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ForFaenir.
There was a wave of them, coming in at once and drowning me in rich clothing and judging faces. Although they did not speak to me, I felt their stares trying to drain answers from me. Hands tugged greedily at my arms and tunic, likely testing that I was, in fact, real. For how else could I still be alive?
How I could be touched by the prince of death? Why did I still live when others didn’t?
Through the crowd I caught the blur of a body. Gale, long stemmed glass in hand filled with the bubbling of honey-toned wine; in it bobbed seeds of pink. He was moving from the dance floor as though following someone like a lost puppy, likely bringing a drink to Myrinn who he longed to find among the overwhelming crowd.
I followed him. If he searched for Myrinn she was likely a safer person to be with then Haldor or the grasping crowd. Not caring for those I hurt or upset, I pushed my way through the bodies, not discriminating to whom received a harsh jab of my elbow on the way out. The thought of reaching Myrinn had me rushing forward.
I wanted to know more about Auriol, to uncover how I could send word to a Watcher like Myrinn could. If that was all I could do to feel close to my sister again I would take it.
Gale left the room through an arched door within the shadows of the staircase Faenir and I had come down from.His body disappeared behind the door as it closed. I reached it seconds after him, pushing it open and calling out, “Wait for me. Gale, Myrinn?”
It took me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the corridor beyond. This place must have been a hallway for those who worked within this strange place. From what details I could see, there was no wealth or luxury on display here; it was more like the burrowing of a rabbit’s den, dark and cramped with a stale moisture to the air.
Footsteps sounded up ahead.
“Gale?” I asked the darkness which pressed in around me. “Myrinn?”
Onward I pushed, but with each step a strange feeling took hold of me. It told me to turn around and return to the main ballroom. Nothing good came from those who lurked within shadows, even I knew that.
I lifted the hem of my shirt and pulled free the knife I had smuggled here, all without a second thought.All of a sudden, I was back in Darkmourn, moving through the ruins of a once brilliant town in search of a vampire. My ears focused on the darkness. My breathing quietened.
The footsteps up ahead slowed, and I copied, except I did not stop. I kept pressing forward just on lighter feet.The outline of a figure came into view and the hand on my knife relaxed.
“Lost?” I called out as Gale turned around to look at me. I searched the shadows for Myrinn but I knew she was not here. Deep down my soul was screaming at me to turn away but it was only Gale. He was alone. Yet I still gripped the knife for instinct commanded that of me.
“I think so,” Gale replied calmly, hardly caring for the knife I held between us. “I was looking for something… but I can’t find it.”
“There is nothing good to come from searching the dark,” I said, sidestepping to allow room for Gale as he paced close to me. “We should get back to the ball. Myrinn will be looking for you.”
“Myrinn,” he muttered, repeating her name another three times as though he could not place why he knew it. Then he said something that tugged at the tension between us. “Who?”
Gale threw himself at me, taking advantage of my sudden confusion. The floor fell from my feet. Strong hands wrapped around my throat and slammed me down until my head cracked into the ground.In a blink I was blinded by pain. My mouth filled with blood as my teeth clamped over my tongue. The gushing of copper choked me as much as Gale’s large, powerful hands squeezing my neck.
It happened so quickly.
The anchoring body of the knife no longer filled my hand. In the fall I had dropped it, not that it would have helped.
Gale straddled me as he strangled hard. I slammed my fists into his chest, recognising the feeling slipping away. When that did not help, and my vision began to blur, I tried slapping his face.My nails dug into his cheeks as I raked down them. At some point, as my eyes began to close and my pain became muted, I felt the warmth of his blood wetting my hands.
Gale was going to kill me.
I stared deep into his wide, unblinking eyes and felt terrifying dread. My vision grew heavy and each time I blinked it seemed to take longer to pull myself from the darkness. But still I tried to focus, to see my frightened, paling reflection in his eyes as my life finally gave up on me.
Perhaps it was my delusion, brought on to protect my mind from the truth that I was going to die, but I was certain Gale was crying.
My lungs burned for air, but his hands ensured that was kept from me.
I closed my eyes and did not fight it anymore. Auriol was waiting there. So was Mother and Father, standing in a line with arms outstretched for me in greeting. Peace. Wondrous, welcoming peace which lasted only a moment.
My eyes flew open as I inhaled a desperate breath.
Gale’s presence was gone, only his phantom touch pinched across the skin of my neck. I swallowed mouthfuls of my own blood which now tried its best to finish the job Gale was unable to complete.
Had he run off? Given up at the last moment?
I blinked. Perhaps I had fallen into sleep for a moment because when I opened my eyes once again, I looked up to see Faenir. He towered above me, sharp-red blood splattered across his pale face. It dripped down his grimace and fell upon me like droplets of fat rain. Then his mouth split open, and he shouted violently until every shadow rushed over and devoured us both.
