by Sarra Cannon
Not Lyla. Not after all she had done for me.
Rend had said she was safe. Marco had taken her to safety somewhere on the west coast. How had the Devil’s lackeys gotten their hands on her?
Fallon went through the dozens of keys on the looped keyring, finally selecting a rusted bronze key from the mix. He inserted it into a slot on the outside of the cell and the door popped open.
If I hadn’t been chained to the wall, I would have murdered him. I would have clawed at his eyes until he screamed for mercy.
But I could only take a couple steps toward him before my chains pulled me back.
He laughed. “I can feel your anger in the air around us,” he said. “It’s lovely, really. To me, the best part of killing is watching the faces of their loved ones as the light slips from the eyes. The rage and helplessness. The pure sorrow. It’s the most delicious thing in the world. I’m glad to see we chose a few people you’ll be sad to miss. It makes today a lot more fun for me.”
“You’re vile,” I said.
He cocked his head toward me. “A compliment? I wasn’t expecting such kindness.”
“That wasn’t a compliment,” I said, knowing he was just toying with me and that I was playing right into his hands. “You disgust me.”
“I am who I am,” he said. “Being true to your own nature is the only thing that matters in this world or the next. If you had learned that sooner, you might not be here in chains. You might have been standing at the Devil’s side.”
“Never,” I said. “Don’t even pretend to think that just because you knew my father it means you understand my true nature.”
He shrugged and walked toward me. “You still have so much to learn about the darkness inside you,” he said. “And so little time. Mere hours and your light will go out forever.”
I drew in a breath. Hours. I still wanted years. Decades.
I wanted a lifetime.
Fallon moved toward me, stopping just outside of my reach.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“Now I take you to the preparation room,” he said. He didn’t explain further, but I didn’t like the sound of it.
Getting out of these chains sounded nice, though.
I held them up for him and waited.
He shook his head. “Don’t get any grand ideas about escaping,” he said. “Your magic is completely useless in the dungeons. Only vampires can cast down here.”
I pressed my lips together. Annabelle had already told me as much, but hearing it confirmed by Fallon made it feel more real.
It made sense. If they were using these dungeons to hold witches against their will, they would need some kind of assurance that those witches wouldn’t be able to use their magic to go free or fight back.
Fallon looked at my outstretched hands. “When I remove these chains, I expect you to come without a fight,” he said. “As much as I would enjoy finding ways to punish you, the Devil wouldn’t appreciate it if I harmed you before the ritual. He needs you to be mostly intact.”
He waved his hand over the shackles and they fell from my wrists, clanging to the ground.
I smiled. “You shouldn’t have told me that.”
I lifted a knee to his crotch, putting all my strength behind it.
Fallon doubled over, and I quickly reached into his pocket for the keys to the cell. I scrambled through the open door and slammed it shut. With trembling hands, I searched for the rusted bronze key he’d used to open it. Before I could find it, Fallon shifted to smoke and moved through the bars like a ghost. His bony hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed.
Damn. I'd forgotten demons could do that little trick.
“I warned you not to struggle,” he said, the musical quality of his voice replaced with a grating shrillness.
I couldn’t breathe. I gripped the keys as tightly as I could and swung them back toward his face. The pointed end of one of the keys sank into his flesh and he released me, screaming.
The sound echoed through the dungeon and the witches nearby began to clang against their bars.
I turned around to face him, keys lifted between us. “Don’t come near me again,” I threatened.
Fallon held a hand over the gash in his face. No blood poured from the wound, but I was sure I had injured him at least a little. Maybe vampires didn’t bleed.
I wish I knew more about how to kill him. I wanted to gouge his eyes out with my bare hands, but the way he’d shifted to smoke so quickly, I doubted I’d have the chance.
He lowered his hand. The skin beneath it was torn and black, but not bloodied. Within seconds, it healed itself completely, becoming the familiar flawless white skin he’d had before.
But his eyes had changed. Instead of black, they glowed a faint red. His fangs came out, protruding past his lips in a snarl.
“You won’t get away with that again,” he said.
“You can’t hurt me, remember?” I said. “Not without making the Devil angry. And I’m sure you’d rather deal with me than with him.”
He narrowed his red eyes at me, anger boiling inside them. “I am looking forward to watching you die.”
He turned his head to the side and nodded. “Take her to the preparation chamber,” he said.
I followed his gaze toward the entrance to the dungeons. Six rows of cells stood between me and the stairway out of this hell, and guarding those stairs were six vampires dressed in black cloaks, their faces hidden behind black masks. Only their red eyes showed through the masks.
I backed toward the bars of the closed cell, but there was no escape. Four of the guards marched in my direction.
Frantic, I looked around for any way to escape. In the cell diagonal to me, another young girl stood just a stone’s throw from the bars. She was not locked in chains like mine, but from the looks of it, she had been here much longer.
Her eyes were ringed with bruises, as if she hadn’t slept in weeks. Her body was nothing more than skin and bones, and I wondered if they’d even been feeding her.
“Move a muscle and I'll torture every young witch in here,” Fallon said. “Starting with her and moving on to the younger one next door. I'll make you watch as they scream.”
This girl looked to be no more than fourteen or fifteen years old and she had sandy blonde hair that fell all the way down her back. It was matted in places and greasy, but I could tell that it had once been beautiful. She had been beautiful.
Marks on her neck and arms showed that she had been feasted on by vampires. More than one by the looks of it.
I thought about what Fallon had said. How they punished witches by draining them over and over.
I couldn't stand to watch them hurt her or Annabelle. Not for something I had done.
As the guards approached, I locked eyes with the girl, memorizing her face and her features and swearing that if I ever made it out of here, I was taking her with me.
Two of the guards grabbed my arms as Fallon wrenched the keys out of my hand.
“I’ll take those,” he said, straightening his clothes and lifting his chin. “Take her to the preparation chamber. The maidens have their work cut out for them today.”
I didn’t struggle. With so many of them, I knew it was a waste of energy. I needed to save whatever I had left in reserve for a time when I might have a real chance for escape. I would keep my wits about me and look for any opportunity to run or hide.
As the guards guided me past the cells, I looked inside each one, searching for my friends from Venom.
I saw other witches who looked abused and weak, but there was no sign of Lyla and the others. Had Fallon been lying just to rile me up? God, I hoped so. I could face my own death if I had to, but I wasn't sure my heart could handle watching them die.
I peered into the final cell and saw a young mother lying on the floor, a child no more than two clutched in her arms. Their eyes were closed, the mother's body curled around the infant.
Don’t ever wake up, I whispered to them i
n my head. There is nothing here but nightmares.
Chapter 13
Empty Of Life
The preparation room was through a large wooden door at the end of the hallway, opposite from the stairs.
As soon as the door opened, a rush of steam escaped from the room. My skin moistened with heat and I turned my head away, finding it difficult to breathe.
It was like walking into a steam-bath.
The guards pulled me deeper into the room, and I saw the source of the heat and steam.
A huge tiled tub took up an entire corner of the large room. Three steps led up to it and a woman dressed in a pristine white gown with flowing white hair sat on the top step with her hand dipped into the water. She turned as we entered, and I gasped.
Where her eyes should be, she had black holes, completely empty of life.
I yanked my arms from the guards’ grasp and backed away, but they had already closed the door behind us. One of the four guards looped a thick chain through the lock and secured it by melting the metal together with his bare hands.
My chest tightened. There was no getting out of this place.
A second woman in white appeared through the gathering steam. She took my hand and led me to the center of the room. Her skin was ice cold, and I shivered, wondering what kind of creature she was.
With a single nod from her, the four guards who had brought me here shifted to smoke and disappeared through a small crack at the bottom of the door. I was glad to see them go, but I had no doubt they were now stationed outside the door, waiting.
And I wasn’t exactly happy about my present company.
When I looked up, two more women in white had joined the group. They began pulling on my clothes, tugging my pants down and lifting my shirt over my head.
“Get your hands off me,” I said. I tried to step back, but that wasn’t easy considering my pants were now down around my ankles.
I pushed at their hands and tried to pull my pants back on, but there was only one of me versus four of them.
They didn’t say a word or show any expression. They stripped me naked in seconds. I lifted my hands to cover my breasts, but they grabbed my arms and pulled me toward the steaming water.
From the amount of heat coming off that bath, I did not want to go anywhere near it.
“Stop,” I said, fear filling my heart. I pushed my heels against the stone floor and struggled against their hold on me, but they were abnormally strong.
I managed to yank my arm away from one of them, but when I did, she turned her hollow eyes on me and I froze.
I couldn’t move at all and when I tried to speak, my lips would not part. I reached up to touch my mouth, screaming on the inside. I couldn't pry my lips open. Something she had done to me had completely sealed them shut.
I shook my head violently as they continued to lead me to the bath. They forced me up the steps. I bent over, pulling back with every bit of strength I had, but it was no use.
The maidens arranged my feet on two orange stones embedded into the tile and backed away. I struggled to lift my feet, but they were locked on the stones. I couldn't move.
The four women in white moved to spots at each of the four corners of the square-shaped pool.
They moved in perfect unison, lifting their hands into the air. My body straightened, as if I were a puppet on a string. I lost all ability to control my own movements.
I wanted to be strong, but my heart pounded against my ribs in terror. What were they going to do to me?
The maidens reached down and each one grabbed a small vial of clear liquid from the steps of the pool. One by one, they poured the contents of their vials into the water.
The first vial made the water begin to move and swirl violently, as if a current ran through it.
The second vial calmed the thrashing, turning the water to a crystal clear blue.
The contents of the third vial spread through the water like a dark disease, making it thick and muddy.
As the fourth maiden poured her vial into the pool, the entire surface of the water burst into flames.
Air. Water. Earth. Fire.
They had called the four elements, drawing power from the world around us.
Moving in unison once again, the four women pushed their palms down, sending my body forward into the water.
I cried out as the flames licked my flesh. I passed through fire into mud, sinking deep down into the thick muck.
I couldn't draw a breath. I was completely submerged, my lungs burning with the need for air.
Just when I felt like I couldn't take it anymore, a hand grabbed the top of my hair and pulled my head from the mud.
The flames were gone and I gasped for air. I clawed at the mud, desperate to find my way out.
But the hand that held me pushed me back under. The mud turned to clear, cool water that cleansed my skin and took the sting of pain from my burns.
Soon, the pain in my lungs returned, and I struggled to find my way above the surface of the water. My hand reached up and grabbed the maiden's wrist, but I was losing strength rapidly.
My body went limp as I blacked out. I regained consciousness when the woman lifted me back up, allowing only the top of my head to rest above the water.
I opened my eyes and gasped for breath, not knowing how long I had before she pushed me back under again. I held on to her wrist as my legs kicked wildly beneath me. From the edge of the pool, she stared with unseeing eyes.
As I kicked, the water swirled and moved, waves lapping the sides of the pool. The maiden released me and the undertow pulled me under.
I tumbled head over feet, losing all sense of direction. Black shadows oozed from my skin, turning the water around me black as night. I kicked and swam and begged for it all to end. I held my breath for as long as I could before the pain grew too great.
My lungs screamed for air and I couldn't deny them any longer.
I finally gave in, sucking in with one final desperate wish for life.
Chapter 14
Fighting The Darker Side
Air, not water, entered my lungs and I sat up, startled.
All four of the women in white stood around me. They placed their cold hands on my bare shoulders and pushed me back down. Black vines grew from the stone, wrapping around my arms and legs to bind me to this spot. One final vine slithered around my neck.
I stared up at the ceiling, focusing on anything other than the empty sockets of the maidens' eyes. I took in the circular chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. Instead of modern light-bulbs, they held dozens of lit red candles.
I closed my eyes against their light. I’d been burned enough for one day, thank you very much.
A soft hand touched my leg and my eyes flew open again. I struggled to sit up, but could barely lift my head to see what she was doing to me. The vine choked me, and I fell back against the stone, not wanting to deny myself air.
A woman in white hovered over me, studying my body. She leaned over and I heard a sloshing sound, but couldn’t tell for sure what she was doing. When she came back up, she had a cloth in her hand, covered in a white paste that dripped thick blobs back onto the floor.
She spread the white paste along my entire body, having no sensitivity to my privacy or shame. She covered me and when every inch was painted white, the four maidens lay their hands on me. Their mouths did not move, but I could hear a faint chanting in my head.
The spark of power that still burned deeply in my core flashed warm, my body somehow reacting to whatever they'd put on my skin. My body heated, growing feverish. I alternated between cold chills and flashes of intense heat as the fire of my power spread through me, rising from the core of my body to the surface of my skin. I screamed as the heat consumed me.
Rage tore through my heart and dark visions appeared before me. I saw the world's evil flash before my eyes. Children tortured. Women drained of their blood and discarded like trash.
Shadows swirled around the room, rac
ing across my skin, turning the white paste a dark, oily black.
The darkness in my soul grew, but I stubbornly clung to the light.
I understood now what these preparations were meant to do. They were meant to bring Solomon's darkness to the surface of my soul. They were drawing the black heart of him out so that the part of me that had come from him would be fresh and strong for the ritual.
With each horrible image, I forced thoughts of love into my heart. I thought of Katie. The way the sun felt on my face on the first day of spring. I thought of Lyla's friendship and her willingness to risk her own life for mine.
I thought of Mary Anne. A crow witch who had defied her family to save a friend.
I thought of my real mother. Somehow, despite how hard they had tried to keep her from me, she had found me. She had risked everything to lead me to the one person whose strength might keep me safe from evil.
And finally, when the darkness threatened to eat me alive, I thought of Rend. Tears of love and loss flooded my eyes, keeping the horror at bay. Fallon had said we all must be true to our nature, but Rend had spent years fighting the darker side of his nature in order to bring hope to those who had none left. He had found a way to hold back the monster inside so that he could make love to me.
As I felt the darker side of my own nature struggle for control, I knew it would never win. Not as long as there was love in my heart. Love and hope.
And trust that somewhere, Rend was out there trying to find his way back to me.
Chapter 15
Sacrifice Me
I woke from the fever dream with passion burning in my heart.
I would not give up. They had tortured me for hours, but I knew they could never break my spirit. I had too much to live for.
All they had done was teach me that my strength knew no limits. My capacity for love could not be destroyed.
I would fight until there was no fight left.
My body ached all over and my skin was raw and sensitive. The maidens had removed the black paste while I slept, but the vines still bound me to the slab of stone.
