CHARLIE
“What the hell are we doing here?” I demanded.
We were in a sitting room in the castle.
They’d taken my sword and my gun. A Lacuna guard stood in each corner, with a pair of Gray Brotherhood mages waiting on either side of the room’s only door.
A massive golena with the body of a gorilla and the head of a raven loomed directly in front of the door, glaring at me with its burning red eyes.
I was clearly a prisoner—so why was nobody dragging me down to the dungeon?
Kortoi fished a cigarette out of a pack and offered it to me. I slapped it out of his hand. At the sound of the smack, the Lacunae started to draw their swords. The golena crouched and growled. But the Prelate raised a hand, staying them.
I glowered at him for a long moment. Then, with a longing glance at the door, I walked over and dropped into the chair.
“Well?” I said. “What do you want?”
“Only your company, Charlie. Nothing more than that. We were friends, when you were in Maethalia last. Can’t two friends just sit together and pass the time?”
He sat there watching me, a small, evil smile on his lips, his fingers tented in front of him. He’d sat there silently for at least five minutes while I sat opposite him, growing more agitated by the second.
“Where’s Essa?” I demanded.
“Oh, she’s here. In the castle. Not far away.” He frowned, then gave a low belch. “Excuse me,” he patted his chest. “I think I drank something that doesn’t agree with me. Don’t worry, though. I’ll be fine. We Gray Brothers all have strong constitutions.”
I didn’t know what the hell he was yammering about, but I was out of patience for his bullshit.
“Bring me to Essa, now,” I said. “Or I swear to God, I’m going to rip off that golena’s beak and shove it up your ass.”
The Prelate thoughtfully tapped his lips with one long-nailed finger.
“Hmm,” he said. “She’s indisposed at the moment, I’m afraid. Meeting with several noblemen, if I’m not mistaken. Let me just check on her progress.”
He picked up a cup of wine from a side table and gazed down into it, scrying.
“Yes. I’m afraid she’s quite busy at the moment,” he said, his lips quirking into a barely concealed smile.
I didn’t know what the hell the joke was, but I was tired of not being in on it. And I couldn’t sit still—not for one more second while Essa was out there, so close.
With a snarl, I bolted from my chair, charging toward the only exit.
The golena crouched and opened its arms, ready to grab me.
The Lacunae’s swords rang from their sheaths.
I slapped the first blade away and gave the knight a kick in the gut that, with my vampyre strength, blasted him back into the wall.
The second swung his blade at me and I ducked it, but as I was distracted, one of the gray mages snuck up behind me.
I saw him just as he reached out and touched me on the cheek with one finger.
Instantly, electricity shot through my body.
My brain blinked like a shorting-out lightbulb.
My body went rigid, every muscle clenched in an agonizing cramp.
And at that moment, the golena leaped at me, grabbed me in a bear hug, and slammed me to the ground so hard my teeth clapped together and I tasted blood.
I lay there like that, immobilized in the monster’s unbreakable embrace, as the Prelate sauntered across the room to stand over me.
“Charlie. There was no need for that,” he chided me.
I snarled, fighting with all my strength to break free of the monster’s grasp. But the thing must have weighed three times what I did. I might as well have been under a boulder.
“We’ll let you go, Charlie, in just a short while. As soon as it’s all over…”