Covet the Night, page 25
A groan, barely there but audible, croaked from the man's throat. He tilted his head enough to cast his gaze toward Gwen. Another groan stumbled out of him. His eyes pleaded for mercy.
"I'll get help." Her hands shook violently. "Hold on."
But whatever life was left in him fled after his small act of acknowledgment. The sorcerer's eyelids drooped as the life snuffed out of him in a gentle exhalation.
Gwen heaved back until she hit the wall. Who had done this to him? What had done this to him?
She needed to keep moving. The thought circulated, yet her legs refused to go—stupid legs. Gwen couldn't tear her eyes away from the pool of blood until she caught sight of the footsteps heading away from him down the hall, exactly where she needed to go.
A fortifying breath filled her lungs to capacity before catapulting out of her in a shaky stream of air. She had to get back to safety. Retrieving her light and tucking away her flask, she hustled on.
The journey back felt longer than the initial walk. The draft flowing across the hallway's floor was colder. A light sweat lingered on Gwen's lower back as she kept her senses on high alert.
After a time, the footprints faded to scuff marks and, farther on, to faint impressions of red. The evidence was of little comfort. Up ahead, she spotted a familiar landmark: a tapestry with fraying ends that ruffled periodically from the draft it sought to conceal. Gwen's shoulders sank in heady relief.
She'd stopped earlier at another tapestry she thought concealed an entrance. Its tasseled ends had swayed from an undetermined source, but nothing moved the wall. She tried every stone and went over every suspicious crevice to no avail. Her palpable relief turned to despair as she looked over the tapestry up close. She could make out muffled voices on the other side. Her hand rose of its own accord to brush the velvet fabric. The wall must be thinner here. Hope flared inside her chest.
"Gwen?"
Time froze as Gwen sought out her caller. "Liv!" She was on the ground, half-hidden by the next corner she peered around. "Are you—"
Gwen's words lost their traction at the sight before her. Liv's legs were drawn close to her body. Blood covered her, and her eyes were the color of pitch with thin, bulging veins running from her lash line past the apples of her cheeks.
"Something's wrong." The black pools in her eyes rippled ominously. "Something's wrong with me."
Gwen knelt and set her light down. It scratched against the cold stone lightly. The soft noise made Liv flinch and Gwen still. "It's okay," she whispered. She reached slowly for Liv.
"Don't touch me!"
Gwen retracted her hands instantly, palms facing outward in a placating manner.
"I won't. I won't," she said, eyes continuing to explore the mess that had accumulated on Liv. Gwen cleared the tickle at the back of her throat and let her gaze drift back to Liv's shining black pearl eyes. "What happened?"
"I couldn't do it. I wasn't good enough."
A lump formed in Gwen's throat. "That's not true, Liv. You are good enough. You wouldn't be here if you weren't."
Liv muttered fiercely to herself in French. Fat tears collected on her lashes before spilling over, sizzling into steam as they passed the slope of her cheeks. Gwen's jaw fell open at the sight before snapping shut when Liv suddenly started smacking the side of her head.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid—"
"Liv, stop! Don't hurt yourself." Gwen tried to snatch the offending hand, but the violent ripple in Liv's eyes stopped her short. The veins on her face shot down like frost.
"Don't touch me."
The quiet words might as well have been shouted in the empty passageway. Breathing on hold, Gwen shifted back, never taking her eyes off Liv. The eerie darkness in her eyes followed Gwen's movement with an intensity that left her animal instincts on red alert.
"I'm a failure," Liv croaked and leaned forward. Both girls shivered as a cold breeze slid across the floor. "I'm not good enough for anybody, don't you see?"
With Liv's face uncomfortably close to her own, Gwen kept achingly still. She didn't want to stare into Liv's eyes—it left her feeling vile inside—but there was nowhere else to look except the black pools.
"I'm a failure," Liv insisted, her voice full of desperation. "Nothing can save me."
The longer she stared, the more Gwen thought she might be drowning. Something was growing inside her. The clammy air leached the warmth from her skin. She shivered. Her muscles twitched in earnest, begging her to move, but she couldn't. Gwen slammed her eyes shut and inhaled sharply through her nose. A headache rammed at the back of her skull. She gritted her teeth against the bludgeoning pain.
Gwen refused to be sucked into whatever dark magic Liv had fallen under. Not after everything she just went through.
"You're not a failure," she barked at Liv, jerking back blindly before cracking her eyes open.
Liv stared at her, shell-shocked. Glimmers of clarity fluttered over her expression as her sorrow melted away.
"We're going back to the Roux's, and they will fix you. I promise."
"But… they don't… love me." Liv sank back. Her body lost the last of its fraught energy and hit the wall with a thud. "Who could ever love me? I'm not good enough. I don't deserve it."
"You are good enough," Gwen snapped. "And I love you. The sisters love you. Don't doubt that, Liv. Don't ever doubt that."
The blackness consuming her eyes wavered, receding marginally. Gwen breathed a little easier—literally. The unpleasantly cool and humid air regained some of its neutrality, but it wasn’t the only thing to change. The hallway was brighter too. She glanced at her abandoned candlestick. Wax smothered the tapered holder and was threatening to spill to the floor, but it was still lit. So why was it darker around them only moments before?
Gwen stood and took a step back. "Let's go. The sisterhood will know what to do about—" She gestured to the murder scene painted across Liv's body. Exhaustion coated her next word. "—this."
Liv rose. The whites of her eyes worked desperately to fight off the black. The strain showed all over her quaking form as she struggled for balance. Gwen wished to help, but Liv's earlier warnings kept her in check: “Do not touch.” They walked quietly down the hallway, aiming for the final spiral staircase they needed to ascend at a snail's pace. Gwen kept an arm's length between them. Liv twitched sporadically while using the wall as both support and a guide to walk.
Gwen itched to go on ahead without Liv and fetch help, but she feared for Liv's fate should she leave her side. Unable to stand the silence and the sound of their shuffling feet, Gwen coughed quietly. Liv's intense focus didn't falter from the next step in front of her.
"Liv… what happened back there? Why are you covered in blood?"
Liv's head canted, but she said nothing. Gwen slowed as the skin at the back of her neck prickled.
"Don't worry," Liv answered breathlessly. "Don't worry, little star."
Cold horror grabbed Gwen's heart. She came to an abrupt stop, watching wordlessly as Liv continued to shuffle on, humming something soft. Gwen bit back a hiss as the candle's wax spilled onto her hand, and she rocked back a step. The stairwell's entrance was only a few yards away, but she wasn't entirely certain it was her best option. Not with Liv standing between her and it.
"They're all gone." Liv's melodious French accent ebbed toward sinister. "No one can save you."
A spasm racked Liv's body, followed by a guttural noise as she arched her back and her arms locked out at her sides. Gwen took another step back as Liv's humming became louder.
The tapestry wasn't too far back, she thought. She could try to find the secret passage's opening or shout and scream until someone came.
"You're going to die." Liv giggled erratically and hunched at the waist. "Just like me."
Gwen gained another foot between them.
Liv jerked upright and craned her neck over her shoulder to spy Gwen. Her crooked grin was malevolent. The entirety of her eyes was black again. And the veins… they clawed past the base of her neck.
"Where are you going?" Liv questioned, turning her entire body around to face Gwen in a slow serpentine move.
Gwen kept to her backward trajectory, refusing to take her eyes off Liv. "We can get home a faster way."
Liv's grin dissolved. Her body shuddered, and the dark shroud in her eyes wavered.
"We can't go back. They'll kill me."
"That's not true. They'll fight for you, Liv. They'll do everything within their power to protect you," Gwen pleaded. Liv shook in earnest and stumbled after her, the black veins expanding their territory until Liv was no longer stumbling but prowling. Gwen lengthened her stride. "Think, Liv. They're a Royal Household. We just have to make it back to them, explain what happened, and they'll make all this disappear. No one has to know."
The black frost veins contracted and lurched over the delicate hump of Liv's collarbone.
"You would turn your back on me? Forsake me?"
"Liv—" Gwen's back hit the wall. She looked quickly to her left, spotting the tapestry a few yards away, then back to Liv. "I just want to help."
Liv paused. "That's exactly what they said."
Gwen dreaded the answer but asked regardless, voice breathless. "Who?"
Liv took one step forward. An unnatural red glow was seeping through her top above her heart. "Don't play dumb, Gwendolyn. It makes you look pathetic." She cocked her head as she leveled Gwen with a blank stare. "Don't think I've forgotten how much you knew about the court when we first met. How you tricked me—used me. I bet you're full of secrets, aren't you?" she hissed, her beautiful accent smothered by something hoarser and darker.
"This isn't like you, Liv. Snap the fuck out of it," Gwen hissed right back, slinking along the wall toward the tapestry. The low draft blew stronger. Hope seized her again. She could still make it out of this alive, with or without Liv. She glanced over Liv's body, drenched in blood and bruises and cuts. Adrenaline coursed through her. Maybe I can make it past her….
Steeling her nerves, Gwen faked a dodge in the direction of the stairwell. Liv went ballistic, eyes bulging and chest flaring red. She dove at Gwen, both women's shrieks echoing around them.
Gwen dodged the attack with room to spare, her faithful candlestick forsaken as she shot off to the side while Liv rammed into the wall with a sickening crunch. Gwen gasped, staggering to a momentary stop as Liv slumped while standing against the wall and groaned. Hoping the impact knocked some sense into her or the sinister magic out of her, Gwen used the wall to guide her away.
"I'm sorry," Liv moaned as she rolled her face against the stone wall. More blood painted her beautiful face, and the black veins there pulsated in response. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"
With each shout she delivered, Liv smacked her own face, devolving to sobs. Gwen's vision clouded as she watched her succumb to the dark magic's will, unable to do anything to save her. She had to get back to the Roux, but how? Her chance at uncovering the tapestry's secret entrance was practically nonexistent, and Liv would only attack again if she tried to pass her. And Gwen didn't want to have to hurt her—she didn't know if she could.
Her stomach cramped, reminding her that whatever magic was at work here didn't play well with her tincture. She winced. It didn't help matters that she’d consumed a potion earlier either.
A shiver ran down Gwen's back at the cold touch of the stone.
She couldn't go back to their test room. The same dark magic that infected Liv was there. The cruel confirmation lurked in the abyss of Liv's eyes and grotesque veins. Gwen clenched her hands into fists. There was no other choice; she would have to make a run for it past Liv.
On the count of three. She shifted to the balls of her feet.
One, two—
Gwen leaped back, slapping both hands over her ears as Liv screamed and teetered toward the middle of the hall. Liv mumbled to herself; eyes unfocused as she wove in a figure eight before shuffling off back to the stairs.
Tears spilled down Gwen's cheeks. It’s now or never.
Moving swiftly in the opposite direction, she yanked the tapestry with all her might, tearing it down from its ancient perch. Adrenaline coursed through her as she stared at the indented archway and hidden door.
Frantically, Gwen passed her hands over the warped wood, looking for a hidden handle or pressure point and finding none.
"Seriously?" She manhandled the hidden entrance a second time. Nothing worked. "Come on, come on, come on," she panted, glancing back to spy Liv. She couldn't.
The air went arctic cold around Gwen, calling the hair on her arms and back of her neck to stand at attention. She twisted, her heart dropping to her stomach as she spotted Liv standing behind her. There was a knife in her hand.
Where the hell did that come from?
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Liar." Liv's gaze, which had been locked on the hidden door, shifted to Gwen. She fingered the knife in her hand, either ignorant of the cuts it left or unbothered by them. "First, you plan to betray me to the sisterhood, and now this? Don't you understand how much that hurts me?" Her accusation was accompanied by a scowl equal parts devastation and rage.
"It. Hurts. Me." Liv punctuated each word with a short jab of her knife, not at Gwen but herself. Crimson dripped from her already reddened chest.
Gwen swallowed roughly and tilted her chin up even as her sides cramped miserably. She wasn't going down without a fight. No matter how difficult it might be.
Before a move could be made by either party, a resounding bang-bang-bang thumped from the other side of the door. Gwen flinched forward and careened her head around. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.
"Somebody in there?"
Gwen's heart skipped a beat. Slowly, she rotated toward Liv. Her plump lips had flattened to a thin line as she glared at the door with murderous intent. Gwen slid to the side, putting more distance between herself and Liv until the last moment possible.
"Help!"
Liv shrieked at Gwen's cry and launched herself in her direction, knife slicing through the air. Gwen veered to the side, missing the blade's edge by a hairsbreadth, and, without a second thought, turned tail and ran for the stairwell.
"Get back here, you little bitch!"
Gwen ran faster at the sound of slapping feet hot on her trail. Liv's heavy panting filled the air. Gwen risked a glance over her shoulder, fear doubling as she noted Liv's proximity. She was close—too close.
How is that possible? She’s injured.
A crumbling, cracking noise echoed throughout the hallway. The wall sconces shuttered and splashed shadows on the walls that didn't make sense—they were too lifelike, too real. She dared another glance behind her and shouted with fright as the knife came swinging toward her.
Gwen pitched sideways, stumbling over her own feet and plummeting forward with cartwheeling hands. Liv screeched as her momentum flung her in the opposite direction. The clang of metal stabbing the stone rang painfully in Gwen's ears. Before she could right herself, a pair of hands grabbed her. Gwen screamed as she was swept up and held against a firm chest.
"William," she sobbed and threw her arms around his neck.
He flashed them to the stair's landing with his hybrid speed, setting her down gently. Immediately, he checked her for injuries, his eyes wild and wide.
He'd been furiously trying to track down the Roux's initiation site and plans all evening without luck before resorting to Briar. She supplied him with a list of potential places, a sickly-sweet smile on her face as she roped not one but two future personal favors out of him in exchange for her information. He only wanted to keep an eye on Gwen, especially after the way he left her the other night.
He wasn't expecting screams to ring out behind the wall as he went to investigate the third site on Briar's list—nor Gwen's cry for help.
His skin prickled at the insidious magic saturating the hidden passageway. What kind of initiation was the Roux conducting?
"I thought I heard screaming coming from inside the bloody walls. Thought I was going stark ravers. Are you hurt?" She shook her head. "What the hell happened?"
He gave her a small shake.
"My initiation," she said, struggling in his hold as her eyes widened in fright. "Watch out!"
"You," Liv growled, her black beady eyes staring William down.
"Gwen?" He looked meaningfully to the other initiate. She was bathed in blood and sported several bruises and cuts, but not Gwen, for some reason.
"I don't know."
Liv laughed. The shadows on the walls vibrated with the sound. "You," Liv spat a second time. "What makes you so special? What makes your blood so… sweet?"
Liv shook with the promise of violence. She took one step forward, a leer pulling at her lips, and then dropped to her knees. William moved silently in front of Gwen; body tensed.
"I'll ask you one more time, Gwen." His voice was pitched low. "What the hell is going on?"
"Dark magic." Gwen's eyes grew large, watching in horror as Liv's reddened chest began to blister. "Oh my God." Gwen hid her face against William's side, hearing a noise that made the sting of vomit curl up her throat. It took all her might to keep it down.
Seconds later, William's hands were on her again, steering her back carefully while she kept her eyes shut tight.
"Is it over?" Gwen asked, voice thick with emotion.
"Yes, sweet, it's over."
Her lashes fluttered open. With dread, she leaned to the side to what had become of Liv. She'd been making the sounds of a wounded animal when it had all come to a choking stop with the other, vomit-inducing sound. She caught sight of red and—
"I wouldn't if I were you. S'not a pretty sight, what happened to your friend. Her chest is… well, it's gone, for lack of a better term."
"Gone?"
William's eyebrows hunched forward as he looked down at her with concern. "Aye. What kind of initiation has got you taking out-of-use passages? I thought the Roux would want to parade you around."
