My mother approached the shifters and greeted the prince. He bowed courteously, taking her hand and placing a chaste kiss over the back of it. They exchanged a few words, and then my mother backed away. She looked in my direction and gave me the thumbs up. I glanced back down once more toward the dragons, and to my surprise, Theon’s amber eyes were fixed directly on me. I backed away quickly and sat down behind the piano. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me… as though I was some sort of challenge.
He’d better keep his artistry of romance to himself.
If he tried anything with me, I would tell him in no uncertain terms which direction to head in. So I hoped that he would heed my father’s warning and leave me alone. Heck, we couldn’t afford to offend these dragons. The safety of our island depended on them now. Hopefully the prince was a gentleman.
Placing my fingers on the keys, I began to play. A few moments later, Shayla appeared a few feet away from me and picked up a clarinet. She positioned herself behind me, so that she could view my music sheet as I played, and began to accompany me.
From where I sat, I could still make out what was going on through the holes in the balcony. The dragons had begun to disperse, and were making their way toward the damsels seated around the room.
As they reached each girl, they bowed their heads slightly and held out a hand. The girls accepted, and I was sure at least a few of them were close to hyperventilating as the shifters placed their wide palms around their waists and began leading them to a slow dance. Their forms were so imposing, they dwarfed even the tallest of women.
Not a single word was exchanged as the dragons looked intensely into their partners’ eyes—as though just looking at them was conversation enough. Most of the girls looked too tongue-tied to speak even if they’d wanted to.
My eyes wandered around the room toward Jeriad. He had made a beeline toward my blonde friend Sylvia, who looked ecstatic.
For the next fifteen minutes, they continued to take in their companion’s every detail. Once Shayla and I paused for a few moments to mark a change of pace, they planted gentle kisses upon their women’s hands and moved on to a new partner, where more gazing ensued.
It appeared that the dragons had no desire for conversation at all. At least, not yet.
It’s like these men are trying to see through to the very souls of these girls.
Perhaps they did possess some kind of deep intuition and could judge a person from their eyes. Somehow, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Their gazes were so piercing.
I continued to look around the room, and once again Theon surprised me. He was standing at the edge of the hall, and he was showing no signs of approaching anyone. He wasn’t looking at me now—he was just watching his fellow shifters dancing. Several of the girls who were still seated were casting glances at him. Of course, they would sooner faint than approach him.
Why is he standing all alone? Jeriad had said that primarily, they had come here to find a partner for the prince.
I didn’t understand his behavior, although my suspicion left me ill at ease. I looked over at Shayla and nodded toward the prince.
“Why do you think he’s just standing there?” I whispered.
She shrugged. Although from the look in her eye, she had the same suspicion as me.
I stopped staring down below and focused on my music again. I didn’t know how long this ball would last. None of us did. I supposed the dragons would make it clear once they felt that they’d had a satisfactory introduction.
Hopefully not more than a few hours.
I kept my concentration mostly on my music for the next hour, though I couldn’t help but keep glancing down every now and then. The dragons maintained that silent demeanor throughout, just staring at their partners, as though nothing else existed in the world except the girl in front of them. I felt goosebumps run along my skin just thinking about attempting to hold their gaze for more than a few minutes, let alone hours. But almost an hour had passed now, and the girls seemed quite happy to be lost in their eyes.
I was relieved once one o’clock struck and Corrine arrived. She appeared near the food table and began talking with my mother, who cast a glance up at me and nodded. That meant it was time to start wrapping up the music.
Shayla and I finished the piece gracefully. Then, standing up, I caught sight of Theon again, still standing at the corner of the room. He hadn’t danced with a single person the whole hour, nor had he made any attempts to. I was surprised that even Jeriad hadn’t tried to pair him up. I could only assume that he’d requested to be left alone.
I remained watching from the balcony as Corrine manifested a long banquet table. Gripping their partners by the waist, the shifters led them toward the edges of the hall as the witch floated the table into the center and lined up chairs around it with her magic. She spread out a pearly white tablecloth, followed by piles of silver plates and cutlery.
“Please take a seat,” she announced.
The shifters approached the table with the girls, pulling back chairs for them to take a seat first, before sitting beside them. I was glad to see Theon seating himself at the head of the table. A part of me kept expecting him to climb up to my balcony.
The witches began to serve the feast deftly with their magic, placing all of the vessels in the center of the table and serving everyone. I could barely remember when I had last eaten, but I had no appetite now. Even though the food looked delicious, I shook my head when my mother beckoned me over.
“Later,” I mouthed.
My mother shook her head. “Now,” she mouthed back.
I sighed and obeyed her, climbing down the steps. I took the plate she had prepared for me before hurrying back up to the balcony to eat. As soon as I’d taken the first bite, I was glad that she’d insisted. Having food in my stomach eased my nerves.
Shayla ascended the stairs toward me, holding a plate in her hand, and sat down next to me to eat.
“So do you know what’s going to happen now?” I asked.
“Your mom said that she spoke to Jeriad. Apparently that’s all the dancing that will be done today.”
I widened my eyes. “But Theon hasn’t even danced with anyone yet.”
Shayla shrugged, brushing aside a strand of her brown hair as she began to eat. “It seems that one hour of dancing was enough for this introductory ball. Apparently, all the dragons who danced have chosen a lady each, and now the second stage is to whisk them away somewhere on the island to talk in private, without distractions.”
“Oh… And then after that?”
“I don’t know,” the witch replied. “I don’t think Jeriad explained the next step to your mom…”
I stayed up on the balcony with Shayla for the next hour or so. We both finished our meals and then sat on the bench by the piano, watching as the dragons and their partners finished theirs. Soon, the shifters began helping their ladies out of their chairs and leading them across the hall toward the exit.
I stood up and walked to the railing for a better view. Surprisingly, Theon seemed to have left already. Perhaps he’d left early. I was still puzzled by his behavior.
Well, that was over much sooner than I thought.
This more than suited me though. Now that the stress of the ball was over, I found my exhaustion returning—the plate of food I’d just eaten likely contributing to it.
I bade goodbye to Shayla and made my way down the steps. My mother was standing by the table talking to Corrine. Putting an arm around me, she planted a kiss on my forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“Sleepy,” I muttered.
“Go to bed now,” my mother replied. “It seems our work here is done.”
I gave Corrine a hug. “Thanks for helping with this.”
“No problem.”
I waited for all the ball attendees to exit the hall before leaving my mother and following after them. I wandered down the tunnel toward the main exit, brushing my hands along the rough walls. It felt like
a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had almost reached the last stretch of tunnel before the main exit when a deep baritone voice came from behind me.
“Princess.”
The dragon prince stepped out of the shadows.
“Theon,” I gasped.
He stopped a couple of feet away from me, his amber eyes boring into mine.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“O-okay.”
“Who do you believe is the most worthy maiden?”
His question took me by surprise. “Most worthy maiden,” I began. “Hm. That’s really a tough question. There are, uh, so many worthy maidens.”
His thick eyebrows furrowed as he scrutinized my face.
“Why aren’t you mingling with any of them to just see for yourself?” I asked.
A smile curled the corner of his lips. “I don’t… mingle as freely as my comrades do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t just dance or talk with anyone.”
I frowned. “Then I’m not sure how you will ever find yourself a partner. If you don’t—”
“My comrades are now seeing the worth of each of the maidens before suggesting whom I ought to grant a private meeting to. I just thought that, in the meantime, I would ask you for your opinion.”
Oh.
A wave of relief washed over me.
“Well, as I said, that’s a tough question for me to answer. I think you’re better off just waiting for your comrades’ feedback on the girls.”
“Very well,” he said, stepping away. “I’m sorry to have held you up.”
“T-that’s quite all right.”
I was taken aback by his courteous behavior. It left me feeling almost guilty for expecting him to try something with me. As he turned around and began walking back down the corridor, toward his apartment, I realized that perhaps he truly was a gentleman. I hadn’t detected him trying to lure me in. Although his very presence was intimidating, he had acted anything but dishonorably.
As I left the Black Heights and began racing back toward Caleb’s and my mountain cabin, I couldn’t help but feel happy for the girl who would eventually end up with him. He would make her very happy indeed.
Chapter 13: Sofia
Soon after Rose left the hall, I left too. I made my way back to our apartment and headed straight to the bedroom. I changed into my most comfortable pair of pajamas before seeking out Derek. He was in his study, as I had expected he might be. He looked up as I entered, leaning back in his chair and stretching out.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“Much smoother than Rose and I could have expected.” I walked over to him and sat down on his lap. I ran a hand through his hair, placing a kiss on his cheek. “I’m so proud of our daughter.”
Derek’s face filled with melancholy—an emotion I’d grown used to seeing in him since Caleb had told him he wanted to propose to our daughter. Derek just didn’t want to let his baby go. Neither did I, but I couldn’t deny that I was thrilled. I trusted Caleb and I knew that he would rather die than see anything happen to our daughter. He was also more grounded and mature than Rose in many ways, and I saw that they complemented each other.
Derek would get used to it. I knew he would. I held his hands and stood up, pulling him up with me.
“You look tired. Come to bed with me?”
He didn’t resist as I tugged him out of his study, back toward our bedroom. I collapsed on the bed almost as soon as we entered and crawled between the sheets. Derek took a shower before settling on the mattress next to me. He lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling.
“At least Caleb seems a much safer vampire to be around than I was for you.”
“I would have to agree with you there,” I said, grinning. I squeezed his warm cheek, turning his head to face me. “Speaking of vampires, how long are you going to wait before turning back?”
“I’m not sure. I want to wait a while to see how things play out.”
We fell into silence, snuggling closer to each other and staring into each other’s eyes until exhaustion eventually claimed me and I fell asleep.
* * *
Derek and I were woken unceremoniously a few hours later by a frantic knocking on our bedroom door. Derek leapt out of bed and swung the door open.
My heart sank as soon as I saw that it was Eli.
“Eli? What is it? How did you even get in here?” Derek asked.
“You left the front door unlocked,” Eli said. “There’s something on the news you need to see.”
I shot out of bed, rushing to Derek’s side. I clutched Eli’s shoulders. “Don’t tell me this is about Ben again.”
Eli shook his head. “Definitely not Ben.”
I could breathe somewhat more easily, although his expression didn’t give me reason to feel much relief. Since Eli’s TV was the only one on the island that had been hooked up to all the news channels, Derek and I hurried directly out the front door. As we raced through the forest toward Eli’s penthouse, I couldn’t help but feel sad that I was beginning to associate Eli’s visits to us with fear and dread.
We reached Eli’s tree and hurried up the elevator. As he pushed open the front door, I was shocked at how messy the living room was. Eli wasn’t always the most tidy of people, but this level of disorder… it was worthy of a teenage boy’s room.
I shoved the thought aside as Eli switched on the television.
“I should’ve noticed this earlier,” he muttered, flicking through the channels. “I just haven’t checked on the news for couple of days. Been feeling a bit under the weather.”
My mouth fell open as he stopped changing the channels.
“More CCTV footage,” Eli said, pointing with the remote toward the scene playing out on the screen. A dozen or so hooded figures dressed in black, wielding a burning ring of fire, closing in on hundreds of young men and women.
“Rhys,” I gasped. “Who else could this be but the black witches?” I clasped a hand over my mouth, gaping at the screen. “Oh, no. No. Why are they doing this?”
“The code of secrecy has already been broken,” Derek said. “They are no longer bothering to hide themselves from humans.”
“But why do they want all these teens?” I stammered. “Why are they so bent on capturing people?”
Derek shook his head slowly. “I don’t know.” He looked at Eli. “We need to call a council meeting this instant. Wake everyone up. I want Caleb there too.”
Chapter 14: Derek
Sofia and I sat at the head of the table in the Great Dome. We watched as our council members piled in, bleary-eyed and confused, and took seats around us. I didn’t answer any questions until everyone had arrived—everyone except Yuri and Claudia, who had already left the island for their honeymoon. Xavier took a seat next to me, Vivienne next to Sofia.
Caleb was the last to enter—without Rose, I was glad to see. He took a seat at the opposite end of the table after closing the main door behind him.
“What happened, Derek?” Ashley asked, wiping sleep away from her eyes.
“The black witches have moved on to new shores.”
Mona’s mouth fell open.
“Where?” she asked.
“They closed in on a group of adolescents at a school, near the coast of California. The police are reporting just over a hundred missing. The black witches cast a spell and vanished them. It was all caught on camera. This is just the first attack of God knows how many.” I looked around at my comrades. “They must be stopped. And if we don’t do it, nobody will.”
“But how?” Zinnia said, her face deathly pale.
I looked toward Mona. “You know more about these black witches than any of us.”
Mona chewed on her lower lip, looking around the room. “I don’t know exactly what all this blood is for—”
“Blood?” Sofia interrupted, horror in her eyes.
Mona raised a brow. “Yes, blood. What else
would they be taking these humans for? I don’t know exactly what they need them for, but it’s for some kind of ritual. I suspect this has to do with Lilith, the one Ancient who remains clinging to life by a thread. Whatever this ritual is, we need to stop it.”
“This Lilith seems to be the cause of most of our problems,” Kiev muttered. “We need to end the bitch.”
Mona scoffed. “Easier said than done. I don’t even know where she resides. I’ve visited her island before with Rhys, but he made sure I didn’t know the actual location.”
I looked toward Caleb. “You know, don’t you? You and Rose were on that island.”
“I have no idea where it is within the supernatural realm, but we do know that there is a gate leading to it deep in the Amazon jungle.”
“Do you remember exactly where the gate is?” I asked. “Could you locate it in the jungle?”
Caleb looked doubtful. “That night we arrived there, I was so bent on getting as far away from that gate with Rose as I could, I’m honestly not sure if I could remember its location now. I could try, but God knows how long it would take me to find it again. The nearest city is Manaus, but that hardly helps us.”
Mona shook her head. “I can’t believe that Rhys would’ve allowed that gate to remain open if you and Rose had escaped through it. Even if you manage to find the location, I’m sure he would have closed it. Lilith is far too precious to them.”
“I don’t understand the logic of going after Lilith,” Gavin said. “Maybe I’m just missing something, but surely we would have to end all of the black witches?”
“I doubt they’d be left with much steam if they lost Lilith,” Mona said. “They want to take over The Sanctuary and revive the lost way of the Ancients. They want to reinstate black magic that today’s witches have mostly shunned. Much of the power that they have, they gained from Lilith. If we managed to take her down, I don’t know if they would be successful without her. They might even lose some of their powers. Heck, I might too. Most of the power I possess came as a result of a meeting with Lilith.”
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