A Bond of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #9)(21)

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Derek hissed. “We’re looking for a pregnant woman. Have any of you seen her?”

They hushed a little, but looked at us blankly.

“Any of you?” I asked, looking around at their pale faces.

After five minutes, it was clear that Anna wasn’t in here. I turned to the nearest human—a tall young man with protruding cheekbones. “Are there any other places other than this dungeon where humans are kept?”

“I-I don’t know,” he stammered.

I breathed out sharply and raised my voice, repeating the question to all of them. None of them seemed to know.

“We were just thrown in here. We have no idea what this place even is,” a young woman said.

I locked eyes with Derek. It meant more exploring.

We hurried out of the dungeon and returned to the kitchen. Although still haunted by the state those humans were in, I had to focus. We headed to the exit of the kitchen and emerged in a large entrance hall.

I was struck by how similar in architecture this place seemed to Caleb’s castle. The same grand staircase, the thick curtains, stained-glass windows… I ran from window to window, looking out. Dark ocean as far as I could see. We were in a castle—that much was clear now. And we appeared to be on a tiny island. There was no sign of vegetation, not even a single tree. The castle was built upon black rocks. A pathway ran the circumference of the building, and a dozen feet beyond that, a steep drop down to the foaming sea.

“What is this place?” I breathed.

“I don’t know,” Derek said, catching my hand and pulling me back. “But we don’t have time to stop and admire the scenery.”

We searched hall after hall, trying to remain in shadow, traveling as noiselessly as possible. We failed to find another trap door or dungeon on the ground floor, so we headed up the staircase toward the first floor. This floor seemed to be residential. The corridors were lined with doors—most of which were strangely open—leading into apartments. All far too luxurious to hold humans. The whole castle seemed deserted.

My stomach sank as we searched level after level without luck. As we hurried along the final corridor of the top floor, I stopped short outside a blood-red wooden door. I caught hold of Derek’s arm and pulled him back, pointing at it. Carved around the door’s border were letters of a strange, ancient language.

“I wonder…” I reached my hand out for the doorknob and turned it.

It was stiff at first, but as I applied pressure, it gave way. I was a split second from pushing the door wide open when a voice pierced the corridor.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. Unless you’d like a more painful punishment than you’re already in for.”

We both whirled around in time to see Annora outstretching her palms.

My legs folded beneath me and my vision faded.

I should have known that this time we wouldn’t be so lucky.

Because, after all, lightning rarely strikes twice.

Chapter 19: Sofia

Derek and I came to in another dungeon.

I looked around in horror to see three of our companions in the cell opposite us—Ibrahim, Aiden and Zinnia.

“What happened?” I gasped, crawling to the bars and gripping them.

“Annora’s influence returned before the three of us could escape,” Ibrahim muttered, rubbing his temples. “But the others made it out in time.”

I stared at them more closely. Their clothes looked more tattered than before, fresh bloodstains soaking them.

At least Rose got away.

My relief didn’t last long as the memory of our failed attempt to retrieve Anna came flooding back.

“Annora brought us down here?” Derek asked.

Ibrahim nodded, and the three of them looked at us worriedly.

“What happened to you?” Aiden asked.

“We found the gate,” Derek said. “But we failed to find Anna.”

“What was on the other side?” Zinnia asked.

“Another castle,” I replied. “Similar to this, except it was on a much smaller island, without this frozen weather. There was a dungeon with humans… much like this dungeon. But Anna wasn’t there.”

They all fell silent.

“What do you think disrupted Annora’s power over this place?” Derek asked.

They looked as clueless as I felt.

I recalled Annora’s last words and shivers ran through me.

“Unless you’d like a more painful punishment than you’re already in for.”

I looked up at Derek and muttered, “What do you think the witch meant by punishment?”

“No idea,” he said, clenching his jaw.

As it turned out, we didn’t need to wait long to find out. Barely ten minutes passed since we had come to when Annora strolled into the dungeon. She stopped outside our cell and glared at the two of us.

The door to our cell clicked and swung open.

“I suggest you don’t try anything,” she said. “Just follow me.”

We followed her out of the dungeon. I considered making a run for it as we emerged from the staircase, but Derek gripped my waist and held me in place.

He was right. We’d get nowhere with this witch. Attempting escape would only make matters worse. Annora reached out and touched our arms. We vanished from the spot and reappeared in a corridor, outside a door. When I glanced out of a window, it appeared we were on one of the highest floors of the castle.