“That much I believe.” Ruvan sighs. “I wonder if our bloodsworn has, indeed, given you some power of the vampir.”
My hands relax and I let go of whatever I had thought he was going to say. I certainly wasn’t expecting this.
“But I’m not a vampire…”
“No, and the rites to make one are complex and involve great power and sacrifice on the part of vampir and human alike—so great that there are only a few writings on it from King Solos, and the process was immediately outlawed.”
Solos. I heard that name in my dream. At least, I think I did. “But you’ve researched it?”
“There are only a few, limited tomes on the art, but I’ve always been intrigued by forbidden things.” He smiles slyly. “In any case, becoming bloodsworn isn’t part of the rites to turn a human vampir. But there’s not other information on what would happen with a human and vampir bloodsworn, as it’s never been done before. I could theorize that, in taking the oath and fortifying it with the ritual I performed, deepening it with more of my blood, I have given you traces of the vampir’s power. Perhaps you saw the future us walking through here in your dreams.”
Was that what it was?“Maybe,” is all I can say. My head is pounding. The dream, though fading, was different…but I can’t put my finger on how. It’s becoming hazy in my memory and Ruvan is right. This isn’t the time or place to discuss these matters and, moreover, I don’t want to anymore. There are questions lurking that I don’t want to answer. The idea of new magic growing within me has me shaken. “I guess we’ll know more as time goes on.”
He picks up on the hint and says nothing more.
The rooms blur, one after the next, but I know when we’re getting close to our destination. Sure enough, with one or two deviations to account for collapsed passageways and barred rooms, we took almost the same path as the woman in my dream.
It couldn’t have been the future.I swallow thickly. What has this bloodsworn awoken within me? I fear I have invited the magic of the vampire—and all that comes with it inside of me…and now it might never leave.
CHAPTER19
The metal dooris before me. Even if I hadn’t recently seen it in my dreams, I would know it’s important at a glance. It’s at the end of a long hallway that opens up just before it and is different from every other door we’ve seen. Unlike in my dreams, it’s tarnished with age. Cobwebs are thick around it, clinging to the dulled symbol on its front.
“It doesn’t look like anyone else’s made it yet,” Ruvan observes solemnly. There’s nowhere for them to hide in this small antechamber and they certainly cannot open the door for reasons I now understand.
“You don’t think anything happened to them, do you?” I find I no longer wish to see them die horrible deaths.
“I hope not.” The answer isn’t as reassuring as I would like. I know how much they mean to him. “But they knew the risks of being awoken during the long night. We all did.”
“You keep saying awoken…”
“I’ll explain more once we have survived and are back in the upper castle. For now, we keep our focus.”
I catch his hand, bolder than I’ve ever been with anyone, much less a man. “Do you promise you’ll tell me?”
The question draws his sole attention to me. The air around him feels…hesitant. Almost scared. But what is he afraid of? Certainly not me. Promising something to me? I think we’ve already made the ultimate promise to each other by becoming bloodsworn.
“Yes.” He faces off against the door again. I can see his shoulders tense and feel his apprehension. “Now, I want to see what’s inside. I’m ready to find this curse anchor and put an end to all this.” I reach for the handle but he stops me with a touch on my wrist. “I should warn you that—”
“There’s a small, silver blade on the other side of the handle and that’s why a vampir couldn’t open it,” I interject to finish for him.
“How did you…”
“Already told you, I saw this in my dream,” I say somewhat impatiently.
“Have you had any other strange dreams?” He focuses intently on me.
“A few,” I admit.
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
I arch my brows. “It’s not as if we’ve been on the best of terms this entire time.”
He opens his mouth to object and slowly shuts it, reconsidering. Then says, “Tell me of them when we return to safety. For now, let’s focus on our mission.”
I nod, close my fingers around the handle, and feel the familiar prick on the pad of my hand. There’s a surge of magic that flows to the door. It draws blood and power from me in the same way that Ruvan drew from me last night. The symbol in the center of the door glows a faint crimson, burning away the cobwebs and age. A lock disengages deep within. I pull and shake off the remaining dust to reveal bright silver, as though it is freshly forged. As the metal dulls I’m reaffirmed in my suspicions—it’s not solid silver. The handle is, but the rest is different.
There’s something special about the metal this door was made from. I’ve never seen a metal like this before—it’s smooth with the faintest swirl of red, almost rust-like.
