Cyprian’s Familiar shakes his head. “The gateway closed just after you made it through,” he mumbles. He then turns and gestures towards a round table in the center of the room. On the surface, a handful of small vials are nestled in a velvet-lined case. One for each of the surviving Familiars.
“I guess not everyone was loyal to their Masters,” I say as I take a few tentative steps towards the table. I pick up one of the vials, but the glass is too dark to see through. “What’s this?”
“Each one is filled with our master’s blood,” Cyprian’s Familiar answers. “But they’re not labeled with names, just these weird pictures. My guess is they want us to see if we truly know our Master by choosing the correct vial.”
I wonder if he was told how to get through this last trial, or if he is just smarter than the rest of us. Ugh, what if this one is Damon’s blood? I carefully place the vial back in its spot, not wanting to choose the wrong one.
“I’ll go first. If I get it wrong, then you guys will know what to expect.” He takes a step toward me as the others murmur behind him.
“What’s your name?” I ask as he reaches down for the first vial in the row.
He gives me a cruel smile. “Why do you suddenly want to know? You’ve taken no interest in us so far.”
“I’m sorry. I thought it would be easier to distance myself from everyone here, since not all of us make it through the training.” And because I have a dangerous mission to fulfill.
He studies me carefully with narrowed eyes. “Maybe if you had, you wouldn’t have been so alone. You should pay better attention to the people around you, Chosen One.”
I cringe at the nickname, but he has a valid point.
“Here goes nothing.” He removes the stopper and toasts before downing the liquid in one gulp.
A bell chimes from somewhere outside of the room. Our heads whip around to find the source, just as the ground cracks open and swallows up Cyprian’s Familiar. Eyes wide and heart pounding beneath my ribs, I stare at the empty space where he just stood.
I glance back over at the bottles, then at the remaining Familiars. It’s now or never. I’m not about to let anyone else go next because I don’t think I can watch another person fail. I study each of the vials, focusing on the different animals carved into the opaque glass. Cyprian’s Familiar drank from one with an elephant on the front. The other vials have an owl, a peacock, a snake, a wolf, and one more animal that I can’t quite make out, but it looks like a hyena. They all seem familiar, but my mind can’t place where.
A memory flashes before my eyes. At the masquerade ball, Knox had dressed as a wolf. Cyprian was an elephant and Egor had been a snake. How clever. I pick up the one that bears the image of a wolf.
This is it. I’m about to officially bind myself to him. There is no going back once I take a drink. But what other choice do I have?
Just as I reach for the stopper, a loud rumbling noise drags my attention away. The bare wall behind the other Familiars warps and twists as Megan steps through.
“I believe that vial belongs to me,” she says through gritted teeth. Megan points at the vial in my hands, looking as if she had been dragged through a thorny bush backwards a dozen times before being tossed into a ravine. Her curls are a tangled mess, her clothes are torn and stained, and her face is bruised in several places.
“Um, no it doesn’t. You’re Egor’s chosen Familiar, not Knox’s.” I remove the stopper as she rounds on me.
“No. Knox told me last night to choose him instead. Who could blame him? You’re so boring compared to me.”
Wow, rude, much?
“You’re delusional, Megan. You’ve been paired with Egor this whole time. You’ll die if you drink this—that’s the entire fucking point of this final test.”
I bring the vial up to my lips and drink the blood; Megan lunges for me, but she’s too late. I’ve swallowed every drop.
“You bitch!” she screams.
Knox’s blood doesn’t taste how I thought it would. There’s no metallic tang to it. In fact, it’s quite pleasant. Knox’s blood tastes like the setting sun on a warm summer evening. Sweet and satisfying.
Megan grabs me just as the world explodes in technicolor. But before I have a chance to appreciate the new sights and sensations that I know are coming, the bell chimes and the ground swallows us both.
29
Danni
The first sound Ihear in the darkness is groaning. I’m so dazed that I can’t tell if it’s coming from me or someone else. Something moves on my left, then I sense coldness. Unwavering bitter cold seeps into my bones. Even if I sat in front of an open fire with three blankets on, I’d still be shivering. My teeth chatter as I push myself up. Cold iron chains bind my wrists. My palms dig into the moist, craggy rock beneath me.
What have I done? Has this all been a big cosmic joke? All those promises of glitz and glory, just to be shackled like a prisoner. I lift my head to gaze through my curtain of wet hair and let out a scream.
A hand covers my mouth and hauls me backwards into a warm embrace that holds me secure. I almost relax and give in, when my eyes fall on Megan’s blood-covered body lying on the floor.
