Page 25 of The Vampire’s Mercy (Blood Melody #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

PARIS

Back in the forest bedroom, I sat on the single bed, smoking a mistrock cig, eyes on the snake’s rock, waiting for the python to appear.

Man, why a snake? Why not some cute non-lethal fluffy thing for me to make friends with?

Time crawled by, my constant checking of the wooden clock above Silvanus’s bed area not helping. So, I picked up a random book about the geography of Quintrealm. There were notes written on a double-page map in messy handwriting I couldn’t read.

I closed the book, lying down to think.

The memory of waking up on the frozen Albion came bubbling back to the surface. Aidan only knew why, because it stayed confusing.

I’d never willingly stroll into a frostbrood nest, so why had I been there? Magic? A traumatic event I’d somehow blocked? Hal hadn’t noticed me leave, so magic was a possibility. But that didn’t fit right.

Think. Think. Think.

“This is useless,” I grumbled, picking the book back up.

How many times could I go over the same thing and come up empty? And I wouldn’t even know where to begin trying to find a clue. I definitely wouldn’t be going back to the frozen river.

Hard pass from me.

I read for a bit, hoping it might unlock something in my subconsciousness. Read a chapter about the highest mountain in the Werewolf Domain—and the world—named Savage Queen, and part of the Regal Peaks mountain range dividing that country in half.

I got a few pages in before my mind drifted, returning to that tower, the rainstorm still falling behind me.

So cold.

So bitterly cold.

Darkness beyond the door, heat beckoning me forward. But my feet wouldn’t move, rejecting the idea of crossing the threshold.

Bad feeling. Really bad feeling. So many goosebumps prickling my skin, a tongue of ice licking my spine. Up and down, up and down.

I backed away, thunder pealing behind me. Spinning with a yelp, lightning forked across the sky, revealing a vast field of mud and grass, the hint of a tree line in the distance.

Where the hell was I?

Hiss…

I faced the door again, wrapping my arms around myself. “Hello?”

Thunder. Lightning. Wind and rain. The door didn’t move no matter how hard the wind threw itself at the tower.

“I can’t be here,” I said.

“I can’t—”

Light. So much light. I moved from darkness into glorious daytime, standing in a forest clearing.

My head buzzed with a weird happiness, my feet merry in the grass.

Huh? Grass? What grass?

I looked down, my toes wiggling in the lush green grass, its blades like soft shards of jade.

Hiss…

The rest of me was covered in a long silver robe as thin as tissue paper. The lightest thing I’d ever worn, leaving little to the imagination, the satin-like material clinging to the planes of my body.

Hello there, dick.

One by one, flowers bloomed around me in a variety of colors and species. Their collective perfumes caressed my senses, their energy a great big happy hug.

“Hello, sweeties.”

This was correct, a place I was meant to be.

Huh?

I tilted my head to the sky, closing my eyes against the sunlight. Taking it all in, connecting to the earth, my body one with the grass, the mud, the flowers, the air.

Everything.

I am here.

I am where I’m supposed to be.

What did that mean? Finally living in a forest like a proper elf? But how many elves actually lived in forests? Some did, some didn’t. There were so many decadent temptations beyond the trees, a whole big world out there to live in. Especially now in these glory days.

I snarled, opening my eyes. The sunlight flickered, the threat of darkness a crawling menace on my skin.

Hiss…

The flowers jiggled, the trees swaying in a warm breeze, speaking things I couldn’t hear. Holding secrets, longing to share them.

“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me what you know.”

A white rose bloomed at my feet, its petals falling the moment it stopped growing.

“What’s happening?” I asked it, crouching.

The sky darkened, the azure blue smothered by choking dark clouds.

“Please tell me,” I begged, raindrops landing on my cheeks.

But the rose and the other flowers withered, and the trees shed their leaves. Beneath me, the grass dried, turning to dust, nothing but a dead clearing in a dead forest.

I retched, my soul aching with grief.

“What’s going on?” I turned on the spot, the rain falling heavier.

Hiss…

“Tell me what I—”

Silvanus appeared, drawn into the clearing within seconds. He was shirtless, wearing black leather trousers. Beautiful, menacing, making my skin crawl.

“You!” I spat, calling to my stakeblade on instinct.

It didn’t come because it wasn’t…it wasn’t here.

Huh?

“Fuck.” I cracked my knuckles, taking a few steps toward him. “What are you doing here?”

He mouthed something, no sound coming out of his pretty mouth.

He looked so sad.

“What did you say?” I demanded.

He collapsed into a pile of bone dust, the forest blinking away.

I found myself back at the tower, facing the door, the storm raging on. I noticed I was dry, wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Not the crop top like in the vision before.

Was I having a vision?

Since when did I have that gift?

“I don’t…I don’t understand.”

“And you won’t, precious one,” a voice spoke from the darkness. “Not until you find the truth and allow it to begin.”

I turned on the spot, chest tight, fists ready to smash faces. “Who said that?”

“The truth will unfold as it must, precious one,” the voice said.

It was a fractured voice, a monochrome tone.

Thunder crashed, the flash of lightning shining across the door. It revealed nothing in the darkness.

This is wrong. This place is wrong.

“Who are you?” I questioned, taking another step back, rain hit my back.

“Find the truth, precious one. Find the truth to begin.”

“Why can’t you tell me what this means?” I snapped back.

Fuck this cryptic shit.

Hiss…

“Hello?”

No answer.

I cracked my knuckles. “Are you still there?”

Nothing.

Hiss…

I glanced over my shoulder, the night too thick behind me. But so was the darkness beyond that damn door. Neither was on the fun list, my body and soul screaming a huge nope.

“I can’t stand here forever,” I mumbled.

Precious one? Really? Why would anyone say that about me?

Welcome to Cryptic City.

Hiss…

Silvanus appeared again for a few seconds before he vanished. Didn’t even give me enough time to process his arrival, or to let out a yelp of surprise.

Okay. What the hell? There were funny games going on here, me one of the unwilling pieces.

My suspicions pointed to the vampire king. Maybe being a thrall gave him ample opportunity to fuck with my mind. What a prick, but it made sense. Why wouldn’t he put me through my paces? I mean, wasn’t he just getting started with the vengeance thing?

He’d enslaved me, and next came true suffering. You didn’t kill the vampire king’s bestie to get handed a bunch of roses.

The thunder boomed, louder than before. I was sure I felt it shake the ground.

“Shit,” I grumbled, struggling to make a choice.

Hiss…

The door opened a fraction more, the hinges creaking.

“Find the truth, precious one.”

The sound of the voice snapped me out of the dream, my eyes opening to find a snake’s head inches from my face.