Darkling. Part 17

"I've been thinking. My skills with illusions are extremely good. I thought maybe we could play around a bit. I can try to cast an illusion on the blood you drink while you're at home. Maybe I can make it smell and taste like something different... something you miss eating, perhaps?"

I stared at him, mouth agape. n.o.body had ever thought to suggest anything of the sort before. "That has to be the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time. But wouldn't that be a waste of your energy?"

"What waste? I don't go around casting major spells every day, and that sort of thing wouldn't require much effort, I think. It's worth a try, if you're interested." He shrugged. Camille wrinkled her nose and smiled.

Not sure exactly what to say, I stammered out a "thank you" and then thought, Why not Why not? What could it hurt?

"I'd like to give it a try," I said. "Maybe after we get this mess with the Elwing Clan cleared up. I miss... there are so many things I miss."

"Like Mother's b.u.t.tercream biscuits?" Camille said.

I laughed then. Of all the things to discuss on the night before I handed myself over to a shaman prepared to tear my soul apart. "I haven't thought about those in a long time, but yes, her b.u.t.tercream biscuits. Do you have the recipe?"

She nodded. "I kept all of her recipes. I can't make them nearly as good as she did, but maybe Iris can. I never thought of asking her to try."

And then we were off, talking about the wonderful meals Mother had fixed when we were young, and how she'd done her best to recreate Earthside food enough times to give us a taste for things like hamburgers and fries when we were still very young. I avoided watching the clock that sat on the shelf, but finally, by the time Camille and Morio finished their dinner, I knew we couldn't delay any longer. At least the small talk had kept me distracted from what I was about to do.

"I guess we'd better go. You two going to be shielded enough to come over to Temple Row?"

Morio nodded. "I think we'll be okay. We cast a pretty strong protection barrier to guard against excess magical energy, so we should be fine. You're ready?"

I took in a deep breath, holding it for a long time before slowly letting it out. "No, but there's no time like the present. Let's go find out where Jareth wants to take me."

The trip back to Temple Row took us all of thirty minutes now that we knew where we were going. Morio and Camille looked decidedly uncomfortable once we hit the other side of the park, but their spell held and by the time we came to the doors of the Temple of Reckoning, they seemed to be doing fine.

Jareth was waiting in the great hall. "I knew you'd return," he said. He nodded at Camille and Morio. "You are welcome, of course, but this isn't going to be pleasant. Are you sure you want to watch? You may find out more than you ever wanted to know about what happened to your sister, Camille."

Camille looked at me. "I said I'll stand by you, and I will, if you want me there. You shouldn't have to carry this alone. We're family, and whatever happened to you, happened to all of us."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I've worked so hard to hide what Dredge did to me, to protect you and Delilah and Father. I guess... it's time to let go of my secrets."

Jareth nodded. "Come with me then. All of you. We'll be working outside of time. You'll make it home shortly before first light." He led us through a different door than I'd taken when I first arrived at the temple. We scurried down hall after hall until we came to a darkened room so large I couldn't see the other side. The ceiling and walls were black, and the only furniture was in the center-a long narrow dais draped in an indigo cloth, with pillows on the floor surrounding the platform.

He motioned for me to stand in front of the dais. Camille and Morio stood off to one side. "We don't have time for the usual rituals and rites that happen before an awakening, but I must ask you this. Do you come here of your own free will, to learn to control your own power and sever the chains that bind you to your sire's bidding?"

I swallowed the fear that rose. "I do so affirm."

"Will you surrender yourself to my hands, knowing that I will lead you into the darkness?"

The words hung heavy on my tongue. I didn't want to say them, but found them slipping between my lips of their own accord. "I surrender to you."

"Then take your place on the dais, Menolly." Jareth indicated for me to lay down on my back. When I'd done so, he pulled out silver cuffs that were lined with velvet. "These won't touch your skin, so they won't hurt, but you won't be able to break them."

I stared at the cuffs in horror. Silver, a blessing to the Fae, was bane to a vampire. Wincing, I held out my arms and he fastened them around my wrists. Nothing. They were well cushioned, like he'd said. He produced a second pair and fastened them around my ankles, then helped me lay back so that my head was on a small pillow. After I was in place, Jareth held up a blindfold and slowly covered my eyes.

I could hear Camille and Morio talking to him in low tones.

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Morio was saying.

"I make no guarantees, but I believe Menolly is strong enough to make it through the rite. If she's to have any hope of confronting her sire, she must master her fear. She must rid herself of the chains he forged between them. Do you understand?"

Camille's voice broke in. "It makes perfect sense, but listen to me, Monk. If you hurt her in any way that isn't part of the ritual, if you try to f.u.c.k her up, I'll rip out your heart and feed it to a Corpse Talker. Do you you understand understand me me?"

There was a brief pause, then, "You make yourself perfectly clear, Daughter of the Moon." Jareth busied himself at something. The sound of blood trickling into a goblet reached my ears. The fragrance filled the room, metallic and brilliant and beautiful. Then a bell chimed three times and I sensed him circling around the table, widdershins, going against the sun.

"Once I begin, we must finish. You understand this? There's no stopping, or the energy could backfire." Jareth was standing near my head.

I let out a shudder. "This whole trip isn't going quite the way I expected. Get on with it."

Angel of glory, angel of blood, rise to meet your maker.

Angel of glory, angel of blood, rise to confront your sire.

Angel of glory, angel of blood, rise to reclaim what is yours.

Angel of glory, angel of blood, return to the time you were newly born.

He was circling the table, his voice drifting on a stiff breeze that had suddenly sprung up to sweep through the room. The energy shifted and I felt myself drifting lower, my consciousness lulled by the cadence of his speech, by the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Surrender your expectations. Surrender your doubts.

Surrender your fears. Surrender your strengths.

Surrender your anger. Surrender your control.

Three drops of blood splashed on my forehead, their scent enticing me. Even though I'd drank just a few hours earlier, the thirst rose and I found myself ravenous. I jerked against the cuffs, wanting to be free to go and hunt. I can't I can't, I thought, I can't leave. I can't just go traipsing off in search of fresh blood on the city streets I can't leave. I can't just go traipsing off in search of fresh blood on the city streets.

Creature of the night, demon of the blood, Turn back the clock, turn back the minutes and hours and years.

Return to the night you were born anew.

Return to the night of your siring.

Three more drops, but this time he placed them against my lips, pressing gently with his fingers. I forced myself to keep from biting the warm flesh as he withdrew his hand.

My tongue snaked out and before I could stop myself, I licked the blood off my lips.

"Holy c.r.a.p!" A searing flame ran through me and I convulsed against the chains. For a moment, I thought I'd been staked, but as the pain subsided I realized it was magic, carried within the blood I'd just tasted. I had barely digested this thought when I began to tumble, spiraling away from my body, away from the room, away from the table and Jareth and my sister and Morio.

"What the-?"

I stopped as I landed on a hard surface. As I opened my eyes, I realized I was back in the cavern where Dredge had taken me after he caught me. And he was there, standing over me, a dreadful expression on his face as he latticed my body with his nails.

The pain rolled over me in waves. It seemed like hours since I'd lost my ability to scream. I was lying naked on a stone slab deep in the cavern complex.

If I could only faint, pa.s.s out until it was all over and I walked among my ancestors. I tried to will myself into unconsciousness, tried to coax the fog of forgetfulness out of hiding. But my mind was too strong, my grasp on the present too firm. If I closed my eyes, I could almost grasp the edge of oblivion, but each time I started to slide into that blessed abyss, Dredge dug in a little harder, twisted my flesh a little sharper to bring me back.

"Don't give up on me yet, love," he said. His voice was like a gentle balm, soothing me for a fraction of a second until I relaxed and then he ripped at me again. "Don't think of it as punishment," he whispered. "You really have nothing to do with this-I'm sending a message. And you just happen to be my canvas."

As I bled, drop by drop, I could hear tongues rasping against the floor, lapping up the tears shed by my body. My stomach lurched. Dredge noticed, stopped, and tipped me on my side as my breakfast came pouring out.

"Can't have you dying in your own vomit, can we?" he said.

"f.u.c.k you, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d," I said, spitting out the vile phlegm that remained in my mouth. "If you're going to kill me, just do it. I'm not afraid to die." Until the moment he'd caught me, that would have been a lie, but the pain I'd gone through in the last few hours made dying seem like a slow cruise into the underworld, where it would all be over and I'd be free.

"I know you're not. That's why we're taking it nice and easy," he said, then stood back. "And now that you're decorated, it's time for the real fun to begin."

I blinked. What more could he do to me? And then he started to disrobe.

"No-no... You're not fit to wipe my boots, you motherf.u.c.ker-" The pain and fear of what was to come spurred on my anger and I struggled against the heavy cuffs securing me to the stone slab.

He laughed. "Spirit yet. I like it." Leaning over me, his curly hair trailed down to tickle my face and shoulders, hurting as it stuck to the b.l.o.o.d.y lines crisscrossing my body in a latticed design. Dredge's eyes were steel and ice, diamonds in the rough, and his lips were so full and inviting that his face almost made me weep. How could someone so beautiful be so savage? I shuddered as he climbed on the slab, erect and throbbing in the night.

"You want me, don't you? You want this so bad that you're dripping wet. Well, baby, I'm all yours," he said, driving deep inside me, his shaft of ice-frozen flesh grinding against my hips. The slashes across my body sent stinging jolts of agony through my nervous system as he moved against my skin, tearing the cuts further. I felt like a piece of meat under a mallet.

Count to one hundred. Think of nothing but the numbers. If I can count to one hundred, it will be over.

And so I focused, counting under my breath, making every single number the sole sum of my existence. I counted to one hundred, five hundred, two thousand. Finally the world blissfully began to fade. Still deep within me, Dredge leaned back, shaking me out of my stupor. As I stared at him, gla.s.sy eyed, he lifted his hand and smacked me across my face.

"Don't you die on me yet," he said, growling as he slashed his left wrist with one of his dagger-sharp nails. I stared at the glistening blood as it dribbled down his arm. Without warning, he brought his wrist to my lips and forced the cut against my mouth. I gasped, trying to twist my head away, but the blood flowed into my mouth and I felt like I was drowning. There was nothing I could do but swallow.

"Good girl," he said. "Good girl. Drink deep. Satisfy your thirst."

And suddenly, I realized that my mouth and throat were parched from screaming. Without thinking, I sucked against his wrist, taking the precious liquid within, soothing the wracking pain.

"That's it, suck hard. Drink it down, little girl. Drink it down." Dredge cradled my head. He moved gently within me, his eyes triumphant. As the pain lifted, I struggled, soaring higher and higher. No No. I didn't want to enjoy this. Don't let him make me come Don't let him make me come, I prayed, but then, before I could stop myself, I teetered on the edge and tumbled into an o.r.g.a.s.m that shattered the stars.

As the whirl of energy fell away, I realized that I wasn't hurting anymore. I looked around and saw my body on the slab, Dredge standing next to me, looking victorious. What do you know What do you know, I thought. I'm dead, and I'm free. No matter what he does to my body now, he can't hurt me any longer I'm dead, and I'm free. No matter what he does to my body now, he can't hurt me any longer.

I began to walk and found myself in a cavern of ice, the color of glacier water, glistening and pure and clean. It was time to meet my ancestors. A light beckoned at the end of the tunnel and I began to run toward it, feeling free and joyous and ready to enter the Land of the Silver Falls where my father's people went after they died. As I hurried forward, a figure began to form from mist and shadow. My mother, waiting for me on the other side.

"Mother!" I raced toward her. So she had had been allowed to join my father's ancestors, even though she was human. Now we'd walk together in death. been allowed to join my father's ancestors, even though she was human. Now we'd walk together in death.

"Menolly, come to me, baby!" The look on her face was so beautiful, so welcoming that tears began to course down my cheeks. She would protect me, cleanse me, soothe my soul.

But just then, I felt a tug at the back of my neck. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a silver cord connecting me to my body. d.a.m.n, what the h.e.l.l? But I'm dead d.a.m.n, what the h.e.l.l? But I'm dead. What would it take to get away from this monster?

The cord slowly began to change color. It was turning bloodred, and the color was seeping from my body toward me. What the h.e.l.l? Whatever it was, the energy felt tainted and I wanted no part of it. I tried to reach the end of the pa.s.sage but the cord began to drag me back. As the trail of red hit my spirit, I felt myself being sucked back into my body.

No! "I don't want to go back!" To enter that scarred and pain-wracked body again? To face Dredge again? Never!

I tried to fight. As I struggled against the pull, Mother watched, frozen, a horrified look on her face. "Menolly! My baby... Let her go, d.a.m.n you!" Tears ran down her face and she fell to her knees, holding out her arms. A warm and embracing cloud of sparkling light filtered toward me.

"Mother!" I screamed for real now, struggling. If I could just reach the safety of her light... but the force of the cord was growing stronger. "I won't go back. Mother-save me, please save me please save me."

And then, the light began to fade. I heard her scream my name again, but she vanished into the darkness as I went tumbling out of the ice cavern, back into my stone-cold body. I fell through layer after layer of skin, feeling the lack of a pulse, the lack of breath as I stretched out in the still sh.e.l.l that had been my home all these years.

As I searched frantically for the beating of my heart, I began to panic. I was going to suffocate. I struggled, rocking right and left. Dredge's laughter filtered into my ears and I opened my eyes and reared up into a sitting position, ripping the chains out of the slab.

"She's a strong one, Master," one of the shadows from the corner of the room said.

"Yes," Dredge said. "She is. We'll be able to make good use of her." As he spoke, he held out his hand and I saw that a miniature figure stood in the palm of his hand. It was a shadow of me. He squeezed and my ribs constricted. I yelped. And then he let go and I could relax again.

"Dance, puppet," he said.

My legs swung over the edge of the slab and I couldn't stop myself. I stood and began to dance. "No-you can't control me. I won't let you I won't let you."

Once again, he laughed. "Are you thirsty, newborn? Go home. Drink deep. Go home to your family and rip out their hearts, and then become a scourge on the world. Destroy all in your path."

With his words, the thirst hit me like a ton of bricks. Blood. I needed blood. I needed to drink. All I could see was a red haze of pain and desire, and I yanked the chains off my wrists and ankles. Dredge stood back, his laughter echoing against the ceiling of the cave as I raced into the wee hours of the night. I had to get home to feed. And then the world went black...

"Menolly, can you hear me?"