Chapter 4
I tried to adjust to the darkness, but it was a physical thing, smothering me with the weight of its emptiness. The stone walls seemed to close in tighter with each passing minute, and the air itself tasted stale, thick with the scent of dampness and old death. The faint echoes of distant chains and the scurrying of something in the shadows only made it worse.
I tugged at the rough fabric of my dress, too tight and too cold against my skin. My thoughts raced, desperate to cling to something, anything that could pull me from this nightmare. Marcus had thrown me into the dungeons without a second thought, and now I was nothing more than a shadow—forgotten and discarded.
But I couldn’t forget.
My parents. The mere thought of them had driven me here, driven me into the very heart of this monstrous place. There had to be a reason Marcus had reacted the way he did. I had seen something in his eyes—something more than the icy indifference of a king. There was a flicker, a shadow of recognition, maybe even curiosity, before he had cast me aside like all the others.
But why?
My throat tightened, as if even my thoughts were an offense to this place.
I couldn’t stop replaying the moment I stood before him. The way he had moved—like a storm personified. With every step he took, the room seemed to quake with power. The cold beauty of his form, the silvery gleam of his eyes… there was no denying his dominance, and yet, under that terrifying control, I had felt an almost imperceptible thread of something else—something I couldn’t define.
And his words. His dismissive cruelty, but also, beneath that, something else—an unfamiliar tension when I had mentioned my parents.
I sighed, pressing my palm against the cold stone wall. Get it together, Tess, I told myself. Panic wasn’t going to help anyone.
But my pulse refused to slow. My mind was caught in the same looping cycle: Why had I come here? To find answers, yes, but what kind of answers? Did I really expect to find the truth about my parents in a place like this?
The sound of approaching footsteps brought me back to the present with a jolt. My muscles tensed instinctively, my heart stuttering. Were they coming back to mock me? Or worse… to kill me?
The door to my cell creaked open with an eerie slowness, the hinges whining under the weight of centuries-old neglect. I squinted into the dark corridor outside, but the dim torchlight from the far hall only served to deepen the shadows around me.
A figure stepped into the doorway.
It was a vampire—tall, with the same unnerving pale skin and cold elegance that seemed to mark all of them. But this one was different. His face was more angular, more severe than Marcus’s, but his eyes… they were softer. Almost human.
"You're not dead yet," the vampire said, his voice laced with quiet amusement.
I tried to push myself up from the stone floor, brushing the dirt from my hands. "What do you want?" My voice cracked, but I forced it steady.
He stepped closer, a faint smirk playing at his lips. “Curious. Not many humans manage to hold onto their spirit after meeting our king.”
I narrowed my eyes. "You’re one of his… guards?"
He tilted his head, as if considering my question. “Something like that. I am, however, here to deliver a message.”
My heart skipped a beat. “A message?”
“From the king,” he confirmed, his silver eyes glinting with some hidden amusement. “He doesn’t take kindly to being disobeyed, you know.”
“I didn’t—” I stopped myself, biting back the words. I was tired of defending myself.
He chuckled darkly. “The king doesn’t care much for your excuses. He’s not interested in your reasons. But perhaps,” he paused, letting the silence stretch, “you can make him interested.”
“Make him?” I echoed, unable to keep the skepticism from my voice. “How?”
The vampire’s smile widened. "Ah. That’s the interesting part." He stepped forward, the weight of his gaze making my skin prickle. “The king doesn’t take kindly to humans meddling in things they don’t understand, especially when those humans think they know better than the rules of our world. But... he doesn’t punish curiosity outright. No, no. That would be too easy. You’re not the first human to wander here seeking answers. There have been... others.”
I straightened, narrowing my eyes. “What do you mean, others?”
The vampire’s smile faded just slightly, a flicker of something darker passing through his expression. “They came seeking answers, too. But they were... unprepared for the cost. And that, little human, is where you are right now.”
“What cost?” I demanded, my voice sharper now. “What are you talking about?”
He took a step back, eyes still locked on mine. “You want to understand your parents, yes? You want the truth? Be careful what you wish for. The truth has a price, and you might not like the way it’s delivered.”
He turned then, pausing just before the door. “But I’m not here to answer your questions, Tess. I’m here to tell you that the king has decided… he wants to see you again. Soon. If you still have the courage to face him.”
The door slammed shut with a finality that left my mind spinning.
Marcus wanted to see me again?
The vampire’s cryptic words clung to me like a shadow, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever I had stepped into, I had only just begun to understand its depth. The vampire king wasn’t just a ruler; he was a force that had been pulling invisible strings all along.
And now I was tangled in them.
Would I have the strength to unravel it all? Or would the truth destroy me before I could even try?
The chill of the dungeon seeped deeper into my bones as I sat down against the cold stone wall. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for what was to come.
Because, one way or another, the truth was coming.