Lifeblood, one must make an incision directly over the iris, extending through the pupil and to its opposite side. The pocket located deep behind the eye is best drained by gravity, and thus repeated on the subsequent pupil when emptied.
WARNING: Harvested lifeblood must never be administered to the deceased. For should it pass a body’s lips, regardless of time passed, Life will be granted. It is not human life. It is an abomination, and should the vessel awaken, it will yearn for the lifeblood of the living, and it will take it by any means necessary.
Lux couldn’t concentrate on the dark images of gnarled hands crawling across the page, or of the anatomical eye, labeled andslit, an ink-black substance pouring forth. Her own hands shook too much.
The missing page of her book.
The missing page ofRiselda’sbook.
When the soft exhale reached her, her heart nearly shattered. She shoved the page into the pocket of her skirt and rounded the corner. The chair she’d last witnessed Morana in sat empty, the ropes in a pool around its legs. She frowned.
But when another exhale broke the quiet, she spun toward it. To the figure on the bed. Lux backed away, sure it couldn’t possibly be Morana. She had to have been wrong. The phantom was here. And asleep, no less.
She only made it several steps when the silver sheen emanating from the trees highlighted the thick chain traveling from the mattress toward an anchor hidden from sight.
Morana wasn’t dead.
Morana was here, in the wraith’s very bed. Napping.
“Don’t touch me!” Morana’s sleep-tousled head snapped up from the pillow following Lux’s less-than-gentle shake of her body.
“Be quiet,” Lux hissed back at her. “That’s all we need is the phantom here to witness our endearing reunion.” When Morana only stared at her with a blank expression, she added, “You’re not dead. I’m surprised.”
The mayor’s daughter blinked her owlish blue eyes so many times that Lux finally grumbled in annoyance, kneeling to discover where the chain led. It appeared to be twisted around the far leg of the bed several times, but aside from that, she couldn’t make out much more.
“Get up. I need you to help me lift this bed.” Morana said nothing, and she didn’t move. “Are you drugged? Can you not hear me?Get. Up. Now!” The heated words scraped against her throat, her voice a strained whisper. “Finally.”
Morana had moved to standing, the manacle surrounding her ankle clanging loudly against the floorboards. She copied Lux’s position without a word, and together, they lifted the frame. It was much heavier than it appeared.
The sharp ringing of the chain uncoiling felt loud as thunderclaps, and with panting breaths from Morana and grunted oaths from herself, they moved it back into position. She pulled the cool metal from beneath the bed and blew out a breath of relief that it came easily. The phantom hadn’t thought her charge able to move the frame on her own, and she likely couldn’t have.
“Are you real?”
Lux shoved to her feet at the tug of her hair. “Ow! Yes! What’s the matter with you?”
Morana moved back with a clanging step. “I’ve had dreams similar to this.” She shuddered. “And then they turn into very real nightmares.” With a furtive glance, her eyes found the glowing trees.
“This still might become one of those. We need to leave. Can you walk?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s my pride that’s suffering more than anything. And my skin! I haven’t been allowed to wash my face since I’ve been brought here! Can you imagine?”
Even in the scant light, Lux could see the blotches of color entering Morana’s cheeks. “No, I can’t. The atrocities committed here clearly knew no bounds. I don’t have a key to that shackle either so hold onto the chain. And if the howlers are still outside, we’re going to have to run.”
Lux was already at the door, and with a quick scan of the wood, found no eyes staring back at her. She swung it open further. The forest’s glow highlighted the cages she’d been met with on her last visit. The very ones that housed the largest rats she’d ever beheld.
They were empty.
“Where did the rats go?”
“Rats! Where?”
Lux shook her head. Clearly, they’d been gone long before Morana awakened. Perhaps they weren’t pets after all but a light snack for the phantom’s fanged companions.
“I don’t have a cloak. It’s freezing out there!” Morana shivered dramatically.
“Oh, I’m sorry, would you like mine?” Lux held her arms wide, coat-less, cloak-less, and thoroughly irritated.
Morana’s eyes narrowed. “Sarcasm is a fool’s humor. Lead the way then.”
