She shrugs, her voice sultry with meaning. “For the ritual.”
The strong scent of her perfume floats over and fills my nostrils. I straighten my spine and my voice rings out clear and loud. “The ritual cannot be done if I do not agree to it.”
“Yes, that’s right. Would you not like to see Rocco?”
My jaw drops in shock. “Is he here?”
She smiles again, a condescending, knowing smile. “Of course.”
“Yes, I would like to see him,” I whisper.
“I will take you to him, but look, the clouds have passed and you can see the moon. Isn’t it beautiful?”
I don’t turn to look. “Please take me to see him, Isadora.”
“Follow me.” She turns and goes out of the room.
I hesitate for a second, then I run barefoot after her. She moves extraordinarily fast through the castle and I have to run to keep up. My stomach is churning with sick dread as I tail her down stone steps past gloomy gray walls. There are heads of animals mounted on the walls. They stare balefully at me. We get to the main part of the castle and I can see how vast the main living room is. It has a great big fire roaring in a massive stone fireplace that is so big it is almost like a small room. There is a long dining table and a feast is set out on it. In the middle is a roasted suckling pig with an orange in its mouth.
She turns to me and winks. “We are having human guests after the ritual. Obviously, you’re invited.”
An icy finger of fear runs down my spine. I am not sure what she means, but no matter how I look at it, it makes me feel cold with dread. We pass the ground floor and go down a circular set of steps. It seems as if we are going right into the bowels of the castle. Here the stonework is rough and there is a strange smell in the air. All of a sudden she comes upon a door, stops, and turns to me.
“Here we are.” Then she opens the door and walks in.
The floor is cold beneath my feet. I take a deep breath and come what may, follow her. I gasp at the scene before my eyes. In the lights of thousands and thousands of candles I see that we are in a large cavern-like space. The sweet smell of incense is thick in the air, and the walls consist of orange brown rock. At the far end of the space there is an altar with a thick wooden slab of dark wood on it.
Rocco is lying on it and his eyes are closed. There are metal shackles around his leg and wrists.
I fly to him and throw my arms around his chest. “I’m so sorry I left the house,” I sob.
“Listen carefully,” he whispers. “You have no choice now but to go through with the ritual, but afterwards I will make sure that none of them ever takes another human life.”
I raise my head and look into his eyes.
“Did you understand what I said?”
I nod.
He smiles encouragingly at me. “Don’t be frightened. It’ll be okay. I’ll never leave your side.”
“I love you,” I gasp.
“I love you too, Autumn… so much.”
A shadow moves in my peripheral vision and I swing my head fearfully in that direction. To my shock I see Zelena. My eyes widen with astonishment. “What are you doing here?”
“She’s here to carry out the ritual,” Rocco’s sister drawls.
Suddenly, I realize what that statement actually means and I shake my head in disbelief. I stupidly sent her a goodbye note because I truly cared about her, but she told them I was leaving. I grasp the pendant she gave me, rip it from my neck, and fling it towards her. It hits her belly and falls at her feet. Still she does nothing. Says nothing. For some weird reason her betrayal really cuts. I had trusted her implicitly.
“You betrayed me,” I scream. “For what? Thirty pieces of silver?”
“Immortality. That’s what is on offer tonight,” Rocco’s sister answers for her, looking at me with avid eyes. It is almost as if she enjoys seeing me hurt and in pain.
I ignore her and turn to Zelena. “Are you going to become one of them? Hunt humans down and suck their blood?”
Rocco’s sister laughs. “After tonight you’ll be one of us too, little sunshine. To be honest I really can’t wait to see how high and mighty you are when the thirst for human blood comes upon you.”
“I’m not going to give in,” I say through clenched jaws.
She throws her head back and laughs uproarious. “Tell her, little brother. Tell her what it’s like.”
“If you want her to be willing you sure are going about it the wrong way,” he snarls at her.