“Maybe not, but I’m not afraid to try.” I grab a dress from the wardrobe that looks like it was made a century ago. At this point, I don’t care about fashion. I dress as quickly as possible and move toward the door of the windowless room. The moment I touch the doorknob, my hand feels like it’s on fire. “Shit!” I yell, stepping back. “What happened?”
Victoria is sitting on the large bed with an amused look on her face. “The doorknob is made out of silver.”
“And?” I ask. “Did a broken neck cause me to become a lycanthrope?”
Her laughter makes me want to slap her. “No, silly. Vampires are susceptible to silver, too. Did Cyrus not tell you?” I refuse to answer. Instead, I move toward the only closed door in the room. I inspect the knob before opening the door, revealing an up-to-date bathroom.
“Help me get out of here,” I demand.
“I can’t,” she answers.
“How did the other person get out?”
Victoria wrinkles her forehead. “Who?”
I move inches in front of the vampire. “I realize you are older, stronger, and bigger than me. I also realize that I most likely won’t win if we fight, but I’m not afraid to die.” I lower my voice halfan octave. “Let me out of this room, or we’ll find out exactly what I’m capable of.”
“Violet, if I let you out, she will kill you.”
“She already fucking did, and yet, look…Here I am.”
Victoria suddenly stands straighter, tilting her head to the side. “She’s almost here.” The look of amusement fades and is replaced with fear. “She mustn’t know you’re awake.”
“I don’t know if you’re on my side or against me. Pick a side, bitch.” I’m not sure where foul-mouthed Violet came from, but I don’t try to stop her.
“I’m on the side of surviving.” She looks me in the eyes. “If you want to live to find Cyrus, you’ll lie down on that bed and pretend to be asleep.”
“No,” I refuse.
Victoria is behind me a heartbeat later, with her arms wrapped around my neck in the same way as Aurora. She’s right. My strength is nothing compared to hers. I fight with everything I have, accomplishing nothing. “This is for your own good.” Her words are the last thing I hear before everything goes black for the second time.
……
My eyes open, and I realize I’m in the same room. I’m lying in bed, covered by the heavy quilt. How? Memories of Victoria flood my mind. This time, before jumping out of bed with hopes of escaping, I dosomething that would’ve saved me from the very beginning of this entire shit show. I think.
Victoria is gone, which means either there’s a way out of the room, or someone, most likely Aurora, let her out. I have to get out of here. If Lucien was telling the truth, and Cyrus is…I don’t even want to think the words.
I stand, moving around the room. Next to the door is a chest of drawers. I slide each drawer open, looking for something, anything, finding nothing. “Shit,” I whisper. I move vampire speed around the room, looking for anything that will help me escape the silver prison.
Grabbing the quilt from the bed, I wrap it around my hands and try the doorknob again. The burning is still there but not as strong as before. I manage to twist it enough to loosen the door from its lock. Dropping the quilt, I open the door slowly, half expecting Aurora to be on the other side. Instead of the hallway my mind thought would be there, I’m met with another door. Behind the wooden door I just opened sits a door made from pure silver. The energy coming from it does more than burn. It hits me in the gut, making me nauseated. I know without asking, the door holds a curse.
“Dammit!” I scream. “Let me out of here!”
Using the quilt, I close the wooden door and continue looking for another way out. Working my way through the room, I touch everything, resisting the temptation to laugh at myself for thinking the candlestickcould be an escape route. I move to the bookcase, sliding books in and out. I hope to find a magic key or a secret passage.
A thick leather-bound book on the top shelf grabs my attention. Where the rest of the books seemed to be placed purposefully in perfect order, this one is pushed further back. I pull the thick text out, and the bookcase slides toward me. The scraping sound is the same I heard earlier. Behind the bookcase is a doorway.
Stepping into the blackness, I slide the bookcase closed behind me, putting me in a pitch-black space. I fight the urge to run, not sure what might be waiting for me. This is too easy. It has to be a trick of some sort. I need to think rather than react.
The hallway ends at the top of a narrow staircase. I continue moving, keeping my steps light and silent as I move toward the faint glow of lights in the distance. At the bottom of the stairs is a wooden wall with exposed beams…clearly, I’m behind a main wall of the house. The light that I followed earlier comes from a hole in the wall. Through the hole, I’m able to see what looks like the foyer to the house. Other than heavy ornate furniture, the room is empty. A familiar energy slides over me, making me shiver. What am I feeling?
Cyrus’s voice rings through my mind.Use your energy, Violet. Step into your power.Someone steps into the room, forcing me away from the hole. Shit, Violet. Be brave. Who is it?
I take an unnecessary breath, clearing my mind,and send my energy into the room, searching for what I’m feeling. The first energy I feel is Aurora’s. I open my eyes, realizing the woman who stepped in the room is her.
On instinct, I duck, hiding further in the opening as Aurora passes my hiding spot once more. How is that possible? Why doesn’t she feel my energy? I don’t have time to figure it out. Another energy piques my interest. It’s familiar and grows stronger by the second.
Aurora opens the front door with a grand gesture. The green dress she’s wearing flows behind her, blown by an invisible fan. “Look who the cat dragged in.” She laughs with her words. “I would like to say I’m surprised to see you, but that would be a lie. What do you want?”
