‘How many?’
‘Five or six,’ I lied.‘Not far.’
His grip tightened painfully.There would be more bruises to add to the collection by morning.I pushed forward.One step.Two.
With each second that trickled by, Raleigh’s breathing became ever more laboured.My knees screamed louder with every step, my back chiming in with perfect harmony.I became convinced I’d collapse and drop him, leaving him paralysed until sunrise.Or that my shoulders would shatter under the press of his fingers.I almost wanted someone to catch us, just to end our shared agony.
With one final push, my foot met dirt.I fell to my knees, grateful to give in to gravity at last.‘We’re here,’ I rasped, barely audible in the silence of night.But Raleigh heard well enough.His arms loosened and he tumbled to the ground without any of his usual grace.He barely managed to drag himself to the nearest shrub before he vomited.The sharp metallic reek of blood filled the air.
A streak of light flashed between two buildings on the other side of the river.A voice drifted through the dark, not close enough to make out the words, but close enough to be a danger.Someone had thought to check the bridge after all.
I dragged myself to my feet and placed a hand on Raleigh’s still trembling shoulder.‘We have to keep moving.’
He jumped at my touch, as though he had forgotten I was there, but rose unsteadily all the same.He looked different; the trauma of the crossing had drawn his more monstrous features to light.The shadows under his eyes were deeper than ever, and his fangs had grown to their full length.For a moment I thought he would lunge at me.I tightened my grip on the crucifix, ready to hurl the cover off if necessary.But instead, he turned away.‘You’re right,’ he said with his back to me.‘Let’s go.’
We walked without speaking until the village was well out of sight and the occasional snatches of voices faded into silence.I stayed several paces behind Raleigh, partly because I couldn’t muster the energy to catch up, but mostly because I recognised the hunger in his eyes.I didn’t want to come any closer than necessary if it meant he might decide he couldn’t wait any longer to replenish his lost blood.
It was my human stamina that faltered first.As we put the river behind us Raleigh’s stride became more confident, the tremor leaving his limbs, but for me it was the opposite.I’d had barely a few hours of sleep, and I’d already had an eventful day before our grand escape.Trekking through the woods in nothing but my slippers was the last thing my body wanted.After what felt like several days, though it couldn’t have been more than an hour, I spoke up.
‘Raleigh, wait.I need to rest a moment.’
He seemed surprised that I was still behind him.He waited while I caught up, then we searched for a relatively sheltered patch of ground to sit in, far enough off the path that we would be hidden from view should anyone approach.We sat side by side while I caught my breath, so close I could feel the faint caress of his sleeve every time he shifted.
‘Have you recovered?’I asked.‘You were rather affected.’
‘Rather.’Raleigh huffed a laugh.‘Yes, I’ve recovered.Or will, I suppose.’He touched his lips with one long-fingered hand.‘I lost rather a lot of blood.’
‘Rather,’ I repeated, a smile creeping onto my lips.‘Will you be all right?’It felt too human for him to die of blood loss.His kind hardly would have developed the reputation they had if they could die from an arrow to the shoulder and an upset stomach.
‘I’ll manage.How about you?Does it hurt terribly much?’
He was looking at my shoulders.I couldn’t see much of the damage in the dark, but I could feel that the fabric of my nightgown had shredded under his grip, and from the way it stung I knew his nails hadn’t stopped at the fabric.
‘Yes,’ I said.There was no point in lying, and I had no desire to spare his feelings.Still, I was hit with a pang of regret when Raleigh winced.‘Don’t apologise,’ I added before he had the chance, ‘Just trim your fingernails when we get home.They’re disgusting.’
Raleigh looked at his fingers as if noticing them for the first time, then folded them into fists and tucked them where I couldn’t see.‘Home,’ he repeated.
‘How far is it now?’I asked, quickly deflecting from my slip-up.‘An hour?’
‘Closer to two at our current pace.’Raleigh stood up and dusted himself off.‘Are you recovered?We should start moving again if we want to return by sunrise.’
‘What will happen if we don’t?’
Raleigh was quiet for a moment.‘Let’s not dwell on that.’
We walked side by side the rest of the way, though I could tell Raleigh was itching to walk faster.I didn’t know whether he slowed for my sake, or if his injured shoulder was holding him back, and I was annoyed to realise I had a preference between the two.I decided to focus on more pressing matters.
‘Do you think they’re still following us?’I asked.The river might have given us a substantial head start, but eventually they must have realised we hadn’t used the mountain pass.At our current pace Father could catch up to us at any moment.
‘I doubt it.I imagine they think we’ve reached the castle by now.’
My stomach dropped.I wondered how secure the castle would be if they tried to attack.It wouldn’t be the first raid on Castle Rostenburg, but there was only one survivor of the last, and that was Raleigh himself.No one else had dared attack because we’d thought Raleigh was impossible to kill.But now Father knew better.Self-preservation wouldn’t be enough to keep him away.
Then either Raleigh would die or Father would die.And either way their blood would be on my hands.
‘What will happen if they attack the castle?’
‘I wouldn’t worry about that.Juri wouldn’t dare.’
