Page 50 of The Hellbeast's Betrayal

“I don’t know.”

“Think!” she shouted as alarm gripped her.

“It was on my shoulder, so I don’t think so,” I told her, this time making Koro’s features harden before he agreed with my sister.

“We need to run. Sorina, burn the blood.” The sorceress ran over to us, her long braided white hair swaying behind her.

Her demonic eyes began to glow as her white irises homed in on the blood. The strange red skin on her forehead looked darker under the canopy of the trees and became a stark contrast to the pale white on the other half of her face. A pair of crimson horns coiled around the sides of her head and the symbols that looked etched into her skin also started to glow. Doing so the moment she clicked her fingers, causing the place I had spilled my blood on the dry leaves to ignite in flames. Now burning it to ash in seconds before it was out again.

My hand was then taken by Koro, who used his bindings to snake out from under his sleeve and wipe the rest of the blood away. I would have flinched at the sight of them moving like they were alive, but it happened so fast, I didn’t have time to react. Besides, now was not the time to freak out.

No, we now had much bigger problems to deal with. Because I knew why trouble followed me wherever I went. Which meant, I was the cause of the battle happening now.

Garmr had followed my blood.

The spell he had put on me was still in place.

Meaning when a portal started to open up from behind us, I knew that I had, once again, led them straight to us! Which meant that I had no time to react other than to push Lerna away from me. Her scream of horror was too late to save me as she fell into Koro’s arms, at the same time I was grabbed from behind.

Because I couldn’t let them take her too.

So, I let myself fall backward into the weight of the person who held me, Lerna’s face the last thing I saw before…

My world went black.

18

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF HELL

Waking up this time, I knew instantly that I was in a world of trouble. My memories told me this even before my new surroundings did. Running through the woods, feeling the swirling power emerge from behind me… The chill like an icy wall at my back before hands had gripped me… Before I had then been pulled under what felt like a blanket of suffocating night.

And now I was waking up to this room. One that looked like I was in some dark fairy tale, and I of course was to play the unwilling princess. Walls of dark, jagged stone surrounded me with mounted horned demonic skulls and black crests carved into the rock. Chains, that looked to connect with some kind of strange door above, also hung down from the walls. As if I was in some tower room that had a trap door above. Making me wonder if I pulled on the chains, would it open?

Perhaps this was the only way to let in some natural light, because there were no windows in this room. The only light came from the candles flickering in the crude, curled iron candelabra above. That and the sconces that held gothic holders for pillars of wax.

As for where I lay, this was all black, with sheets like suede flowing off either side of the large bed that rippled along the floor. This matched the curtains that were draped down the back of the bed, framing the elaborate headboard. One carved from black wood with what looked like a story being told of Norse mythology, if the Viking looking runes were anything to go by.

A side table held more candles, and a glass bottle of what looked like water with a fancy crystal glass goblet next to it. All of which I could see, along with my reflection staring back at me, from the large seven-foot mirror that took up most of the wall opposite. One framed in a gothic style that matched the rest of the dark, ominous décor. A huge armoire stood against the wall to my left and wooden screens sectioned off part of the room to my right.

However, my eyes snapped to the only door that looked thick and heavy, with very distinct bars at the latch of a window. One that obviously allowed a jailor to keep an eye on the prisoner. Speaking of which, I froze when I heard the voice that haunted my dreams.

“Is she awake yet!?”

At this and the sound of a metal scraping against metal, I lay back down and quickly pretended to be asleep. My nerves were so on edge and my heart beating so fast, it was hard to keep my breathing even enough to fake being asleep. It was especially hard not to react when I heard the door opening followed by footsteps as someone stepped inside.

I even found myself holding my breath altogether when I felt him approach the bed. The sound of the bed covers shifted against the stone floor as if to give way to the new masterful presence. Then I felt his weight sink into the bed next to me as if he had sat down.

“Mm, finally back to where you belong, my princess,” he said, making me struggle trying not to shiver at the words. But then, when I felt his fingers brushing back the hair from my face, I couldn’t help but flinch at his touch.

“Now why don’t you stop pretending and open your eyes, pretty girl,” he said, making me suck in a quick breath before doing as he asked.

Because I didn’t see the point any longer, not if he knew I was really awake.

His face was one I had now seen thanks to his last dream he had forced upon me. The scars on his skin now calm and nothing more than crimson jagged lines cut through the flesh. His once handsome face was a mixture of curiosity and calculating.

“There she is,my Anástasi,”he said in a tender tone, and when he reached out to touch me again, I sat up quickly and shifted from his reach.

“My name is Ella,” I told him firmly, making his hand fist before dropping to the bed.

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