A rumbling to the right heralds enemies uncounted. I can see them in the distance—a whole horde, barely able to fit through the hall. They scramble over each other, gouging the skin of their allies, all in a rush to get to me. I sink low in my legs and am about to lunge when Ruvan calls out, “Left!”I instantly recalibrate. We’re headedleftand this horde is coming from the right. There’s a door, halfway between me and the mass. The vampires’ talk of securing routes and ensuring safe passage lingers with me, even in my battle haze. I sprint.
“I said left!” Ruvan shouts. It only agitates the beasts more. Wails and cries rise fromwithinthe walls. It is as if the entire castle was built on a foundation of these monsters. I now understand what they meant when they said that we needed to travel during the day while “they are sedated.” If this is sedated, what will the night bring?
I slice through the first three and kick their corpses back down the sloping hallway, toppling four others. One lunges for me and I kill it with a well-placed jab to its temple. I grab the door, pushing it halfway closed as three try to jam through at once. It’s a game of slicing and kicking as I slowly try to work the door closed. At least I have the high ground.
A claw sinks deep into the soft spot of my leather armor at my elbow. I bite back a cry of pain. Blood explodes, the scent bright and sharp even to my nose. I’ve never been so keenly aware of my own blood in my life. The aroma seems to work them deeper into their frenzy.
Angling myself against the door, locking my legs, I push with all my might. It’s me against at least eight of them. I clench my jaw, holding back a grunt as I strain. My muscles quiver but I don’t have enough strength, not while I keep having to slash and push through any who try to enter.
“Ventos!” I shout. I need that brute of a man. “Ventos!”
The rumbling that heralds his footsteps is a welcome sound. “I’m here.” I would’ve never imagined I’d be relieved to hear him say that. A sturdy hand slams itself into the door and suddenly the effort I was expending to close it completely vanishes.
I leave the brawn to Ventos, focusing on stopping the monsters from getting through. Together, we’re able to get the door closed. I assess the lock and hinges and unsheathe three daggers from my chest. Based on how the door is constructed I think I can barricade it for the time being. I slam my steel dagger into the wood of the frame almost to the hilt. It wedges against the door handle, preventing the latch from being undone. I put two more by the hinges, using a strength I didn’t know I possessed to render them worthless.
“That won’t hold for long.” I cover my wound with my hand. “They’ll topple it eventually.”
“It’ll hold long enough for us to get out of here,” Ventos says as we rejoin our companions.
Lavenzia has a deep gash down the side of her face that’s quickly knitting, and is otherwise unharmed. Ruvan regards me warily. I give him a cautious smile in return. I’m good, great, even. So why does he look so hesitant?
“She’s wounded, too. The scent of her blood is going to draw even more out,” Ventos says.
“She won’t be for long.” Ruvan takes my hand in his. The grasp is surprisingly gentle. “Look.”
Sure enough, my wound is already mending. I wipe away the blood and there’s only a thin red line where it was, a few droplets still beading in two spots that close over.
“Her eyes,” Winny says with a scowl.
“What about them?”
Rather than answering me, Winny looks to Ruvan. “You gave her blood.”
“She needed it to survive and I’m keeping her alive at all costs. She can handle my power.” Ruvan’s tone is not to be questioned. He releases me. “Come on, we need to keep moving. We have to get to the loft by nightfall.”
“We haven’t been there in ages; do you think it’s still safe?” Lavenzia asks.
“They generally lack the coordination to climb ladders. So even if it’s not, there should be so few that it’s easy to remedy.” Winny shrugs.
“Or there’s the worst kinds there,” Lavenzia mutters under her breath.
“It will be fine.” Ruvan glances over his shoulder as the thudding on the door behind us grows louder. “Let’s not linger.”
We move.
My heart pounds with every step. I want more. More fighting. More blood. For the first time, I feel like a hunter…and, now that the rush of battle has faded, I realize I don’t like it.
I stare at my palms, splattered with inky blood. I’m not made for death. My hands itch to create. This need within me…it’s not my own. Where does it come from? I stare at Ruvan’s back.Him?No, I felt it in the hamlet before I ever met him.The elixir. Is this the hunter’s madness? Fear tries to root within me and I nip it in the bud. Perhaps it is the madness, perhaps not. But I have more important things to worry about for the time being.
“I have to admit, you’re decent in a scrap, Riane,” Ventos says at my side. I must not be able to hide my surprise at his statement, because he tries to smother laughter and, mostly, fails. “Though I suppose vampir blood is the reason for most of it.”
“I’m fearsome enough without it,” I try to bluff. Ruvan casts me a look that I can’t decipher. Or maybe…that I don’twantto decipher.
He knows, a sinking feeling in my gut assures me.He knows of your deceit.
We pass by a mercury glass mirror and I slow to pause before it. Just for a second. Just long enough to see my eyes ringed in gold. Black veins bulge from underneath my tawny skin. I look jarringly similar to how I appeared in the first mirror I was shown here.
“How…” I whisper. But just like the cause of Ruvan’s skeptical glances, I know the answer to this, too.
