I glanced out one of the windows. The late-fall sunlight had taken on an orange hue as the sun sank down to the horizon. Strange. How had it been only eighteen hours since the events at my childhood home? It felt more like Aurelius had been gone for days, a week even.
“Yeah,” I said wearily. “I’m gonna turn in.”
“Cool.” Rasp and Vince exchanged an awkward glance. “Uh, I think either Vince, or I will?-“
“Sure, sure. You gotta make sure I don’t sneak out and do something crazy. Got it.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Rasp asked as we came to my door a few moments later.
“Not really,” I said, shrugging one shoulder. “But I’ll survive. Good night.”
“Night,” he said and waved. “I’ll hang out here in the hall if you need anything.”
“Great. Thanks.” I shut the door and leaned against it, sighing heavily.
It didn’t surprise me that Delphine wasn’t in the room. She was most likely off having dinner somewhere or reading in the library. I didn’t feel like talking and decided to actually go to bed early. Then, whenever she did get back to the room, I’d already be asleep.
By the time I slipped under the covers, night had fully fallen outside, and the darkness lulled me to sleep. The stress and mental exhaustion were too much, and I slipped under within seconds of my head touching the pillow, sliding into a strange and feverish dream.
“Take my hand,” Aurelius said, extending his arm toward me.
I tried to grab his fingers, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t. My hands swept through his as if he were made of smoke or fog.
“Hurry!” he cried. “Grab on.”
Dragon wings sprouted from his back, and his eyes transformed from the beautiful blue orbs I’d come to know so well to flickering balls of fire. Like two small braziers that radiated heat and light from within his face.
“They’re coming,” he said, and his voice sounded like gravel raining on stone.
Before I could respond, the door burst open, wood exploding inward. The shards morphed into glass before exploding into a fine, blood-red mist. Wolves stampeded through the shattered doorway, mouths open, jaws slavering, and eyes baleful with hate and hunger. In seconds, they were on Aurelius, teeth tearing at his flesh.
For some reason, he couldn’t shift. All he could do was cry out in pain as piece after piece of his body was torn away in great bloody chunks. Yet, like Prometheus of myth, each torn shred of flesh regrew the moment it was gone, leaving him in perpetual agony.
“Aurelius,” I screamed and tried to run forward, but my feet sank into the ground.
The solid, granite flagstones had become soft and mushy, like quicksand sucking at my feet, pulling them in to the ankles. Aurelius was still screaming in pain, and the sounds of the wolves feeding made me sick with terror and fear.
Pressing my hands to the ground, I wrenched my feet up, tearing them free with a wet, slurping sound. I rushed forward and rammed the group of wolves with my shoulder. They went flying like bowling pins, and I was finally able to take Aurelius’s hand.
He looked at me with those flaming eyes, sadness and betrayal in his expression. “You left me. You left me to die.”
Shaking my head rapidly, I squeezed his hand. “No! I didn’t mean to. I thought you were right behind us.”
Aurelius reached forward, caressing my cheek. “You were gone.”
“I wanted to stay,” I said, tears brimming in my eyes.
“But you didn’t,” he muttered, shaking his head.
Before I could say more, a massive wolf clamped its jaws around him, nearly swallowing him whole, and dragged him off into darkness.
“No!”
I sprinted after him, but the giant wolf was too fast. I had to get to him. Thinking it might be quicker, I began to leap forward, jumping in giant frog-like hops, floating through the air with each jump. Still, I was too slow.
Maybe if I flew? That thought brought along a
Peter Pan
-esque floating sensation, and I floated through the shadowy darkness toward the sounds of Aurelius screaming.
The shadowy, murky surroundings opened into a large room. The glass ceiling glittered with light, and a massive cast iron cage stood in the center of the room. Aurelius sat hunched over inside it, his hair dirty and matted, a scraggly beard covering his face. His flaming eyes were gone now-only dark pits remained, as if the fire had gone out of his soul. He turned those black, soulless cavities upon me, and didn’t smile at the sight of me.
“I’m here because of you,” he said. “All this is because of you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I cried as I rushed to the cage.
With trembling fingers, I tried to pry the bars apart, but they wouldn’t give. It was like trying to bend the world itself.
Aurelius reached through the bars and put his hands on mine. Looking up, I locked my gaze on the black bottomless pits that were his eyes.
“I’ll save you,” I said, my eyes burning with tears.
“Elle, wake up,” he said.
“If you help, we can bend these bars. Hurry, Aurelius. Please.”
“Elle, you have to wake up. Calm down. Wake up, sweetie,” Aurelius murmured, but his voice sounded strange now. Feminine in some way.
“What?”
“Wake up.”
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