Page 41 of Sophie's Ruin
You can launch yourself into a different realm or get stranded in the void,Damien’s words flashed through my mind. It was too risky. I’d been able to bring myself here, but I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to glimmer both of us out.
Panic rose as I took a sweeping look around the cave. To the right lay a way out of this place through Stern’s library. That was how Henry and I had gotten in when we’d come here in search of the Tear. I knew we couldn’t use that route to escape now, because the mansion was teeming with clan vampires. There was another way out, though—my gaze darted to the left of the cave—through the tunnels the Ravagers had used to get in and out of this place.
My mind made up, I returned my gaze to Henry. His eyes had drifted closed again as he drank, restoring his strength with each drop of my blood. A breath of relief left me when I noticed the bleeding from the cuts covering his body had slowed, and some of the bruising had faded. Still, I knew he would be in no condition to help me once we stepped outside this room. We would use the tunnels to escape, but the journey to safety would be difficult and long, which meant I needed to preserve my strength.
“That’s enough for now,” I said gently, trying to pry my wrist from Henry’s mouth.
His eyes snapped open, entirely black and unseeing, and he growled, refusing to give up the blood. I winced in pain because his fangs were tearing the skin where he was latched on. Quickly deciding on a different approach, I stopped trying to pull my wrist away and lowered my face closer to his.
“Please. Let go,” I whispered, hoping he could hear me through the roar of bloodlust in his ears. He was not that different from a Ravager right now, in this state where his naturedrove him to feed, to take everything from me to replenish his own depleted resources.
My voice must have penetrated the haze of his mind because Henry blinked, and a thin strip of blue appeared in his eyes. It gradually took over, crowding out the black. When his gaze focused on me, his eyes were pleading.
It’s not enough,his look conveyed.
“I know, I know,” I whispered, fighting back tears. “But I need my strength so I can get us out of here. Please. You need to let go.”
Seconds ticked by as we stared at each other. His draws on my wrist slowed, but he wasn’t ready to let go. Not yet. There was a war inside him. He was trying to fight the bloodlust. I could see it in his eyes—black was bleeding into the blue again, trying to take over, but the blue was pushing back because Henry was pushing back, trying to subdue the bloodlust. My heart pounded in the silence as I hoped he would prevail. I wasn’t sure what I would do if he didn’t. I would have to rip my wrist out of his jaw and break his neck to render him unconscious. Then, I could free him from the chains and carry him out of this place. But I hoped I wouldn’t need to resort to that.
A few more seconds passed as I held my breath and waited. The warring hues in Henry’s eyes swirled a moment longer until the blue pushed out the black entirely. A ragged exhale escaped me as I dove into the deep-blue waters of his gaze. I wanted to swim in them forever, but that would have to wait until we’d made it to safety. Henry’s jaw unclenched and once he’d let go of my wrist, I quickly wiped the blood from the already healing bite marks on my tunic.
“I’m going to take off the collar,” I said low, my gaze fastened on Henry’s.
He gave a small nod, and I swiftly broke the metal band wrapped around his neck. I wanted to fling the fucking thingaway from us with such force that it would embed into one of the cavernous walls, but I knew better than to make noise because it would alert the vampires in the mansion above us to my presence. So, I placed the broken collar on the ground beside me as gently as I could before returning my gaze to Henry’s face.
“Now, I’ll free you from the chains,” I told him, feeling the need to explain what I was doing. He seemed in control, but I knew that bloodlust could surge back at any moment, and I didn’t want to provoke him.
When he nodded again, I snapped the bands encircling his wrists and then the ones around his ankles. The metal clanked as the chains dropped to the ground, and I winced, hoping we weren’t being too loud. Rising to my feet, I glanced at the exit leading to Stern’s library. My ears perked up as I listened for any sign that we’d been overheard. When I heard none, I turned back to Henry.
“Can you walk?” I asked, bending down to help him up.
With a groan, he braced his hands on my shoulders and pushed himself up to his feet. My stomach roiled when the blood he’d been sitting in made a sickening, squelching sound as he got up. Henry let go of me and took a few deep, labored breaths, swaying on his feet. When he went to crumple to the ground, I held him up by propping him on my shoulder and wrapping my arm around his torso. I was a bit lightheaded myself from the blood he’d taken, and my stomach cramped as thirst lashed out. Sucking in a sharp breath, I waited for the wave of hunger to subside. I should have fed nights ago. Now, my stubbornness could cost us.
“Sophie,” Henry rasped, snapping me out of my frantic thoughts. “You’re really here.”
He lifted one trembling hand to my face and cupped my cheek. Then he crushed his mouth to mine, the kiss raw and desperate. I tasted blood on his lips, his and mine. The kiss wasintense but also fleeting; we couldn’t afford anything more at the moment.
“Where are the others?” Henry asked when he pulled away.
“I came alone,” I told him.
“What?” He stared at me with wide eyes.
“It’ll be okay,” I assured him, as I called upon my magic.
It slithered down my right arm like a snake made of dark shadows. Henry recoiled from me, staggering back a step. When his knees buckled, he braced his hand on the nearby wall for support.
“It’s okay,” I told him, as my other arm also became wreathed in shadows. “I’ve been learning my magic.”
“Your magic?” Henry stared at me in disbelief. “But it’s?—”
Before he could finish his thought, darting shadows filled the cave as the clan leaders arrived. I cursed, angry with myself for having missed their approach.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” Camilla crooned as she strode in, flanked by Moreau and Beatrice Stern.
Emeric, Lena, and Yvonne rushed past me to block the other exit out of the cave.
I cursed again, my gaze darting between the two groups. Then, I felt my magic pulsing at my fingertips. My power rolled through me, calming my nerves.
