Scarlet Mirror (Rise of the Vampire Princess Book 3), page 9
Zayne nodded and then turned to Merick. “Glad to see she didn’t eat you.”
Merick chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure she wanted to.”
I shook my head and grabbed some clean clothes before heading to the bathroom. I let the two of them talk while I stripped out of my clothes and started the hot shower.
I could hear them murmuring to each other until I got into the shower. The noise of the water rushing over my ears and hitting the floor drowned out anything else, and it was pure bliss.
I washed my body and hair and stretched a little, hoping the heat would ease the sore muscles in my back from laying down for…who knew how long? I should have asked.
Then I felt it. A tug inside my chest. The one that my mind told me to follow.
I had a feeling if I didn’t follow it, it could get a lot more painful. I frowned at the thought. Was this what it was like when a sire called a fledgling to visit? I didn’t have a sire, though.
The tugging disappeared, and I relaxed.
Maybe it was all in my mind.
I got out of the shower, dried off, and dressed. When I left the bathroom, it was just Zayne sitting in the chair by my bed. “Where’s Merick?”
“He needed something to eat, so he went to the kitchen. Levi dropped you off some coffee and said he had a couple of calls to make. One of which was to our doctor.”
I snorted. “I’m a vampire. I don’t need a doctor anymore.”
“He wants her to run a blood test on you.”
I raised a brow. “What does he think is going to show up on it?”
Zayne hesitated for a moment. “Magic.”
I let that sit for a second. “Did he have my blood tested when I first changed?”
“No. We didn’t. We just assumed that since you didn’t have magic that the witch blood was gone, and the vampire blood had completely taken over.”
I sat on the bed, thinking through it. “But…something’s changed.”
“Both Liz and Merick sensed your magic in you while you were trying to fight the bloodlust.” Zayne nodded. “And now Levi wants to confirm it.”
I saw myself ending up like Hannah and her magic, or Moll, the doll maker. “I’m not sure if I like that option.”
“I agree, but we need to make sure we’re prepared for it if that’s what is going on.”
My body jerked as I felt the tug in my chest again. I looked at Zayne and opened my mouth to say something, but I didn’t know what to say as an image of a place appeared in my mind and the world started shifting when I thought ‘I need to go there’.
I grabbed Zayne’s hand at the last second and my room disappeared.
The world reappeared around us, and I let out a strangled laugh. This wasn’t the same as when someone pulled me through their magic, or when Levi used his ability to transport us.
This had been completely me. I had just transported Zayne and I to…where?
I looked around and saw that we were in the middle of a cornfield. The long stocks weaved in the wind under the moon.
At least wherever I took us, it was still nighttime. Not long before dawn, though, judging by the pressure in my chest.
The tug in my chest continued, and I started walking forward with Zayne’s wrist still in my hand.
“Abby, you just transported us.” I couldn’t tell if he was excited or scared. Maybe both. I had too much anticipation sitting in my body to taste his emotions. Something was waiting for me on the other side of this field. Something I needed to find.
Zayne tugged me back. “Abby, look at me. We are in an unknown territory that you just took us to. We need to go back.”
I shook my head. “No, this is exactly where we need to be. I can feel it calling me, Zayne. Can’t you?” I met his confused gaze and realized that he didn’t feel it. “Zayne, something is pulling me in this direction. I followed the feeling here without even knowing how to transport. I can’t leave now.”
“Levi is going to kill me,” he muttered. “I need to take you back.”
“And I’ll just come right back here.” I crossed my arms and challenged him.
He let out an exasperated sigh. “You know, when I took this job, I thought it would be easy.”
“You clearly didn’t talk to Mario about the challenges he faced when he was my bodyguard.” I spun back around and started trudging through the cornstalks.
Zayne snorted. “I heard you trapped him in a circle a couple of times. Threatened to shoot him.”
“Yep.” I continued forward until we got out of the cornfield. We both stopped short and looked up at the freaking castle that stood against the dark sky.
A legit castle with three spires and an outer wall, built from stone with tiny windows.
“I’m going to call Levi now,” Zayne said. “We need to go home.”
I shook my head and walked up. “It feels so familiar. Zayne, this is where I’m supposed to be. This is where the call is coming from.”
Zayne grabbed my wrist, and I tore it away from him. “Don’t you fucking dare try to take me back right now.”
“Abigail, I’ve seen this castle before.”
I nodded. “So have I. It’s in the history book of vampires. The one I picked up from Levi’s study when I was stuck at the mansion. We’re in Germany and this feels like home. Zayne. It’s calling me.”
Zayne met my gaze. “That’s what’s scaring me, Abigail. It’s time to go home. Now.”
“But we’ve been expecting you.” A female voice came from behind me.
I spun around to see a petite redhead standing on the stairs, dressed in fighting leathers, with two swords across her back. She looked like she’d just stepped out of a fantasy novel with the castle in the background. “We need Princess Abigail’s help.”
Levi appeared in front of me, and I turned to glare at Zayne. He shrugged his shoulder. “GPS.”
“If you seek an audience with the Princess, it needs to be done by presenting it to the council so we can assure her safety. Not by snatching her out of her bed.”
The woman in front of me damn near stamped her foot. “If you would just listen to me. We do not have time for politics. My mistress is awake. She’s in bloodlust. And someone is leaving pictures of bodies on our doorstep.”
That last part caught my attention, and I stepped around Levi. “Bodies?”
“Please, my King. We need help.” The woman said again. “The Princess is the best person for this. That’s why my mistress called on her. That’s why Princess Abigail came.”
Levi looked at me. “This is where that feeling led you?”
I nodded. “I managed to poof myself here. I grabbed Zayne at the last minute.”
He glanced at Zayne. “On her own?”
Zayne nodded. “Yes. We’re probably lucky we ended up here and not somewhere else.”
The woman sighed. “Please come in. I don’t like that we are all standing out in the open.”
I glanced at Levi. “You’re here, I’m here. We can either both stay, or you can leave and trust Zayne to take care of me. That way, if it is a trap…”
“They only have one of us.” He finished and then looked at Zayne. “You have this?”
He nodded. “Yes. I have a feeling she’s just going to come right back if I take her home.”
I nodded. “He’s right.”
Hesitation played across Levi’s face, but in the end, he nodded and disappeared. Relief filled me, and Zayne and I ascended the stairs that led to the doors.
“I’m Sasha. Forgive me for the rude introductions and summoning. I fear we might run out of time. I’ve heard that Princess Abigail is…different. And we’re hoping she can help.”
I raised a brow. “Who told you I was different?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Sasha waved it off and turned around. “Please follow me.”
I glanced at Zayne, and he held his arm out. “Lead the way, Princess. You’re the one who wanted to stay.”
I resisted flipping him off as I followed Sasha into the castle.
I’d expected to find cold stone walls inside, but what I found was more modern. Wood walls, but with parts exposing the stone beneath them. Warmth surrounded me as I walked in, and I relaxed as if this was the comfort that I’d been seeking.
Then it hit me as we took another couple of steps forward. Magic. It wasn’t harsh or a warning, but it slid over my body, and I knew that I’d entered a circle.
Which was a feeling that I hadn’t really felt since I had changed. I glanced at Zayne. “Did you feel that?”
“No, what’s wrong?”
I frowned. “It’s not wrong, per se, but I felt magic. We just entered a circle.”
Sasha glanced behind her. “You did. And that’s one thing we need your help with. That circle keeps my mistress in this castle. That’s one problem we need to solve.”
“I’m not a witch anymore. I can’t help with magic.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” She waved her hand like what I said didn’t matter. “First, we take care of Valencia.”
“Valencia?” Zayne asked, and I tasted the fear in his words.
At the thought of tasting blood with fear in it, my stomach clenched. No, now was not the time to think about feeding. I had to figure out why my mind and body thought it needed to be here. “You’ve heard of her?” I asked Zayne.
“Met her once, if it’s the same vampire I’m thinking of. Catalina and I were at a festival, and Valencia came with another vampire. I can’t remember his name. But Valencia was wrapped in power. Every step she took, people’s heads turned. Catalina avoided her, but I was mesmerized.”
I glanced at Sasha. “I want your word that we return home safe.”
Sasha looked over her shoulder. “You have my word that you two will return home unharmed and without new enemies.”
Zayne nodded. “That will work. Thank you.”
She stopped at a door and put her hand against it. “I don’t want to shock you, Princess, but my mistress is not in the best shape.”
I shrugged. “I deal with death, Sasha. There’s not much that can shock me.”
“I hope so,” she said and pushed the door open.
On the other side of the door sat a corpse. Except… its eyes were open. The sickly gray skin was stuck to the bones or wrinkled where there were no bones to stick to and there weren’t enough muscles to cling to. Stringy hair clung to the scalp, falling around the sunken jaw line. Fangs stuck out from under the retreated lips.
The red eyes rolled up to meet my gaze, and the corpse tried to smile.
Zayne gagged behind me. “How could you let her get so bad? This, this is torture.”
I had the same thought. Had we fallen into a trap? Why on earth would Sasha let someone go through this, especially someone she referred to as her mistress?
“I have tried to feed her, almost to the point of my death. She healed a little, and then it got worse.” Sasha looked at me. “Please, Princess, help us.”
I had no idea where to start. I had no magic, and as a vampire, I couldn’t feed her.
Trapped. Pain.
This was what I remembered from what had hit me when I became blood-starved.
Levi solved mine with magical blood. Maybe that would help. “Sasha, are you a witch?”
“No. I’m human.”
“Go find me a handful of witches and a few werewolves, if you can.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Valencia. “We’re going to fix this.”
Sasha did as she was told, and Zayne and I sat in another room waiting for her to return. He shivered now and then, and I assumed he was thinking about the scene we left.
A vampire living as a corpse.
That sounded horrible.
Trapped. Pain.
I groaned as a need to feed filled me. I put my head in my hands. “Zayne?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s that time of night again. When Sasha gets back, we’ll use one of those donors,” he promised. “Just hang tight.”
I nodded, but the urge felt so much stronger than normal. I tried to pull my mind away from it. “Sasha said that pictures of bodies were showing up as well.”
“Think it’s all connected?” Zayne asked, leaning back in his chair.
“I do. And I think we were led here to help. If we play our cards right, we might get a powerful ally out of this.”
Zayne snorted. “Thinking like Levi now.”
“Well, I have been spending an awful lot of time with him and the council lately.” I laughed.
Zayne smiled. “You’ll make a great leader when the time is right.”
“I’m not sure I want to lead all vampires. I’m not sure they’ll accept me once the truth comes out.”
“You’ll have to work harder to gain their trust. That much is true. But once you do, you’ll have a fierce following. You have the rare experience of seeing things from PIB’s side and the vampires’ side. Your time as a witch is an asset, too.”
I motioned to the door. “This was not something on my list that I thought I’d be dealing with. No matter what my nature.”
“Which is what, exactly, Princess Abigail?” Sasha asked, as she walked into the room.
“This isn’t the time to discuss my nature. Did you find donors?” I stood from the chair, and she nodded.
“Two witches and three werewolves. I’m hoping it’ll be enough.”
I nodded. “To start, it should. I’m hoping this works.” I glanced at Zayne. “Coming?”
“Yes.” He stood. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he whispered when he stepped up to me.
So did I. “This is what Levi did to help me. I think that maybe, somehow, I was experiencing what Valencia is now.”
Sasha glanced back at me as she led me back to Valencia’s room. I felt Valencia’s power flow through the room, touching me, coaxing me to come closer.
I really hoped I wasn’t making a mistake with this. “Grab one of the witches first,” I told Sasha, as I took a step closer to Valencia. I noticed chains at her feet. The chains must have slid off her wrists when she became skinny enough. I frowned at that. At least Levi had been nice enough to wrap me in a blanket before wrapping me in chains.
“Valencia, can you hear me?”
Her gaze flickered to me, and I took that as a sign that she could. Good.
“We’re going to have a witch feed you. I’ll make sure you don’t kill her.”
She looked away from me, but her mouth opened slightly.
Sasha came back in with a witch. The woman’s blond hair was tied away from her face in a tight French braid. Her blue dress seemed to lighten up the room. She looked way too happy to be feeding a blood-starved vampire.
“Sasha, she’s a willing donor, right?”
The witch smiled at me. “I am, don’t worry Princess.” She bowed slightly. “Sasha has informed me I will help one of your allies, and we support the Vampire King.”
I glanced at Sasha as I tasted the truth in the woman’s words.
“If this works, Princess,” Sasha said, “We will be the most loyal allies the King has.” There was no lie, no hesitation, no doubt.
I gave her a slight nod and then motioned for the witch to come to me. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t take too much.”
The witch nodded and kneeled down like she’d done this before. It was possible that she had with another local vampire. I’d ask Sasha later why she didn’t try someone else's blood before this.
She let out a small cry when Valencia’s teeth came down, piercing the skin.
The smell of magic hit the air, and I swallowed. I needed to feed, but I also needed to get Valencia taken care of first. I licked my fangs, trying to keep my focus. I’d never guided a vampire in feeding before, and I didn’t know why I thought I could do it now.
Zayne stepped up to me. “Allow me?”
I nodded and stepped back, letting him take it over. Sasha looked at me. “You’re hungry?”
“I’ll be fine. I want to see how Valencia reacts to witch blood. Why didn’t you try other donors before?”
Sasha sighed. “She refused all others but me. I tried. Please believe me, Princess, I did. I think she was scared she’d kill them. I’m not a vampire. I don’t know when to stop the feedings.”
“Abby.” Zayne caught my attention as he pulled the witch back. I stepped back up and Valencia’s skin filled out again. Her lips pulled over her fangs as her cheeks reversed their hollowness.
She looked up at me. “Forgive me, Princess.”
And she pounced.
Chapter Ten
Abigail
Valencia moved too damn quick for someone that was just a corpse seconds ago. She pinned my arms against the wall and sank her fangs into my neck.
“I’m a vampire,” I ground out, trying to shove her away. “There’s no substance from my blood. We have other donors.”
But she moaned against my neck as she continued to pull my blood.
Don’t fight.
A female voice entered my head and my body relaxed. I stopped pushing against her and leaned my head against the wall. If this is what a sire’s powers felt like, I was glad I didn’t have one.
My hunger filled me as she drank. I slid down the wall and she cradled me as she continued to feed. I could see her hair growing back, and it fell over her neck in beautiful black strands.
My world turned shades of red. “I need…blood,” I started and looked for Zayne.
There wasn’t anyone but Valencia and me in the room now. Where was Zayne? Sasha?
What happened to the promise of remaining unharmed?
I took a moment to think about that. Was I really harmed? Worse off than I was when we arrived? No. I wasn’t really, so Sasha wasn’t breaking her truth.
“I think that’s enough, Valencia.” Sasha’s voice came from my left and I wondered when she’d gotten back as Valencia laid me gently on the floor. She stood, and I met her dark brown eyes. “Make sure the Princess gets a good meal. When she’s ready, please bring her and her bodyguard to the tearoom, and we’ll have the rest of this discussion over tea.”
