Chapter 35

35

VIOLET

I've spent the last few days awake, something not unusual for me as I require less sleep than most individuals, but I can only maintain this state for so long. Tonight, I doze in the bed beside Holly. Or I attempt to—Holly snores on occasion, and this is one of them. The sound could be a pneumatic drill to my sensitive hearing so, rather than smother the girl in her sleep, I retrieve a pair of earphones, turn my back, and finally block out the noise.

My mother sided with Dorian, and did not tell me where Dashiell is located, but I know all the places on the estate where he could be, and I shall search each one until I find the shifter.

Dashiell leaves tonight. With me.

If I was at full potency magically and physically, I wouldn't bother with resting and would've begun my search for Dashiell the moment Holly's snoring started. Who knows what spell I might face when I sneak in to speak to Dashiell? Viktor may not be able to track the shifter, but I'm still suspicious whether there's a magical influence on him or not. Could I trigger something? After all, Viktor has a spell on Holly.

Still, I only take a small rest, and I spring out of bed at 1AM, pulling off the earphones as I do. Holly no longer snores, but she isn't moving. Sleeping soundly enough to miss my exit. Good. Quickly dressing, I grab my phone, and prepare to sneak away.

Wait.

I pull back from my mind's plan for blood runes in the bathroom to leave the room and attune my senses to the surroundings.

No heartbeat .

My stomach somersaults, and I'm by Holly's bedside in a second, where I discover the reason why Holly's heartbeat doesn't sound in my ears. My friend is not in the bed or the room, her pillows shoved beneath the blankets to give the appearance she's still here.

Not again.

How?

Holly isn't in the bathroom either. Heart lodged in my mouth, I rush from the room. Nobody could've taken Holly apart from my parents who have no need to, and Dorian never mentioned ‘setting her loose' too. Eloise assures me that Dorian has no plans to harm Holly, a conversation my friend thankfully did not hear. I snapped back at Eloise that the mere possibility Dorian would hurt Holly shouldn't exist.

Still, I creep across the house to my parents' rooms to check for any sign of my friend, but don't sense anything human. I've never known Holly to sleepwalk, but that was before the witch placed a spell in her mind.

A crazy idea that Holly may've visited my menagerie by night wanders into my mind, but the girl finds the house creepy enough without plunging into the pitch-black estate filled with undead creatures.

Perhaps she became thirsty? Humans do suffer dehydration at night.

If Holly left to find a glass of water, she got lost on the journey because there isn't a soul in the large, tiled kitchen. All thoughts of Dashiell evaporate as I prowl from room to room. Where on earth could the girl go? Is she lost in the Blackwood house's maze-like interior?

I pause in the dining room which still smells faintly of the meal we ate.

Oh.

Oh .

Holly wouldn't…

I march from the dining room and cross the house's wide central hallway towards the other wing, walking by the pastel blue wall where Eloise painted over the old Reznik raven crest. Nobody uses the west wing of the house, and the door between the two parts of the home is left closed, but not locked. When others visit, Dorian wards the area, but it seems that Holly doesn't count.

I step through to the wing I haven't explored since childhood. The unlit hallways infused with death weren't the best place for a child obsessed with the dead and necromancy, and my mother wasn't happy to discover my explorations. Eloise doesn't lose her temper often, but when she does, she really does. This is the old Dorian's home, where his parents trained him to hone his hybrid skills, and people died. A lot of people.

Again, a past rarely spoken about.

I asked Dorian why he didn't demolish this part of the home, especially considering what happened to Eloise inside the walls. Dorian told me he wants reminders of the past to focus on the future, and I held back from telling him how unhealthy that is.

So, the family pretends the wing doesn't exist unless they need to house unwanted guests. As we rarely have unwanted or wanted guests, the rooms aren't used much, leaving the place as dead as the visitors who never left the Rezniks.

Echoes of the evil performed here permeate the surroundings, along with a danker smell from the untouched rooms. The whole place is consumed by a familiar darkness that calls to me. I didn't answer Holly with a number of how many died within these walls because I don't know. Too many, and not only my grandparents. Hopefully the death that shrouds the place, and a ‘vibe' she'd hate, should dissuade Holly from walking in this area.

But what if the desire to see Dashiell dragged Holly from her bed and into this wing? A spell forced her to locate Dashiell and he's trapped in a room nearby?

The bedrooms are on the second floor of the wing, all with iron-barred windows from when the Rezniks kept their victims incarcerated. Dashiell must be in one of those, if that's what's happening here. I tread up the wide staircase, my footsteps muffled by the mildewed burgundy carpet, then pause the moment I turn to the left hallway.

Several doors intersperse the peeling burgundy and ivory wallpaper and wood paneling, and Holly kneels by one of them, intent on the bottom corner of the frame.

What is she doing?

Holly isn't aware of my approach, whispering to herself as she scrapes at the door frame with a knife. She's no longer in the pink and white striped pajamas she wore to bed, instead dressed in jeans and the same jacket as earlier.

Is that a rucksack beside her? I balk. Holly has managed to scratch through two runes painted into the wood frame, one on the bottom right, the other on the left.

"Good grief. What are you doing, Holly?" I ask.

Holly jerks and drops the steak knife she used at dinner then looks round at me. "Violet."

"Luckily not my father." I grab the knife.

"Give me that!" she demands.

"Explain yourself, Holly."

"I need to see Dashiell. He's in this room."

I close my eyes in despair and hold the knife behind my back. Holly tends to easily attach her emotions to good-looking males who indicate their interest in her, but Holly's obsession with Dashiell is rooted in the supernatural.

"This is beyond normal now, Holly. Why do you need to see Dashiell?"

Holly's eyes brim with tears. "I heard you talking to Dorian."

"What about? Where and when?"

"Don't be angry. I was looking for you after dinner and heard your voices. And what he said about Dash."

Oh, no. "How much did you listen to?" Because if Dorian discovers that Holly heard the conversation, including his plans and findings, my friend is in danger.

"I walked away as soon as I heard that Dorian wants to use Dashiell as bait!" Holly's jaw tightens. "That can't happen. I have to free him."

" Free him?" I shake my head at the imbecilic plan. "If, by any miracle, you succeeded in entering the room, where would you both go? Eloise drove us here; you've seen how isolated the estate is. You can't hop on the bus. The closest stop is over an hour away at a human walking pace, and it's the middle of the night."

"Dashiell can run. He's a shifter. The wilds won't bother him."

"But you can't."

Tears well in her eyes. "I know, but Dash will be free."

"How, exactly, Holly? Dashiell either betrayed a sadistic witch or he may still know something that said witch doesn't want sharing." I grip the knife tighter. "Magic exploration of minds isn't infallible."

She ignores me. "Once Dash escapes, I'll wait, and he'll find me. We can hide together."

"Good grief! Listen to yourself, Holly. You've lost all your instincts for self-preservation."

Her voice rises. "Dash is the only person I feel safe with."

"Does that place me in the unsafe category?"

"Yes," she whispers. "Dash protected me and saved my life."

I blink at her. Why do Holly's words feel as if she stabbed me with the knife? "I'm protecting you now. You're safe here."

"From Dorian?" she laughs. "Be honest."

"My father would not hurt you."

"He's terrifying!"

Hairs prickle on my neck. "What did Dorian do to you?"

"Nothing, but everything about him feels… wrong . His vibe. It's darker than yours." She swipes at her face.

"Have we not had this discussion about vibes, Holly? They're imaginary. You're suffering mentally after your experience, that's all."

With a shake of her head, Holly stands and struggles with the immovable black door handle. "Do you have a key? Can you break the wards?"

"There is no key, and I will not break the wards." I say stiffly. "I am not allowing you into that room."

I step back in alarm as Holly's sob echoes along the hallway, tears now streaking her face. "Please, Violet. Dash isn't safe. Dorian plans to kill him!"

"He does not!" The deluded girl lunges at me, attempting to take the knife, and I grab her wrists. "Holly!"

Breaths saw in and out of my friend, and I stare in horror, loosening my grip as she falls to her knees again, wailing. I've never seen anybody in this state. Ever. Even when Ollie ended their ill-fated relationship, Holly never turned into a hysterical mess.

"Haven't I been through enough?" she sobs.

I crouch down. "You're under a spell," I say and tentatively touch her warm hand. "How did you know where to find Dash, Holly? Magic . That's what's causing the infatuated need to be with the shifter."

"No!" she responds. "We're in love!"

"Good grief!" I half-shout. "Holly!"

"Dash loves me." She sniffs loudly, and I grimace at the mucus running from her nose. "Ask him!"

I stand again and look down at Holly. "If Dashiell is in that room, he is remarkably quiet for somebody who can hear the girl he loves in distress."

"You expect me to hammer on the door and shout? That'd upset her more."

Holly's head jerks up at Dashiell's disembodied voice. I take a sharp breath as she leaps to her feet and places her palm and cheek on the door. "Dash! Are you okay?"

This ludicrous situation ends now .

"Move if you want me to open the door," I snap at Holly.

She practically leaps away, and the sniffling continues as I swipe my magic and fingers across the runes. The last one fades, and I turn to Holly. "If Dashiell shows any sign of harming you, I shall slash his throat." I raise my voice. "Did you hear that, Dashiell?"

"I would never hurt her," he calls through the wood.

"Perhaps not consciously." Holly's eager eyes grow, and I open the door a crack. "Don't make me—or either of you—regret this."

I've barely finished the sentence before Holly shoves open the door and rushes into the darkened room.

Straight into Dashiell's embrace.

I'm dumbstruck as the pair cling to each other, Holly barely fitting her arms around the tall guy's waist as he holds her tight, his cheek against her hair.

"I missed you. Has anybody hurt you?" she asks, voice thick.

Dashiell gently pulls Holly away, holding her face as he looks down. "No. Are you safe?"

She nods, tear-filled eyes on his.

Then they kiss.

Kiss.

Not for long, because I grab the back of Holly's jacket and pull her halfway across the cell-like room before standing between them.

"What is really happening here?" I demand, glaring at Dashiell who's standing by a metal framed, single bed. "Who bewitched Holly?" Dash looks over my shoulder at her, his eyes soft, as if only she exists in the room. Good grief . "Who bewitched the pair of you? Is this Viktor's doing?"

"I don't know that name. I told your father over and over." Dashiell's eyes remain on Holly. "Me and Holly clicked. That's all."

" Clicked ?" I step to one side to block Holly as she moves back towards Dashiell."You're a criminal!"

"If I didn't care about Holly, would I have risked my life by attacking Sam that night? Risked my safety again by walking into the hospital?" He sighs at my disparaging expression. "You're certain someone sent me to kill Holly. I was not , and I would never, ever harm the girl I love."

"This is not logical!" I shout. "This is magic!"

"Sometimes people meet because they're destined," says Holly. " We were. Like you and your guys—if you'd never attended Thornwood, you would never have met them all."

I spin around. "So, your abduction was a good thing?"

"No! But Dash… he was meant to be there. To help me." Holly takes my hands, and I look down in horror. "Whatever happens to the others involved in my abduction, promise me nobody will hurt Dash. I'd never recover if he died."

"Oh? When Ollie ended your relationship, you swore your heart was so broken that you'd never fall in love again, yet you recovered."

Her eyes narrow. "This is different."

This is a spell. But I don't bother repeating myself. For the first time ever, I understand how other people feel when I refuse to accept their point of view.

"What if you're the one who'll kill him ?" I ask.

"That's impossible!" she protests.

I tap the side of my head. "Someone may require Dashiell's life to end in case he gives away vital information. You might be compelled to do that."

"I'll take that risk," says Dashiell flatly. "Someone will kill me either way."

"I won't let anybody murder you," Holly replies. I'd laugh at this diminutive human with her blood phobia swearing she'd protect a shifter whose hands alone are twice the size of hers, but she's serious. "And if this goes to a human court, I won't testify against Dashiell."

And his wolf pack? How would she protect Dashiell against them once he's located? The shifter is correct—he won't live to see old age.

Holly straightens and her determined eyes meet mine. "We'll prove to you this isn't a spell. We're destined to meet and fall in love. Dash is my soul mate."

I can't take any more of this. Humans and shifters can't be mates, let alone soul mates. Whatever that human ridiculousness means.

Dashiell engulfs Holly again, and the pair's breathing becomes the only sound in the room. Who is this shifter? He must have secrets nobody has yet uncovered—nobody knows where he came from.

I study him. I only feel safe with Dash . Not only does Holly's comment hurt, but it isn't true. Even though I subjected Holly to all this due to our friendship, I'm the one who can help.

I have Dashiell. I will fix this.

But am I faced with the solution to a problem here? Or am I about to create a new one?