Whoever that man was, I couldn’t be caught by him again. It didn’t matter how much everything hurt. It didn’t matter that every step sent bolts of agony through me. I just needed to get away. I couldn’t go back into the caves. He’d find me. He’d take me, and then there would be no way out. I knew this. I couldn’t say how I knew it, but I knew it.There was light ahead like moonlight streaming through the trees. The people who were running ahead of me seemed to slow down as they reached the outside and looked around. They started cutting through the trees.“Keep going!” Francia yelled from behind us. “We’ll lose it in the trees.”My heart lightened as I heard the stroke of thunder. It rumbled and shook the cave as I grew closer. Lightning streaked across the sky, and the rain fell in thick, heavy sheets. I ran into the rain, and a flash of memory went through my mind. For a moment, I was running towards a paved highway. My heart trembled as I looked around waiting for the glint of ligh
This man dragged me through the forest towards another cave before stopping and releasing me. There was mud crammed into my jeans and up my back. I was filthy. He turned to me."Do you think you can be an adult, stand up and walk now?"I didn’t move, setting my jaw. He didn’t even flinch. He shrugged and reached for me again. I pulled away from him, trying to escape, but he grabbed me by the back of my shirt. I kicked and twisted, trying to tear the shirt and escape from him, but there was no helping it. The darkness enveloped us, then he let me go. I tumbled down a hill as I tried to kick away from him. I tumbled and rolled and landed into the shallows of a large lake that seemed to stretch for miles.“You’re not even trying to pull punches, are you?” Francia asked.“If I’ve been left to educate the idiot in such a short amount of time, then it has to be this way.”I got up, trudging out of the lake. I twisted and crawled onto the back, ready to run when I realized that the sky was c
I watched him continue drinking.“And who are you to teach me a lesson about anything?” I growled, my eyes burning. “You’re just a vampire! This is werewolf territory—Candido’s territory!”His lips didn’t even twitch, but someone nearby snickered. Then, there was laughter that filled the hall, mocking.“Stop laughing,” I growled. “Stop laughing at me!”“Are you not meant to laugh at something funny?” He asked and ducked his head. His eyes brightened. “Oh, look. It is nearly time to be done with this.”He stood and addressed the hall. “So sorry to take the entertainment for the night early, but my patience has worn thin.”The woman who had threatened me with a sword glared down at me. “There is nothing amusing about her… Lady Hedwig deserved better.”He placed an arm on her shoulder. “As we all know, but we must work with the hand we have been dealt.” He chuckled. “We all know how fickle our Goddess is.”“Willful,” someone said.“She would adore such blasphemy,” he said, a bit of humor
I looked up and almost cried as Candido came staggering down the hall. He looked hazy, clutching his shoulder. His arm hung uselessly at his side and unmoving. He seemed to be wearing a glove on that hand but not the other. It was weird.“Candido!” I cried, my eyes tearing up. “Finally, I—”I went quiet as he froze in his tracks, staring at me with narrowed eyes and suspicion. His eyes darted over me, but it didn’t feel like he was looking for injuries. It looked like he was trying to figure out if I was real or not. He leaned against the wall, but he got no closer.Then, his eyes got darker. “Who are you, and where is Hedy?”I flinched at his tone and sniffled. “What are you talking about? It’s me—”“Don’t lie to me!” Candido yelled. “You aren’t Hedy. I know what she smells like. You’re not her. Where is she?”I stumbled towards
He choked and spat out a mouthful of blood. It was thick and dark like his body was trying to expel the poison.The vampire chuckled. “Seems like they went the extra mile with a bit of wolfsbane. Bravo.”“Candido, answer me!” I cried, shaking him. “You have to wake up! You have to fight it! You have to!”But he said nothing. I kept screaming at him, telling him to snap out of it. Candido was too strong to be taken out by a bullet, to be taken out by anything. He promised to always protect me. How could he do that if he died? What would I do if he died here?I shook him again. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”“He needs medical attention,” Vanessa said stiffly. “I’m calling for a medic.”“Good luck,” the vampire said. “They won’t make it in time, and I have no problem with letting him die.”Vanessa said nothing, but her expression loo
Again, he seemed oddly untouched by the falling water. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed to be getting soaked. Candido shivered as his clothes got wet and the sprinkler water started to wash away the blood.“It would seem that your crude defenses have finally failed,” he hissed. “Give me the Triskele, Vanessa. Now!”“No!” She yelled. “I’d rather die.”“Allow me to help you with that!” He hissed.“No!” I yelled, jumping, and trying to protect her, but there was no bolt of light. The guns exploded in the hands of the operatives, and Vanessa jerked forward. She screamed and flailed through the air. I tried to stop her, but I was swatted aside by a force and into the wall. I hit my head and the world blurred for a second. I turned over and slumped back against the wall as she stopped flying just in front of him.The vampire started patting her down. She tried to fight, but she
I kept falling and falling as if there was nothing but space beneath me, then I turned and realized that I wasn’t falling but flying up. Wind rushed over my face and I slammed into water. Bubbles drifted around me, but I could breathe even as I seemed to be surfacing.Slowly, I started to hear voices.“You’re sure?” Someone asked.“She mentioned silver coming from the ground and that golden-furred idiot on the cliff,” another person said. “I am certain. What that means only time will tell… Perhaps the elixir was a bit too effective.”What elixir? What were they talking about? Who were they? I could recognize them as… not a threat exactly but I didn’t know for certain what that meant.“But… I thought you said it was a long stretch. Wasn’t her dad like the weakest kind of werewolf?”I pushed against the darkness in my mind. They were definitely talking
I couldn’t say how long it had been since I had passed out. My mouth tasted terrible, like bile and blood. I struggled to breathe in the cold air and shivered. The world spun again and I landed hard on my front on the hard cold ground. I tried to curl up then a light drifted over me. I looked towards it and squinted into the brightness of the white-blue light.“Even children know better than to look into a light source,” Ian said with a clipped tone. The light shifted aside, illuminating him. “Honestly, you prove yourself to be dumber and dumber every time I see youHe was wearing something different. It looked expensive and old-world-like. It was nothing like the neat suits Candido wore. His cuffs were trimmed with silver and gold. There were sun and moon motifs in the tile behind him and between us was a line of sturdy black poles that looked like the door of a cell.“You…” A cold air drifted in as my breath turned to