Chapter Twenty Two
Sleep seemed to actively avoid me between the Dragon King’s departure and our journey to the human realm. The thoughts of the vampire returning clung to me like a second skin, cold and suffocating.
Every time I closed my eyes I could imagine her standing in front of me, cold fingers curling around my wrist. The soft promise of freedom lingering just outside of my grasp, waiting for me to lean forward and grab it.
The concept of freedom almost felt foreign now.
Something I had craved for so long, something I had fought for, had begged for in the darkest nights of my life, that now didn't seem so glamorous.
It didn't even pull me the way it used to, instead I fell deeper into accommodating my life within Vaetharyn, with Rhael as my master.
I hated myself for it. The way my thoughts drifted to him without permission.
I measured my days by his moods, the sound of his footsteps in the corridor.
I craved the warmth of his presence even if he did not say a word.
I had belonged to masters before, too many of them to count, but Rhael was different.
I had learned how to survive torture and violence from those masters, yet I had been unable to distance myself from the man who had the potential to be the cruellest of them all.
For some reason, I still stepped into his orbit willingly, and I was not sure my mind would ever allow me to find my way out.
The closer the seventh got the more I withdrew into myself. I had stopped going to the library, stopped looking forward to those afternoons of comfortable silence.
I spent a lot of time alone, trying to clear my head and find a way to make the decision I was faced with. If Rhael noticed he said nothing, busying himself for his latest preparations never once asking if there was anything going on with me.
It was painful, but I preferred it. If he had asked me what was going through my mind there was no guarantee that I would not spill everything to him, like blood seeping from an open wound.
The night of the seventh day, I lay awake long after the castle had gone still. Staring at the dark canopy above my head, listening to the distant sigh of Vaetharyn settling into sleep. We would be leaving for the human realm in two days, and I was no closer to finding any sort of resolution.
My body was warm beneath the covers, but my thoughts refused to settle.
The vampire had not come back, and I tried my best to convince myself that it meant nothing.
The offer had clearly been used to unsettle me, to get under my skin for cruel amusement.
Yet the promise still sunk its hooks deep under my skin, wrapping around my ribs until breathing felt like a conscious effort.
I closed my eyes, pressing my palm to my sternum, as if I could physically still my erratic heartbeat.
I told myself the feelings for Rhael were just due to proximity, a side effect from the fact he had not yet beat me or left me in chains.
The Fae King was as ruthless as the vampires.
Either option was bad, but only one guaranteed my freedom.
However, I was not sure I could do it. Laying there with my eyes closed I thought about what the vampire had asked of me.
How it would add to the betrayal Rhael had already experienced, and I was not sure I could add to his pain.
Even if my feelings for him were one sided, caused by proximity, I did not think I was able to betray him. Not to his enemy.
A soft sound broke the silence. Not the scrape of guards outside my door, not the distant echo of boots in the corridor. This was softer, closer. It sounded like someone breathing.
My eyes snapped open, adjusting to the darkness.
Only it wasn't dark anymore, the candles along the far wall were lit and I was certain they had not been when I climbed into bed.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I pushed myself upright, every instinct screaming that something was wrong.
The air in the room felt too cold, as if someone was blowing cold air over my skin.
Someone sat in the chair beside my vanity, cold pale hands playing with trinkets Penny had left behind. I felt panic rising in my chest as I tried to breathe. Watching as the woman rose slowly, her movement unnaturally smooth.
Finally, as a pair of blood red eyes landed on me, I let out a scream. The sound tore from my chest, raw and instinctive, before I could stop it. My hands scrambled to grip the covers, my eyes fixed on the figure as it moved towards the edge of the bed.
It took me a moment to take in who it was standing in front of me, and it wasn't until those red eyes faded into a milky green, that I realised it was the same vampire who had visited before. Suddenly my scream felt foolish, I should have known.
“Such a scared little thing,” she mused a small smile playing on her lips as she sat down on top of the covers. Her eyes caught the candlelight, as she effortlessly pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face, her fingers long and delicate as they brushed against her skin.
Before I could respond the door burst open. The wood sounded as if it was going to splinter off its hinges. The sound made me jump once more as my eyes shot to the open doorway. Rhael filled the space like a summoned storm, fury radiating from him in palpable waves.
Magic crackled beneath his skin, the air bending as shadows filled the room. Only he didn't look at me, his eyes fixating on the figure sat casually on the end of my bed, as if the sound had not bothered her at all.
“You, you have the audacity to step into my home.” Rhael snarled, the word laden with history that I didn’t understand. But I could see the way his shoulders went rigid, his hands curling into fists.
The vampire smiled, a slow knowing curl of her lips. It was intimate and cruel.
“My King, you wound me. Can I not visit the place I have such fond memories of?” She purred, inclining her head just enough to be mocking. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I looked between them as Rhael moved across the room, standing between us with his back to me.
As if he was shielding me out of instinct rather than choice. The sight sent a sharp, unwanted twist through my chest that I instantly wished would go away.
“You are not welcome here. You lost the privilege the moment you betrayed us.” He snarled, his voice low and dangerous as he lent forward getting into the vampire's personal space but still she did not flinch.
The words settled under my skin like a blade, slicing flesh from tendon as realisation sank deep in my chest. I had known it had been a woman who had betrayed him, someone he had held dear.
I felt humiliation wash over me mixing with horror and embarrassment as I raised my hand to cover my mouth. This was her, the woman who Rhael had once convinced he would marry. The woman whose actions had led to his brother's death.
“Is that what you’ve told her? How precious.” The vampire smiled, her gaze settling on me with unwavering focus. Sliding passed Rhael as if he was insignificant.
“What game are you playing Serena?” Rhael demanded, his expression darkening as his shoulders broadened taking up more of the space between us.
“No game. I just came to see my friend. You see we have already met, your little companion and I.” Serana smirked, her gaze never leaving mine as shame settled in my stomach. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole as my chest tightened painfully.
“What?” Rhael demanded, his cold tone making me tense. I saw it, the moment his posture changed. It was a subtle withdrawal. An instinctive wall slamming down between us, protecting himself from wounds that would not physically bleed.
“Rhael, I didn't know, she approached me. She didn't tell me who she was.” The words scrambled from my mouth in a desperate attempt to make him see that I did not know who the woman was. That I had realised what I had done wrong and did not mean to hurt him.
“She made an agreement with me, your little pet, didn't you Elara.” Serena looked at me with a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. The word agreement echoed around the room like a gunshot.
“No. You offered, I never agreed to anything” I argued, but the words sounded feeble as if they were just an excuse to get me out of trouble like a child. My head shook violently as I tried to plead my innocence.
“Oh, but you listened, you considered. Didn't you little human? Your freedom was a tempting enough treat to sacrifice the trust of the great Fae King.” Serena laughed, throwing her head back as the sound emerged.
It wasn't a warm laugh, it was cold, empty, as if she was finding enjoyment in tearing me apart piece by piece.
I watched helplessly as Rhael stiffened even further, his back turning into stone as he kept his gaze away from me.
“Rhael, I didn't know, I swear. I would never have betrayed you.” I pleaded, my voice breaking, the weight of his doubt crushing me more effectively than any hit ever had.
I didn't need to see his face to know the rage that showed there.
Yet nothing I said or did seemed to calm him down. If anything, I made it worse.
Finally, he turned around, looking at me with not only rage, but a look of someone wounded. As if he was re-evaluating every conversation, every shared moment. The thin layer of trust we had worked to build shattering into a million small pieces.
“So much passion between you. Is it any wonder I find her so fascinating?” She smirked. Her voice almost giggled as she tilted her head to the side as she ran her tongue over one elongated fang.
I wanted to scream, to reach forward and smack my hand across her face. If I didn't know she would have been quicker than me I might have tried it.
“Leave. You are not welcome near me or anyone in my home again. Next time I will kill you.” Rhael snarled his eyes once more falling on Serena, his magic flaring dangerously as his wings pulsated through the slats in his back. The shadows around us threatened to suffocate.
“We will speak again, and next time perhaps you will be on the right side little human” Serena smiled, as she stood without protest. Moving to the window before pushing the glass open into the night. Before she disappeared into the open air as if she had never been there to begin with.
I sat in silence, the suffocating presence of Rhael’s magic making it feel impossible to move. Not daring to look back at him as he stood staring at the open window, a dangerous snarl still on his face.
“You should have told me.” Rhael warned, his shoulders still squared as he turned to face me. His expression faltered for just a second before it was replaced by the control I knew all too well.
“I wanted to, I was just afraid of making it worse.” I whispered the words, seeming weak and feeble the moment, they left my lips.
Rhael’s eyes closed, his hands curling into fists as he pulled his lip ring into his mouth, the sound of metal clicking against his teeth filling the void forming between us.
“You are to stay in your chambers under guard. You are not to leave until I give you permission. You are not to speak unless spoken to. I do not want to hear a sound from you. Is that clear.” He growled, his face leaning down until it was inches from mine his words enunciated clearly as if his anger was forcing out each syllable.
“Rhael. I was scared, and you decide I am to be punished? How is that fair?” I questioned. Knowing arguing would do nothing to help my cause but doing it anyway. Unable to hinder the defiance that ran through me.
“Apparently fear makes liars of us all,” he whispered pushing himself away from me, the distance widening with every stride as he made it to the door. Slamming it behind him with a brutal finality.
I sat alone in the lit room, the candlewax dripping down onto the floor as I refused to get up and blow them out. My heart aching as it fractured knowing with sick certainty that everything had shifted between us.
The worst part was I did not know how to even begin to fix it.