Chapter 7 Labyrinth of Shadows #3
I’m sure my new home has a well-stocked medicine cabinet, I told myself. A vampire from the royal court surely has everything you can think of. I’ll just doctor it better once I get there.
A sign on the door said, “Service Animals Only,” so I told him to wait for me and not go back to the car without me. I didn’t trust my stepsisters with him one little bit. With an excited yip of agreement, Brumous parked himself next to the door and raised his ears, his eyes shining.
“Good boy. I’ll bring you lunch and some water.”
While in the ladies room, I peeled away the sodden layers of bandages and took a peek at my arm.
It didn’t smell right, and the yellow stuff seeping out of it definitely didn’t look good.
Pressing a wad of paper towels to it, I waited until it was dry enough, then fixed my shirt and washed my hands.
I didn’t have much money, only a small cache of bills I’d managed to scrounge over the years, but I could afford a bottle of water and two sandwiches. I even splurged on a candy bar, something I hadn’t had in ages.
Back in the car, Eluned took the driver’s seat and Amabel settled in beside her, flipping through a magazine with exaggerated boredom.
As the miles flew by, Brumous and I ate our roast beef sandwiches and watched as the landscape shifted from rolling hills to dense forests, the trees growing taller and closer together once we left the interstate.
“What’s the name of this dive?” Eluned asked, glancing over to where the GPS showed a blue line moving along.
“Evermere,” Amabel muttered.
Evermere? I thought. That sounds beautiful. And not at all what I expected from a vampire. Maybe my husband won’t be so bad, after all.
I shook my head at my silliness. Whatever he was like, I was stuck with him, and I would survive it for a year.
Then, after that, I’ll find my own place. A place where I can be safe and happy and free, I promised myself.
Finally, the car slowed, turning onto a private road flanked by towering stone pillars.
Atop the pillars sat massive gargoyles, their granite wings spread wide, their faces twisted into fierce, protective snarls.
The name Evermere curled in an elegant script across the arch spanning the two pillars, one of which had a brass plaque reading,
A place
beyond the hunt,
where shadows rest
and dawns endure.
“Dawns endure,” I whispered to Brumous, who bounced around excitedly.
“How country,” Amabel scoffed as the driveway snaked through a forest so dense it seemed to swallow the light around us. “I bet it’s at least an hour away from any good shopping or clubs.”
“It’s lovely,” I said, the words slipping out before I could catch them, and I winced. Saying something like that was handing my stepsisters ammunition to shoot me with.
Sure enough, Eluned’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, a smirk playing on her lips.
“It is. Too bad you won’t be alive to enjoy it for very long.”
Ignoring her, I watched as the trees gave way to open lawns, a lake in the distance, flower beds, and, surprisingly, an apple orchard. It was a very beautiful property, and excitement at each new sight began to overshadow my fear.
Finally, we wound up to a sprawling, modern manor with hundreds of windows that shimmered like molten silver in the late afternoon light.
Brass doorknobs gleamed, polished to a brilliance that spoke of wealth and meticulous care, and its grandeur was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.
I closed my eyes, pressing my face into Brumous’ fur, and whispered my new prayer.
Let him be kind. Let him be decent. Don’t let him hurt me. Just that much. That’s all I need.
That would determine whether this was a refuge or a prison.
“Well, well, worthless,” Eluned sneered. “Looks like you’ve landed on your feet. For as long as you have them.”
“Unpack the car,” I ordered, tired of them, tired of being in the car, tired of being scared, tired of being tired. “Both of you. Now.”
They exchanged a look, their eyes flashing with resentment, but they obeyed. The trunk popped open, and Amabel lifted my backpack, her fingers pinching the fabric as if it might soil her hands. Eluned wasn’t much better with my suitcase.
I watched them with a mix of guilt and satisfaction. I knew it was spiteful, but after years of their cruelty, it felt like a small, justified rebellion. Still, I knew they’d get back at me the first chance they got.
“Listen to me, Brummy,” I whispered, cupping his fuzzy face in my palms and waiting until his eyes met mine. “If things go south, you run, okay? Hide somewhere safe.”
He tilted his head, his ears perking up in confusion. He let out a soft whine, as if in defiance to my orders, and I smiled a little.
“You know which side your bread is buttered on, don’t you?”
He cocked his head further, his expression playful. Where’s the buttered bread? I imagined him asking and chuckled softly. I was always amazed at how much he understood, even if he couldn’t reply.
“I’ll feed you again as soon as I can.”
My gaze drifted back to the house. I had hoped someone, anyone, would be here to greet me, even a gardener, but the driveway was empty, the house silent. My ‘husband’ was as absent as the kindness I’d prayed for, which was going to be a problem now.
My contract with Arabesque specified that Amabel and Eluned had to follow my orders until I arrived at my new home.
Well, I had arrived. And my stepsisters weren’t the kind to miss an opportunity to attack.
My magic was only an ember. Arabesque had left me just enough so I still smelled like a witch, but not enough to defend myself.
I was as vulnerable as a lamb physically, too, worn down by the fever that came with my hurt arm, as well as the effects of the siphoning.
If Amabel and Eluned attacked, there would be little I could do.
“If you won’t run and hide, stay close so I can protect you,” I told Brumous, even though I knew it was a joke.
I couldn’t sit here until someone showed up, even if my stepsisters would have allowed me to. Any minute, they’d return to the car and drag me out, by the hair, most likely. I needed to act first.
If I can make it to the door, and if it isn’t locked, I’ll be fine, I told myself. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all I had.
I’d moved the duffle of Papa’s things to the back seat before we left the werewolf palace.
It was pitifully empty, and I knew I probably should have used a smaller bag, but it was what I’d had available.
Unzipping it, I made sure the twins didn’t add a nasty surprise, then slung it over my good arm when I saw nothing unusual.
Drawing up every ounce of courage I had left, I touched my fingers to the door handle. The second Amabel and Eluned walked past the car with the final load of my boxes and bags, I flung the door open.
“Go, Brummy!”
I jumped out of the car, Brumous moving far faster than I was, and sprinted for the house.
Before I could even get two yards, however, the world tilted.
An invisible hand slammed into my back, and I went down hard, my right ankle twisting painfully under me.
Brumous yelped as Eluned grabbed his ruff and hurled him away, his furry body skidding across the pavement with a pained whine.
And I could do nothing.
As Amabel held me down, white-hot fingers gouged in and dug out the very last drop of my magic as I screamed and screamed.
“Why, you hardly had anything in you.” She finally pulled her power back, leaving me panting as tears streamed down my face. “Poor little thing. You’ve been sucked drier than a desert.”
Not content with her sister merely violating me, Eluned viciously kicked my ribs. Agony detonated through my side, and I curled into a protective ball.
“You’re nothing but trash, worthless! Trash on his doorstep! Do you really think your husband will even keep you after seeing you like this? He’ll send you back by dawn!” Eluned screeched, drawing her foot back to kick me again.
Then Brumous was there, growling deep in his throat, a ferocious sound I’d never heard him make before.
He tried to stand over me, but Eluned turned her kicks on him, and his cries tore through me like a jagged knife.
I could take whatever they did to me, but the thought of the pup suffering was unbearable.
I tried to reach for him, but my limbs were like lead now, unresponsive and unbearably heavy.
“Leave him alone! Hurt me, not him!” I gasped, my plea nearly drowned by the harsh rasp of my own ragged breathing.
“Oh, we will, dear stepsister,” Amabel promised as her fist smashed into my temple.
The whole time, Eluned sang in her menacing little girl voice, timing her kicks to the nursery rhyme.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven;
When they die, their sin’s forgiven,
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.”
I didn’t know how many verses she made it through before she ground her heel on the ankle I’d twisted at the same time Amabel stomped on my bad arm. Everything around me dissolved, colors bleeding into one another and sounds coming from far away.
Minutes, hours, maybe days later, I felt a rough tongue lick my cheek, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even open my eyes. Brumous let out a low cry, a gut-wrenching sound, raw and desperate, and it broke something deep within me. I couldn’t protect him. I’d failed him.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven.”
Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the dirt and blood, and I finally slipped away.