Though we certainly knew of at least one responsible. Maybe we could come to some sort of agreement. The thought withered before it could settle. That was highly unlikely. Perhaps there could be another way, some sort of loophole, something we could do without Alaric. But the entirety of the problem was not just getting the portal closed. The main problem haunted me every night. We could not just rid our worlds of the portal. We had to rid our worlds of Alaric.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“There is no way Alaric will just close the portal willingly,” I said as we were on our way out of the woods. As we left Seraphine, she gave me one last warning to stay away from silver.
“It’s very unlikely,” he said flatly. “Now that we know a human had to have helped, we can look into that. Humans are a lot easier to ... sway than vampires.” I didn’t know whether to roll my eyes at that or be frightened.
“And what are you going to do about Alaric?”
“I will capture him so he can stand trial. If I can manage to catch him,” he murmured that last part. “He is a master illusionist, as you unfortunately know.”
“His illusions can affect you too?”
He let out a playful scoff. “There’s been many times his illusions led me right into the swamp when we were boys.”
“You grew up together?”
“Yes.” I didn’t think he would elaborate. I circled my finger around the horn of the saddle. But he did. “He entered our service when he was ten.” It was hard to imagine Alaric as a young boy. Children are innocent, Alaric was not. And I knew all too well a child’s innocence is fragile. I wondered what it was that broke him. “He had a mouth on him, and he didn’t care that I was a prince. He was the only one who was honest with me. When he came of age, he became a part of my royal guard. That was when things started to change.”
I could feel he was being purposefully vague. I wanted to press further, but his next words stalled me.
“You said Thomas was your last chance. Your last chance at what?” At his blatant change of subject, I didn’t think I’d be able to get much more out of him.
“Oh, um ...” I paused. I supposed he already knew so much about me, what was one more embarrassment. “At being normal, which I am not, which at some point always repels any suitor willing to give me a chance. He was the last suitor willing to look past my ... differences.”
I took in a sharp breath as his warm fingers caressed my neck, sweeping my hair over my shoulder, exposing my skin to the autumn chill. He ran his nose along the slight curve, up to my jawline, inhaling deeply as he did so. His lips brushed my ear. My head felt lighter. “Is that what you want? Something normal?”
“I ...” My eyes fluttered closed as his hand pressed into my stomach, melding my back with his chest. His warmth bled into me, and I leaned into it, tilting my head back. My throat fully bared to him as he grazed his lips along my skin. “I don’t like the attention.” I finally managed to find the words.
“Mmm.” His lips trailed along my jawline, up to my ear, where he bit down softly, and a small sound escaped my lips. “Are you sure about that?”
As I felt his teeth sink in a little deeper, I finally got a hold of my head enough to realize a vampire was biting me. I jolted upright, glancing around my surroundings, hoping I could find a hole to burrow into or perhaps a cliff to hurl myself off of. I needed to get away from him, but I was trapped atop this beast with Sebastian firmly wedged behind me.
“Yes. The attention—it’s too much.” This was all too much.
“I see.” He took his giant hand off my stomach as he held on to the reins again, and I watched them. How they flexed around the leather, how they gripped—I shook my head slightly. “With Alaric gone, you can return back to normal.” His tone held a harder edge I couldn’t place.
Return. I had never been normal. Though it was what I wanted, I feared that particular reality had nearly slipped through the cracks completely. “I think the damage is irreversible.”
“What damage? Is that what they tell you? Perhaps, it is they who are missing what it takes to see the beauty of your difference. Because, Charlotte, I see no damage here.”
His words threw me off. Or was it his kindness? “You’re from another world. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
“There are many things that transcend worlds.”
Before I could ask what he meant, the air was ripped from my lungs as I was thrown to the ground. A guttural growl cut through the perpetual silence. My back pressed into the cold earth, sinking into the soft decay. And something—no—someone was on top of me. He appeared to be no more than eighteen, with light hair the color of wheat. He still possessed the small frame of a young boy. But despite his lack of muscle, he was incredibly strong. His fingers dug into my shoulders as he shoved me deeper into the dying leaves. Gnarled roots and sharp rocks bit into my back. And as my eyes landed on his curling lips, they widened at his fangs.
I was useless to myself. I had the dagger at my hip, but I couldn’t bring myself to reach for it. Did I really want to die at the hands of this vampire, who was clearly determined to take my life? Was my disdain for the violence really that strong as to delude my mind of reason, of when it was acceptable to defend myself? I didn’t know what kept me from my dagger. Another abnormality of mine. In a world where it was perfectly normal to kill the vampires, required even, I still couldn't bring myself to do it. Even when one was about to tear into me. Maybe I’d never discover why.
Just as I braced myself for the sharp sting of teeth sinking in, a giant hand wrapped around the boy’s throat. Sebastian moved so quickly I didn’t even have time to close my eyes before he drove his dagger deep within the boy’s chest, who stilled shortly after. Anothervampire came out of nowhere, tackling Sebastian and tearing into his throat. I screamed as I saw the blood pour from him.
* * *
His blood saturated the front of his shirt as it streamed down from his throat. He seemed only slightly inconvenienced by the wound as he led Nyx off to the side, away from the unmoving vampires. We made it until we were far enough away from the carnage before he tied Nyx to a tree and sank to the ground. I had been suppressing a gag ever since he asked me if I was okay, and I spotted the bits of missing flesh on the side of his neck. The glistening crimson ever-pouring. My throat burned with what I fought hard to keep down.
I had always been a bit squeamish.
His golden skin grew paler by the second.
