‘Oh, God,’ Fabian breathed.
And with that they darted off in different directions. I paused to gauge the room, before quickly flitting off to join the desperate search. Every Varn and friend of ours was looking up, dread turning their eyes colourless.
With sick guilt, my words from earlier echoed around my brain. Then on your own head be it, Girly.
TWENTY-FIVE
Violet
‘Ilta, what are you doing here?’ I peered closer, as he stood motionless, two paces in front of me. ‘Ilta?’ I called softly once more.
Still he did not move and I waved a hand in front of his face. He seemed to be caught in some sort of trance, eyes glazed over and unseeing.
‘Ilta!’ I said, more sharply. Suddenly, his head twitched and I recoiled away from the unnatural contortion. His body stirred and his arm darted out, a blur, snatching my wrist from midair. I gasped. A shiver rippled along the skin of my arm, across my shoulder and towards my hardworking heart, as it refused to slow its rapid beating. His icy skin scolded mine and I tried to wrench it from his tightening grasp, but I did not have the strength.
‘Ilta?’ I struggled once more to pull my arm free, but his grip only became more constricting. I felt the blood drain from my hand and saw it wither and go limp.
‘I am sorry, dear Violet, I was not entirely focused. Caught up in my senses, one might say,’ he purred, oily and slick as he soaked his lips with his saliva. I heard a faint sniffing and begged for my volatile heart to calm. He paused to look at me and I was forced to look into his eyes. Gone was the dark azure. Instead, they were red.
I drew in a sharp breath, eyes round, and took a step back, withdrawing away from his snarling, hissing face. He yanked me closer, using the lock he had on my wrist.
‘No, my sweet. You will not go anywhere.’ He pulled me up against his chest, before stooping down and placing a hand on the back of my knees, buckling them. I collapsed into his waiting arms. A second later, I felt the chilly air battering my cheeks and knew he was running from Varnley – where, I did not know. I closed my eyes, attempting to stop the tears falling. Only then did it occur to me to scream. And I did. A horrific, dreadful, spine-chilling scream that rang around out into the night.
But it was futile. No one heard and no one came.
Something sharp caught the skin on my cheek, teasing it away from the lower layers it was stitched to. My eyes flung open to see a bramble slash my skin and I winced as blood oozed from the fresh wound. I tried to raise my arm to wipe it away, but found it immobilized. I looked down and saw it was pinned between my hip and Ilta’s chest, all feeling gone as I tried to bend my fingers.
‘Do you not wish to struggle, sweet child? Do you not wish to be away?’ Ilta soothed, leaning over my face. He opened his mouth a little and I saw his sharp fangs, curved, lethal, as they dug into his lower lip. His breath reeked as he opened his mouth wider, a mixture between the stench of rotting flesh and the salty odour of dried blood. My nose wrinkled and I leaned away.
‘You’re stronger than me, so what would be the point? And get some mouthwash,’ I finished, determined to at least fight with words.
‘We will see if you feel the same way in a while,’ he spat. He leaned down further into my face, and swirling his tongue, licked the blood from my smarting cut. He siphoned every last drop. I could not help but close my eyes as his lips gradually followed my jaw line, until they came to a rest on my neck. He inhaled deeply and I felt him shudder violently. His hand came up to meet his lips and he trailed his fingers slowly across my collar, down to my br**sts, inching his fingertips through the crease between them. I gritted my teeth throughout.
He inhaled deeply once more, before shakily exhaling against my skin. ‘Fuck! I cannot wait any longer,’ he hissed.
Without any further warning, he dropped me, leaving me to land on the hard ground with a sickening crack as my dead arm cushioned my fall beneath my back. I shrieked in pain, the feeling fast returning. I barely had time to register that I vaguely recognized this dense part of the forest, especially the ivy-covered stone building nearby, before Ilta had crouched down to my level.
‘Time for some fun, don’t you think?’
He roughly grabbed me by my bodice and pulled me up, thrusting me against a nearby tree. The bark shredded my bare back, grating the satin of my dress.
‘Don’t touch me, you monster!’ I shrieked, willing every ounce of courage I had to help form those words.
‘Ah, but why would I do that? It is my duty to ensure you die before you ever fulfil your fate.’ He chuckled and raised his arms, gesturing around at the forest. ‘Look around you, Violet. What do you see? What is there here, other than trees? See reason, my love. You can scream all you like, but you are miles from anyone. You will not be heard. You can run; but I would soon catch you. Or you could just give in to my power and accept that this pitiful life of yours is coming to an end.’ He leaned in closer. ‘Is that so hard? Think about it, Violet. What do you have to go back to? Your mortal life can never be reclaimed, and your future offers only sacrifice and betrayal. You will have no choice, Violet Lee. What do you have left? What? Answer me!’
Tears streamed down my cheeks and I pursed my lips, searching for an answer. I looked to the mossy ground, watching as my silvery tears fell onto the fallen leaves, coated in a thick layer of pine needles. I closed my eyes, before slowly opening them, raising my head to his level.
‘Hope is what I have left.’
His slender bloodthirsty eyes narrowed to slits, and he growled. ‘No, you don’t! You must die before your time comes, child, and I will have my way whilst I do this dimension a great service.’ He seized a handful of my hair, and roughly tilted my head to the side. His body drove into mine, pressing me to the tree.
‘No! Get off me!’ I screeched, scrabbling around with my uninjured arm, trying to push him off. His free hand grabbed that arm and pushed it out of the way, using his long, sharpened nails to restrain me. They pierced the translucent skin on the underside of my wrists and blood began to emerge. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw red and I convulsed, gagging. Ilta’s mouth gaped, lips rolling back over his gums.
‘No! P-please, no! No!’ I begged.
‘I have waited too long,’ he whispered and he bit down hard upon the tender skin of my neck.
I screeched, the panic-ridden scream escaping my lips as pain, all-consuming pain, shot down from my neck, stopping my heart; freezing my blood; killing my mind.