can’t promise that I also won’t fall for their charms…”
She looked agitated just at the thought of it. This girl is more desperate than a drowning cat.
“Come away with me, Celice.” I ran my hands through her hair and gently massaged her scalp. She closed her eyes and parted her lips. I pressed my mouth against the base of her neck. “Then I’ll be yours. All yours. And only yours. No one will ever take me away.”
She seemed so naive—so full of gusto to outdo her sisters—that she might have agreed to any proposal that came out of my mouth.
She was on the verge of answering me when two female voices shouted out from the distance. The voices drifted through the woods, from the direction of the castle.
“Celice! Girl, where are you? They’re back early! Come here.”
No.
No.
I looked at Celice. This really could be my last chance. Everything would be ten times harder once the vampires arrived back on the island. And I doubted that her elder sisters would ever approve of me taking her—they would be older and wiser, and would become suspicious, unlike this naive girl.
“Listen to me, Celice,” I breathed into her ear. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take you now. We’ll go somewhere we can be together. Alone. Your sisters will never steal me from you. I’ll be yours all day… and all night…”
I gave her the most smoldering gaze I could manage before pressing my mouth against hers and kissing her slowly and tenderly. I let my lips linger against hers for several moments.
If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.
I breathed out a deep sigh of relief when she said, “Very well. Have your wicked way with me… Novalic.” She grinned mischievously. I’d sparked exactly what I’d needed to in this repressed teenager. Recklessness. Rebellion.
As soon as she uttered the words, I scooped her up in my arms and raced toward the beach.
“Who goes there?”
This time, it was a male voice.
But not that of Damion.
It came from behind me. I whirled around to see a crowd of vampires walking toward us along the sand. The great ship that was The Black Bell was moored in the distance behind them.
“It’s them! The Lord and Lady!” Celice squealed. “Kiev, hurry! I can make us vanish if you tell me…”
But I no longer heard what she was saying. Her voice faded away into the distance. I found myself rooted to the spot. For the Lord and Lady had just swept back their hoods, revealing their faces.
I lost all strength in my arms and Celice tumbled to the ground.
If I ever truly believed that I was trapped inside a dream, it was then.
Chapter 10: Mona
I ran back upstairs to my room. I slammed the door shut and slid down to the floor. All the tears that I had kept pent up for the past few days came rushing out.
I had left my cleaning duties before Mogda had given me permission. If I am to be punished for it, so be it. I couldn’t stand one more minute in those dungeons.
I crawled over to my straw mattress and laid down my head, looking up at the damp ceiling.
What the hell was I expecting? I shouldn’t have expected anything less than this from these monsters.
I didn’t know what was worse about being in that place—witnessing all the misery, or the fact that I was powerless to do anything about it.
I realized that it was the latter. What tormented me more than the horrors that went on within the bowels of these mountains was that I had to stand by and watch. And in standing by, it felt like I was supporting their atrocities.
I couldn’t get that man out of my head. He must be sitting in that dark cell, waiting with his hands clenched for me to return and tell him that I’d delivered his note. I was too cowardly to go back there and inform him of the bad news. He would still be hoping that his wife was still alive and that he might one day be able to see her again. I supposed that it was kinder not to tell him the truth.
My heart leapt into my throat as a shrill scream echoed
She looked agitated just at the thought of it. This girl is more desperate than a drowning cat.
“Come away with me, Celice.” I ran my hands through her hair and gently massaged her scalp. She closed her eyes and parted her lips. I pressed my mouth against the base of her neck. “Then I’ll be yours. All yours. And only yours. No one will ever take me away.”
She seemed so naive—so full of gusto to outdo her sisters—that she might have agreed to any proposal that came out of my mouth.
She was on the verge of answering me when two female voices shouted out from the distance. The voices drifted through the woods, from the direction of the castle.
“Celice! Girl, where are you? They’re back early! Come here.”
No.
No.
I looked at Celice. This really could be my last chance. Everything would be ten times harder once the vampires arrived back on the island. And I doubted that her elder sisters would ever approve of me taking her—they would be older and wiser, and would become suspicious, unlike this naive girl.
“Listen to me, Celice,” I breathed into her ear. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take you now. We’ll go somewhere we can be together. Alone. Your sisters will never steal me from you. I’ll be yours all day… and all night…”
I gave her the most smoldering gaze I could manage before pressing my mouth against hers and kissing her slowly and tenderly. I let my lips linger against hers for several moments.
If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.
I breathed out a deep sigh of relief when she said, “Very well. Have your wicked way with me… Novalic.” She grinned mischievously. I’d sparked exactly what I’d needed to in this repressed teenager. Recklessness. Rebellion.
As soon as she uttered the words, I scooped her up in my arms and raced toward the beach.
“Who goes there?”
This time, it was a male voice.
But not that of Damion.
It came from behind me. I whirled around to see a crowd of vampires walking toward us along the sand. The great ship that was The Black Bell was moored in the distance behind them.
“It’s them! The Lord and Lady!” Celice squealed. “Kiev, hurry! I can make us vanish if you tell me…”
But I no longer heard what she was saying. Her voice faded away into the distance. I found myself rooted to the spot. For the Lord and Lady had just swept back their hoods, revealing their faces.
I lost all strength in my arms and Celice tumbled to the ground.
If I ever truly believed that I was trapped inside a dream, it was then.
Chapter 10: Mona
I ran back upstairs to my room. I slammed the door shut and slid down to the floor. All the tears that I had kept pent up for the past few days came rushing out.
I had left my cleaning duties before Mogda had given me permission. If I am to be punished for it, so be it. I couldn’t stand one more minute in those dungeons.
I crawled over to my straw mattress and laid down my head, looking up at the damp ceiling.
What the hell was I expecting? I shouldn’t have expected anything less than this from these monsters.
I didn’t know what was worse about being in that place—witnessing all the misery, or the fact that I was powerless to do anything about it.
I realized that it was the latter. What tormented me more than the horrors that went on within the bowels of these mountains was that I had to stand by and watch. And in standing by, it felt like I was supporting their atrocities.
I couldn’t get that man out of my head. He must be sitting in that dark cell, waiting with his hands clenched for me to return and tell him that I’d delivered his note. I was too cowardly to go back there and inform him of the bad news. He would still be hoping that his wife was still alive and that he might one day be able to see her again. I supposed that it was kinder not to tell him the truth.
My heart leapt into my throat as a shrill scream echoed
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