Page 30 of The Curse of Eternity
Picturing my family was the only thing that blocked out the relentless thirst and stomach-growling hunger. How long would it have taken them to realize I was missing? Everyone had been having such a good time at the club…Everly—she would have alerted them that something was wrong.
Except, even if they learned right away that I’d gone missing, none of them would have a clue about why or where I’d disappeared to. Unless they decided to scour every street of Albuquerque, the chance of them finding my car before the vampires’ trail went cold was too slim to hope for. Even with the help of Elias’s fellow Navajo contacts at the police department, nobody could turn back the clock.
The slow acceptance that they weren’t coming to save me set in. Everly might have some natural inclination toward precognition, but she wasn’t infallible. Hell, nothing she’d ever shown me came close to what that sorcerer could do. Besides, I didn’t want her involved if it meant she risked getting hurt.
Secrets and stupidity would cost me my life, but I wouldn’t drag others down with me. Somehow, that small ounce of martyrdom renewed my vigor. Sure, I was going to die, but I’d still go down swinging—
The trundle of the van’s tires changed their tune. We clearly weren’t on the highway anymore, or asphalt in general. When the van suddenly stopped, I lurched along with it. Inhaling a hiss through my teeth at the sharp, stinging sensations bolting downmy bound arms, I got my legs under me in time to keep my hip from banging into the interior wall.
Car doors slammed from the front cab. Adrenaline put my senses on high alert. My vision cleared in the darkness while my heart thrummed with anticipation. Drake’s posture stiffened, and his gaze shot to the back of the van.
“Prepare yourself,” Drake whispered, his low voice triggering my heart to pound. “I will do what I can to keep you unharmed.” His dark eyes met mine, and he winced. “As best as I can.” Before I could respond, the doors banged open. Light blinded my vision, and I blinked in quick succession.
The scrape of chains followed as cold hands gripped my wrists, and the shorter vampire ripped free the bolt holding them to the van’s interior. He held my chains tight while leading me out with a sharp pull. With my legs numbed from the awkward position I’d been in, I stumbled only to fall right out of the van with an undignified grunt.
My ringing ears made it hard to hear, but I registered the sound of Drake’s voice, deep with his thickening accent while he growled foreign words to the vampire that had dragged me out. Laid out on the ground, I stared skyward as rocks pressed and poked against my bare arm and into my side. My breath fogged with each exhale.
Closely-grown pines obscured the oppressive clouds above that felt so much closer than the expansive blue skies I’d grown up with. Streaks of orange and pink shot across the sky, fading to a blanket of glittering stars on the far side,near sunset.The ringing in my ears abated as my shoulders were gripped firmly by a stranger’s hands.
It was the tall blond vampire who lifted me, and I quickly got my knees under myself, followed by my feet. I wobbled, but caught myself before the vampire took the chance to touch me again. When my gaze found Drake’s, I stifled a gasp.
It shouldn’t have been a shock to see him under the dying rays of sunlight, but it was. Maybe because I’d convinced myself that he was more man than monster on our endless journey here, but the day had a habit of bringing uncomfortable truths to light. His dark irises were surrounded by bloodshot sclera. Red rimmed the lash line of his eyes, sunken into his stark bone structure which was covered by a thinning layer of deathly pale grayed skin.
Deep hollows stood out along his temples and beneath his cheekbones. All of his features, already so angular, turned ghoulish and grotesque. The only part of him wholly unchanged were the straight strands of black hair falling across his forehead and over his ears. As he neared, a step ahead of the shorter vampire who now held his chains, I buried the impulse to back away.
“You cannot die,” he urged in a whisper when he passed, inches away from me, and turned his gaze ahead. “If you discover an opening, love—flee.”
My breath caught, but I took a step to follow to avoid being pushed around again. Then I looked up, and my stride faltered. Cobblestone created a walkway on either side of the white quartz stones surrounding an enormous fountain. It must have been a dozen feet taller than me, crafted from granite and depicting a horrible image of a bat-winged creature devouring a young woman’s throat.
Water poured from torn stone skin, pooling in the basin to reflect the colonial-style porch of the brick building ahead. Several white pillars lined the stoop, as long as my family’s entire church. An elaborate solid oak door was set into the surrounding brick, with ornate storm windows on either side, shuttered closed.
Forcing my legs to move, my gaze traveled upward—and up some more. The thing must have been three stories tall, and solong on either side that its end disappeared into the surrounding pines. Shoulders hunched, I climbed the three steps to the stoop and shuffled across the glossy varnished porch.
Goosebumps crawled over my flesh while I tried and failed not to shiver. The human sorcerer was nowhere to be found, and the shorter dark-haired vampire moved ahead to wait before the doors. Drake stopped beside him beneath the stone overhang that held up the balcony above. Now shaded from direct sunlight, he glanced over his shoulder at me and I stared back at his handsome face. His brow twitched, nearly pinched with concern, but then his lips pressed together, and his features settled into a placid mask.
The doors ahead opened, so soundless that I shuddered, but grit my teeth in preparation of what awaited behind them. Inside the manor was another sight to behold, one I didn’t even try to take in fully. A grand staircase stood at the end of the foyer, its banister wooden but stained black while a golden runner climbed its white steps.
Marble floors shone under my boots, nearly reflecting the unlit red-wax candles peeking out from the chandelier high above. Paintings lined the wood-paneled walls on either side, many of them depicting men and women in the throes of passion while blood poured from their torn flesh onto sheets or chaises. A brush of air against the nape of my neck indicated the doors were closing. I shivered as the soft glow of dying light from outside vanished.
A lock was bolted shut, and I gave into the urge to look back. Two suits of armor stood on either side of the closed doors, both sporting wolf’s head helmets and holding long spears.Wait,who had closed the doors?
Foreign words spoken by an unfamiliar voice swung my attention forward. I followed Drake’s gaze to the railing at the top of the stairs, separating the second floor from a long dropdown. My lips parted, confused and baffled by the gross amount of wealth adorning the vampire who stood at the balcony.
Pale blond hair fell straight to his shoulders while icy blue eyes met mine. A smile flickered across the edges of his wide mouth, hidden too fast for me to guess at its meaning. Golden rings embedded with gemstones clung to his long white fingers. An embroidered long-sleeved vest in a deep royal blue stood out against the pallor of his neck and hands.
The golden necklace hanging to his chest barely stirred as he walked soundlessly down the stairs. In a blur, he appeared several feet away, and I retreated a step on instinct. My back hit the tall vampire escort, and I cringed when a chill climbed my spine. The regal vampire moved closer, and my fists clenched.
“If you touch her, you will find there are no bindings strong enough to hold me, Lucian,” Drake said, his voice low with lethal promise while his gaze tracked the vampire. Lucian paused in his approach, and slowly turned his icy stare onto Drake.
“So strange, Ignatius,” Lucian began, his accent strong enough to almost make his English unintelligible. “I have never understood why you choose to keep humans as companions. It is beneath your status to roll in the mud with the pigs.”
“As a fellow of the old guard, you ought to respect my threats,” Drake replied, unmoved, and a beat of silence passed between the two vampires. Then Lucian let out a dark chuckle. My nails ground into my palms—too numbed with cold to feel it—and I looked at Drake.
He only glanced at me, but it felt like a warning. Except I had no idea what it meant. Lucian snapped his fingers, his voice like a whip when he spoke in another language, and metal creaked behind me. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I whirled on the suits of armor that I’d assumed were empty decorations. My eyes widened, tracking their eerily fluid movements. Like the dozensof pounds of metal weighing down their bodies was nothing at all.
Drake shouted back at Lucian, his words and their significance lost to me while I faced down the approaching suits of armor. The taller of our vampire escorts still held my chains, but I had the element of surprise when I yanked them free from his lazy grip. In strangely steady hands, I held the links before striking out against the suit of armor.
I managed to wrap the chain once around the suit’s wrist, pulling down hard to get the person inside off balance. They only leaned over a few inches. Their staggered movement showed they hadn’t anticipated my strength, butI’dunderestimated their reaction time. A metal-clad elbow snapped out, striking my face.
