I chuckled, and she gave a small smile.
Standing there amidst all the darkness and horror of this place only made her shine more fiercely, golden and bright. I’d have loved her no matter what she looked like, but it felt particularly poetic that she should gleam like sunrise when placed beside the horrors of my past.
Behind us, a door creaked open, and a slice of orange light cut across the floor.
I turned and spotted Remington, who said, “The Master will see you now.”
4
Carrow
I followed Grey from the room, shying away from Remington as we walked past him. The guy gave me the creeps in the biggest way. I couldn’t tell if he was a vampire or something else, but his magic made spiders crawl up my spine, and I wanted a scalding shower as soon as I got out of there.
Silviu’s castle was the worst place I’d ever been, and I’d been to the Tower dungeons.
Grey stuck close to my side as we entered a long dining room. The ceiling soared overhead, skylights revealing bright white bursts of lightning. Tall windows cut through the stone walls, their edges trimmed in ornately carved black stone. The same terrible paintings watched us from the walls, the images indiscernible to my eye.
If I had to guess, I’d say they were people screaming. It didn't matter that I couldn’t decipher the images. I could feel them.
An enormous rectangular table filled the middle of the room, laid with dozens of gold place settings and ornate candelabra dripping with black wax. At the far end of the table, a man sat.
I stutter stepped at the sight of him.
Could I really call him a man?
Not quite.
I’d once thought of Grey as the Ice Man—so cold and beautiful that he couldn’t be real.
I’d been wrong.
This was the Ice Man, but he was made of something that could only be found at the farthest reaches of outer space. So cold and hard and beautiful that it hurt to look at him—and that wasn’t hyperbole. It actually hurt my eyes, some kind of strange magic that was the worst I’d ever felt. He was so pale that he looked like snow, his eyes an almost translucent silver. Platinum hair flowed from his head, and it could have been beautiful if it didn’t make me think of cutting my hands if I touched it.
Two beautiful women sat at either side of the table, positioned right at the corners. Compared to him, they glowed with life and vitality. Both had skin of warm gold and hair of copper. Brilliant blue eyes met mine, and I couldn’t help but notice the twin pinpricks on their necks.
Fang marks.
Silviu waved his hands, and they stood, moving gracefully from the room in their sleek ballgowns.
Did they need rescuing?
Somehow, I thought not.
I was good at reading people, and there was no d
istress in them.
Silviu turned his gaze to us, and I barely resisted flinching under the icy stare. It hurt like hell—pain that radiated from my skin into my bones, as if he were literally shooting daggers with his eyes.
“Devil.” His voice was low and deep, yet icy all the same. “It has been a long time.”
“Indeed it has.” Grey did not incline his head, but his voice bore no malice.
“And whom do you bring to my castle?”
“My mate.” He didn't say my name, and I appreciated it.
Silviu’s eyebrows rose, and something flickered in his eyes. Envy, maybe, followed by irritation. A half second later, his expression was as bland as it had been when we’d entered. He gestured to the table. “Please, sit.”