I’m plunged into darkness once more and ripped through time and space by the vampire lord’s magic, pulled along at his side, kidnapped. Yanked deeper into what I know with certainty, despite all odds, is the land of the vampire.
The world rematerializes and frigid wind rips through me as we stand in almost knee-deep snow on a mountain ledge. Snow, in summer. We only spend a second before moving again. Every step the vampire takes feels longer than the last, the darkness more permanent. My muscles scream with an agony I have never known.
Will he pull me to the edge of the world just so that he can push me off of it? I must escape. The next time we blink back into existence I yank myself from his grasp. The vampire lord lets out a startled grunt as he spins to face me. We are higher still up the mountain. My feet are instantly numb and slide on the ice hidden beneath the layers of thick snow.
He reaches for me, and I dodge out of his grasp. The elixir is still in my veins, numbing what must surely be excruciating pain. Keeping me sharp. The lord purses his lips, eyes shining with anger as I reach for an icicle hanging off a nearby ledge. My skin burns at the brutal cold, fusing to the ice as I yank it off.
The lord arches a pale brow at me. “Do you think you can kill me with that?”
I stand my ground wordlessly. My weapons are long gone. He has taken me to an arena of his choosing and I have no other options. But I am not going down without a fight.
“You couldn’t kill me when armed with two of your precious silver sickles. What do you honestly think you could do with that?”
I hold up the icicle in a silent threat.
“I’ll grant you that with the blood lore, you’re strong. Tenacious, certainly. But you clearly are not quick-witted.” Let him think what he wants; all I need is for him to take just a few more steps. I brandish the icicle a little higher. “Let’s say you actually do manage to kill me, hmm? What then? Where will you go? You can’t escape this place without my help. I am going to present to you a unique opportunity, stop threatening—”
The lord moves to rip the icicle from my grasp. I pull it toward me instead and, thanks to the elixir, I have the strength to pull him along with it. I wrap my arms quickly around his armored shoulders and tighten the muscles in my lower back. I hoist him like a massive bag of coal. We tip backward, and I push off with both legs, using every last bit of my strength.
My teeth rake against the shell of his ear as I snarl, “I wasn’t trying to escape.” The wind howls around us, nearly stealing my words. There is no coming back for me now. If it’s not the madness of the elixir that gets me, I will certainly die at the hands of the vampire lord. And if I somehow manage to kill him, his legions will take me. There’s no way out for me now, not when we’ve come this far. “If I’m going to die, I’m bringing you with me!”
We fall into the open air. My arms are around him, holding him as tightly as possible. The moon spins overhead. The air screams in my ears.
With a clamor of steel and flesh, we meet unyielding stone.
