Page 34 of Grave Devil
“There, they defiled her like a whore before turning her into their queen. Lucy’s story is even darker, but it is because of the Bishop sisters’ sacrifices that no other was ever to be hunted again. So Nox is somewhat mistaken in his disdain. It is not the Wild Hunt that we celebrate so much as it is the Bishop sisters and what they did for this town. For our people.”
“What happened to Lucy?” I ask, fascinated by the lore and in awe that it’s part of the fabric of our history.
Draven holds my hand, steadying me as we cross what used to be a river. The water has long since run dry, but the terrain is still treacherous with rocks and branches and snakes hiding among the dead foliage.
“Not much is known actually. Lucy was kidnapped by Saint Nick,also known as Krampus.He took her to his palace in the North. There’s nothing written about what transpired there. All we know is some time after, the Wild Hunt was no more. And she pledged herself to three men, Atreus Graves, Vale Wickford,and Cage Blackwell, one of my great ancestors. She had children with all of them, so our families are intertwined. It’s uncertain if Imogen had any children.”
“Wow. Wait, so if the Bishop women are cursed to never cross over to the After… where are they?”
Draven grips my waist as I start to stumble. His hands are firm and hot. I lean back against him for a moment, enjoying the hardness of his body. “Another mystery, little lamb. They vanished. As did the House of the Four Horsemen. It’s the only spot on our trail of tragedy that we won’t be visiting today.”
I flip around and cozy up closer to him. “An entire house vanished too? That’s fucking weird.” I still wonder what that has to do with me and the Skelker.
He squeezes my ass and presses his body to mine. “Poof. Gone. There’s been stranger occurrences than that in Ever Graves. This town has a way of numbing you to your ability to be shocked and impressed.”
“How much farther to the cave?” I ask breathlessly. The last time Draven touched me in the woods, we hated each other. It was more to derive a rise out of me than pleasure. And in return, he got his own sick enjoyment out of watching me suffer. But what he hated more was the fact that it actually turned me on too.
He places a firm kiss on my temple. “Just over this hill.” He slides his hands under my ass and cups both cheeks. “You know, legend has it that Conquest threw Imogen over his saddle and held her down the whole way on horseback.”
A tingling erupts between my thighs. “I bet you wish you had a saddle to throw me over, don’t you?”
He growls into my ear. “Don’t tempt me, Mia. I’ll make one phone call and have a horse out here so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
I giggle as we walk through a field of flowers. In the distance, I can see the cave. It doesn’t take too long to reach it. The weeds are overgrown and block most of the way in. There are large boulders stacked on each side of the entrance.
Draven crouches down and runs his fingers through the dirt. “Only the wolves come out here now. Some say they are still searching for the horsemen too. They were companions during the hunt.”
“Earlier, you said there was a darker theory as to why Ophelia Harker never married or had kids… I got distracted by the blood on your sleeve.” I shiver. Something about this cave gives me the creeps.
He stands up and dusts his hands off. “Some believe that the devil had his way with Willa before she rejected him. And that her daughter Ophelia was the first cursed child of Ever Graves, bound to a nightmare man. There are those who believe that Willa locked her away so that she would never fall in love, never marry, and never be able to reproduce any children of her own.”
My stomach knots. “That’s awful. The poor girl…”
Draven tugs on my wrist, urging me farther down the path. We wind up and around the back of the cave and through the trees. It’s peaceful out here. We walk for a while. I’ve definitely never been to this part of the woods. If he weren’t with me, I’d get lost in a heartbeat.
My sense of serenity vanishes when I spot the cabin. There’s something viscerally wrong about it. I cross my arms over my chest in an attempt to stop this prickling from spreading across my skin. “The energy here is bad.”
Draven takes off his coat and hangs it across my shoulders. As if the chill in my bones was from the wind and not from some ancient evil that pervades the air around this place.
He lights a cigarette. “There’s been a fuck ton of sacrifices inside those walls. So much death.”
The wind rustles my hair, and I swear I hear it call my name. I pull Draven’s jacket in tighter, using it like a shawl. “We going in?”
He arches an eyebrow. “Unless you don’t want to.”
My curiosity outweighs my fear. “Fuck it. Let’s go.” I hope I don’t regret this…
The door creaks open and sends a puff of dust back into our faces. I cough as I inch past it, avoiding any physical contact with the rotting wood. There’s an energy that stays in houses. Even when they lie empty, the echoes of the past remain loud and ever present. And this one’s imprint is vile.
I follow Draven up the stairs. He clasps my hand in his. “Careful, Trouble. Some of these floorboards are broken.”
I nod and step lightly, my gaze glued to the wood beneath my feet as I take each step with precision, only putting my weight down when I’m sure it’s not going to break.
The second floor is only one room with an old cot, a small closet, and one dirty window looking out onto the forest. I shiver as I look around at the yellow walls and cobwebs. “Bad things happened here,” I murmur.
Draven runs his hands through his hair, his gaze pensive. The dark circles under his eyes are prominent. It still doesn’t take away from how gorgeous he is though. He’s no stranger to sleepless nights or shadowy things, but lately, he seems to be on high alert.
He sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls me to him. “Not all bad. Legend has it that Imogen and War fucked each other senseless on this very bed. But yeah, before that… this is where Krampus would slaughter his virgins after he defiled them.”
