"Not to be rude," Ceto said. "But can you maybe eat some other time."
Victoria looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it. Whenever I smell the blood of witches and wizards, I just have to have it." Victoria smiled at her, the blood shining on her teeth, and raised his dismembered arm into the air. "Snack for the road? I'm happy to share."
Ceto sniffed and stuck out her tongue in revulsion. "The Ceto's haven't allowed the feasting on mortals in generations. I don't intend to break that today, no matter how hungry I am."
"Suit yourself." Victoria cracked a finger off and sucked the meat off before getting up to leave.
"The door is that way," Ceto nodded down a long, dark hallway. "They used to keep me in here before and I'd see them come and go through there."
"Alright, let's—"
The two monarchs’ ears twitched as they heard a noise from the darkness. Neither of them had any time to react to the wizard who came slashing his wand through the air that left a deep cut on Ceto's leg. The queen fell to the floor with a yelp, and Victoria was so stunned and filled with adrenaline that she ripped his head off.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Ceto grumbled from the floor.
"Are you alright? Can you stand?"
"I think so." Ceto rose only to narrowly miss falling back down before Victoria caught her under her arm.
"I think you're going to have to lean on me."
Ceto nodded clearly in pain and the two hobbled out of the door and out into the desolate streets of the Underground.
Ω
The warehouse where the two royals had been kept seemed to be at the edge of nowhere. In one direction, there were empty streets leading up to a bigger, more crowded city, and at the very center was an enormous castle. In the other direction, there was nothing but darkness. It was a place straight out of nightmares. Everything was damp and chilly. Beside Victoria, Ceto's teeth were chattering in the cold.
"What do you think is that way?" Ceto asked, pointing out into the empty darkness beyond.
"I don't know," Victoria replied, "but I don't want to find out."
They walked in a direction that steadily led upwards. Victoria believed that if they kept going up, then they would find one of the openings to the surface.
"This place is a maze," Ceto said. "I don't know how we'll ever make it out of here."
"We will. We just have to keep going."
Ducking in corners and hiding in shadows, the two wound their way through the Underground. Every once in a while, voices would echo down an alley and they would change their direction. Victoria looked down at her feet and saw that they were all cut up. She was still having trouble healing. That poison would be in her system for a long time and she doubted those scars would ever go away. Since Nicolae took away their shoes, shards of glass and small rocks were digging into their feet.
The entire city was encircled by that empty darkness. Victoria could feel a sharp wind blowing in from beyond whatever was in there, and she could have sworn she'd seen more than a few pairs of eyes watching them. It unnerved both of them, and they opted to circle in closer to the more crowded streets even if it meant sacrificing a little privacy. It was more likely that the openings would be in the busier areas anyway.
When they rounded another corner, they were met with a loud smash and shouting. A bright neon sign in front of them read "Tavern." Victoria rolled her eyes. A couple of over eager drunks was the last thing they needed right now. Victoria moved to pass by quickly, but then a mountain of a man was thrown out the front window right in front of where they were. Not two seconds later, a witch swaggered out through the front door that was very near to falling off its hinges with a dagger in her hand. She put one foot on the man and held the dagger against his throat.
"Now, I know you're not gonna cheat me out of my money. You're not that dumb."
The man, an incubus by the looks of his handsome features, horns, and leathery wings, bared his teeth at her. "I don't know what you're talking about, witch."
"Oh really?" She slashed her dagger along his arm and his sleeve ripped open revealing a set of playing cards. "Want to try again?" She aimed that dagger at his throat again this time hard enough to draw some blood.
"Go to Hell!" he yelled at her. She punched him across the face knocking him unconscious. Afterwards, she proceeded to go through his pockets and relieve the incubus of all of his money.
"I'm already there," she replied to his limp form. She looked over to where Victoria and Ceto were standing. "What're you two looking at?"
"Nothing," Victoria replied. "Certainly nothing that's any of our business." She made to move past the woman.
"Hey, you two look familiar. Have we met before?"
"I doubt it."
"Oh really?" She took a closer look at Ceto and the woman's eyes grow wider as she recognized her. "Interesting." A smile spread across her face. "Lots of slave traders around here that would pay a generous bounty to get back their runaway slaves."
"We're no one’s slaves," Victoria growled at her. So, she didn't recognize them. That was understandable as their current appearance was a far cry from the luxuries the world typically saw them in. "We're just a couple of lost people far from home. Could you tell us which direction the closest surface opening is in?"
"What's in it for me?"
"My friend here won't rip your throat out and eat your fingers for dessert," Ceto cut in. The fact that she was still able to partially stand was a small mercy.
The woman reeled back. "Vampires." She looked again at Ceto. "Or maybe a vampire and a siren." That was when Victoria saw the clues click into place in her mind. "You're Victoria Speranta," she said.
"Yes, I am."
"You're supposed to be weak and disabled, but I look at you now and see that those were just false rumors. You seem quite strong. Have you just been pretending all of these years?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I haven't been pretending to be anything. I am legitimately a cripple."
A snort of disbelief escaped her as she said, "You could've fooled me." She nodded at the both of them. The closest they would ever get to a formal greeting, she supposed. "The name's Amnesty Baldwin."
"You're not going to turn us in, are you?" Ceto asked.
Amnesty narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "No, I only turn in criminals for bounties, and you guys don't have bounties."
"That's because we're not criminals."
"Then we don't have a problem."
"If there's no problem between us," Victoria replied. "Could you help us navigate these tunnels. We were a little drugged when we came down here and weren't exactly given a map."
"I've heard you two got caught up with Nicolae Blake?" They nodded. "Any enemy of Nicolae is a friend of mine. That half-breed's been causing all kinds of trouble around here lately. Well, more than usual." Amnesty took Ceto's other arm and helped her through the dark tunnels of the Underground. "He's been bringing all kinds of low-lives around here lately."
"As opposed to the usual low-lives?" Victoria asked. Amnesty snorted out a laugh.
"Wizards," she replied. "They've been coming around here in their black cloaks and practicing black magic, making all kinds of new potions and recording them in their grimoires."
"Are you sure it's black magic?"
"As a witch myself, I'm sure."
"You're a witch, but you hate your own kind? Why is that?"
"I wouldn't say I hate my own kind. I just hate the ones that don't come from the Golden District of Frumos. That's where I'm from."
"Yikes. When was the last time you were back there?"
"Not since I was a kid. The kingdom of Frumos asked me rather aggressively not to come back." She laughed but there was a sadness in her voice. "We should be quiet now. We're getting to the more populated areas and I don't want to draw any attention to us."
Victoria nodded and they continued to carry Ceto through the darkened
streets of the Underground. They had been walking for about five more minutes when they heard dogs howling.
"What is that?" Ceto asked between them.
"Nothing to worry about," Victoria said. Amnesty looked at her like she was crazy, but Victoria added, "It would probably be best to pick up the pace, though."
The wail of howling dogs was getting closer and the group was still moving too slow. However, due to Ceto's mangled leg, it was the best they could do. It wasn't until Victoria was able to pick up the shouting of people that she began to really start to worry.
"You won't make it. Just leave me behind," Ceto ground out.
"Not a chance," Victoria replied.
"Wow, I never knew queens and princesses to be so chivalrous," Amnesty added. "What we need is a distraction."
Victoria looked around for anything that might help. There was nothing. There weren't even any people to leave behind for a noble sacrifice. Victoria shook her head. Since when did she think such morbid thoughts?
"There's nothing else around." Victoria looked at Amnesty who seemed to understand what it was she was going to do. "Ceto won't last down here another week… but I can. Get her to the surface and get some help. We were being held in an old warehouse at the very edge of everything. Examine Ceto's memories for the location."
Amnesty nodded.
"Don't you dare, Victoria. You can't. You'll die if they catch you."
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not my queen." With that, Victoria ran off into the darkness and towards the sound of barking dogs.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Death of Morality
Victoria was scared. Far more scared than she'd ever been before, but she had been right about her decision. Ceto wouldn't last down here, and there was no way they would escape without a distraction. She heard the dogs barking in the next street over and knew what she was about to be up against. Hell Hounds were trained to protect their masters, primarily vampires as they slept during the day. She had two at home for precisely that reason, as did many others. What Nicolae used these poor hounds for was an insult to their kind.
Victoria extended her claws and bared her teeth at the wizards and hounds coming her way. It would break her heart to kill the animals, but it was the only way they would survive. The first hound jumped at her and she sliced at its belly with her claws and it fell dying on the ground two seconds later. Two more came running at her and she slashed at the first before the second dug its teeth into her arms and dragged her to the ground. She kicked the dog in the face, and it yelped and jumped back before it tried to move on her again with its companion. She grabbed one by the neck, her brute force kicking in as she snapped its head the wrong way killing it instantly. The last hound bit her leg and pulled it out from under her causing her to fall onto the pavement. She grunted in pain before lodging her claws through the hound’s skull. It stopped moving. She got up and went over to the first dog, still dying on the ground with half of its insides falling out.
"I'm so sorry," she said before she snapped the dogs neck saving it from its suffering. She turned back to where the wizards were getting closer. She had no weapons except for her own claws and teeth. She was either dead or going back to that dungeon under the warehouse. Tears pricked in Victoria's eyes, but she fought against them. She had been weak her whole life. If there was ever a time to be strong, it was now.
The first wizard that got to her shot a spell her way with her wand. Victoria ducked under it and ran at him slashing three long lines across his face. He yelped in pain and another wizard was there shooting more spells at her. She was able to dodge a couple of them, but then one hit her like electricity shooting through her body. She cried out and fell to the floor unable to move. One of their terrible immobilizing spells had hit her. So she was to be taken alive then. In a second, those silver chains were back on her hands and ankles and the spell was taken off of her to allow her to move. She fought against them, but then Nicolae was there. She growled at him. Whatever new hell he had in store for her, she was done. As long as Ceto made it out, there was nothing left to fight for, and she didn't want to let them carry through with whatever cruel plan he had in store for her.
"There's our noble princess," he said taking her chains into his hands and yanking on them to get her to move forward. She lurched forward under his strength and shuffled along behind him. "You really should have escaped with her rather than sacrifice yourself. Now that Ceto's gone, I have no more use to you. To think, I was gonna kill her and pin it on you. The poor little vampire got too hungry and unleashed herself upon the weakened siren queen." He clicked his tongue. "So much for that. Now I'm just gonna torture the life out of you before I kill you."
"How much longer are we going to keep playing this sick game?" She asked him through clenched teeth.
"For however long I want. It turns out I have all the time in the world. I doubt Ceto will make it very far with that nasty wound. Probably infected. She'll die down here lost and alone."
So, he didn't know about Amnesty. Victoria didn't dare give any inclination that he was wrong about Ceto's fate.
Ω
"Here we are," Nicolae said when they returned to that dungeon and those chains had again shackled her to that wall. "Home sweet home."
Victoria couldn't stand him anymore. "Is this what you wanted? Are you happy now? Do you feel proud of yourself?"
"Actually, yeah I do." Nicolae laughed. "Look at you. You had so much hope when you came in here. The Victoria Speranta, Sangera's victorious hope for a shining new age. So much for that. I can see the bitterness in your twisted heart, and it is black. So, yes, I feel proud that I have broken down everything that you are and brought you down to my level. Did you enjoy my little gift? Did my pups remind you of home?"
"Be careful what you wish for, because when this bitter and broken vampire gets out of here, I'm going to drain every last drop of your blood and find out just how tasty you are. I'll make sure you're still alive, too, so you can feel every bit of pain I'll make you suffer through. I'll make you what you fear to be the most: weak. I'll relish in the terror in your eyes as you realize your helpless to save even yourself, let alone a family." She said the words that she knew would hit their mark. Nicolae turned his golden eyes over to her and she saw so much viciousness there that she was sure she would have blanched had she been the same person she was a mere few months ago. "That's right. You were too late to save your wife and unborn child, weren't you?" Victoria spit at his feet. "I'm sure she would be so happy with the choices you've made now."
Nicolae snarled at her. "I've made my peace with the person I've decided to become. I'll gladly rot in hell to bring justice against the likes of you."
Victoria smiled at him. "So that is what we're destined for then? To claw and fight with each other for eternity, even when we're burning in the fires of the afterlife?"
"Somehow, princess, you're making me more depressed." He walked over to that side table and grabbed his knife kit. "But your screams of agony never do fail to cheer me up."
Victoria laughed again. She truly had lost it. "Go ahead, but you won't get any screams from me anymore."
"You'll be eating those words soon. I'm gonna make you wish you were dead."
"No need. I've been wishing I was dead for a long time."
"Then I'll just have to do my best."
Ω
Victoria truly didn't scream. Not once. Not even when Nicolae cut off all of her fingers. In the end, Nicolae threw the serrated knife he had been sawing at her fingers with against the wall narrowly missing her head. As he stormed out, her cackling laughter followed him. It was only when he was gone that she cried.
Over the weeks that Victoria had spent in Nicolae's prison, she had begun to recede within herself. She refused to let him see her cry anymore, and so Nicolae would torture her until she was almost dead, until she was laying limp and barely conscious in a pool of her own blood. It wasn't long before Victoria was little more than
a shell. Any hope that she once had for escape quickly died away and she was left with nothing but the endless cycle of being bled out until Nicolae got bored. Victoria was left with an emptiness, a void of complete darkness, and so that darkness became all that she was.
Victoria looked at the opposite side of the room. Where was Ceto? Wasn't she supposed to get help? It was in that moment that she selfishly wished she were still here to bring her that peace. She remembered the way Kai Kealoha and Maria Makilling had reacted when she had gone missing. Victoria thought that her friends would act the same way. That Albert would be scaring the living daylights out of everyone with his anger and worry. Perhaps Raduta and Adrian would try to calm him down, and people would think that they were the calm ones when really, they could be just as ruthless. And Alex…
Victoria slumped down lower in her chains collapsing into her blood on that hard cement floor. Alex once promised that he'd tear the world apart if anything ever happened to her. He had claimed that there was nothing he wouldn't do to get her back, so then, where was he?
Victoria dreamed of them. She dreamed of the people she had met less than a year ago, but now considered her family. It was from a memory. She and Raduta sat side by side in the library listening to Adrian explain what they needed to know for their test in their Sangeran history class. Albert was making paper planes out of the sign out dates in the books and tossing them around the room. Alex was both frowning at Albert and looking at her with that same intense gaze he always looked at her with. There was something about that gaze that made her heart in her chest beat faster than before. Those sky blue eyes always seemed to be on her and she laughed when Albert accidentally hit the librarian with one of his paper planes. The librarian chased them out of the library with a steel ruler in her vise-like grip and a rage in her eyes claiming that she'd flog the young lord if he ever stepped foot in that library again.
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