Chasing Demons (Book 2) Rated R

Chapter 30

I was quite miffed today.

And miffed was a word I'd learned from Luke, the scholar, that meant very, very annoyed.

Miffed that Christian had wormed his way out of my bed in the early hours of the morning like a coward.

Miffed that I'd been holed up in a room for the past three days.

Miffed that I might be having a child at the worst possible moment in time.

And miffed because I was hungry as hell.

Olga had not stopped by this morning with her usual fuss about breakfast and going outside for fresh air.

And as I descended the double-staircase within Dannek Castle's foyer, I noticed all was exceptionally quiet. The normal bustle of servants and of Christian's lords, who had frequented the palace after the attack, was nowhere to be found.

I took a sharp left, strolling down a long hallway, my fingertips brushing the papered walls.

They were lined in textured, cream-colored wallpaper with a pattern of gold roses intertwined. Very mild and subdued for a vampire castle.

As I strolled the halls, I could see a woman's touch every now and then--most likely Anca's. I couldn't imagine Christian having the mind or the time to put out flowers.

Beautiful, ornate vases filled with fresh blue wildflowers were scattered about. On tables, on desks, in giant potted plants through the walkways.

Following the trail of flowers, I reached a sunroom, warm and rectangular, with a set of wooden French doors leading outside. There were potted plants and bags of soil propped against a wall. At the farthest end of the room was a table, with pruning shears and gardening gloves resting atop it.

Indeed, when I stepped outside, I was deposited into a garden.

It was clear that someone had tended to it with love.

Burlap bags had been set over the most delicate of the flowers, to protect them from the ever-waning winter.

In some areas, the bags had been pulled back. Because spring was here, and it was evident in the way the flowers bloomed. More of those blue wildflowers covered the garden along with morning glory in assorted colors: pink, purple, and red.

I followed the stone edge of Dannek castle toward the sound of voices and commotion.

I rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a sprawling mountain pass, already brighter green than frost-bitten-yellow.

The sun beat down, and golden rays blanketed the gathered crowd.

No, not a crowd. At least not of the living sort.

Littered across the flat, grassy plain, lay thousands of bodies.

Dead bodies.

They stretched toward the horizon, wrapped in white linens, their noses ghostly outlines. Several servants milled around them, walking down the aisles of bodies.

Now I realized why Olga had not come.

I stared on in horror as one servant sprinkled a body with dirt--or something that looked like it. As if folding in on itself, the body shrunk and dissolved until all that was left was a cloud of fine dust, picked up and swept away by the wind.

My body lurched in a visceral, unconscious reaction.

Bile rose in my throat as I wonder what or who I tasted on the wind.

I threw my hand out to catch myself against the stone.

I could hear my heavy pants in my ears as the world narrowed, became dark and small and suffocating.