Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
CHERYL
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
I don’t have much time to get used to my new living situation before a knock comes at the door. I’m surprised that our captors would bother to act polite.
“You may come in, Indy,” Lana says.
How does she know who’s on the other side?
An average-height Nightingale male with dark purple skin and white hair secured in a bun enters.
He wears a soft blue ceremonial robe, heavily embroidered with patterns of constellations.
His clothes look too big for him, and his young face makes me think he’s a child wearing adult’s clothing.
But the most peculiar detail about his aesthetic is the silver-wired monocle covering his left eye.
He bestows a warm smile upon Lana, making the female blush. Oh, that’s how she knew who it was. I bet they’re screwing. I suppose she could do worse.
He switches his attention to me, making me tense. “Good afternoon, my dear. I hope you’re feeling better.”
I growl in response, showing him my fangs.
All my reaction does is make the corners of his lips curl up. “It seems the forced nap didn’t dim your feral instincts.”
“You haven’t seen my feral side yet, jackass.”
He clasps his hands behind his back and walks over, unbothered by my hostility. Up close, I see his youthful appearance is an illusion. His bright blue eyes are old and cunning. Of all the Nightingales I’ve met in this place, he’s the one to watch out for.
“And I made sure we won’t.” His gaze drops to the choker around my neck. “It’d be a pity if we had to take more drastic measures when you’ve just arrived.”
Fucker. I’ll show you drastic measures . I mean to shift, but to my horror, I don’t feel my wolf energy swirling in my chest. My eyes widen in response, which pleases the asshole in front of me.
“What have you done to me?” I ask.
“Oh, let’s just say your wolf is sleeping. We want to give you a chance to get used to your surroundings first and understand this is your new home. Forever .”
My stomach dips, but fear quickly turns into anger.
I pounce on him with a cry. It’s not only my wolf side that can display savagery.
I’m also a vampire with fangs and claws.
But I never make contact with him. He walks the wind, vanishing from the spot where he stood a second ago only to reappear farther back.
I land in a crouch and hiss in his direction.
He arches a brow, and his eyes glimmer with pleasure.
Fuck. I think he just figured out what I am—a hybrid.
It’s been so long since I was turned that I stopped trying to hide my duality.
But I should have been more careful in front of these Nightingales, who are only interested in using vampires. They’ll try to exploit me too.
You’re such an idiot, Cheryl.
“It seems you’ve been hiding something, my dear,” he says, not even trying to conceal his glee.
I stand to my full height. “You’re mistaken. I’ve never hidden anything,” I lie, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of uncovering the truth. “You were just slow.”
He narrows his eyes and grinds his teeth. It seems I hit a sore spot. That’s good information to have. He shakes his head, putting his unbothered mask back in place.
Too late, buddy. I see you. You have an inferiority complex, and I plan to find out why.
He turns to Lana. “Take her to the bathhouse. She reeks.”
Lana lowers her head. “Of course, Indy.”
He walks out of the room, and no sooner is he gone than the females present cause an uproar, all talking at once.
“I knew there was something off about her,” one of them says.
“She’s an aberration. How can the king allow her to exist?”
I tune them out. It isn’t like I haven’t heard similar comments before in my long existence.
Lana walks over, looking sorrowful. “Don’t mind them.”
“It’s fine. I don’t care what they think.”
“Come. Let’s get you clean. I’m sure Lord Valkor will require your presence at dinner.”
“Why? I thought I was his prisoner.”
She takes my hand and steers me to the opposite side of the room, ignoring my question. There’s a corner I missed before, and a narrow corridor that leads to a simple wooden door with a small closed window. Lana knocks on it three times before the window opens and a pair of annoyed eyes appears.
“What do you want?”
“I’ve been tasked to escort our new member to the bathhouse.”
“It’s not on the schedule.”
“Per Lord Indigo’s orders,” Lana adds.
Oh, so that’s his name. But Lana calls him Indy. Yep, they’re definitely involved.
The guard grumbles, and a second later, the door opens. I smell the ocean as soon as I walk outside. The sun is about to set, so the sky has a pretty pink-and-orange hue. I’m unsure if I slept for only a few hours or if it’s already the next day of my captivity.
“How long was I out?” I ask.
“A couple hours.”
Relief washes over me. I didn’t lose too much time, then. “Do you know what happened to my friend?”
“The male vampire? He was put in Lady Nisha’s care.” She grimaces, and I can guess why.
Jealousy explodes in my veins. Lady Nisha must be the Nightingale bitch who was ogling Ronan when we got here.
“Put in her care how?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Lana glances at me. “He’s more than just a friend, isn’t he?”
I could lie, but why bother? “Yes.”
“My advice is to forget about him, unless you’re okay with sharing him with the other females and Lady Nisha.”
I curl my hands into fists. “Over my dead body.”
Lana eyes me with pity. “He’s Lord Valkor’s new champion now. He needs him to fight the shadowbeasts and to father more younglings. If you create problems, he’ll kill you.”
Not if I kill him first.
We’re inside a walled garden, and the bathhouse must be located in the building on the other side. A stoned path connects the two buildings. It’s a beautiful garden, filled with types of colorful flowers I’ve never seen before, but I don’t have it in me to appreciate the view.
I press my fist against my chest and focus on my bond with Ronan.
He’s alive, that much I know, but I can’t tell in what condition.
He’s a master at guarding his feelings from me.
If what he confessed while he thought I was unconscious is true, he’s been concealing his emotions for a long time. Stupid male.
The wall is only ten feet high, and I’m confident I could climb it with ease. But not while I’m wearing this fucking collar.
“You didn’t tell me why I have to attend dinner with Lord Valkor,” I say, remembering that Lana evaded my question earlier.
Her spine becomes rigid, and I fear she won’t answer me. But after a while, she replies, “He likes to display us to his followers.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “‘Display’ as in to make them jealous or?—”
She stops suddenly and covers my mouth with her hand. “We don’t speak of those things out loud.”
She removes her hand from my mouth and resumes walking. But her refusal to answer tells me Lord Valkor is doing more than breeding vampires for protection. I need to escape before I find out firsthand.
I don’t want to admit it, but the bathhouse experience is nice. The water is hot to the point of pain in the beginning, but once my body gets used to the temperature, it’s heaven. I sink in, letting it cover my head completely, and stay submerged for as long as I can hold my breath.
My ugly reality becomes muffled, and in the underwater silence, I can focus harder on my bond with Ronan.
I wish there was a way we could communicate through the connection, just like Karl and I can speak telepathically when we’re in our wolf forms. But all I sense is the same ball of fear and frustration from before. Ronan is worried sick about me.
A pair of hands pulls me up, ending my solitude before I’m ready.
“Hey! What are you doing?” I glare at Lana.
Her eyes are wide. “I’m sorry. I was worried about you.”
“I wasn’t trying to drown if that was your concern, and you know we can’t die like that.”
She releases me, looking sheepish. “What do you mean?”
I give her a droll look. “Vampires can only die in a few ways: decapitation, losing their hearts, burning to a crisp, or meeting the sun—even though the sun doesn’t do jack to you here.”
“I’m not sure where you got that idea, but vampires can die in a myriad of ways, including drowning.”
I blink fast, trying to process the information. I’ve been a vampire for centuries, I’ve lived in King Raphael’s court, and I know that isn’t true. But I’ve only been around powerful vampires. I don’t know how the general population lives.
“That doesn’t track,” I say. “Have you known anyone who died by drowning?”
She nods. “Yes, a new female who was brought in many years ago. She was young, around thirteen. She missed her family terribly, and at the first opportunity, she killed herself right here in the bathhouse.”
My brows arch. “Are you sure she died?”
“I saw her body. She was blue and not breathing.”
“She might have gone into hibernation.”
“But… we don’t suffer from that malady here in Ellnesari. It’s the reason most of us accepted our fates.”
“If she had just been kidnapped, maybe her body hadn’t had the chance to absorb the Nightingale magic.”
Lana’s forehead wrinkles. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
I’m oddly relieved that everything I’ve been taught about vampires isn’t wrong. It would suck ass to know I could die from something as banal as drowning.
“Most likely that’s what happened to her. She went into hibernation, and without the proper magic to preserve the body, it can wither and die. Do you know what happened to her?”
“I believe they burned her body.”
I wince. Burned alive. Yikes. “Yeah, that will do it.”
“Let’s not talk about sad things anymore. Come closer to the edge and I can wash your hair.”
Just to be difficult, I could refuse, but the idea of getting my hair washed by someone else sounds too good to pass up.
I let Lana do it, and soon, I begin to truly relax, until she starts to hum a song that reminds me of an old lullaby my mother used to sing when I was young.
I haven’t thought about her in a very long time.
“Can you please not sing?” I ask, not wanting a reminder of the female who allowed her own son to be beaten almost to death.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I sound bad?”
“No, I… I have a headache.”
Lana stops humming at once and continues massaging my scalp in silence. But I’m no longer relaxed. My heart feels heavy, and more than ever, I want to find Ronan and get the fuck out of here.