by Ali Winters
The words sting and somehow ring true. They are the words I spent hours thinking about as I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. My face burns with anger.
“You go too far,” I say, meaning to bite out, but my voice is barely more than a whisper.
“No, little bird, I haven’t gone far enough. You need to wake up to the reality of your situation before you get yourself killed because you can’t stop thinking about a man who is lost to you.” He bares his fangs.
What he says echoes Varin’s words.
“Go fuck a demon,” I snap and turn on my heel, storming out of the training room.
I storm through the hall and into the servants’ quarters. Passing the door to my room, I keep going, wending through the corridors, putting more space between me and that insufferable vampire. I want to hide, to find a place where no one can find me.
A little too late, I slow down and take in my surroundings. Not paying attention was careless. Both Alaric and Cassius have drilled the need to be aware into me.
This wing of the castle is empty. Cream curtains frame the windows that have the same decretive diamond-shaped panes. Occasional paintings decorate the walls, the paint faded and chipping. I wonder when the last time this area was used. Dust particles dance and swirl in the last of the afternoon light shining in through the windows.
A cold hand wraps around my wrist. I know without looking that it’s a vampire. I twist my arm and jerk. The hand lets go.
I open my mouth to snap at Cassius to stop following me like I need to be watched or have my training tested every second. I’ve had enough of him for one day. I spin around and come face to face with someone I don’t expect.
“Mother?” I croak out.
Chapter Thirty
Clara
She rubs her hand, giving me a disapproving look as though I was playing outside in the mud and tracked it into the house.
“What do you want?” I snap.
Mother glowers. “I want to talk with you.”
“We’ve already tried that, and I have nothing more to say to you.” I turn sharply from her and start to walk away.
“I was wrong,” she says. Those three words echo through the hall, ringing in my ears. “I never should have left like I did, and I never should have dismissed you when you told me what happened.” Her words grow softer as she approaches cautiously.
She places a hand on my shoulder. That simple touch releases the gates on the emotions that have been compounding for the past several weeks.
I can’t find the words to respond.
“Clara, I never meant to hurt you. I thought… without me there, Gerhard would be able to provide a better life for you girls. There would be more money for food, the pretty dresses the two of you would always ask for, and your dowries.”
My throat thickens. For the first time since learning she was still alive, I feel like she is finally being honest with me. I squeeze my eyes shut and count to three, composing myself, then, I turn to face her.
“It didn’t quite go like that,” I say.
She nods. “I see that now.”
“We missed you,” I admit, “every single day.”
A light draft riffles the stands of my hair, lightly brushing them against the side of my face.
“I missed you too, my dear girl. I’m so—” She stops in mid-sentence, her brows scrunching together. Her mouth opens and shuts like a fish out of water.
“Mother?” I reach out to her.
A small bead of blood forms in the corner of her mouth, staining her teeth. The drop slides down her chin.
I take a step back, staring at a dark spot on her chest through the light green of her dress. The spot grows, blooming like a macabre flower, spreading until red stains the front of her dress.
She collapses to her knees and crumples into a heap on the floor, but my gaze doesn’t follow—snagging on the man behind her.
The vampire from the reclaiming, the one who compelled me into beheading his competition.
“If you know what’s good for you, you will refrain from screaming or making any other loud noise intended to alert others.” He pulls out a white handkerchief as he speaks. His eyes glow red, never leaving my face as he wipes down a long, thin blade before placing it into the top of a cane and twisting it back in place.
I back up. My instincts scream for me to run, but if I take my eyes off him for even a fraction of a second, I will be dead before I’m aware of what’s happening.
He drops the handkerchief on top of Mother. It flitters down, landing in the red nimbus forming around her. It soaks into the cloth until every stitch of white is saturated in dark blood.
He steps over her unnaturally still body, prowling toward me.
“Mr. Hughes…”
An unpleasant smile forms, stretching his thin lips. “Please, call me, Alexander.”
“What do you want from me?”
He adjusts his jacket and cuffs. “I couldn’t help but notice that your master is nowhere to be found for the past week.”
Alexander moves lightning-quick, grabbing my wrist. He looms over me, flashing his fangs.
“I wonder if you are even claimed or if that was all an act, like everything else our dear prince does.” His voice is full of disdain. “He struts around pretending as if he’s stronger than the rest of us when he is far from it.”
Strutting? This man talks about Alaric as if he’s never met him before.
“He’s powerful enough to not have to prove it to anyone,” I mutter under my breath. Realizing too late that I spoke out loud, I clamp my lips together, pressing in a tight line.
The vampire snarls and tightens his hold on my wrist. Alexander pulls me behind him, dragging me farther from the populated area. I have to jog to just keep up with him. I don’t struggle, waiting for my chance to strike and run.
When we reach the end of the hall, he continues up a narrow staircase. Cobwebs cling to the banister telling its story of how long it has been forgotten. I suppress the feeling of dread crawling its way up my throat.
I’m breathless by the time we reach the top. There’s a small landing with a single door. The vampire shoulders it, splintering the wood around the lock. He jerks my arm, flinging me inside. I stumble forward, barely catching myself. I take a second to let my eyes adjust to the low light. The door slams closed, trapping me with him.
Inside the cramped space, furniture is stacked against the wall, covered with heavy, white sheets. A tall window faces out on the valley to the south.
Alexander didn’t bring me here to talk. He brought me here to kill me and dispose of my body, ensuring no one will find me… at least not for a long time.
Let them underestimate you, and let them live to regret it. Alaric’s words come back to me, and I cling to them, using them to steel my spine. I have been claimed and marked by Alaric. I have been trained by Cassius to fight vampires. I might have a long way to go before my skills are honed, but today, I landed a hit on a vampire and knocked him on his ass.
I don’t need to be rescued.
Drawing in a deep breath, I blow it out slowly and look Alexander in the eye, giving him the same smile that so many vampires have given me. “You need to let me go now, or you’ll regret it.”
He throws his head back and laughs.
“I’m marked,” I say. “I don’t give two demon shits if you believe it or not.”
He ignores me and removes his jacket, flinging it onto a covered chair. Dust explodes into the air, thickening the musty scent of this room. He unbuttons his cuffs and rolls up his sleeves.
The actions minor his earlier ones. They seem to be a tick, and I wonder if he is aware of them.
“If you don’t believe me, then try compelling me,” I offer. Turning to the side, I look out the window to the sprawling land below—not giving him my back but letting him know I’m not concerned.
Alexander grips my arm and spins me around to face him.
“Bow before me, human.”
>
His power sprawls out from him with each word and wraps around me. It’s a strange prickly sensation, nothing like Alaric’s, or Cassius’s, or even Varin’s power. It wraps around me, but no part of me twitches, wanting to do as he commands.
I lift my chin a little higher and smirk.
“So it’s true then.” He glowers. “I guess humans can’t lie all the time.”
I keep my mouth shut. Humans lie as often as vampires. There is little difference between us.
He circles me slowly as if he’s seeing a human for the first time. A twisted part of me revels in the fact that I’m throwing him off balance.
“You humiliated me at the reclaiming,” Alexander says when he’s in front of me again.
I cant my head to the side, remaining quiet. A sense of calm washes over me. I am not afraid of this vampire, not like I was afraid of Victor back at Windbury, not like I used to fear their very existence.
“You let him mark you,” he spits out.
“You say that like I had a choice in any of it.” I turn slowly as he circles me. “You were there. You saw what happened.”
“You are responsible for his actions, so his marking you was a humiliation on both of your parts.”
I frown, giving him the best pitying expression I can muster. “Did it injure your pride that much?”
In a blur, the back of his hand strikes my cheek, snapping my head to the side. My skin burns, and the slightest tang of blood hits my tongue. If he thinks a hit will make me quake before him, then he will have to think again. I’ve endured worse, and I’m stronger for it.
“You belong to him… for now.”
I scoff. “I belong to no one but myself.”
Maybe I’m wrong about his motivations. All he’s done is talk. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done so by now.
I step around him and hurry toward the door, but he moves fast and cuts me off.
“It’s too late,” I say, “and there’s nothing that can change that. Even if he’s not around, I am still bound to him.”
“Not so fast,” he says.
I inch to the side, but he matches my movements seamlessly.
“Eshroth,” Alexander calls out.
There’s a quiet chattering noise, and then a large spider crawls onto his shoulder from his back. Bile burns its way up my throat, and I stumble back several steps. No spider should be that large, but I suppose it’s not really a spider at all, but his demon.
He doesn’t seem to notice my reaction.
“There is still something that can be done about that pesky mark of his,” he says casually. Those words are enough to draw my attention from the creepy demon back to him. “We can make it so it’s as if the mark was never there.”
The back of my heel bumps up against a stack of wood, sending spare pieces of planks or framing clattering to the floor.
Undo the mark?
He lifts the spider from his shoulder and stretches his hand out to me. I lean away.
Alexander sighs then, with a dramatic eye roll, yanks on my hand, and sets the spider in my palm. My muscles strain to pull out of his grip, but he continues to hold me.
The spider’s long, needle-like legs dance over my skin. They move up my arm to my shoulder. I want to slap them away. I’ve never liked spiders, but I never feared them before. Seeing one this size is… unsettling.
The demon sniffs, and I feel the tiny scratching of two legs that prod at the bite marks on my neck and shoulder. The demon turns and skitters back down my arm into their master’s hand, chirping the whole way.
The vampire glowers at whatever they say.
Alexander’s mouth turns up at the corners. “Interesting,” he murmurs, relinquishing his hold on my wrist. I take several steps back until I bump into the wall. He looks like he’s planning something I know I won’t like. “You’ve been getting yourself into more trouble than I could have guessed for a human Alaric picked out. Who knew he has such… curious tastes.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The vampire lists his lips. “I am quite pleased Elise persuaded me to try again to reclaim you.”
“If you want to kill me, then get on with it,” I say, tired of his endless droning.
I need him to make a move. If I draw my dagger too early, then I will have lost before I begin. I need to catch him off guard.
“Oh, no, my pet,” he says, placing his spider demon back on his shoulder. They scurry away, back to wherever they were hiding earlier. “I have no plans to kill you. I will bind you to me, overriding the mark.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “The mark is for life.”
“Normally, it would be, unless…”
I don’t ask what the condition is because that’s what he wants.
He pulls me away from the window and presses my back against his chest. I hadn’t planned on throwing myself out, but the way he’s looking at me makes me reconsider.
“You and I will take the oath, and it will bind you to me, like the mark binds you to Alaric.” He paces the room, stopping when he’s at my back. “The oath is stronger, and it is for life. Our bond will be unbreakable. You will live as long as any vampire, and you will only die in the ways a vampire can die. You will essentially have the powers I have, except of course, you will not have your own demon, nor will you be able to overpower me.”
“That’s… impossible,” I whisper.
“You and I will be bound. Forever.” He runs his fingers over the scars of my neck, thumb caressing the nape of my neck.
“You’re insane if you think I would willingly bind myself to you. I would rather die.”
He leans forward, putting his mouth next to my ear, his hot breath fanning across my cheek. “Consider it. What human wouldn’t want the long life of a vampire? Added strength and speed, never aging, never suffering a single day from human ailments, and none of the side effects like needing to drink blood.”
I step away, but his hand slides up and tangles in my hair, keeping me in place.
“Me,” I say. “I don’t want that.”
Especially not when it would mean being bound to the vampire who compelled me into decapitating someone.
I’ve had enough. Flexing my fingers, I run through what I need to do in my mind. Then, I shove my elbow back into his gut. Alexander’s hand loosens, and his breath is forced out in a pained whoosh. Then, I’m free.
He snarls, bumping into the frames behind him. “You’ll pay for that, girl!”
I whirl in time just as he backhands me.
The hit forces me to the side. I stumble. There’s a deep thunk, and blinding stars explode before my eyes as my head cracks against stone.
Chapter Thirty-One
Clara
Fiery hot needles prickle across my cheek in time with my pulse as my face already begins to swell. My vision wavers in and out of focus. Hissing through my teeth, I press a hand to my head to stop the ringing.
Alexander lunges, and I roll away, but I’m too slow. He grips my arm, hauling me to my feet, preventing me from drawing my dagger.
Using his hold to steady me, I widen my feet and sink down into my stance as Cassius taught me to do.
Alexander drags a sharp nail over my heart. I suck in a raspy breath, and he digs deeper, past the skin and into the muscle, drawing a whimper. His lips curl at the sound.
I grab hold of his shoulder, bringing my knee up into his groin. His mouth drops open as he doubles at the waist, stumbling backward, but his momentary distraction doesn’t last long. He strikes out with both hands, fingers curled into claws.
I spin away, but his nails slice through my sleeve, tearing into my arm and sending a searing wave of pain across my skin.
Spinning away, I stumble into the wall. I need to get to the door, but Alexander is careful to keep himself positioned between me and my escape.
A wave of dizziness throws me off balance, and I use the wall to prop myself up, gasping for air more than I shou
ld. The vampire bares his fangs and stalks forward, stopping just out of reach. Keeping his gaze locked on me, he drags a nail down his forearm.
“Stop fighting me, pet. Do as I say before you bleed to death.”
I press tighter against the wall. The sight of him cutting his own arm startles me. He inches closer, watching my every movement.
When he’s within reach, I push off the wall and ram him with my shoulder. He grunts and uses his weight to pin me to the wall.
Shit, shit, shit.
He takes both of my hands and holds them above my head. Pain explodes along my right arm where he cut me. Blood continues to seep from my wounds, the tangy smell of copper filling the air. His is already healing.
“If you’re lucky, you might just live through this process.” He hums thoughtfully to himself. “Unless I change my mind and kill you instead.” He leans in and drags his tongue along one of the deep gashes on my arm, watching me from the corners of his eyes. “If you live,” he whispers, “I will chain you up in my room for the rest of eternity and feed on you.”
Demons take me. I will not let that happen.
I spit. The wad of saliva lands below his eye. The shocked expression on his face sends a spark of pride through my veins. The vampire reels back, horrified. His perfectly quaffed hair sticks out wildly.
“Yes,” he growls. “It’s a good thing we will be taking that oath. You are in need of a master to teach you how a proper human ought to behave.”
I don’t bother replying. If Alexander hasn’t guessed by now that I will fight him until one of us kills the other, then he hasn’t been paying attention.
As Alexander wipes his face, I sprint around the edge of the room, racing toward the door. A cold hand with a steel grip catches my arm. I stumble to a halt as he squeezes down on my wounds, digging his fingers in.
“Tilt your head,” he orders. Power reverberates in his words as he attempts to compel me.
I laugh. At first, it comes out as a strangled chuckle, quickly becoming hysterical.
