He opened the box in his hand to reveal a different golden necklace, an ouroboros still, but this one seemed to weigh more, to mean more, and I did not move an inch as he stepped around me to put the necklace on me. Somehow, as I brushed my fingers along the interlaced snakes, I felt as if Maxwell was with me.
Ridiculous. He was with me in the room, but I had the sense that I would feel his presence even if we were parted.
Which we would be if everything went according to plan.
To my surprise, Maxwell lifted my left hand and placed on it a wedding ring. The ring was grooved, and I could spy a clasp beneath the bezel, that of a black rose. Beneath the rose along the curved upraised portion was a red band. The ring itself was gold with lines of sapphires and diamonds to form many infinity symbols on either side.
I had never seen a ring like it before. Maybe it was a customary ring that vampires gave their human lovers.
I thought about making a quip as such because I was ignorant about their customs and ways. Maybe I should have researched vampires as much as I had the specific vampire standing before me.
But when I saw the look in his eyes, his expression—that of longing—that of craving—and the words died on my lips.
“With this ring,” Maxwell uttered, his voice thick with desire, “I promise that I will never be far from you.”
He truly did love me. I could doubt that no longer.
9
Not two days later, Maxwell told me that he was ready. I hadn’t even wanted to wait that long. Viktor had killed all of the vampires Maxwell had assigned to protect my aunt. It was personal now, on both of our sides, but even I knew and understood that we could not rush against Viktor or else more heads would roll, more bodies would be drained of blood.
My parents.
Pierre.
My own.
I waited until it was twilight, that hour when the day is dying and the moon is rising, when the world seemed to pause, holding its breath, waiting to see what the night might befall.
Then, I left behind the palace that had become my temporary home, and I marched along the path that I had walked before with such trepidation, and I went for a walk.
Alone.
A blue clock fluttered behind me, and I didn’t have to pretend to be in anguish. Tears flowed freely, tears for my family. Tears about the lives lost. Tears about my grief. Tears about what kind of a monster I was that I could weaken vampires with my blood.
For so long, I had been curious about who exactly Maxwell was.
Now I had a new question.
Who was I? Who was Annabel Gates?
Shadows descended all around me, and I lowered my head. I did not resist as they approached, and I could smell the blood clinging to them like perfume before the first one grabbed my arm.
“You’re to come with us,” the vampire hissed. A female. Her eyes were as red as blood.
I offered no opposition. This had been the part Maxwell feared the most. If he sent any vampires to watch over me, those sent by Viktor would deal with them first. Also, he worried that the vampires might be sent to kill me. We had no way to know if Viktor had done the killings himself or had his goons do it. Maxwell and I both assumed that Viktor would want to kill me personally, and it seemed our gamble had paid off.
The vampires grabbed me, and in the blink of an eye, I was thrown down. I slowly rose, my head down, and I lifted my gaze from the black stone floor to realize that I had not been brought to a room that contained Viktor. I had half-expected to be in a throne room, with Viktor surrounded by heads on spikes. He disgusted me, the vampire I had never met but had wronged.
Instead, I was in a cell that the vampires laughed as they locked shut.
I rushed to the bars. They were wet, and I drew back in horror at the sight of blood on my hands.
I shrieked, and the vampires laughed all the more.
“Let me out of here!” I cried, but they taunted me, telling me all about my sister and how she had died, about my aunt, about how they had discovered where my parents were. Oh, and supposedly Pierre was already dead. I didn’t want to believe it, but they called him by name.
I backed away into the corner, and my foot bumped against something. A bucket. It spilled over. Human waste. Disgusted, I jumped out of the way and almost fell. The vampires laughed even more at that, but at least they left.
Not that I wanted to be here in the first place.
I had to think of this as a holding cell, but what if it wasn’t? That bucket clearly showed that someone else had been here for a long time.
The thought made my stomach churn.
It was hard to think with the stench, and I made my way back toward the cell bars. I didn’t dare touch them this time, and I waited impatiently for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
When I finally could see, there honestly wasn’t much to see. There was a dark wall across from me and a hallway. Maybe other cells on either side, but I couldn’t be sure. I just couldn’t see enough.
I was too weak.
Too vulnerable.
Too easily exposed.
I tightened my hand into a fist. As much as I wanted to rage and scream and cry, I didn’t. For many reasons.
One, I wouldn’t give Viktor the satisfaction.
Two, I wanted to be captured. While I didn’t want to be in the cell, I was in Viktor’s clutch, which was ideal.
And three, I had tears to shed
