Page 75 of Salem's Fall
The room feels like it’s closing in, the walls pushing against me, as I try to piece everything together. Every word Damien has ever said. Every look. Every unexplained moment. Could he really have been keeping this from me, using me as some pawn while my sister is in trouble?
Maddie—she’s just a kid. He couldn’t really mean to harm her, could he?
My breath hitches, the full horror of my situation sinking in. I’m trapped in Blackthorn Manor, locked away while Maddie is out there, in unimaginable danger, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. I have no phone, no means of escape, and every second I spend here, helpless, is a second wasted.
My hands tremble as I shove my chair back and bolt outof my seat. I need to get out of here somehow. She’s my little sister, my responsibility. I have to find Madison.
“What’s wrong, Miss Woodsen?” Lucien watches my reaction, his gaze sharp and penetrating. “Suddenly not feeling so safe under Damien’sprotection?”
I glare at him, fury boiling under the surface, mixing with the fear churning in my gut. Because if Lucien is telling the truth, then he’s just as bad as Damien for sitting by idly while my sister’s life is in peril. I realize I’m caught between two men, both powerful, both dangerous, each with motives as twisted as the other.
“My sister… I need to get to her.” I step toward Lucien, my last hope—a hope that fades with every second of his cool, impenetrable gaze. “Please, tell me where she is,” I say, my voice cracking. “I have to help her.”
He watches me with a detached curiosity, his expression mocking, but there’s a hint of something almost empathetic too. For a moment, he seems to consider my words, and something almost human flickers behind his cold exterior.
But then, he gives a small, dismissive shrug.
“It’s out of my hands, unfortunately.” He sighs, giving me a hollow smile. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t just walk into the Veil’s inner sanctum and demand they return their sacrificial lamb. The wheels are already in motion, I’m afraid.”
“Please, Lucien.” My hands tremble at my sides. “There has to be a way. Tell me where she is…” I beg.
“I’m sorry. Truly, I am. But I can’t help you,” he says. “Although… you don’t need me to. You already know the answer.” He watches me intently, his gaze unnervingly sharp. “Ask yourself—where would they take someone meant for sacrifice?” His voice dips into a coaxing whisper. “You’ve come across it before, buried in the history you’ve been so meticulously digging up.”
Panic grips me, my thoughts spinning, the truth just out ofreach. Fragments of places, whispers, hints—they swirl in a fog of madness I can’t quite unravel. I take a shuddering breath, forcing myself to sort through the chaos, to find what fits.
Then it clicks. Old places tied to dark rituals, where power lingers in the air, places like?—
“Strega’s Hollow!”
Lucien slow claps, a smug smile spreading across his face. “Well done,” he drawls. “Shame you’re trapped in Blackthorn Manor, locked behind these doors and windows. However will you escape to save your poor sister?”
“You can get me out, can’t you?” I meet his gaze, desperately searching for any sign of mercy, any crack in his cold mask.
“It’s not a matter of what I can do. It’s what I’m willing to do—and I don’t risk myself for lost causes. No matter how pretty they may be.” He leans forward, his expression unyielding as he raises his glass in a mock toast. “Enjoy the rest of your meal, Miss Woodsen,” he says. “I must be on my way. I’ve got somewhere special to be.”
I barely see him through the fog of despair that overtakes me as he turns to leave. The finality in his goodbye is a death sentence that fills me with a dark, horrific realization. No one at Blackthorn Manor will help me. No one will save Maddie.
My sister is going to die, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
After Lucien leaves, Lucky and I are alone in the cavernous, cold dining room of Blackthorn Manor.
Utterly and completely alone.
My hands lie uselessly on the table as I stare down at the untouched silver and crystal, each glittering facet mocking me. Lucky moves from the corner of the room to my side, perching quietly on the chair beside me. His eyes fix on me with an intensity—silent, unwavering—as if he understands just how horrible things are.
How did this happen?
How could I have been so blind?
I’ve been so wrapped up in my own ambition, my need to prove myself, that I missed the real danger staring me in the face. I’d been so stupid to think I could outsmart the Veil. Now my little sister is somewhere out there, alone, facing horrors I can barely comprehend.
A wave of nausea rises in my throat.
Halloween—Veil Night—is tonight, and if Lucien is right, then Maddie doesn’t have much time. Meanwhile, I’m trapped here in Blackthorn Manor, in the beautiful prison Damien designed to “protect” me, but in reality, it’s just another web I’ve been caught in.
A shaky breath leaves me as tears prick at my eyes. All Ican think about is Maddie. Her bright, laughing face. That tiny gap between her front teeth she’s always been self-conscious about. The way she dramatically squeals and acts like she’s about to faint whenever she gets excited. How she nudges me at dinner when I’m being too serious, or pouts into the phone to get her way, always knowing exactly what to say to wear me down. And now she’s out there, all alone.
I can’t lose my sister.
