Page 97 of Unbound By Shadows
He pressed the traveler’s stone into Selene’s palm. “Take it.”
When she only gaped at him, Sam thought perhaps she didn’t hear him. He tried speaking louder, even though the effort pained him. “The stone is mine now, but I gift it to you. Take it!”
“Oh, Sam, I—” she cried.
“Go home. To Gaia,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry I tried to force you. To be with me. It was selfish. And cruel,” his words were starting to slur now, but he wanted to make sure she understood. “I don’t care about… Thema’s sister. The stone is yours now. Touch it and think of your home. Go.”
“But—”
“Hurry,” he whispered. “Before more vampires come. Be happy. I love you. I’m sorry.”
Her beautiful face was marked with anguish. It was becoming harder to keep his eyes open, and her image wavered in front of him. Suddenly, her body was jerked back. Panic flooded Sam. He looked up to see Zaybris standing over him, one arm banded around Selene to restrain her. Sam’s own black horn protruded from the vampire’s chest. He watched Zaybris pluck it out as if it were only a thorn.
“Ouch! You’re lucky I don’t breathe,” Zaybris said, before tossingthe horn clear across the cavern. He coughed then said, “Did you think your filthy horn could kill me? Wood is the only thing that can stake us, made from Earth’s creation. But only when it hits a vampire’sheart, hell-spawn, not a lung.”
Zaybris then used his free hand to pry the traveler’s stone from Selene’s grip, though she didn’t make it easy for him. Once the stone was free, Zaybris looped it around his own neck then laughed. It was a vile, slippery sound.
“Aww, poor demon! Isn’t this poetic? What agony to be parted from your beloved!” Zaybris bent to lick Selene’s neck, making her shudder. Sam made a strangled sound as he tried to grab at Zaybris’s boot. The vampire quickly stomped down on his hand, breaking several small bones.
“What’s the matter? You don’t like having something dear taken from you?” Zaybris’s smirk shifted to fury. “This is the misery I live with each day! Now, you can feel the pain I felt when Lilith left me to be with your father. And why I went all the way to hell to try to retrieve her!”
Then with a triumphant smile, Zaybris closed his eyes and squeezed the traveler’s stone. In an instant, he and Selene disappeared.
Chapter 40
The transition through dimensions unfolded just as Selene had remembered. The smell of ozone came first, followed by the sensation of being pulled. Then came the bone-melting squeeze, before ending with the feeling of being dropped from a great height. Though the journey from Rugby to Aurelia had felt like it lasted only a minute, this time, her experience of disappearing and reappearing into another place seemed to stretch on for hours.
When the sensations cleared, she opened her eyes. She was indoors, staring at a stone wall. The air was musty and dank, with a touch of something sinister like… sulfur? Or was it smoke? There were no sounds except faint creaks echoing above, like footsteps. Vaguely, she wondered why she couldn’t move her arms. A groan sounded next to her, and the pressure restraining her arms lifted.
She sat up, realizing that she was in a room. A bedroom, more precisely, lit with electric wall sconces. She was lying on a tapestry rug spread over a marble floor. In the room’s center stood a twin-size bed with linens the color of red wine, while a cold fireplace sat in the corner. The bed, desk, and nightstand furnishings were heavy butsmall, as if scaled for a child. A thick layer of dust covered the decorative carvings of skulls on each piece.
“This isn’t my castle!” cried a voice beside her. “Where am I?”
She turned to see Zaybris lying on his back, rubbing his eyes. A burst of adrenaline cleared her foggy mind, and she scrambled away from him. Moving toward the bedroom door, she pulled the handle. Logically, she knew there could be any number of fearful things outside, but at the moment, all she could think of was escaping Zaybris. She pulled and then pushed at the door, her muscles straining with effort. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, the door didn’t budge. It seemed to be locked from the outside.
Where are we?
She watched Zaybris rouse to look around the room. His eyes landed on Selene briefly, but he didn’t seem to register her presence.
“This looks like… this is… ” His dropped his head. “Her face… I was thinking of her face.”
Creeping away from the door, Selene wedged herself in a corner on the other side of the bed. She watched the vampire rub the hole in his chest, and instantly her thoughts went to Sam. The image of him lying alone on the cavern floor, unconscious and with only one horn, made her stifle a sob. Was he dead? Could he escape? His betrayal had cut deeply, but that pain paled in comparison to the possibility of his death.
Her heart ached when she remembered how his face looked when he gave her the stone. Although his body was battered and broken, he was so proud. He genuinely wanted her to use it. He wanted her to go home, even though, for him, it meant losing everything. He said he loved her, and she believed him.
Yet his deception combined with his degrading talk of “needing her” made her feelings for him less clear. She had been so angry when he had acted like taking her to Underworld was the gift of a lifetime, and hurt when he revealed that he had “claimed” her as his mate. As if she were no more than a piece of luggage.
So why does the thought of never seeing him again make me want to die?
Zaybris eased himself against the wall opposite her. Squeezing back tears, she straightened her back, ready to assume a fighting stance even though it seemed ridiculous in her braless and barefoot state. Now wasn’t the time to sort through her complicated feelings for Sam. Not when she was locked in a room with a thirsty vampire.
Seeming to remember Selene was there, Zaybris looked at her earnestly. “Your beloved demon. He had his mother’s eyes.” He gestured to the stone around his neck. “That’s why we’re here. I was thinking of her as I looked at him.”
“Where are we?”
Zaybris coughed, then gave an odd smile. “The Underworld.”
Selene reeled back. She touched the stone walls, noticing that the smell of sulfur seemed more prominent now. Did that mean she was dead? Were they both? The dead didn’t have pounding headaches or racing hearts, did they? She held out her hands, half expecting to see decayed flesh or prominent bones, but they looked normal.
