Chapter 19 How Many Broken Necks Is Too Many? Asking for a Friend #2
“Enough games, Aurora. Bring her to me.”
“She’s not here,” Aurora lies.
“She’s my child. I know she’s here. I can feel her.”
Aurora lifts a glass of red liquid to her mouth.
“I’m growing tired of this, Chamberlin. Go find someone else to bother.
” She steps in front of him. “You are welcome in my home no longer.” Harrison moves backward, as if an invisible force is pulling him through the door.
He’s through the door and standing on the porch seconds later.
“Magic may be on your side, but we both know I am the stronger vampire,” he announces.
“I can see that from where you stand,” Aurora says, slamming the heavy door in his face. I don’t like either of them, but watching her put Harrison in his place gains her a few bonus points.
“I know you’re there,” she announces. “Push the door. It will open.” I freeze in place, hoping she’s talking to someone else. “Don’t make me ask twice.”
I take an unnecessary breath and push against the wall in front of me. Seconds later, I’m standing in front of a bookcase similar to the one I stepped through to enter the hall. She smiles. “I see you found some of my old clothes.” I look down, remembering the centuries-old dress I’m wearing.
“I thought it smelled like shit,” I retort. What the hell is wrong with me? Violet Du Four never talks like that, especially to someone else.
Aurora’s laugh echoes through the room. “No one dares talk to me that way.”
“I’m not them.”
She motions toward an overstuffed, bright pink couch in the living area. “Sit,” she demands.
Every fiber of my being is screaming, no, as I move across the marble floor to sit. I lower onto the edge, ready to run if needed.
“Lucien tells me Cyrus was bargaining for spell work.” I refuse to answer. Instead, I stare at my captor. “What is the spell he’s bargaining for?”
“Let me go, and I’ll tell you.”
Aurora sits, lifting the red liquid to her lips. “I can’t decide if you’re really this stupid or somehow have the delusion that you have any control here.” She pauses, taking in my features. “I can see why Chamberlin is drawn to you. You have the potential to be very beautiful.”
“Thank you?” I’m not sure that was a compliment.
She slides forward. “As of now, I’m bored. Let’s try this again.” She snaps her fingers, and my heart drops. Victoria enters the room with someone I thought I’d never seen again, wrapped in her arms. My heart sinks at the sight of my best friend in the world, Ramona.
“Mona?” I ask, not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me.
“Violet? Is it really you?” she asks, staring at me in disbelief.
“Let her go,” Aurora commands. The moment Victoria releases control, Ramona runs toward me, wrapping her arms around me. She feels thinner than I remember, and her energy is weak.
“I thought…we all thought you were…” She doesn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she steps away, looking me up and down, inspecting my changed appearance. “Is it really you? You look…different.”
“It’s me.” I wipe a silent tear. My friend, who knew my deepest darkest secrets, is standing in front of me with torn clothes, messy hair, and a mixture of dirt and blood covering her face. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
“What’s going on?” Ramona asks as she begins to cry. Her body shakes with emotion.
“That’s an excellent question,” Aurora says. She’s at our side a heartbeat later. “Your friend is no longer human.” She turns toward me. “Would you like to tell her, or shall I?”
“I’m a vampire,” I answer quickly, not wanting to give Aurora the satisfaction of telling my truth.
Ramona stares into my eyes. “A what?”
“Vampire,” I repeat. “You know, like in the books.”
My friend looks between the two of us. “Are you a vampire, too?”
Aurora smiles. “Why yes, I am.” She lifts the blood to her mouth, drinking the remainder. “Funny how the human brain tries to rationalize the unbelievable.” She turns toward me. “She doesn’t even remember donating this.” She holds the empty brandy glass in the air.
The vampire’s words anger me. “You have no right to drink from her.”
“I have every right, young one. This is my home.” She rubs a long fingernail across Ramona’s cheek, leaving a cut along her path. “I will say, she is quite tasty. Would you care for a sip?”
I step between Aurora and my best friend. “Leave her alone.”
“Tell me what spell Cyrus was seeking,” she retorts. “Then I will consider your request.”
“Violet? I don’t understand.” Ramona’s voice is shaky.
“Ask Lucien,” I answer, ignoring my best friend.
Aurora steps closer. “I will not ask again.”
“Good, because you’ll get the same answer.”
The vampire looks behind me, nodding ever so slightly. Without warning, Victoria appears, wrapping her arms around Ramona, and without warning, slices her neck from ear to ear using nothing more than a fingernail. I stare in disbelief, not understanding what I just witnessed.
The gurgling sound Ramona makes will haunt me for the rest of my life. Her eyes are as large as saucers as she silently begs me for help while her blood spills to the floor. “Ramona!” I scream.
“You win. I’ll tell you! Stop the bleeding!” I demand.
“She’s human. There is no stopping the bleeding.” Aurora looks bored as she speaks. Bored as my best friend bleeds out in front of me.
What seems like an eternity later, Ramona’s eyes close and her heartbeat slows to almost nothing.
I clutch her to my body, rocking the now lifeless shell of my best friend…
the woman who was engaged to the man of her dreams and wanted nothing more than to honeymoon in Paris.
“I’m so sorry, Ramona.” I wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks. “I love you.”
“Oh, boohoo. How terribly human of you. I love you,” Aurora mocks my words and voice, making fun of my pain.
I gently place Ramona’s lifeless body on the marble floor before standing. “I will kill you,” I warn.
“Many stronger than you have tried.” She nods to Ramona’s murderer. “Take her upstairs.”
I don’t put up a fight as Victoria grabs my arm, pulling me toward the grand staircase. Aurora snaps her fingers once more, and three vampires appear from nowhere.
The sound of Ramona’s blood being licked off the floor is the last thing I hear as I’m placed in a different room from before, the door locking behind me.