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There is precious little I care for. I do a mental scan of my belongings, and besides a change or two of clothes, the only things I want are the tattered book under my bed and the night-forged dagger Alaric gave to me when we first struck our bargain.
It feels like a lifetime ago that I wanted nothing more than to kill him and live a life in a small town, scraping by. Now I know that life would have been lonely and unfulfilling. I was never free until I left Littlemire. He may have claimed me, but in doing so, he offered me a life by his side, that I never dreamed possible.
“I suppose that is almost already taken care of,” I say with a smile.
Alaric picks up his jacket from the floor and smacks it a few times to get the dust off and some of the wrinkles out then slides it over his ruined shirt, hiding the parts I shredded.
“Tonight,” he says, straightening his cravat. “Around noon, Cassius will come and escort you to his manor under the guise that both of you will remain there until the coronation. I will meet you shortly after the sun sets.”
My heart is in my throat with anticipation. We are so close to being free of Elizabeth. I can almost taste it. It doesn’t matter where we end up, but curiosity gets the better of me. “Is there a plan from there, or do you intend to make it up as we go?”
Alaric wraps me in his arms and kisses the tip of my nose. “To Progsdale—we should be able to rest there for a while. Then we can make our way south, to Valeburn in the southern mountains. We can stay there if you like, or to Stormvale and sail to the crescent isle if you would prefer.”
I look up and raise a questioning brow. “When did you have time to come up with all of this?”
“Last night, when you were snoring like a drunkard in the streets.”
My jaw drops, and heat stings its way up my face. I playfully swat at his shoulder. “I did no such thing!”
“Oh, but you did, my dear Clara. It’s a wonder that no one in the castle came looking to see what that demon-sent noise was that nearly crumbled the foundation.” He laughs and leaps back before I can swat him again. Alaric sobers quickly and continues, “We will move around a lot at first, and I will need to act human to avoid attracting undue attention to ourselves.”
Alaric looks worried about that last part. He doesn’t see that he is more human than most people I have ever met.
Pushing up on my toes I press a quick kiss to his mouth and run my fingers through his dark, silken strands, styling it in the way he prefers. A smile breaks out across my face. It’s such a simple gesture, but it’s one I can look forward to for a long time to come.
What neither of us dares to speak aloud is that we will eventually have to deal with Elizabeth. As ideal as it sounds—seeing the world with him, discovering all the places too small for a map—we cannot run forever.
Once we are a safe distance away, we can come up with a plan.
Alaric heaves a heavy sigh, looking over his shoulder to the door. “I must go, I can no longer put the day off.”
We have an infinite amount of time ahead of us… but for now, this moment is all there is.
I nod and clasp my hands in front of me, refusing to delay him any longer.
He strides to the door, hand gripping the handle, but he doesn’t open it. Alaric looks over his shoulder, taking me in for a long moment. He crosses back to me with vampire speed and cups the back of my head. His fingers tangle in my hair as he presses one final kiss to my mouth.
Reluctantly, we part so there’s only a breath between us. In the distance comes the soft chirping of an early morning winter bird.
“You have to go,” I whisper.
“Tonight,” he says.
“Tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alaric
I stridethrough the halls to my rooms. My hand pauses halfway to the doorknob when I catch the slightest trace of a scent that doesn’t belong. But there is only an hour left before dawn, and I still need to change and prepare for tonight.
The neutral expression I perfected a long time ago, slips into place as I quietly step inside. Guiding the door with my hand, it latches shut with a soft click.
Careful to keep all emotion buried, I inhale deeply, still unable to identify the scent. Below the lingering traces of humans who have come and gone over the last two weeks, is something preternatural, accompanied by the metallic tang of blood—most likely vampire, but there is something off about it.
Scanning the room, I look for clues in everything that is out of place. Though I have not been in these rooms since the night Elizabeth compelled me, a fire crackles in the hearth. If the accumulated ash below the grate is any indication, it has burned for several days.
A cup lays askew on the table, a thin layer of fresh blood pooled at the bottom. Beneath the scent of burning wood is the thick fragrance of perfume mixed with the cold night air.
