Chapter 17 #2
Another heavy silence. I don’t allow myself to look up from the parchment.
I’ve got a list of ingredients we’ll need for the sunwalker ritual.
Seeing as Cora’s already made several spells, she’ll have most of them.
It’s only one specific one, found deep in the archives of Mama’s office, that she won’t.
And it will change everything.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Henry says. He steps away from the table, staring at me as if I might be a stranger.
“Yeah,” I say through a heavy breath. “Me too.”
The following evening, I find myself at the border of the Night Realm.
I left later than I should have, but I couldn’t bear the thought of waiting another day.
Now, with the sun falling dangerously low behind me, I trek through the shadowed streets of vampire territory.
I’m weighed down by my overstuffed pack.
It contains more items than I could possibly need for my planned journey, but I didn’t want to risk missing something important.
If Cora agrees to go, that is.
By the time I arrive at Sebastian Vulce’s doorstep, I’ve convinced myself this was a monumental mistake.
Cora isn’t going to agree. Or, if she does, she’ll insist on a vampire entourage.
She’ll deny the memories I want most. She’ll refuse to let me into the manor at all, and I’ll become one of her clan’s victims.
I pound on the door, stepping back to survey the endless stretch of windows overhead.
Pale vampires leer down at me from between dark curtains.
A glance at the skyline confirms what I already know: mere minutes separate us.
As soon as the sun drops, I’ll be as good as a plate of food on their master’s porch.
The front door swings open, and I audibly gasp. I haven’t decided whether it’s in fear or relief until my eyes settle on Amelia Cyrtev. She’s one of the few vampires I’ve actually met, and I’m hoping she knows better than to eat me.
Her brows lift as she glances at the sky behind me.
“Cutting it close, Lyrie,” she says.
The hazy interior lights cast a red glow over her, making her look far more terrifying than she ever has at Echo meetings. She’s the representative of the vampires, the only bloodsucker the Day Realm willingly allows through their gates.
“Cyrtev,” I reply.
I belatedly realize there’s blood on her face. It drips from the corner of her mouth and disappears beneath her chin.
“Is our resident witch expecting you?” she asks. Her bright lips curl into a smile, and for the first time, I question whether her characteristic red lipstick is lipstick at all.
I should have a lie ready. For all the traveling I did, I had plenty of time.
“No,” I admit. “But I need to see her. Please. At least ask her.”
“And if she says no?” she drawls. “Shall I feed you to our hungry men? The bloodletters have retired for the evening. I’m sure—”
“Elliot.”
It’s unsettling, how instantly I recognize her voice. How, rather than causing my muscles to tense, her voice loosens my shoulders. I look away from Amelia Cyrtev to find Cora staring at me from the back of the room.
Only now do I realize how crowded the entire entryway is. Just beyond Amelia’s shoulder, opposite Cora, a mass of vampires linger in an adjoining room. More are visible at the mouth of the eastern corridor. They’re all staring at me, eyes bloodshot. Starving.
“Your timing is uncanny,” Amelia says. She’s still looking at me, but it’s clear her words are for Cora. “I was ready to offer him as a midnight snack.”
I think she’s joking. I can’t tell.
“Come inside,” Cora says. She strides across the room, faster than I’d expect for someone her height. She brushes past Amelia and the watching vampires. Grabbing my arm, she yanks me into the entryway. She scowls all the while. “What are you doing here?”
It’s a question, spoken like an insult.
“The memory you gave me,” I say. I shoot a sideways glance at Amelia. I have no idea how much the clan knows about our arrangement. As much as I need answers, I need to be careful too. “I have questions.”
“Sounds hot,” Amelia muses.
Again, she must be kidding. It doesn’t stop the blush from rising in my face, all the way to my ears.
“This way,” Cora snaps. She turns on her heel and takes off in the direction of her quarters. Without looking back, she calls over her shoulder. “You can tell him, Amelia. But let him know I won’t answer the door. I have it under control.”
I hurry after Cora, doing my best to watch for the bloodthirsty vampires Cyrtev mentioned.
“Do you though, Cora?” Amelia teases, still standing in the open doorway. I realize she’s likely about to leave. To hunt.
Cora doesn’t reply. I tear my eyes from Amelia and the sprawling hallways beyond her. There must be hundreds of vampires in this manor. Maybe a thousand. Every time I enter this place, it could very well be my last.
Despite the overwhelming number of predators living here, Cora walks with confidence and ease. As if this home is hers as much as it is theirs.
I quicken my steps to reach her and match her pace. She doesn’t look at me, but her face is pale. She stretches her fingers. Scrunches her nose. Purses her lips. Does everything but look at me, even as I stare at her.
“I went to—”
“Not yet,” she interrupts.
And so, we walk. Past dreary paintings and ugly sculptures and endless unmarked doors.
Until, finally, we reach the door to her quarters and slip inside.
The moment the door closes, she turns on me, stepping close.
I imagine it’s meant to be intimidating, but she’s too short to make the look effective.
Cute. She looks cute and vicious and precious, and I hate the wild range of emotions coursing through me. They don’t make sense. I can’t piece them together, and it’s her fault.
Why do I want to kiss you?
What does Margot know that I don’t?
Did I help you escape? Am I a monster and I don’t even know it?
“You are more foolish than I ever imagined possible,” Cora says. She’s pale and shaking—and holy Mother, I think she’s going to cry.
“What are you doing?” I demand. My hands itch to touch her. I have to clench the sides of my pants to keep myself from reaching. It’s taking all my self-control not to console my best friend’s killer.
What have you done to me, Secora Reed, and how do I make it stop?
“You can’t be here,” she says without answering me.
She presses her fists to her eyes, but it only makes them redder when she pulls away.
The tears are still there, and unlike with Margot, they actually start to fall.
“You can’t just show up whenever you feel like it.
Master doesn’t like unexpected guests, and he certainly doesn’t like guests with your name. ”
I grind my teeth. Much as I’d like to point out that her master is the bad guy here, not me, I don’t have the energy. After the past two days, I don’t have it in me to argue with Cora over whether I should have written before visiting.
“I found something,” I say, rather than arguing. “In my mama’s office. If it’s what I think, we should be able to create enough for all of them.”
“Enough of what? All of who?” Cora asks. The tears stain her face like translucent tattoos. I could wipe them away so easily.
“Sunwalker spells. The vampires,” I say. I swallow past the lump in my throat, the one that fears I’m doing the wrong thing.
Cora tilts her head, surveying me in silence. It’s hard to read her expression, but I think that’s hope I see in her eyes. Hesitant, disbelieving hope.
“Why.” A command, not a question.
“In exchange for the final memories,” I say. When her entire body clenches, I finish in a torrent of words. “The final memories, and I’ll get you what you need. I deserve to know, Cora. It’s…it’s killing me.”
“You want them that desperately?” she asks, cheeks flushed. “You’re ready to betray your entire species?”
“Our species,” I say. Then, “Yes.”
“I don’t believe you,” she says. She wipes at her eyes, frowning at the wetness she finds there. “If this is some sort of trap, Sebastian will—”
“I’m not going to hurt you, Cora,” I say. “All I want are answers.”
Answers, and a chance to save Mama. The latter, I decide, is better kept to myself.
“I figured out an ingredient, important to the original curse,” I say. “I can’t guarantee it, but if I’m right, this will make all the difference in your sunwalker spell.”
She doesn’t reply right away, large eyes studying me. Pretty. Why is she so fucking pretty? Why does it physically hurt to look at her, as if she’s stolen far more than just memories?
“Where,” she says finally. It’s another non-question.
“Flight Realm,” I say. “A two day trek, I think.”
“Fine,” she says. She swallows, lifting her chin. “Give me the directions. If I’m able to collect it, you’ll get your memories when I return.”
“Absolutely not,” I say. Despite the seriousness of the moment, I find myself grinning. “We’ll go together, Reed. Just the two of us. You’ll bring the memories. Once we’ve got the ingredient, you’ll show me the memories.”
I brace myself for her inevitable no. It’d be too easy, too simple for her to agree, not to mention foolish. We may have fooled around as teenagers, but there’s no way she can trust this isn’t a trap. Too much time has passed for that level of trust.
I prepare myself for the debate. She’ll inevitably demand at least one chaperone. I’ll advocate for Amelia. At least she’ll be—
“When do we leave?” Cora asks.
I’m too caught off guard to speak. Instead, my mouth hangs open as I gape at her.
“The sooner, the better,” she adds. If she notices my shock, she doesn’t acknowledge it. “If we leave at first light, we’ll have the best chance of evading Master.”
“I could kill you,” I say. I can’t explain the pinch of anger in my chest, the annoyance at her lack of self-regard. “This could be a trap, Cora. You said it yourself.”
“Yes,” she agrees. This time, it’s her lips ticking into a smile. “It could be a trap, but I don’t think it is. And you certainly won’t kill me. I might kill you, however, if this is all a ruse.”
“No,” I say, unsettled by the certainty of my own voice. “You won’t.”
“Tomorrow then?” she asks. She steps back, and it’s the breath of oxygen we both clearly need.
I blink, slowly, using all my concentrated effort not to stare at her mouth, at that subtle half-smile she’s doing her best to hide.
“Tomorrow at first light,” I say with a nod. Then, dropping my pack unceremoniously to the floor, I add, “I’ve brought everything we’ll need. Tonight, I just need a place to sleep.”