Candescent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (19 page)

              I closed my eyes, feeling the bitter cold dried them, causing them to ache in pain. “I just want to hear what Pete has to say. I want to hear his plans. I want to sit with our Allies over a feast and hear all of them speak. I want to rest comfortably tonight in the protection of my Eternal Mate’s arms. I want him to tell me that he will not rest until Sebastian is destroyed.”

“You don’t know that the fire didn’t-,”

“I didn’t see him among the faces of his army members. Somehow, someway I know he escaped. I am not surprised. He
is
the Prince of Light.”

“What makes him so special?”

“He has powers, powers that are unknown to us. His heart beats loudly when it shouldn’t. He can make fire instantly and yet he fears it.”

“But it doesn’t matter what he does, it’s what he’s capable of doing.”

“I know.” I grew tired in his arms. I wanted to sleep badly and it took every ounce of energy to focus on his words. Soon I would be before a warm fire, or at least I hoped I would be. “How much longer Minx?”I pressed.

“It’s only a bit further Mistress. We’re almost there.”

              I looked down and saw nothing but trees, which disappointed me. Only a small, frozen creek stood out among the trees. We were very high up, but if on the ground, I was sure I could probably recognize where we were. Minx slowly descended to meet the ground below. He held me with only one talon now, leaving the others free to absorb the impact of the landing.

“We’re here Mistress.” He said once we landed.

              He put me down and I grabbed onto him as we walked. The large house that stood before me was abandoned. Its door was open to anyone who dared to enter, or perhaps it was left open by someone who already had. Its appearance was still good, although it looked to me like it was abandoned only recently. Walking up to it with my dragon, I found it brought tears to my eyes. This was Fitzray’s house.

W
hen Minx and the gargoyles were settled before a fire, I washed myself and changed into Fitzray’s clothes. I struggled to walk in the long sweatpants, but they were warm and gave me comfort in more ways than one. I returned to Minx and he made room for me to sit beside him on the plush carpet. He pressed me to his body and something dropped onto my shoulder. It was wet. I looked up to see my dragon’s eyes were filled with tears and that his face was wet.

“I’m sorry I disobeyed you. I’m sorry I didn’t come soon enough,” he whispered.

              He pressed his nose to my hair and sighed. He straightened himself up eventually, clearing his throat and held my Dragon’s Soul in his talon with a smile.

“A Dragon’s Soul can be a weakness when someone uses it against you. It is only a weakness if it was not intended by the dragon’s owner to have it touched. However, if you allow someone to touch your Dragon’s Soul, that is different. You will feel a new strength, a great connection with whomever you choose to open up to. I can feel the difference between the two. I will always come if I feel you are in danger.” Slowly he dropped the silver dragon and I kissed his nose.

“Thank you Minx. I am going to sleep.”

              He nodded his head. “Good night Mistress. Sleep well.”

              I went upstairs, retreating to the master bedroom. It was here that I felt comfort, readying myself to sleep. I rested my head against the pillows and closed my eyes. I was just about to fall asleep when the bedroom door opened quietly.

“Chenille?”

              I turned over slowly and sat up. I couldn’t see anything, when suddenly a candle was lit, illuminating Pete’s face. I did not say anything to him as he moved onto the bed and hugged me tightly. His hand stroked my hair and he slowly rested me against the headboard.

“Are you ok?” His words hung in the air and I still couldn’t speak. I only shook my head and looked down. “What did he do to you?” His fingers pressed my chin so I looked up at him.

“Minx will tell you.”

              He closed his eyes, rubbed them, and took off his cape. “What did he do?”

“How is your heart?” I cut in, feeling anxious and suddenly upset.

              He loosened the first buttons on his shirt to show me, and then looked back at me, pressing the more important issue. His arms held me in place and he looked down at me with concern and affection. “What did that immortal do?”

“Just tell me you will destroy him. Tell me you will not have mercy for what he did.”

“What did he do?” His hands squeezed my arms, as though he tried to get the words out of me that way.

“He touched my Dragon’s Soul. He would have killed Minx.”

“What else?” He studied my shaky breathing, how I was on the verge of crying, which only made him confused and angry. “What did he do to you!”

              Now that I refused to answer, he took it upon himself to check me over. He scrutinized my skin, infuriated at every bruise and cut I’d gotten while I was there. He discovered my ankle, that was still slightly swollen and then he stopped. “That immortal did this,” he hissed and proceeded to wave the candle over me so he could see my face. His free hand ran against my arms, waiting for me to flinch or cry out if there was pain he couldn’t detect. At last he put the candle down, realizing I was still and would not utter a peep.

“I’m ok,” I breathed.

“There is only one way I will know for sure. There is only one way I can find out what happened if you won’t tell me.”

“Minx will tell you.”

“No,” he hissed, “Minx wasn’t there the whole time. He doesn’t know.” He tossed my hair aside, one hand rested against my neck. He stared straight at me, which wasn’t intimidating in the soft candlelight. “Will you tell me?”

              He paused, the chill of a ring on his finger slid against my arm. It was probably his Ceremonial Ring. I became stiff, refusing to speak. I couldn’t find my words. I couldn’t tell him
everything
that happened.

“No? Then I have no other choice.”

              His hand slid from my neck to my shoulder to push me back to the headboard. He looked at my neck, aiming to prey upon it now.

“Please don’t.”

“Oh, why not?
Now I’m curious
.” His fangs dug themselves into my skin so furiously only gasped in shock. He didn’t offer me poison, so I felt everything, which was strange. He
always
numbed me.

“What are you doing? Stop!”

              I freaked out, begging for his release. I attempted to pull his hand free, but his grip was rock solid and wouldn’t give, just like the rest of his body. My begging continued, hoping he could hear me. I wondered if this was a punishment, or an attempt to get me to talk.

              At last, he ripped away, causing even more pain to flow over me. He breathed heavy, growling frustrated and staring at me, meeting my eyes with wrath. I knew he must have seen everything, somehow accessing my memory and how I’d felt, something he had never done with me before.

“He did hurt you. And you let him,” he growled.

“
Let him
?” I cried.

“Oh, so you drank his blood on purpose then?”

“I was weak. I needed a plan. I had to get away.”

“So you resorted to that of all things!” he cried.

“Why are you making it sound like what I did was bad?”

“It was bad!” He growled. “Sebastian is dangerous and so is his blood! If you had enough, it could have irreversible effects on you. So do you know what I have to do? I have to drink that blood out myself. I don’t have Caspian to help…I don’t even know where he is. I’ll have to devise a plan with our Allies tomorrow and hope we’re not too late.”

“Is there any other way?”

“No.” He picked up his cape and used it to wipe his mouth. “I will have to cut your throat and you will bleed with only my blood to keep you alive. Our Allies will be with us tomorrow, so they will be there to make sure you stay conscience. If you fall asleep, it will be hard to tell if the blood loss is causing damage to your brain. I will have to stay with you the whole time.”

“Do you really need to do that?”

“I have no choice. Later on you will suffer if I don’t.” His hand moved to my neck and he healed it slowly. He paused, moving his hand away. “I wish I didn’t have to do that to you, but if I didn’t I would never have known that you drank his blood.”

              I looked away. I wanted to see my Allies again, to hear their plans and their vengeance toward our enemy. I couldn’t wait to see my father and hear what he had to contribute. My dreams were filled with these anxieties; the reoccurring nightmares kept me up in an everlasting night. I could feel the heat of Sebastian’s immortal blood and I feared the consequences it had, for what Pete must know and was not telling me.

* * * * *

Before I knew it, I was isolated in a room with Pete. In this room – this place, there was secrecy, secrecy belonging to our Allies. This was our new hideout, where Pete mentioned where the wolves hid too. In this room of our secret house it was dark, the blinds shut out any light, the small room bursting with heat from an old furnace. It was nearly empty all except the small table where I lay, where my legs dangled over its edge, where my
transfusion
was to take place.

Pete turned to me in silence. He didn’t speak to me all morning and as much as I wanted to think he was just thoughtful, I considered he may just as well be fearful. He told me the Allies would give us ten minutes to set up, claiming that he needed to speak with me alone before we started.

“You know what I have to do is risky. You don’t know about all of the problems that Sebastian’s blood will cause. Just understand that if you die I will continue with this war. Know that with the help of our Allies, we will not lose.”

“I won’t die. I know you won’t let me,” I assured him.

He looked down while he walked over to me. He placed a hand beside my shoulder, looking down at me.

“This procedure is not simple. I can’t assure you that you won’t die.”

“What do you have to do?”

“Like I said last night, I will have to cut your throat and give you my blood. My blood is stronger and it will easily remove Sebastian’s blood from your body. A couple of Allies will be with us. They will tell you their plans for war.”

I stared up at him quietly taking in his comforting face, but the reassurance I sought was absent from his expression. I didn’t say any more to him, I only nodded my head. I wanted him to call in the Allies.

He took his knife and placed it at my side. He opened the door for our Allies, Rasha and Rallen. They stood at my side, carefully watching Pete as he paced with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. They waited for him to prepare himself.

Rasha looked down at me smiling. “It’s good to see you again Chenille.”

Rallen gazed down upon me respectfully, but his eyes flicked to Pete. When Pete finally returned to us, he rested one hand on his knife and glanced up at Rasha and Rallen. He pulled up his sleeves and prepared himself as he lowered the blade to his wrist. He glanced up again.

“I’m sure you want to know our plans for war.” Rallen said quickly as though he just received Pete’s cue.

“Yes.”

I could see out of the corner of my eye that Pete’s hand was slowly turning black with his own blood. I struggled not to look at it, not to become afraid as I caught a glance of the knife in his other hand. My focus turned to Rasha who had been speaking.

“Our armies are very strong. Our army consists of all of the soldiers under each ally. That leaves us with many soldiers. We will beat Sebastian’s army easily.”

“Where are the armies now?”

“They traveled across the sea with us. Some are in the lower levels of this house and the rest are scattered around Inesious, waiting to attack.

I looked up now feeling pressure on my shoulder. Pete was holding me down with his occupied fist so I wouldn’t move or even think of struggling if it became too much. He must have known my calmness would flick to horror in an instant - and it did. He held his bloody hand over my chest and fright overwhelmed me.

He could kill me. I could die
again
, I thought fearfully.

He must have read my mind, or maybe it was now that I struggled which caused him to put his knife down. He leaned his weight on his forearm, his elbow dug uncomfortably into my chest. He quietly shushed me, attempting to show me that he was not in any pain. I could see him gritting his teeth, breathing through his mouth. He had me completely unconvinced.

“You’re going to be just fine. You have to believe in me.”

I looked at him, fell for his loving gaze, for a moment just lost in his eyes, but his expression turned to a hasty advantage as he grabbed his knife so fast and slit my throat. His wrist was in my mouth, the cold blood muffling my distress. The pain was so bad I wanted to slit
his
throat and see how he liked it.

“I know it hurts,” he said quietly, “but if I didn’t do it you would be feeling even worse.”

“Do you need anything Pete?”

“No, I should be fine now.”

I looked up at Rallen to avoid the slight worry I could detect in Pete’s eyes. Rallen looked to me like some sort of Indian prince. The way he appeared, he looked as though he was real royalty - or at least the closest thing to it. My eyes rolled in Rasha’s direction, hoping that she could give me a comforting word or two, but she looked away. They both did.

Pete’s eyes were closed when I looked up at him. His breathing was soft. He tried to calm himself. He bent his head close to me and mumbled something under his breath. Rasha and Rallen still looked away. At first I thought they were looking away in respect, when Pete’s words became clearer to me.

“Not now,” he whispered, “not now.”

He glared up to them and they nearly ran from the room. There were muffled noises coming from behind the door. There were screams coming from behind the modest piece of wood. Things were breaking. I silently asked Pete what was going on and he slowly opened his eyes.

“We’re under attack.” He whispered, gently nuzzling me.

I struggled and turned my head to the side, somehow managing to break free from his wrist. “Why don’t you go and help our Allies?”

“I’m not leaving you. I can’t leave you now. I have to make sure your wound is healed once Sebastian’s blood is out.”

“How much longer?” I pressed.

He shushed me and pressed his wrist to my mouth again. The noise continued, becoming louder as it became closer. I was sure this was Sebastian’s army, or at least some of it. How could they have found us? What would they do when they discovered the two of us here alone?

Pete seemed calm to me, his expression unmoved as he focused on me. “I’m going to stay with you. I don’t care what happens.”

As though he planned his words, the door to our small room was broken down. Three men came in and immediately saw us. My eyes were wild with fright and I struggled under Pete’s arm, trying to get him to move. I wanted him to save himself and he refused. I shook my head as the men advanced, swords in hand. Our Allies’ soldiers tackled two of them down while one came toward us.