Page 22 of White Charms and Dark Secrets

“I’m terrified of both, but right now, Solas says he isn’t going to kill me. The vampires, however, haven’t made any such promises,” I answer honestly. Though, I don’t mention the fact that Solas doesn’t scare me nearly as much as he should. I guess it’s hard to be terrified of someone after they were effectively stuck as your pet. My eyes move to Solas.I wonder how he felt about that?His head turns, as if he can feel my eyes on him. I glance away in a hurry.

“Well, as nice as this is, I have much more important things to attend to. Why don’t you run off and spend the night with Annabelle?” Solas goads the other demon. I feel the tension in the air, so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“You swore not to speak her name in front of anyone.”

“And I didn’t. Hannah here isn’t anyone. Just some dumb witch who in all likelihood will be dead before the month is up. For now, however, I need her to do something for me. So you keep your distance, or I will speak your wretched human’s name in front of everyone. Do you understand me?” Solas demands menacingly.

I look up and see Caim eying me in contemplation before turning to Solas and giving him a sharp nod. He blinks out of existence, portalling himself away with ease.

“Hannah?” I mutter, narrowing my eyes on Solas.

“Could have been worse.” He grins. “I could have called you Gertrude.”

“Are you really planning on killing me before the end of the month?” I ask, unable to stop the question.

“I have no plans to kill you, little witch,” he answers, and I begin to let out a breath of relief when he cuts me off by continuing. “I can’t say that I won’t, though. It’s just not written down in my calendar. We’ll just have to see how useful you prove yourself to be, won’t we?” He arches an eyebrow at me.

I remind myself to breathe, and of the fact I need Solas to get out of here. We made a deal. He’s not going to kill me today at least.

Why did Silvia go and put ideas of the demon not wanting to kill me into my head?

“The vampire’s name was Elias, right?” I double-check, bringing my focus back to the task at hand.

A brilliant, but twisted smile takes over the demon’s face as he inclines his head in response. “You might just survive me yet, Kayla.”

I can’t help but think that the real question is how long will I continue to do so.

Twelve

Blood Answers

For a whole five seconds after Solas leaves, I ponder how in the hell I’m going to find a damn specific vampire in this place, when the obvious answer presents itself to me. I’ve already seen one witch-vampire hybrid that fit the bill, haven’t I? The man who appeared in charge when I came in looked a perfect match to Solas’ description.

The fact I would rather not seek him out to make sure is a moot point, considering my other available options for escape from this place remain non-existent. My limited knowledge of magic means that even though I still possess my powers in here, I harbour serious doubts in my ability to breakout myself without assistance.

Against better judgement, I trust Solas to aid in my escape more than I would trust any of the inmates in here to assist me. Plus, I don't want to cause a prison-wide break out. I just want to get myself out because I'm innocent. I can't let anyone else in here escape. They're all dangerous, hardened criminals.

Speaking of dangerous, I ponder what possible information Solas could want from this Elias guy. Whatever it is, it can’t be anything good.Is it my fault if he does something bad with whatever information he gets from him? Ugh.I shake my head, wishing I could make my guilty conscience go away.

Instead of focusing on my guilt, I let my thoughts drift to the demon Solas is blackmailing, Caim. He is blackmailing him, that much is clear, but with what? A human called Annabelle? What does she have to do with anything?

Nothing with Solas is simple, so I doubt this is either. Whatever he's holding above this other's demon's head must be trouble, and if I was smart, I'd forget Annabelle's name. I'd forget Caim’s name too.

Determined to move away from my current thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand, I rummage through my backpack in search of the map. Once I find it, I grab the water bottle and a meal bar too, noticing the hunger pains twisting in my stomach for the first time.

How long has it been since I've eaten?As I devour the bar in a matter of seconds, I decide however long it was, it was too long. After drinking a third of my water, I force myself not to chug the entire thing, shoving the bottle back into the bag and out of sight.

Fed and watered, the tiniest bit of relief seeps in. I unfold the map and examine the layout of the cave system that we're trapped within. Who the hell came up with the idea of shoving a bunch of the worst supernatural criminals into a cave and just letting them have at it?

This place is a terrible idea. It just means that the tougher criminals, the vampires, use the other criminals as food and entertainment. It seems less of a punishment for the vampires, and more of a way of confining the damage they do just to this place. The magic users, however, suffer the worst end of the deal. Instead of mere imprisonment, they must endure what amounts to torture at the hands of their fanged cohabitants.

Reading the map proves to be difficult with only the glow from the crystals on the cave ceiling to see by. It also doesn't help that I’m clueless as to where I am right now in relation to the map. I bite my lip.Why did I take so many twists and turns?

I suppose I could always just wander around until I run into a vampire. I'm pretty sure they would be happy to take me to their leader. I snort. I've always wanted an opportunity to say that, but somehow, these aren’t the circumstances I pictured. Not that I can really think of any other scenario that would make sense for this.

When no other feasible plans come to mind, I shove the map back into the bag and zip it shut. After dragging myself to my feet and brushing myself off, I venture off in search of trouble.

With my luck, how hard could trouble be to find?

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