“That makes two of us.” I grimaced.
“I’ve only been in this hell-hole a few weeks. I… I’m a wanderer. A pirate. I left my crew to come to these shores to collect fruits.”
“That was foolish of you.”
“I’ve made the trip dozens of times before without getting caught. It’s just this time…” Her voice trailed off for a few minutes before she found it again. “I’ve been holed up with these monsters ever since.”
“Why are you telling me all this? If I knew a way out, I wouldn’t be sitting here in a pool of my own blood—”
I stopped mid-sentence.
My stomach twisted into knots. My heart skipped a beat. A paralyzing feeling of dread swept over me. I gazed around the room, trying to make eye contact with any vampire looking my way. From their panicked expressions, they had sensed it too.
A dark presence that was felt but never seen. A presence that we all knew too well.
An unbearable cold seeped into the core of my bones—a sensation that never failed to make me pray for death.
It was too late.
My father had returned for me.
Chapter 3: Kiev
A haze descended over my eyes, making my vision slightly unfocussed.
“I’ve missed you, son.” A hiss echoed in my head. “But you have disappointed me. Have you forgotten all I’ve done for you?”
No, I thought.
“You were one of the first humans I ever infected with our nature. One of my first mutations. With that comes responsibility. I gave you power when you had none. I made you immortal. I gave you these red eyes. Don’t ever forget that.”
I can’t.
“I trusted you. And you betrayed me in the worst way imaginable. You sacrificed my trust to join our sworn enemies. You understand that such behavior cannot go unpunished.”
I understand.
Though his words caused my mind to erupt in panic, I couldn’t help but wonder how in hell they’d managed to penetrate Aviary so quickly.
“Oh, Kiev,” his voice replied in my head, having read my mind. “You should know better than to underestimate the cunning of the Elders after so many years under my wing. We have our ways… but I have more important matters to set your mind on now.”
My body moved toward the bars and my head turned from side to side, surveying the prison. The witch recoiled, her eyes wide with shock.
“You want to escape this place, don’t you? Well, I’ve come to rescue you, my son. Fear not. We’ll find a way out of here…”
My father moved my body to the darkest corner of the cell. I sat rigidly upright for what felt like hours. From the translucent appearance of their eyes, the other vampires had also been inhabited by the evil spirits that called themselves Elders. The original vampires. Except for the female vampire opposite me. Like the witch, she cowered in a corner of her cell.
Silence engulfed the prison. The only sounds that could be heard were the wind against the trees outside and the intermittent dripping of water on wood.
Since escaping my father, I’d tried to lock away the nightmares of all the years I’d spent under his influence. Now that he had reclaimed my body, memories flooded back. An entire village slaughtered. The blood of a child soaking my hands. My love, Natalie, screaming her bruised lungs out as I tortured her to death.
It felt as if the Elder was swallowing up any glimmer of hope for redemption I had been trying to kindle in a small corner of my soul. He was pulling me down into the pit of night I was trying to clamber out of.
My ears picked up a clinking of keys in the distance, then the thudding of dozens of footsteps. I had lost all track of time, but our three days must have been up. Either that, or the hawks had decided to come for us earlier.
“Keep a close eye on them.” Arron’s voice sounded out. “Most of them are weak by now, but desperation has a way of giving strength. I’m going to see to my slave first.”
Arron unlocked the witch’s cell and pulled her out. A dozen other hawks entered my line of vision and began unlocking gates. With us in the shadows, they didn’t even notice our faces until it was too late.
I lunged forward with strength I didn’t know my body still possessed. All vampires struck at once, taking the hawks by surprise. Before he had a chance to fight back, I bit into a guard’s neck, tearing out his throat with my fangs and finishing the job with my claws.
I whirled around to see the prison in instant chaos: vampires and hawks flailing as they battled against each other, screams and shrieks piercing the atmosphere.
Arron screeched. He let go of the witch and flew toward me. I rushed forward and when we clashed, I was surprised that my already broken body didn’t shatter to pieces. My claws lashed out, aiming for his eyes. He beat his wings and, gripping both of my hands in his talons, raised me into the air. Just as Arron poised himself to strike me with his sharp beak, the haze cleared from my eyes and the chill within my bones seeped out of me.
Arron looked at me with alarm. Without warning, he let go of me. I fell ten feet to the ground.
Across the prison, the female vampire who had not yet been inhabited now stood rigidly with her eyes rolling in their sockets. My father must have seen her in a more advantageous position.
As I lay aching on the floor, Arron’s servant took advantage of the pandemonium and darted toward the exit of the prison. I forced my wrecked body to stand up. Keeping close to the wall and moving as fast as I could, I stayed within the shadows and exited the prison after her. Once out in the fresh air, I turned back to check the entrance of the prison—a square windowless building made of wood. Like all the constructions in Aviary, it had been built in the treetops, hundreds of feet above the jungle undergrowth. I heaved a sigh of relief to see that nobody had followed me yet.
My ears picked up the crack of a branch. I ran to the edge of the platform as a dark blonde head disappeared beneath the thick canopy of leaves about ten meters below. I hurled myself over the railing, hoping I wouldn’t impale myself on a sharp branch.
On falling through the upper layer of leaves, my body made contact with a thick branch that I scrambled up on before tumbling down toward the jungle’s undergrowth. The witch was still scurrying down the tree as if she hadn’t noticed me. But she was slow, and limping.
“Wait!” I hissed.
I caught up with her and she let out a small scream. I placed a hand over her mouth to stifle it.
“I am not going to hurt you.”
“Stay away from me!”