Gothic grove, p.6
Gothic Grove, page 6
I take one last look around the space. This is the last time I will be here, I know. Once I step through the portal Shadow has created, I won't come back here. I close my eyes, trying to take in the smell, the warm wood. Memories of Hansley humming as she sketched by the fire invade my brain. When I open my eyes, I look at the small bed where the two of us would sleep, curled up and happy. This small house is the only place that has ever held happy memories for me.
And now, it will be gone.
Just like my family.
Grief threatens to wash me away as I say goodbye to this place. The waves are so large I wonder if it would just be easier to collapse into them. But like the tide, the wave edges back out to sea, giving me a moment's peace.
I finally look at Ciaran, tears stinging my eyes again, and nod before turning toward Shadow. "I'm ready." I let my hand graze over Poppy’s warm fur as we take a step forward into a future that will be uncertain.
We step out into an elaborate penthouse, Ciaran moving in silently behind us before the portal closes. Shutting out the last piece of my family I had. Both men move with ease through the space. Their movements are comfortable. It hits me, then. A home. This is their home. Shock ripples through me, followed by disbelief and then jealousy ribbed with anger. They’ve had a home where they got to live free of fear.
"Welcome, kamerat, make yourself comfortable." He walks over to a bar top that looks over the river, and just beyond, the glittering city of Gothic Grove. When the founding families built the sprawling metropolis, they hadn’t intended to actually take care of it. They had created jobs for the inhabitants, but as time went on, those jobs seemed to disappear, leaving so many jobless and eventually homeless. People turned to drugs to cope and crime to fill their pockets.
The stark contrast between my home in the woods and here is jarring. Here, there is no snow, only rain streaking down the windows like the tears I refuse to let fall. The skies over Gothic Grove are a deep, stormy gray and the wind seems to scream, as if it too were demanding justice for the city. For its people. From my vantage point high above, I can pretend it's thriving. Up here, no one can see how rotten it is, how the streets are littered with souls trying to find a way to survive. Souls that have been taken advantage of by the founding families and vampires alike.
Dropping my backpack on the dark hardwood floors, I slip off my worn boots but leave the knives attached. Poppy remains at my side as I tentatively look around the space. The place is warmer than I expected, the colors dark grays and bright whites. Shadow and Ciaran have both moved on and are now sitting in a living room full of plush couches and chairs, drinks in hand. The walls are lined with bookshelves on one side, and the other has floor-to-ceiling windows. I look at the furniture longingly.
“You can sit.” Ciaran motions.
I shake my head before saying, "How is it we are safe here?"
"My father cannot get past my wards. And if those do fail, he will meet Shadow’s next. You are safe here." Ciaran seems so certain. So at ease. Something I've never seen in all my years of knowing him. "You would have been here, had you waited for us. Had you not run."
The sharp sting of his words makes me bristle immediately. "How was I to know that? You bound me to you. In my eyes, I no longer had an option. And I guess I really didn't, did I?” I cross my arms, Ciaran furrows his brow. “Yeah, I felt that, Ciaran. Felt that pull that isn’t from some gods damn spell you used.” I want to ask if he just didn’t want me. If he only wanted my power, and now that it's gone, I'm not worth it. But I don’t, again refusing those tears that threaten to out me. “Mates, Ciaran? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Shadow mutters, “shit” from the corner and I shoot him a glare before re-focusing on Ciaran.
Ciaran rubs his hands down his face. "I had my reasons for using that spell, and for not telling you we were mates at the time. But I'm not my father, and you should know by now you always have an option with me. If that isn't apparent already by me not completing the bond, I don’t know how to prove it.”
People who have never lost freedom don't understand how even a well-intentioned controlling move can feel like having your head held underwater. Under that feeling of insecurity, I can feel my anger rising, a living creature moving beneath my skin, pushing outward. I welcome the feeling. Anger is safe. It’s what keeps me alive and lets me avoid opening the chest of nightmares in my mind.
That living beast rolls out of me in a tidal wave as I let myself drown. "So I should trust you because you didn't force me to fuck you like everyone else did? Or because you asked before you sank your fangs into me and drank my blood and magic?"
My body is tense, and Poppy growls low next to me as she feels my energy changing. She’s waiting for a signal; if she’s needed, she’ll burn them alive. I wrap my arms around my middle and dig my nails into my sides. I know he doesn’t deserve it all, but I can't stop myself from spewing the visceral words at him. As if everything I’ve kept inside needs an escape.
"I barely knew you, Ciaran. All I knew was, you were promising me a way out. A means to an end. I had no idea if I could actually trust you. I spent years in that place. Years of my life are gone. I have scars all over my body from those times. I barely sleep and my magic is fucking gone because of whatever the fuck spell you used to bind us. So, I'm sorry if as soon as I was out, I didn't just automatically know you would protect me. Maybe, had you been honest, things would have gone differently."
Ciaran and Shadow stand up, and I can smell their magic at the ready. It only adds gasoline to my already burning rage. How dare they.
"You don't just get my trust. No one does. Just because you saved me doesn't mean I owe you anything." My body is warm, my hands shaking, as my biggest fear spews out at them like venom. "You are just going to use me. Just like your father did!" I explode outward in that moment, gasping as my magic suddenly appears, a familiar darkness that wraps around me. The swirling smoke and shadow create snakes that move like a lover's caress across my arms and across my chest. I can hear Ciaran saying something, but I can't seem to understand him as I allow my magic to flow freely. I can only focus on the feelings of pure ecstasy flooding my veins. The feeling of coming home overpowers the anger I felt. Relief that my magic is back makes me shudder out a sob.
"Astrea!" Ciaran’s voice penetrates the cloak of magic around me and my eyes snap to his. It's one of the few times I've seen him look worried. I cock my head to the side, assessing him. "Kamerat, take a breath. We aren't a threat. Let it go."
He begins to approach me like someone might approach a feral dog, hands held out. He’s scared of me. The thought sends a thrill through me, bringing me more joy than I think is healthy. His eyes have shifted to red, and his teeth have come down, but his magic is held back. That oh-so-tempting magic that I’ve always smelled. The magic I’m not entirely sure he knows about.
His magic is old. Like ours, a dark, soothing voice says. I look at my shoulder to find one of the shadowy snakes looking at me. Talking to me. It rubs its head along my face like a pet, then gingerly wraps itself around my neck. Another appears, this one holding tighter to my arm.
I take a breath as he takes another step forward. And another as his scent hits me. I can feel my magic dropping its hold on me, until as quickly as it came, it snuffs out. Exhaustion hits me like a freight train, and I feel my body begin to fall. Ciaran is by my side in a heartbeat, his strong scent invading my nose and awakening that familiar ache in my chest as he scoop me up bridal style. I can hear Shadow say something about "that animal" contaminating his chair, and I know Poppy has made herself at home amidst my breakdown.
"You stubborn witch," Ciaran murmurs in my ear. I feel him push open a door, and a moment later, he lays me down on the most comfortable bed I've ever felt. A low moan escapes my throat. "Careful, kamerat, make another sound like that and I might not be so honorable."
I think I feel his nose drag up my neck, but my body is finally giving out, the adrenaline leaving me in a whoosh. My eyes drift closed, and the last thing I'm aware of is covers being pulled over my body.
Ciaran
I watch over Astrea for a moment longer before I back out of the room, leaving the door ajar so I can hear her when she wakes. I drag my hand down my face and move back out to the living room.
"What was that?” Shadow is standing next to the window. His back is to me, but I can tell by his voice that he’s worried. I walk over to him and look out at the city across the river. From above, the city looks like any other metropolis. It's not until you hit the ground that you realize what it is: a city infested with vampires, hunting witches and shifters alike. A city that will be dead soon if someone doesn't step in.
"That was her magic. Which she hasn't had access to in a very long time." I try to keep my breathing even as I think about what she looked like when her magic exploded. She looked every bit the part of The Harbinger. I’m horrified at what she told me earlier, what my father has been doing. But what scares me more? That she has no idea what type of power she holds. "I don’t understand what happened when she ran, that spell never should have interfered with her magic. Neither should the mate bond. As soon as that collar was off, her magic should have come back.”
“You didn’t notice when you took it off?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No. I was so focused on the mate bond, I didn’t even think about her magic. I was a fucking idiot.”
He sighs when I don't say anything more. "This is a dangerous game, brother. You need to tell her everything. The more you keep from her, the more things like what just happened will transpire. She’s already pissed about you not telling her she’s your mate." He cracks a small smile, “no one likes the secret-keeping, miscommunication trope.”
I shoot a glare at him. “Let's not throw stones when we live in glass houses.”
Shadow only shakes his head. “You know that's different.” He claps me on the shoulder before walking away and opening a portal. "I'll give you guys some space. I don't want anything to do with that conversation."
"Pussy," I mutter, and I see him flip me off as he disappears. I look back out over the city before moving back into the bedroom I laid Astrea in. Her scent has infiltrated the room, a hint of lavender mixed with smoke, and I know I'll never get it out. No matter how this ends, I will always smell her in this room.
Ciaran
Before
The hallways smell like mold and human excrement. My boots click on the old, stained floors as I move through the prison to my father’s office. My ears are assaulted with various sounds, but the loudest is her crying. I doubt anyone else could pick her voice out above the others, but I would be able to hear her in a maelstrom at this point. My hands clench at my sides, and it takes an effort to shake them out into a relaxed state. Shadow and I have a plan in place, but we need to put it into action quickly, or I am going to rip this place apart to get her out. Now you know how he felt.
My father deciding to wage war on the witches was idiotic. He has never been one to be this shortsighted; we need the witches, and we needed the relationship. By destroying the head families, he has started us down a path that will only end in mutual destruction. And it opened the doors for the shifters to move in on our territory. It makes no sense to me.I’ve always been part of my father’s plans, despite his fear of me. He thinks keeping me close allows him to make sure I’m not attempting anything behind his back. Up until this one, he’s been right.
I pass through the metal double doors, ignoring the guards on either side. The difference is stark. These hallways are pristine. Cool white walls line either side of the immaculate marble floors. No screams or cries fill the air. Instead, sounds of pleasure can be heard. While half the facility is used for nefarious deeds, aka my father’s experiments, the other half is open to members of the community. Vampires who need to feed and fuck. They pay a pretty penny to have access to witches who are high as a kite on Eufori, the drug that keeps them compliant and happy while the vampire feeds on their blood and magic. All in all, my father is a piece of shit.
Shadow appears suddenly at my side, matching my pace. “We have a problem.” His deep voice is barely above a whisper. "They moved her to level four. She’s been in an exam room for the past three days. I overheard a few of the guards talking about her and what they’ve been doing. It’s not good, Ciaran.”
“How the fuck didn’t we know?” I growl.
Shadow is bleeding tension as he shrugs and I know he’ll wear this as another badge of failure.
I curse under my breath. Level four is where my father does his experiments, and most never make it off that level. She’s been held on level three for the past month, not the best but certainly not the worst. It meant she was harassed and fed on, but aside from that, she wasn’t used, to my knowledge, for any of my father’s experiments. Now that he’s moved her to the fourth, we need to move quicker. She’s already been here longer than I wanted; I had hoped it would only be a few months, but it’s been a few years since my father brought her in. Unfortunately, he made it exceedingly difficult to get her out by placing one of those collars on her. Thankfully, I think I have finally found a way to get past that.
I rub my chest, that spot in me aching. The spot that always aches when I think of her. "Get her out, bring her to my room."
"Your father will know." He doesn’t say it to argue but more as an acknowledgement that we are about to cross a line we can’t come back from.
A growl rumbles from me. “I don’t give a fuck. Kill anyone who touched her in that room.”
Shadow simply nods at me and peels off, doubling back before stepping through the portal he's created. Up until now, when I've seen her, it's been down in a feeder room. Having her in my own personal room would have been difficult to hide. In the feeder rooms, we were able to use Shadow’s magic to glamor her into looking like another witch. The guards typically posted around were told to leave, and none of them were ever willing to risk their lives by arguing with me or Shadow.
My feet come to a halt in front of the two opulent golden doors that close my father’s office off from the rest of the facility. He sees himself as a god and demands others look at him the same. He disgusts me. I don't bother knocking and instead stroll in like I own the place, shoving my hands in my pants pockets so I avoid shoving one through my father’s chest to crush his heart.
Alexi Helvig is a portly man now. His belly is large and his skin pasty. He's currently sitting in a chair with a girl sucking on his cock. Her black hair is stringy with grease. "Don't mind me," I say with an air of indifference. I watch as he rips the girl's head back by her hair, pulling his cock out of her mouth, and shoots his cum all over her with a pig-like grunt.
"Go clean up," he tells the girl, who slowly stands up as he puts his flaccid cock away. She doesn’t leave right away, a bold move for one of my father’s whores. Instead, she levels me with an assessing gaze. “I said go.” This time, she listens, but her eyes continue to track me as she walks out, dark and unnerving.
"I see you still need to pay someone to suck you off, Father, that must be embarrassing." I smile as his face turns red.
"You will learn respect someday," he spits. "And if you don't, you'll end up the same way your whore of a mother did."
I shrug, not allowing him to see how the rage flows through my veins anytime he mentions my mother. "You keep saying that, but I think if you could, you would have already. We both know that's not the case." I sit down and prop my feet up on his desk. "Now, why don't we get to the reason you called me here."
He moves by me and slaps my feet off before sitting in the chair on the opposite side. He fills a glass with a thick red substance out of the decanter on his desk, blood. Taking a gulp of it, he narrows his eyes. “My men have told me you’ve suddenly stopped bringing fresh witches in. What’s going on?”
Suspicious bastard. I avoid rolling my eyes at him. “Witches don’t trust us now that the families are gone. They don’t go out much now. So, it shouldn't be shocking to you that we need to slow down snatching them off the street. You created this system after you slaughtered the founding families." I stand from the chair and start walking back to the door. "If that's all, I am hungry."
"Boy," he calls. I cringe at the name. "I’m not done talking with you.”
I turn back around and level him with a glare. “But I’m done speaking with you. I answered your questions.”
“I want you out hunting, bringing in more witches.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why? You have your little minions to do that.”
“You're going to earn your keep. Or have you forgotten our deal?” I watch him slurp the rest of the blood out of the glass. I flash back for a moment to all those years ago, signing my soul away to be this man's puppet, to free Shadow. I will never regret rescuing him, but I do regret the corner my father backed me into with it. At the time I didn’t have anyone helping me whereas my father had everyone in his pocket.
Things would be very fucking different now.
I don't let any emotion bleed into my face despite the rage simmering under me, “How could I forget that, father?” I take a steadying breath. “I don’t understand why you need more witches anyway. What are you doing with them?”
He snorts, ignoring my question, and it makes him seem even more pig-like. “Tell Shadow I need to see him later.”
