Page 38 of King of the Damned
And I let her impale me in the chest.
Sixteen
Adelasia
Frantically, I run out of Kaius’ room, passing servants and vampires alike as I rush through the maze of hallways until I reach the tunnels that connect the palace to the dungeon.
I reach Saddiq’s cell and begin tugging on the iron bars with all of my strength. I use all the magic at my disposal trying to break through whatever barrier keeps him inside.
Saddiq notices the tears and how frightened I am, and reaches through the bars. He takes my face in his bony hands. His deep tan skin is so warm compared to the lifelessness of the walls around him, in both tone and temperature.
I continue to tug at the bars and grow increasingly more frustrated when I can’t get him out. I need to leave this palace,now, and I won’t leave Saddiq behind.
“We…we…we…we have to get you…out,” I hiccup through my sentence, my mind rushing through a million thoughts at once.
“Adelasia, my kind savior,breathe,” he tells me, and I mindlessly continue to pull on the bars until my strength fails me and I crumble to the ground in a fit of tears.
“We have to get out,” I whine, pressing my cheek and forehead into the bars. “I don’t want to die here.”
A chill falls over the dungeon, and I find myself shivering as Saddiq tries to calm me down. He doesn’t care to escape. His concern is for me, and I’ve never been more grateful for a friend in my life.
I curl into a ball as close as I can manage to Saddiq, and he sings a soft tune from his homeland that echoes off the walls of his cell.
“Adelasia,” he says after he finishes his song, “You must make your escape now, before the night becomes too deep.”
“I won’t leave you,” I protest.
“Listen. When you exit the valley, head to the East. Stay as close as you can to the edge of the Blackwood until morning. Only move deeper into the forest when the sun is out. At dusk, take shelter. Make no fires, and cover your waste so you do not attract the werebeasts.”
I shake my head. “I won’t leave you,” I repeat.
Saddiq opens his mouth to say something, but we both go still and quiet when we hear the unnerving sound of chittering bouncing off the walls.
“What is it?” I ask. Saddiq quickly covers my mouth with his hand. The chittering grows louder—closer. I can’t tell where it’s coming from.
I want to run, to hide, but I can’t leave Saddiq. The air around us grows colder and from the corner of my eye, I see that Saddiq and I are not alone.
But it’s not a vampire that’s come for me.
Seventeen
Kaius
I let the stake stay in my chest for a while. She barely missed my heart, and a part of me wishes she didn’t. An even larger and more selfish part of me hopes she’s just on the other side of that door, waiting for me to come to her.
But I know I will have no such luck. I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve her. With the truth laid bare, she got to see what a monster I truly am, and how her intuition was right all along.
I grab the end of the stake and yell out in pain as I tug it free from my chest. Blood drips from the point, and I let it drop to the floor before I stand. The wound begins to heal, and I walk out of the room.
At this stage in my immortal life, very little shocks me. I’ve studied magic for centuries, and thought I was a master in it, even if I didn’t quite possess the power it takes to use it to its full potential.
I’ve always been certain of one thing, and that is that there is no magic that can raise the dead. Vampires are a special sort of magical being, and while we are considered undead, the process of raising a vampire begins in their human lives, so it’s not affected by the natural limitations of magic.
If you stake a vampire in the heart, they’re dead, and their body quickly decays to match their age, so many of us are left as nothing but bones or even dust when we die.
I certainly remember Dravon decaying into dust last night, so when I round the corner and see him standing before me, chest-to-chest, Adelasia momentarily leaves the forefront of my mind, and she’s replaced with fear.
Something is not right, and I have a feeling he has Nine Priestesses to thank for his resurrection.
