My stake was already out, and as soon as he was a breath away, I staked him clean through his heart. As he stiffened and howled in pain, I arched my kukri towards his throat, slicing his head clear from his body, his crimson blood splattering across my face and my dress.
I kept moving, darting over his headless body towards the door, racing into the corridor just outside the hall.
The corridor was empty, and I allowed myself a moment to clutch the wall and take several deep breaths, wiping the slick blood off of my face with trembling hands. When I looked up, I caught a brief glimpse of Ilona and Jonathan’s retreating forms as she dragged him up a winding staircase at the far end of the corridor.
I tore after them. When I reached the base of the staircase, I glanced up. The stairs seemed to twist and wind upwards indefinitely, leading to the apex of one of the towers, and I could hear their footsteps as they ascended.
Hiking up my skirt, I charged up the stairs. But when I reached the second curve, I was hurled against the crumbling stone wall of the tower, paralyzed.
A group of ferals scrambled towards me from the base of the stairs, their eyes blazing with eagerness and hunger as they approached. Near hysteria filled me at the sight of them, and I struggled to remain calm, searching the group for the vampire who held the thrall. My gaze landed on a stocky male vampire with a shock of ash blonde hair. He was in the very front of the group and appeared to lead the rest. His black eyes were trained on mine, his lips curled back in a snarl.
I stood in the center of a village that had been burned to the ground. Despair swept over me as I sank to my knees and wept. I felt a cold presence approach, and looked up to see a dark figure approach, opening its mouth to reveal a sharp pair of fangs.
I was released from the hold as the vampire stumbled back, looking dazed and disoriented; but the other vampires continued to charge towards me.
I turned to continue racing up the stairs, but they were close on my heels, and a feral launched herself at me from behind, tackling me down to one of the steps. She yanked my head back and I screamed as she slurped eagerly at my still bleeding neck wound, her rail-thin arms keeping me pinned to the steps with inhuman strength. My stake and kukri had slipped from my grip, and I could only watch helplessly as the other ferals surrounded us on the narrow staircase, eagerly awaiting their turn to feast.
“Hakeel ishta mi,” a voice hissed from further down the stairs.
The feral stiffened and instantly lifted her bloodstained fangs from my throat, turning towards the source of the voice. The ferals who surrounded us followed her gaze.
I looked down the stairs. I was startled to see Anara standing further down the stairs. Abe hovered behind her. She was focused on the ferals, who now stood stock still, as if they were hypnotized by her strange words.
“Mina,” Abe said quietly, his eyes also trained on the ferals. I could tell that he was trying to appear calm, but his voice quavered. “Anara will distract them. Move away from them, slowly.”
Anara’s eyes did not shift from the vampires, and they remained as still as statues.
I cautiously sat up, reaching behind me to pick up my weapons. I gingerly got to my feet, gripping both the kukri and stake should they come out of their daze and strike, but they remained perfectly still as I crept backwards up the stairs.
Anara gave Abe a small nod, keeping her focus on the ferals, and he edged around Anara to creep up the stairs, his face white with terror as he brushed past the immobile ferals and reached my side.
We turned and continued to race up the stairs. I cast one last glance back down towards Anara and the ferals as we ran, surprised that she had saved my life and wondering how she was able to control them.
“Anara was one of the vampires who freed us and the other prisoners,” Abe said, panting as we darted up the stairs. “She did that same trick on our vampire guards. When we came up from the dungeons, Gabriel pulled us aside and told us where you were. I am so very relieved that we found you.”
“Ilona has Jonathan,” I said, my words coming out in short gasps as we ran. I could see the top of the tower now, only fifty steps away. “I don’t think he’s been changed yet. But something’s terribly wrong. They’ve done something to him.”
We reached the top of the stairs where a small narrow corridor led to a chamber door at the far end. The door was partially open, and I could see the shadow of two figures inside.
I sprinted forward, Abe on my heels, clutching the hilts of my kukri and stake so tightly that it felt as if my palms would bleed. I shoved open the door, which opened onto a grand bedchamber.
Jonathan and Ilona stood just outside the chamber on a narrow balcony, dangerously close to the edge. Ilona’s green eyes were alight with hatred as they landed on me, while Jonathan’s gaze remained unfocused. Abe entered the chamber behind me, and Jonathan’s eyes slid towards him, a dark look flickering briefly across his features.
I took a cautious step towards them, terrified of what Ilona would do next. I ached to throw my blade into her heart, but she was standing too close to Jonathan. I had to get him away from her.
“Jonathan,” I said desperately, trying to keep my voice steady as I addressed him. “It’s me, Mina. Your fiancée. You were abducted. I’m here to take you home.”
“His home is with me!” Ilona shouted, taking another step closer to the edge of the balcony, pulling Jonathan along with her. I stilled as she turned to give Jonathan a look that was both loving and dangerous. “He is with us now.”
“Jonathan,” I repeated, disregarding her words as I implored him with my eyes. He still looked as if he was trying to recall my identity. If I could get him to take just one step away from her, I would have a clear shot. “Please, Jonathan, I need you to remember that—”
“Jonathan,” Ilona interjected, leaning seductively close to Jonathan, brushing his ear with her lips. “Kill her. Tear out her and her lover’s throat.”
I watched in horrified astonishment as Jonathan seemed to heed her words and immediately moved towards us. The uncertainty had vanished, and those eyes that once shone with so much love for me, were now dark with deadly purpose. From behind him, Ilona smiled.
“Jonathan!” I shouted, blinking back tears of disbelief as Jonathan stalked towards us. “Jonathan, it’s me! Mina! Your Mina!”
“Mina.” Abe was at my side now, his breath close to my ear, his voice panicked. “Leave now. Let me try to reach him.”
“No,” I said fiercely. If anyone could reach Jonathan, it was me.
I boldly crossed the chamber to meet him as he approached. Jonathan halted, another flash of confusion flickering across his face as I moved towards him. It was a moment that I seized, closing the remaining distance between us to place my hands on his face, which was dangerously feverish and clammy.
“The carriage ride down Piccadilly in London,” I whispered, holding his disconcerted eyes. I prayed that this memory would pull him out of this trance and back to me. I could feel both Ilona’s cold look and Abe’s fearful presence, but I focused only on Jonathan. “It was raining, quite fiercely. You turned to look at me and there was so much love in your eyes. Do you remember what you said, my love? Do you remember what you asked me?”
“Jonathan!” Ilona shouted, her fury barely contained. “I gave you an order!”
“You asked me to marry you,” I continued, desperate. Jonathan had stiffened at her words, and I feared that I had mere seconds before Ilona killed me and then Abe, herself. I removed my hand from his face, showing him my engagement ring, the rose gold band now splattered with blood. “I had been in such despair for so long. You brought me out of it. You made me feel happiness again. What did I say? What did I say, Jonathan William Harker?”
I used his full name in the hope that it would ignite his memory, but his eyes remained foggy and distant. Tears blurred my vision, and something broke inside of me. I felt a cold numbness as I dropped my hands to my sides, taking a step back from him.
“Now, lubirea mea,” Ilona said, and I could hear the smile in her voice—the blaze of triumph. “Kill her now.”
As Jonathan’s hands lifted towards me, I realized that I had no fight left in me. I simply closed my eyes.
“NO!” Abe shouted from behind me. Yet he did not move, and I realized that Ilona must have put him into a thrall.
But when Jonathan’s hands came to rest at the base of my throat, they were gentle. They slid up to cup my face, and my eyes flew open in surprise, rising to meet his.
It was like watching storm clouds lift to reveal the brilliance of the sun. The fog was gone, and the clear hazel eyes that peered down at me were those of the Jonathan I knew.
“You said yes,” Jonathan’s voice was strangled and weak, but it was his voice, the one I remembered and loved. My heart leapt in my chest with joy. “Mina. Oh God, Mina,” he whispered tremulously.
The coldness disappeared, and my hands flew up to grasp his.
“I’ve come for you,” I whispered, smiling through my tears. “I’ve come to take you home.”
“Jonathan!” Ilona’s voice shot out with the force of a cannon, her smug melodiousness gone. Jonathan stiffened and whirled to face her, remaining protectively in front of me as she moved away from the balcony and into the chamber.
“Have you forgotten what I showed you? What you saw in your own mind? She has betrayed you! She has brought her lover with her to kill you. Do not let her betray you once more!”
Jonathan’s eyes locked with hers, and once again, I saw a haze of uncertainty and disorientation descend. I had to get him out of here, away from her.
As I stepped past Jonathan to charge towards her, I was flung back against the wall next to Abe, paralyzed. Ilona was on me at once, both her hands on the sides of my head, on the verge of snapping my neck. But she was abruptly hurled off of me, flying through the air to land on the opposite side of the chamber. Abe and I were immediately released from our paralysis, looking up in astonishment as we crumpled to the floor.
Jonathan had thrown her off of me. He now stood opposite us, looking down at his hands as he took in deep ragged breaths, amazed by his own strength.
Across the chamber, Ilona looked stunned as well, but I did not give her a change to gather her bearings. I shot to my feet, hurling my wooden stake directly at her heart. She dodged, and it landed in the side of her neck instead, followed by Abe’s knife in the center of her chest, mere inches from her heart.
The blows were not fatal, but dark crimson blood seeped from her wounds, and she grimaced in pain, her face paling even more as she yanked out the stake and knife from the bleeding wounds.
Abe and I dashed towards her, my kukri already angled to slice off her head, Abe’s knife outstretched to sink into her heart, but she stumbled to her feet and towards the balcony, leaping off the edge before we could reach her.
Abe and I raced to the balcony, peering over the edge. The crevasse below was a sheer drop, leading to a rocky embankment. There was no sign of her below. She’d vanished.
“Mina.”
I whirled. Jonathan stood in the center of the bedchamber, still pale and shaken, but looking more like himself. His expression was haunted, as if he had just awoken from a terrible nightmare.
I hurried towards him, and his arms went around me as he buried his face in my hair, his thin shoulders trembling with sobs.
“Oh God, Mina. I thought I was dead. She did something to my mind. I could not see what was real and what was false. It was as if I was trapped in my own mind,” Jonathan whispered brokenly.
“It’s all right,” I said, holding him as I fought back my own tears. “You are safe now. You have my word.”
“Mina, Jonathan,” Abe’s voice came from behind us, and we turned.
Abe hovered by the doorway, his face grave. “As long as we are in this fortress, we are still in danger. We need to leave.”
“Stay behind me,” I said to Jonathan, gripping his hand in mine. He nodded, and we made our way out of the bedchamber.
Abe stayed several paces ahead of us as we hurried down the corridor and back down the winding stairs. Anara was still waiting further down the stairs, a group of ferals now dead at her feet.
“More tried to attack. I held them off,” she said calmly. Her eyes briefly strayed to Jonathan, and I was surprised to see that there was a flicker of relief in her eyes at the sight of him. “Get to the postern gate. Radu and the others are still fighting Vlad and his creatures in the great hall and the courtyard. You must leave while they are still distracted.”
She flanked us as we continued down the stairs. Once we reached the base, I could hear the furor of rapid movement as the vampires continued to fight in the great hall.
“Keep moving!” Anara hissed, gesturing towards the far end of the corridor, where I could see a stream of human prisoners hurriedly making their way towards the rear postern gate.
I clutched Jonathan’s hand as we obliged her, hurrying down the corridor to join the stream of dazed and terrified humans as they fled out the gate.
I spotted Gabriel, Seward, Nikolaus, and Kudret standing at the doorway of the gate, directing the released prisoners out of the fortress. When Gabriel’s eyes met mine, they softened with relief. His eyes drifted to Jonathan, and he gave me a wide smile.
At our side, Abe gestured for Seward to join us. Seward looked weak. His shoulder was bleeding and he moved with a slight limp, but his face was flushed with abject relief as he joined us, turning to take Jonathan in. He met my eyes and gave me the same congratulatory smile that Gabriel had given me, and I grinned in return.
We stepped out of the fortress and into a glaringly bright and sunny day, a stark contrast to the dreary darkness of the fortress’ interior. We made our way down the rugged mountain path that led out of the gates and away from the fortress, down towards a thick patch of forest.
An almost religious silence had fallen over everyone. The prisoners around us looked as if they were still uncertain that their escape was even real. I slowly took them in. There was a young girl, no more than twelve, who moved in a shuffling gait, her arms wrapped securely around herself, her eyes bloodshot with tears. Close to her, a man of about twenty had the look of someone who had once been muscular and robust, but was now thin and frail, his skin pulled taut over his bones, his eyes dark and haunted. Right next to us, there was a trembling woman whose face was partially deformed, the skin of her right cheek torn and jagged in a crisscross pattern, and there were two open and bleeding wounds in her neck. What horrors had these prisoners suffered? I wondered with a shiver.
I moved closer to Jonathan, my hand steady in his. Whatever horrors they had suffered was over now, and I felt something I had not allowed myself to feel in quite some time. Hope. We would soon be far from this fortress and its evils. Radu would kill Vlad, and hopefully Ilona had not survived her fall. Their evil would die with them. The nightmare could soon be over.
My hope dimmed as I looked around. Why weren’t we being stopped? Vlad had scores of vampires at his command. Were they all fighting Radu and the others, or were they lying in wait somewhere?
Instinctively, I clutched Jonathan’s hand and picked up my pace, wanting to put as much distance between us and the fortress as quickly as possible. But the survivors around us moved at a lethargic pace, still reeling and disoriented from the horrors they had suffered.
As we descended into the dense forest that lined the base of the mountain, I began to relax. During our preparations, Radu had informed us there was an abandoned fortified village several kilometers away from the fortress. There we would all gather before continuing on to the nearby city of Debrecen, where we would meet up with Radu and the others at another one of his homes. I knew my anxiety would dissipate once we arrived safely in the fortified village.
“Something . . . something is not right,” Jonathan whispered suddenly, halting
in his tracks. I looked at him, fearful. “Something is near. I can feel it.”
Abe and Seward stopped and turned to face us, the trepidation clear on their faces.
“What do you mean, Jonathan?” I asked, my throat dry.
Before he could reply, screams punctuated the silence. I whirled, watching in dazed horror as small packs of feral vampires lunged out from the surrounding trees, descending onto the helpless prisoners in a frenzied swarm.
Jonathan took charge, dashing ahead and dragging me along with him. Abe and Seward were close on our heels, their weapons out, ready to fight off any attacking vampires. I unearthed my kukri as well, prepared to defend us against any attacks.
But I soon realized that the ferals were not focused on the four of us; their attention was trained on the helpless humans around us. I desperately wanted to stop to help them, but when my steps faltered, Jonathan’s hand tightened over mine.
“There are too many. We must keep running!”
I heeded his warning, and we continued to dash away from the carnage and further into the forest with another small group of humans, until the screams behind us faded into the distance. I searched around for Gabriel, but realized that he was still far behind us at the fortress, and I fervently prayed that he was all right.
It seemed as if we had been running for hours when I spotted the abandoned fortified village up ahead, similar in appearance to the one we had left this morning. Several of our vampire allies, who were dispersed throughout the group of fleeing humans, moved to flank us from the rear as we dashed towards the front gates of the village. They ushered us all inside, shutting the gates behind us.
Once we were inside the gates, Jonathan released my hand, stumbling away from me as he swayed on his feet. I reached out to steady him, but he began to convulse as he stumbled to his knees.
“Jonathan!” I cried, sinking down to my knees to hold him upright. “Jonathan, what—”
Fortress of Blood (Mina Murray Book 2) Page 6
