I assisted them, making sure that Anna was next to me. Once everyone had formed a circle and we were all touching each other, we vanished.
Chapter 21: Mona
I was gasping for air by the time we reached the entrance of the cave. I breathed in deeply. Each second that Rhys delayed telling me what the witch had said was another second the knot in my stomach tightened.
“Tell me now, Rhys.” I gripped his shirt.
“She… she wants to test out your mind first. How strong, how obedient it is.”
I stared at him.
“So let me get this straight. The transformation in itself is a huge ordeal that most people don’t survive. Yet she wants me to do something else in addition?”
He nodded. He held my hand and started helping me down the boulders back toward the pebbly beach.
“What more does she want from me?”
“I don’t know.”
“What? How can you not know? I just saw her talking to—”
“She wouldn’t tell me exactly what it was she wanted. She just said that she wanted you in that chamber for a few hours… without me.”
I stared at him, barely believing my ears.
“But… all along the plan was for you to guide me through, be my rock—”
He gripped my shoulders and shook me.
“Yes,” he said, glaring down at me. “That still is the plan. I’ll be by your side. But she wants you alone with her beforehand.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell you what she was going to do with me?” I croaked.
“I don’t know. I tried to pry for an answer but she refused to give me details.”
“Alone, in there, for hours.” I repeated the words slowly, letting them sink in, images of that nightmarish chamber flooding my mind.
“You have an hour to decide. If we don’t return in an hour, she’ll assume you’re not serious.”
I bit my lip as it trembled.
Although the prospect made me want to forget gaining Rhys’ powers and just return to my old life, I knew that I couldn’t. I’d come this far. And now this was the final step. I just couldn’t give up now.
“I’ll do it,” I murmured.
Concern filled Rhys’ eyes as he held my hands against his chest.
We both remained silent as we looked at each other. Perhaps he was studying me to see if this really was what I wanted.
Then he nodded.
“Very well. If you’re sure. I’ll be keeping track of the time and I’ll return to the chamber as soon as the period is over.”
He walked with me back up to the entrance of the cave and through the first dark tunnel. Once we reached the first corridor that was lit, he let go of me and took a step back into the shadows.
“You need to walk alone from here,” he said.
“All right,” I whispered.
I glanced once more at Rhys, hoping to draw some sort of strength from him before I left him.
“Wait.” He removed his belt and fastened it around my waist along with the silver dagger that was attached to it. He pressed my palm against the hilt. “You might need this for whatever Lilith has planned.”
I gulped and looked down the shadowy hallway. As I turned to leave, he caught my arm and pulled me flush against him, kissing me hard.
When he drew away, his eyes were blazing.
“You’re strong enough to get through this.” He spoke the words aggressively. “Do you trust me?”
I stared at him, my lips still tingling from the force of his kiss.
“Yes,” I said. And for perhaps the first time in my life, I truly meant it.
Chapter 22: Kiev
We all reappeared outside the castle in the courtyard where we’d first vanished with Isolde.
We herded the humans up the castle steps and into the entrance hall. Then Isolde turned to me, since I was closest to her, and handed me another set of keys.
“Take them down to the dungeon and make sure the cells are shut properly. We don’t want any more escapes.”
I nodded and took the keys. She went in the opposite direction and my siblings and I led the humans toward the dungeon. I opened up the trapdoor and we bundled them inside. Anna was the last. I picked her up and walked down with her. I called up the trapdoor to my siblings, “I’ll take things from here. You two can go.”
When they looked hesitant to leave me alone I shot them both glares and they did as I’d suggested.
As soon as they had disappeared from sight, I picked up Anna again and, locking the trapdoor behind me, made a dash across the entrance hall up the stairs.
“Where are you taking me?” she gasped, clutching my neck.
“Shh.”
I was worried I’d bump into someone in the corridors or the staircases so I moved as fast as I could. I heaved a sigh of relief as we reached my apartment. I swung the door open and slammed it shut behind me. I walked into my bedroom, placing Anna down on the soft bed.