One morning as I woke in his arms, I looked up to find that he was already awake. He’d been watching me, waiting for me to open my eyes.
“Today’s schedule will be a little different,” he said softly, stroking my cheek with his fingers. “For all of us. In fact, the next few days are going to be different.”
I raised my eyebrows in question.
“There’s something I haven’t gotten round to telling you yet. It concerns a monthly, and sometimes bi-monthly, blood ritual we started to practice since you’ve been gone.” He got out of bed and began to dress himself. “We’ve made allies of a group of vampires.”
“Vampires?”
“Yes. You may have noticed my three sisters’ absence since you’ve been here. That’s because they no longer live here. They stay on an island near the pirate area of Triquetra. They managed to procure the vampires, and in exchange for helping us with our rituals, they have cast a spell over the island keeping them safe from invaders and spirits.”
I had to pull my pillow over my face to stifle a gasp.
These vampires must be the Black Bell pirates. Those Matteo always warned us to stay away from.
“We leave in a few hours, to start preparing for tonight’s ritual. It’s the full moon tonight. We’ll stay there for three days… three rituals. And then return.”
I nodded, trying to conceal my restricted breathing. I got dressed and once I was ready, Rhys held out his hand and said, “Come with me.”
I followed. He led me along corridors and down steps—where everybody seemed to be hurrying around getting ready for our departure—until we reached the back of the kitchen. He bent down over a large trapdoor, unbolted it, and pulled it open.
The stench that came wafting out toward us was sickening. I looked around in astonishment as we descended. The entire dungeon was crammed with cells of humans.
A wave of deja vu hit me.
This is just like the dungeons of the ogres.
But where in the world do we find all these humans?
“We need to choose three of them for the rituals,” Rhys said. “One for each night. We’ll also be bringing some others for the vampires, but I’ll have Efren and Isolde gather them together. Help me choose the three.”
I looked around in horror. There were men and women, young and old. I felt frozen to my spot, not knowing which direction to take first. Luckily, Rhys was too impatient to wait for me. He dragged out three humans from the cell nearest to us—three young men—and bound them all in chains. When they shouted and tried to scramble away in opposite directions, he cast a tranquilizing spell on them. Their mouths opened and closed while their eyes rolled wildly in their sockets, but no sounds came out. Their limbs became docile and obedient.
Rhys placed one hand on the small of my back and nudged me up the stairs while he followed behind, guiding the three humans up with us.
Once we’d reemerged in the kitchen and closed the trapdoor, I couldn’t keep myself from asking, “Where do they all come from?”
He sighed and looked down at me.
“I’ll likely tell you one day. But it’s not important for you to know now.”
Chapter 21: Mona
I shuddered as we arrived at the beach of the dark island. Being this close to where I’d spent several years in hiding on Matteo’s island felt bizarre now that I was so far away from the person I’d been then. I looked around at the crowd of witches who’d come with us. We’d all come. This was the tradition apparently. Tiarni was holding the chains of the three humans, while about two dozen other humans were being kept in check by Efren and a few other witches.
Rhys must have noticed my discomfort. He rubbed my shoulders and asked, “Are you all right?”
I nodded weakly.
An old bearded man approached us—a vampire.
“Damion,” Rhys said, reaching out his hand.
Damion smiled faintly and shook it. We followed him away from the beach and through a dark wood. We all walked in silence until we reached the end of the path, leading out into a clearing.
I was taken aback by what I saw: a tall black castle, almost identical to the one the witches had erected back in our little island.
Rhys, who seemed to still be watching me closely, nodded toward the castle and said, “My sisters’ work.”
We passed through the courtyard and were greeted by Julisse, Arielle and Celice on the doorsteps. They motioned to fling their arms around their brother, but then they caught sight of me standing behind him. Arielle and Julisse’s mouths dropped open.
“Her?” Julisse exclaimed.
I groaned internally.
Here we go again.
“Yes.” Rhys gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Mona returned to me. But we can discuss her later. We have more pressing matters to attend to now.”