CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Something was wrong. After I scavenged the kitchen for a late-night snack, I was retreating back to my room, ghosting through the darkened hallways, hoping to avoid a disgruntled Lillian who always disapproved of my nighttime snacking habit.
I came across an open doorway. Not a single light illuminated Olivia’s room.
She always went to bed oddly early, and to see a door left open after nightfall was a sight that left my skin cold.
There are several types of portals the demons use for travel. Upon the setting sun, cover all mirrors, close and lock all windows, draw all curtains, and keep all doors tightly closed. Never sleep with an open door.
I took slow steps, passing through the threshold.
The candlelight from the hall was all that provided any light.
The faint glow lit my path. Her windows and curtains were closed.
The white sheets were draped over every mirror as they were every night.
But Olivia was not in her bed. The doors to her armoire were opened.
Several gowns slipped off the hangers, and one was crumpled up on the floor.
The drawers were open, and anything that had been neatly folded was now in one combined heap.
Beside her armoire she always kept her riding boots and gear perfectly placed, at the ready.
She was an avid rider, and much unlike me, she adored her horse and rode everyday.
And her boots were missing.
My heart lurched into my throat. Needle pricks broke out all across my skin. Where could she have gone at this hour? And why was she in such a hurry? She didn’t close her door, what was ingrained so deeply in us. It was as automatic as breathing.
I grabbed a warm cloak, wrapping it tightly around my nightdress.
I fled through the hallways, slipping out silently through one of the back doors.
The one closest to the stables. The wind swirled around me as soon as I stepped out.
Chilled tendrils swept up my legs making me shiver.
I held my cloak tighter. The air was crisp with the scent of nearby rain, a promise to visit here soon.
The clouds hung heavy and gray against the black sky.
I trotted over to the stables, eager to get away from the relentless chill. I stopped cold when I heard it.
“Charlotte,” Olivia called my name. It was hurried, urgent. It came from inside.
I approached the large rolling door, clutching the icy iron as I heaved it open. It complied with a weary groan. Not a single lantern was lit within, what laid beyond nothing but a flat abyss.
“Charlotte,” she called my name again, her voice distant, towards the back. Her horse was in the first stall, though I couldn’t make out anything through the dark to see if Cardamom was still there.
“Olivia?” My voice collapsed into a whisper. Why would she be at the back of the stables?
“Charlotte.” Her voice sounded weaker. She could have been attempting to leave, for gods only knows what, and been attacked. Panic started to creep up my throat.
I took slow steps into the dark.
I was completely enveloped now. It was so quiet.
All sound left with the light. I couldn’t even hear the horses.
I was out of the wind, but a chill remained in the air.
Why didn’t I bring a lantern? Why wasn’t I thinking clearly?
Something dragged across the floor. I froze.
A lazy footstep. It was right in front of me.
All of my nerves ignited abruptly only to melt down, dripping to the floor.
My chest started to heave. My rapid breaths the only sound to fill the thick silence.
A throaty chuckle bled through the dark. It held malice, and it held me closely.
“Your fear is truly delicious, my sweet dove.” His gravelly voice dragged across my skin, sharp, imbedding deep.
I squinted my eyes at the warm glow that gradually became brighter, and as his face floated through the darkness, I lurched back, gasping.
It was all I could see as he held up the lantern. The light cast shadows across his face, the dark jumping across his sharp cheekbones, his straight nose, his hooded eyes that remained cloaked in black.
“What are you doing?” I ground out. A sudden wave of annoyance washed through me at the sight of him, at how he called this ridiculous meeting.
“Now, now, is that any way to greet your future husband and king?”
I rolled my eyes, losing patience with his delusions.
“Easy, darling.” His voice darkened. “Lest you forget who you’re dealing with.”
“What do you want?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He took a slow, deliberate step forward, and my resolve faltered.
My throat went dry, and my body revealed how I truly felt, no matter how I tried to make my exterior appear.
He stopped just before me. I tilted my head up to look at him, to meet those cold eyes that donned some sort of guise of charming innocence.
He spoke softly, and somehow it was even more disturbing. “Darling, that mouth of yours will get you in trouble.”
I took in a steadying breath. “My king, please, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”
“Again, your words ring sweet ... but that tone.” He clicked his tongue in warning.
“Forgive me for not being delighted at being beckoned into the dark as you bait me with my sister.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I do enjoy my fun.” I jumped as his hand grazed my cheek. It was so cold, raising goosebumps across my skin in its wake. I jerked back, stepping away from him.
“You’ve been tracking me?”
His expression hardened. “Can’t have my sweet dove slipping away.”
“When did you do that? How did you even do that?”
He leaned in slightly and frowned. His nostrils twitched.
His already cold eyes grew frigid, and his entire body stiffened.
His hand lowered to my neck as he closed the distance between us, fingers tightening.
“You let him feed from you?” It was nearly a whisper.
A softness that carried an edge hungry for blood.
“He was dying.” My voice was smaller than expected.
“Yes, and what a shame that would be.” Bitter.
His hand curved around to the back of my neck, cradling my head. “Perhaps, we should settle the score.”
My mind went blank when he pulled me closer, crushing me against his chest as cold as stone and just as hard.
He dipped his head and licked up the column of my throat.
An electric spark shot through me, and I cursed my body for its betrayal as my core ignited.
I already couldn’t comprehend the feelings I had developing for one vampire, how could I possibly begin to explain what was awakening within me for someone like Alaric.
I slapped my hands atop his chest and pushed.
He didn’t budge at all. He was an immovable wall.
His soft lips grazed my neck, and a strangled scream escaped my throat as I tried to suppress it.
“No, please.” I poured every bit of sincerity into the words, every bit of desperate pleading.
If he bit my neck, everyone would see, everything would be over.
“Not there, please.” Not anywhere really, but if he was going to bite me, maybe we could compromise.
He paused, pulling back slightly as his eyes roamed over my throat.
A dawning seemed to come upon him. His dark eyes landed back on mine.
His words were silken, a warm caress, an endless depth.
“Sweet dove, where did he bite you?” Suggestion was scrawled all across his face.
He tilted his head slightly, animalistically.
His eyes narrowed on me when I didn’t answer.
He brushed his lips along my throat once more. “And what would happen if I bit you here?”
At my silence, he tightened his hold in my hair. “Say it, Charlotte.”
I attempted to shake my head though I could hardly move against his grip.
“Why don’t you want to? Because the truth hurts too much? You know if I bit you here”—his nose grazed up my neck. I shivered—“you’d be deemed infected like some rat and discarded by the ones you love. Don’t you want to live freely, without the condemnation of others?”
He blurred as I blinked through the tears that welled up. He ran his hand through my hair in a way that was oddly comforting.
“I can see this will be harder for you to accept than I thought, but we just don’t have the time for you to come around.”
I frowned at his words, at what they could possibly mean.
“My darling, how free we could be,” he crooned.
My hands that were flush against his chest to push him away, began to curl around his coat, and I let him pull me in closer. As much as I wanted to deny it, bury his words deep in the woods, it was all true.
I thought back to his previous words. Some people can’t see the truth until drastic measures are taken.
What was so hidden that I couldn’t see it and he could?
I fought with myself, unsure if I was already within the throes of manipulation.
My time with Sebastian had already shown me nothing was simple.
My beliefs, my world, was crumbling all around me.
Pretty soon I’d have nothing to stand on, and I didn’t know where to go.
But even if Alaric was trying to help me in some twisted way, that would never redeem him from all he had done, all the lives he had taken. And though I was coming to trust Sebastian, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to trust Alaric.
I was ashamed to say I was tempted to take his offer of freedom, but I grasped the first word I could form. “No.”