Page 94 of The Devil In Blue
I refused to believe what Elanor had said. I refused to think I couldn’t exist in the dark after I’d existed with my bright little flame for a few years. Compared to the centuries I existed in the shadows, it was nothing.Shewas nothing.
While my thoughts ran rampant in my head, Elanor bent to pick up the crumpled paper and unfolded it in her hands. I looked up at a small mirror on the wall to see a man I barely knew staring back at me. Black hair. Fair skin. He was the count. A mask I wore when I visited the human world. But I was not him. I wasRune.I watched as I shed that husk. Black hair turned blue. My eyes blazed bright.
“She… she has left,” Elanor muttered, dropping the paper to the floor again. There was a long pause as I felt the full weight of my wings spread from my back. “I told you this would happen,” she spoke, her words small and timid. “I wanted you to be prepared.”
I slowly turned to face her, rage bubbling up in my chest. A low growl vibrated in my throat and I thrust a hand out to grasp her slender throat.
“Search the city,” I said. “Findher.”
“But… in the letter, she said—”
I tightened my hold, my fangs lengthening before her eyes. “Find her,” I hissed.
Releasing Elanor from my grip, I stepped away, spreading my wings wide. They covered the length of the room, ready to carry me back to the Glyn. Back to the world I’d neglected. Back to the place that held no depth for me withouther.
Fuck. I needed her, but it was all a mess now.
But there was blood to be shed and I was very much in the mood to shed it.
Present
I stood at the archway leading into the Labyrinth, doing my best to keep my breath slow and steady. In truth, I was timid. Inside was unknown. A place filled with the emotions of thousands of souls all seeking something different. All dealing with their own burdens and turmoil. But maybe my memories were in there. I wasn’t sure I truly wanted them, but Rune told me it would only show me what I wanted to find. Perhaps if I found anything at all, it would give me perspective.
Or it would all suck me under in a current of pain and solitude.
Then I felt Rune squeeze my hand and my thoughts stilled. I found my breath and turned to look up at him, the burning unease in me immediately quelled with the embrace of his eyes. The way his hair was tightly braided back with smaller, conforming braids on each side accentuated his pointed ears and made him look more otherworldly than ever. His wings were folded behind him, but perfectly visible. He looked different. Regal. Terrifying. Bigger with all the parts of him exposed that he usually kept tucked away.
“You don’t have to come with me,” he said.
“I think I do,” I whispered, turning my eyes toward the dark, misty entrance before us. “I came from there. How awful could it be?”
He squeezed my hand again. “Only as awful as you make it.”
I wasn’t sure what my mind was capable of creating or the things it could bring to light. I swallowed, staring again into the foggy darkness. The first step we took toward the archway caused a flurry of uncomfortable feelings inside me. Feelings that formed a wall in front of me. I suddenly couldn’t move. I stopped, my stiffness causing Rune to tug against my grip before he realized I’d frozen. He turned back to face me, concerned but unsurprised. I couldn’t find his eyes. Instead, my gaze was set on that monstrous blackness behind him. Standing so close, I realized the last thing I wanted was to enter that place.
Why had I thought I could? Why did I even suggest it?
“Briar,” Rune said, his voice tender and soft.
I blinked, but I still didn’t look at him. The darkness ahead… it had teeth. It was waiting for me to get lost inside and I wondered if I could ever find my way when I didn’t even truly know who I was. What if Rune let go of my hand? What if I couldn’t see where I was going?
“It’s alright,” Rune said, sliding his fingers from my grip. “The Labyrinth shows us things we must be ready to see. Perhaps another time, I will take you. But not today.” He cupped his hands against my cheeks, letting his warmth wake me from my stupor. “Stay here. I will return soon.”
I didn’t want him to go. Something about the situation burned a hole in me like the Labyrinth was sucking something out. Exposing me. Stripping me of armor and skin. I watched Rune walk toward the entrance with confidence. He’d done it countless times. Why would he fear the Labyrinth? He didn’t look back once as he slipped through the fog and disappeared into the shadows.
It was then that I realized I was shaking. Why was I shaking?
I was cold. So, so cold. I looked down at my hands and saw pale, ashen palms like the hands of a corpse. No color. No heat. I blinked a few times, trying to convince myself that I was ok, but I felt anything but alright. I was empty. Embalmed. Stripped of what I was until I was just a shell with no heartbeat.
What is this?
“As beautiful as the day you were gifted to us,” a chilling voice said.
I spun around to see Father Eli standing only feet away, his robes pristine. He smiled at me, but that grin filled my stomach with jagged stones. I felt sick seeing him there, alive and standing.
I killed him. I watched him burn. I heard his screams die.
“You’re dead,” I huffed out.
