Standing before me were two ogres—each easily five times my size. They wore nothing other than loin cloths made of animal skin around their rotund waists. Their leathery skin was a muddy brown, their dark tusks stained with… I didn’t want to know.
Before I could say a word, one of them grabbed my arm and flung me over his shoulder. He ran, and since I was hanging upside down with my stomach against his back, it was hard to even make sense of my surroundings, or where he was taking me.
Though I didn’t miss the sound of the gates clanging shut.
Finally, he stopped running and let go of me. I fell face forward onto a cold stone floor. Wincing and rubbing my head, I looked around. I was in the corner of a small empty hall—within one of the mountains, I was sure, since the walls were jagged rock. The place was poorly lit—there were only a handful of dim lanterns for the whole room.
Keys clanked behind me and I turned around to look at the ogre. He was standing outside a large door, fumbling to open it. When he managed it, we were hit by a wave of screams echoing through the darkness.
He swung me over his shoulder again as he entered through the door and began walking down a staircase.
“Wait!” I shouted over the noise. “I need to speak to your king.”
He made a sound that sounded halfway between a grunt and a chuckle.
He continued walking down the steps and once he reached the bottom, he lowered me to the ground again—a little more gently this time. I stood up and looked around me. We were in an enormous low-ceilinged dungeon. Every inch of it seemed to be covered with cells, except for some narrow pathways winding between them. The place reeked of sweat and mold. Again, this place was poorly lit, but I could just about make out the prisoners—all humans, it appeared. Hundreds of them.
I wondered how they could have gotten hold of so many. Though I didn’t have time to wonder for long. The ogre gripped my arm and dragged me forward. He stopped outside an empty cell and flung me in, locking the door after me.
“Wait!” I shouted again. “No! I need you to take me to your king.”
The ogre’s laugh was more pronounced this time.
“Why would the king waste his time on you?”
“I’ve come to offer my services, but I need to speak to him specifically… please. Tell him I want a meeting.”
He rolled his eyes and walked off. I prayed that he’d do as I had requested.
Now that the ogre was gone, I looked more carefully around at the prisoners. I realized that they were all female. Perhaps the men are kept separately in yet another dungeon.
The dungeon door slammed shut. The ogre had left. The screams of the women died down. But the cries didn’t. That was when I realized how many women were cradling babies. And those who weren’t appeared pregnant.
I gasped and my knees weakened.
The rumors are true.
I sank to the floor. As I sat there, I realized that since I had no magic, I was really no different than any of these human women.
Except that I’d entered these gates of hell by choice.
Chapter 3: Kiev
I could diagnose most human illnesses. But I had lived for centuries and had never come across a vampire being sick with anything other than his own darkness.
I wondered whether the sickness could be connected to the sudden change of my eye color. I still had no idea what had caused that either. And although I was relieved that my eyes were no longer red, it unnerved me that I had no idea why.
After the migraine and coughing persisted for three days in a row, I visited Matteo in his room. Lorena suggested that he might have come across a phenomenon like this in his years of experience.
To my annoyance, when Matteo opened the door, Giles, the tall blond haired vampire I’d once saved Mona from, was sitting there too. As soon as he saw me enter, his cordial expression turned into a scowl.
I eyed him and looked at Matteo. “I need to speak to you. Privately.”
Matteo nodded to Giles, who shot me a glare. “How about Kiev waits until I finish my conversation with you?”
“No, I think we’re done anyway, Giles. What did you want, Kiev?”
Giles made sure to shove against my shoulder as he headed out. I restrained the urge to punch him in the mouth. Instead I sat down in Giles’ place.
I looked at Matteo.
“Have you ever come across a vampire who was… ill? I mean physically sick. The sensation of a migraine in your head. Coughing blood.”
His expression was enough to tell me that he hadn’t.
“You’re experiencing these symptoms?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I got up abruptly to leave. I still felt guilty for what I’d put Matteo through every time I looked him in the eye, and since he obviously couldn’t help with this, I didn’t want to waste his time with my personal issues.
I left the room and shut the door.
“Serves you right for driving Mona out.”
Giles appeared from around the corner of the corridor as soon as I emerged.
The grating tone of his voice combined with my headache was more than enough to make me snap. I wrestled him to the ground and began to shower his face with punches.
Matteo’s door opened.
“What the hell is this?” Matteo shouted. “Cut it out.” I felt his hands around my waist as he yanked me off Giles. “Get lost, Kiev. And Giles, watch your mouth. You two…”
I shot one last glare at Giles before rushing out of the tunnels. I didn’t stop running until I’d reached the beach and dipped my feet in the ocean. The sea air calmed my migraine slightly, but it couldn’t dull the unnerved feeling this strange illness was causing me.
I decided that it was safer if I stayed outside the walls of the settlement, at least for the moment. I would be less likely to slice through Giles’ throat. I didn’t trust myself at all right now. The pain eating away at me made it difficult to think straight.
I didn’t return to the tunnels that night. It felt better lying down in the open, on the beach.
Though the migraine made my body crave sleep, the pain didn’t allow it. Lying down in one place only made me think more about the pain, so over the next few nights, I went for walks around the island—outside of the walls, away from all the people and noise. And to shelter from the sun during the day, I stayed in a cave I’d managed to find.
Lorena came out to see me, but even her I didn’t feel like spending time with. The sound of anyone’s voice set a rattle off in my head and made it more unbearable.
Finally, one evening as I was doing my rounds around the island, Matteo approached me.