“I…”
The doors to the room burst open with a thud and several masked and cloaked individuals entered. Melanie paid no attention to them. She was looking at me as if she were on the verge of finishing me off. The new assailants encircled us and I noted their swords and other weapons in various attachments at their hips, ankles, and wrists. They were not random kids pretending to be in a cult; they were combat-ready. I could feel the tension in the room as they stilled, the hum of the energy surrounding me setting me on edge.
This wasn’t good.
I felt one of them behind me. I was outnumbered by far too many to be able to fight my way out of this. I could feel the one behind me standing too close, but I didn’t move.
“Put the sword down, Anna. You know you can’t win.”
I recognized Malakai’s voice, and I knew he was right, but I gripped the sword tighter.
He watched me.
“I was hoping you would do that,” he said, and vanished.
Feeling a grip on my wrist, my mind went blank.
I let the sword drop.
Shaking, I watched as Malakai circled me, picking up the sword and passing it to someone else. “I must admit, you are dangerous with a weapon. Who taught you how to fight?”
I glared at him. “What did you do to me?”
He chuckled. “Okay, I see—you are a bit upset. Forgive me for how you came here; you are indeed the guest of honor, and this will likely be my last chance to host you. You are exactly what I was looking for.”
I sensed two of them behind me. They placed a hand on my shoulders and pushed me to my knees. Malakai kneeled beforeme and took a curved dagger from his cloak. One of the others neared him and handed him an engraved silver goblet.
“Is this what you did to the others?” I spat.
Malakai’s expression tightened. “Are you still on about that?”
I met his eyes, and for a moment, my mind blanked, and he was reaching for me.
“This might sting,” he said, grabbing my forearm painfully and pulling it toward him. He twisted my hand and cut through the thin flesh at my wrist. I cried out in shock.
I was held from behind, unable to move at all. His grip on my wrist was tight as blood began to flow from the wound into the goblet in a thick stream. I watched as it happened from what felt like a disembodied state.This couldn’t be happening, could it?What did they want my blood for?
“Can you smell it? So sweet. I see why Blake likes her,” Malakai drawled.
When the goblet was full, he released my arm to fall limply to my side and stood with the goblet. He removed his mask, letting it fall to the floor, and lifted the goblet to his lips. A change in pressure between us made me lean back. At the same time, my vision blurred, followed by a loud bang across the room. The next thing I knew, Blake was standing before me, his hands wrapped around Malakai’s throat and blood, my blood, was flung across the floor and wall where the goblet had struck it. I watched as the others in the room, including Melanie, kneeled on the floor, lowering their heads.
“Why did you bring her here?” Blake shouted.
“You have forgotten where you come from. We thought if we could show you?—”
“Show me what? That sacrificing Initiates might make us powerful enough to end the curse? Even though this is exactly how it began in the first place? Have you lost your mind?” he seethed.
“No,” Melanie said quietly, “It is you who has forgotten what is at stake.”
“I have not forgotten,” Blake said. “But I do have limits on what I will sacrifice to do it.”
Melanie watched Blake as if she were trying to read his mind. “It was her, wasn’t it? She’s the one?—”
“Shut up, Melanie,” Blake snapped.
Then, several of Nightfall’s guards filed into the room.
“Take him to the dungeons, keep day and night guard,” Blake said. “Place him in the everi manacles. I’ll send for his retrieval.”
