Chapter 17 SEVENTEEN
I followed Silas back down through the castle, my anxiety easing slightly as we walked, the silence was oddly comforting. I hadn't expected to still be alive should he capture me, but here I was, walking with the prince, my mind once again reaching out, calling to him even though he was beside me.
I didn’t want to call out to him, I didn’t want him anywhere near my mind, but I couldn’t stop it, not when I didn’t even know how I was doing it to begin with.
But how, how could we have a mind link? It just wasn’t possible.
I’d never heard of anything like it, not once.
I stumbled slightly as we turned a corner, whatever was causing the link, was hard to master, and even harder to uphold. My body was exhausted, my mind even worse.
But I couldn’t shut it off, no matter how hard I concentrated, he was still there, listening.
It didn’t seem to cause Silas any trouble, nor did it slow him down, I suppose that was because vampires could link minds with others of their kind, so he would be used to it, he would know how to control it without causing strain to his body.
I however, didn’t know the first thing about a mind-link, though I would have to learn. I couldn’t just let him enter my mind whenever he wanted. That would be awkward.
It would make escaping impossible.
Silas looked back at me as we walked, then I felt something in my head, “Relax your mind, do not try and force your way into my mind, let me into yours.”
“I don’t know if I should...” I sent back, my eyes wide.
He would find my secret power of deflection; he would know I had lied. He’d know everything about me and my hope to escape.
Maybe he could sense my fear, maybe he already knows what I’m thinking and he just needs to confirm it.
Confirm my treason.
I frown, his thoughts are so guarded, it’s as if they had been rehearsed, practiced before they came into my mind.
I don’t want this link, I really don’t fucking want it.
He stopped dead in the hall, turning around to face me as he spoke within my mind once more; this time it was sterner, slightly commanding. “Relax, the less you think about it the less you will worry. This works both ways, you let me in, and you will be allowed into my mind.”
“I’m afraid, this has never happened before.” I sent back, trying to be honest and relax, trying to let him in.
But something within me refused, something stopped me.
“Calm down, I am not going to hurt you.” He smiled, though I didn’t have to look at him to know, I could sense it.
It felt as though someone was rummaging around my thoughts, seeing them for what they were; ramblings of a scared teenager who lost her parents to the very same creature that was now in her mind.
I project my sadness, a pain I didn’t even fully understand. I want them back; I want my parents. I want to see them one last time, hold them in my arms, tell them that I love them. But that wasn’t possible they were gone forever, and I was alone.
The vampire prince took in a sharp breath, strange considering he had no need to breathe. “I sense sadness in you girl, you mourn your parent's loss. Is this what this emotion is like?”
I didn’t mean for him to see that.
He wouldn’t understand what it was like, he had never experienced this kind of loss, he had never felt what I feel, he will never feel what I feel. I
close off as best as I can, attempting to block him from my mind, to stop him from hearing my thoughts and feeling what I felt.
“Why have you shut me out?” The Prince growled out loud.
“I don’t want this mind link! It’s not natural, it feels wrong! you didn’t even let me into your mind.” I exclaimed, slight panic in my tone.
I want him nowhere near my head. My thoughts and feeling are the only things I have left, and now he was trying to take them too.
He took a step forward, his muscular form towering me. “You think I would let a witch into my mind without knowing what she is thinking first? Do you think I am that stupid?!”
I take a step back, looking around in panic, but no one was around. No one would help me. You can’t save a slave from the wrath of their master.
The block I had placed between us faltered slightly as my mind became erratic, my fear making it hard to concentrate. I can’t think straight.
I can’t breathe, someone is sitting on my lungs, and I need them to get off me.
I did the only thing I could do, I allowed my mind to slip, to show him what I was thinking, what was running through my mind; my fears and the reasons I couldn’t trust. I allowed him to see the parts of me I couldn't normally share, the parts of me that were most fragile.
A wave of thoughts came through, unsure what these were, suddenly I recognised a face, Berus, then wave after wave of witches and warlock rebels that were slaughtered under the command of King Bancroft. Berus had betrayed his own kind to the king in exchange for his life. But why? Why did he betray them? What as his plan?
“Berus wishes to rule over the witches and warlocks as an underling of Vampires. I believe he feels threatened by your power, maybe even jealous.” Silas explained, showing me how Berus personally destroyed hundreds of his own kind in an attempt to gain the trust of the King.
I eased the block I had placed on my thoughts once more, allowing more to push through to the prince, asking him why Berus would do such a thing, why he would betray his own kind like that?
But no answer came, my mind becoming eerie silent as we turned a sharp corner, the warlock himself stood six feet away from us, his eyes glowing a deep crimson.
I stopped dead, fear rippling through me like a tidal wave. My heart was beating so hard it was going to tear through my ribs and I wouldn’t be able to stop it.
I knew what Berus was going to do. I could feel it.
I took a step back, readying the power I knew that I had within me, trying to ensure that I wouldn’t die should the warlock attack me.
“There you are, traitorous witch!” he bellowed manically, his staff gripped tightly in his left hand.