Chapter 26 Vesper
Vesper
Something’s wrong.
Part of the bond went silent. I could finally feel Aurelia, and it was getting stronger, meaning she was getting closer. But Cedar’s part of the bond was gone.
It wasn't like when she was asleep at night. We could still feel her then, feel her fear and pain.
But this… There was nothing there.
The bond still existed, nestled inside me right next to Aurelia, but it was dormant. Cold.
I finished my work in the upper floors and bolted down to the foyer. The bond was pulling me to her. Our panic feeding into each other’s.
By the time Aurelia rushed through the doors, I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. Her hair was tousled from her run up into the house, her dress dirty at the hem, and she smelled of blood and magic.
“Where were you?” I asked and grabbed her by the arm.
She looked over my shoulder, then back at me.
“I was meeting my husband,” she whispered. Most of the time, when she was with us, she called him Caspian. None of us liked his official title.
I thought she was doing something to prepare for tomorrow. But why couldn't we know about it? And why did it have to be now?
Did she send us on this scavenger hunt knowing we’d find nothing?
I couldn't feel angry because of how panicked I was.
“The bond… It’s—”
“I know,” she said in a nervous whisper. “Where was she? Did she find—”
“Oh good, you’re finally back from visiting your husband,” Adrian said, suddenly at our side. Dread rose in me so quickly, I jerked away from him, automatically trying to take Aurelia with me.
His slightly red eyes met mine, and he gave me a smirk that showed off his sharp fangs.
In my panic, I had moved to face him, pushing Aurelia behind me.
“Forever the protector,” he said in a cheery voice that felt more like a sneer.
Aurelia peeked around me, her hand brushing across my arm. It was her way of telling me to stand down without actually saying the words, but I had trouble moving. Especially when Adrian looked at me with such disdain.
Before this, he made the effort to hide how much he truly hated me, but it seemed that he was done playing.
It made me worried. For both my lovers.
“I wanted to go over some details with you about tomorrow.” His eyes fell to Aurelia. “Do you have time for a feeding?”
“Yes,” she said quickly and stepped around me. “I’m parched.”
Her brother gave me a long look.
“Is your toy joining?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, but Aurelia beat me to it.
“No, she hasn’t been performing well. That's why I had to stay so long today.” Her tone was extra snooty, and I tried to pretend like it didn't hurt me, but I knew she could feel it in the bond. “She will retire until she is well enough to serve.”
Adrian let out a snort.
“It’s because you tire her out. It wouldn’t be like this if you’d chosen a born vampire.”
I clenched my fists, trying to keep the growl from rising up in my chest.
“Maybe for the next one,” Aurelia casually commented as she allowed herself to be pulled away. Just as she was about to disappear, she gave me a look that told me how sorry she was.
Keep it together, I told myself. You have bigger things to deal with than her shitty attitude.
I waited until they were out of sight before I started trying to follow the remnants of the bond, but because of how dormant it was, I couldn’t pinpoint an exact direction.
So I did what I would do as a hunter. I focused on the lower levels, where she had gone. Taking one of the staircases down, I went further into the palace. I remembered doing this another time, sneaking around, trying to kill the princess.
Back then it had been risky, but this time if I failed, it wasn't just my life that would be on the line. It could mean trouble for all of us.
My footsteps echoed in the empty hallways. The upper floors still had some workers mulling about doing their job, but there was no one here.
Weird.
Every moment that passed had me more worried about Cedar. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, feeling like I was being followed.
Where are you?
The sun had set over five hours ago. The coming-of-age ceremony would be happening in a mere six hours. Aurelia wouldn’t be coming to help.
I need to find Cedar.
We’ve been living in enemy territory and plotting against him. Maybe he finally figured out what we’re trying to do.
It scared me. I had already been so close to losing both of them. I couldn't let it happen again.
The silence in the bond was the most frightening thing I'd ever felt.
It feels like Cedar is truly gone.
I couldn't let my mind wander to what could be. It only made the fear in my stomach that much worse. I felt like I was going to throw up.
I walked the lower halls, visiting the old quarters where the guards were. It was mostly empty. Whether that was because of our work taking out his people or because Adrian himself had decided to use them as practice, I couldn't tell.
Suspicion rose in me, and I couldn't shake it.
I listened carefully, making sure my footsteps were as silent as possible.
There were still some guards hidden in the rooms. I could hear them sleeping. But none so much as stirred as I walked past.
I inhaled deeply, trying to find the smallest scent of my witch, but there was nothing. Logic told me she had to have been here, but I couldn't find any sign of her.
I took to the rooms, peeking in, but after the fourth or fifth door, I started to get antsy. The longer I spent searching, the worse I felt.
All the anxious thoughts in my mind started to feel real, so I skipped the rest of the bedrooms and headed straight for the dungeons.
Just as I was about to go down the stairs leading to it, footsteps reached my ears.
I hurried back, ducking behind a corner just as two guards made their way up. I held still in case they sensed me, but they seemed too involved in their own conversation to even notice me, so I decided to get a good look at them.
They looked to be in Adrian’s inner circle. Maybe the only two still alive. They had been on our list to take out. And, more importantly, if they were here, I assumed Cedar would be too.
“The bodies are starting to smell,” one said, wrinkling his nose.
“They don't even have any blood anymore,” the other one huffed. “All of them have been drained dry, so I don't know why he's keeping them.”
The other one twisted his neck and rolled his shoulders as if he'd been doing some heavy lifting.
“Well, you know the princess. She'd start asking questions if a bunch of bodies started showing up.”
Bodies?
There was a small laugh.
“And, you know, she would never lower herself to come to a place as dirty as the dungeons. Honestly, he was pretty smart to think of it.”
The other vampire sighed and looked down the hallway. I quickly ducked back behind the corner, counting the seconds until he spoke again.
“You know… During the ceremony tomorrow, maybe we can sneak down and get some of that special blood—”
There was a muffled thud and then the sound of someone crumpling to the ground.
“Say that one more time and I'll feed you to him,” one threatened the other. “Then you'll just be one more body down there. Got it? You’re lucky you’ve made it this far.”
“What the fuck, man! I thought we were joking around.”
“I don't joke about things that would cost me in my life,” the other said before I heard their footsteps, thankfully leading toward the opposite end of the hallway.
I glanced over just in time to see the other vampire get up shakily. I expected him to follow the other, but instead, he stood there grumbling.
Oh come on.
The bond was stirring. I was close enough.
Cedar is down there.
I don't have time for this.
As fast and as silently as my legs would carry me, I closed the space between us. He didn’t even have enough time to realize what was happening before my hands were on his head and I snapped his neck.
I didn't stop there. The anger, panic, and nerves were too much. It caused me to lose control.
I pulled the head clean off and carefully caught the body before it fell to the ground and alerted anyone else. Hauling it over my shoulder, I made my way down. Blood was spilling behind me, but at this point, I didn't care.
Something was dangerously wrong here, and if I didn't hurry, I was afraid that Cedar would become one of the bodies they mentioned.
The smell hit me immediately. It might not be obvious to those without a super sense of smell, but I could make out the dozens, if not hundreds, of dead bodies stuffed in the cells.
Quickly, I put the guard in the first one, trying not to let myself get too distracted by the mountains of dead vampires.
They had been slaughtered. Their necks slashed. Body parts pulled apart. Arteries cut.
They wanted every single drop.
Special blood.
Most of the wounds seemed to have been made to get as much blood out as possible. I walked down the cells, pausing at one of them when I made out a vampire I had seen during my first day in the castle. It was a family member.
Actually…
My heart dropped into my stomach. A lot of them were either guards or vampires from the Castle family. Some even part of Caspian’s present.
The disgust was almost unbearable.
Why is he doing this?
But the more I thought about it, I realized that I hadn't seen many feeders around. A handful maybe, but there should have been dozens for a family this large.
Is he drinking vampire blood instead?
Impossible. He had to be doing something else with it, but I didn’t have time to think about it now.
Instead, I kept walking, going further into the dungeons than I'd ever been before. I followed the hallway until it started slanting down and turning.
That was when I heard it.
Small, melodic whispers, barely audible, muffled by the thick dungeon walls.
They came from the same direction as the bond. I kept going but came to a sudden stop when I reached the door. Krae was on it, reaching for me, and my breath was stolen from me when I felt the power of whatever was behind it.
Cedar is in there as well.
The bond pulsed, pulling me closer.
I walked forward with careful steps, my hand reaching out to touch the carvings on the door. Power zapped at my fingertips.
It told me to back away. To run and hide.
But I wouldn’t. Not this time.
There would be no more running and no more hiding. I needed to face what was in there, so I pushed it, needing to use more strength than I anticipated.
Inside was a large, circular room. It was huge, and light was streaming in from the top as the sun started rising. Cedar was right near the entrance, unconscious. I lunged toward her, taking her in my arms and pulling her to me.
Her skin is so cold.
I held her tight, rubbing my hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm her up. She didn’t have any visible markings, but I could tell her power had somehow been zapped from her.
She stirred but didn't fully wake.
The melody started up again, and my attention was pulled to the middle of the room. Chains that connected to either side of it came together there, binding thin wrists.
A person. A woman, to be exact, with long hair that fell over her face as she hung from the chains. She was on her knees, her white dress stained with so much blood it was starting to turn black in places.
Her soft voice carried across the room.
What the fuck?
As if sensing me, she looked up, her eyes meeting mine. Black veins ran up her face, down her arms, and into her hands.
Cedar woke up with a gasp, grabbing onto me. She forced me to look at her, fear crossing her features.
“This is bigger than we thought. It’s not just him. Her father too. All of them have been gaining power through her. We have to let her go. We have to tell Aurelia she—”
The singing got louder, pulling both of us to the women in the middle. She slowly got to her feet, swaying unsteadily.
“Aurelia…” she moaned. “Stay fierce.”
Her singing sounded more haunting now. Like a child’s lullaby, but with a dark edge to it.
“Hush now, little princess, don’t you cry,
Daddy’s coming soon, so wipe your eyes.
You know how he listens for the smallest sighs.
Hush now, darling, don’t make a sound.
Daddy doesn’t like it when your tears are found.”
Horror hit me like a tidal wave.
Is this…?
There was no possible way the woman trapped in the dungeons was who I thought she was.
“It’s her,” Cedar forced out, her hands holding my shirt. “It’s her mother.”
The women swayed before looking up at the rising sun.
“Today’s the day. You’ve come to save me, sweet hunter,” she sighed, then looked right into my eyes. “The prophecy is coming to fruition and finally… We will be free.”
I sat there, unable to move, as realization hit me.
The prophecy is way bigger than anyone ever imagined.