Page 24 of Sophie's Ruin
Closing my eyes again, I took a deep breath and thought about Henry, about how he made me feel and how my very bones ached, missing his closeness. The feeling that came forth was not the one I’d hoped for when I’d closed my eyes. I’d planned on channeling joy, happiness, and the one feeling that was the strongest and the purest of them all, but instead, despair rose, swelling in my chest. Refusing to wallow in it, I weaponized it instead.
My brows pinched in concentration as I let the dreadful feeling ignite my blood until it was boiling with fury. The clan leaders’ flawless faces flashed through my mind. They would pay. I didn’t know how yet, but they would suffer for what they’d done, for what they were currently doing to Henry. I gasped as potent power surged through my veins at the thought. It rippled through me, spilling outward, making the air aroundme charged with magic. My eyes flew open as I lifted my hand to my face and rolled my magic between my fingers. The power shimmered with a faint blue light, captivating and beautiful.
Damien was smiling when my wide-eyed gaze darted to him.
“How does it feel?” he asked.
“It feels…like lightning in my veins.” I tried to convey what I was feeling.
“Incredible, isn’t it?” the young man said, turning to leave.
“Wait,” I called after him, and my magic dissipated the moment I stopped concentrating. “You’ll have to show me more.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Celeste was very clear about letting you find your own way. I just pointed you in the right direction. Eventually, you’ll come into your own power, figuring out what works and what doesn’t.”
“I already told you, time is not on my side,” I bit out, my tone harsher than I’d wanted it to be. Damien recoiled, clearly taken aback. I let the muscles of my face smooth out as I tried again, “I just need your help. Please.”
His dark gaze flickered over my features as if assessing how desperate I truly was. Silence stretched for a few seconds until he gave in with a heavy sigh.
“Alright, meet me here tomorrow night.”
He turned away then, and I watched him disappear into the woods. The corners of my mouth lifted as I recalled the rush of power I’d felt at my fingertips a few moments ago. Hope flared in my chest—I was one step closer to getting Henry back.
12
HENRY
I’m getting out of here,was my first thought when I regained consciousness.
He’s not here,was the second, as I held my breath, listening.
Moreau must have left after I had passed out from the pain. After all, he only wanted to torture me while I was conscious so he could revel in my screams of agony that inevitably escaped. I had cursed my vampire body endless times during the last two nights. It was nearly indestructible, which meant I could endure a lot more than a mere human…and endure I had—pain, misery, the sight of my own entrails, and Moreau’s face sprayed with my blood. He was a sick fuck. I needed to get out of here. I was weak, but I was only going to get weaker. At least my body was still healing itself, drawing from its reserves, but they were quickly depleting; I could feel it. It was now or never.
From my last time here, I knew that there were two ways out of Stern’s lair. One lay to the right of where I was sprawledon the hard ground, and one to the left. The one on the right led to a steep stairwell that ascended into Stern’s study. The one on the left led to the tunnels that connected different regions of the Empire. Stern’s Ravagers, the feral vampires he’d sired in an attempt to build his own personal army, had used those tunnels to prowl about the country before I had killed them all.
Slowly, I turned my head to the left and focused on the shadowy opening in the cave wall. Only a few feet separated me from my escape route, but right now, the short distance seemed insurmountable. I willed my weak muscles to move, but they didn’t budge, too drained from all the torture and the blood loss. Gritting my teeth, I tried again, imagining myself slowly lifting off the rough cave floor. The mental exercise worked, and with a grunt, I was able to peel my bare back off the ground and roll to my left side. Now came the hard part—I needed to get up.
Propping my right hand on the ground, I pushed up, trying and failing to stifle a loud groan as I sat up. Half-way there. Moving slower than I ever had before, I got on all fours and then eventually rose to my full height. My breath sawed in my throat and sweat beaded on my forehead as I stood in the middle of the candlelit cave, my gaze fixed on the shadowy exit—my target. I didn’t dare take my eyes away from it because I knew if I did, I would collapse back to the hard floor. Taking a deep breath, as deep as my mutilated body allowed, I braced myself and took a step toward the exit. My knees buckled, but I didn’t go down, grabbing the nearby wooden table for support—the same table that housed the torture instruments Moreau had been using on me. The blades of various shapes and sizes were covered in my blood, old and new, and seeing them only strengthened my resolve to flee this place.
Fastening my gaze back on the exit, I let go of the table and took a few more steps. My movements became surer the longer I stayed up on my feet and the closer I got to my escape. Aragged exhale left me when I reached the exit. I stepped inside the tunnel and was plunged into darkness, my vampire eyes adjusting slower than usual because of the condition I was in. Still, I knew I shouldn’t stop moving, so I placed my hand on the rough tunnel wall and kept walking, the sound of my shuffling steps filling the narrow space. Once my vision had finally adjusted and I could see more clearly, my steps became more confident. I let go of the stone wall and picked up my speed, thinking about how I was heading toward my freedom, toward Sophie.
The thought of her spurred me further into action. It gave me strength to push myself, and the next thing I knew, I was running, my steps echoing in the pitch-black. They were heavy and not feline-light as usual, because I was weighted down by what I had been through in the past two nights. I was not moving as quickly as I would have liked. I had cursed my vampire body during the torture sessions, but now I wished I could take it all back—I needed my vampire speed. I tried to summon it, but it wouldn’t come. So I kept running at human speed, only putting a short distance between me and Stern’s lair even after several long minutes.
Too focused on putting one foot in front of the other and on my labored breathing, I didn’t even hear his approach. I didn’t know Moreau was right behind me until he snatched me by the back of my neck, yanking me out of my run. Something inside me snapped when I felt his claws digging into my skin—I wasn’t going back there; this would end here and now. Only one of us would leave these tunnels alive.
Moreau’s eyes widened as I whirled on him and attacked swiftly and viciously. I went for his throat, sinking my fangs as deep as they could go before I tore at the skin and flesh. Blood filled my mouth, warm and thick, and I almost moaned at thetaste. It wasn’t as rich and sweet as human blood, but at the moment, it was the sweetest nectar to my beaten body.
Focus,I ordered myself. I needed to finish this and escape.
With a snarl, I jerked my head back from Moreau’s throat, taking a chunk of it with me. A wet, ripping sound echoed in the tunnel a second before Moreau roared in pain. He crumpled before me, clasping his ravaged neck with his hand. Blood gushed out of the wound, and I wanted to bathe in it, just like he had been bathing in my blood for the past two nights. I wanted to, but I knew I wouldn’t do it because I wasn’t like him. I was a vampire, but I was not a monster. I spat the piece of flesh I had bitten off Moreau to the side, and it landed on the ground with a wet smack. Moreau shook before me as I towered over him, feeling…pity. Pity that I didn’t have time to drag this out, to torture him as he had tortured me.
Not a monster,I reminded myself. It was easy to forget after what I had been through.
“You’re lucky I’m not like you,” I spat, my voice rough and gravelly as it bounced off the tunnel walls. “Because your death will be swift.”
A gurgling sound escaped Moreau as blood bubbled up and spilled out of his mouth, flowing like a crimson river down his chin, neck, and chest. I stepped closer to him to deliver the final blow, but before I could finish him, the others arrived, and the moment they did, I knew it was over.
Shadowy figures of the clan leaders moving imperceptibly fast filled the tunnel. Emeric and Lena dragged Moreau away from me a second before Camilla appeared before me. Her face contorted in rage, but she didn’t say anything as she wrapped her clawed hand around my throat and threw me to the side with such force that the tunnel wall shuddered when I collided with it. The outer edges of my vision dimmed as I slid down it to the hard ground.
