Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Rhea.
The night air felt different out here. It was freer, and lighter, and I found myself basking in the beauty and serenity of it all. As we left the cover of the forest, I tilted my head back, just tipping my head so I could face the sky.
The sky stretched above me, endless and glittering, as if it had been painted just to mock me for almost forgetting what beauty looked like. Moonlight threaded through the shifting branches, silver against the dark, and for a moment, just a fleeting one, I let myself admire it.
It probably wasn't a big deal, but at the same time, it was to me. Escaping a horde of vampires that wanted to end you so their king would live wasn't any easy feat, and even though Alaric swore he was joking about that scraping noise in the tunnels, I decided I wasn't going to think about it.
Not yet.
Beside me, Alaric walked like he couldn’t care less. His stride was unhurried, his expression unreadably bored, like a man strolling a path he’d memorized lifetimes ago. His indifference irritated me.
How could he look so unaffected when every nerve in my body buzzed with disbelief that I was alive, breathing, under the open sky?
I bit back the words bubbling on my tongue. Of course he didn’t care. To him, the night wasn’t freedom, it was just routine.
We continued walking, and a while later when we broke from the treeline, and my steps faltered.
There, parked at the edge of the road, was a sleek black limousine. Its polished body gleamed in the moonlight, so pristine it looked unreal, almost as though it had materialized from the shadows themselves.
“No.” I froze. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Something wrong, little dove?” Alaric’s voice was mild, almost amused.
“That.” I pointed sharply at the car. “That shouldn’t be there. A limousine? In the middle of nowhere?”
“Perceptive as ever.” He didn’t even pause. Instead, his long strides carried him straight toward it, each step confident, and assured, as if the entire scene was perfectly natural and normal
My instincts screamed trap, every survival alarm in me blaring, but it wasn’t the car that unsettled me most, it was him. His calmness, the way he walked into danger, or what I thought was danger, without a flicker of hesitation.
He reached the door in no time, opened it, and slid inside with a grace that belonged to someone who had done it a thousand times before. Then he looked back at me, lifting one brow, and I could swear it was nothing short of a silent invitation
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m just stepping into…”I stood rooted, arms crossed but I never got to finish as he cut me off.
“Suit yourself,” he cut in lazily, settling against the seat as though he had all the time in the world. “But the woods won’t be kind to you twice in one night.”
My jaw clenched, and I wanted to hurl a million curses at him all at once. With every nerve protesting, I stalked toward the limo and climbed in after him.
The moment the door shut behind me, I stilled.
Soft leather seats, dim ambient lights lining the roof, greeted me first. My fingers brushed against the upholstery,and I would be lying if I said I wasn't awed. At a point, Alaric definitely found my surprise amusing, because I caught his signature grin just barely sitting on his lips.
Like all I'd seen wasn't shocking enough, my gaze flicked forward, just to landing the driver. He was dressed in black, hands resting neatly on the wheel, and his face hidden in the shadows of the partition.
My pulse spiked again, but this time, Alaric was rather quick to the rescue.
“Relax,” Alaric murmured, clearly savoring my unease. “If he wanted you dead, you’d already be bleeding on the seat.”
“Comforting,” I muttered, sinking back but not relaxing in the slightest.
The car purred to life in the blink of an eye. The ride was smooth as silk, as it glided down the road. Silence stretched between us, thick, and weighted but I didn't dare break it. The countryside blurred past, and when I realized we were slowly going into the city, I knew I just couldn't keep calm.
“Alaric.” I couldn’t take it anymore. “Where are we going?”
“What do you think, little dove?” Alaric’s gaze slid to me, half lidded eyes catching the glow from the overhead lights. “Home.”
“Home?” I repeated, skeptical. The word sank into me like stone, but I still couldn't wrap my head around it.“Your home?”
“My home.” He leaned his head back, closing his eyes as though the conversation bored him and I had no right to bring it up again.
A thousand questions battered at my skull and I hated how I didn't have thee answers to any of them..
What did home mean to him? What kind of place could possibly suit someone like him?
The ride stretched on, longer than I expected, and i didn't miss the tension building with every passing second. After what seemed like forever, the car slowed, turning smoothly off the main road.
Through the tinted window, I caught the glint of wrought iron gates swinging open. The minute we passed through, and my breath caught.
The driveway was lined with flawless hedges, the gravel road illuminated by subtle lights buried in the earth. At the end of it rose a mansion, no, not a mansion. An estate.
Towering, gleaming, its windows aglow against the dark, its stone and steel carved with a grandeur that felt older than time.
It was the kind of place that could swallow someone like me whole.
The limo eased to a stop at the base of the steps. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.
Alaric opened his eyes, and that damn smirk curved his mouth again. He leaned toward me, close enough that I could catch the faintest trace of his scent.
“This,” he murmured, savoring the word, “is home.”
My stomach flipped, dread and awe twisting together as the driver’s door clicked open outside.And just like that, I knew my freedom had only led me into another kind of cage,one I wasn't sure I could survive.