We crossed the room and passed through a door that led to a circular hall. There was a door to our right, and a staircase in the center leading upward. Architecturally, this place was similar in design to the castle back in my siblings’ island, and also Rhys’ island. Even the long drapes were made of similar fabric.
I looked out of the stained-glass window nearest me. I was shocked firstly to see how high up we were. This building—or castle, it seemed—was built on the peak of a high mountain. There was thick snow everywhere. In the distance at the foot of the mountain was a forest, as evidenced by the white treetops, and further still in the distance was the sea.
Where on earth are we?
“Annora,” Isolde called, her voice echoing off the walls.
I turned around. A tall young woman with long black hair and cold grey eyes descended the wide staircase. She wore a long black dress which trailed on the ground, similar to Isolde. Evidently also a witch.
I left the window and rejoined my siblings, who were watching Isolde talking to this stranger.
“We’ve come for more,” Isolde said, rubbing her palms together.
“Well, you know where to find them,” Annora replied, her voice smooth like silk. “Take what you need. We’re due for another batch soon.”
Her eyes glanced over me and my siblings briefly and she raised a brow.
“New recruits, I see. No Rhys and Efren this time?”
Isolde shook her head.
“It’s complicated,” Isolde said. She paused and looked at my siblings and I. She held out her ring of keys and Erik took them from her. She pointed toward a door in the far corner of the room. “That’s the kitchen. In the far right corner, you’ll find the entrance to another dungeon. You have the keys—it’s the large bronze one, and the smaller bronze ones will unlock the cells. Go in and bring out a dozen or so humans. Herd them out here. Don’t let any of them scramble away. We don’t have time to go chasing after them. And only take humans from the first four cells. Do not go further than that. Understood?”
“Yes, Isolde,” Helina replied.
Isolde turned back to continue her conversation with Annora.
We swept toward the kitchen. Erik found the entrance to the dungeon and we descended the steps.
It was dark inside. The smell of fresh, hot human blood was intoxicating. I began to salivate. Screams and cries echoed around the dungeon as soon as they realized we had entered.
Erik unlocked the door of the first cell, which contained half a dozen humans, and, with the help of Helina, started grabbing humans and pulling them out.
I was about to help them when I smelt it. A type of blood that was a rarity to our kind. Its sweetness was intoxicatingly familiar. And it reminded me of Sofia. This was the blood of an immune—a rare species of human who couldn’t be turned into a vampire.
Unable to resist following the scent, I rushed past the first four cells.
“Kiev!” Erik hissed. “What are you doing? She said—”
“I know what she said,” I snapped. “Just keep quiet. I’ll join you in a minute.”
I ventured deeper into the dungeon until it was beginning to appear less populated. I looked around, but the scent kept leading me further and further until eventually the cells I walked by had nobody in them… except for one.
I stopped short. I peered through the cell and saw a dark figure huddled in the corner.
I placed my hands against the bars and looked closer. It was a woman. She was sitting with her head resting against her bunched-up knees. She appeared to be… pregnant.
She looked up and gasped. She huddled closer into the corner, staring at me with fear. I took a step back. The color of her eyes had sent shivers down my spine. They were bright green. For one uncanny moment, it felt like I was looking at Sofia who had once been my own pregnant captive.
This woman’s hair was black though, and now that I could see her face, she appeared to be well in her thirties. But although she wasn’t Sofia, there was something about her that made me believe that I’d seen her face before somewhere. Green eyes, black hair. Soft, gentle features.
Think, Kiev. Think.
“Brother!” Helina called anxiously.
“I’m coming,” I yelled.
I stared at her once more. And then it hit me.
Anna. She was Sofia’s friend, and the only other immune who’d inhabited the Novaks’ island. She’d been there in Aviary too, just as I’d let Sofia go.
But how can it be? How could she have aged so quickly? I haven’t been gone long from Earth.
I remembered her as a young woman in her late teens or early twenties. Now, though still beautiful, she appeared to be at least thirty.