Page 28 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

I wasn't sure how I knew or what, exactly, told me as much, but in that moment I was certain that Elowen had just lied to me. She knew something, was activelyhidingsomething, but I forced my expression to remain calm, remote. Whatever it was, I would find out—hopefully before it bit me in the arse.

"I called you here to discuss your magick," she continued, apparently satisfied that I had accepted her answer. "The ability to resist thrall is rare, and I feel that you would be better suited to exploring your abilities in our second year class."

I'd had no idea what to expect when I'd walked into her office, hadn't even known what I was going to say to her until she'd asked the question and I'd really thought about it. But this? Magick lessons?

"When do I start?"

She smiled. "Tomorrow. You can walk to class with Hayes, he will introduce you to the instructor."

I nodded and, sensing I was dismissed, stood to leave.

"Leonora, before you go..."

I stopped at the door, raising an eyebrow.

"Please know that if you have any other concerns surrounding your transformation or arrival at Ashvale, you can and should come to me."

I nodded and smiled, like that wasn't more a threat than an offer of support and forced myself to stroll leisurely out of the office, only daring to speed up once I'd rounded the corner of the corridor and her office was out of sight.

I was panting as I ran, realising I hadn't breathed the whole time I was in there with Elowen. She may have wanted to appear friendly, innocuous even, but there was no mistaking my body's reaction to her. It went beyond fear. It was danger, the certainty of jaws about to close around your throat as you climb willingly into the monster's mouth.

I slowed my pace as I caught sight of Hayes in the grounds outside, completing what looked like hand-to-hand combat in a class of around forty. I'd instinctively followed the pull of the bond to him and I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or relieved that my mind subconsciously equated him with safety.

He looked up at the window where I stood, like he could sense I was there watching and a strange curling sensation drifted through me, almost like a question. Had that been Hayes? He still stood, holding his sparring partner in a headlock seemingly effortlessly as he looked up at the window, at me, and the sensation came again.

I shivered and attempted an experimental stroke along the bond of my own,reassurance. I could talk to him about this later. Elowen might not to be trusted but I didn't think I was in any immediate danger.

Later then, I thought and saw Hayes nod like he'd heard as his sparring partner tried to twist free and he casually snapped his arm.

Stay safe, love.

ChapterFifteen

It wasa good thing I no longer strictlyneededto sleep, because it had been evading me the more I tried to unravel my lost memories and my death. I found myself wandering the castle in the dead of night, enjoying the quiet and the touch of cool stone as the moonlight breeze toyed with my head through a cracked window. Normally, it was peaceful. But not tonight. I felt like I was floating above everything, taking the turns of my life with a nod and fanged smile without really processing it, and losing myself more and more in the process—or was I finding myself? Maybe whoever had killed me had done so because I was an absolute bastard. I had no way of knowing.

No, tonight the castle corridors and flickering candle light wasn't enough. I needed to breathe in the rain on the air and feel the dirt under my toes. I needed to feelalive, even if I was only pretending.

There was a small arched doorway at the back of the castle that I'd found during my night-time wanderings that led out right into the copse of trees beyond the sanctuary and its crumbling back wall. Why we hadn't come in this way the night Hayes had brought me here, I couldn't fathom Or, well, maybe I could—he'd probably done it to annoy me, to push me into confronting the changes of my body. Not that it did any good with the block in my mind, that whole night was a scramble of confusing emotions and warped memories.

The trees shuddered, short spiky branches trembling as the wind picked up before settling down. I could smell the clouds, as odd as it seemed, the heavy moisture was building and the air felt electric, like a tingle running over my body until I was the one shuddering.

There was a storm on its way, and as I walked further into the darkness between the trees I couldn’t wait for it to arrive. The trees were strange here, some with thick and gnarled trunks and others were tall with cascading branches that reminded me of fir trees. They made me feel small as I walked beneath them, digging my toes into the dirt and not even feeling the stones or debris on the floor as I walked across it. There wasn't much light, but my heightened sight could see just fine and I hadn't realised how far I'd walked already when a small clearing opened up and I looked around with interest before freezing in place.

Shit. There it was again.

Silver fur gleamed as a long snout sniffed at the air in the brush on the opposite side of the open space. Any second now, it would realise I was here. It couldn't kill me though, right? I mean, how sharp could wolf teeth really be? I remembered the incredible speed the creature had moved with the other night and grimaced. Could I outrun it before it tried to rip my head off?

The wolf fell still, its nose to the ground, and then looked up abruptly, staring straight at me. Fuck.

For a second we just stared at each other, like neither of us quite knew what to do next. I probably smelled strange to the animal, and I wasn't sure what the limitations of my body were to know whether to fight or flee. I didn't really want to hurt it though, there was something all-too human in the stunning ice-blue of its eyes that made me hesitate.

I didn't feel fear, just wariness, which was strange. I thought I would be more concerned, given the size of the paws and the teeth I could see peeking out from the maw. Instead, I was...fascinated. I mean, it was certainly lethal, but also beautiful. Like a feral piece of moonlight roaming between the trees.

I placed one foot carefully behind me and the wolf watched me steadily, as intrigued by me as I was by it. I let my other foot move too until I was taking slow and steady steps away from the clearing and intro the relative safety of the trees. That was when the first paw fell forward.

I stilled, waiting to see what it would do next and a shuddering breath left me when the wolf took another step closer. Its nose raised to the sky and I thought it was going to howl but instead it chuffed at me before sinking back onto its haunches, ready to launch itself at me.

"Shit." Giving up on subtlety, I turned and fled, my eyes just barely keeping track of the trees and branches in my way before I could run into them at high speed—it would be too ironic to survive my murder, so to speak, only to accidentally stake my self running from a wolf I wasn't sure could kill me.

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