Page 28 of A Touch of Darkness (Chronicles of the Cursed #1)

The knock at my door comes sharp and urgent, cutting through the quiet of my dorm like a blade. My heart leaps into my throat, the mere act of knocking on my door causing a shock of PTSD to rumble through me. When I glance through the peephole, Lucian is standing there. I look at the clock and realize I’ve gone another half of a day looking at all these old texts and books that I’ve been studying in every spare bit of time I’ve had.

Lucian sent me a text last night and asked me how my latest healing attempt went in class. He’s probably been worried. The last time I saw him was two days ago when I visited him in his classroom. I can’t deny the man does something to me. Even in the midst of everything happening, I want to learn more about him. Want to continue to explore him.

And I definitely want to taste him again. That is for sure.

My relief over seeing Lucian is short-lived. He looks different—tense, with shadows pooling under his eyes and a stiffness in his posture that makes my stomach churn.

I crack the door open. “What’s wrong?” I ask, instinctively knowing something is going on.

“We have to go,” he says without preamble, his voice low and clipped. His eyes scan the hallway behind him before locking on mine. “Now.”

“Go where?” I blink at him, confused.

“I found her.” His voice softens just slightly, though urgency still clings to every word. “Lara. I found where they’re keeping her.”

The breath leaves my lungs in a rush. “What? Where? How?”

“I’ll explain on the way. We don’t have time for questions right now.” He glances over his shoulder, the motion sharp and wary. “It’s not safe here. Get dressed and grab what you need.”

His words sink in slowly, and despite the million questions swirling in my head, I nod, my hands fumbling as I slip into my shoes and jacket.

Minutes later, we’re outside. He pulls me toward a sleek black car parked at the curb. I hesitate for just a moment, glancing around the quiet campus.

“Lucian… are you sure?—”

“I wouldn’t come to you if I wasn’t sure.” His tone is steady but firm, leaving no room for argument.

I slide into the passenger seat, my pulse thrumming in time with the engine as he starts the car and pulls onto the dark road.

The silence between us stretches thin as the campus fades behind us. I glance at him, his profile illuminated in the faint glow of the dashboard lights.

“Where are we going?” I ask finally.

“There’s a building, off-campus. Old, secluded. It’s where they’ve been hiding her.”

An unease curls in my stomach. “Off-campus? Maybe we should call the police. Or?—”

“There’s no time, Sylvie,” he cuts me off, his voice tight, sharper than I’ve ever heard it before. “If we wait, they’ll move her. We’re cloaking ourselves—no one else can know. The more people involved, the more risk there is—for your sister. And for you.”

The explanation makes sense, but something about the way he says it feels… wrong. I brush the thought aside, guilt tugging at me. This is Lucian. I’m growing to trust him. He wouldn’t lie to me. He wants to help me.

We drive in silence for what feels like an eternity before the car pulls off the main road onto a narrow, tree-lined path. My unease grows as the dark outline of a building comes into view, its stone facade looming like a shadow against the night sky.

I squint at it, something about the structure tugging at my memory. “This looks familiar…”

“It should,” Lucian says, pulling the car to a stop. “You’ve been here before.”

My stomach drops. “Their administration building?”

He shakes his head. “Not exactly. This is another part of the same complex. It’s… connected.”

“Connected how?”

“Hidden entrances, underground passages—things the average person wouldn’t notice. It’s how they’ve kept her hidden.” He turns to me, his expression grave. “We need to move quickly. The longer we wait, the more danger Lara’s in. We need to get in, get her, and get out.”

My feet feel like lead as I follow him out of the car. He leads me around the side of the building to a narrow, ivy-covered door I’ve never seen before.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Positive,” he says without hesitation.

He pulls the door open, revealing a set of stone stairs spiraling down into darkness. My heart pounds as I hesitate at the threshold.

“Lucian…”

He steps closer, his voice low and almost pleading. “Sylvie, trust me. We’ll save her. But you have to trust me.” He closes his eyes and puts his hand on my shoulder, repeating something over and over again in another language. “We’re protected, cloaked. No one can see us.” He pauses. “Now, let’s go get Lara.”

Lara’s name pushes me forward, and I descend the stairs after him. The air grows colder with each step, the scent of damp stone and mildew in my nose.

The door creaks on its ancient hinges as Lucian pushes it open, revealing a narrow stone staircase spiraling down into darkness. The air shifts immediately—cooler, damp, and heavy with the scent of old earth and mildew. A shiver runs down my spine, but I step forward anyway, Lara’s name propelling me when my own fear threatens to root me in place.

Lucian doesn’t speak, his boots tapping against the stone steps in a steady rhythm. The faint flicker of his shadow stretches across the walls, distorted by the weak light from a single lantern he’s carrying. I trail after him, hugging my arms to myself as the oppressive weight of the descending staircase presses in on me.

“Why would they keep her down here?” I ask, my voice small in the suffocating silence.

“Because no one would think to look,” he says without turning, his tone clipped. “This isn’t just a building, Sylvie. It’s a fortress, hidden in plain sight. They’ve used it for years. Since their formation.”

The words twist uneasily in my chest, but I force myself to keep moving. The farther we descend, the more the walls seem to close in. The carvings that line them—delicate and winding—pulse faintly with a soft blue glow.

I pause to study one, the intricate etchings too precise to be random. “What are these?”

Lucian hesitates for the first time, his shoulders stiffening as he glances back at me. “Old magic,” he says finally. “Wards, mostly. Meant to keep people out—or in.”

His answer sends a cold ripple through me, but I nod and quicken my pace to keep up with him.

At the bottom of the stairs, the corridor stretches out, narrow and dimly lit by flickering torches. The light throws strange shadows across the walls, making the carvings writhe as though alive.

“This way,” Lucian says, his voice soft but urgent.

I follow him, each step taking me deeper into this strange labyrinth. The air grows colder, and the oppressive silence presses harder against my ears. When we reach a large metal door, I stop, unease pooling in my stomach. The room in front of us looks like a metal cage. The door is nearly all metal, aside from the bars near the top, but then the rest of the room is more cage-like, with bars—almost like a jail cell.

Lucian places a hand on the door, his fingers brushing over the runes etched into its surface. They glow faintly under his touch, the magic responding like it knows him.

“Wait,” I say, my voice trembling. “Are you sure?—”

But the door creaks open before I can finish, revealing the rest of a circular chamber. The sight of it sends a jolt through me.

The room is eerily familiar, its stone walls lined with more of the glowing carvings. A shallow basin sits at the center, surrounded by intricate symbols etched into the floor. The air hums faintly, charged with an energy that makes the hair on my arms stand on end.

“Oh my God,” I whisper.

“It’s the safest place to hide her,” Lucian says, his voice calm and even. He gestures toward the basin. “They use it to channel dark magic. It’s the only way to sustain her condition.”

His explanation feels thin, but before I can question it, he steps aside and motions for me to enter the chamber.

“Go ahead, and stay in front of me,” he says. “We don’t have much time.”

I hesitate at the threshold, my instincts screaming at me to stop. “Lucian, I don’t think?—”

“Trust me,” he says, his voice softening. He steps closer, his eyes meeting mine. “Please, Sylvie. You have to trust me.”

His words weaken my resolve, and I take a shaky step into the chamber. The moment I’m in, the door slams shut behind me before I can react.

“Lucian!” I spin around, panic clawing at my throat. I pound against the metal as he stands on the other side, metal bars separating the two of us. “What are you doing? Let me out!”

He turns around, his back to me. The way he holds himself is… off. His shoulders are too rigid, his stance too calculated.

“Lucian?” I take a hesitant step forward and slide my arms through the bars, my voice echoing in the oppressive silence.

He turns again, but the movement isn’t smooth—it’s strange, almost jerky, like a puppet being yanked by its strings. His face is shrouded in shadow, but I can still make out his features.

Or at least, I think I can.

Then, everything changes.

His form begins to ripple, like heat waves distorting the air. I blink, convinced my mind is playing tricks on me, but the sight only grows more grotesque. His skin seems to melt, his features twisting and stretching in impossible ways. I take a step back, stumbling and falling to the cold ground as I let out a sharp cry. His tall frame shrinks, his broad shoulders narrowing as his entire body shifts.

“What the fuck?” The words escape me in a trembling whisper, my legs frozen in place.

The dark hair fades to a pale blonde. The sharp jawline softens, morphing into delicate curves. His hands, once large and strong, now slender and graceful. Within seconds, Lucian is gone, replaced by her .

Amara.

The woman I met the night I came here to meet with the Society undercover. It’s her eyes. I can tell. I’d know them anywhere.

She tilts her head, a slow, cruel smile spreading across her lips as she watches my horrified realization.

“Surprise,” she says, her voice dripping with mockery.

My chest tightens as I try to piece together what I just witnessed. “What the hell—what are you?”

“Oh, Sylvie,” she says, taking a step forward. “It’s called dark magic. It’s not all that uncommon. You didn’t really think Lucian would ever bring you here, do you? He may be a repulsive vamp, but he isn’t a total idiot.”

Her words pierce through my shock, igniting a fresh wave of panic. “Where’s Lucian? What have you done with him?” My mind spins. Terror over what they could have done with him, because of me, shocks me to my core. Bile rises up in my throat. I don’t want anything to happen to him…he can’t…

She lets out a soft, humorless laugh. “Don’t worry about him. I’m far more interesting than he.”

Her smile sharpens as she closes the distance between us, pulling a blade from within her robes. The light catches on its edge, casting a faint glow onto the stone walls.

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, welcome back, Sylvie,” she says, her voice smooth and venomous. “I must say, you’ve been far easier to manipulate than I expected. For how troublesome and hesitant you were the last time we chatted, I thought it might be harder. All we had to do was shift into that wretched vampire…”

I shake my head, my mind racing. “You—what are you—where’s Lara?”

She smiles, stepping closer. “Me? I’m just a human who dabbles in dark magic, thanks to some friends. Lara? Well. She’s safe. For now. Her survival depends on you, you know. However, you already know she’s safe, don’t you? Our sweet little Isabel made sure of that.”

Oh, God. They found out she told me things. There’s no way that can be good for her.

“What do you want me to do?” I demand, trying to keep my voice steady.

“Only what’s necessary,” she says, her tone cold and clinical. “You and your sister are the key to ending this curse, Sylvie. The blood of your lineage—the blood of the sole surviving twins—is the only thing we’ve found that can undo what your ancestor wrought. And when that happens, the vampires will be wiped from existence. Then we can start on the rest of the filth.”

She roughly grabs my wrist through the metal bars of the chamber, and I try to pull away, but her grip is iron-clad. The blade slices across my skin, and my blood wells up, dark and glistening. She holds a bowl beneath the cut, catching the drops as they fall.

“What are you doing?” I scream, struggling against her hold.

She smirks. “Ensuring you’re still… pure. It would be such a shame if you’d done something foolish after learning your importance and about the virginity aspect of things. I was hoping you wouldn’t find that tidbit out. And to think we thought you were the weaker sister.”

My heart pounds in my chest. “How do you know?—”

“We have eyes and ears everywhere, dear,” she says, releasing my wrist before waving her hand over it and chanting something. My cut immediately heals, but leaves a nasty looking, puffy scar in its wake. Must be more of her devil magic.

The bowl of my blood gleams ominously in her hands, sparkling and rippling like some sort of magical, flowing water. “You’re far more valuable to us than you realize. But don’t worry—we’ll keep you safe until you’re ready to fulfill your role.” The door slams shut behind her, and I’m left alone in the chamber.

Sylvie…I’m here.

It’s Lara’s voice. My heart slows to a low thud as my sister’s presence eases the ache forming in my chest.

Whatever you do, just don’t give her your blood willingly.

Yes, yes. She’s right. Okay. I read this in one of the grimoires yesterday. My blood must freely be given in order for their plan to work how its intended. So the blood she just took, there’s no way she could use it. I didn’t consent.

“Lara?” I call out on a hushed whisper. “I’m here. I am here and I’m going to bring you home.”

Remember, Sylv. They can only move forward if you choose to give your blood to them. Whatever you do, fight.