My throat was raw from screaming. Sharp claws dug into my shoulders while the noise from the wings banged in my ears. We flew above the streets. I screamed, but it seemed that my voice had given up. No one looked up, no one spoke, and no one did more than twitch a little as the monsters soared through the skies above them. I bit and scratched and squirmed and tore, but not once did they loosen their hold. All I could do was hang on for the ride.
Then they swooped down, dropping through the sky so fast I couldn't breathe. We were at the cemetery.
They tossed me to the ground. The monsters crowded around us.
"Leave us be," Absinthe said, jerking me to my feet.
The house looked different I could've sworn it was a wooden house before but now it looked like it was made of stone. There was a big tent set up in front of the house. Beneath the tent marvelous looking folk feasted as though it was a party.
Absinthe's fingers dug into my shoulder as though determined to bruise. The thorns around the cuff area scraped across my skin with each step.
She brought me to the center of the tent, and I had to take several deep breaths to keep back the terror that was threatening to take over me. A Queen or someone who looked like a queen sat on a throne; twin girls with no feet knelt on either side of the Dark Queen, one absently playing the harp. Jay stood on the Dark Queen's right side, his clothes all black as usual. He had a necklace, a bracelet on each wrist and a belt made of dark red stones, reminding me of drops of blood. He looked magnificent, shining like a blood moon.
He was as distant as the moon and grim to the core.
On the Queen's left side, there were two more people, a man dressed in a blue so dark it was almost black and a woman in smoky orange.
I was pushed roughly to my knees. I could see Absinthe sinking down beside me.
The Queen of the dark looked down at me, lips forming into a smile. Her bright purple hair was pulled back into several, jewel-encrusted braids, and the shimmering black of her dress made her skin all the more porcelain by comparison. She was incredibly beautiful, but her smile had no real emotion. I was surprised to find myself smiling back into those cruel ice blue eyes, longing for them to light up with approval.
The air was thick with a sweetness that I faintly remembered, it made me feel giddy and unfocused. It was hard to concentrate.
"Artemis Mastersen, the dark realm would like to bestow a great honor on you." The Dark Queen's words dropped into my head the words making no sense to me in my current state of mind. "Will you accept it?"
I knew I had been asked a question and that it was very important I answer it. I tried to gather my thoughts. Icy blue eyes held mine. I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to stop the longing that was unfolding inside me. The most I could do was blink slowly.
"Maybe her silence is her answer." I heard Jay's voice from far away. There was some laughter after he spoke.
"Come closer, little one." The Dark Queen leaned forward, holding out a hand to me, and before I had time to think, I was crawling forward to grab it. The Queen ran her fingers through my hair, messing it and then smoothing it down again.
"You want to please me, don't you, little one?"
"Yes." I did. I had never wanted anything more in my life. What was wrong with me? I knew this wasn't right.
The Dark Queen smiled at that, it looked like the smile of the Grinch.
"You will please me greatly, little one if you are obedient and happy and do not question things too much. Do you understand?"
