Page 16 of The Devil In Blue
I shook my head. “You are mistaken. And you, my lord, don’t know me either. I assure you.” I bent again in a shallow bow and skirted past the count toward the ballroom.
“Running will do no good,” he said, his voice following me into the main chamber. I skimmed the crowd for Lucien and found no trace of him. In one direction, I saw Naeve watching me, a cherry between her lips. In another direction, I saw Lura licking a drip of wine from her long finger. “Your soul is mine, Briar,” the count whispered.
He was so close to my ear that it made my skin prickle. I whipped around and found myself staring at the empty hallway. My heart leapt at the shock of it. He was right there, his breath on my neck when he spoke, and yet he was gone. I swung my head back around, but not even a hint of his presence remained.
And then his booming voice came from the dais in front of the orchestra.
“The witching hour has struck!” he announced boisterously, drawing everyone’s attention to him like magic.
Had I really been gone within the catacombs for three hours?
I blinked at my lost time and felt my head starting to spin a little. Reaching out, I placed a palm on the nearest pillar, watching the count address everyone for a second time.
“I know you people of Cragborough are partial to your angelic beauty, Phariel, who doesn’t quite like the idea of this holiday. But where I am from, Allhalloween is a most celebrated event. One that demands not only fun and festivities,” he paused a moment, scanning the crowd. “But sacrifice.”
Finally catching my breath, I moved to a table filled with water glasses and lifted my mask only enough to take a few sips.
“Allhalloween has another name if you remember,” the count continued. The crowd went dead silent in anticipation of what he was going to say. “Devil’s Night. It is a night most special. A night where things are not as they seem. Where the realms and all things residing in them may cross paths. Are you not afraid to know that fae and goblins and perhaps even demons walk among you as I speak? As you were dancing and eating and laughing to excess?”
A woman in the crowd laughed at the idea, her lips stained red from her excessive wine drinking. Her husband started to laugh with her and then looked up at the count.
“What reason do we have to fear myths and legends?” he said. “Even if you believe in those tales of other worlds and magic, they are simply ghost stories. Phariel is our savior and putting stock in other realms only drives us further from his guidance.”
A few people nodded and spoke quiet words of approval.
“Phariel is a cunt,” the count said, his voice just loud enough for me to hear, but many seemed to have missed it.
His eyeless mask moved about the room like he was studying each and every face in front of him.
“Faceless,” he said like he wasn’t talking to us anymore. “All of you.” He slowly began to pace, elegance and danger filling every step. “So easy to tempt with riches and luxury.” A woman in the back stumbled into someone, laughing at her mishap. She was drunk. So were many others. “I have a special gift for you all tonight.” He stopped and raised his hands to the sides as if presenting something.
Another bout of silence fell over us all until another bold man finally spoke up.
“My lord,” he said. “What is it you are presenting besides what’s already been given?”
If I had to imagine the count’s face, I imagined it with a sinister smirk. The atmosphere had changed. A different sort of chill fell upon us and I seemed to be the only one sober enough to feel it. I shivered, looking around again for Lucien. Perhaps now was a good time to leave the festivities.
“Oh,” the count said. “I was not speaking to you. The gift I am presenting is to my lovely ravens.”
It took a while for people to catch on. They all glanced around, confused and lost. I was doing the same, but my sober eyes were the first to fall upon the three beautiful women in black standing evenly spaced on the outskirts of the crowd. Lura, Naeve, and the woman whose name I assumed was Elanor. They’d removed their masks and each of them had faces more beautiful than I even expected. They were like three wraiths under the golden candlelight. Their eyes, however, were from another world when under the light of the full moon. They were black as onyx now with no whites to be seen, mirroring the perplexed and fearful expressions of the crowd.
Slowly, each of the women’s mouths curled up into grins too wide for their slender faces.
Much too wide.
“Legends,” the count continued, a casualness to his voice that made things seem even more alarming like he didn’t care at all that the women were staring at us all with horrifying, ravenous gazes. “Myths. Call it what you will, but the veil is much too thin tonight to believe in anything outside of what’s happening right now.” He stepped down from the dais and slowly began walking through the throngs of people. “And right now, I am reminding you what you’ve all forgotten. The other realms exist, whether you deny them or not. And until now, there’s been no reason for anything or anyone to meddle. Giants do not care that bugs live in their basements. But when bugs forget that giants exist, they stop being careful. Theymeddle.”
I realized then that he was slowly making his way toward me. The crowds parted gradually, letting him pass. When he reached me, I felt the weight of his stare like an ice-cold wave.
“And when they meddle, the giants who did not mind them living their tiny, little meaningless lives, get angry. And bugs are reminded that all a giant must do is step on them.”
I gulped, noticing everyone had backed away to give us space. But I didn’t want space. Not if it was occupied by the count.
Something was terribly wrong.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the count said. “Meet my ravens.
When I saw Naeve show her teeth, they were sharpened to beastly points. The tall one let her long tongue slide over the front of her fangs, allowing her breath to leave her in a pleasured sigh like she’d just scented something delectable.
