AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s time.
“What is the plan?” I ask, meeting her in the middle of the room.
She removes the lid and dips part of the rag into the clear salve without answering. “Tilt your head,” she orders.
Della smears the cold salve down the side of my neck and shoulder, then motions for me to tilt it the other way, repeating the process.
“Now your wrists,” she says.
I hold out my arms for her. She pushes up my sleeve and smears more of it from my wrists to my inner elbow. The scent is sweet with subtle floral notes.
“What is this?” I ask.
Pausing in her work, Della looks up and smiles. “Nightshade.”
I don’t move for several seconds while I wrap my mind around that word. Where she placed the salve are key points. “Isn’t that poisonous?”
“Not to vampires.” She winks. “It’s only a sedative for us.”
“What about to humans?” I ask, concerned.
Della waves me off. “You don’t plan on licking those spots, do you?” When I shake my head, she says, “Then you’ll be fine. It’s our insurance that you’ll most likely make it out alive since we won’t be there to help you.”
“What do I need to do?” I ask again, then, “Wait—most likely?”
The clear substance dries quickly on my skin until it’s impossible to tell it was ever there.
“Go to the training room,” she says, putting the lid back on the jar and sealing it tight.
I blink. “Training?”
“Just be yourself and this will work. Now go, and hurry.” She half-pushes me out of the door.
I run from the room down to the lower level, avoiding the busy halls and opt for passing through the servant’s quarters.
I might not know what the three of them are up to, but judging from the places Della smeared the nightshade, it seems that my part is to be vampire bait.
The hall is deathly silent and dark. Tonight, there’s only one torch lit at the far end. Staying quiet, I make my way to the training room and push open the door. All but two torches were recently extinguished bathing the room in shadow. The acrid scent of their smoke still lingers.
“Hello?” I call out. My voice echoes around the chamber, but no one answers.
Stopping in the center of the room, I pull my dagger from the sheath and wait. The metal blade glints in the firelight, making it appear almost molten. Alaric’s words from the night he gave it to me reverberate through my memory.
“Because I want to see how sweet that sharp tongue of yours tastes. And because I want you to mean it when you try to stab me through the heart with my own weapon.”
I shiver and hope it doesn’t come down to that.
A gust of wind blows a strand of hair against my face and I barely have time to lift my head before Cassius wrenches my arm, forcing me to kneel. When my knees strike the stone with a jarring crack, he rips the dagger from my grasp.
Lowering his face to mine, his lips brush my ear as he whispers, “I am truly sorry for this, little bird.”
Then the blade slides along my arm. Blood wells up, gushing from the deep cut. Uselessly, I try to press the wound closed with my other hand.
Cassius flings the dagger. Sparks light as the metal scrapes across the stone, sliding out into the dark hall.
“Now, do what you do best,” he says. And then, he’s gone.
A hiss escapes my lips as I look around. Taking a deep breath, I push to my feet. Dizziness washes over me and my shoulder slams into the wall. Bouncing off, I stumble forward falling to my hands and knees before the weapon.
