"If you want to be angry with someone, Sophia, be angry at your mother. She did absolutely nothing to prepare you for this. Your father knew. But she seemed to think she could keep you hidden. That we would forget about you." He steps in closer to me. "Guess what? We didn't forget. We never forget. And now I'm afraid we haven't much time. The portal is open, and—"
"Can we please have this man removed?" I scream, my voice a desperate wail over the pulsing sounds of the music. I can't decide if I'm brave and ready to face my destiny or cowardly and ready to go back into hiding. "Greta? Somebody! This man is an intruder and an imposter."
I point to Horace, just in case there is any question who I’m referring to with this bad-murder-mystery accusation. Horace rolls his eyes again and covers his ears with his hands.
"My God, stop your shrieking, child. They don't care about anything right now, not even you. I've glamoured them all into not caring." He waves a dismissive hand toward the oblivious crowd gyrating around the dance floor. "Well, except for your vampire. He really does want to kill you," he chuckles softly, covering his mouth with the back of his hand to hide his amusement.
"Why would you do this? Why in the world is destroying my life such a priority for you people?"
"Oh, calm down, child. This has nothing to do with destroying your life. You know what you are. You know you'll kill him if you stay. You'll kill everyone you love if you stay," Horace says in a singsong voice. "Do you really want all that blood on your hands? I gave you a taste of what you can do. I had to make you see. You do not belong in this world. And you most certainly do not belong with a vampire." He gives me a carefree grin. "Besides, we need you more than he does. The Unseelie are after you because they know what you mean to us. You see, they're after us, too. Our court is in trouble. It's crumbling. Falling apart. They get closer to us every day… And…" He takes out his pocket watch and looks at it. "Oh dear, we really haven't much time."
I stand there for a moment, lost in a torrential downpour of thoughts. I want to go. Run after Chris. Promise him things will be okay. But even I know they won't be okay. The Unseelie are looking for me. They're attacking innocent groups of people while looking for me. And every time, he's been left to clean up the mess. We both knew this was coming. Even if we didn't want to admit it. And now, it really is time for me to go.
With a sigh of defeat, I hesitantly follow Horace up the stairs from the basement and across the expansive living room and foyer. I sneak a quick look over my shoulder, hoping to find Chris running after us, his eyes full of love and determination as he rescues me from my unwanted destiny. But he's gone. There's no sign of him anywhere.
The loud, simultaneous popping of multiple champagne bottles tells me that it is almost midnight. I'm not supposed to be leaving with a leather-jacket-clad faerie bad boy. I'm supposed to be kissing Chris at midnight. It's not supposed to be like this.
"Where are we going?" I ask flatly.
"You'll see," he says in the singsong voice again.
"What are you going to do with me? Are you going to kill me? Am I to be some human sacrifice to your leaders? Is that what will fulfill your prophecy?"
"Oh my goodness, no," he says, once we are outside, standing in the middle of the street in front of Greta’s house. "I can't concentrate in there with all that godawful noise." He looks around for a moment, his gaze stopping on a flickering streetlight across the street. With a noise of disapproval, he turns to me. "That will have to do." His eyes dart to the streetlight and then back to mine. "Hands in mine, please. And look toward the light over there."
I attempt to stomp Horace's foot and make a run for it, suddenly afraid of the uncertainty he's leading me to, but he only laughs that impish laugh. With a quick flip of his hands, he's clasped my wrists again. "Stop struggling. I'm doing this for your own good, Sophia," he says, still laughing at my fear. "The motion is likely to make you ill. It will help if you focus on that light over there."
I open my mouth as I start to respond, but my words are instantly choked back as we throttle forward so fast that I fear I've left half my body behind. Seconds later, I hit the ground with a thud. I am surrounded by darkness with absolutely no idea where I am, but I immediately feel the need to christen this new place by turning my head to the side and violently throwing up.
"Told you to focus on the light," sings Horace.
When I regain my composure a few moments later, I pull myself to my feet, feeling weak and defeated, while Horace is as composed as ever. I dust off my brand-new couture gown and take a look around, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. We're in a large room, lit only by a few flickering candles in sconces on the wall. Based on the cold dampness of the place, I'd be willing to bet that we're deep underground somewhere.
"Did we just teleport here? Like in Star Trek?"
"Call it what you will, but yes. When the Seelie Court travels in your world, we travel by light. It's not always easy. Especially when your only light source is candlelight." Horace brushes a piece of dirt from his jacket. "You've seen this place before, have you not?"
"No. I haven't," I snap as another wave of queasiness passes through me. "Where are we? It smells like a sewer."
I take another look around, searching my brain for clues.
"The portal to Faerie is rarely presented to those of you who permanently reside in the human world," Horace says bitterly. "You have to be invited, and you should feel honored that you were invited. It is not, as you say, a sewer. Have some respect, child."
"This portal. If I leave, if I go through it, what then? Does everything just return to normal for everyone here? No more Unseelie attacks?"
A flash of skepticism crosses Horace's face, but is quickly replaced with the same toothy grin he's presented me with all night, only now he’s in his true form and not stealing Chris’s likeness.
"For now. Yes. Or at least, I surely hope so." He frowns, and the confident smile fades. "But there's really no way to know for sure until you go through." I stand there, gaping at him. "Esmeralda warned me this might be difficult," he says with a deep sigh. "I do not want to take you by force. It would be in poor taste for me to take you by force. Auberon would not like it. You, of all people."
He talks as if I am a queen.
"Esmeralda…" I trail off. "Is she…"
"She was like you once. Curious but skeptical. Indecisive yet impulsive. Esmeralda served us well and continues to serve us even after we returned her to her human life, happy and healthy. That's how we work, Sophia. We have no intention of hurting you. But we do need your help. Auberon needs your help. Your world needs your help."
"I can't," I say hoarsely. This is a tug-of-war battle between my world and Faerie, just as Sarah the Seer predicted, and my world has just scored a point. "My life is here."
"He is here, you mean? Your vampire lover? The very one who just threatened to kill you?"
"That would be the one," I say ruefully. "But it's not just that. I have a life here, too. I go to school. I have plans for myself. I have friends."
"None of that means anything to us," Horace says, waving away the thought with a gentle flourish of his hand. "The human concept of time does not exist where I come from."
"Well, it does here," I snap.
"Trust that if you serve us well, Sophia, you will be rewarded. We will make this worth your while."
"And I can come back here? After I do whatever it is I'm supposed to do?"
"If you make it out of this war alive," he says with a chuckle. I hope he's joking. "But, if that is what you wish, then I'm certain that Auberon would allow it." Horace gives me a sly grin. "But I suspect that once you get a taste of what life is like where I come from, once you are presented to Auberon, you may never want to come back."
"How long will I be gone?" I realize this is a silly question for a faerie with no concept of human time, but one can never be too cautious.
He shrugs. "Time spent in Faerie can go either way. You'll either return t
o find that only a day or two has passed, or…" He bites his lip, trailing off.
"Yeah, I think I see where that's going. What is required of me?"
"That I do not know. I'll let Auberon answer that question."
There is a rumbling sound off in the distance, followed by a loud, echoing crash, as if someone has just dropped an entire tray of dishes.
"And how do I know I can trust this Auberon? I don't even know him," I say quickly.
"There isn't time, Sophia," he says urgently. "The portal is closing. We have to go now. Please. I promise you will be well cared for." I look at him, paralyzed with fear. "Look, if you want to see your mother again. If you want to see Colin again… you have to go."
"Wait. What? My mother? Colin? What the—"
"I'll explain later."
He takes my hand and pulls me into a run until we reach the edge of what looks to be an inky pool of water. I have no idea if he's simply enticing me with promises of seeing my mother and my friend again or if he's serious.
"You'd better not be lying to me," I snap as I edge forward. My stomach churns. I'm terrified of what is beyond that swirling blackness.
"Faeries don't lie, Sophia," Horace says with a firm nudge. "Go on, then. I'll make sure you get through."
I whirl to face him. "Jump? In that?"
"That is the portal," he hisses. "Do it."
"And this is safe?"
"Now," he says through clenched teeth, as the pool shrinks into the dank ground surrounding it. "Before it closes."
I glance back over my shoulder, bidding a quick and silent farewell to this world. With a deep breath, I fall forward into the lightless pool, feeling my body grow weightless, dissolving into nothing as the syrupy black water propels me forward into darkness.
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Bloodbound Nocturne (The Sophia Kelly Chronicles Book 1) Page 24
