Page 114 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
A death at the jaws of the mirror monster means eternal hell. I should be begging for Cassius to keep me alive. Surely a life in his hands would be better than that eternal damnation.Beg, Lenore. Beg him to spare you. Catreena said he was obsessed. Play pet for him and when the time is right, slit his throat.
My lips are glued shut. I can’t muster the words. Is it stubbornness or fear? The way Cassius looks at me next makes my skin crawl. I realize in that moment that there’s something just as dark and tainted in him. A demon. He still wears the skin of a man but he’s not human, not anymore.
He holds out his palm. “The blade?”
Catreena’s face alights. She procures a knife from thin air. The metal is black, with flecks of silver throughout. I’ve never seen a material like it. It looks similar to the frame of the mirror.
The invisible binds on me release. I’m on my feet and sprinting for the door in an instant. Cassius plucks me from the ground midstride.
“So eager. The chase will begin shortly.” He drags me toward the mirror. My fear spikes higher with every step. The air around the mirror is freezing cold. The scent of death fills my nostrils.
Cassius forcibly extends my arm, baring my wrist to the ceiling. I bite back my cry as the blade slices through my skin. Blood pours from the wound.
Cassius presses my arm to the mirror. I fight him so hard my shoulder feels like it dislocates. The surface of the mirror is not hard like I was expecting. It’s soft, pliant. A ripple runs across the face. Fresh panic fills me. I don’t want thatthingto come out.
I scream when something grabs my wrist, pressing down around the cut. My arm sinks into the mirror, disappearingbeneath the glass. With one rough jerk, Cassius pulls my arm free.
“Not yet.” He moves us away from it. “One hour. Then you can hunt.”
Another ripple forms across the surface. Was that a reply? An acknowledgment? Cassius drags me along with him as he moves to the door. Flinging it open, he grins. “You have thirty seconds. Then I’m coming for you.”
Catreena huffs. “She won’t even make it out of your sight in thirty seconds. You’re not even trying.”
“Don’t spoil my fun,” he grumbles. “I want her to try. I didn’t say I wanted her to get far. I’ll take her right here in the hallway if I can. Want to watch?” He smirks at Catreena whose face is red with fury.
“Watch you sully yourself with that undead trash? No thank you.” She lifts her chin and disappears into the bathroom.
“She’s pissed now, but when I fuck her brains out tonight, she’ll forgive me. She always does. Having my cock inside her after I’ve defiled a princess always feels better for both of us. Devil only knows why.” Cassius looks away from the direction Catreena has gone, his stare settling on me. “Thirty seconds.”
Running for my life is not something I’ve trained for. Frolicking through the meadow, dancing in the rain, sure. Running? Absolutely not. I’m at a complete disadvantage.Thirty seconds. What a joke. I’ll have to be smarter, not faster.
The one advantage I have over Cassius? I know this castle inside and out. This is my home. Which is how I know there’s a small panel beneath the oak table against the wall in the center of the hallway. I’ve never known its purpose. The square is toosmall for most adults to fit through. It was perfect as a child. Maybe it was for the castle’s rat dogs to sneak in and out of.
I’ve never been more grateful to be improperly dressed. A hoop skirt would make it impossible to fit inside. In my nightgown, I might just be able to squeeze through. More important than that? Someone as broad and muscular as Cassius will never fit.
Running in a straight line, I wait until the last moment to dart to the left. If I give away my advantage too soon, Cassius may come for me early. He strikes me as a man who only plays games he knows he can win. I have no doubt that at the first sign of any real chance of escape, he’ll cut me off at the knees.
Using my bare foot, I kick the panel inward. Trepidation locks my muscles. The space is smaller than I remember. Ducking under, I squeeze myself through the opening. I have to reach one arm, sliding my head and first shoulder through, before I can fit my other shoulder inside. My waist glides through, but my hips jam between the four small walls. “Dammit, Lenore. Too many tea cakes.”
“Don’t you dare!” Cassius’s voice roars behind me.
Reaching forward in the darkness, I grip onto a floorboard, using it to haul myself inward. The places where I splintered the wood when I kicked in the panel are sharp enough to poke through my clothes and tear into my hips. The pain is a motivator. It’s nothing compared to the agony I’m sure to endure at the hands of Cassius or the mirror.
My feet kick out wildly behind me, fighting for purchase. I’m sweating. The soles of my feet slip and slide. The floor shakes. Cassius is close. Clawing, kicking, pushing, a final desperate surge of adrenaline sends me sprawling out on the other side of the hole.
Tucking my feet in, I crab crawl backward. Cassius’s furious face drops into the opening. “You think you can hide from me? I’ll tear this castle apart, bring down every wall until I find you.”
In some wild burst of sheer life-and-death-induced confidence, I call back, “Good luck.”
Cassius vanishes from the opening. The walls rattle. Fuck, he really might bring the wall down. I could hide in these secret passages but what will happen when Catreena frees the demon from her mirror in an hour? It’s an otherworldly being. Walls aren’t going to stop something so unnatural from seeking its prey. It has my blood. What does that mean? Will it find me no matter where I hide now that it’s had a taste?
The walls shudder again.Move first, think later. My childhood play tunnels are much the same. The only change is the exorbitant number of cobwebs. I used to be a little mini broom, traveling through here so often the pathways were spotless.
My knees sting as I crawl through the tunnels. This was much easier as a child. The gash on my arm burns. The wound opens slightly each time I put my weight on my hands. Moonlight shines ahead of me. There are hundreds of windows in the castle. If anyone were smart enough to place each with their respective rooms, they would realize this one does not belong to anything on the castle map. I don’t know who built a window in this passage. This castle has unique architecture that borders on a case of madness in its creator.
Several dolls, a wooden horse, and a child’s tea set rest in front of the window. This was a happy place for me. Now it will be stained with the memory of this awful day, just like so many other parts of my home and life. Climbing out a third-story window is unwise but it’s my only option.
Gripping the wooden horse, I use it to smash away at the window. Several small cracks form before the horse breaks intwo. Wrapping my arm in my skirt, I use my elbow to break it out the rest of the way. Lush green vines have always grown the length of the castle’s mighty walls. With any luck, they’ll be strong enough to hold my weight as I climb down.
