CHAPTER12
Sleep remains elusive.I can’t commit myself to slumber. Not when I’m in the lair of the vampire.
I should be further investigating my surroundings. Finding possible escape paths. Something of use… But I am exhausted. My want is overshadowed by the more practical knowledge that I am, to an extent, safe at present. I can’t harm the vampire lord or his kin. They cannot harm me. His display was clear enough evidence of that. And I need to keep my strength.
I don’t want to rest. But I should. I need to keep my strength.
When my eyes do close, I’m haunted by the Blood Moon.
The crimson fog curls around me. Hidden beasts move through it. Ready to pounce. I see my fellow hunters sprinting through the mists. Drew is a blur, gone before I can even call out his name. His scream is quick to follow, cut short with a gurgle of blood.
Deep within me is a spinning thread, pulling me forward. I have to get to Drew. It’s pulling me to my brother, my twin. Pulling me to—
Him.
The vampire lord stands in the center of the ruins where we fought, screaming to the sky. Drew is nowhere to be seen. Dark power radiates off the vampire in waves that crash against the fog, competing with it. His hair is as pale as bone, hanging down to his mid-back in a single sheet. Ruvan’s hair is not that long, my mind rebels. Ruvan’s hair spills over his eyes but tapers at his neck, unlike this man’s. Though, this could just be another face Ruvan can wear.
Everything goes silent.
“A curse of vengeance,” the vampire lord whispers. “A curse wrought in blood…”
A curse.
A curse…
The dreams slip around me, shifting, changing. I’m no longer in the marshes but the smithy. Mother and I are lighting the fires. Dawn has just broken.
“Get inside, Floriane,” she urges.
“Mother?”
“Inside, now.”
The sound of the charcoal hitting the ground rings in my ears. It deafens the groaning coming from my father’s lips. Animal growling hissing between two fangs.
A blur of movement.
A flash of silver.
A scream.
My father crumples and his skin sinks into his bones. No. As the sunlight hits him, the body of the vampire that stole his face begins to steam and burn away. Its screams match my own.
“Wake up!”
I jolt awake. Ruvan looms over me, his golden eyes wide and frightened, almost comforting. Almost human. Until my attention drops to his slightly parted lips and I see his fangs.
I’m back in the dream and I violently shove him away. Ruvan tumbles back, head over heels. I stare at my hands, surprised by the force. Shaken by it. By the dream. My fingers tremble as if trying to release the energy and I grab my head as a flash of pain splits through it, vanishing as quickly as it came.
“Are you all right?” he asks, composing himself, as though he wasn’t just turned into a living tumbleweed. He runs a hand through his disheveled hair and tugs on a worn velvet dressing robe, loose trousers and shirt underneath. It almost looks as if he just bolted out of bed.
“What do you care?” I glare at him.
“You are my bloodsworn, it is my duty to care,” he tries to say, having the audacity to look concerned.
“I don’t want your lies.”
“I can’t lie to you.” Ruvan shakes his head, silvery hair in the lowlight falling into his face. “Was it a nightmare?”
