Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

CALLISTO

My mood plummets the moment Silas leaves. I didn't even get to dance with him. Instead, I'm whipped around in a dance by a woman who is significantly taller than the men and women around us.

"You have such mighty dancing skills," I say as I'm yanked this way and that. She just laughs like she's embarrassed before nearly ripping my arm off as I'm whipped into the next position—at least it makes it look like I know what I'm doing for once.

King Samuel starts clapping wildly, and I slowly look over at him while wondering what he's so happy about. The confused expressions of others looking toward him tell me that they also don't know.

"Is… he alright?" the woman I'm with asks.

"Well, he has like three wives and four concubines, so maybe having to please them all finally broke him down," I say.

She laughs but it really doesn't answer why the king is so damn happy.

He starts clapping harder. "Yes! Yes! Perfect! Magnificent!"

"Honey?" one of his wives says as she reaches for him. He pushes her back hard enough that she falls. Then he rises and keeps clapping as he climbs down the steps and rushes toward me.

"Are you ready for this?" he asks as I realize that his eyes have gone black, very much like they had when the darkness had overtaken us. His guards slide in behind him, eyes as black as the king's, and an uneasy feeling seeps into the pit of my stomach.

"I… fear that I have no damn idea what I'm ready for?" I mutter as I nervously step back until I bump into my very own guard—the one that'd been too drunk to notice anything I did on my own. Funnily enough, he doesn't seem to be all that interested in protecting me as he holds me still to keep me from escaping.

A dark light flashes across the ground as someone screams and others begin to panic. They rush for the doors but the king's guards block them to keep them from fleeing.

"Don't fret, don't fret. I just need a bit of blood and it'll all be perfect," he says as he reaches for me. I turn as the guards block me in. Because my attention is on them, I don't notice what the king is doing until pain tears into my side.

I jerk back as the king draws the bloody blade out of my side and holds it above himself while chanting something in a tongue I don't recognize. And then with a smile consuming his face, he tosses the blade onto the ground. The mist seeps out of the ground, rushing for it, but the moment it reaches it, it jerks back, like my blood has burned it.

The king roars out, anger filling his expression as he lunges for me. "HOW DARE YOU?"

The guards holding on to me cry out as they stumble back, trying to escape my poison reaching for them. The mist rushes from the ground, tearing down the people who'd been enjoying the ball as I twist free and run for the exit. The door is blocked and they're clearly waiting for me to reach them.

I could kill them… I could do it… but something is wrong with them. And what if they're being possessed or cursed or something? What if I kill innocent men?

The small white ball that Silas had gotten me flutters out of my shirt and bounces up toward a window that I hadn't seen was open. I shove one of the tables against the wall and clamber up it as a guard grabs me and tears me off. I slam down on my back as I see a man crawling along the floor become consumed by the mist, his body freezing and turning to what looks like stone.

I kick the guard off me and rush back to the window. This time, I make it through, but the drop on the other side sends me falling into a bush that I tumble out of. I rush toward the stable as I hear the door open behind me. All I know is that I need to get the fuck out of here, but when I look back, the mist is seeping out along the ground like it's seeking me; it wants me, and I have no fucking idea why. What the hell did I ever do to it?

I need to get away, but to pull a horse from its stall and get a bridle on it would take too long. And without a bridle I doubt I could direct it anywhere.

My eyes land on the cage with the beast inside it.

Then again… if I had something that wanted to get away…

Fuck.

I rush to the cage and pull the key out, smearing blood across it as I hear the guards moving toward me. Screams escape from the doors that are now busted open and people are spilling out, but most aren't quick enough before they're turned to stone. The key is hard to hold on to between my bloody fingers, but I manage to cram it in and twist it. The lock falls as I grab the top of the cage and climb onto it. The guards are drawing closer as the ground beneath me begins to shake.

Are even the mages after me or is it something else?

The beast is going wild inside his crate as I fling the door open and when he shoots out, I drop down onto his back, settling down in the saddle so he doesn't lose me. The pain tears into my side and I have to grit my teeth against it as I sink my fingers into his fur to hold on. The beast rushes toward the guards instead of away as I question whether I've made a fucking mistake. He tears two down, but the call of freedom must be too much because he bolts away as I'd hoped he would.

Dandelion feels nothing like a horse, his gait is so different, but he's running and that's all I care about. Instead of going for the gate, he reaches the wall and springs up, nearly unseating me since I hadn't expected it. His nails dig into the tall stone wall, scrambling up it with a struggle. He's thin and weak but determined as he heaves himself up the wall and over. He lands on the other side and keeps running.

What the fuck is happening? What the fuck do I do? What have I done?

I want to go back for Silas. I want to tell Silas what's happening, but right now, they seem determined to kill me . And… I really don't want to die.

Dandelion reaches the city gate which he races through, out into the open… out into freedom. He's running away from where I need to go, but he's running and that's all I care about. I tightly hold my hand against the wound in my side as he moves into the trees. He pays no mind to me, only caring about his own height and width, forcing me to dodge branches and pull my legs back to avoid my knees being bashed against the trees. And the moment he breaks out on the other side, he twists hard and slams the metal muzzle over his face against my leg. Pain tears into it as he rocks back hard, twisting as he tries to rip me off. When he realizes that he can't simply fling me from his back, he throws himself down onto his side, slamming me down to the ground so hard the air is knocked out of me. Having been knocked from the saddle, I try to roll up, but he's instantly on me, ripping me to the ground as his muzzle crashes into me. Without it, I'm confident he'd have killed me by now.

"Please, stop! I want to help you! Please. We need to get away. Please!" I yell as I struggle to my feet when he swipes his claws through the air, tearing into my chest and knocking me against a tree that digs into my back.

Quickly, I dodge the next strike, but it's apparent he's determined to kill me, and he's going to do anything it takes to do so.

"Please. I don't want to kill you," I beg. "Please!"

I dodge a hit as his claws rip open a tree before cracking it. I'm on my hands and knees, faint from the pain as he slams into me. I wrap a hand around his neck, pulling him in close as I can feel the wounds from the whippings and the ill-fitting tack. I can smell the infection and blood coming from him and wish he would have just left. Why couldn't he have run away? And instead, he's forcing me to be another who has hurt him.

"I'm sorry you've had such a horrible life. I really, really wanted to save you. I wanted to show you how good of a life you could have… but I also don't want to die," I say as I press my lips against his fur. "Please," I whisper into it as my fingers sink deep into it. "I don't want to kill you."

Dandelion staggers but even while dying, he's prepared to fight. He won't stop fighting. He struggles… then staggers and crashes down on top of me as my poison takes hold of him, his chest heaving.

I need to get up, but he's pinned my legs down and the pain is too much. The clothes that I'd been stuffed into are stained red and torn open from the knife and his claws.

I need to get up. I need to get away… I need… to do something.

The little red bird that'd delivered the message to me just yesterday watches me for a moment before it lands on my chest. It cocks its head.

"Tell him… I'm sorry," I say.

The bird hops once as I push it back, smearing blood over its feathers. It turns and takes flight before disappearing into the dark night sky.