Page 31
Story: This Violent Light
DON’T RUSH ME
GRACE
O ver the next three days, I make my plan.
It’s not the most elaborate, but that’s what I get for puttering around, refusing to acknowledge the truth.
My days here at the manor are limited, and no amount of training with Cora will keep these vampires from draining my blood if that’s what it takes to break their curse.
I should have been planning from the day Sebastian dragged me here.
If I was smart, I would have the manor layout memorized. I would have made friends with the servant who brings my food. I would have learned Sebastian’s weaknesses.
Instead, I’ve been too caught up in proving myself and not losing myself in a pit of depression.
Whatever. There’s no use stressing about it now. I’ve got a week until I’m sacrificed for their ritual, and that means I’m running out of time. I don’t have the luxury of feeling like an idiot.
On the computer Sebastian gifted me, I jot notes on a blank document.
I start with any useful information I know.
People’s names, and which ones Sebastian trusts the most. The Echo, and any details I remember from when we traveled to the Flight Realm.
The spells I’ve seen Cora conjure, and which ones I think I might be able to replicate.
As I draft a timeline in my mind, I lay in bed, hands in my lap. All the while, I call magic to my fingertips, feeling it spark beneath my skin. It’s impossible to explain how I cast, and only now that I can , do I understand why Cora couldn’t give better instructions.
It’s more about feeling than logic.
Without touching it, I move my laptop from the foot of my bed to a spot on the floor. Back and forth, until my arm muscles pulse with overuse. I might not be moving, but my body is working hard. I’m sweating, breathing rough, my tank top sticking to my abdomen.
I practice and plot my escape, only stopping when Oskar walks me to Cora’s for the day. Then, after a long day of training, and once I’ve eaten an overflowing bowl of pasta, I get back to work.
I practice late into the night, even when my body begs for sleep. There’s too much to do…and honestly, I’m not ready for tomorrow to come. If I sleep now, I will wake with not seven days remaining, but six .
I swallow the thought, sitting upright in bed. It creaks as I rise to my feet, crossing the room as quietly as I can manage. With my ear pressed to the door, I listen for movement in the hallway. I know someone is out there—most likely Oskar—but I can’t hear him through this stupidly thick door.
I lean back. Running my hands over the frame, I study its simple design.
Four hinges, all made of heavy black metal.
I crouch to the lowest one, studying its elongated pin.
The metal is too small, too delicately carved into the hinge for me to pinch with my fingers.
Still, if I could just bend it and find a way to pull it?—
It doesn’t matter. Escaping from my bedroom isn’t a good idea. Even if I got through the door, I wouldn’t make it far before my guard captured me.
I’ll have better luck if I ask for a bathroom break. Any time Oskar walks me, he keeps his distance. To be respectful, I’m sure. Got to be a gentleman when you’re keeping a woman prisoner.
That plan is better, but I still find myself reaching for the metal again. Before I touch it, the door flies open. It crashes into my side, knocking me against the wall. I let out a pathetic squeak and scramble to my feet.
It’s not Oskar tonight.
“What are you doing?” Beatrice asks. Sebastian only brought her back on my guard rotation a couple nights ago, but of course , she has to be here now. She stares at me wordlessly, her dark eyebrows jetting toward her forehead.
“I was going to ask to go to the bathroom,” I say. My voice is shaking—can she tell? “I was about to knock, and then you nearly killed me.”
“You’re a shit liar,” she says. She scoffs a laugh, leaning against the doorframe. She studies me, and I fidget under her heavy gaze.
I want to beg her not to tell Sebastian, but I keep my mouth shut. It’s her word against mine, and so long as I don’t admit to anything…
“You realize vampires have superhuman hearing, right?” she asks. Her lips tick with a mocking smirk. “We can hear everything .”
Once again, I don’t respond.
“Taking the door apart by the hinges,” she says. She pats its wooden face, letting her hand settle on the doorknob. “ Terrible plan, Gracie. This thing weighs four times as much as you do. It’d crush you long before you got out. Not to mention I’d knock you on your ass if you did manage it.”
“I wasn’t?—”
“Save it,” Beatrice says, rolling her eyes. “I’m actually relieved you tried to escape. Stupid method, but at least you’re not totally dead in there.”
She taps my forehead, and I swat at her hand, stepping deeper into my room. I’m terrified she’ll follow, but she only grins at me.
“Still,” she says, drawling. “It’s been a week, Grace. It’s kind of embarrassing you haven’t figured it out by now.”
“Figured what out?”
“It’s not nearly as hard to get out of this room as you seem to think,” she says.
With that, she closes the door. It settles against its hinges with a heavy slam, and I glare at the space where Beatrice stood moments ago.
What a bitch.
Easy for her to say. I’m sure this room would be easy to escape. You know, if I was a freaking vampire with unnatural reflexes and superhuman strength.
Still, I find myself moving toward the door. I’ve studied every inch of this room over the past few days. There’s no vent. No cut-out in the ceiling for an attic. No pieces of bed frame that can easily be unscrewed and used as a weapon. This place is a blank, useless room.
I stand before the door, glaring at it, as if it’s responsible for Beatrice’s mockery.
Once again, I run my hands over the wood and the metal hinges. My fingers dance along the stripes of iron before finally landing on the doorknob. I hold my breath tight in my chest .
Since arriving at this manor, I’ve checked this door a hundred times. It’s been locked every single time.
But that was months ago , I think. You haven’t checked in months.
It felt stupid to try. Not to mention dangerous. If Sebastian knew I was trying to escape this room, I’d surely be punished.
I grip the doorknob harder.
I already know Beatrice is just on the other side, grinning at the door and waiting for me to try. She can hear everything, and I’m sure she’d love nothing more than to hear me struggle. She obviously wants me to think it’s unlocked, and I’m lining myself up to be humiliated and mocked.
I push against the handle as quietly as I can. Where every other time, I met resistance, the door now opens effortlessly into the hallway.
Beatrice stands across from me, arms folded over her chest. She’s grinning, just like I expected, eyes glimmering with amusement.
“Why?” I ask.
Beatrice shrugs. “I was told you had a deal.”
If you can prove you can handle yourself, I’ll grant you free reign of the manor.
I hadn’t forgotten the deal…I just didn’t think he’d ever follow through. Especially after I’d nearly gotten killed in these very halls.
“He didn’t tell me,” I say, as if that wasn’t already obvious.
Heat flares in my chest, but I can’t decide if it’s a pleasant warmth or a scalding burn. Sebastian held his end of the bargain. That’s good. That’s nice . And yet, he also didn’t tell me .
“Where’s his room?” I demand.
I expect Beatrice to deny me. Instead, she sets off down the hall, gesturing for me to follow.
“Do vampires sleep?” I ask as we hit the bottom of the spiral staircase. Beatrice glances at me, eyebrow arched. She doesn’t slow though, pushing through the door and into a narrow hall. It looks like any of the others, but I don’t think I’ve been to this part of the manor.
“Most do,” she says. “It’s not something vampires need. They do it mostly out of boredom. It’s far more common with the sun curse. If you’re asking if Sebastian sleeps, the answer is no. He’ll be awake.”
My pulse quickens at the idea. We’ve been walking too long, and now, my thoughts have muddled. I can’t decide if I have a right to be pissed. I’m not sure whether I should yell at Sebastian when I see him or if I should thank him.
“This is him,” she says. She stops abruptly, not flinching when I crash against her side. She nods toward the door, plain and unmarked.
“Am I supposed to knock?” I ask. My stomach dips with embarrassment, and I realize how stupid I’m being. I’m literally seeking him out in the middle of the night, as if this couldn’t have waited until the morning.
And what am I meant to do? Tell him I’ve only now realized he unlocked my cell door? That he kept his end of the bargain and I was too stupid to notice?
Beatrice doesn’t reply, but it turns out she doesn’t need to. The door swings open, revealing a shirtless Sebastian.
Before I can resist, my eyes sweep over his toned chest and abs. His hair is messy. It’s not from sleep, which means it’s either from his hand running through it or someone else’s hand. I lean, peeking into the room behind him.
It’s simple but nice, and though he supposedly doesn’t sleep, there’s a four-poster bed against the center wall. A plain dresser across from it. A wardrobe to the side. A magnificent rug at the center
Zero naked women.
It wouldn’t matter if there was , I chastise myself. He can have all the mistresses he wants.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. His words come out sharp, and his eyes match their intensity, flicking between me and Beatrice.
“My door is unlocked,” I finally say. I sound like a moron.
I am a moron.
“And?” he asks. Another flick between me and Beatrice.
“Never mind,” I say quickly. Blush burns my cheeks, as I turn to Beatrice. I’m sure everyone can hear the desperation in my voice. “You should take me back to my cell.”
Sebastian looks between us, a slow smirk taking over his expression. He clears his throat roughly before nodding at Beatrice.
“You’re dismissed,” he says.
Table of Contents
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- Page 30
- Page 31 (Reading here)
- Page 32
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