Chapter 14: Rhea

Rhea

I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't want to, and the fact that I'd watched it happen didn't help one bit either. My mind raced, and no matter the breathing exercises I did, none of them seemed to be working. Originally, I thought the walls threatening to press me in was going to be my biggest problem, but apparently, I was wrong.

My eyes flickered shut, and my mind must have taken that as a sign to replay all that had happened, and in less than a second, I felt I was back to that moment again.

One minute he was staring at us, at me, and the next, he was nothing but dust and smoke, and it was all because of Alaric.

“If you continue like that.” Someone's voice was all it took to pull me out of my thoughts. “My ears are going to bleed from how fast your heart is beating.”

“Oh forgive me if I'm not a heartless monster like you.” I shot back. “I honestly wouldn't expect you to understand. You don't even have a heart.”

“While that might be true, ” He didn't turn as he spoke, and even though the view of his back from here was tempting,I made sure the only emotion it raked in me was a very. “I know another truth that cohabits perfectly with yours. You've killed a vampire before, and if I didn't know better, I would have said the numbers you've pulled are much more compared to the little dust I got rid of today.”

“Don't try to flip this on me.” I shook my head, my voice hoarse. “Mine is different. Vampires are monsters. You all are.”

“And what makes you say that?” I half expected him to pause and look at me, but he didn't so much as acknowledge me. “Care to share?”

“You made him do that.” My voice came out sharp and, accusing. “You didn’t even touch him.”

Alaric paused as his gaze slid to me. It was languid, unbothered and I hated how my mind raced back to the dead guards ashes that has formed a heap behind us. His eyes gleamed with that unnatural hunger, the kind that stripped the soul bare, and I would never have been able to tell what he had to say.

“I told him to,” he said simply, as if explaining the obvious. “And he obeyed.”

“You’re a monster.” I hissed and he shrugged.

“I’ve been called worse.” The corner of his mouth lifted, sharp and deliberate, revealing the faintest flash of fang. “Yet here you are, still walking beside me instead of running the other way.”

“You know why.” I clenched my fists. “Because you’d kill me if I didn’t.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” He took a slow step toward me, his shadow swallowing mine under the flickering lights. “If I wanted you dead, little dove, you wouldn’t still be breathing.”

“Perhaps you follow me because you want to.” He leaned closer, his words brushing against my cheek like a cold whisper. “Hmm?”

“No. The only reason why we're here together is because we're trying to escape. That's all.” Heat scorched my skin, though not from the lights. “Don’t twist this into something it’s not.”

“I don’t need to twist anything.” He chuckled, low and dark, the sound reverberating down the narrow stone tunnel. “You do enough of that in your head.”

I wanted to scream at him, to claw at his arrogance, but the suffocating stench of blood reminded me of the truth. He wasn’t human, he never pretended to be, and I was going to have to deal with that if I wanted to survive.

We walked in tense silence after that, until our little escape mission decided it had something up its sleeve. Just up ahead,the tunnel split into two. On the left, a winding path swallowed in darkness, and on the right, a narrow corridor leading into more shadow. I hesitated, mg heart hammering, but Alaric didn’t pause.

He strode toward the right path with the surety of a king on his throne, while his boots struck the stone with steady, deliberate echoes.

“You don’t even know where it leads,” I called after him.

“I don’t need to know.” He stopped, glancing over his shoulder with a smirk that made my breath catch. “I decide where it leads.”

“That's it?” I stayed rooted to the spot. “What if the other way is safer?”

“By all means, little dove,..” He turned fully, folding his arms across his broad chest. The lights flickering on the walls carved his face into sharp planes, his expression infuriatingly amused, and that only made me all the more furious. “..take the left path. I’ll even wait for your screams.”

The way he said it, rich with mockery, both infuriated and unsettled me. My pulse pounded in my ears at what he was doing. He was daring me to choose, knowing I wouldn’t.

“You’re insufferable,” I muttered, shoving past him.

“And yet,” he murmured behind me, his voice a silken thread, “you still choose my side.”

The tunnel stretched on, damp and stifling. Every few steps I swore I felt his gaze on my back, like a touch I couldn’t shake off. He didn’t hurry, but his presence pressed closer with each breath.

At last, the corridor ended at a heavy iron door. Rust streaked down its surface, but light spilled faintly through the cracks at the edges. I froze.

Alaric’s hand shot past me, palm bracing against the cold iron.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered, his voice deep, commanding, leaving no room for argument. I should’ve fought him. Instead, I obeyed.

With a shove, he forced the door open. I wasn't ready for the amount of sunlight that spilled in. The light seared the tunnel, flooding my vision in gold and bringing a smile to my lips.

However, a rather loud yelp was all the proof I needed to know that I was the only one happy with our new discovery.

Alaric staggered back instantly, a hiss ripping from his throat. The light struck his face, and I caught the briefest glimpse of his fangs bared, and his eyes flaring in pain. Smoke curled from the skin of his hand where the sun touched him, and it took me a while to put two and two together.

Daylight. Vampires were allergic to sunlight.

I gasped, stumbling backward as he slammed the door shut with a snarl, plunging us back into the safety of the shadows. The sound echoed like a warning bell through the stone passage, but I was more focused on the man in front of me.

Alaric’s chest heaved, his jaw tight as he flexed his burned hand. When his eyes lifted to mine, they were molten fire and it sent shivers down my spine.

“We wait,” he said, voice low and dangerous, almost as if he could read my thoughts. “Until the sun dies.”

I'd been looking forward to getting out of here, and now that freedom was just a stone's throw away, I had to be struck with this?

Great. Just fucking great.