Chapter 19 How Many Broken Necks Is Too Many? Asking for a Friend
NINETEEN
how many broken necks is too many? asking for a friend
“How long will it take her to heal?” a voice says in my mind.
“How am I supposed to know? I’ve never seen someone heal from a broken neck,” another voice responds.
Broken neck? Who has a broken neck? At that thought, memories of Cyrus, Simon, Stella, and Lucien flood my mind. Oh, my God. Aurora broke my neck. Am I alive? Why can’t I see?
“She just moved,” the first voice whispers.
“Get out,” the second responds. “She’ll wake soon, and you’ll scare her.” The sound of something heavy sliding permeates my eardrums. Are they talking about me?
My eyes open an instant later. I'm on my feet without another thought. My feet sink into an overly soft rug as I stare at a familiar face. Sitting in front of me is the girl I met at the party. It takes longer than it should to remember her name. “Victoria?”
She smiles, showing a mouthful of perfectly white teeth. “You remembered my name. I must say I’m flattered.”
I’m wearing what can only be described as a muumuu. “Where’s my dress? What the hell am I wearing?”
Victoria laughs. “It’s a nightdress.” She stands, moving to my side. “Let me help you to bed. You need to rest a bit more.”
“Where am I?” I move away from her touch and across the large room, finding a chair to hang on to.
“You’re in St. Augustine,” she answers.
“Florida?”
She laughs. “Yes, Florida.”
“Where’s Cyrus?”
Victoria looks down. “I don’t know.”
An influx of emotions hit me at once. A mixture of anger, frustration, and urgency. “I have to go. Where are my clothes?”
“You can’t leave,” she answers.
I turn toward the beautiful woman. “Watch me.” Opening the door of the large wardrobe behind me, I begin flinging through the clothes, looking for something to wear other than a dress that’s four sizes too large.
Victoria is behind me a heartbeat later. “You cannot leave,” she repeats.
I turn, ready to fight. “I’m done being nice. Get the hell out of my way before I make you get out of my way.”
A wicked smile covers her face. “I like your spunk, but you’re not nearly powerful enough to fight me.”
“Maybe not, but I’m not afraid to try.” I grab a dress from the wardrobe that looks like it was made a century ago.
At this point, I don’t care about fashion.
I dress as quickly as possible and move toward the door of the windowless room.
The moment I touch the doorknob, my hand feels like it’s on fire.
“Shit!” I yell, stepping back. “What happened?”
Victoria is sitting on the large bed with an amused look on her face. “The doorknob is made out of silver.”
“And?” I ask. “Did a broken neck cause me to become a lycanthrope?”
Her laughter makes me want to slap her. “No, silly. Vampires are susceptible to silver, too. Did Cyrus not tell you?” I refuse to answer. Instead, I move toward the only closed door in the room. I inspect the knob before opening the door, revealing an up-to-date bathroom.
“Help me get out of here,” I demand.
“I can’t,” she answers.
“How did the other person get out?”
Victoria wrinkles her forehead. “Who?”
I move inches in front of the vampire. “I realize you are older, stronger, and bigger than me. I also realize that I most likely won’t win if we fight, but I’m not afraid to die.” I lower my voice half an octave. “Let me out of this room, or we’ll find out exactly what I’m capable of.”
“Violet, if I let you out, she will kill you.”
“She already fucking did, and yet, look…Here I am.”
Victoria suddenly stands straighter, tilting her head to the side. “She’s almost here.” The look of amusement fades and is replaced with fear. “She mustn’t know you’re awake.”
“I don’t know if you’re on my side or against me. Pick a side, bitch.” I’m not sure where foul-mouthed Violet came from, but I don’t try to stop her.
“I’m on the side of surviving.” She looks me in the eyes. “If you want to live to find Cyrus, you’ll lie down on that bed and pretend to be asleep.”
“No,” I refuse.
Victoria is behind me a heartbeat later, with her arms wrapped around my neck in the same way as Aurora.
She’s right. My strength is nothing compared to hers.
I fight with everything I have, accomplishing nothing.
“This is for your own good.” Her words are the last thing I hear before everything goes black for the second time.
……
My eyes open, and I realize I’m in the same room. I’m lying in bed, covered by the heavy quilt. How? Memories of Victoria flood my mind. This time, before jumping out of bed with hopes of escaping, I do something that would’ve saved me from the very beginning of this entire shit show. I think.
Victoria is gone, which means either there’s a way out of the room, or someone, most likely Aurora, let her out. I have to get out of here. If Lucien was telling the truth, and Cyrus is…I don’t even want to think the words.
I stand, moving around the room. Next to the door is a chest of drawers. I slide each drawer open, looking for something, anything, finding nothing. “Shit,” I whisper. I move vampire speed around the room, looking for anything that will help me escape the silver prison.
Grabbing the quilt from the bed, I wrap it around my hands and try the doorknob again.
The burning is still there but not as strong as before.
I manage to twist it enough to loosen the door from its lock.
Dropping the quilt, I open the door slowly, half expecting Aurora to be on the other side.
Instead of the hallway my mind thought would be there, I’m met with another door.
Behind the wooden door I just opened sits a door made from pure silver.
The energy coming from it does more than burn.
It hits me in the gut, making me nauseated.
I know without asking, the door holds a curse.
“Dammit!” I scream. “Let me out of here!”
Using the quilt, I close the wooden door and continue looking for another way out.
Working my way through the room, I touch everything, resisting the temptation to laugh at myself for thinking the candlestick could be an escape route.
I move to the bookcase, sliding books in and out.
I hope to find a magic key or a secret passage.
A thick leather-bound book on the top shelf grabs my attention.
Where the rest of the books seemed to be placed purposefully in perfect order, this one is pushed further back.
I pull the thick text out, and the bookcase slides toward me.
The scraping sound is the same I heard earlier. Behind the bookcase is a doorway.
Stepping into the blackness, I slide the bookcase closed behind me, putting me in a pitch-black space. I fight the urge to run, not sure what might be waiting for me. This is too easy. It has to be a trick of some sort. I need to think rather than react.
The hallway ends at the top of a narrow staircase.
I continue moving, keeping my steps light and silent as I move toward the faint glow of lights in the distance.
At the bottom of the stairs is a wooden wall with exposed beams…
clearly, I’m behind a main wall of the house.
The light that I followed earlier comes from a hole in the wall.
Through the hole, I’m able to see what looks like the foyer to the house.
Other than heavy ornate furniture, the room is empty.
A familiar energy slides over me, making me shiver. What am I feeling?
Cyrus’s voice rings through my mind. Use your energy, Violet. Step into your power. Someone steps into the room, forcing me away from the hole. Shit, Violet. Be brave. Who is it?
I take an unnecessary breath, clearing my mind, and send my energy into the room, searching for what I’m feeling. The first energy I feel is Aurora’s. I open my eyes, realizing the woman who stepped in the room is her.
On instinct, I duck, hiding further in the opening as Aurora passes my hiding spot once more. How is that possible? Why doesn’t she feel my energy? I don’t have time to figure it out. Another energy piques my interest. It’s familiar and grows stronger by the second.
Aurora opens the front door with a grand gesture. The green dress she’s wearing flows behind her, blown by an invisible fan. “Look who the cat dragged in.” She laughs with her words. “I would like to say I’m surprised to see you, but that would be a lie. What do you want?”
“It’s good to see you, too, Aurora. May I come in?”
Aurora sighs, moving to the side. “Please.”
The moment she moves, the energy of the person slaps me in the face. Harrison Chamberlin, my maker.
“Thank you,” he says, moving into the house. “You look as lovely as always.”
“Why are you here, Harrison?” she asks, ignoring his compliment.
My maker laughs. “I would think that’s obvious.” He straightens the waistcoat he’s wearing. “You have something that belongs to me.”
“Belongs to you?” Aurora asks. “You sold her. She doesn’t belong to you any longer.”
“Since Cyrus is no longer fit to care for her, that forfeits any deal we had.” He lifts his nose into the air, turning his attention toward the wall I’m hiding behind.
The smirk on his face tells me he knows I’m here.
“Besides,” he continues. “I’m afraid I was a bit hasty in selling her so quickly.
She’s proven to be more than I’d imagined.
” For the first time since being turned, I’m actually relieved to see Harrison.
“Go home, Chamberlin. She belongs to me and is not for sale.”
He turns his attention back toward Aurora. “I’m afraid you’re confused. I have no intentions of purchasing what is already mine. My blood runs through her veins. She’s my child and my property.”
Aurora laughs. “Shall I contact Callum again? I’m sure he’d be interested to know you’ve made a child without sharing her with him.”
One side of Harrison’s mouth lifts higher than the other. “I had no doubt it was you who contacted him.”
“It seems my reputation precedes me.”