CHAPTER 32 AILEEN
CHAPTER 32
AILEEN
Ragnor was quiet.
He was quiet once I woke up and found him tapping away on his phone.
He was quiet when we grabbed coffee and a few pastries to go.
He was quiet as he began to drive to some location in Vermont, as far as I could tell from the GPS on the dashboard screen.
I suspected his quietness had something to do with me, and I felt far too confused to try and break the silence between us. I mean, he’d been the one to practically beg me to take him back, and now he acted as if he wanted nothing to do with me? What was that all about?
The scariest thought, however, was that after our steamy encounter last night, he might’ve gotten what he truly wanted and stopped giving a shit about me.
Those thoughts were irrational, I logically knew. I mean, if he didn’t want me anymore, then why did he take me with him?
But when it came to Ragnor, nothing about how I felt was ever rational.
As I watched landscapes outside passing by, sipping my coffee, I battled with whether I should talk. Ragnor didn’t seem inclined to engage in any sort of conversation, considering he barely even told me good morning when I woke up. On the other hand, this silence was far too loaded to simply let it be.
Before I could make up my mind, Ragnor, to my surprise, decided to speak. “Let’s talk about our plan.”
Folding my arms, I kept my gaze on the window. “Fine.”
Whether he noticed my tone, he didn’t let on. “We’re going to a place full of Jinn. Our only chance at getting your friend out safely is by going in and coming out as quickly as possible.”
“Sure,” I muttered.
“This is why,” he went on, “we need to discuss the full extent of our abilities.”
“Awesome.”
He was quiet for a second before he said, “You’re mad.”
I scoffed. “I’m not mad.”
“Don’t play this game with me,” he said, voice turning into a warning. “If you’ve got a problem, just say it.”
Whipping my head toward him, I snapped, “It seems to me that you’re the one with the problem, not me!”
He kept his eyes on the road, but I could see his jaw clench and his knuckles turn white. “And why, pray tell, do you think I have a problem?”
I gaped at him, incredulous. “You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder since earlier this morning!” I yelled, losing my temper. “You act like a one-night stand who can’t seem to get rid of his fling!”
He suddenly pulled the car to the shoulder and slammed on the brakes before he turned to face me, eyes gone neon. “Do you really think I see you as a passing fancy?” he growled. “After everything we talked about? Really?”
“Look at how you’re behaving, then!” I barked, motioning toward him with my hands. “Only a few hours after we decided to give us a chance, you’re acting as if I’m contaminated!” To my horror, my voice shook, and I felt tears rising to my eyes. Looking away, I leaned back. “Forget it. If you don’t get it, then—”
Ragnor grabbed my waist before I could finish and brought me to his lap so quickly, I didn’t have the time to protest. His eyes, when they landed on mine, were full of remorse. “I didn’t mean to make you feel this way,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
I scowled at him, even as I grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought my face closer to his. “Why did you act so distant, if that’s not it?” I asked, swallowing the tears. I wasn’t a crier. Why had he made me cry two times in less than twenty-four hours?
He pulled me closer into a hug, resting his head against my shoulder. “I was simply going over the plans in my head,” he murmured, and I felt his voice reverberating through his chest. “It’s going to be dangerous, Aileen, and I don’t want you to get hurt, so I was trying to come up with the best plan to avoid such an outcome.” He paused, squeezing me tighter. “If it was up to me, I would’ve kept you out of this whole thing and done everything myself.”
I hugged him tightly, melting against him. “I would’ve told you to shove it if you did,” I said softly, caressing his hair, breathing him in, his soapy, masculine scent calming me down. “You should’ve shared your concerns with me, Ragnor. I wouldn’t have misunderstood otherwise.” I took in a deep breath. “I thought you got tired of me already.”
He leaned back and cupped my face, eyes shining. “Never,” he growled and planted his lips on mine.
Lightning bolts lit up my veins, and I moaned into his mouth, needing to be closer to him, to mold myself against him, to feel him everywhere.
He pulled back and gave me a regretful smile. “We don’t have time,” he said, pushing a few strands of hair away from my face. “But once this whole thing is over ...”
I groaned in frustration, but I knew he was right. We’d already wasted precious minutes on this stupid argument. “Just promise me to communicate next time,” I said, biting his lower lip. “Or I won’t let you off the hook so easily.”
His chuckles eased my fears. “I promise.”
A few miles away from Montpelier, Vermont, Ragnor parked the car on a deserted cobblestone road. “The Jinni headquarters are ten miles ahead,” he told me, “but if we get any closer, they’ll be able to sense our presence.”
“Is this where your powers come into play?” I asked as we got out of the car.
The entire drive was spent on Ragnor explaining his plan and us sharing information about our powers to make for better cooperation.
When he told me about his powers, I couldn’t help but be fascinated. “I’m able to manipulate my aura in different ways,” he’d said, “meaning that if I want to enhance my strength or hide my presence, for instance, I can make it happen with my aura.”
“Is that what you did back in Rochester?” I was referring to the fact that he broke through so many levels with just his feet to get to the prison cell Atalon had locked me in.
He nodded. “That’s not all, though,” he added. “I can also stretch out my aura and engulf another person in it, almost like a reverse empath. I can then choose what my aura will do to them—either enhance their strength or hide their presence or perhaps even inject them with different emotions. I can amplify their existing emotions or remove them entirely. If you can imagine, all of that or even a little of it can be disorienting, even immobilizing.”
“Emotions?” I repeated, something nagging at my memories at that word. “Like fear?”
“Exactly,” he replied. “I can make others feel extreme horror after I envelop them with my aura, or perhaps even make them feel elated. It all depends on what I want to do.”
A memory broke through in my mind, and I suddenly remembered two occasions when Ragnor was present that could fit this criteria. “A few months ago,” I said, “when there was the case of Bloodlust in one of my classmates in the cafeteria. Is that the power you used?”
Ragnor gave me an almost sinister grin. “Correct.”
I opened my mouth, about to mention another instance of him using his powers, most likely, but then closed it when I remembered he didn’t know I’d been a witness to that event. It had happened in the Renaldi League, when Ragnor threatened Lord Renaldi and made him—and me, hiding at the time—experience such terror, I’d felt sick to my stomach.
And to think I was dating this terrifying man. I was pretty lucky.
Now, Ragnor wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me close. His skin slowly turned translucent, as though he’d lowered the opacity of his visuals, and when I looked down at myself, I saw he’d used the same effect on me. “I have a question,” I said as he lifted me into his arms.
“Ask away,” he said as he entered the nearby forest.
“When you said you can make another person feel certain emotions,” I said, “did you mean any emotion?”
He arched a brow. “Yes.”
“Then,” I said, grinning, “does that mean you can make another person feel as if they’re having an orgasm?”
He paused, stared at me, and gave me a sly grin. “That could be fun, indeed,” he murmured, squeezing me to him. “Now, was that your question?”
Belly flip-flopping and grin still intact, I nodded.
“Good,” he said. “Then let’s pick up the pace.”
He sprinted forward so fast, everything around me was a blur. My heart quickened as I felt him growing faster and faster with every moment that passed, making me feel as if I was being sucked through time and space.
This was the capability of a vampire who grew into their true powers. Despite becoming Sacred, when it came to vampiric strength, I was still a noob. Abe, my former teacher, had said it could take vampires up to a year to be able to tap into our vampiric powers, such as better senses, supernatural speed, enhanced strength, and so on, but that we could do it even earlier if we did physical training.
I realized now that since I’d arrived at the Atalon League, I hadn’t trained at all. I’d been too busy thinking about how to utilize my newfound magic that I’d completely put aside cultivating my physical assets.
I planned to remedy that once we finished our business here.
Not even five minutes later, the forest opened into a glade with a trimmed lawn in front of a huge villa sitting right next to a large lake. It looked like it could belong to some high-end conglomerate, seeing as it was all fancy, with a driveway and fountain in the middle of the pampered courtyard.
Ragnor put me down but kept me close to him as we walked around the villa, toward the lake. I saw him looking around and sniffing the air, as though he was searching for something. He glanced at me and nodded in confirmation.
The Jinn were indeed here.
Ragnor found a door at the back of the villa. It looked like a staff entrance. I grabbed the handle, with Ragnor at my back, and softly pushed. Thankfully, it was unlocked.
We cautiously peered inside and saw a hallway. Ragnor led the way, softly closing the door behind us. He pulled us against a wall covered in red tapestries, and I marveled at how the translucency of our bodies made it seem like we were part of the wall. We tiptoed along until we arrived at an open door. Ragnor motioned for me to wait, and he sneaked a peek around it.
I watched as he closed his eyes and sniffed the air before giving me an affirmative nod.
Footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor. Someone was coming.
Ragnor and I quickly entered the room—a kitchen—and Ragnor closed the door behind us. We both waited silently as we heard the footsteps grow closer. I held my breath until they passed us, heading to the exit.
Sighing, I turned to Ragnor, who pointed toward a trapdoor in the corner of the kitchen, right next to the butcher table. I stared at the table for a few moments, trying to discern the type of meat on top of it, since it smelled extremely foul, when Ragnor snapped his fingers, drawing my attention back to him.
He pulled open the trapdoor and motioned for me to follow as he began descending the narrow staircase.
The moment I took my first step, an image of a different staircase, in a different place, filled my mind. Ignoring the sudden thumping of my heart, I did my best to keep calm, stay focused, and follow Ragnor.
These were not the same stairs, after all.
This was not my father’s house.
But then we arrived at a room that took all the wind out of my sails. My knees buckled, and my body sank to the floor alongside my heart.
And just like that, I saw another basement in front of my eyes. A basement I’d spent hours in, watching as little bodies dangled from the low ceiling while the lashes of a whip cut through their bare skin. A basement where dog cages full of dead bodies lined one of the walls. The stench in that basement—soot, blood, metal, and decay—was always mixed with the cologne my father used to wear, creating an unholy scent of fragrances that were never meant to exist together.
This basement was eerily similar, too much so. Instead of small bodies, large shapeless figures were shackled to the ceiling. Instead of dog cages, floor-to-ceiling metal bars separated us from living, breathing people behind them. Here, the stench was mostly of dust and dampness, as though no one had bothered cleaning the place in what seemed like ages.
“Aileen.”
I heard my name being called. I also recognized the voice calling it. But all I could do was stare at the shackles. At the skin-and-bones vampires dangling from the ceiling, spots all over their bodies, their eyes half-open as though they were dead. These were vampires whose Lifeblood had been sucked out. So much Lifeblood they looked like Isora had the last time I’d seen her.
“Aileen!”
I blinked and realized Ragnor was in front of me, his hands on my shoulders, his eyes searching mine with deep worry. “Stay with me,” he murmured, holding my gaze. “Whatever you’re feeling, let it go. Your friends need you.”
I sucked in a breath as his words slowly computed. “Friends?” I whispered, horrified.
He grimaced as he helped me back up to my feet and moved aside. Slowly, I tore my eyes away from him and looked at the people behind the bars.
There were six in total: four women and two men. Out of the women, I recognized two.
Isora dangled from the ceiling like a sack of bones, her blue eyes glassy and empty as they stared at nothing, her hair filthy and matted, her skin full of graying spots so much so there was little of its original tone left.
Next to her, there was another familiar face. A face I’d never thought I would see again.
Zoey.
My old suitemate.
The last time I’d seen her was at the gala event, which had been merely a few days ago yet felt like a lifetime. And somehow, it also seemed like a lifetime passed for her as well, since she was almost unrecognizable. While not shackled to the ceiling, she didn’t look any better than Isora. She could barely sit straight, and I doubted she could even talk.
But I recognized her face, even as gaunt as it was. And I recognized her dark eyes, even though the defiant glint that usually burned within them was gone.
“We can’t leave them here,” I said, voice rising as panic stewed in my stomach. “Ragnor, we have to save all of them.”
I could feel Ragnor’s stare, but I couldn’t take my eyes away from Isora and Zoey. I have to save them, I thought. I have to save them, I have to save them, I have to save them.
“We will.” Ragnor’s voice penetrated my hysterical thoughts. I heard him pacing through the basement until he found a button that lifted up the bars. None of the prisoners were able to move. Everyone seemed to be unconscious, despite having their eyes open.
Ragnor grabbed Zoey and put her over his shoulder before breaking the shackles holding Isora. He then took Isora as well and held her gently in his arms. “Leave the others,” he told me. “I’ll come to them after we get your friends to—”
A noise, followed by hard thumps, reverberated through the basement. Before Ragnor could complete his sentence, two large horned creatures with hooves and blue skin appeared.
Everyone froze, including the two Jinn, Ragnor, and me. At that moment, we were no longer translucent. Our presence now revealed, the Jinn looked straight at us, determination and consternation in their monstrous eyes.
A moment later a full-on battle erupted.
The Jinni closest to me kicked me, sending me flying into the wall so hard, I sucked in a pained breath as my ribs burned from the impact. The other Jinni went after Ragnor as he moved quickly to put my friends down so he could defend himself.
Likely dismissing me as any kind of threat, the Jinni who attacked me went after Ragnor. Before I could move to help, Ragnor shot me a glance and yelled “Do it!” as he began fighting back.
It was too much. Seeing Isora and Zoey in this state, the far-too-familiar feeling of the basement and all the horrible memories that came along with it, watching Ragnor fight the Jinni—I commanded time to stop.
And, as I wished, everything and everyone froze.
Not wasting a second, I did what Ragnor had done; I put Zoey on my back and Isora in my arms. Then, ignoring the pain in my ribs from the previous impact, I ran out of the room, up the stairs, through the kitchen, and back into the corridor.
Feeling blood trickling from my nostrils, I knew I had probably about two more seconds before I reached my limit. I managed to get us out of the villa before I had no choice but to mentally command time.
Resume!
As time moved again, I fell to my knees, out of breath and unable to go on. But I had to do something, to move somehow, to get my friends to safety before I returned to aid Ragnor.
But before I could figure out what needed to be done, someone hit my neck from behind in a swift chop, and all I could do was stare as a silver-eyed man moved in front of me, eyeing me with suspicion and catching me as I lost consciousness.