*Lena*
I clutched Penny to my chest and released the full force of my powers of light. I prayed that the burst of sun and heat hadn’t wounded her. I heard the Vampire King scream, his voice so shrill it made the entire castle tremble.
I opened my eyes, my breath catching in my throat as I pushed Penny away, holding her at arm’s length to check her for injury. But then I felt it, that dark embrace, that blackened net only one person could cast.
I turned toward the doorway just as the Vampire King struggled to his feet, his skin reddened and blistered, so places black with burns. He held up his hands to his face, inspecting the damage with wide eyes.
His eyes turned to , blazing with fury.
I held out my hand to send my powers forth again but felt them falter, weakened. I didn’t let my face show my panic, but the act of raising my hand to him had been enough. He staggered out of the doorway, his expressions washed with pain.
I scread Xander’s na through the bond as I clutched the book and sunstone in one arm and an entirely confused Penny in the other.
“Co on,” I whispered, pulling her along as we stepped into the corridor.
The blackened, ashen bodies of the King’s guards were scattered throughout the corridor, smoking with heat. I blinked, my chest tightening as I looked down at the carnage I had caused. I’d killed these... things. They were more demon than person, but still. I’d killed them. My hands were red with their blood.
This wasn’t what I wanted to be, but what choice did I have?
“Co,” I said sternly, tugging on Penny’s arm as we stepped over the bodies and made our way down the corridor. “How do we get out of here?”
“There’s a door, and a drawbridge. It’s a few levels below.”
“Show the way,” I whispered, unsure of how far my powers had reached. How many more guards were coming our way? I needed to find Xander. We all needed to get out of here, and we needed to do it imdiately.
Penny was whimpering behind as we ran through the windowless castle, cloaks dusting the ground in our wake. We reached a sharp corner and a steep set of stone stairs, and Penny pointed frantically downward.
Behind us, voices rang out, followed by growling. All the downy hair on my body stood on end as the sound of snapping jaws echoed through the corridor behind us. I knew that sound–hybrids, maybe many of them.
“Go!” I cried, practically pushing Penny down the stairs as we stumbled, running down the steps into darkness.
I continued to call out to Xander through our bond, but nothing ca in response. It was silent, shockingly so for how near he must have been if he was able to cloak Penny and in his shadow. We reached the bottom of the stairwell and turned into a narrow corridor filled with what looked like the servants of the castle rushing about, all lower vampires in varying states of distress.
“Get out!” I cried. “All of you, run! Get out of the castle!”
Several of them looked at , wide eyed and frantic as they sucked in their breath. Penny clutched my arm as she said, “Free–you’re free, if you can run. Please–”
A thundering screech filled the castle, and we all cowered, covering our ears. I hadn’t even fully risen before everyone in the corridor began pushing and shoving in one direction, which was where Penny was directing to go.
We fled through an inconspicuous wooden door, a tangle of bodies and noise as servants spilled out behind us, so crawling on all fours as they tried to escape the fray.
Xander was a blur of movent as he pushed through a barricade of guards, and to my absolute shock, a flash of red filled my vision as Oliver leaped over several guards, his wolf body gleaning in the moonlight drifting through the open doors to the drawbridge.
“Xander!” I cried, but his wolf was busy tearing a group of guards to shreds.
Servants were spilling out onto the drawbridge, running as fast as they could into the darkened landscape beyond the castle.
Penny screeched beside as a tall, handso lower vampire walked up to us, taking Penny by the arm and pulling her away from . I shoved him hard, my free hand extended to scratch him on the face.
“I’m with Xander,” he hissed. “We need to go, now!”
The chaos behind us was fading, but above our heads the castle was still echoing with noise.
“We need to get across the bridge. Hurry!” the vampire said sharply.
I looked back at Xander and Oliver, who had taken out at least two dozen of the guards, and watched as Xander shifted back his human form and ripped the clothes off a vampire and began to put them on, Oliver following suit.
Xander t my eye and gave a wry, boyish grin.
Thank the Goddess.
***
None of us spoke of what happened before we’d traveled far enough away from the castle that it was no longer in sight. Zeke, the vampire male who had escorted us out of the castle, had ushered us into a narrow cave, and the n barricaded it closed from the inside with rocks while Penny and I lingered in the back of the cave with only a few candles lighting the area.
Xander, Oliver, and Zeke had to duck to fit inside the cave, and in monts we were all sitting down in a circle, listening to the muted screeching of the winged hybrids as they canvased the rocky cliffs that sheltered the castle.
It was an ugly kingdom, nothing but endless rock. I sat in silence as morsels of food were passed around, wondering if the enslaved servants of the castle had made it to safety, at least a few of them.
Xander was seated next to , his hand resting on my leg. I stole a glance at him, feeling an overwhelming sense of comfort as my eyes t his. We had so much to talk about. I had so much to apologize for.
But we were in the company of others.
Oliver was staring at Penny, his brow furrowed deeply as he watched her pick at a piece of bread. Penny looked absolutely terrified and was refusing to et the eye of anyone but . Zeke was seated next to her, a little closer than I would have liked.
“Did she kidnap you?” Oliver asked Penny, and I snapped my head in his direction.
“What?” I snapped, but Penny paled, her eyes lifted to mine with a shrug.
“Goddess, Lena. You dragged this poor girl against her will out of that castle?”
“I saved her life,” I growled, and Penny did give a little nod of agreent to that, but kept her mouth shut. “Why the hell are you here, anyway?”
Oliver narrowed his eyes at , a playful smirk lining his lips. He looked so much like my aunt Maeve, his mother, whenever he was up to sothing devious.
Xander cleared his throat, casting a quick glance at Zeke before looking at .
“Oliver believes his mate is in this realm.”
“What? How would–”
“It’s Abigail’s sister,” Oliver quipped, wrapping his arms around his knees.
“Abigail doesn’t have a sister,” I argued, scoffing as I shook my head. “Do you have any idea how dangerous of a position we’re in right now? How dangerous this could be for our ho?”
“It’s Elaine,” Xander said quietly.
Gooseflesh rippled over my skin at the sound of her na. I didn’t have the words to convey how I felt. My mind was reeling, and the only thing I could think of was my friends–Abigail, with her dark red hair and green eyes... Elaine, with her hair the sa shade, her eyes just a slightly different color, and shape.
I rembered feeling at ho with Elaine, like I’d known her for a long, long ti. We’d beco fast friends, and her stubborn personality had seed so familiar.
How had I not noticed?
“How?” I stamred, blinking into the candlelight between us.
“She was kidnapped as a child, from what Abigail rembers,” Oliver answered, and my eyes flew to his.
He explained everything that had happened in my absence. Six weeks had passed in our realm, which made my stomach twist as I counted the days I’d spent here, in the realm of night. It had only been a week and a half by my estimation, maybe less. I looked up at Xander.
“We need to go ho,” he said, brushing my hair from my face. His eyes were soft, but sothing was lingering behind them that told he and I would be having a very uncomfortable conversation the first chance we had so ti alone.
“We can’t,” I said quickly, pointing to the book in my lap. The sunstone was tucked safely in the inner pocket of my cloak. “I need to take this sowhere.”
“Why?” Oliver asked.
“I was told to take it to the Great Witch, and then... to the twentieth White Queen. That’s Maeve.” I watched Oliver’s face shadow in confusion, but Zeke, who was sitting next to him, went rigid.
“What significance does the book have that would require it to be delivered to the Great Witch?” he asked sharply.
I tilted my head as I looked at him, noticing how familiar his face and coloring were. He looked like Kiern, and I realized a mont later that he must be her son. He seed too youthful to be a brother, despite the fact he looked as though he could be as old as Kiern.
“I don’t know, but I was able to... reveal sothing inside of it. I haven’t had a chance to read it–”
I explained what had happened in the bathroom when the title page had given a papercut, and everyone listened intently. Penny nodded at several parts of my story, a soft smile touching her mouth as I spoke of how I’d hid it behind the toilet.
“I was wondering about that,” she said, her voice a long sigh.
I looked up at Xander and noticed that stare he was giving to Zeke, who was looking right back at him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
It was Zeke who spoke next.
“I can take you to the witches,” he said, which must have defied whatever silent conversation was passing between him and Xander. “But, you need to use the sunstone on Penny and if we’re to aid you in this journey.”
“What? What does it do?” I asked.
To my surprise, Zeke smiled.
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