Page 64 of The Vampire Castle in the Sky

Suddenly, a loud rustle sounded from the bramble to our left, a heap of leaves yielding to movement. Arawn surged his body before me while I clutched my skirts, ready to bolt if need be. For a second we both kept still, waiting for the prowling creature to reveal itself. Fear lapped over me as I realized how deep we were in the woods, the trees billowing into dark hills and mountains not too far in the horizon.

In the end, only a nervous rabbit hopped over the thorny shrub, scurrying into the night.

Still, I was not appeased. The hollows of the forest swelled all around us, and in them, I could sense that something was lingering,watchingus. Something that, evidently, not even a vampire could detect.

“Let us leave this wretched place at once,” sighed Arawn. “We’ll find accommodations in the city. After you’ve settled somewhere safe, I’ll return to the Castle.”

Another wave of resolution set in my bones. “I’m going back, Arawn.”

“To do what? To watch him die?”

“He will not die!”

“Have you ever seen him in the future?” Arawn demanded, his lips curling over his fangs. “Have you ever had a vision of him that goes beyond tonight?”

One moment I was trying to remember how to breathe, and the next I was hurling myself at him, my fists beating against his chest. “I can’t believe I thought you were my friend! I hate you!”

Arawn raised his arms to embrace me, which only made my rage burn hotter, brighter, vengeful as a blade. “Don’t touch me!” I howled.

But Arawn, even in his weakened state, was still a vampire, and it didn’t take much for him to band his arms around mine and trap me against his solid body.

“Please, Thea. Please, darling, let me take you away from here,” he murmured in my ear, his cheek pressing against mine. “You’re shaking.”

Iwasshaking. But it had nothing to do with the cold.

It came to me like the surge of a lamp in a dark room. Cold. My coat. My suitcase—and the pouch of soporific dust inside it.

“I—I have a coat in my suitcase,” I stammered, forcing my teeth to chatter. “Can you let go of me for a moment?”

Arawn exhaled, slowly unhanding me so I could trail back to where he’d dropped my suitcase. I gathered up my skirts, got down on my knees, and flung it open. The velveteen pouch lay at the very top, right next to the sentient compass Nepheli had also gifted me. With one hand I pried the velvet apart, grabbing a fistful of dust while I pretended to fumble for my coat with the other.

When I got up, veering to face Arawn, I found him staring at that forlorn star, his throat outstretched, his soft hair falling back like a disordered halo. He looked tormented, broken into a million pieces, and for a moment, guilt spread in my chest.

I closed the distance warily, hesitantly, my whole body aching. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, although a part of me wasn’t, and for that I felt the greatest guilt of all.

His head straightened, his eyes meeting mine in a split second of confusion. “What?”

The dust twirled kaleidoscopically as I blew it in his face, shifting specks glimmering in the air. His lashes flutteredrapidly, then, knees buckling, his eyes rolled white, and his body slumped on the ground with a grimthump.

Hardly a second passed before a high-pitched voice sounded behind me, making me jump. “I like your compass.”

A small sprite was floating above the cluster of shrubbery, her viridescent skin sparkling like a spill of treasure in the gloom. Her dress was made of fresh moss, her hair a leathery tangle of vines, standing out in all directions. Her huge yellow eyes, framed with thick, dew-kissed lashes, darted curiously from the compass to Arawn before circling back to the glowing object.

“You know,” she said in a congenial, almost concerned manner, “if you leave your friend here and he doesn’t wake up before dawn,” she made a theatric arch with her tiny hands, fingers fluttering in explosions of golden dust, “he’ll light up like a solstice firework.”

My heart dropped.

I had absolutely no idea how long the dust’s effects were meant to last. It could be ten minutes or ten hours. And then the sun would rise.

How—how—had I not thought of that? Gods, what was wrong with me? I was about to murder poor Arawn out of sheer negligence.

With a frustrated cry, I buried my face in my palms and slumped on the ground next to him, despair sawing at my chest. “What am I going to do?”

I wasn’t expecting an answer, but the sprite offered one regardless. “You need to dig a grave. Just in case. He’ll crawl out of it when the sun comes down.”

My head jerked up from my hands. “Well, as you can see, I forgot my damned shovel!”

Failing to read the sarcasm in my voice, she nodded solemnly. “It’s okay, I can dig one for you. I’ll make it really nice.” Flying down, she held her palm right above the ground, green lightflickering under the curve of her fingers. Breathless, I watched the soil crack, giving way to her influence. Then she stopped. “But I do require an offering.”

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