Chapter 15 – Shade
SHADE
Ileave Elliot sleeping on the floor, a smile on his lips. Dressing in a simple cotton gown the same purple color as my hair, I leave the bedroom silently.
A familiar guard stands at my door.
I smile at him. “When the gargoyle awakens, take him to satisfy his needs. Food, bathroom, shower, whatever he would like.”
The vampire frowns at me. “Our enemy? Your prisoner?”
I move closer to him and place a hand on his chest.
He trembles beneath my touch, and I wonder if he worries I’ll drag him to the Underworld. “Don’t question me. Vampires handle things one way, Shades handle them another.”
I’m relieved when he bows his head, avoiding my gaze.
Moving through the silent halls of the castle, I’m surprised, as always, how different the castle is in the daylight.
Just servants move like ghosts from room to room, cleaning, cooking, and preparing for another night of festivities.
Even the humans they feed off of are nowhere to be seen.
I wonder sometimes what it’d be like to live in a house with all humans, but then I realize that I’d probably feel just as out of place with them.
In a way, it saddens me that I can never be with my own kind. It’s sort of isolating to not have anyone to talk about the pulling deep inside of me. How they handle it. How they decide who to punish and who to let live.
When Cerberus told me to escape, she told me how important freedom was, but she never told me about loneliness. About the desire to be touched and held. The need to talk and feel heard.
There’s so much that’s strange about this life.
As I circle lower down the steps in the castle, passing guards stationed against wall after wall, I come to the floor I’ve never been on. Here, the most important vampires have rooms where it’s always dark.
I don’t like this place. The torches that flicker on the wall do little to chase away the shadows. It reminds me of the Underworld. And that’s a place I’d sooner forget.
When I reach the deeply ornate door at the very end of the hall, I know, without asking, that this is Lord Drac’s room.
I also know that if he were to keep something precious anywhere, it’d be in his room.
If there’s some kind of magical item keeping Elliot from shifting into his stone form, it must be here.
Taking a deep breath, I nod at the guards outside his door and turn the handle, soundlessly opening the door.
Inside, the room is almost the unbearable darkness of the Underworld.
My heart races, and sweat gathers at my palms. In the center of the room is a massive four-poster bed, with the curtains drawn around it.
My gaze skirts from it to the one source of light.
A crystal floats above a small bowl, sparkling and glowing.
Even from where I stand, I can feel the magic radiating off of it. And I know, without being told, that this is what is keeping Elliot from shifting. This is what’s keeping his friends from rescuing him.
If I can take it and destroy it, Elliot can shift and break his chains, then fly out the window and free himself. No one will need to get hurt. Nothing bad will need to happen.
Taking a deep breath, I close the door softly behind me. My bare feet graze a shockingly soft rug. I glide to the crystal and stare down at it, overwhelmed. It’s beautiful. A gem of every different color, floating and glowing like something precious and fragile in this dark place.
I lift my hands and feel the warmth of the gem against my palms.
Closing my eyes, I drink it in. This magic is different than anything I’ve felt before. It’s…almost sad. Has magic ever been sad before? Does it hate the dark as much as I do?
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
I spin around, my eyes widening.
Lord Drac stands behind me in nothing but a red silk robe. His eyes run over me from head to toe in a way that makes me feel uneasy. Does he know why I’m here? Will he kick me out? Try to hurt me?
“But it pales in comparison to your beauty.” He moves closer, invading my space.
I take a step away from him, and my back hits the edge of the table. Somewhere inside of me I’m aware that I can hurt him with just a touch, but doing so would mean the end of my time in this castle, so I shouldn’t. Not unless I have to. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Many have tried to steal it. Many of my guests desire it above all else, and yet, none of them could ever be successful in taking it. My home is far too well-guarded.”
“I would have no use for such a thing,” I lie.
“Yes, but it protects vampires more than you could imagine.”
What else can it do?
He places his hands on the surface of the table behind me on both sides. “I know why you’re here.”
My pulse races. Should I teleport away? No, if I do that, they’ll kill Elliot. I won’t be able to save him.
“You do?”
A slow smile curls his lips. “So innocent, and yet you know what you want, don’t you?”
I open my mouth, although I’m not sure what I’ll say, and his lips crush down onto mine. Holding myself still, I wait for this to end. This kiss. But he only kisses me harder, pulling me closer to him.
Everything inside of me screams to get away. My skin crawls at the thought of him touching me. But I can’t seem to think of a way to refuse him that won’t make him wonder what I was really doing here, if this is what he thought I wanted.
At last he draws back, panting. “Oh, my beautiful Shade.”
I stare at him, feeling sick. “Uh, thank you.”
His smile widens. “Perhaps a taste is all you needed.”
A taste? “Yes. I should go now.”
He chuckles, lifting a strand of my hair and twirling it around his fingers. “I imagine you have a lot to think about.”
“Yes,” I say, feeling a desire to teleport away building inside of me.
At last, he steps back. I skirt around him, trying not to look like I’m running.
He laughs. “No need to feel embarrassed. There’s nothing wrong with going after what we both want.”
I don’t know what to say, so I just leave the room. When the door is safely closed behind me, I teleport to my room and climb into my bed. My pulse won’t stop racing.
Elliot isn’t there, which I’m kind of grateful for. I don’t want him to see me panicking like this. I don’t want him to know that I’m not as brave as I pretend to be.
But then, I think about Elliot’s words. About his warning about men taking advantage of me. These feelings I had with Lord Drac, they told me that I didn’t like him or want him.
So what do my feelings for Elliot mean?
I lie on the bed for a long time, staring up at the ceiling. I wanted this to be my home, but it was like wearing a skin that didn’t fit. But if this wasn’t the home I needed, what was?
And if Lord Drac continued to pursue me, could I remain here?
I had no idea, but it felt as if my world was becoming more real. And my problems deeper. Nothing was as simple as I first thought.
Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?