When did I lose my shoes?
It seems like some sort of underground cave system. Are we under a mountain? Is this where the vampires have been cursed to remain so long ago?
We take a sharp left turn at the end of the slope and pass through an archway. Beyond is the most breathtaking city I’ve ever seen.
Carved deep into the stone is a medieval keep, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. A moat as wide as a river surrounds the city, with only a single bridge providing passage. Even if an army made it across, the keeps’ barrier walls are so thick and tall, I bet it would take a thousand battering rams to break themdown. Above it all sit clusters of houses, square and small with flickering amber lights shining through the windows. Behind those, the imposing spires stand taller still.
My eyes travel up even further, past more houses and spires, finally coming to rest on a gothic castle that looks straight out of Transylvania. It’s beautiful, in its own twisted way. I can’t help but wonder if this massive city was carved from my ancestors’ imagination, if any of that story was even true.
“What is this place?” I ask.
Celeste turns to me, her face exhausted and sad. “Hell.”
We walk towards the entrance of the big stone bridge, a million questions racing through my mind. The chains around my wrist don’t feel as heavy as they did in the cell. Is this due to adrenaline or magic?
None of this feels real. Any moment now, I’ll wake up from this fever dream in my small, one-bedroom apartment. I’ll curse myself for waking up late but still stop at my favorite coffee shop before work. I’ll say Hi to Trevor and thank him for making my coffee just the way I like it. Then I’ll sit at my desk at work and complain about Alan to anyone who will listen. I’ll write stupid gossip columns and eat a bagel for lunch.
And I won’t ever think about Knox and how he made me feel, nor the ache in my chest that can be soothed only by his touch.
The iron gate to the city rises as we approach the end of the bridge.
“Where is everyone else?” I ask. The Rabbid’s claws dig further into my skin, painfully, but they never draw blood.
“The Familiars who fully embraced the magic are already at the binding ceremony,” Celeste says over her shoulder.
So that’s why Jack and I ended up in the cell: we passed the test but failed to convince the magic that we truly wanted to be here.
Celeste keeps her back to me as we walk through the gates, her long blonde ponytail swishing behind her. We climb a few steep flights of stairs, my calves burning with each step. Even on a good day, I’d struggle with this amount of exercise. But she makes it look like a walk in the park. Celeste stands at the very top, watching my every move like a hawk.
“I forget how fragile you are sometimes.” She wrinkles her nose. “Did you seriously not change before the final training?”
I snort. Of course she’s more worried about my outfit than my actual wellbeing.
“And I forget how bitchy you can be,” I snipe back.
She smirks, then spins on her stiletto heels and storms forward, faster than before, through an archway lit with more flickering torches.
The cobbled streets beyond the city’s outer perimeter are narrow and lined with crooked houses that look like they’d blow down if there was a strong enough gust of wind.
It’s quiet here. Eerily so.
Street lamps light the way, which seems odd. They look Victorian while the houses look even older, maybe Tudor-style, with their stark black wooden support beams contrasting against the lighter-colored walls.
We walk on, with the clicking of Celeste’s heels the only noise breaking the silence. I struggle to keep up, exhaustion finally hitting me like a sack of potatoes. As we wind through the narrow streets, each one identical to the other, again making it impossible to find my way back, a low hum drifts towards us. I can’t make out what it is at first, but as we finally reach the heart of the city, the sound of the crowd becomes deafening.
I’m barely able to keep standing upright as I’m dragged into a large stone arena, one just as impressive as the colosseum in Rome. I scan the crowd, desperately hoping to see Knox as the ache in my chest reaches an excruciating crescendo. Dreadwraps itself around my bones as thousands of people cheer and scream. Sensory overload threatens to make me collapse to my knees.
The deafening roar fades away when my eyes travel to the very center of the colosseum. Knox stands next to an altar made of stone, watching, waiting. I wrench out of my captor’s vise-like grip. My feet move of their own accord, the grit of the sand rubbing into my cuts, but I don’t care.
The terrible aching finally stops and nothing else matters but him.
I need Knox.
30
Danni
Present Day
