Sapphire
“Up you go.”
I grunt as I’m thrown over Niklaus’s shoulder, making a focused effort not to vomit as his joint digs into my soft underbelly.
“Fuck, Spitfire. You’re freezing.”
I’m a sweaty, aching, bruised, swollen block of ice. Is it when I travel? Does it make me cold? Didn’t my mother mention her trips to the void would leave her in hypothermic levels?
“I’m—fine.” I tap the coiled muscle on his back. “Let’s just—rest a minute.”
Everything hurts. I’m still suffering the aftermath from our time in my uncle’s basement. And traveling isn’t exactly making a full recovery that much easier.
“I read your mother would undergo hypothermia when she fucked with someone’s mind in the void. Do you think that’s what’s happening?” Niklaus asks.
Flashes of green whirl past me as he walks quickly through what looks like the Emerald Lake Forest.
“I bet that’s why your swelling went down. Hypothermia reduces inflammation.”
“Please. Put me down. Cold.Tired.”
“Vrath just said he can follow us through doors you leave open. We aren’t staying put. We’re half a mile away from the castle. Let’s hide out there and regroup.”
I groan again.
Shouldn’t we go deeper into the forest? Put as much distance between us and Vrath as possible? I don’t want any more run-ins with him. That psychopath is going to harvest my organs and cut off my hair.
After a short while, Niklaus is able to set me down, and we slip into the cellar of the small castle. We sleep for hours but eventually wake with the symphony of noise occurring above us.
Footsteps clack across the ceiling. Violins and cellos are tuned and practiced, muffled over our heads. The room we rest in is dusty, carpeted, and lit by old chandeliers that swing and creak as people move around above us.
“Isn’t this exactly where Vrath would think to look first? I think there’s a ball tonight. Tons of people are going to be here,” I say.
Niklaus shakes his head. “Exactly. He knows we’re trying to be inconspicuous. He saw us hiding in the greenhouse. I guarantee his first thought will be to go deeper into the forest.”
Makes sense.
A soft tune bleeds through the crown molding ceiling and flows past us. I watch Niklaus massage his temples.
“What’d you think about what Vrath had to say about traveling?” he mumbles through his hand.
“I think he kills mothers in order to travel. That’s why he doesn’t catch up to us very quickly.” Maybe he even came to that conclusion when he traveled from his mother’s womb. Wearing a coating of her fluids and blood. I slide my gaze to Niklaus. “I don’t ever want to be near him again.”
“Yeah.”
“Did your mother ever tell you about Val and Vinaley?” I know it’s a long shot, since I’m pretty sure the only person my father told about them was my mother.
“She did,” he replies, resting his chin on his fist. “She was there when they were being experimented on.”
“Wait, what?”
“Demechforth, remember? Her family was a part of the trials too.”
“Did she know them?”
Niklaus nods. “She said she was there for the miscarriage. Though they assumed Vinaley terminated the pregnancy herself. The baby wasn’t in the womb anymore.”
I can’t believe how many dark secrets there are within the confines of our families.
