AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wasn’t sure if he was lying or not, but when I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t sense any deception. “How is that possible?”
“There’s a veil in the realm. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but Salenia trusted me enough, and I overheard a lot. When you pass through it, you’re no longer a vampire. So, if Vener escaped, he would have become mortal, but I doubt Salenia would have allowed him to die that way. The entire reason she forced Anastasia out was so she could die and go to the afterlife, therefore removing the possibility of her and Vener ever being together again.”
He continued. “She hated having to watch the two soulmates fight their way back to each other, no matter how much she tortured them or tried to keep them apart. There are holes in the underworld. The more Salenia destabilized, the more the realm fractured. It’s why more demons have been surfacing.”
I thought back to Hamza, then shivered as his icy stare devoid of any emotion pierced my thoughts. “Do you know how Vener escaped?”
A small smile curled his lips. “Of course I do. When he found out about Anastasia, he made a deal with a demon. He wouldn’t remember a thing about it. The veil wipes away the memories of your time as an immortal, which, for Vener, was the entire time he knew Anastasia. He wouldn’t have remembered Salenia, she would have ensured that.”
I shook my head, trying to wrap my head around it all. “Well, I suppose it explains why she’s here, but you’re sure it’s just revenge. How do you know Anastasia is dead?”
“Because Vener escaped long after Anastasia did, apparently. She’d have died, unless she became a vampire again, which is unlikely. But I can almost guarantee he did. Like I said, Salenia would have ensured it.” He smirked. “She hates mortals. Despises them. Especially soulmates, for obvious reasons. It’s why she and I were together. She needed to get close to you,” he admitted, shooting me an apologetic look. “Also, we were like kindred spirits. She feared death. We both betrayed people we loved, and we both loved people whose soulmates were someone else.”
I swallowed thickly as his gaze bore into mine. Didn’t he realize I would never have met Sebastian had he not betrayed me in the first place? Unless maybe I would have. If he’d died from the cancer before he was turned and Kalon would have still found me eventually… “Astor, who is Vener possessing?”
“No one.” His heart rate picked up as he stretched his legs out over the floor, bones cracking as they settled into a new position. “Vener and Anastasia came back in their original forms. It’s Salenia who had to possess someone.”
“Where is Vener then?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. But I know once she makes him pay for all the hurt he’s caused her, she wants to gain a foothold in this world again, to come back as herself in her worldly body and cut off the connection between us and the gods. Vener isn’t the only one who she believes betrayed her. I imagine she’s already ordered all the aniccipere to make their way to the castle to enact her ultimate revenge.
I shuddered as my thoughts drifted to the castle, wondering what hell Salenia had unleashed. The poor mortals there, with those soul sucking creatures having free rein at court. They were already in danger with the sangaree, but the aniccipere and Salenia were a whole other level of evil.
“How do you know all of this? I mean, you can’t have just overheard it all?”
His gaze pierced into me, and I was reminded in one look of what he was truly capable of. “You know,” he said, a proud smile curling his lips, as if he wasn’t our prisoner at all. “It’s not terrible to be underestimated and forgotten. People let so much slip when they think the information isn’t being heard by anyone important. You, the guild, then Salenia, you all believed I was nothing,” he said, but that wasn’t entirely true. I only thought that after he sold me out. “Yet, I found out more about Salenia than anyone else. She thought she was using me, playing with my emotions, but it was the other way around. Now…” he trailed off. “Look, I’ve given you more than enough information, so you better keep to your end of the deal. I want out of this basement, and you better succeed in killing Salenia, else you may as well rip my throat out now.”
I stood slowly, taking a step back once I was sure he’d told me enough. “You know, Astor, you’re right. You really were underestimated.”
His eyes shone with acknowledgment. “Yes.”
“Well, I won’t be making that mistake.” I kicked the bottle away from him, then turned for the steps. “We won’t be letting you go, and before you get upset, know you talked yourself into a longer imprisonment. If you can so easily divulge everything to me, then gods know what you would say to Salenia if you got out of here. Your being here means you’ve heard too much, and you know I’m alive, and I already know you’re willing to do anything to save your own neck.”
I climbed the stairs, smiling to myself as he shouted at me, wrestling with the chains. I smiled to myself, carrying the knowledge of Salenia back to the others. But as I left the basement, slamming the door shut on Astor, calling me a bitch, I thought about the castle and what he said about the aniccipere. Just knowing they’d all gone there made me sick to my stomach, and I didn’t even want to imagine what they were doing to the mortals there.
FIVE
Niall
Aidenpausedatmyside as the aniccipere poured in from the city and towns in the south, finally arriving at our black gates of the castle, their willowy silhouettes against the dark grounds. The soul-devouring creatures and beady eyes walked through the arched doors and into the castle, their lipless mouths curved into sadistic grins as they looked upon us and the other sangaree. The moonlight only made them look all that more eerie.
“Great.” Adrian whistled a breath, shoving his hands into his pockets. “This is all we need.”
My jaw clenched as I watched them, rage boiling in me as they walked into our home, looking around as if theybelongedhere.
Fucking vermin.
Their gaunt bodies, with skin that sagged as if it had lost contact with the bone underneath, were a stark reminder of their demon parentage. There was little about them that reminded me they had been born from mortal women—the seed of their fathers so strong the resemblance to any mortal appearance was hidden far too deep. For the first time since turning, I felt a twinge of pity for the mortals in this castle. Death at the hands of a sangaree wasn’t as bad. At least mortals had the venom high to follow them into oblivion. But those things devoured the soul, leaving no peace, nothing behind as they destroyed everything they touched.
I despised their existence, and they weren’t the only ones. Salenia swept down the spiral staircase, using Gwen’s body as a vessel for her soul. I gritted my teeth as I watched her. She was the reason they were here, why the princess was dead, and everything was fucked.
A beautiful gown of white, encrusted with diamonds, floated around her curves, deceiving the evil that wore it. She clasped her hands together, a seductive, flirty smile easy on her lips, as if she hadn’t just let the worst kind of creature into our castle.
My thoughts drifted to Elizabeth, who remained locked in my room. She was in the biggest danger here. With Salenia set upon killing her, I wasn’t sure how much time I had left to plan her escape. Getting her out was harder than ever, with guards at every entrance. Salenia’s demons prowled the forest, at least the ones who had slipped through the cracks of the prison she called the underworld. Wherever I looked, her guards were standing, waiting for me or anyone else to make a move against the goddess. Although few knew who she actually was. As far as many were concerned, she was still Gwen, the daughter of the acting queen, until the gods picked a new bloodline for the monarchy.
The stench of flesh hit my nostrils as one of the aniccipere opened its mouth on passing me—its last dinner hanging on its breath.
Sargon had segregated us and them for a reason, and for a slight moment, I missed our fallen king. He may have been weak, but at least he wasn’t Salenia. I fought back a shudder as I glared at the woman I once thought I loved. Gwen had captured my attention, stolen my heart, and thrown me into an obsession that ultimately destroyed me.
