Kiev’s voice echoed in my ears.
My vision blurred as the sea spray whipped against my face, mixing with my tears. I lost track of time as I sat staring out at the waves. Closing my eyes and attempting to shut down my mind, I forgot all about Saira’s warnings to not stay out alone for long periods of time.
Merciful sleep must have stolen me away at some point, for I was woken by a harsh tugging against my wrists. Both of my hands were tied behind my back. I felt a gag being stuffed into my mouth.
A sharp pain spread through the top of my head, and I lost consciousness.
Chapter 37: Kiev
The werewolf at the gate looked at me suspiciously and asked, “Where’s the witch?”
I turned and pointed to her figure floating in the distance above the waves.
“She wants to stay out longer.”
I retreated to my room in the tunnels, and, locking myself inside, lay down on my bed. As I gazed up at my ceiling through the darkness, I couldn’t shake the glare Mona had given me. She’d looked at me like it was my fault her dolphin had died. I didn’t understand why she’d thrown herself into such a fit over an animal.
I’d had to fight the urge to pick her up and force her to come back to the island with me. I’d wanted to take her back to her cabin and, surrounded by the silence of the lake, refuse to leave until she told me what was wrong with her. Until she made me understand her. But instead, I’d given into her request and let her mourn alone.
Now that the heat of the moment had passed, I realized that I should have seen Mona’s wish to distance herself from me as a wake up call. You’ve gotten yourself far too carried away with Saira’s task. You’re forgetting what you are, Kiev. Mona is safer without you. Continuing on this course now that you’ve kissed her would be like boarding a train knowing it’s moving along a broken track. The missing rail might not come for this mile, or even the next. But it will come.
I lay alone in the darkness for hours. By the time night had fallen, I found myself craving fresh air and a stretch of my legs. I exited the tunnels and walked through the forest. I passed by the occasional werewolf climbing down from a tree house, but otherwise I was in my own company. Perhaps it was my subconscious, but after about an hour I arrived at a pathway close to the lake. I looked out toward the witch’s cabin. It was dark. Even the lantern hanging outside her porch wasn’t lit. I’d never seen the lantern left unlit at night.
Worry clouding my better judgement, I slid into the water and swam toward the house.
I’ll go up and listen at the door just to check she’s inside. Then I’ll leave without a word.
I climbed onto the porch and walked along the balcony that ran around the circumference of the cabin. All her curtains had been left wide open. I could see no sign of the witch’s presence.
“Mona?” I called.
No answer.
Impatience and anxiety taking over me, I kicked the door open. I gazed around the dark empty room. I ran to the bathroom. Also empty.
No. She can’t have been on the beach all this time.
I sped to the wall.
“Has the witch returned yet?” I demanded of the werewolf still guarding the gate.
He shook his head.
I stepped outside and cast my eyes up and down the beach. And then I started running with all the speed my legs could muster.
“Mona! Mona!” I shouted against the wind until my voice grew hoarse.
Guilt tore through my chest. This is my fault. If I hadn’t left her, this never would have happened. I ran around the entire circumference of the island. I searched every corner of the beach, but it was in vain.
Perhaps she returned to the cave she showed me last night. My nerves settled a little at the thought. But before I could start planning how to get back there, a horn sounded in the distance. I looked out at the waves to see a large ship with deep red sails looming toward the island. Torches hung from the sides of the wooden ship, giving it an eerie glow. Two were particularly bright at the front of the ship, shining light over the words carved into its mast. The Skull Crusher.
Jeers and shouting broke out across the waves. On the ship’s deck was a crowd of ogres. Outside the wall’s gate, a crowd of the island’s inhabitants gathered on the beach. Matteo and Saira stood at the forefront.
And then I saw her. Mona. Still in her underwear, cuts and bruises covering her body, she had been hoisted up into the mastheads of the ship. Thick ropes were tied to her hands and feet. She hung motionless, her eyes closed, and I feared for a moment that they had killed her already. But then her feet and arms stirred and I breathed a sigh of relief.
She is still alive. For how long, we have no assurance.
“Release her!” Matteo bellowed across the waves.
I dove into the water. Since I’d approached from a direction the ogres didn’t seem to have their focus on, I hoped that they hadn’t seen me.
“Hand over Brett,” one of the ogres called back. “And then you can have this useless witch.”
“Even if we did, what assurance do we have that you’ll hand over Mona?” Saira shouted, panic in her voice.
Howling laughter echoed down from the ship.
“Just hand over Brett. Then we’ll see about this girl of yours.”
I’d dealt with enough creatures as vile as these ogres in the past to know not to trust them. They could lose their temper and kill her before our eyes at any moment.
It was what I would have done.
I ducked beneath the water, swimming toward the ship. I surfaced now and then to check that the ogres were still being distracted by Matteo and his crowd. As I arrived barely twenty feet away from the ship’s stern, I swore. A sharp pain set my nervous system on fire. I looked into the water, reaching down to my leg.
Blood. Mine.
A thick black fin protruded from the waves less than five feet away. I’d been so focussed on my destination, I hadn’t been paying attention to the waters around me. Now, as I gazed around, ten other fins closed in on me.
Beneath the clear waves, I caught better sight of my attacker. A giant shark. Its white teeth were stained with blood as it launched to attack me again. I kicked away from it, narrowly dodging its jaws.
I realized then how savage these sharks were. As a vampire, my blood should have disgusted them. Yet here they were, circling in on me, more and more being called by the scent of my blood in the water with each second that passed.
All right. These sharks want a bite. I’ll give them a bite.
Clenching my jaw against the pain, I extended my claws. As the shark nearest to me hurtled toward me once again, I used both hands to slash out its eyes. Jerking wildly in the water, it swam round and round in a frenzy. I grabbed hold of its fin and pulled myself onto its slimy back, digging my claws into its sides so as to not slip off. When it tried to retreat beneath the waves, into the depths of the ocean, I slid my fangs deep beneath the skin above its head and yanked upward, tearing through its flesh. I did this repeatedly until the shark stopped its downward descent and drifted upward. That’s it. Obey your new master. I gasped for breath as I was lifted above the waves.
With this vantage point, it was easier for me to take aim at the other sharks poising to attack me. I slashed out their eyes, one by one, until the remaining sharks seemed to recognize the risk of approaching me and retreated.
I repositioned myself on the blind shark, and, jerking my claws in a forward motion through its flesh, urged it to move toward the ship. As soon as we approached close enough, I leapt off it and grabbed hold of the base of the carved wooden shark beneath the stern. I winced as my body made contact with the hard wood. The wide gash in my upper leg still hadn’t come close to healing, and it burned from the salt. As I edged my way around the hull of the ship, I just hoped that no ogres had heard any of the splashing I’d caused during my battle with the sharks.
Once I was directly beneath the spot where Mona hung—her eyes still closed—I caught hold of a rope hanging ov
er the deck’s railing. I lifted myself slowly until I was level with the deck. I looked up, measuring the distance between me and the ropes Mona was hanging from. I outstretched my claws in anticipation. Then in one forceful motion—my uninjured leg taking on most of the strain—I leapt up and landed against the ropes Mona hung from.
The ogres beneath me shouted in alarm. Two motioned to climb up the ropes after me. I slashed through the ends of the ropes nearest to me immediately.
I turned back to face Mona. Her body was covered in cuts and handprints where the trolls had touched her. I removed the gag from her mouth. Her eyes still closed, she gasped for breath. I slit the ropes binding her hands and legs, and, snaking one arm around her waist, leaned her against my body. Even after I’d freed her, she felt limp, weak in my arms. I didn’t feel safe letting go of the ropes to make the leap for escape because she wasn’t holding onto me tight enough and might fall down into the crowd of ogres.
“Hold me tighter,” I hissed.
She made an attempt to tighten her grip, but it still wasn’t sufficient to hold her weight against mine. Certainly not for the leap I was about to make.
Several fiery arrows shot up at us, two passing a few inches away from my head.
“Please,” I urged, my eyes blazing into hers. I shook her body, and, having no free hand to touch her face, I placed a hard kiss on her cold cheek, grazing my teeth against her skin, hoping it would bring her to her senses.
She remained limp, a doll in my arms.
Several more arrows shot past us. The heat of one grazed my shoulderblade, singeing my wet shirt.
“Mona!” I shouted in her ear.
Desperation coursing through me, I made one last attempt.
“Irina,” I whispered, “This is Adrian. Adrian has come to bring you home… Darling, please. Hold on.”
At the mention of Adrian’s name, her eyelids flickered open, a spark igniting in her hazy blue eyes. Her arms tightened around my neck, finally giving me the confidence to let go. I slit the final rope with my claw and leapt forward toward the ocean, holding her waist against me so tight I thought I might crush her ribcage.
Several more arrows shot past us as we fell. The shouts disappeared as we hit the cool water. Beneath the waves, I felt Mona slipping away from me. The force of hitting the water had loosened my grip on her. I was alarmed that she had made no effort to cling on to me. But much more terrified that the sharks might come again. I doubted I’d be able to fight them away from both of us, certainly not while my leg was injured like this.
I kicked down into the water and wrapped one arm around her while using the other to bring us to the surface. As more fiery arrows hit the water, I was forced to submerge us both again. I hoped that Mona had had enough time to catch her breath.
I propelled us forward, my eyes fixed on the shoreline, though continuing to dodge underwater to avoid the arrows. As soon as we reached the beach, I slid my hands beneath Mona and lifted her out of the water. As I staggered forward, the crowd watched me in silence—Saira had a shocked expression on her face, her mouth agape. Without saying a word to any of them, I limped to the wall, and barging past the guard, I entered the forest.
I walked to the lake as fast as I could and placed her in the boat. Refusing to look at me, she drew up her knees and buried her head against them. I took the oars and rowed us to her house, where I laid her down on the bed.
I looked down at her face. She’d closed her eyes. The frown on her face and slight quivering of her lip made me think she was still in pain. I lowered my head and pressed my ear against her chest. Her heartbeat was slow, but steady.
Brushing her wet hair away, I held her face in my palms. “Where does it hurt?” I ran my hands along her limbs, examining her skin. Although there were cuts and bruises, and a redness around her wrists and ankles where the ropes had rubbed against her, there didn’t appear to be anything too critical.
“Answer me.”
I stood and looked around the cabin. Opening the door of a cupboard, I pulled out a large cotton cloth and a white nightdress. Kneeling back down next to her, I tugged at her cold wet undergarments.
“Take these off.” I forced her to sit upright, and held a blanket up around her. Slowly, she removed the wet underwear and pulled the nightdress over her head. Then she lay back down on the mattress and curled up into a ball, covering her face with both hands.
“Irina… Say something.”
I shook her shoulders.
When she still didn’t respond, I decided not to press further. She’s in shock. She needs space. I’ll tell Saira to visit her in the morning. Tucking the blanket over her trembling form, I planted a kiss on her head.
I cast back one last stare at her as I exited the cabin and swam back through the lake to the mainland. As I emerged—still limping—from the forest and entered the clearing outside the tunnels, I caught sight of Saira standing amidst a group of vampires.
On seeing me approach, she bounded over.
“How is Mona?” she asked, concern filling her eyes.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Check on her tomorrow. She wouldn’t talk to me. But she seems fairly unscathed.”
The wolf sighed with relief. “Thank goodness.” She eyed my bloody leg. “That still hasn’t healed?”
“It will,” I said, grimacing. “It’s just taking longer than I’m used to because it’s deep, and I haven’t had human blood in my system for… a while.” I frowned, looking around. “Why are you all back here already? What happened with the ogres?”
“After you retreated behind the wall with Mona, we followed you,” Saira replied. “Those oafs yelled and made a fuss. But frankly, they’re too cowardly to attempt another fight with us on our own ground, especially when we’re all fully alert to their presence.”
I nodded and turned to walk into the tunnels.
“Kiev,” Saira called after me. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” I muttered beneath my breath.
Chapter 38: Kiev
Intending to go to my room and lie down, in hopes of speeding up my leg’s healing, I bumped into Matteo walking along a corridor. On seeing me, he came up and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you, Kiev, for saving Mona like that. It would have been a great blow to lose her. She’s like my younger sister.”
His words cut me deeper than any shark could have, memories of the night I’d murdered Natalie flashing before my eyes. He removed his hand from my shoulder and walked away.
I limped along the corridor until I was standing outside my room. My hand shaking, I opened the door. I sat down on the mattress, wincing as I stretched out my leg.
Barely a few minutes after I had sat down, a knock sounded at my door. I breathed out in frustration.
“Who’s there?” I called.
When there was no answer, I pulled myself up and opened the door. Giles stood outside, his arms crossed over his chest.
“What do you want?” I snarled.
“I need to show you something.” His voice was calm as he spoke, his grey eyes fixed on mine.
“What?”
“You need to come with me.”
Scowling, I followed him down the corridor. He led me to the open area near the entrance of the tunnels. Groups of vampires stood around, talking about the events of the evening. I averted my eyes when I caught sight of Matteo standing in a corner.
Only once we were in standing in the center of the entrance room—in full view of all the vampires—did Giles withdraw a hand from his pocket and shove it in front of my face. I stared down at his palm.
A pendant, old and rusting.
A pendant I thought I had left behind in The Tavern.
A pendant I couldn’t afford to be looking at.
“Why are you giving me this?” I hissed, glaring at the blond vampire.
“Why don’t you just take a closer look?” His eyes darkened as he shoved the pendant into my hand.
I
dashed it to the ground as if it were on fire. Lifting my uninjured leg, I stamped down on it. It didn’t break. I stamped down again. And again. No matter how much I tried to crush it into dust, the pendant remained intact, its rough edges ancient, but never broken. The metal around its center, not yet coated with rust, shimmered up at me against the light of the lanterns, as if taunting me.
“You don’t like my gift?” the vampire whispered.
He picked up the object and, stepping forward, held it just inches away from my face. I jerked back. But he took another step forward, keeping the pendant swinging before my eyes.
And then I realized that it was too late. The border between present and past had been crossed. Tortured screams echoed in my ears—screams of men, women, and children alike. Blood soaked my hands as I ripped through their throats. As I cackled at their pleas for mercy. As my whole body quivered from the thrill of the kill. As my body was once again not my own, but that of my father. His pleasure becoming mine.
The words he’d spoken to me for centuries on nights like this replayed in my head.
Become one with me, Kiev.
My desire is yours. My pleasure is yours.
Willing differently will only cause pain.
Never forget what you are: my own vessel.
Chapter 39: Mona
I woke to find Saira standing in my cabin, water dripping from her fur onto the floorboards.
“Something bad has happened,” she panted. “I don’t know if even I can argue with Matteo to let him out of this one…”
My head felt heavy as I sat up in bed.
“Who?” I croaked. “What happened?”
“Just come with me.”
She gripped my blanket between her jaws and pulled it off me. We both hurried out of the cabin and into the boat. Despite feeling weak, I managed to row us toward the main land.
I had wanted nothing but solitude. But the urgency in Saira’s eyes had sparked something in me that I couldn’t ignore.
On our arrival in the clearing outside the tunnels, a crowd of vampires and werewolves formed a circle. When I pushed through to the center, I gasped. Kiev knelt in the center, his clothes ripped and bloody, hands tied behind his back.