Page 113 of Chain Me
Her lips twisted into a tormented grimace. “Dublin. Looking back, I realize now that he—Dmitri—” She hunched over as if saying his name physically hurt her. “I know now that he was just trying to test me. He’d grown bored of me then, I think. Whether I succeeded or not didn’t matter to him. Just the fact that he could manipulate me into trying… I knew it was suicide, but Dublin…” She trailed off, her lips thoughtfully pursed. “Dublin didn’t kill me. I can only assume that he knew taking me from Dmitri’s control would punish him more. Be careful with him—” She reached out, grasping my hand in hers. “He may seem silly and harmless, but some fear him more than Raphael, or even Dublin. He likes to collect rare, talented creatures you see. Beautiful humans. Talented witches…” Her eyes roved down to where the table obscured the view of my stomach. “Anything or anyone gifted and unique. Don’t trust him. Alas, the past is in the past, isn’t it?”
She sighed and sipped from her tea. “Back to the topic at hand, the former witch’s name was Adara. She was rumored to be remarkably gifted. I never knew her, but we all heard of the twisted magic she worked in the service of Mero. When he took a human bride, she corrupted the very gift he despised to sow a new life: a mortal life.”
She stared off, her voice soft in awe. “But in return, she forever denied herself the possibility of death, as did Mero. Damned for eternity, they will never die, and trust me when I tell you that is not a fate anyone would desire. Even Raphael, as far gone in madness as he is, would shy away from such a bargain. The years change you with every passing decade. You become further adrift in a sea of numbness, losing contact with anything that may ground you.”
She stirred her tea rapidly, shaking her head. “Such is the price for daring to pervert nature beyond its bounds.” Her eyes met mine again, brimming with sadness. “But it is a price some men may pay, even in a reckless impulse, to save another.”
While taking a sip of my tea, I nearly choked. Dublin didn’t exactly tout the effects of vampirism, but to never die? And to think, the most reckless thing I’d ever done was sell my soul out of spite.
“And?” My throat felt painfully dry. I woodenly sipped more tea, but that only worsened the discomfort, not all of it physical. Shadows lingered on the horizon. An unshakeable chill prickled the back of my neck, patiently insistent.Don’t be so daft, Ellie. You know what she’s hinting at. What he’s done.
“It’s not that complicated, really.” Yulia lowered her gaze to her tea, continuing to stir it. “Dublin wants to find her because he—”
“Tomorrow.” Dublin himself appeared at the doorway and shot Yulia a pointed look, thus ending the impromptu teatime. “We’ll leave then.” This clearly wasn’t his ideal choice; he wanted to go now.
Quest for answers aside, I couldn’t shake the tense, suffocating pressure building on the air. Like a noose, it cinched my throat, tightening with every inch the remaining daylight retreated beneath the horizon.
While Dublin disappeared again, I retreated to my room and attempted to sleep. Attempted being the keyword. A storm crept in the moment I crawled beneath the sheets. Lightning flashed, illuminating the windows and casting the shadowed furniture into stark relief.
In a way, the chaos felt comforting. I couldn’t hear the whispers. Nothing but nature raging…
Childish Games
Dmitri’s private, climate-controlled jet felt ten times smaller with DublinandYulia on board. When we finally landed, I gulped at the fresh air, as relieved as the sole survivor of a grueling war. One fought with verbal jabs and biting sarcasm.
At the tarmac, Yulia went her own way in silence. Not long after, Dmitri retreated as well, slipping into a golden limo conveniently waiting nearby.
Dublin had also come prepared. Parked not far from the plane was a car I recognized as his. He drove silently, and we re-entered the city just as the midafternoon sun reached its peak. Of all places, we passed the park near the cathedral and I couldn’t resist.
“Could we take a walk? For a second?” I couldn’t suppress the longing in my voice. A walk. In peace. Among the sunlight and fresh air, devoid of shadow and secrets.
Dublin’s grip tightened over the steering wheel.
So I pulled out all stops and resorted to one weapon I sensed even the devil was susceptible to—shameless begging. “Please?”
Sighing, he relented and pulled over to the side of the road. “Five minutes.”
As we exited the car for the cultivated landscape of the park, I tilted my face into the sun, practically skipping beside him. For five glorious minutes, none of the danger surrounding us mattered. Just this. His presence. The easy silence between us, my hand in his.
I could pretend—for the briefest moment—that I was as carefree as I imagined Georgie used to be. Cherished, and wanted, and reckless in her happiness.
That was the terrifying, unnatural part of it all—Iwantedhappiness.
“The tumor,” I began, eyeing a glorious array of flowers dotting the field around us. “If it can’t be removed, then… We need to agree upon some course of action.”
Dublin stiffened, his jaw clenched as if to bite back a phrase I could guess as clearly as my own thoughts—Not this again. Please. I thought you were making progress.
But he didn’t mention as much out loud.
Not even as I came to a stop and hesitantly placed my hand against my belly. I felt nothing. Just flesh, and warmth, and skin. I closed my eyes, attempting to acknowledge some deep-down impulse for the first time.
I didn’t feel any magical maternal impulse, strong enough to erase days of dread and terror.
But I no longer felt that terror as strongly as before.
“If it was a girl, would that bother you?” I slowly peeled my eyes open to gauge his reaction.
He cocked his chin, his gaze shielded behind an impenetrable stare. “Yes,” he grated. “Yes, it would.” Gradually, his mouth twitched, lifting at the corner. Softly. Higher. A genuine smile, though cautious in width. “Another Eleanor Gray? The world is not ready for such a creature.”
