AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Human,” Sirene’s cold voice echoed through the otherwise silent space.
Despite the fact that he was vulnerable and alone in the presence of a formidable vampyre, Cy’s heart began to resume a more even pace at knowing she was there. Hiding in the shadows, Sirene was dressed in dark black robes, her sword clutched tightly at her hip. Cy could make out the outline of her, the fine, minute details of her expression and her clothing.
“Follow.” She darted to the left, down a hallway just out of his sight. Cy urged himself to follow. Thanks to Haven’s blood, his body was strong and agile, his wounds all freshly healed. He felt he could run forever. Even so, keeping up with this vampyre woman seemed impossible.
“Wait,” he hissed.
“There’s no time,” she shot back. “Keep up or lay down and die. Haven is sticking his neck out for you. Don’t waste it.”
Cy flushed and nodded. She was right. If he didn’t escape, Haven’s sacrifice would have been in vain. He needed to get out of New Avalon, needed to get back to the Veritas. He needed to make right all the things he’d done wrong: to help free Dahlia De Rais and put her plan in motion. The attack on New Avalon would still go forward: he would make sure of it.
He raced after Sirene, desperately trying to keep up. She was a phantom and these walls her haunt; she traced the floors as though she knew every inch backward and forward, and Cy was thankful for that knowledge, though curious as to how it came to be.
As they neared their exit, Sirene’s unrelenting gait slowed to a walk. It had grown easier to breathe, and minuscule light seemed to glitter just out of sight. “We’re nearly there.”
“Where?”
“The outskirts.”
Cy blinked. “Why is this here? Who knows of its existence?”
“The castle was constructed before the Dominion. The tunnels travel the lengths of the city and out. An easy way for vampyres to slip into human territory unnoticed.”
“If the Veritas knew about this…”
“They do now, don’t they?”
Steeling his expression, Cy nodded. Is that what Haven had intended? That through Cy, the Veritas would be made aware of this tunnel leading directly into the castle? More than his escape, this tunnel could provide an advantage for the attack.
Sirene neared the end of the tunnel, a doorway barred from the inside. As she lifted the heavy wooden bar and pried the door open, light trickled inside. “Here,” she said, pinning him in her distant crimson stare as she reached inside her cloak. Holding out her hands, she laid out several items for him to take. One, a small bottle filled with a dark red liquid. The other, a thick wooden stake with a sharpened point at the end.
Cy balked. “You’re giving me this?”
“Haven wants you to survive. You know what to do with these?”
Cy took the bottle of vermillion liquid. “Is this—”
“Vampyre blood. Haven wanted you to have it. To keep up your strength.”
“Is it…”
“His.” Unfazed, she once again reached into her cloak to retrieve a sword, similar to the one she always carried at her own hip. He hadn’t seen it hiding there, but as she held it out to him, he took it gratefully. Then, she began to unfasten the ties at her neck. For the first time, Cy glimpsed long white hair tied back at the nape as she gave him her cloak. “Take this as well.”
“Your cloak?”
“He’d want you to have it. It smells of vampyre. It will disguise your scent.”
Cy slipped it around his shoulders and pulled the hood over his head. “Thank you.”
Sirene grunted. “Now, go.”
Cy peered out, seeing massive trees and vines, brush stacked to obscure the exit. Outside, the doorway led into a hidden alcove in a hillside; it looked out onto the forest. The Veritas would be within, Dahlia had told him so.
“Go,” Sirene urged him.
His eyes met hers. “Will you protect him?”
She stiffened, her expression unreadable. “Of course, I will.”
