A Shade of Doubt

  Dragging the body with me toward the edge of the gate, I leapt through with it.

  Once I arrived at the other end of the tunnel, I had to be careful. If Caleb or Rose found me before it was time, my plan would be spoiled. And more than just the plan lay in the balance. Anselm was scheduled to come to collect his gift soon and if Caleb got in the way, Anselm would realize I might not be who I said I was. No, I couldn’t afford for that to happen.

  I dragged the body closer to our tree and left it in some bushes while I crept to see if Caleb or Rose were anywhere in sight. They weren’t. I circled the trees closest to ours, looking upward and straining my eyes to spot the bees’ nest I had noticed the day before. On spotting it, I hurried back to fetch the body and placed it directly beneath the nest—some meters away from the foot of our own tree. Then I covered it with piles of leaves. Fortunately, the body had already been treated with preservatives by the ogres, so it would still look fresh. But there wasn’t much I could do about the fact that the corpse was naked. Caleb would just have to assume that her underwear ripped away from her body during her fall to the ground, and sharp branches had sliced her skin. Since Rose seemed to like roaming around in the treetops so much, I hoped it wouldn’t be too implausible a story that she might have tried to gather some honey. It was far from ideal, that was for sure. But it was the best I could do. I had to hope that the shock would leave him too devastated to think much further into it.

  Then I waited until Caleb and Rose returned to their beds before approaching them. It stung me to see the way they were dressed, and the way he was touching her. And when Caleb told me he no longer loved me, I wasn’t sure that I could keep up my act. But I had to, so I did. I told them what I needed to and left them alone that night, and the next morning.

  It was fortunate that Caleb had decided to leave Rose in the tree while he ventured into the jungle. Otherwise I would have had to cause a distraction. Now, all I had to do was uncover the corpse, loosen the bees’ nest from its branch and cover up Rose’s screams as Anselm carried her away… and of course hurry to the well to say goodbye to Rose. The latter wasn’t difficult. Caleb seemed so consumed in grief as he tried to brush away the bees, I doubted he even noticed me slip away.

  He was still in the same spot that I’d left him in once I returned having bidden farewell to Rose. He was crouched down on the ground next to the body, his head on his knees. He was so still, I wondered if he was even breathing.

  I hated how affected he was by her. I wondered if he would have ever grieved so intensely for me.

  I snapped myself out of my jealousy. I needed to think straight now. Caleb and I needed to leave this island as soon as possible. It wasn’t safe to be here any more. If the black witches found out about my visit to Anselm and that I’d handed Rose Novak right to them, my life wouldn’t be worth living. And they were still after Caleb too for stealing away Rose from Lilith’s cave.

  I approached Caleb cautiously, touching his shoulder. The moment I touched him, his hand shot out and gripped my throat. Before I could even gasp, he slammed my head back against a tree trunk. Pain seared through my skull. It felt like it had cracked. He held me in place by my throat, his eyes blazing into mine.

  “You did this,” he snarled.

  “What?” I choked, my eyes widening.

  His grip on my neck tightened as he slammed me against another tree. His claws extended. I felt their tips beginning to dig into my flesh.

  “C-Caleb, no! I swear!”

  His eyes darkened. He seemed to be losing control.

  I thrashed, trying to pry his hands away from me. “There’s no way I could have done this,” I wheezed. “I haven’t been near our tree since morning.”

  “You lie.”

  “No!” I began to panic as his claws dug so hard into me, they drew blood. I clutched his hair. “Please, Caleb. It’s me… Annora,” I whispered. “Don’t do this to me.”

  Growling in frustration, he threw me to the ground. When I looked up again, he had vanished into the jungle.

  He just needs time to get over the shock. He’ll be all right.

  Shaking, I climbed up our tree and sat on our bunk. I waited there for hours, and by night, Caleb still hadn’t returned. I began to fear that perhaps he had finished the boat and left the island without me.

  No, I can’t believe he would do that…

  During the early hours of the morning I was seriously debating leaving and going to look for him. But I forced myself to trust that he would return. If I left, I might get lost in the jungle and wouldn’t be here if he came back.

  I was right to wait. Just before sunrise, he returned. I heard the snapping of twigs as he walked on the ground at the foot of our tree. He moved toward the body. I moved in the tree to better see what he was doing. He lifted it up and carried it over to the lake. I stared as he laid it down on a rock and began piling dried leaves and twigs around it. A few minutes later, there was the spark of a fire. I climbed down to the ground and walked toward him. I stopped twenty feet away, giving him space as the fire climbed higher and higher.

  He knelt on the ground, staring into the flames as they licked the crisp morning air.

  Dawn was beginning to break in the distance. Today would have to be the day we left. I’d felt nervous about staying the night here. But Caleb had needed the space.

  I waited for an hour or so, watching as he remained motionless in front of the fire, watching as the flames consumed the body. He remained in the same position, still watching the corpse even as it faded into a pile of ashes.

  Finally he stood up and walked over to me, his eyes red, his face ashen.

  I thought he was going to say something as he walked toward me, but he brushed right past me.

  “Wait,” I called, hurrying to keep up with him. “Where are you going?”

  “Leaving,” he said, his voice hoarse.

  I breathed out in relief.

  “Have you finished the boat?”

  He ignored me.

  I caught his hand and tugged on it, trying to force him to stop and look at me.

  He yanked his hand away from me. “Don’t touch me.”

  The way he was glaring at me cut me to the core. I’d hoped that he would be less likely to blame me after all the pains I’d taken in setting up Rose’s kidnapping. I supposed it was foolish to expect that after I’d already admitted trying to kill Rose on the submarine.

  “Caleb, please.” My voice broke as I knelt at his feet. “Don’t leave me alone on this island. I swear to God I didn’t push Rose off that tree.” He paused, turning around to stare at me. I hoped that I was getting through to him. “I know you don’t love me any more. I-I can’t expect you to. But please don’t leave me here. Drop me off at the nearest shore, and you’ll never have to see my face again.”

  I tried to read his expression. A myriad of emotions seemed to break through the mask he’d been assuming at once. Grief. Anger. Confusion. Conflict. I thought he was about to turn away again, but instead, gripping my shoulder, he pulled me to my feet and pulled me onto his back. And then he hurtled forward through the jungle.

  It split my heart in two to think that the thought of abandoning me on a nearby shore was probably the only reason he’d agreed to my proposal. Of course, I had no intention of allowing him to do any such thing… but right now, the important thing was to just get off this island by any means necessary. I could deal with the consequences of my words later.

  It wasn’t long before we reached the beach and he dropped me onto the sand. I got to my feet, staring at a small, half-completed boat.

  He seemed to not even feel the sun beginning to rise in the sky as he began working furiously to finish it. He certainly hadn’t lost his skill.

  Tears welled in my eyes as I watched him. It brought back memories of the time when my father would moor our ship in his father’s yard. I’d always find an excuse to be in the part of the ship Caleb was carrying out repairs in. And I’d often catch h
im glancing at me when he thought I wasn’t looking.

  What I wouldn’t give to turn back time…

  I tried to offer to hold a broad leaf over him while he worked, since the sun was beginning to sizzle his skin, but he brushed me aside.

  I was stunned that within what felt like less than two hours, the boat was completed. It was a small boat constructed of a mixture of pieces from the old submarine and wood he’d felled in the jungle. He’d built a small covering over it to protect him from the sun. We didn’t know if it would float yet. But there was only one way to find out.

  I followed after him as he pushed the boat into the waves and leapt inside. I gripped the edges and hauled myself up after him. I moved to the end of the boat while he raised the sails he’d constructed of tarpaulin he’d found in the wrecked submarine.

  We had no engine, of course. This was an old-fashioned boat. The type Caleb had been used to sailing all those years ago. The type Caleb and I had been planning to travel the world in after we got married…

  I suspected that Caleb’s hope was that we would come across a larger, faster vessel we could jump aboard, which could take us to land. Because this boat would only get us so far.

  I didn’t know where I’d go with Caleb once I managed to get him to stick with me. But it didn’t matter. As long as I was with him, I didn’t care. We’d figure something out.

  But I was getting ahead of myself. First things first.

  After Caleb set our course and we began gliding through deeper waters, he sank down on the floor beneath the covering. He turned his back on me and buried his head in his hands.

  I shifted in my spot, trying to rack my brain as to how I would even start convincing him to not take me to shore and abandon me.

  I found myself just staring at him. I still wasn’t used to the feelings that erupted in me whenever I laid eyes on him. Even though he seemed lost to me right now, my yearning for him was just as intense as ever. It pained me to see how sore and blistering his skin was from the sun’s rays. And it was showing no signs of healing. I wondered how long it had been since he’d last drunk blood…

  Blood.

  The word rang through my mind like a bell.

  Blood was the start of Caleb’s and my downfall.

  Could it also be the end of it?

  I looked down at my palms. Then at the pile of unused nails lying on the deck few feet away.

  I knew Caleb had a particular weakness for my blood. I also knew the consequences that would come with tricking Caleb into drinking it.

  He would crave me. Desire me. Possess me.

  Perhaps even consume me.

  But as I looked at him across the deck, still so distant from me as he mourned the loss of Rose Novak, I realized that I’d found my answer.

  There really is no other way…

  Chapter 33: Rose

  As Anselm and I reached the exit of the tunnel, we went hurtling through the air and landed on sand. I tried to scramble away from the creature as soon as we reached the end of the tunnel and landed on a beach. Before I could even fully take in my surroundings, he grabbed my arm and, pulling out another silk handkerchief from his waistcoat, tied it around my eyes.

  Still gagged, I couldn’t even scream.

  I felt him pick me up again and begin walking.

  Where is he taking me?

  There was a knocking against metal. And then the deafening sound of heavy doors creaking open.

  “Your Highness,” a rasping voice said. “Would you like me to carry her for you?”

  I shuddered as Anselm’s rough lips brushed against my earlobe.

  “No,” he said, breathing heavily into my ear. “I’d rather handle this little beauty myself.”

  He started walking again. I kicked and thrashed, but he held me in place.

  What felt like the next half hour passed with the sounds of his footsteps in my ear. At some point, the light seemed to dim and I heard the opening of a door, so I could only assume we’d gone inside. The sound of Anselm’s footsteps turned from what sounded like crunching over stones to a clacking against some kind of smooth surface. I shivered. The air seemed to be getting colder by the moment as Anselm continued walking forward. I felt him climbing several flights of stairs.

  Finally he stopped, and another voice spoke a few feet away from us. It sounded eerily similar to Anselm’s voice, except that it was a little deeper and older-sounding.

  “So this is her?”

  Footsteps approached and leathery fingers brushed against my cheek.

  “Yes,” Anselm said. I was so close to his chest, I could feel his voice rumbling through it.

  The fingers tugged on my blindfold, loosening it and pulling it down. My heart pounded as I found myself staring up at an almost splitting image of Anselm, except that he had silver streaking his hair and more lines in his face. I was granted this sight for but a moment before the creature fastened the blindfold over me again.

  “Do you approve?” I could tell by Anselm’s tone of voice that he was smiling.

  “She needs to be fattened. Otherwise, yes.”

  What are these creatures?

  “We shouldn’t mix her in with the other girls. This one’s special. I’ll give her private quarters in the west wing.”

  “Of course.”

  Anselm continued walking. More stairs were climbed, more floors crossed, and by the time I felt him lowering me to the ground, my whole body was shaking. Not with terror, but rage.

  I kept replaying the few seconds before Anselm had jumped with me through the gate. Annora’s smug tone of voice. Her smile as she waved goodbye.

  I was burning up inside.

  I couldn’t believe that I’d just been kidnapped again. I was beginning to lose count of the number of times it had happened in the last few months.

  I swear, this is the last time I’m going to be swung over someone’s shoulder like a sack of onions…

  A door clicked open. I was dragged forward and pushed down onto a cold, smooth floor. The blindfold was removed again, and finally so was my gag. I coughed and spluttered, the edges of my lips stinging.

  I turned around, expecting to see Anselm, but the door slammed shut again before I had a chance to swear at him. I cast my eyes around, taking in my surroundings. My breath hitched at the beauty of the room I was standing in. I hadn’t expected to be brought to such a luxurious room. In the center was a dark mahogany four-poster bed covered with fur blankets. A large gold-plated mirror was fixed to the wall opposite me, and next to it was a dressing table. The floor was made of some kind of polished white stone. In the far corner was another door, left ajar. A bathroom, I assumed. Strangely, the whole room smelled of roasted spices.

  My eyes were drawn to the source of light in the room. Tall window panes took up an entire wall. I gasped as I approached them. Pitch-black mountains stretched out for as far as the eye could see. Gray smoke swirled around their sharp peaks. The sky was overcast, no sign of the sun breaking the thick, low-hanging clouds.

  Where am I?

  “Hullo.” A thick voice spoke behind me.

  As I whirled around, the blood drained from my face. I stumbled back as my eyes fell on a grotesque-looking creature… an ogre. Had it not been for Brett, I wouldn’t have even known what it was. But it shared the same thick, muddy brown skin, tusks, small squashed nose, and bulging eyes. There was only one real difference between this ogre’s physiology and Brett’s. And that was that this ogre had long hair and breasts. It—or rather, she—wore a long beige smock over her bulging form.

  She plodded forward, holding out a meaty hand. I kept my arms firmly behind my back, pressing myself harder against the wall.

  “I’m Arabella… But you can call me Bella.”

  Bella? I would have laughed had my situation not been so dire.

  “I’m to be your maid while you’re in the west wing,” she continued.

  Although I wasn’t making any motion to indicate that I was going to accept
her handshake, still she held out her hand expectantly.

  “Where am I?” I asked, my eyes narrowing on her.

  Her expression suddenly tightened. She cast her eyes downward and dropped her hand back to her side. “His Highness didn’t permit me to answer questions.”

  “What is Anselm? He doesn’t look like you.”

  She chewed on her fat lower lip, shaking her head apologetically.

  I exhaled in frustration. “What can you tell me?”

  “Not really supposed to talk other than introduce myself,” she mumbled.

  I brushed past her, walking over to the bed and slumping down on the mattress. My eyes followed Bella as she crossed the room and opened a cupboard. She pulled out a light pink robe made of silk and handed it to me. Since I was still wearing the now battered bikini Caleb had made for me, I eagerly pulled it over myself.

  Then Bella moved toward a door to my left that I hadn’t noticed until now. I followed her inside. It was a kitchen. There was a stove and a deep clay oven, and the walls were lined with steel pots, knives, plates and other cutlery.

  “Was expecting you about now,” she said, reaching for a pan of oil on the stove and shaking it. It hissed, and gave off a strong spicy smell. She reached for a larger pot sitting on the fire behind it and lifted the lid. It was filled to the brim with a kind of colorful stew. How many people is she cooking for here? Tipping the oil into the stew and mixing it all together, she reached for a bowl and slopped some into it.

  She nodded toward the bedroom. “Go and sit.”

  I hesitated. I’d lived on nothing but fruit for the last few days and I was famished. But I had no idea what it was she was about to feed me. And I didn’t dare ask. I was sure the answer would make me feel queasy.