A Shade of Kiev 3 (8 page)

I
was gasping
for air by the time we reached the entrance of the cave. I breathed in deeply. Each second that Rhys delayed telling me what the witch had said was another second the knot in my stomach tightened.

“Tell me now, Rhys.” I gripped his shirt.

“She… she wants to test out your mind first. How strong, how obedient it is.”

I stared at him.

“So let me get this straight. The transformation in itself is a huge ordeal that most people don’t survive. Yet she wants me to do something else in addition?”

He nodded. He held my hand and started helping me down the boulders back toward the pebbly beach.

“What more does she want from me?”

“I don’t know.”

“What? How can you not know? I just saw her talking to—”

“She wouldn’t tell me exactly what it was she wanted. She just said that she wanted you in that chamber for a few hours… without me.”

I stared at him, barely believing my ears.

“But… all along the plan was for you to guide me through, be my rock—”

He gripped my shoulders and shook me.

“Yes,” he said, glaring down at me. “That still is the plan. I’ll be by your side. But she wants you alone with her beforehand.”

“Why wouldn’t she tell you what she was going to do with me?” I croaked.

“I don’t know. I tried to pry for an answer but she refused to give me details.”

“Alone, in there, for hours.” I repeated the words slowly, letting them sink in, images of that nightmarish chamber flooding my mind.

“You have an hour to decide. If we don’t return in an hour, she’ll assume you’re not serious.”

I bit my lip as it trembled.

Although the prospect made me want to forget gaining Rhys’ powers and just return to my old life, I knew that I couldn’t. I’d come this far. And now this was the final step. I just couldn’t give up now.

“I’ll do it,” I murmured.

Concern filled Rhys’ eyes as he held my hands against his chest.

We both remained silent as we looked at each other. Perhaps he was studying me to see if this really was what I wanted.

Then he nodded.

“Very well. If you’re sure. I’ll be keeping track of the time and I’ll return to the chamber as soon as the period is over.”

He walked with me back up to the entrance of the cave and through the first dark tunnel. Once we reached the first corridor that was lit, he let go of me and took a step back into the shadows.

“You need to walk alone from here,” he said.

“All right,” I whispered.

I glanced once more at Rhys, hoping to draw some sort of strength from him before I left him.

“Wait.” He removed his belt and fastened it around my waist along with the silver dagger that was attached to it. He pressed my palm against the hilt. “You might need this for whatever Lilith has planned.”

I gulped and looked down the shadowy hallway. As I turned to leave, he caught my arm and pulled me flush against him, kissing me hard.

When he drew away, his eyes were blazing.

“You’re strong enough to get through this.” He spoke the words aggressively. “Do you trust me?”

I stared at him, my lips still tingling from the force of his kiss.

“Yes,” I said. And for perhaps the first time in my life, I truly meant it.

W
e all reappeared
outside the castle in the courtyard where we’d first vanished with Isolde.

We herded the humans up the castle steps and into the entrance hall. Then Isolde turned to me, since I was closest to her, and handed me another set of keys.

“Take them down to the dungeon and make sure the cells are shut properly. We don’t want any more escapes.”

I nodded and took the keys. She went in the opposite direction and my siblings and I led the humans toward the dungeon. I opened up the trapdoor and we bundled them inside. Anna was the last. I picked her up and walked down with her. I called up the trapdoor to my siblings, “I’ll take things from here. You two can go.”

When they looked hesitant to leave me alone I shot them both glares and they did as I’d suggested.

As soon as they had disappeared from sight, I picked up Anna again and, locking the trapdoor behind me, made a dash across the entrance hall up the stairs.

“Where are you taking me?” she gasped, clutching my neck.

“Shh.”

I was worried I’d bump into someone in the corridors or the staircases so I moved as fast as I could. I heaved a sigh of relief as we reached my apartment. I swung the door open and slammed it shut behind me. I walked into my bedroom, placing Anna down on the soft bed.

I ran around the apartment making sure all the windows and balcony doors were closed.

I returned to the bedroom to see Anna huddle up into the corner of the bed, breathing heavily as she clutched her stomach.

“Why are you doing this?” she croaked.

I stopped still and stared at her.

Why am I doing this?

I wasn’t sure that I knew myself.

I ignored her question and asked one of my own.

“How old are you?” I couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer.

“I-I’ll be thirty-five soon.”

Thirty-five.

“How old were you when I last saw you?”

“I was eighteen.”

I swore.

Seventeen years.

“How is that possible?”

She swallowed hard before replying, her voice still trembling. “I think time passes differently when you’re here in this realm… with these witches.”

“How do you know?”

“I overheard a couple of vampires talking, back in the dungeon. Time passes slower compared to on Earth.”

I rubbed my head, trying to let this insane truth sink in. Several minutes passed in silence.

“The Shade,” I muttered. “That still exists and… the Novaks still rule it?”

She nodded.

The Novaks. My own distant family.
Another insanity I was still trying to wrap my head around.

Noticing she was shivering, I snapped back to the reality I now faced. The challenges I had to overcome. I untucked the blanket from the bed and handed it to her. She wrapped it around her, still staring at me suspiciously.

“Stay here,” I said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I warn you—do not leave this room.”

I flew out the door and rushed down the staircases toward the kitchen.

I knew that we had proper food in this castle because I’d seen witches eat it. They drank blood but they also ate regular food.

I hunted around the kitchen and found soup in one of the big cooking pots. There was bread on the counter too. I found a tray and, heating up the soup quickly, poured a portion into a bowl. I grabbed the whole loaf of bread, a water jug and a metal goblet, placing everything on the tray.

I covered the tray with a towel I found hanging on a hook and hoped I wouldn’t bump into anyone on my way back up. I rushed back up to my room and slammed the door shut behind me. Anna hadn’t moved from where I’d left her.

I placed the meal on the bed next to her and removed the towel.

“Eat,” I muttered.

She looked at the food doubtfully, but she soon gave into her hunger. She swallowed down the soup and finished the whole loaf of bread in less than ten minutes. Then she drank half the jug of water.

While she was eating, I lit up the fireplace, warming the cold room.

When she was done, she leaned back on the bed. Some warmth had already returned to her cheeks.

Now that she had some food in her, my next concern was the smell of her blood. This castle was filled with vampires and her scent was a siren call to my kind. I’d closed all the windows and doors and drawn all the curtains. But I feared that some might have already detected her scent. I feared it was so strong they might be able to smell it through the walls.

I looked back at her.

“Take a shower,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows at me but she didn’t protest. I guessed that she was grateful for the opportunity to clean herself.

I placed a clean towel and a fresh set of my own night clothes in the bathroom. They’d be too large for her but she’d have to make do with them.

While she was in the bathroom, I sat down on the bed.

What am I going to do?

The scent of her blood was getting to my head, making it hard to concentrate. I fought back the urge to dig my fangs into her soft neck.

Hell, never mind hiding her from the others, I’m going to need to hide her from myself if I don’t get a hold on myself.

I forced my mind back to the matter at hand.
How do I mask the scent of her blood?

I racked my brains, trying to recall any smell that was stronger than immune blood.

I knew there were ways to dilute the scent—like placing jugs of regular human blood in my room. Still, it wasn’t foolproof and having lots of human blood in my room in addition to her sweet smell could just attract more attention.

One of Mona’s charms really would be useful right now…

I realized that for now, the best thing I could do was steal some of Helina’s perfume and have Anna coat herself with it. I’d have to leave the room as little as possible, and not allow anyone in.

“What happened to you, Kiev?” Anna’s soft voice broke through my thoughts.

She was standing leaning against the bathroom door, wearing my pajamas.

“What?” I frowned at her.

“Well… your eyes, for one thing.”

“Don’t get too used to them. They flicker back and forth.”

She walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, stretching out her legs.

“I don’t know what this place is, why you rescued me from that dungeon or what you intend to do with me but… I don’t know. You just seem different to the man I knew in Aviary, who stole a newborn from his helpless mother.”

Her green eyes were full of honesty.

I cleared my throat and stood up, suddenly uncomfortable beneath her gaze.

“Whose child are you bearing?”

“Kyle’s, my husband’s.”

Kyle. The name rang a bell. He was one of the last vampires I’d seen back in Aviary. He’d been taken there along with Anna and another human boy. He was there the night I let them all escape.

Silence fell between us for several minutes.

“I don’t know why I saved you,” I said. “And I also don’t know what I’m going to end up doing with you. So don’t get too comfortable around me.”

I walked closer to her. She flinched as I reached out to touch her forehead.

Her temperature seemed normal. “If you lie down flat, I’ll check on your baby,” I said.

She looked at me doubtfully, but took me up on my suggestion. She lay down on the bed and lifted the shirt up to reveal her stomach.

She shivered as I placed my cold hands over her bump. I ran my hands over her skin, feeling her stomach at various points. Then I spread out both of my palms flat. Finally, I placed my ear against her stomach.

Sensing a healthy amount of movement, I pulled the shirt back over her. I stood up and she sat back up in bed, still staring at me.

“I need to get back to Earth,” she said. “My family and everyone at The Shade will be worried sick about me. I don’t know how much time is passing there each second that I’m here, but I’m scared it will be too long and they will lose all hope. I have two other children, Kiev.”

Her eyes were now brimming with tears.

I heaved a sigh.

I knew that she had to get back, but I had no idea how that would ever happen. Right now the best thing I could do was concentrate on protecting her and her unborn child from others, and from myself.

E
ach step
I took toward the circular chamber panicked my mind further. I tried to focus on Rhys’ last assurance to me before I left him.

I paused just outside the door.

I don’t even understand a word she says. How am I going to do this?

I pushed the door and it creaked open. I peeked my head inside and shut the door behind me. I inched over to the edge of the raised floor and looked down at the pool. The witch hadn’t surfaced. Although the stench had dissipated somewhat, it would return full force as soon as she appeared again.

My knees about to give way again, I walked down toward the pool.

I cleared my throat.

“I’m back,” I said, my voice cracking.

My voice echoed around the walls.

I waited with bated breath. But the witch didn’t resurface.

Perhaps she didn’t hear me?

I lowered myself to my knees and leant over the liquid, speaking louder. “Uh, excuse me. Lilith? I’m back. I’ve decided to—”

A powerful gust blew from behind me. I could barely scream before I fell face forward into the dark liquid.

In my shock, I opened my mouth to gasp for air, only to choke on a lungful of black liquid. I kicked and moved my arms frantically, trying to surface. I had underestimated how thick the liquid was. Each movement I made was ten times harder than it should have been.

I gripped the side of the pool, hauling myself up and retching. The pool’s rotten taste overwhelmed my senses. I clambered to pull myself out, but something closed around my ankle. I was yanked back down into the liquid with such force I lost my grip on the edge of the pool and was submerged once more.

I was pulled down further and further into the grave of this rotting corpse.

I did my best to keep my mouth shut this time, but my oxygen was running out fast. In my panic, I couldn’t think of any charm that could help me to breathe.

The grasp around my ankle didn’t loosen for a second. It only got tighter the further I was pulled. It felt like my hip might dislocate from the force.

My lungs were now screaming with pain. They felt like they were about to burst. As I felt I was seconds away from dying, my head bobbed above the black liquid. I opened my mouth and gasped for air. Wiping the fluid from my eyes, I opened them only to be met with pitch darkness.

I spread out my hands and felt stone walls all around me. When I reached my hand upward, it brushed a low rough ceiling. I was trapped in some sort of narrow container.

I was terrified that the hand would once again clasp around my ankle and pull me back into the black substance. I tried to push on the ceiling, but it didn’t budge.

Where am I?

No sooner had I asked myself the question than there was a loud crack. I looked up to see the ceiling had popped open. Except that this was no ceiling. It was a lid.

I reached up to push the lid again and this time it was much easier to budge. Careful not to submerge myself, I pushed at it until it slid off. I reached up and gripped hold of the ledge. I kicked and managed to heave myself over after several attempts. I found myself rolling onto a patch of grass. I coughed, remains of that foul substance still coating my mouth.

I sat up and gasped to see that I’d just climbed out of a grave. And now that I looked around, I was surrounded by marble tombstones.

It took a few seconds to realize where I was.

The Sanctuary.

My old home.

I remembered playing hide and seek in this graveyard with Rhys as a child.

I looked around in awe. I’d lost track of how much time had passed since I’d set foot in The Sanctuary. But my awe soon turned to panic. I’d been banished. I couldn’t be seen here. It wasn’t even possible to enter the boundaries of The Sanctuary without permission. Clearly this Ancient was able to bypass their protective spell.

I turned back around to look at the grave I’d just climbed out of. I almost screamed as I caught sight of the Ancient’s beady black eyes glaring up at me, her irises glinting in the moonlight.

She began talking to me, her voice hoarse and grating.

I held up my hands. “I don’t understand you,” I whispered. I shook my head forcefully. “I can read your language but I can’t understand.”

She scowled and, lifting two bony hands onto the grass, pulled herself out of the grave. I took a step back as she stood up, revealing her full height for the first time.

I gasped at how tall she was. Almost twice my height. Black cloth covered her body—I assumed it had once been a dress, but it was so ripped and ragged that it now showed more of her body than it concealed.

I stared in horror as she staggered over to one of the other gravestones, her sickeningly thin legs shaking as if they could barely carry her own weight. She bent down, her back folding sharply, and picked up a stone from the grass. She walked over to a slab of black stone and began scratching against it. She dropped the stone and stood up.

I waited for her to step back before approaching the stone. It was hard to concentrate on the text with her rasping breathing behind me. The more I read, the more I wanted to look away. The more I wished that I had never started reading.

My body was shaking more than ever as I drew my eyes away from it and crumpled to the grass. The Ancient’s eyes narrowed on me, as though she were studying my reaction.

I stared at her in disbelief.

She began clucking her tongue impatiently.

I managed to get to my feet and walked over to the slab. Picking up the stone, I wrote my agreement in her language.

She hissed at me and gestured toward the exit of the graveyard. A pair of tall gates.

I didn’t need her to show me the way. I’d been here a thousand times in my youth. I watched as she crawled back into the grave and lowered herself, disappearing from sight as she replaced the stone lid over her.

I looked up at the old clock tower outside the entrance of the graveyard. I didn’t have much time. The Ancient had given a strict deadline.

The first thing I did was clean myself of the liquid using my magic. Then, putting an invisibility spell over myself, I weaved through the tombstones until I reached the gates. I looked around the street outside. It appeared to be empty.

As I walked, it felt like I was walking to my death. There were witches here still far more powerful than I was. Killing fellow witches wasn’t allowed, but I was an outcast. I knew that they wouldn’t hesitate to end me if given the chance.

I guessed this was part of my test. How much was I willing to put on the line?

As I walked through the city, a wave of déjà vu crashed over me. Hardly anything about this peaceful place had changed since I’d left. The white architecture, domes studded with gems; the blue lakes and fresh pastures; the waterfall crashing in the distance; the breeze kissing my skin… my home. My heart ached for what I’d lost. This realm wasn’t called The Sanctuary for no reason. It was everything that the abode of the Ancients’ witches was not.

I imagined these streets during the daytime. A few days after my parents had died, I’d been dragged down this very road, blood pouring from my nose after the beating I’d received, to be thrown off of the island. I breathed in deeply, trying to control the emotions coursing through me.

I deliberately took a turning to avoid the street where I had grown up. I wasn’t sure I could handle that without breaking down and sobbing.

My mother, father, all my siblings, aunts, uncles… I was responsible for all of their deaths. Rhys was the closest thing I had to family now.

I was thankful at least that the Ancient was making me do this at night, rather than in the daytime when the streets would be teeming with witches. As it was, I already had to dodge a few couples who were out taking a stroll.

I walked through the residential area until I reached the foot of a hill. At the top of it was the abode of the ruler of The Sanctuary. The Ageless.

My breath hitched as I looked up at the white marble palace. As I climbed up the steps, my heart raced. My conscience screamed at me to stop and turn around. But I was too far gone for that now.

I reached the top of the hill and walked around the palace, studded with rubies that glinted beneath the moonlight.

I scanned the second floor until I spotted a balcony. I transported myself up there, and was relieved to see a balcony door had been left open, to let in the warm breeze no doubt.

I tried to quieten my breathing as I stepped into a circular bedroom. In the center was a gold-framed bed, where a beautiful woman with long silver hair lay asleep in the arms of a man, both bare except for the silk sheet covering them. I walked over to the end of their bed and cast a charm on them that would impair their hearing while I was searching for what the Ancient had sent me for.

I cast my eyes around the chamber. On spotting a row of cabinets in the corner, I began rummaging through them as fast as I could. I moved from room to room and by the eighth one, I was beginning to lose hope I’d ever find it in time.

But then I saw it, as I was rummaging through a small cupboard at the bottom of the staircase. Wrapped up in dark blood orange leather was a heap of maps, printed on old yellowing parchment. I curled up the leather binding and tucked it securely beneath my cloak.

Now for part two.

I climbed back up the staircase, approaching the Ageless’ bedroom cautiously. She and her lover were still asleep. I felt the hilt of the silver dagger in my belt. I withdrew it as I approached the bed.

Gripping the Ageless’ hair, I sliced through her neck.

She wasn’t even able to scream before her windpipe was severed. Blood stained the white sheets. The man woke up, but before he could move, I’d cut his throat too.

And then I ran.

I rushed to the balcony and jumped off. I sped down the hill and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, back to the graveyard.

Weaving between the tombstones, I arrived back at the stone where I was due to meet the Ancient. I looked up at the clock tower. I was early. I crouched down and tried to start moving the lid. It budged slightly and eventually I managed to pull it off. I decided that it was better to wait in hiding beneath the tombstone than out in the open after what I’d just done.

I lowered myself back into the liquid. And soon enough, a clammy hand reached out and gripped my ankle, pulling me back down into the darkness where I belonged.