Page 34 of Mortal Shift
The sibling resemblance between them was unmistakable. Twins. That was the very last thing I needed.
“Sister.” Thaden’s mouth spread into a smile that was almost friendly. “Come. Do you wish to play?”
She drifted closer, and then sniffed as she laid eyes on me.
“Oh. It’sher.”
She lifted her hand and touched one talon-like fingernail to my face, just below my eye. “She’s not very pretty, is she?
Thaden chuckled. “Now, now, Thessalia. Jealousy does not become you.”
“I amnotjealous,” she snapped, and I flinched back at her fingernail pricked at my skin. Her voice softened, becoming almost impassive again. “Only disappointed. This mortal is not worthy of such a mate.”
“Yeah, yeah. So everyone keeps telling me.”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “She speaks. To me.” She blinked and looked to Thaden. “Does she not know who I am, brother?”
“She is capable of answering for herself,” I ground out. “And frankly, I don’t give a fuck who you are. So get your filthy hands off me.”
She flicked her wrist and pain seared across my cheek. My blood glimmered on her fingernail and she moved quickly, stepping behind me so I was trapped between her and Thaden.
Thaden inhaled deeply, as though savoring the scent, and then ducked his head to the wound and ran his tongue across it.
“Tell me, brother,” the vampish troll said over my shoulder, “how does her defiance taste?”
“Like divinity,” he said, rolling his head back a moment. He locked eyes with his sister and gave her a devilish grin. “Want a taste?”
From the corner of my eye, I caught her pout. “Don’t tease.”
“Tease?” I said, shocked the word made it from my throat at all while I was being crushed by the sheer presence of the vampires on either side of me.
“It speaks again, brother. You should discipline it.”
“I’m not an it,” I snapped, trying to push them away from me, with all the effectiveness of trying to move a mountain with my bare hands.
The female vampire grabbed a painful handful of my hair and jerked my head back.
“I am Princess Thessalia of the Moritego Clan, and you, mortal, are whatever I say you are.”
Abruptly, she released me and stepped back. “But come, brother. We have more important matters that require our attendance. Your games must wait.”
“To be continued, little human,” Thaden said, tasting the blood trickling from my cheek once more before stepping back. And then the pair of them turned and left like nothing had happened.
Except for the trickle of blood running down my cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb and hurried on my way to the library, keeping one eye on the shadows. I did not need any more surprises this evening, vampiric or otherwise.
*
I glanced over at Cole, deep in sleep on his side of the room, and climbed out of my bed, pulling on my sneakers as quietly as I could. I’d gone to bed fully clothed, so it took only seconds to get ready and sneak out of the door. I paused, throwing one last look back at Cole, but he was still breathing deeply and evenly, eyes closed, and lost to the world. If this went right, I wouldn’t be seeing him again. Time to get back to my real life.
I eased the door closed behind me, holding my breath at the slight click as it shut, but I didn’t hear any movement from inside. I hadn’t woken Cole. Good. I was about due for some luck in this cursed place.
The corridors were deserted—proper deserted, this time, not vampires waiting to pounce from the shadows deserted. Or at least, so I hoped. I crept along them as quickly as I could, torn between moving quickly and moving silently, my heart hammering against my rib cage the whole way. I rounded a corner and a shadow fell across me. I leaped back, a yelp of fear on my lips before I realized it was just the product of the flickering torches. Stupid things. Why couldn’t the academy have proper lighting fitted, anyway? I took a moment to steady my breathing, and then hurried on again, ears straining for the slightest sound.
The back of my neck prickled, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone, something, was watching me. I ducked into an alcove, holding my breath as I listened for any movement, but it was utterly silent, other than the relentless pounding of my heart.
Sucking in another deep breath, I pressed on, sure that each step would bring a deadly predator down on me. Somehow I made it through the academy’s doors and out onto the grounds without being jumped or scaring myself to death, and the cool night air trailed across the back of my neck, feeling like a ghost passing through my aura. A shiver ran over my skin and I ducked my head and pressed on, eyes scanning the far reaches of the grounds. Thanks to a fruitful evening in the library—my fourth one this week—I knew that the entire academy was protected by a series of complex wards, which, I gathered, were like some sort of magical security system. No getting out, no getting in. The entire academy, that was, except for one small area that had been torn down by some sort of rampaging griffin a century ago. And, rumor had it, the new wards had never fully sealed to the old ones. Or so the book I’d been reading claimed. What it all boiled down was what that there might just be one spot in this entire academy that I could escape from.
Thank you, Ling, for that little tip.
