Page 21 of Sound
A deep masculine chuckle slithers over my skin, sinking into every pore and turning my bones to Jello. Shivers rattle my body, my hands dropping limply to the side as I stare at him. His face lights up, his blue eyes twinkling in amusement as he watches me squirm like a five-year-old caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
“J'étais heureux d'obliger, ma petite.” A smirk is playing on his lips, the amusement turning to something else in his gaze when it drops to my lips.
“What?” I sound breathless, his foreign words doing all sorts of crazy things to my insides, unable to look away.
“I was happy to oblige, little one.” His deep voice sends a tremor through me.
“I’m sure you were.” Murmuring under my breath, I cringe when his smile grows.
“You are not afraid of me,” he points out after a while, all humor leaving his face.
I consider his comment, realizing he is right. I’m sure part of it has to do with how crazy my life is right now, but it’s also him. Vampire or not, there is this aura around him that calms me. There is not a doubt in my mind that he can rip my head off or snap me in half before I have a chance to open my mouth and scream, yet those same lethal arms hold me like I’m the most precious thing in the world to him. The look on his face when he holds me to his chest tells me more than any words ever can. No one has held me like that, not even my own mother. I’m pretty sure she is not even aware I’m gone, but this stranger—this man—vampire or not, came back for me. Not just that, but here he stands holding himself stiff as a board waiting for my judgment.
Waiting for me to call him a monster.
In the last few days or however long I’ve been here, I learned what a monster is. Étienne, fangs or not, is as far from that as noon is from midnight. His blank face blurs when tears prickle my eyes and, unable to speak, I throw myself at him, hugging his waist like a lifeline. Pressing my face to his chest, I let the tears flow, sucking in shuddering breaths.
His startled gasp stabs me in the chest and makes me rethink this whole touchy-feely thing I’m doing around him. I’ve never been fond of it because I’ve always liked my personal bubble a bit too much, but I can’t seem to keep my hands to myself around him. Just when I start pulling away and force my arms to let go of him, his wrap around my shoulders. His body curves around mine like a shield as he presses his cheek on the top of my head.
“Melody.” He sighs my name, his heart speeding up under my ear.
“Thank you for coming back for me.” Holding fistfuls of the back of his shirt, I close my eyes and breathe him in.
“What good am I here if the moment you step foot in that tunnel, you stop breathing.” Anger makes his deep voice sound like a growl.
“There must be a way to break the cord Seraphina tied to my chest,” I tell him, not daring to look at his face while I cling to him like a spider monkey.
“What cord?” Pulling back, he glances down at me, worry dragging his eyebrows low over his eyes. “You can see her magic? She has you linked to her even now?”
“I see it only when I play. It’s like a golden cord going from my chest to hers. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Come with me.” Taking my hand, he turns to the wall with determination stamped on his face.
“Oh hell no.” Digging my heels in, I yank on my hand but it’s like an ant trying to stop an elephant by pulling on its tail. He moves, dragging me with him. “I don’t wanna die again.” My screeches will definitely bring Seraphina here to investigate.
Étienne turns away from me, releasing me from his intent gaze. “I just want you to tell me what you see. I will not let you walk inside the tunnel.” His nostrils flare for a second while I force myself to stop shaking. “You have no reason to trust me. Trust that I don’t ever want to see you hurt.”
“Okay.” When he doesn’t move, I nod encouragingly, although I’m dizzy just thinking about going back into that darkness.
Slowly, as if moving faster will make me bolt, he takes us to the other side of the wall. My heart is beating in my throat and bouncing off the roof of my mouth. Cold sweat dribbles between my shoulder blades as I strain my eyes to see something. Anything.
“You can’t see the magic here.” Not a question.
“How do you know?” Judging by the sound of his voice, I turn my face to where he is standing and blink like an owl.
“I can see your face.” He doesn’t laugh, but the humor is there in the sound of his voice.
We inch inside just as the sound of the lock clicks. Étienne steps back, disappearing through the wall just as Seraphina walks inside gripping Alto by the scruff of the neck, the cat hanging limp in the air. Grinning at me with some sick satisfaction, she throws the cat at me while spinning on her heel. Then she slams the door shut.
17
Étienne
Stepping back and away from Melody, I strain my ears to hear what the witch will say. Until I know what I’m dealing with and how to protect her from it, I cannot show myself. Even when my fangs are throbbing to rip the magic user’s throat out. I hear the door open and Melody gasps, the soft sound coiling me up like a spring that’s ready to snap and attack at a second’s notice. The door closes with a thud and then nothing.
The minutes pass like hours, my bones aching from the stiffness of my muscles. No sound comes from the room, not even a breath. It could be that only a few seconds have passed, but panic that the witch snatched Melody from under my nose drains all the blood from my head. Bouncing off the balls of my feet, I fly inside the room, my knees bent and my head swiveling to find the magic user.
Melody squeaks, taking a step back and bumping her hip on the desk holding the mirror. My eyes flick to it and I see myself for the monster that her eyes can see. Snarling with my upper lip curled, my shoulders are bunched up, my fangs gleaming in the yellow light. My eyes are silver, the color swirling inside like a vortex.
