Sonia stepped away from the window, trading the sun for gas sconces. Her gaze never wavered, never lessened in its intensity of fury. Step by graceful step, she neared until she was less than a foot from me. As she stood over where I lay, I thought she was going to kill me.
“He’s here, you know.”
“Who’s here?”
A small smile curved her perfect lips. “The vampire. The monster. He’s here. I’ve seen him.”
I rushed to sit up, but the pain that coursed through me caused me to crash back onto the bed. I lifted my hand and squeezed my forehead, as if that could help. “The vampire is here in the Cathedral?”
She shrugged. “He does not stay in the Cathedral, but I have seen him. He is still on the peninsula.”
“Why?” It seemed too much that we were all here. All at once. It couldn’t be coincidence.
Sonia’s smile faded once more, her eyes going distant. “Who do you think brought your sister here?”
The pain Omar had inflicted on my body was nothing compared to what Sonia’s words caused.
The redheaded vampire was the one who had taken Cynthia? If that was true, he was the one who caused my parents to be hospitalized. He’d caused everything. I don’t know why it made a difference who was responsible for it, but it did somehow. The only thing that surged greater than my anger was my guilt. Truly, if I’d been able to kill him that night in the alley, none of this would have come to pass.
I stared into Sonia’s eyes, and for a moment, I thought I saw the girl staring back at me, not the vampire. Before the realization could form, she sneered once more. “I am supposed to bring you to Gwala.”
The journeySonia led me on as we made our way to Gwala seemed to encompass miles. Each step was agony, both slicing through my body and sending spikes through my brain. Try as I might, I couldn’t use my power to heal. Some master warlock I was turning out to be. The most I was able to accomplish was numbing some of the pain. I’d done better healing when I’d been a teenager. I chalked it up to the severity of the injuries and the stress level the past few hours had brought crashing over me—as if I hadn’t had enough.
Every step I took added to the turmoil churning through my mind. Even if I hadn’t been able to kill the vampire and stop the events that followed, at least I could have insisted Schwint stay home. He wouldn’t have been almost killed by Omar and wouldn’t spend whatever days he had left trapped in the Vampire Cathedral. No matter how much Gwala wanted us to sink into the illusion of freedom and for all our talk about escape, I knew Omar had been right. We weren’t going to be able to scheme up some plan that would actually work. The most it would do would be to get one or both of us killed or chained up like Omar. All for what? So I wouldn’t have to face this alone? So I could have my boyfriend with me in the big, scary vampire castle? Was I still really that weak? I’d thought if anything good was going to come from my little downward spiral after Brett left, it would be a nearly impenetrable strength. Only to crumble the first chance it got, it seemed.
That didn’t even begin to address Caitlin and Newton. What had been the point of them staying again? To help us and Cynthia escape when the time was right? Had any of us really believed that was going to happen? It was ludicrous. All of it. And each of us had been proven fools, and I the greatest one, or at least the most cowardly. Everyone else had come because of Cynthia or me. If I was completely honest, the reason I’d let them was because I’d been afraid to do it on my own. And now here we were. All at the mercy of Gwala. If the thought hadn’t scared me so badly and my body wasn’t screaming in pain, I would have laughed. At thevampire king’smercy? No such thing.
By the time Sonia paused outside a huge stone door, I had no clue where we were. It seemed like we’d descended to the center of the earth through endless passages and stairways. I wasn’t certain if we were directly below the Cathedral or miles away.
Despite having known Sonia longer as a vampire than I had as a human, it was still a shock to see such a petite, beautiful woman move the large stone as easily as she might roll a Hula-Hoop.
At first, I didn’t notice the circular marble room or the crystalline pool in its center. Gwala stood as still as a statue a few feet from the entrance to the room. A wave of emotion crashed over me as his eyes met mine, none of them induced by the vampire king. As always, fear met me first, but this time it was closely followed by gratitude. He had saved Schwint and me. He had sent Schwint to Newton. He hadn’t killed Caitlin, even though he knew she’d been hiding in the forest. Then rage, as I remembered he was the reason my sisters and I were here to begin with. Why my parents had been hospitalized. I dropped my gaze so he wouldn’t see—as if he didn’t know.
As soon as I realized I was staring at his feet, I averted my eyes once more, finally taking in the starkly gorgeous room. Gwala was dressed in his preferred flowing robes. However, unlike the typical satin and silk he normally wore, this material was mostly transparent, like gossamer or a bridal veil. The only substance it had at all were thin strands of silver crisscrossing through the textile. His obsidian-black skin gleamed through the fabric, shining in the flickering flames. The robes highlighted his nudity almost to a greater extent than if he’d truly been wearing nothing at all.
Despite knowing he was older than I could ever really conceive, he looked like nothing more than a young teenage boy standing in front of me. His nudity was at once revolting and deceptive. He looked like it would take nothing more than a few sturdy blows or halfhearted spells to destroy him. If I let myself look at him, I might give in to the illusion.
After a moment, Gwala stepped forward, meeting us where we stood in the doorway. “Thank you, my queen. It seems I cannot trust those who serve me to the point I had believed. Please consider such a task of retrieval a testament of my faith in you—not that I believe you equal to a servant.”
Sonia didn’t respond, at least not that I heard. However, from the corner of my eye, I saw Gwala lift her hand and press his lips to her skin.
“Would you leave us, my beauty?”
Sonia’s hair fell forward as she nodded.
“Are you to be in the sun?”
As she responded, it struck me again how similar yet completely alien her voice was to the human woman I’d met before. “Yes, my king.”
Gwala kissed her hand another time. “Go enjoy the gifts I have given you. See the flow of blood in the light of day.”
As if vanishing, Sonia stepped from the room without so much as a rustle of fabric, leaving me alone with the vampire king.
I forced my gaze around the room, refusing to look at the king, for fear he would see the hate and revulsion in my eyes. I was afraid I didn’t have the strength to mask my emotions. Latching on, I focused on the pool. I couldn’t tell if the water was so clear that I was able to see the bottom of the pool or if I was merely seeing the reflection of the pink marbled ceiling.
Wincing, I flinched back when Gwala stroked my cheek with the backs of his fingers.
“You look awful, my young warlock. I fear had I not arrived when I did, Omar would have taken you from me.” He reached out again, despite my previous response, and pressed at my temple. I could see where his fingers made contact with my skin. I hadn’t realized my face had swollen to the point that I could see huge lumps over my skin. I’d thought my vision was just blurry. I probably looked like I’d gotten stung by a nest full of hornets. Or maybe beaten by a huge gold link chain.
