Chapter Twenty

 

ELEIRA

 

I fell asleep after my meal. When I awoke hours later, it was still night outside.

I rose and discovered my clothes missing. Somebody must have come in and taken them.

That thought does not sit well with me. It could have been the servant girl. It could have been one of the vampires.

Who knows what else they could have done to me while I was so defenseless?

Suddenly, on a bout of hysteria, I laugh. I’m concerned about vampires taking advantage of me, just because I was asleep?

“You’re their prisoner, Eleira,” I mutter. “They can do anything they want to you, asleep or not.”

Now that is a distressing thought.

I walk to the window of the balcony — my only link to the outside world. I’m surprised when I find activity in the village below. Torches are lit at regular intervals along the houses, providing a semblance of light. Amongst them, people wander to and fro, most running some sort of errands. They look like farmers, artisans, peasants. It’s like I’ve opened up the pages of a history book and glimpsed inside. None of the people down there show any signs of belonging to this century — or the one before.

I shiver. Even though it’s no longer cold, I have this feeling of being trapped in time.

The doors come open. I spin around.

Raul walks in.

He throws himself on top of a chaise and drapes one arm over its back. He hasn’t seen me. But when he looks, he lets out an audible gasp.

“What?” I say.

“That dress — where did you get it?”

Is he angry? He certainly doesn’t sound pleased.

“Um,” I hesitate.

He bolts up. His eyes narrow, and for once, he looks right at me.

Butterflies explode in my stomach.

“Was James here?” he demands. “Is this his idea of a joke?” He takes a looming step forward. “If he was —”

“No!” I quickly say. Raul advances until I’m backed up into a corner. I try to match his eye contact, but it’s impossible. His gaze is so intense, his focus is so much on me, that it makes my heart skip every other beat.

“Don’t lie to me, Eleira,” he says. His arms jut out. Suddenly, I’m boxed in. The proximity of his body, the heat of his glare… all of it serves to elicit some very intense reaction inside me.

My breathing picks up. My chest rises and falls. I’m flustered and immediately thrown off guard by this man, and it has nothing to do with what he is.

It’s just my body’s natural reaction to his very male presence.

“I’m not lying,” I manage. The way he’s looking at me, I’m not sure if he wants to kiss me or suck my blood.

He scowls. “Then where did you get it?”

I point a shaking finger at the wardrobe, now closed.

Raul spins off. I suck in a relieved breath.

But what’s up with the strange disappointment I feel about him leaving?

He walks to the wardrobe and flings it open. The inside is empty.

I gasp.

He turns his head, and again his piercing gaze roots me in place.

“It… it was full before,” I stutter.

“I’m sure.” He slams the doors with too much force. He’s doing a good job containing his emotions, but I can tell that I’m walking a very thin line between peace and setting him off. And I didn’t even do anything other than put on a dress.

My mind scrambles for the right thing to say. “A woman,” I tell him. “A woman came in.” Damn, why am I so flustered? “She said her name was Morgan. She told me to change into —”

I don’t get to finish, because the next moment, Raul is right on me, holding me by both arms against the wall.

His strength and speed is astounding. I should be terrified, but for some reason, I’m not.

I’m just confused.

“You met the Queen?” he rasps. “She saw you? Here?”

I bite my lip and nod quickly. “I didn’t know who she was,” I say.

Raul exhales. His hands fall. But he doesn’t step away.

“I’m sorry I got angry with you,” he says. “But you — you don’t understand. The things you do to me… the torture it is to be this close…” he brings a hand up and softly brushes my jawline.

It’s the tenderest caress I’ve ever received in my life. It makes goosebumps explode all over my body.

“…to be so close, and to be unable to do anything about it,” he finishes.

He shifts his gaze to my neck. I stand completely frozen as he focuses on the spot. He sweeps my hair away, exposing the tender expanse of skin.

“James…” he murmurs. “I can’t believe James was the one to take you. How did he resist? How did he not drain you whole? Oh, Eleira, if you only knew how much I crave to be…”

He catches himself in the soliloquy and stops. His eyes widen. He looks shocked to have said so much.

As fast as ever, he rips away. He’s in the center of the room before I can blink.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t —” he swallows. “I shouldn’t say such things. They’ll only frighten you.”

Is that… remorse… in his voice? I’m astounded. Here I was, this whole time seeing him as nothing more than a veritable monster…

But he isn’t. He has some very human emotions running through him.

Doesn’t he?

I don’t know what compels me to push off from the wall and walk toward him. I don’t know what it is that makes me reach out and take his hand.

I don’t know what it is that makes me bring that hand to my cheek and lean against it.

“You saved me in The Catacombs,” I say softly. “You shouldn’t be apologizing. If anything, I should be thanking you.”

Raul looks at me. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard.

His hand is cold against my face. Still I keep it there, savoring the strange moment of connection. Grasping for the tiniest sense of intimacy in a place that is so foreign and scary, and yet, somehow… magical.

Raul twists his body toward me. He steps forward so our torsos are touching again.

I have no idea what’s gotten into me. All I know is that the blossoming feelings inside are nothing I can fight.

Am I really falling for my captor?

“You’re not going to kill me,” I say. “Are you?”

“Eleira.” He says my name with the conviction of a long-lost lover. “No. Of course not. Never. You are mine…forever …to protect.”

And then, ever so slowly, haltingly, hesitantly, he leans his head down and presses his lips to mine.

It’s the lightest touch. And it only lasts a flicker of a moment. But it’s enough for me to know that what he says is the absolute truth.

A spark lights in my body. Before I can respond to the chaste kiss, Raul pulls back.

Is he so timid? I think. But then I see the way his hands are shaking and the tight rigidness of his entire body.

And I realize: it must take everything he has not to devour me right now.

He steps away. “We shouldn’t do that,” he says. “We shouldn’t…”

But his words trail off and his eyes run once more over my body. I can see the desire burning inside him.

It’s mirrored by the heavy need coursing through me.

A bolt of alarm hits me. I gasp and turn away. Have I gone totally insane? Sharing a kiss with a vampire, letting my emotions get the better of me and make me forget everything about how and why I ended up in this situation in the first place?

“No,” I say. “You’re right. We should not.”

I think I hear him sigh, but it might just be my imagination. I stare out the window into the eternal night. A part of me still believes this is one crazy dream, and I’ll soon wake up and find myself back in the library, where I fell asleep…

But I know that to be the childish, irrational part. Because, crazy as all this is, I can no longer deny that The Haven is my new reality.

“Why doesn’t the sun ever shine?”

“To protect us. The Queen casts spells…” Raul searches for the right words.

“I understand,” I say. “What you said before?” I begin. My hands clench into fists. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes. “About me being turned. Is that true?”

There is no hesitation in his reply. “Yes.”

“That means I can’t go back. Can I?”

“To your old life? No. Never.”

Sadness swells inside me, but the words do not come as a shock. That’s pretty much what I’ve been expecting this whole time.

A lone tear leaks down my cheek. “Why me?” I ask.

“Because of who you are.”

“Yes, but why?” I insist. I spin back to face him. “Morgan said there’s going to be a wedding. The serving girl called me ‘Princess.’ You say I’m being turned. Please — please explain it to me. Because I cannot, I do not, for the life of me, understand.”

“Please!” I say.

Raul strolls to the armchair and settles down. He gestures for me to come to him. Instead, I sit on the edge of the bed. Raul goes still as a statue and a silence stretches between us. It lasts one minute, two, three.

He’s completely unperturbed by it. But I get uncomfortable. I pick at the hem of my dress, suddenly feeling too exposed in the lacy garment.

“That dress, or one very much like it, once belonged to someone special to me,” he announces. I stare. “That is why I reacted the way I did when I saw you. That’s not to say — I never meant — that you are not beautiful.”

He thinks me beautiful?

I blush and shake my head. “Explain the other things. Please.”

“Well,” he exhales. “Let’s start at the top. By now you know where you are. This is The Haven. It is a sort of sanctuary for…” he pauses. “My kind.”

“For vampires,” I breathe.

“Yes,” he says. “For them.”

Suddenly, he stands and walks to the balcony. He is more restless than I. “This place was established over six-hundred years ago by the woman you met. She has ruled ever since. I —” he gives a mock bow, “— am one of her three sons.”

I nod. More pieces are falling into place.

“The Haven is protected by a powerful series of wards that hide it from those on the Outside. Vampires are the ruling class.” He gestures around the room. “We live in modern luxury. The people down there…” his fingers press against the glass, “are trapped in an older age. It’s easier, you see,” he sneers, “to keep them ignorant of how much the world has changed.”

My stomach seizes up in disgust. “That’s horrible,” I say.

“Yes,” Raul agrees. “But necessary. If any of the villagers had an idea of the things humans are capable of now…”

He trails off, shaking his head.

“You keep them as slaves,” I mutter. “Blind and deaf to their potential. And you feed on them! Don’t you? I heard the screams.”

“Usually, it’s not so violent,” he says. He faces me. “You understand why I’m explaining this to you, yes? Because there is no going back, Eleira. The things you’ve seen, all that you know, even if I wanted to let you go, I could not.”

My breath catches. “You… want… to let me go?”

“I didn’t say that.” He grunts. His hands open and close. “You weren’t supposed to be thrown into the midst of things the way you were. There was a process that was supposed to be followed, and… Argh! It kills me that it wasn’t adhered to.”

“You planned my abduction.” I shiver. “How long have you been watching me?”

He gives a mirthless laugh. “Do you want the truth?”

I nod.

“Since the day you were born.”

I gasp.

“Your birth was written in the stars. And I know that is such a cliché, it’s so trite and perhaps even expected, but it’s the truth.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “What makes me so special?” I wonder.

“Your ancestry does,” he tells me. “And you have… The Spark.”

“The Spark? The Spark of what?”

“Of magic,” he says, completely poker-faced. “You are like Morgan. You possess her powers. And you —”

I can’t help it. In light of everything I’ve seen and been told, I burst out laughing.

“You think — you think I can do magic?” The laughter is uncontrollable now, and probably of a hysterical sort. “No, no. No, no no. I don’t have a speck of extra ability anywhere inside me.” I spread my hands. “What you see is exactly what you get. I am one hundred and one percent human. Always have been. You should check the charts you consulted again, because I’m sure you have the wrong girl.”

I stand up and start for the door. “I’ll be going now, if that’s all right with you —”

“Sit down, Eleira.”

Raul’s voice whips through me in command. My knees fold of their own accord, and I’m right back on the edge of the bed.

Raul comes toward me. “I thought I was doing you a mercy, explaining the how and why of things. But I can see that I made a mistake. I thought that you were mature for your age. But I was wrong there, too. Goodbye, Eleira. I’ll see you after you’ve calmed down.”

“No, no, wait, wait, wait!” I grab his hand and pull him back. “I’m listening, please, don’t go.”

He looks at me in wonder. “I could end your life with one bite,” he says. “Does that not scare you?” He glances at our linked hands. “Does who I am not repulse you?”

“I… I don’t know,” I admit. I let his hand go and sag down. “This is all so overwhelming. How can I deny what I see with my own eyes? Then again, everything I see goes against every bit of knowledge I have in my head…” I trail off. “It’s just so confusing.” I almost cry. “I feel like I’ve been through the ringer.”

Raul’s gaze softens. “I understand,” he says finally. “But it doesn’t mean I can afford to take sympathy on you. I’m sorry. That’s the way it has to be.”

He turns and walks again to the door.

“Oh. One more thing,” he adds before he leaves. “Just in case you’re wondering: the sun does not shine here. It’s always night. That is one of the protective spells that keeps The Haven safe. I understand it adds to the confusion for a human brought in from the Outside.”

And, on that note, I’m alone again.

 

***

 

Morgan enters my chambers a few hours later and immediately expresses her delight with what she sees.

“You look wonderful!” she exclaims, gliding to me and beckoning me to rise. “Oh, just look at you! You see, I knew you had enough feminine beauty for it to come out given the right circumstance.”

I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or an insult.

I try to give a proper curtsy, of the sort I’ve only read about but assume she would expect. After all, if she’s been Queen for five centuries…

Well, I consider it my best course of action to act meekly around her.

“No, no, none of that,” she chastises. “You’re doing it all wrong anyway. You put one foot back and bend the knee, like this. Do you see? Oh, don’t bother. There’s no need for that between us, and besides, you don’t have the natural grace to pull it off.”

That was definitely not a compliment.

“Raul has been by, yes? He’s seen you like this?” The Queen smiles. “It must have pleased him to no end to find you so beautiful.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say that,” I mumble.

“Speak up, girl. It won’t do for our newest member of royalty to be seen as weak.”

I stiffen. “Whatever you’re offering, I don’t want it. I don’t need it. I never asked for it.”

Morgan gives me a sympathetic look. “I know, dear. I know. But it is not in our hands to change the tides of fate. You are here now. You are ours. Well —” she laughs, “— you’re mine. And there’s nothing you can do to change that. Oh, you might resist, but I sincerely advise against such stupidity. You’ve been to The Catacombs. I think you’ll consider your lodgings here a vast improvement over that dark and dingy place. And think! All this and more can be yours, if you but lend me a tiny bit of your trust.”

How can I trust someone who rules a place like this? I wonder.

Morgan sees the shift on my face. “You’re troubled,” she notes. “Conflicted, perhaps? Hmm…” she taps her lips. “I have a little surprise for you. I meant to save it for later. Though, perhaps, now you’ll take it as a token of goodwill. Hmm?”

She stands up and claps her hands. “You may come in now,” she calls.

The doors slowly open. And standing on the threshold, I find a very stoic…

“April,” I gasp her name. She looks up and our eyes lock. Hers are storming with all sorts of emotions.

She quickly suppresses those emotions and stands meek as a lamb.

“April here,” Morgan says, flowing around her and taking her by her shoulders, “has admitted to being your friend. And I thought, how wonderful! So I cast a little counter-spell…” she snaps her fingers in front of April’s nose. The girl flinches. “And ta-dah! Her mind has been restored, and her eyes have been opened to all that she knew before. She came from the Outside, too, you know. But unfortunately, we still can’t allow her to think too much of her previous life. It’s just safer for all involved. I’m sure you understand.”

Morgan smiles. “Well, I’ll leave you girls to it. I’m sure you have plenty of catching up to do.”

April shuffles in. Morgan gives her a dainty kiss on the cheek. Then she closes the doors.

April wastes no time striding right across the floor and swinging her hand at my face in a vicious slap.

“I hate you,” she announces.