L. The Crypt
For a vampire, Marcus was very slow.
Was it his physical age? I'd never seen a vampire as old as him… though forty wasn't exactly old. He'd moved quickly enough when we were getting to the door. I crossed my arms, trying not to show my impatience show as he opened one drawer, and then the next, and then the next, and then the next—
"What are you looking for?" I demanded. "The crypt is that way. Can we please hurry up? Edward could be burning down there—"
Marcus straightened, frowning. "You're right. I suppose this will have to do." He picked up an oil lamp hanging by the door and looked around, bemused. "Now where did I put the matches?"
He must've heard my eyes rolling in my head because in a second, he'd reached into the glass and rubbed his fingers together—so quickly that a fire lit. He pulled out his smoking fingers and blew at them. "I hate when I have to do this," he murmured. "Now, Isabella, do try not to breathe down my neck, for heaven's sake, you remind me of Andronikh."
I bristled. "Edward's down there, in the maze—"
"Yes, yes. The light is for you, my dear. If you tumble down the stairs and break your neck, I wouldn't know what to say to Edward. Now, come."
Feeling better that we were finally moving, I sprinted after Marcus, who'd taken my urgency a tad too far and all but disappeared down the corridors. I ran through one corridor after the next for what felt like ages until I rounded the last corner and doubled over, panting. That was when I spotted Alec and Jane stationed at the entrance of the crypt.
I stopped dead but they made no move to stop me.
"Looking for Marcus?" Alec piped up.
"He went down there," Jane said, sounding bored. "Though personally, I'd stay up here."
Too bewildered to answer, I hurried past them and would've tripped if a hand hadn't reached out and steadied me. "Now, Isabella," Marcus said reproachfully. "What did I say about breaking your neck?"
I wanted to tell him that it was his fault for disappearing but I was too winded.
"Would you like to hold the lamp?" he asked.
I shook my head. No need for the castle to prematurely burn down because I tripped with the lamp.
"We're lucky, you know," he said, keeping a steadying hand on my shoulder as we descended.
In what world were we lucky? I shot him a look. "Oh really?"
"Yes." He sounded amused. "Dear Ari beat us to it."
He didn't need to explain—I saw for myself when we reached the foot of the stairs.
Ariadnh's voluminous skirts were spread around her like blooming petals. There was blood everywhere—on her skin, on her skirts, and at the torchlight, she hissed, her shoulder muscles hunching protectively.
"It's just us, love," Marcus said, putting down the lamp and stepping forward.
At the sight of her mate, Ariadnh's feral expression faded but her displeasure didn't. She eyed the lamp with annoyance. "I told you to use the electric one."
Marcus shrugged. "I couldn't find the batteries."
"They're in the top left drawer, like always."
He sighed. "Why must you always take them out?"
"I read on the internet that they might leak." Ariadnh sniffed and tried to used her shoulder to wipe the blood off her face.
"Oh, Ari darling," Marcus bent down and pulled out an ancient-looking handkerchief, dabbing her stained cheek daintily with it. "They have not leaked and they are certainly not going to leak."
"What if they do? We have enough fire hazards as it is and if there's anoth—"
"Can you two stop arguing about fucking torches?"
Finally someone said what I was thinking.
The voice was weak but the fury in it was familiar. Andronikh raised his head, his lips stained with his sister's blood. One of her slender arms supported him upright as he gripped her other forearm with both hands.
Ariadnh pursed her lips. "We're only trying to help you, brother." She looked at his hollow, pallid face and raised her bleeding wrist. "Feed. You must drink more."
He pushed her wrist away, not roughly. "It is but an abyss."
The unfamiliar saying jarred in my ears and I realised they hadn't been speaking English from the start. Goosebumps rose on my skin. How the hell had I gleaned ancient Greek from Edward's memories?
"You should listen to Ariadnh," Marcus said, sitting himself down beside the broken coffin and tossing his cloak at Andronikh. "You look like a... a walking corpse."
"You mean a zombie, darling," Ariadnh corrected.
Andronikh didn't reply as he rose to his feet and pulled the cloak over his shoulders. His torn gloves fell away to reveal visibly mangled fingers, one arm withered and blackened. One crescent mark followed another, and another, trailing down from the tips of his fingers up to his good elbow.
They looked nothing like Edward's doing, especially not the burns.
He brushed past Marcus, Ariadnh and me without sparing us a glance.
"Where are you going?" Marcus called. "Andronikh! You shouldn't go to her until I figure out how to fix the burns!"
I watched the last of his cloak disappear up the stairs, stunned. Wasn't he supposed to want my blood? What were we supposed to do now?
Marcus sighed, turning to Ariadnh. "Has he said anything about Eumenes?"
Ariadnh shook her head, still staring after her brother. "Not a word."
"He didn't even look at her." Marcus sneaked a glance at me, not knowing I could understand.
"He's in one of those moods again where he won't talk to anyone," Ariadnh said.
"I much prefer it to the raging, to be honest," Marcus said dryly.
"Don't be cruel, Marcus," Ariadnh said. "It's obviously depression."
"I don't know what that is."
"You really should learn to use the internet," she said disapprovingly.
"Oh hush. You know I don't like it." He gave Ariadnh's arm a squeeze. "Anyway, I know just what will make him snap back to normal."
"You do?" Ariadnh blinked at him.
"Of course, darling. Leave it to me." He turned away from her just as a catastrophic crash echoed upstairs and Andronikh thundered back into the room, his face bone-white with rage.
"Where are my Guards?" he snarled.
"I was trying to tell you," Marcus said in his usual, lazy drawl. "Your idiot brother went to the maze."
I'm so happy to see so many of you are still reading! Thank you so much for your encouraging comments, I really appreciate them and I'll try to reply as soon as I have time. My flight as well as my last exam have been cancelled because of corona… It was so disappointing since I've been looking forward to it for months. On the bright side, I've been doing swabs at corona test centres with a great team and will most likely be joining a group researching a faster testing method (fingers crossed). Hope everyone is staying safe! I will do my best to keep updating whenever I can. Take care and stay healthy xx
