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Alexei’s mother pressed her cool fingertips to my palm with a slight grimace. “Come. I will show you to your rooms.”
As she led me around the corner, Alistair and Silas fell from view. The grim reality of my situation hit me like a fierce bludgeoning to the skull. I felt as if I was floating as Mariana led me through the castle.
“You will stay in Alexei’s rooms until further notice,” she said silkily, opening the bedroom door.
It was wonderful and terrible all at once. A cozy, wintry fantasy and a dark pleasure dungeon. It was soAlexei.Blood-red satins and silks with a black leather couch covered in a fur blanket sat near the expansive wall of windows overlookingthe icy water below, dripping in heavy curtains to lock away sunlight during waking hours. The roaring fire saved the room from feeling like a frozen tomb, providing warmth and the soothing scent of burning wood.
In another life, I would have loved spending a weekend in this room with Alexei, buried under the silk sheets. It couldn’t be healthy, this dark obsession I was forming.
When I finally spared a look at Alexei’s mother, I realized her attention had not wavered from me as I explored his sanctuary. Her lavender eyes glowed as fiery as the flames that crackled in the fire, simmering with emotion I couldn’t quite place.
“Not terrible for a prison cell, is it not,carovnica?” she murmured, looking like a caged predator. “I never would have offered my son’s rooms to you, but my husband thought it a pertinent reminder of what is at stake for you and your family should you refuse his orders. Not to mention my son, who will find himself shredded in the crosshairs.”
The etchings of pain crossed her lovely face as she stalked towards the windows and stared into the snowstorm.
A cruel smirk pulled down her full lips. “Did you know Alexei is betrothed?”?
Betrothed. The word ricocheted through me like a bullet, tearing me apart from within as shock gave way to horror.
“Of course, my son is reckless and foolish,” she continued blithely, slamming the curtains shut. “We promised him and Seraphina to each other since their births and will announce their marriage at the Wild Hunt to secure their legacy. Now do you see why you are not suited for my son?”
My lips trembled traitorously.
“Don’t take me for a fool,” she hissed as she paced. “Alexei has always harbored a secret fascination with the witches. I knew it would one day be his downfall. Whatever bond you two share defies personal desire. This is about duty and continuing our line. Do you plan on leaving your Coven to become Alexei’s queen? Or turning yourself into a vampire?”?
I recoiled, silently answering the question.
No. I couldn’t leave my sisters. Not even for Alexei.
My jaw tightened. “We live in modern times. A relationship between creatures is not the doomed, star-crossed lovers’ tale it once was.”
“I see you are my son’s equal in both naivety and sentimentality.” She shook her head sadly. “I suppose with age you will learn the order of things. What you speak of is a fantasy, a wish that will never come true. You are a witch, and he is a vampire. You both must put your people before your misplaced feelings.”
I feared it was already too late for my heart.
“My relationship with Alexei is hardly at the top of my priorities right now,” I croaked, refocusing on the stakes at hand.
Mariana’s smile turned glacial. “I cannot fault you for your self-preservation. My son could learn much from you. He is too much like his father, though he pretends otherwise. We vamiriji are violent and possessive. His obsession with you will get him killed.”
A shiver wracked over my body at the thought.
“Do not fret, witch.” Mariana walked to the door, her face for once pinched with sympathy. “So long as you do as you're told, you will have safe passage back to your home and you may piece together your broken heart. A meal will be brought up shortly. I would work on complying with my husband’s wishes sooner rather than later. You won’t want to remain in Slovenia for the Wild Hunt.”?
With that parting threat, she left with the click of the door.
I dropped my head into my hands, tears finally spilling from my eyes like acid.
The lies and betrayals from Alexei bounced through my mind, as did the truth in his mother’s words. I couldn’t even harbor any animosity toward Alexei for his secret betrothal when so many other barriers forged between us.
My body went lax under the harrowing weight of the past twenty-four hours.
Grief threatened to overtake me and, for a moment, I let myself become buried in it.
26
Banging on Alexei’s bedroom door woke me from the grips of a nightmare. In the dream, Alistair, who lay at the crux of most of my current fears, had taken Isla, Audra, and Ember captive. Like the other spirit witches he hunted, he had intended to take my sister’s lives as they cried out for me to save them. I was helpless, chained in his dungeons, while my family was destroyed, leaving me alone once more.
Perhaps it was my curse to drown my sisters in my own fears and regrets.
