Time both sped up and slowed down. Orange mornings and purple evenings passed as I lay on my bed. Olwen didn’t fetch for me, and Atticus didn’t come by to pick me up for training. Everyone was leaving me alone, whether that was out of compassion or by Olwen’s orders, I didn’t know.
Not that it mattered. Just like everywhere else, I didn’t matter here. My feelings and wishes didn’t matter. My only purpose was to be a warrior, and right now, I’d make a distraught and useless one. Olwen was cold, but he at least ensured that his warriors were in good shape when they went into battle.
Lily entered my bedroom once bringing me a tray of soup like I had the flu and hadn’t killed someone. I remained on my bed, staring at her as she put the tray down and bit her lip nervously. I knew she hadn’t wanted to write a letter to lure Thorsten to his death, but logic did nothing to calm down the throbbing agony in my chest.
“Please go away,” I rasped.
Lily opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and left, but not before I noticed the tears brimming around her wide, hollow eyes.
Olwen had either blinded her with her desperation to prove herself or had coerced her. I hoped for the latter. Lily, like me, had to survive. I understood. I really did. I only had myself to blame for being weak.
The days melted into one another. I only got up to use the bathroom. The rest of the time, I watched the light change from morning to evening to night. I couldn’t sleep, nor could I stay awake.
However, when sunrays pushed through my window on what I believed to be the third day, I rose, tired of my self-pity. I didn’t deserve it.
My joints popped as I stretched and got dressed, coming to terms with my new reality. I swallowed over razor blades. Thorsten was dead. I had killed him. I was a monster, but I had to be a monster. I had to harden. If I hadn’t killed Thorsten, he would’ve gotten us both killed eventually.
I swallowed again, focusing on the pain sliding down and through my chest. I shouldn’t regret killing Thorsten. I should regret having sex with him and falling for him. Sex was something to be used to gain an advantage. I should’ve learned that much at Nocturnal Academy. Instead, I had allowed Thorsten to weaken me.
It was time to talk to Lily. I needed to know why she had written the letter and where we stood. I needed to know whether she was an ally or an enemy. It was a tactical move, nothing more.
Wearing a pair of cargo pants and a tank top, I wandered out of my room, gut turning over in anticipation of meeting Olwen, but there was no sight of him. A few guards nodded to me but didn’t meet my gaze. Word must’ve traveled around the mansion about the long-lost daughter sleeping with a vamp.
I found Lily in the kitchen, scrubbing some dirty dishes. My stomach rumbled out of desperation, cutting over the sickness, and I realized I hadn’t eaten in forever. She lifted her face to look at me and frowned, quickly going back to her dishes.
“I understand if you hate me and want to punish me. I deserve it. Do whatever you must.” Lily’s voice trembled. She was a ball of shame, her cheeks aflame, her shoulders hunched forward. “Go ahead. Do it.” She turned so that she was facing me, closed her eyes, and let her arms fall to her sides.
Instead of advancing, I exhaled slowly. Olwen had tricked her. She too had become his pawn. I allowed the stone around my heart to crumble. “Lily. I know you didn’t want to write the letter.” Before I could stop myself—foolish, I was being so weak and foolish, doing this again—I walked over and hugged her, needing the physical contact as much as she did. “What did Olwen threaten you with?”
Lily sniffed as I let go. “Nothing. I was so stupid. I thought you wanted me to deliver the letter to Thorsten.”
My fingernails dug into my palm, drawing blood. I embraced the pain. Let it come.
Lily dared to look at me as tears flowed down her cheeks. “I thought that was your note in the cleaning supply closet. ‘Tell Thorsten to meet me on the north hiking bridge.’ And I thought you wanted me to deliver it because you had to go gather information about Vuthus and couldn’t do it yourself. I’m the one who goes outside to sweep. It made sense.”
“Shit, Lily.” I slapped my hand over my mouth. Once again I’d gotten another person into my mess. When would I stop? Knowing what she’d done was punishment enough for Lily. She was barely holding it together. “I took a risk and now we’re both paying.” Turning away, I went to leave the kitchen.
But Lily wrapped her arms around me from behind. “It’s not your fault. It’s all just so messed up...” She choked up, unable to finish.
We stood there for a long moment, drawing warmth from each other.
“Onyx.” Atticus knocked on my door. Again.
I woke from my restless nap. Where was I again? My room. Olwen’s mansion. I reached for Thorsten, but of course he was gone. He would never come back. A fresh spike of pain impaled my heart, and I let out a screech. Most people let out cries of distress because they were in a nightmare. I did, because I had woken up.
“Onyx. Olwen wishes to speak to you immediately. Plans are in motion.” Atticus added that last line as if to reassure me.
I balled my fists and blinked as I sat up. I shouldn’t hate Atticus for his part in all of this, but right now, I did. This was the first time he had knocked on my door since Thorsten had plunged to his death. How much time had passed since I had met Lily in the kitchen?
“You must get up.”
“Give me a minute, will you!”
Atticus said nothing about my attitude. He wouldn’t, not after what he had done. I rose, realizing I was still in the cargo pants and tank top I had worn to the kitchen. Evening had arrived. Was it the evening of the same day? Had I eaten? Yes, I had choked down a sandwich.
Not bothering to change, I opened the door. Atticus walked beside me to the study where Olwen retreated to in the evenings. I squared my shoulders and lifted my head high. I would not show him that I was broken. He would see it as justification for what he had done.
I marched into the study to find Olwen waiting with two guards, a female and a male. Combat equipment spread across the table between us. Bows. Arrows. Daggers. Even wooden stakes. The guards were also decked out in combat gear I had grown familiar with.
I swallowed down my pain. Tonight, we would finally move against Vulthus. The air was thick with anticipation. I would at least have my revenge against the monster who had taken so much from me.
“Onyx.” Olwen gave a sharp nod. “Vulthus is at his mansion tonight. The information you provided was correct.”
So that was it, then. No acknowledgement of what I had done. We were moving into battle. I was a warrior and nothing more. I swallowed my emotions and focused on the reward—Vulthus’s head. Ice coated my heart. Cold flowed through my veins as my magic rose to the surface. There would be no need for any injections now. I would kill. It was what I was meant to do. Revenge would be mine. But at what horrific price?
“I had Vulthus agree to meet with me for a truce,” Olwen continued, his face stony. “A negotiation. I have told him that even though you are my daughter, I’m disappointed in your abilities, that they only match that of my weak warriors and that I have no use for you. I made it clear that I’d be willing to return you to him in exchange for a proper standing in the vamp society.”
I shuddered. What if Olwen truly decided that it was better to sell me to gain a better footing with the vamps?
“I demanded to bring several guards with me for protection. Vulthus did not want to cave to my request, but I insisted. Onyx, you are to use glamour to take the form of one of my most trusted guards, Sela.” He motioned to a well-built female guard with jet black hair, the fae who had survived Vulthus’s attack. She nodded to me and moved to allow me to study her.
“But Vulthus knows that I can use glamour.”
Olwen shrugged. “It’s impossible to test for glamour. And if he suspects that you’re one of my guards, he’ll be glad to allow you into his stronghold, thinking that he can get
you without holding up his end of the bargain.”
I gritted my teeth. I wanted to ask for reassurance but that would only make me appear weak. I needed to demand what was mine. “Make me a blood oath that neither you nor your guards will sell me out to Vulthus.”
21
Onyx
If Olwen was upset about my demand for the blood oath, he didn’t show it. He picked up the dagger with shiny garnets that he had used when I had first sworn my loyalty and sliced his palm. Blood seeped out of the wound as magic crackled in the air. Fae contracts were binding. The wording just needed to be correct.
I swallowed, waiting for him to speak.
“I, King Olwen of the Winter Court, promise that neither I nor my guards will betray you, my daughter Onyx Vinter, as we fight Vulthus. You will have safe passage to and from his mansion. As previously agreed, you shall have my protection for as long as I have your loyalty.”
He handed me the dagger, and I sliced my palm as well, proud that I could take the pain without wincing. “I, Onyx Vinter,” I said, feeling odd that I was using his surname, “promise not to betray you as we fight Vulthus. You shall have my loyalty in exchange for your protection.” We shook hands, smearing our blood.
As I did, Olwen’s magic swirled around me, making the air drop twenty degrees. He did not smile. Once again, his eyes were all business.
With the oath out of the way, I turned to Sela, the guard I was supposed to turn into and memorized her features. I needed anger to access my power. Gritting my teeth, I imagined Thorsten plunging to his death. Fury raced through me along with black ice, and my body tingled as it transformed into Sela. She nodded. I knew it had worked and my quick glance down my body confirmed that I was wearing her black and blue gear.
Olwen strolled out of the mansion, me, Atticus, and another male guard following as the real Sela remained behind. Night had already fallen. We got into a shiny, black SUV with high tires that looked like it could navigate off roads. Atticus drove down forested roads and the other guard took shotgun while Olwen and I sat in the very back. I remained straight with my shoulders back.
We didn’t speak for a long time. It was only once we got off the highway that Olwen turned to me. “Are you ready?”
“I am.” I spoke in what must be Sela’s sharp voice.
“You should be. You won’t get a second chance. As soon as we show any aggression, we need to end it quickly. Leaving Vulthus’s mansion without killing him is not an option.”
“Understood.” I bit my lip. “How do you know they won’t attack us first?”
Olwen stared straight ahead as he spoke. “Because Vulthus wants you. He will at least hear the proposal I have for him. Your escape marred his status. He fears the other vamps will see him as weak.”
“What if it’s all a trap?”
Olwen shrugged. “I have more guards positioned a few minutes away from the castle. At my magical signal, they’ll storm the place. But Vulthus isn’t exactly one for traps. If he decided he was out for blood, he would’ve attacked me directly.”
I wasn’t sure if I agreed, but I nodded. Would we find Blair inside the castle? Could I rescue her? I knew I had to try, but I was afraid there wouldn’t be much of my former friend left. The last time I had seen her, which was months ago, she was a shell of her former self. Also, even if I succeeded, where would she go after? I doubted Olwen would offer an elemental fae a warm welcome.
The drive seemed to never end. At last, the SUV pulled into a dirt drive and crawled along the forested road. We came to a stop in a dark, dirt parking lot and I banished all thoughts of Blair or anyone else. I was a killing machine, a warrior, here with the single goal to execute Vulthus.
The four of us stepped out of the car and took our formation. Atticus stood at the front, Olwen and I were in the middle, and the male guard was at our backs.
Vulthus’s mansion, or more accurately castle, wasn’t hidden by a spell, but it still made me want to shrink back. The gray building with spire towers stood among old trees with lifeless, fingerlike branches, even though it was the middle of the summer and they should’ve been green. Even the plants outside were decaying, telling me all I needed to know about the owner inside. I wondered if Vulthus maintained this look on purpose to intimidate the other vamps who seemed to prefer fancy penthouses and lavish yards.
We marched down an overgrown cobblestone walk, at the end of which huge, wooden doors greeted us. Atticus took the brass ring and slammed it thrice. My heart pounded in anticipation, but I forced myself to calm down. This was not the time to be impulsive. When we were in full fight mode, I’d need my adrenaline, but right now, it would only distract me, leading me to miss critical details or worse, drop my glamour.
Two, low-level vampire guards, well-built and dressed in black uniforms opened the doors and studied King Olwen.
“Vulthus is expecting me,” Olwen said in a bored voice, like this was a regular visit and nothing was at stake.
One of the guards, a tattooed man, nodded curtly and showed his fangs. “Follow me, please.” He turned around and we stepped inside, the second guard bringing up the rear of our group.
The castle was dimly lit with oil lamps. Antique furniture stood everywhere and iron chandeliers hung down from the vaulted stone ceilings. Everything smelled musty. My muscles tightened, and I gritted my teeth, ready for something to jump out at us. The path the vamp took us down wasn’t hard to memorize as the corridor led straight to the end at another heavy door that must’ve been iron given the way the Winter fae’s faces tightened. Even Olwen worked his jaw. I mimicked their disgust—or was it pain?—to blend in.
The vamp guard threw open the door and motioned for us to come inside. My fists balled at my sides as I stepped through into a long room complete with a long, red carpet.
Throne room. The two words invaded my mind before my eyes picked up all the details. Vulthus had only two vamp guards in the room, but despite not showing any signs of planning to attack us, he was hostile all right. Suited and with his dark hair swept to the side, Vulthus sat on a throne made of knobby, white rocks atop of a parquet floor. No. I let my eyes adjust to the tall oil lamps that cast a reddish glow through the windowless room. The throne was made of bones. Collections of femurs made up the armrests. Skulls leered at us from the top of the throne and outlined the base. They all appeared to be human skulls. Or were they fae skulls? I swallowed. Vulthus must be sitting on the remains of his victims or servants who had displeased him. This was his first intimidation tactic.
“Olwen,” Vulthus drawled the name, taking us all four in. “You have a proposition for me?”
We stopped in the center of the room. A shiver crawled along my skin. I felt exposed, but forced my mind to sharpen as it had during all of Atticus’s lessons. I could strike Vulthus in the heart from my position, but his guards were right beside him, ready to block the attack. I had to wait for Olwen to speak first, and for the vamps to let down their guards.
Olwen raised his chin, the only sign that he was bothered by the bone throne. “As I communicated through my guards, I have who you want—Onyx Logan.”
“Don’t you mean Onyx Vinter?” Vulthus’s eyes shone with the curiosity of a predator about to kill its prey.
Olwen snorted. “She’s not worthy of my last name. She displays less potential than my weakest guard.”
“Is that so? And yet you kept her from me. Do you consider me a fool to lie to me like this?”
Olwen shook his head slowly. “As a pureblood fae, I can’t lie.”
He couldn’t, which meant I displayed less potential than his weakest guard in regards to my character, not my magic. It was a clever and necessary phrasing, and yet it sliced through me. Olwen must think very little of me to be able to utter these words. If I survived today, my training would continue. Olwen would forever dangle Lily over my head, reminding me how easily he could make me kill her.
Vulthus stared down his crooked nose at Olwen. “Fine.” His voic
e was a growl. “Explain why you dodged the truth when I came to ask you if you helped Onyx escape.”
Olwen glowered at him. “I didn’t help her escape. An opportunity presented itself after her escape, and I took it.” He shrugged. “I figured she was a Winter fae and had my genes. You will understand that as a father, my right to her is greater than yours.”
As Olwen spoke Vulthus picked up a skull, his knuckles whitening around it. “I bought her.” He threw the skull, which smashed against the wall and shattered into a thousand pieces. If this was meant to intimate us, it didn’t work. My whole body pulsated with need for revenge. Icy hatred and disgust filled my veins. I kept my face emotionless, reminding myself that I was a guard, and nothing more. I had no feelings. I was simply here to protect Olwen. At least until I revealed my true form.
“You didn’t buy Onyx from me,” Olwen replied coolly.
Vulthus’s eyes filled with the red of hunger. “Don’t you forfeit your parental rights when you abandon a child?”
Olwen’s eyes narrowed. “You know as well as I do that my situation isn’t easy. The Summer Court has killed all of my offspring, but Onyx. Therefore, she commands a price.”
“You really want me to believe that you’re willing to make a deal and give away your only offspring?” Vulthus cocked an eyebrow. “How dumb do you think I am?” A bone sailed in between Olwen and I, an inch away from hitting either of us in the head. Did Vulthus want to provoke us, itching to justify a bloodbath? But why not simply attack us if he wanted a fight? We were on his territory, and as far as he was aware, he had the advantage.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Olwen asked coolly, making it clear he wouldn’t dignify Vulthus’s outburst.
Vulthus rose from his throne and took three steps towards us. “Where is Onyx now?”
I inhaled sharply. That was it. Olwen couldn’t lie about this.
“With my guards.”
Vulthus opened his mouth, and his fangs descended. “With these guards?” He motioned at the three of us just as the door behind us flew open. We all turned. I expected more vamps to storm in, but it was much worse. A single female filled the door frame.
The Nocturnal and Fae Prison Academy Boxset [A Complete Paranormal and Fantasy Series Boxset] Page 55
