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Garm would’ve been searching for me already, following my scent as far as he needed to go. He was either already outside, waiting and planning, or he would soon enough.
Would he storm the castle in his wolf form? Rip out Domenico’s throat? I smiled at the thought but had a sinking feeling it would take much time for him to find me.
We’d driven by carriage for nearly two moons and one sun. The cage I had been transported in was a jest, a pitiful way for a man to show the power he held by using an inescapable box on a witch. The only thing holding me in place were the silver bars, searing my skin each time they were touched.
I could astral travel, get help, but I would always return to my body now trapped inside a Castle hundreds of times the size of my cabin.
I needed to find Charity but knew full well that she was by Charles' side. Anger returned a tightness to my chest as I thought of what he had done. How he had fooled me into thinking he could be trusted. I needed to get Charity away from him, soon, before he convinced her this was where she belonged.
He was smooth with his words, one of the only reasons I followed him. He must be stopped, and I needed my pet returned to where she belonged—bymyside.
The taste of her tangy, sweet cunt was still on my lips. I licked at them, smiling to myself at the way she made me feel—no longer alone, fighting on my own. Her kind, serving demeanor left me with weak knees, and I wanted nothing more than to lie with her again. I thought about stroking the silky walls of her insides with my fingers as I whispered of her rare beauty into her ears. I was not done rewarding her, and I hoped I would get another chance to show her just how much I’d grown to need her.
Run, my child. Get to the outside…and run. Find Garm, and you will be free.
Run? I did not run fromanyone. I did not fear anyone, men fearedme.
My pride got the best of me for only a moment before I realized I had no choice but to flee. I didn’t want to wait and find out what plans Domenico had for me.
Would he try and harness my magic? Take it from me entirely?
Maybe he’dd planned to use me as a personal feeding troth until he eventually drained me of blood entirely.
Better go.
I argued with the internal voice inside my head that never left.
The Dark Mother.
This is not your debt to pay, flee now, my child.
I clenched my fist at my sides, knowing now would not be the time to argue; her voice never steered my wrong.
I pulled on the heavy wooden door, but it would not open—locked from the outside. I peered through the small keyhole, noting the empty hallway on the other side.
Who would knock and disappear? Perhaps someone had let me know the coast was clear?
I let this thought roll over in my mind while I paced. The only possession left on my body was a hair pin I’d whittled from a piece of bone. I took it from the tangled mess on the top of my head, kneeling back down to the keyhole.
A few minutes had already passed, maybe I’d missed my window.
Fuck it, I must try.
Using my keen eyesight and small fingers, I was able to pick the lock with a click, stepping back as the door opened toward me.
I walked to the door and poked my head around it, just to be sure, and tiptoed to the un-obstructed entrance, waiting, listening. I blinked a few times, feeling the hairs on my body raise.
I was barefoot, and my dress was torn from the bent metal of the cage, but I was well enough to walk. I pulled the door back gently, looking both ways down the long hallway. Not a soul in sight—it was late dusk, and I would guess most of the inhabitants were safely inside their quarters.
I pressed my back against the shadowed wall, careful to watch my breathing in case the blood-sucking creature could hear me or smell me from miles away—surely it was both.
Just as the thought sent a shiver down my spine, my head was slammed back against the wall and a large, pale hand was around my neck, squeezing.
“Sweet, sweet Freyja. Do not run, my darling. Where would you go? We’re in the middle of France now…you will not last a moment out there in these unkempt woods.”
The smell was back, but now I could barely breathe as he cut off my ability to swallow. I began to see spots, and my eyes were rolling back into my head. Bursts of fire bled behind my eyelids, and the image of a naked woman beside a tree filled my vision. A behemoth of a snake crawled between the branches of the tree she stood beside.
Dark Mother?
