Page 29 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
So that was all. She was only an inconvenience to him. Her predicament was the foil to the next step in his plans.
His hands curled into fists and his cloak swirled about him as he turned from her. “I will take care of this.”
The shadows pulled around him, and he vanished.
Aryana waited, unsure what he would do. She hated being at his mercy. She wanted to rip off the collar and escape. Escape the king of Terra Monstrum. Escape the demon arch king. Escape her uncle. Escape everything. Her fingers brushed the Bloodbound mark on her thigh under her skirts. All she had to do was wait for the righttiming and she could overcome everything that had been holding her back.
As long as they found a way to free her from this damn collar.
Zarathos returned soon after, clutching a bloodied arm in his hands that had clearly been violently amputated from some poor soul.
Judging by the metal cuff on the limb, the appendage belonged to King Salen. Aryana gazed at it as the blood dripped to the ground, too stunned to move or speak.
Zarathos approached, his movements betraying the barely controlled fury that was evident in the tightness of his face. “Negotiations broke down.”
“So you ripped off his arm?”
He didn’t appear the least bit sorry. “I said I’d get you out alive, and so I shall.” He came close, lifted the arm and pressed it to the collar on her neck. A clicking sound followed, and it sprung open. She reached up and pulled it off her throat.
She took a deep breath, for the first time able to breathe.
Zarathos reached into his cloak and lifted out the vial from earlier.
“Now drink this transformation potion. It will get you through the bars.” He nodded to the window above.
She eyed the potion warily. “What does it transform me into?”
“No time. Drink,” he said again. “Meet me by the stream that is about two leagues north of here.”
“What stream?”
Aryana had arrived in a covered cage. And he expected her to know where to go?
“Follow our Bloodbound bond and you will find me.” He stepped into the shadows and vanished.
She glared at where he had left. So she should trust him? Just like that? Her gaze dropped to the arm on the ground, the pieces of the controller sitting next to it.
Whatever awaited her. Whatever the potion did to her, she knew one thing.
Zarathos wouldn’t purposely hurt her until he had used her to obtain the vampire portion of the scepter. She uncorked the small container and downed its contents.
It tasted bitter, like red wine coursing over her tongue. A moment after swallowing, nausea caused her to double over, gripping her stomach. Shouts came from outside her door, but Aryana barely acknowledged that as her skin became flushed. Then the world spun around her. Faster and faster.
When the rotating stopped, everything appeared darker than normal. Aryana squinted into the blackness. She tried to call out, but a squeak emitted from her and her surroundings lit up in bright outlines. The spinning wheel, the floor, the bales of hay. She moved and spread her wings. Wait, wings?
Aryana was a bat.
Out through the bars, of course. She let out another squeak, the room lighting up briefly in her mind. As the door burst open, she flapped her wings, letting the instincts of the creature she had become direct her up to the window ledge. She passed between the bars.
She sensed the wide space around her, the vast nothingness above her and the warmth of the earth beneath, giving her a sense of direction. Using her new power of echolocation, she flew through the forest, dodging around tree trunks and branches.
Even while she was airborne, the shadows tugged on her mind, compelling her to go right, so she proceeded that way. After a moment, the shadows insisted she move forward. Cold and pressing, they pulled her along like a fishing line.
Until she came upon the stream Zarathos had spoken of.
And there the demon arch king waited beside its rocky shore. His glowing eyes landed on her, and a small, triumphant smile graced his lips. He held out his arm and Aryana alighted onto it, her little claws grasping the fabric of his cloak.
“Glad to see you could join me, Vampress.”
