Vampire Nights (Vampire Wishes Book 3)

Home > Young Adult > Vampire Nights (Vampire Wishes Book 3) > Page 7
Vampire Nights (Vampire Wishes Book 3) Page 7

by RaShelle Workman


  My eyes slid past the wall and fell on the castle. It stood like a peacock in a pen full of chickens and it was startlingly beautiful. Tower after tower thrust up in the air, each one seemingly reaching higher than the next. It took up the whole width and breadth of the mountainside. There were so many spires I lost count, but that wasn’t even the most significant detail. Each spire was a different color, glistening brilliantly in emerald, ruby, daffodil, saffron, and periwinkle. The castle’s main walls weren’t gray either, but had been stained or whitewashed so that the stone was smooth and white as a newborn dove. At least a hundred stairs cobbled in emerald led up to the entrance of the castle, which had two sentries standing guard, their wings as white as the castle’s walls.

  Other than the guards, the city appeared deserted. Only the few fishing boats docked in the marina made any sort of movement.

  “Why didn’t you pop us inside the palace, then? Or at least down into the city?” It would be a long walk and that meant more wasted time.

  “I would have, Jasmine, but it’s protected by some very strong magic. I thought it best we check out our surroundings before diving into a situation that might get out of control.” Laeddin squatted and picked up a handful of small rocks, rubbing them against each other in his hand.

  “Why not? We aren’t here to harm anyone. They might even be willing to help us, especially if we explain the reasons we are here.”

  “Why can’t you believe in me? Have faith in me?” He turned his face up to meet mine.

  “Because you let my grandmother die!” I shouted, the furious anger and sickening sadness inside of me gurgling up all at once. He’d cared for my grandmother, too. So why had he let her die?

  He sighed resignedly, not responding to the barb. “All I’ve read about gargoyles has led me to believe they are a solitary group. They have no need for any but their own kind and aren’t generally compassionate to outsiders. It would be preferable to keep our presence a secret.”

  “If you say so.” I wanted to rush in there and demand their assistance, but it was a bad idea. I knew that. So I kept my thoughts to myself. “Where is everyone? The city looks deserted.” I hoped the Akuma pestilence hadn’t reached this realm. If the gargoyles became infected the situation would become extremely difficult.

  “Gargoyles are nocturnal. I’m guessing they’re still sleeping.”

  “Hmmm, that could be.” The genie was probably right.

  “I’ll make camp and once it’s fully light we can check things out, see what we’re dealing with.” He dropped the gravel and stood. Lifted his arms and began to speak some sort of enchantment.

  Before he could get a full sentence out, a puff of smoke burst from the castle. Laeddin stopped. I came to stand beside him once again. The smoke wasn’t like any I’d seen before. It didn’t linger like smoke should. Instead it separated and branched out. “What is that?”

  “Gargoyles,” Laeddin said, an edge in his voice.

  As he spoke, the “smoke” opened its wings. It was as though the sky lit up. Their bodies were grim and ashy like the rest of the landscape, but their wings were magnificent, like the spires on the castle. Each set was a different color, including gold, stark white, sunset orange, and blood red. They dipped and spun languidly in the sky.

  “They’re amazing,” I said, longing to be up there flying with them.

  Laeddin mumbled something under his breath.

  “What?” I asked, but he didn’t respond. I kept my gaze on the gargoyles. Within moments it became clear they were heading our way. “Should we try to hide? Or fight?”

  Laeddin snorted. “Where do you propose we go? I intended to provide us with invisible tents, but I don’t have the time now.”

  His tone was accusatory, like I’d done something to call the gargoyles toward us. “Well then I guess we stand our ground and confront them.” I straightened up, taking on the posture of a princess, the way I’d been taught.

  “Be ready.” Laeddin took a protective stance in front of me. “Like I said before, they don’t take kindly to those who aren’t like them.”

  “You be ready,” I growled, pushing him out of the way.

  He exhaled sharply. “As you say, Princess.”

  The gargoyles landed and encircled us, making incomprehensible noises. I guessed they were communicating. This group was intimidating, the tallest at least seven feet. His golden wings seemed to shimmer in the fading light. All of the gargoyles had black eyes and black hair and skin the color of granite. I wondered if it felt like rock too. There were two males and two females. The males were shirtless, their smooth chests bare, and wearing black pants made out of a shiny fabric. The females wore the same pants, but were also wearing something similar to a bikini top. None of them wore shoes.

  “What are they saying?” I asked Laeddin, frustrated.

  He took my hand. I felt a surge of magic rush up my arm, and the gargoyles’ garbled nonsense became clear. I squeezed his hand in gratitude.

  “Looks tasty,” the female with red wings said.

  That was a terrifying prospect. “Hello.” I raised a hand in salutation, hoping they would realize we weren’t enemies. Or food. “My name is Jasmine, Princess of Sharra. My mother is Snow White, the Vampire Queen. Maybe you’ve heard of her?” Pretty much everyone knew my mother. “This is my friend, Laeddin.” I pointed at the genie. “We are here to ask for your help.”

  The female who’d spoken poked my cheek. “I think it’s trying to communicate.”

  I shoved her hand away and she growled, pushing me down. “It’s feisty.”

  “It has to be to keep up with you, Rave,” the largest gargoyle, the one I guessed was the leader, said.

  Rave grunted and walked over to Laeddin, sniffing him. I couldn’t help but wonder if his blood smelled as good to her as it did to me. “It stinks, Edge. I think we should kill them.” Guess that answered my question.

  “Or eat it,” the male with sunset orange wings added.

  The one the female called Edge shook his head. “We won’t kill them or eat them. We will take them to the emperor and let him decide their fate.” He made a point of looking at each of them, starting with the orange-winged male. “Scotch?”

  “Yes, Liege.”

  “Skye?” Hers were the wings that reminded me of a cotton ball. They were brilliant white.

  “Of course.” She bowed, keeping her eyes on the ground.

  “Rave?”

  She shook her wings, seemingly irritated. “Whatever you say, boss.” She spoke like she had a bad taste in her mouth. As though to prove my point, she spat. I watched it land on the ground and disappear into the gravel.

  “That’s what I like to hear.” Edge said. “Rave, you and Scotch continue your duties. See if there are more about. The darkness is consuming the land too quickly, and we must find out why. Neither Graves nor Jagg seem to know, but perhaps these things,” he pointed at Laeddin and me, “can give us some answers.”

  They left without a word, flying away from the city, heading off in the direction of taller mountains in the distance.

  Edge’s wings spread open and he lifted slightly off the ground. Flying over to me, he took hold of my shoulders. I tried to fight him off, but his grip was too strong. “Hold still or I might accidentally drop you.” He smirked, looking at me like I was mitochondria under a microscope. “Skye, take the other and follow me.” Edge swept into the air. We fell momentarily until his wings caught hold.

  I tried speaking to him again. “Excuse me, but I would appre—”

  “That one seems extra chatty,” Skye said, coming up beside Edge. She had Laeddin in her arms. He faced outward like I did, his focus on the city below.

  “Sounds like gibberish to me,” Edge replied.

  “Why can’t they understand me?” I shouted at Laeddin over the rushing wind.

  “The magic I gave you allows us to understand them, but they can’t understand us. I thought it might be prudent for now, given we ha
ve no idea what’s happening. We can speak to each other without worrying about being overheard.” Laeddin shouted.

  “Okay,” I responded, thinking it would’ve been nice for the gargoyles to understand us as well. Frustrated, I faced forward, turning my attention to the city. A few more gargoyles had appeared. I focused on one in particular. She was holding a smaller gargoyle with indigo wings that matched her own in her arms. Two other children, one with lavender wings and another with periwinkle, walked quickly beside her, working to keep up. They wove through the streets, heading toward the water.

  She must’ve noticed I was watching her because she looked up. I waved, giving her a bright smile. She looked away, pulling her children closer about her as she picked up speed.

  I sighed, closing my eyes. And that’s when I felt it, the wind in my hair and against my cheeks. My shirt was flapping around like a flag. In that moment, everything else was forgotten. I was flying! It didn’t matter that I ought to be frightened about facing the gargoyles inside the castle made of jewels and collecting the second piece of the crown. All I could do was raise my arms and revel.

  “Look, it isn’t even afraid,” Skye said. “In fact I would go so far as to say it’s enjoying itself.”

  Edge just grunted a response while my smile grew even bigger.

  Twenty

  The castle loomed closer and I realized just how enormous it actually was. It seemed to swallow us up with his expanse. Ten feet below the tallest spire was a landing pad. Two guards stood watch as Edge and Skye landed.

  “What have we here?” one of the guards asked.

  “We aren’t sure, but we’re taking them to the emperor,” Edge said.

  Something passed between the guards.

  “What is it?” Skye asked.

  “The emperor is busy at the moment.” One of the guards winked. “He could be a while.”

  Skye growled. “Who is it this time? It better not be my sister again.”

  Edge placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure it isn’t. Let’s take these down to the dungeon.”

  Skye seemed to relax and I wondered if they were mates. “Yes, Liege.” She followed him past the landing strip into the castle. There wasn’t a door, just a large, gaping hole, like the dark mouth of a toothless monster. I realized then that I hadn’t seen a single bird, nor had I heard any of their calls.

  I pondered the reasons behind the birds’ absence, whether it had to do with the darkness; or maybe there just were no birds—because really, what would they eat? I hadn’t seen any bugs either, nor grass, trees, or a single flower. That led me to wonder what sort of creatures swam in the sea, whether there were fish and krill, lobster and octopus, sharks and dolphins, whales and sea lions.

  I turned, hoping I could see something of the water, but we were already within the castle. The inside wasn’t as fine as the exterior. At least not up here. The grey color of the walls reminded me of Gatsby, my mother’s cat. They were rough to the touch and smelled slightly damp, like water on stone. As we moved further down, I saw that the stairs broke off into corridors filled with scurrying maids carrying linens, or dirty dishes and empty bottles.

  At first, I found it weird that a race of creatures with the ability to fly would have so many stairs, but quickly realized it was due to the close quarters. There wasn’t enough room to spread their wings. Flying was completely out of the question in the corridors.

  When we finally reached what I believed to be the main floor, the gargoyles walked us past a large banquet room. Inside was more of the same. The room was made up of nothing but grey rock, with the exception of the light fixtures. Enormous white rocks hung from the ceiling like a contemporary chandelier, giving off an almost heavenly glow. I better studied my surroundings and saw that all along the walls and corridors were smaller versions of those same white, glowing rocks. Probably fifty gargoyles crowded into the room. No one noticed us, focused as they were on the buffet style food, which gave off a slightly sulfuric smell. They were all speaking, like the buzzing of giant bees going about their work. One gargoyle walked past with a plate filled with gray slop.

  What were they eating? I shuddered, hoping the gargoyles didn’t really intend to eat Laeddin and me.

  “Why does the emperor always send us out on missions during mealtimes? I swear he wants us to starve,” Skye said.

  Edge grunted in response. He’s obviously a man of many words, I thought sarcastically.

  We passed another room filled with dozens of carved statutes. All were of gargoyles in various shapes and sizes—except one. She was female and appeared to be human, aside from the large black wings on her back. They were different than gargoyles’ wings, more bird-like. That surprised me because the statue was placed high above the others and in a prominent location. I wanted to ask who she was, but knew the gargoyles couldn’t understand me, and so held my tongue.

  We’d moved on anyway, into another stairwell, which led us down further into the depths of the castle. It became obvious very quickly that those with certain colored wings held different positions. If a gargoyle had bright wings in colors like those on the castle spires, they were the aristocrats while those with duller-colored wings were the servants.

  Further down and I noticed the servants were no longer carrying linens, but some held weapons while others carried tools and baskets filled with more of the strange-looking food. When we walked by they stared. More than once I smiled, but doing so seemed to scare them because anyone who saw me dashed away quickly, using their wings to hurry themselves along. As we continued to descend, the number of gargoyles dwindled. The air grew warmer too. When we reached the final landing on the staircase, Edge pulled open a thick door, causing a gust of putrid air to rush out.

  I forced myself not to gag as we walked past door after door. Finally, we reached the end of the hall, a door carved into the dead end.

  It had bars like a jail cell along the top and was thick, solid rock underneath.

  Skye pulled on its hinges, and it screeched open, making my ears want to bleed. “In you go.” She shoved Laeddin inside.

  Edge paused, peeking into the dungeon before pushing me inside too. I stumbled to my knees, scraping them on the stone floor.

  The door closed with another screech. One of the strange orbs of light glowed dimly above us and while I could see in the dark I was thankful for the little light.

  “Great,” I said, rolling onto my butt.

  A sound rustled behind me and I jumped to my feet, facing the noise in a defensive position. It was then that I noticed something huddled against the far wall. It appeared to be a person. Or more precisely, two persons.

  “Hello?” I spoke softly so as not to startle them. If they were gargoyles I didn’t want to give them cause to try to crush me, though since they’d been imprisoned, anything was possible.

  At the sound of my voice, one of them lifted its head. “You speak English?”

  The voice was male, though garbled. I guessed from disuse.

  “Yes.” I crouched in front of him, able to see that he had black hair and eyes gray as an overcast sky. His skin was pale, his body covered in muscles, like a statue. “My name is Jasmine. And you are?”

  He gasped, throwing his head back so that it hit the wall. “I must be dreaming. Oh no, no, no. Not again.” He banged his head several more times, sending rubble and rock dust into the air. The tips of his hair began to change from black to white.

  The person sitting beside him lifted its head then. A girl. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. Calm down,” she cooed, running her hand down his arm like she was stroking a frightened fowl.

  He stopped and opened his eyes.

  Laeddin knelt beside me. “You aren’t dreaming, young one. This is real.” He stuck out his hand. “My name is Laeddin.”

  At the sound of the genie’s voice, the boy glanced at the girl. She nodded encouragingly. “They’re real. I see them too.”

  He tentatively reached out and touched my
arm. Flinched. Poked me again. “You are real and you’re kind of squishy. I can’t believe it.”

  I decided there was no point taking offense. Compared to the gargoyles I was squishy.

  “It’s true. I swear.” I thought of smiling, but doing so hadn’t got me very far with the other natives, though he didn’t look exactly like a gargoyle. Neither did the girl. As far as I could tell, neither of them had wings.

  He ran his hands through his hair. “I thought I was dreaming. It’s probably because I’ve seen you before. But not here.”

  “You have?” What a weird thing to say. The guy sounded delusional.

  “Yes,” he chuckled mirthlessly. “My father has a picture of you hanging in a room in his house.” He took a deep, ragged breath and his eyes moistened.

  “I see, and how long have you been down here?” Somehow I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.

  He rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes. “I don’t know. It feels like forever.”

  “What’s your name?” Laeddin asked. He’d moved his hand back when the male hadn’t taken it, placing it in his lap.

  “I’m Cole.” Cole took the girl’s hand. “And this is Rayne.”

  “Hello, Ray—” I stopped as the guy’s name sank in. “You’re Cole?” I shouted. “As in Troy’s best friend Cole?”

  Cole’s eyes became large with surprise. “You know my brother Troy?” He sat up straight. “My father, brother, and I were… helping some friends when I was sucked into a vortex. It sent me here, to this realm. The gargoyles tried to talk to me, but since I couldn’t understand them, they gave up and put me down here. After a week or so, maybe longer,” he paused, grabbing hold of his hair. “I haven’t been able to keep track of time.”

  “It’s okay, Cole.” Rayne squeezed his arm.

 

‹ Prev