Page 50 of The Curse of Eternity
“My aim going forward is to do as that damned sorcerer insisted—infiltrate the fortress of Dracula, and manage to sleuth my way past the Domnitori and their watchful eyes, where I will then acquire the ring to prevent him or any sorcerer from deducing my given location.”
Winston paused in bringing his mug to his lips, slowly lowering it to the glass-top table.
“You want to break-and-enter Poenari Castle?” Winston glanced my way, but I was just as shocked by the new plan.
“That is where the ring resides, which makes it our only option,” Drake said.
The dhampir sat up, the emotion behind his eyes hardening with sincerity. “How do you figure you’ll get from here to Arefu? It’s not like you can travel by boat or air with the damn imperials watching out for you.”
“I intend to make the journey by the same means I was meant to travel here without alerting the Cneaz.”
Winston blinked, clearly understanding whatever that meant.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, and Drake turned to me.
“What do you know of the fae?”
“Uh, only that you should never trust one?” My limited understanding of faeries made Winston chuckle, but Drake was serious.
“Have you ever heard the tales where the fair folk lead mortals into the woodlands, never to return again?”
Brow furrowed, I nodded once.
“When faeries were being hunted into near extinction by humans a little over a millenia ago, they did not disappear entirely—obviously.” He gestured toward me, reigniting my annoyance with the faery man who’d tricked me. “To escape persecution, faeries bound their magick together to create a realm of their own, accessible from our reality by entrances hidden across the globe.”
“Just think of it like wormholes,” Winston piped up. “You cross over from our world—here, for instance—walk a ways, and pop back out in the arctic.” Drake’s nod of agreement cut off short with a frown.
Wait a minute…“When you said ‘Arefu,’ are you talking about the place in Romania?” I asked.
Without hesitation, Drake said, “The very same.”
Suddenly lightheaded, I staggered a couple steps to lean against the deck railing. He wanted to take us into the belly of the beast—to sneak past the Domnitori, the vampires who controlled all others in the world—andwe had to cross into another realm to do it? Damn, if I survived this, I was never poking fun at Everly’s mysticism again.
“You’ll need to barter something meaningful for a journey like that,” Winston mentioned.
“Then it is fortunate your basement contains a treasure trove or two,” Drake replied.
“You’ve got me there.” Winston sighed. “And I’ve got just the person to help strike a deal. Let me make a phone call.”
“Why don’t you just call Aiden?” I asked, shrugging when they both faced me.
“Too bloody,” Winston answered, waving the suggestion off as he stood. “I don’t feel like cleaning up.”
Stymied, I opened my mouth to ask what he meant by that, but Drake interjected, “Are you ‘game’ with this plan?” The somewhat modern term sounded unusual with the way he said it, in the most unfortunately endearing way.
“It’s our only option, right?” I shot back, and Drake hesitated before nodding. “Then I’ll do it. But I want a weapon.”
“I’m sure I’ve got something sharp and pointy in the garden shed,” Winston said, smirking on his way to the sliding glass door. “I’ll let you know what your next move is.” Shaking his phone for emphasis, he strode inside. The shush of the door sliding back into place gave way to renewed silence.
Even with the chittering of hidden wildlife all around us, the quiet suddenly seemed too full when Drake and I were left standing on Winston’s deck alone—together, whatever. To avoid looking at Drake, I tugged on the hem of my borrowed sweatshirt and cleared my throat.
“Since the cat’s out of the bag, whatwasyour plan originally?” Steeling my courage, I faced Drake with an awkward smile. “I mean, before you got saddled down with me. You said you were going to come here?”
“Ah, yes.” Drake’s expression cleared, but his stiff posture hinted at unease. “You see, before he sent you to find me, Aiden had originally promised me a weapon worthy of destroying anyvampire within its range. At the nature reserve, I had been waiting for him to deliver it to me and then lead me through the Summerland to come here.
“Winston already agreed to my staying for a day or so to plan, and then I would have confronted the Cneaz on my own terms. Although I had imagined Lucian and his fellows would have met a more permanent end than they had.” A frown creased the taut skin around his eyes. Somewhere nearby, the trickle of a stream burbled, but my attention was wholly on Drake when the pieces started fitting together.
“You were going to sacrifice yourself for me, weren’t you?” I’d already suspected it, knowing he’d only gotten in trouble with vampire law because of saving me from another undead. All because I’d agreed to hear him out.
