He’s still alive. At least that much I should be grateful for. I don’t have to add him to the list of deaths I’m responsible for.
But how is he still alive?
Is it the spell cast over this place that is protecting him?
Or is it that the curse automatically reversed once I’d returned to Rhys?
And how the hell is Kiev here? Why did he leave Matteo’s island? Would he have betrayed Matteo and Saira—after all they did for him—and joined these vampires?
Why have his eyes turned back to red?
Who was that beautiful young woman sitting next to him?
My head began to throb from all the questions and speculations.
I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn’t notice a shadow approaching me from behind. It was only when a man cleared his throat that I whirled around. On seeing Kiev, I jerked to a standing position so violently that I lost my footing and fell backward into the sea.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” I spluttered, spitting water out of my mouth and brushing my sopping wet hair out of my face as I scrambled to my feet.
“I could ask the same of you,” he said, his baritone voice expressionless. He stood still, arms crossed over his chest, his blood-red gaze fixed on me.
What do I tell him?
A part of me urged to just reveal the truth to him. But another part of me doubted that that was the best way to repel him, to get him to never want to speak to me again—hell, even look at me—which was what my only goal in this encounter had to be.
I stood in silence, just staring at him, for several moments as the war inside me raged on. Finally the rational side of me won over, and although it ripped me apart, I knew that there was no other way.
“I’m here because of Rhys,” I said. “My lover.”
Kiev’s mask broke for but a moment—his lips parting ever so slightly—before he composed himself again.
“I see,” Kiev said. “I suppose he’s the reason you left too.”
I nodded, gulping back the lump in my throat.
“Well, I won’t take up any more of your time.”
Without another word, he turned on his heel and disappeared back into the shadows.
That’s it?
I stood in shock, staring at his footprints in the sand. I couldn’t believe he’d gone.
Just like that.
That certainly went faster than I had expected.
An empty feeling swelled in the pit of my stomach. And then bitter disappointment fell upon me. He’d heard my answers, yet he hadn’t stayed long enough to answer my questions.
I didn’t have much time to brood though, because Rhys’ voice drifted through the woods.
“Mona?”
He appeared on the beach moments later. He stood frowning at the sight of me.
“Why are you soaking wet?”
“I took a dip in the sea. I was feeling… claustrophobic.”
He walked up to me, muttered a few words beneath his breath and I was completely dry within a second. I could tell my erratic behavior was aggravating him now. He didn’t speak another word to me as he marched me back to the castle. As we walked, his grip was tighter than usual.
We walked back into the main hall. Everyone had cleared out by now—I assumed to start preparing for the night’s ritual—except three vampires in the corner. Kiev appeared to be deep in conversation with the pretty vampire and another handsome male vampire sitting next to him.
I groaned quietly.
“You left before I could introduce you to the Novalics—leaders of this island.” Rhys led me over to their corner. “These are the Novalic siblings,” he announced once we’d arrived next to them.
Oh. Ohhh. She’s his sister.
“Erik, Helina and… I don’t believe we’ve met before?” Rhys stared at Kiev.
“No,” Kiev said curtly.
“Our brother arrived just recently, Rhys,” Erik said, jumping in. “He’s already been initiated though.”
Rhys nodded slowly, and reached his hand out to shake Kiev’s. Kiev gripped it, though the twitch in his jaw didn’t escape my notice.
I shook hands with Erik and Helina. Then I shook Kiev’s hand, withdrawing it perhaps a little too sharply. His touch felt like white-hot fire to my bare skin.
“You haven’t introduced yourself,” Kiev said, something dangerous sparking in his eyes.
“Mona,” I muttered, feeling the blood rise in my cheeks. I guessed that he was now going to go out of his way to make things as difficult for me as possible. “A… a pleasure to meet you all.”
I was relieved when we retreated to our rooms to get ready. As Rhys and I changed into our cloaks, neither of us exchanged a word. Rhys I was sure was preparing for the ritual we were about to perform.
My heart started to race again as we neared the cave on the beach. I knew that Kiev was due to be there.
But although I was sitting opposite from him across the cave the whole evening, he didn’t glance at me once. Although nobody was supposed to speak during a ritual, I caught him whispering to the redhead, Tiarni, who was sitting next to him, more than a few times.
Once the ritual was over, he walked away with her into the woods.
I realized then that I’d been so consumed with what Kiev had been doing, I had barely batted an eyelid as a human had been brutalized by a vampire barely a few feet away from me. He lay shaking on the floor, blood gushing from his neck, caught in the agony of mid-transformation. When a witch gathered up his blood in glasses and passed it round to all of us. I drank up, barely noticing.
I should be relieved Kiev’s acting as though I don’t exist now. This is the best outcome given the circumstances.
So why is it that all I feel is pain?
Chapter 24: Mona
As I woke up to pitch blackness the following morning, my eyelids felt sore from a night of silent crying. I groaned, untangling myself from Rhys’ sleeping form, and made my way over to the balcony doors. Opening them, I took deep breaths of the fresh sea air, relishing the relief it brought me.
The chill woke Rhys up.
“Come here,” he muttered.
I crawled back into bed. He drew me against his chest and intertwined our legs. Placing his wide palm over my forehead, he stroked it gently.
“What is it about this place that has you so restless?”
I was unsure how to answer.
“Is there someone here who’s causing you to be nervous?”
That last question hit far too close to home for comfort. If I paused for too long he’d know I wasn’t being truthful with him. So, instead, I reached my hands into his thick hair and pulled myself on top of him. Placing my legs either side of his waist, I kissed him full on the mouth.