looked the twins over thoughtfully, then shook his head. “No, I will take them. I haven’t yet decided what to do with them.”

  The vampire bowed again as Adrius started toward the castle once more.

  Once they walked through the castle’s doors, Adrius paused to look at them. “You’ll be staying here, in my castle, until more of the city is built.”

  “Will you show us the castle?” Neryssa asked, linking her arm in his. “It’s all so beautiful here. I can’t wait to see more.”

  Adrius led them deeper into his castle, past endless rooms and down hallways that seemed to stretch on forever.

  Nero lagged behind as Adrius led them through the palace. He said nothing about the way Neryssa hung from the vampire’s arm like she needed him to live, or the way Adrius looked at her like he’d swallow her whole as soon as he had a chance. They’d argued about it enough already. For better or for worse, they were now in the vampire’s domain, at his mercy.

  He just had to trust that Neryssa knew what she was doing.

  Instead of letting his mouth get him into more trouble, Nero kept it shut and tracked every turn they took, making a mental map of the hallways in his head. The halls were mostly devoid of people, but they’d been built with plenty of winding turns and hidden nooks— plenty of places to hide, if he ever needed to do so.

  A few servants dressed in old rags scurried past them, keeping their gazes cast downward. Nero couldn’t get a good enough look at their teeth to tell if they were more vampires or if they were human, but judging by their fear, he assumed the latter. One, an elven woman with dull, blonde hair, looked up at Nero with curious eyes as she passed. For a moment, he thought she might say something, but she hurried away without a word like the rest.

  Adrius stopped in front of the door to a room furnished simply, with a single bed next to a chest of drawers. The bedroom was small, barely larger than a closet, but the blankets and pillows on the bed looked soft and comfortable. There were no windows on the wall behind the bed, no escape but the doorway they now stood in.

  “This will be your room for now,” Adrius said, waving for Nero to enter.

  Nero stepped inside and dropped his pack on the bed. Before he could turn back around to ask where Neryssa would be staying, a lock clicked as Adrius slammed the door shut behind him.

  “Let me out!” Nero slammed his fist against the wood.

  Adrius’ voice came from the other
side of the door, only slightly muffled by the barrier between them. “It’s just a precaution. I don’t want you to get any ideas about roaming through the castle. This is for your protection— the halls aren’t safe for humans to wander about alone.”

  “What about my sister?” Nero demanded. “Where will she be staying?”

  As the silence stretched on, it soon became clear he wasn’t getting an answer.

  It had been seven days since Adrius abandoned Nero to the tiny room. He only knew because he kept track of the two meager meals that were brought to him each day. Or at least, he assumed it was day. With no daylight and no other way to tell time, Nero had only his body’s natural inclinations to tell him when to go to sleep and when to wake.

  The vampire who brought his meals never said a word to him. Each time, he set the plates on the ground next to the door before shutting and locking it behind him. Once, Nero had waited next to the door and tried to push his way out as soon as it opened. That effort only ended in him being pushed to the ground and kicked in the gut hard enough to knock the breath from him. Worse, the vampire took the plate with him, and it had seemed like a much longer wait than usual before he brought Nero’s next meal.

  Nero hadn’t tried to escape again.

  Trapped alone, with no one to speak to and little to do but scribble in the journal he’d brought in his pack, Nero spent most of his waking hours crouched in the corner until he passed out on the cold stone floor. The bed was comfortable, but Nero couldn’t bring himself to sleep in it. After all the time he’d spent on the street, the ground felt more familiar than the soft sheets. In such a strange, lonely place, that familiarity was his only comfort.

  After an abrupt knock, the door swung open. For the first time since he’d been locked in the room, Nero was greeted by a different vampire, this one a younger-looking man with dark hair and swirling tattoos down his arms. He set the tray down on the dresser next to Nero’s bed.

  Nero hadn’t had much to eat beyond bread and water, with the occasional treat of a slice of cheese. Today, though, the pleasant smell of something savory—something that had actually been cooked—greeted him.

  “Fresh shipment,” the vampire muttered, already more talkative than the previous attendant had been. “Enjoy it. It’ll be a while before we get more.”

  Nero ignored the tempting aroma for the moment and grabbed his new guard’s sleeve. “Wait.”

  The vampire spun around and glared at Nero. “What?”

  “I need answers,” Nero said.

  The vampire sighed and shook his head. “Lord Adrius has taken a liking to you. I’m not sure why.”

  Nero frowned. “I wouldn’t consider locking me in a room with no contact liking me.”

  “You could be in the dungeons with the rest of the humans,” the guard said with a shrug.

  “How long will I be locked in here?”

  “I’m not sure what he plans to do with you. You should enjoy your time up here, though. He’ll tire of keeping you separate from the rest of the livestock eventually.”

  “What about my sister? Where’s Neryssa?”

  The vampire’s face scrunched up for a moment in confusion before recognition flashed across his features. “Ah, her. She’s his new toy, from what I’ve heard. He’s been having fun with her since she got here.”

  Before Nero could ask him to explain, he was gone, and he locked the door behind him once more.

  The brief encounter was the first time anyone had spoken to him in weeks. Still, it left him with more questions than answers, and his own wild speculation left him no comfort. He didn’t know where Neryssa was now, but he had to find her.

  He tried the door again for possibly the thousandth time since he’d been locked away, then paced around the room, searching for a new answer. There had to be something he’d missed. The locked door was the only way out— he had to find a way to open it.

  Nero knew well enough how to pick locks, but his tools had been in his bag that was lost at sea back in Caracta. He hadn’t had a chance to replace them before leaving the city. If he’d had anything with him, he would’ve used it long ago.

  After a demanding growl from his stomach, Nero decided he could resume his search after finishing his meal. It would taste better while it was still hot.

  He attacked the tiny piece of chicken with the desperation of a starving man. It was dry, badly overcooked and under seasoned, but he was sure it was the most delicious thing he’d ever eaten. He picked it clean, right down to the bones.

  The long, narrow bones that might just fit into the lock.

  Nero tore one of the bones free and wiggled it in the lock until it came free with a glorious click. With a relieved sigh, he stuffed the bone into his pocket and grabbed his pack from the bed.

  Now, he just had to find where Adrius was keeping Neryssa.

  Chapter 9

  Nero crept down the hallway, pausing in front of open doors to peer inside the empty rooms, each identical to the one he’d been staying in. Neryssa wasn’t in any of them. He followed the narrow hallway, then turned down a wider one. The rooms in this hallway were larger, with more furniture and extravagant decor. There were no people in any of them, though some had rustled sheets, belongings scattered across the floor, or books sitting on bedside tables that showed the rooms had recently been used.

  The sixth door had been left slightly ajar, and muffled voices came from inside. Nero angled himself so he could look through the narrow opening and covered his mouth to smother a gasp.

  Inside, Neryssa lay on the bed as Lord Adrius re-laced the front of his tunic. “I’ll return for you tomorrow, then. Be ready for me,” he said.

  Nero backed away from the door, then dove into a narrow nook with a window next to Neryssa’s doorway. He shrank back into the shadows behind a velvet curtain that stretched from floor to ceiling.

  The door clicked as Adrius closed it behind him and started down the hallway, away from Nero. It wasn’t until his footsteps had faded entirely that Nero allowed himself to take a breath.

  He waited a few minutes longer, then slipped out from behind the curtain and crouched in front of Neryssa’s door. Old chicken bone in hand, he started picking the lock on her door. The effort was unnecessary; as he turned the doorknob to test it, Nero realized it hadn’t been locked at all. He pushed the door open and slipped inside, closing it gently behind him.

  “It’s too soon,” Neryssa groaned. She rolled over in bed, pulling the sheet with her. “Let me rest!”

  “It’s just me,” Nero said, keeping his voice as low as he could.

  He looked away as she stood up, pulling the sheet with her to cover herself. “Nero? What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

  “Don’t worry about that now,” he said. “I came to save you. Do you have clothes? If you need something to wear, I might have some extra clothes in my pack—”

  “No,” Neryssa said.

  Nero frowned. “What?”

  “I… I have clothes. What are you planning to do?”

  “I did my best to remember the way back out of here. It’s pretty straightforward— through this hallway, down the stairs, and out through the front door. From there, it’s a straight shot out of the cavern. If he’s not coming to check on you until tomorrow, we might be able to make it all the way to Viridi before he comes looking for us.” The words moved faster than his thoughts as he formed their escape plan.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Neryssa said.

  “We’ve been held prisoner for weeks,” he said. “We missed our chance to run back in Caracta. This might be the only other chance we get.”

  Neryssa fingered the silky fabric she’d wrapped around herself. “Alright… I need to get dressed and gather my things first, though. I know the way out. Why don’t you hide outside the entrance? I’ll meet you there.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “We’re more likely to get caught if we stick together,” she said. “If we g
o separately, it’ll be easier to stay hidden.”

  Nero ran a hand through his hair. As much as he hated the idea of leaving her to wander the castle alone, she was right. If they went one at a time, they’d have a better chance of slipping by unnoticed.

  “Okay,” he said finally. “I’ll wait for you out front. Try to be quick, though— the faster you meet me there, the faster we can get away from this place.”

  As he started out the door, Neryssa called his name. “Whatever happens tonight… Remember that I do love you, brother.”

  Nero grinned. “Don’t talk like that. We’ll be fine.”

  He slipped out the door and hurried down the hallway. As he neared the top of the staircase, he slowed and lowered himself to a crouch. He waited for a line of elves to pass. They shuffled forward slowly, their ankles chained together with heavy restraints. The vampires who led them didn’t hesitate to use whips to hurry them along.

  Nero waited until they were gone before continuing down the stairs. He descended with slow, quiet steps, always looking over his shoulder in case anyone came behind him. No one did, save for a human servant who didn’t even take a second glance at him. He sighed with relief as he pushed open the heavy door and stepped out into the open cavern.

  Each minute seemed to stretch into hours as he waited, nestled into the castle’s architecture near the door. Nero had no way to tell the time, so it was impossible to be sure how long he’d been waiting. But with every moment that passed, worry gripped his chest harder.

  It’s been too long.

  She should have made it out of the castle by now.

  I never should have left her.

  Just as Nero gathered his resolve to return to the castle, the door creaked open. He peered around the pillar, his whole body tense as he waited to see who emerged.