Not Him
Ropes groaned and strained as we descended down the unlit elevator shaft.
My palms slickened as echoes of my dreams falling into the shade’s den reminded me why I couldn’t spend a peaceful night alone.
I wiped my hands against my torn skirt and cleared my throat, willing my body to get on the same page as my mind…and my heart.
This is our best chance at saving him, I told myself as I exhaled slowly, steadying myself for what was to come.
Cova, who held a torch, fidgeted next to me.
Being on this mission with my sister through the halls of the Hive conjured memories of our childhood.
Although there was less at stake then. The worst that could happen then was our mother scolding us.
The camaraderie of the act was the same, though. No, not the same. Stronger.
For the first time in over a decade, we were working together toward a common goal.
The platform met the cavern floor with a loud, reverberating thud and every muscle in my being tensed at the sound.
This was the place where darkness and silence came to rest when the sun rose and the birds sang their day songs, curled together like heavy-limbed lovers. And we’d just awoken them.
Cova and I exchanged a nervous glance before I took the first step off of the platform. Step for step, we crept in tandem beneath the light of the torch into the menacing lair.
No living thing could reside here. The trapped air was thick enough to suffocate a human who lingered too long.
Time and the elements were not on our side.
The walls of the cave narrowed until they formed an arched doorway. Its polished edges were proof of its man-made origin but the seductive dark beyond held the presence of an ancient origin.
I knew what could happen if we failed. This was a necessary risk. Death would multiply with Eryx unleashed, spreading his violence from town to town until all were captured and enslaved.
I imagined the horrors of what could be possible with no one to stand up to his monstrous tyranny. Our fear of this darkness felt temporary and small compared to the opportunity for destruction if we decided to quit now.
We needed Dommik. Alive. To stand up and fight back. And not just that…but I couldn’t admit anything more, even to myself. Not yet. Not before I saw him safe.
I took the torch from my sister and led us into the passage.
Soon, the cave began to whisper. It hissed welcome and tidings off of the stone walls.
“Comeeee. Comeeee closerrrr. Doooon’t beeee shyyyy.”
An opening came into view, and beyond it, swirling smoke.
Dancing shadows. Rattling irons. It was the scene from my dreams. The wide open space, the slithering shadows, their heavy shackles.
All was as it appeared in my dream. I squinted into the room and was able to see the large, stone-carved casket between the wisps of smoke.
“What now?” Cova whispered.
One shade violently turned its translucent head to us. Then another. A ripple of awareness spread throughout the cavern and a furious wind rushed down the hallway we’d braved as a wall of shades charged us.
They snarled as they fought each other, to get to the front, to get to us. But they could not breach the threshold of the stone hallway where Cova and I stood. Wherever the weavers were, their wards still held.
“Come, children. Come stay with us,” one shade beckoned through its pointed teeth.
“The darkness is like a warm blanket.”
“Yes. Come stay.”
My skin pricked at their shrill voices and terrifying invitations.
I cleared my throat, stepped forward, and said, “We need your help.”
“Our help?” many shades repeated at once. The question traveled like a retreating sea wave had carried it to the back of the cavern. And just as it had ebbed, it flowed, returning the question back to us. “Our help?”
“Yes,” Cova said, voice breaking slightly. “Something terrible has happened.”
“The regent, Rhazien Kyrell, is dead,” I announced. The words slammed against my chest like I’d been thrown from a horse.
“We know,” dozens of voices responded. “But what concern of that is ours?”
Our bargaining chip was a dangerous one. And we only had one shot at this plan. I nodded to my sister who stepped forward and declared. “We can free you.”
And all of the echoes of the shades went perfectly still.
“She speaks the truth.” The shades parted and one, darker than the rest, approached the front of the misty mass. Their red eyes gleamed with curiosity. “I see the shadows in her.”
The air shifted, sparking with the energy of anticipation.
Smoke curled and fell away from the shade’s head before it asked, “And what do you ask in return?”
Without pause or doubt, I implored, “You will kill everyone that bears the red token of the Northern Hive.”
I wasn’t a warrior. Far from it. I’d never trained or wielded a blade before today. I’d never had the need or desire. But as I walked through the heavy double doors that opened from the Southern Hive ballroom to the upper steps of the Moon Garden, I looked fierce and battle-worn.
My arms were heavy from calling forth my magic and the weight of the thirsty steel in my hands.
I spotted Dommik immediately. The rust of dried blood and hues of purple from bruises in various stages of healing littered his bare chest and face.
His hands were fastened behind a large pole.
My lip curled with Eryx’s final disrespect—the red token of loyalty he’d given to the ballroom hanging from Dommik.
He was a spectacle at the center of the wicked crowd.
“Eryx Morvain!” I roared from atop the stone steps.
Dozens of heads turned to face me from below.
Some I recognized. Corralled into a grouping of what looked like high-ranking Rhazien loyalists stood Gorvin and Oddo.
They were noticeably huddled together and their surprised reaction to my appearance was a synchronized event.
There were no murmurs. No order to seize and capture me. Just the slow, steady sound of clapping as Eryx stepped in front of the mangled commander. The broad form of the Northern Hive regent shielded Dommik entirely.
“You see, this is the problem with keeping humans as pets. They take and take. Their entitlement and boldness grows like a weed until, well.” He sighed and gestured to me with raised brows as I marched down the stairs, never slowing my pace.
“Let my people go and leave this place,” I commanded through gritted teeth. Eryx became taller with each step. I was a feral cat taking on a mountain bear. He was bigger, but I was cunning…and he underestimated my claws.
“Your people?” Eryx laughed to himself. “You have no power here.”
The cruel regent began to stride toward me and Vaspar fell in line at his flank.
“And you’ll have no power at all if you don’t leave now,” I threatened.
Now close enough to strike, I lifted Dommik’s blade and attempted to drive it up into Eryx’s navel but he pivoted and I stumbled forward from my momentum.
The crowd tittered with Eryx’s amused expression.
Vaspar grabbed my wrist and squeezed until I screamed and released the blade.
Its hungry metal sang as it fell away from my grasp.
Vaspar wrapped me in a disarming stance, one of his hands acting as a bind for my wrists behind my back and the other gripping my chin. He ran his nose up the length of my neck, inhaling, savoring. I writhed fruitlessly beneath his grip.
A mangled scream leaked from Dommik.
Eryx stepped closer and tipped his head. “Now what?”
His smile fell as mine widened. Metal scraped along the top of the terrace. I may have been captured, but all eyes had been on us. And it had given Cova enough time to make her entrance. And she wasn’t alone.
In her hands, she held the ends of dozens of shadow leashes. At the end of those swirling, misty ropes were dozens of translucent, vengeful shades. Their hungry, glowing eyes flitted from vampire to vampire below as if identifying their marks.
The smug expression of victory fell from Eryx’s face. And while he composed himself in my sister’s direction, I could tell his cool demeanor had cracks. Hope and fear swelled in my chest.
“What’s this then?” the regent addressed my sister, the shade wielder.
“Oh, just taking them for a walk,” Cova said cooly and my pride for her was immeasurable.
Eryx scoffed. “Why don’t you lock them back up? Before someone gets hurt.”
Vaspar tilted my chin to the side and let his fangs out, threatening to bite.
“Loose!” Eryx ordered. An arrow pierced the night sky and my breath caught in my throat. But Cova had shielded herself. The arrow met her magical barrier and fell to her feet.
“Last chance…” Cova warned for the second time in as many hours.
“Do NOT. DROP. THOSE CHAINS,” Eryx bellowed.
My sister looked down at me. I strained against the power of Vaspar’s grip. He was ready to twist, ready to end me. I tried to nod against his hands, but he held me still. In a final attempt, I sputtered, “Do it.”
Cova retracted her shadows and the shackles fell from the vengeful entities.
“NO!” Eryx roared before fleeing into the maze of the Moon Garden.
The shades did as they were told, attacking each vampire with the red token of the Northern Hive. Vaspar turned violently, using me as a shield against passing shades.
Cova approached, walking calmly through the chaos. Her fury was beautiful and terrifying.
“Call off your monsters and I’ll see her freed and let you live,” he shouted over the screams, his words drenched in panic. Around us, Northern Hive guards were running for their lives as shades devoured their immortal flesh.
My sister didn’t deign to raise her voice as she plainly said, “Free her and I’ll consider it.”
Vaspar hissed as a shade flew overhead, tackling a guard to the ground. He was surrounded. Beaten. His regent had abandoned him and his allies were dwindling by the moment.
“Give up, filth,” I croaked beneath his clutches.
“You—you need me—you’ll need my help because Eryx will see revenge for this.”