A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21)(27)

Finally, the evening arrived and Rufus gathered near the harbor with the other ogres. They boarded a large ship pulled by five giant grey sharks and set off. Hovering near the stern of the vessel, I watched The Tavern fading into the distance and eavesdropped on the ogres’ conversation. All of them were talking animatedly about what ghastly meal they would cook up once they’d gathered their humans, and were already arguing over what the main course should be served with. I was both amazed and sickened by just how long they were able to talk about the subject of food and the tiniest details they went into. As a ghost, I couldn’t seem to block out my hearing, and thus had no means of escape from their stomach-turning discussion of the butchery process.

I let out a deep sigh of relief when a small—apparently uninhabited—island came into view. It reminded me a little of the islet where Aisha had taken me to meet Arron for the first time after she had collected him from Aviary. I guessed that this one was probably in a similar area, because we had not been traveling long.

The excitement rising in the ogres was practically palpable as they trundled off the boat and began hurrying onto the island. They tramped through the undergrowth, bashing aside the occasional tree with their mighty elbows. I followed and hovered above them, trying to see exactly where they were headed. Eventually, I spotted it. Surrounded by slabs of rock was a wide black hole, the depths of which were speckled with sparkling stars.

I waited as, one by one, the ogres tumbled through—many of them letting out bellows as the vacuum consumed them.

After the last ogre had disappeared through the gate, I approached it. My last experience jumping through one of these had been as a vampire, and a suction had pulled me down. Now, I couldn’t feel any pull at all. It seemed that the vacuum had no effect on me. I entered the hole and had to travel down it by the force of my own will. For the first time, I was able to see the inside of this crater without being rushed down at eye watering speed. Although, frankly, there wasn’t a lot to see, apart from the strange, swirling blue smoke that formed the walls of the tunnel and the apparent night sky beyond it.

I wondered for a moment what would happen if I drifted through the wall. If I could even drift through it. This strange starry sky that appeared to surround us, what was that exactly? I guessed with my subtle body, I probably could pass through the tunnel walls, but I’d no idea what might happen, and I didn’t want to risk finding out.

Instead I focused my gaze directly downward and sped up, until eventually a light shone through the other end and I emerged on the other side. Surrounding me was a world of white mountains. I was standing on a staggeringly high cliff. I wondered where I was exactly. I would have to travel until I found some human habitation where I could figure out where in the world I was. I wasn’t sure which direction to start in. I looked around for the ogres and spotted their large footprints in the snow, trailing down over the edge of the peak. Following them would be a good bet.

Chapter 8: River

My brother, Jamil, walked by my side as we ambled along the dark beach. My sisters played in the waves, while my mother watched over them.

I drew in a deep breath of fresh ocean air.

Since returning to The Shade without Ben, I’d woken up every day with the hope that, somehow, he would find a loophole and return to us. However irrational it was, holding on to this hope was what got me through each day. The chilling words the oracle had spoken to me that day in her cave still haunted me: “Very soon this man may not be the same one you fell for.” But I tried to stop thinking about where Ben could be now, or what state he might be in.

Ben’s parents had recently returned to the island, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to them yet. They’d been busy of course, what with Vivienne giving birth. I didn’t want to bother them yet to find out what had happened on their journey with the dragons. After all that had been revealed by Hortencia regarding Ben’s connection with the Elder, I couldn’t help but feel that breaking the jinn’s bond now wasn’t a good idea. Corrine felt the same way, but unfortunately, Derek and Sofia had left before we’d had a chance to explain Ben’s predicament. As crazy as it was, the eternal bond Ben had formed with the Nasiris was the least of his worries, and might be the one thing that was protecting him.

I wasn’t sure if Corrine had filled them in by now, but I was anxious to find out the result of their excursion. I decided to wait another day before speaking to them. The truth was, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep my voice from breaking while talking to them. Especially to Sofia. I’d promised her that I would stay with Ben and help him find a solution.

Since I’d returned, I’d stayed with my family. I’d answered their many questions, including why I was so cold, and recounted what had happened to me before I came across them in The Oasis. Although I’d revealed most things to my mother, I refused to go into detail about what happened to Ben and exactly why I had returned. It was too raw. I just gave her a truthful summary—that although I’d wanted to stay with Ben to help him, as I’d promised that I would, he hadn’t wanted to put me in danger and so he’d sent me back with Corrine. I was glad that my mother didn’t press for more details. I wasn’t ready to talk about them. I doubted I would be for a long time.

Telling them that I was a half-blood sent my mother into hysterics. We’d been staying on this island for days now, but she was still struggling to accept the situation. It was as though she half expected this all to be some kind of elaborate prank. The strange creatures surrounding us were just costumed actors who would leap out of their highly realistic fake skin any second. There wasn’t really a spell of night over this place, since witches weren’t real, and someone had simply erected some giant covering that looked… exactly like the night sky?