“What do you mean? Lord Henri saved her, just as he saved me, you, and all the others living here. He has given us another chance.”
Lysander only lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug as a response.
“Do you think Henri will turn her? Make her like us?” I ask the real question hovering in the air. It’s what he’s known for after all. Finding less fortunate souls, introducing them into this lavish life, taking them in, and gifting them with immortality… He’s a man of truth and generosity unlike anyone I’ve ever met before.
“It is possible,” he replies. “It’s always hard to determine what Henri is thinking.”
I think back to my own turning—the extensive pain I felt of my body dying, my heart stopping, the seeping coldness in my bones—and then there was the flooding warmth of life again, and the thirst. Oh, thethirst.It’d been unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
To this day, the cravings are the worst for me. The need to kill and consume blood is overwhelming. Henri’scellar stock of animal blood had saved me from losing control that first month, and has been my steady source of food, but it’s been a struggle. With immortality comes the consuming need to feed on a human host, something I’m not willing to do.
I’m not sure if Haven knows of the struggles that await her if she decides to be changed. But Henri would always give her the choice before doing so.
Leaning against the banister, Lysander sighs, his lips curling up in an amused smile. It’s something I rarely see from him. “So, you seem to have a charge now.”
Again, the idea of getting closer to Haven has my stomach twisting into knots, and I’m not sure why. I clear my throat to try and recover. “I do...”
“Do you think you will be able to handle such a task?” he asks.
I eye him. “You make it sound like it will be a challenge.”
His smirk growing, Lysander gestures across the room, and I squint to see what he’s pointing to. Past the swirling and dancing bodies on the dance floor, I can just make out Lord Henri standing against one of the large arch windows, deep in conversation with an unknown man.
Still not sure what he means, I ask, “What is it?”
Lysander grabs my two shoulders and jerks me to stand in his place for a more direct view. When a dancing couple glides past, I finally see what Lysander is referring to. Henri and the man are the only ones there. Haven’s no longer beside them.
My stomach flips. She’sgone.
Haven
The storm is worse now than before. Even the warm glow from the streetlamps struggles to penetrate the sheets of rain that fall from the dark sky. The water clings to my arms and face, making me shiver as the wind rushes past. Part of me wishes I had stayed at the party where it was at least warm and dry, but I don’t belong there. With those…demons.
I couldn’t stand how Henri made me follow him around like his little pet, nodding at strangers and pretending to be interested in their petty talk. Acting like a socialite, a man of sophistication, when I know what he really is. A monster. Just like the rest of them.
I can barely stomach the lies and elaborate attempts at this charade.
There’s no way I’m going to let him keep me like a prisoner. I knew I had to get away, so I waited until they all were too engrossed in their merriment before slipping away.
This is my second attempt at an escape. During the first, I hadn’t gotten farther than Greystone’s gate, but that was because I didn’t have a distraction like tonight’s party. My only hope is that it lasts long enough for me to return to my father and get us both away from Birmingham before someone comes looking for me. There’s no doubt in my mind they will. Especially with Henri’s determination to keep me close by.
With the sounds of the band and the bright lights ofthe ballroom far behind me, I hug my arms tighter around myself and trudge on through the city streets. My dress clings to my body like another layer of skin, and my pointed-heel boots click against the cobblestones. The many pins holding up my curls make my head pound, and the heavy-stoned jewelry around my throat and wrists feel extra heavy suddenly, slowing me down.
Breaking into a run down Smallbrook Street, I fiddle with the ribbon behind my neck, but the moment the necklace falls free, I hesitate. If I save the jewels, I can sell them for food—a good amount of food, too. Or even for transport out of the town, to somewhere safe.
But Henri’s haunting words float from my memory, and my gut clenches.“I love seeing you in my gifts. You’re like my treasure, sparkling and radiant. You’ll be thanking me for this later.”
Thanking him…
Dread trembles through me. I don’t even want to think what he means by that.
Glancing down at the necklace in my palm, decorated with sapphires, I change my mind. Anything I do with it would just be me accepting another “gift” from him. And I want no part in it.
I drop the necklace. It clatters onto the ground.
The bracelets come next. One by one, I yank them off my wrists and let them go. Then, I pluck the pins out of my hair and toss them away. I shake out my wet locks, enjoying the freeness I suddenly feel all around.
Much better.
