Page 39 of Blood Vows
The door at the end of the hallway stood slightly ajar, the faintest line of light spilling from within.
That had to be it.
Every instinct screamed at me to turn back, to go to bed and pretend I had never left my room, but the pull of that door was stronger than reason. I moved toward it, each step softer than the last, until I stood before it.
The light came from within, flickering, faintly golden, and for a moment I thought I heard movement. A whisper. A breath.
I pressed my hand against the door, hesitating.
“Hello?” My voice barely carried.
There was no answer, only silence. Then, something brushed against the edge of my senses, like the air itself shifting. A coldness that wasn’t natural, that felt as though the shadows themselves had begun to stir. And then came the sound again. Not a scream this time, but a low, shuddering sob.
It came from behind the door.
My heart lodged in my throat, and before I could stop myself, I pushed it open.
The hinges groaned softly, and the room revealed itself in the flicker of candlelight. It wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t some ritual chamber or forbidden study, but a bedroom, vast and heavy with silence. The air felt wrong here too. A stillness that felt wrong.
Moonlight filtered weakly through the tall windows, its glow catching on the dust that drifted lazily in the air. A large four-poster bed dominated the room, its dark curtains drawn tightly closed, concealing whatever lay within.
That was when I heard it.
A wet, gurgling sound, low and rhythmic, like someone drinking or worse…feeding.The sound turned my stomach, each slurp echoing through the stillness, yet I couldn’t stop myself from taking a step closer. Curiosity wrestled with fear, and fear was losing.
I reached the edge of the bed, my trembling fingers hovering just inches from the heavy curtain. My heart thudded painfully in my chest as I drew in a breath and whispered,
“Hello?”
No answer. Only that same sound.
I swallowed hard and reached forward, pulling at the curtain. But before I could move it aside, a hand shot out of the darkness, seizing mine in an iron grip.
I gasped, my breath catching as I turned and froze.
It was him.
Vas.
But not the version of him I had come to know, not the stoic mask of control or even the reluctant protector. His mask was gone, and for the first time, I saw the full truth of what he was. The darkness wasn’t just around him.
It was him!
It crawled up one side of his face like a living shadow, half consuming his features, half revealing the man beneath. His eyes burned with something inhuman, raw and hungry, and for one suspended moment, I couldn’t breathe.
Then I screamed.
I tore my hand free, stumbling backwards as his name broke from my throat, but before I could say another word, a laugh filled the room.
High-pitched, cold, and cruel.
A sound I knew.
The witch’s cackle.
It danced through the air like madness made sound, and the candlelight flickered violently, throwing monstrous shapes across the walls. The candlelight trembled as if disturbed by a breath, though the air was utterly still.
And then, right next to me, the demon broke through the silence.
