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“Here we are,” Kaleid says, staring at the entrance to the ruins. Once upon a time there would be a giant gate there, maybe a drawbridge, but now it’s just an arch of stone and the horsemen take their place on either side, waiting for us to step through.
I feel like I’m entering a curse.
That I need to turn around and run far, far away. Every instinct, every cell and molecule in my body knows that I shouldn’t step through that doorway.
But I don’t have a choice. Not only because there would be nowhere for me to run to, but the fact that Natalia and Kaleid are dragging me through.
They take me into a large courtyard, the remains of a fountain in the middle of the uneven stone ground. Above us there is only crimson sky and red lightning, the roof gone. On the other side of the fountain is another arch, a doorway that leads into darkness.
Kaleid leads me over to the doorway but then he stops, staring into the darkness.
Waiting.
I look at Natalia. Her normally placid face is faltering. She’s breathing in hard through her nose, blinking fast, like she’s about to have a panic attack. I know that feeling.
Then I look over at Kaleid. His posture is perfect, his chin raised as he stares into the abyss.
But even he isn’t one hundred percent cool and easy like he usually is.
Beads of sweat appear on his temple and it takes a fucking lot to make a vampire sweat.
He’s scared. So is she.
And me? Well now I’m fucking terrified.
“No need to be afraid, Lenore,” a voice says from behind us.
My heart lurches to a stop in my chest, panic flooding my adrenals, making my whole body tense as all my internal alarm bells go off.
Run.
Run.
Don’t turn around.
Don’t look.
Don’t look at him!
To look at him is to lose your life.
From beside me Kaleid sucks in his breath, then his nails dig in, piercing the skin on my arm, and he whips me around, almost out of Natalia’s grasp.
And I find myself face to face with Skarde.
Once again, I’m surprised at what I’m seeing. All this time I thought I would see this horrific bat-type monster thing, something my imagination or the movies have conjured up. At the very least I thought I would see someone a little fucked-up looking, like along the lines of Jeremias and his ever-rotating face.
But no.
Skarde is handsome as hell.
Looks like he’s about sixty years old or so, black well-groomed hair, strong jawline, squinty blue eyes that pierce right through you, ears that stick out a little. He’s wearing a navy dress shirt and black pants and looks entirely out of place amongst all the crumbling stone, like he just strolled into work as some successful CEO.
“We finally meet,” he says, smiling as he presses his palms together and I swear his accent is the posh kind of British. Isn’t Skarde Norwegian? Fuck it, there are more important things to ponder. Like how he’s going to kill me.
He gives me another quick smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and then looks at Kaleid. “You came back. I didn’t think you would, son.”
Kaleid nods. “I brought her, like you asked.”
Skarde’s dark brows raise. “Like I asked? When did I ask you for Lenore?”
Then he fixes that smile on me again and steps forward. “You must pardon this bout of awkwardness. I haven’t seen my son in years, so while I have been wanting you, he hasn’t known about it. And the other one there, well, that was my daughter. She disowned me, you see, and that was decades ago. I’m having a hard time believing she’s here for a friendly visit.”
He fixes his gaze on Natalia now. “So what is it? Why are you here? You know, I knew, deep down, I knew that you’d come into my life again, but I didn’t imagine you bringing me my bride.”
“Your bride?” I ask. I ask because it’s what I’m supposed to ask, but also because the statement still catches me off-guard.
“Yes,” Skarde says, grinning. Then he frowns at the marks that Kaleid’s made in my arm. “What the fuck are you doing, hurting her like that? Release her.”
At once, both Kaleid and Natalia let go of me, like they’ve been holding onto a hot potato. Then Skarde reaches forward, grabbing my wrist with a firm, yet gentle, grasp, and pulls me toward him. Up close, things are a little different. I smell cologne, which is strange. Vampires don’t wear cologne unless they’re trying to cover something up. And his face doesn’t seem as…solid as it should. I blink at him, like I’m trying to see through something, thinking about those Magic Eye paintings that Solon mentioned.
“My apologies for his rough behavior,” Skarde says to me with a wolfish smile. “Kaleid doesn’t get around women very often.”
