AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I need a stiff drink—about a dozen of them. The thought makes my stomach lurch and I bolt from my coffin at top speed.
JOSIE
I fall into a deep, exhausted sleep in the car on the way home from the masquerade ball. I gave the battle everything I had and am wrung out. Two days…I have two days before I have to pull it together and face them all again.
My eyes crack open for a moment while Finn carries me to my suite. I vaguely remember him peeling off the tatters of my dress to lay me into my bed and tuck me in.
Such a gem, my Celt.
And then I’m sucked deep into the oblivion of a body that has nothing left to give. I’m not sure how long I’m lost to exhaustion before images of blood and death anchor themselves in my mind.
It must be the aftereffects of the trial that have my dreams so twisted up.
Foreign images tumble in a bizarre and muddy kaleidoscope in my mind. At first, I’m in an ornate bedchamber. I’ve never seen it before, but it has a haunting allure that my dream self recognizes immediately…and with a roiling sense of dread.
Deep, velvety shadows cling to the walls like a tangible secret and in the center, a grand canopy bed draped in rich, crimson silk. The bedding stands as a stark contrast to the otherwise muted tones, its posts carved from dark, ancient wood that whispers of centuries passed.
The peaked Gothic windows are open, and the air is heavy with the intoxicating blend of night-blooming jasmine and the faint metallic tang of blood. Somewhere in a distant part of the manse, a melancholic melody weaves its way through the corridors to us.
Us?
I see her then. The woman of the house is lounging in the bed, her flowing black hair tinged with a subtle shimmer of red. It cascades down her naked body like a dark waterfall, catching the dim light with every sinuous move. Her skin, pale and luminous as the moon, contrasts starkly with her deep, mesmerizing, icy blue eyes.
“Sebastian.”
I startle at the name, confused.
“Come lie with me, my love.” She smooths the silk sheet she lounges on and gives it a gentle pat.
I move to her without question, even as the dread within me builds. As I climb into the bed, my reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall startles me even more.
I am Sebastian—a very naked Sebastian.
Why am I dreaming I’m him?
Am I dreaming? It feels so incredibly real…like a memory more than a dream.
I sigh as her arms wrap around me, cradling me against her chest. Every muscle in my body relaxes, giving in even knowing that it won’t last.
“Bastian.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, not prepared for what comes next, but knowing it can’t be avoided. The brass handle of a knife appears clutched in my grasp, slick with thick, viscous blood that coats my hand and oozes down my forearm.
The woman looks up at me, betrayal piercing me from her gaze. “Why, Bastian? We were supposed to spend eternity in each other’s arms.”
It’s a lie. I close my eyes and hear Sabastian’s voice in my head. She never said those things.
Gentle fingers brush my cheek, and I’m forced to open my eyes. I’m kneeling in the center of the mattress, blood pooling around me, the woman—a woman I love—staring at me with horror in her gaze. “What have you become?”
It’s not real. Manon never looked at me like that. She didn’t say these things. This isn’t how that night went. “Stop!” I demand, but I can’t escape the nightmare.
“Are you sure you can trust your memory?”
I freeze as the woman’s voice chills me to my core. That’s my mother. I may have been young when she was murdered, but I could never forget. And on top of that, I’ve watched so many family movies and videos that I know I’m right.
The scene around me shifts, and suddenly I’m kneeling in the water-logged grass of Jean Lafitte Park. When I look back down, it’s my mother’s body in my arms, not the ebony-haired vampire.
Blood drips from her nose and mouth as she clings onto my arm. Her nails carve crescents into my skin, like she’s determined to drag me to the afterlife with her.
