Page 17 of Break Her Heart
A part of me reeled with relief. Another part tensed with confusion. Who would’ve done it—and why?
My parents’ bodies wouldn’t have burned. What did they do with them?
I turned to August, but he didn’t offer anything. His gaze was set ahead, jaw tight. When I lingered a beat too long, his hand came to my back.
“Keep walking,” he said.
That was all.
No explanation. No acknowledgment of what had or hadn’t been done. He just pushed me forward, ushering me through the open gate as if none of it mattered. But it did. It mattered to me.
And to Adar.
I had left him behind in that small, suffocating room, and every part of me ached with guilt for it. We’d only just spoken, only just started to see one another again, to rebuild the quiet bond that had always lingered between us. And then I left. Vanished into the snow with August, like I hadn’t just promised I would stay.
He would be safer without me. That was the truth I kept repeating to myself.
But it didn’t stop the ache. Didn’t stop me from wondering if he’d waited at the door, watching the road. If he thought I’d lied to him. The wind bit against my cheeks. My body felt too heavy to move, but I knew I couldn’t stay here forever. August wouldn’t let me. And neither would the cold.
Once we reached the large gates, they swung open, their hinges creaking under the weight of disuse. A carriage waited on the other side, sleek and dark, with more vampires standing nearby, each dressed in dark uniforms marked with the royal insignia. One of them sat at the front, reins in hand. The horses shifted restlessly in the snow, their dark coats gleaming in the moonlight. They reminded me so much of Shadow that my chest tightened, but I quickly pushed that memory away. I couldn’t be distracted by anything anymore.
“A carriage? You could run faster to the castle.”
He turned to me, emotionless. “Then come here.”
I huffed and walked past him toward the carriage.
“Your escorts, Your Grace?” One of the vampires asked.
“They’re dead,” was all he said. None of the vampires reacted, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
The carriage door opened with a slow creak, and August gestured for me to go first. I hesitated, glancing one last time at the place where the stage had been. The silence of the square stretched out like a shadow, wrapping around the town in something colder than winter. I looked at the coachman again, his eyes locked straight ahead. I wondered how he could be so close to the horses considering Shadow threw me off the second August got close. Maybe it was just August.
I climbed in without a word.
The interior was stiflingly quiet. Neither of us spoke for a while. The only sounds were the crunch of wheels over snow and the occasional creak of wood shifting beneath us. The road curved up toward the mountains, winding like a ribbon of ash through frostbitten trees. The deeper we went, the more the world fell away.
I nearly jumped when August finally spoke. “There are some things you need to know before we get to the castle. When you are above ground, you will be free to move around.”
“Do not talk to me.”
He nodded, completely ignoring what I said. “Since all vampires except for Carrow’s golden line can’t walk in daylight, they needed a way to ensure they were safe. The castle is as deep in the ground as it is tall. Most vampires stay underground at all times unless they leave to feed, and there are only a few who are allowed to come to the upper floors of the castle during the night. The best, most controlled. Some guards, my…siblingsas you called them, Carrow’s favorites.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Controlled? Any vampire I’ve encountered seemed to have no free will or ability to stop themselves from feeding.”
“It’s because of your smell.”
I recoiled. “Mysmell?”
“Your blood, Winnie,” August corrected, his eyes narrowing on me. “They are trained to control themselves around humans. But your smell… it’s nothing like I’ve ever smelled and I have been around more humans than probably anyone you’ll come across. I am not sure how much they will be able to control themselves, so you can only be alone when you are above ground. You will be around vampires up there, but they are much older and much more controlled than the lower levels. Still, I wouldn’t provoke them.”
I crossed my arms, forcing my gaze out the window, struggling to keep myself composed. The longer we rode, the more I realized how far from town the castle really was. The gates, the people, the streets—they all belonged to a different world. This one belonged to August.
And now, so did I.
I couldn’t hold out any longer. “So you’re giving me rules?”
“I am protecting you.”
