Within The Shadows (23 page)

Calmly, I
walked up to the door with ‘N’ engraved on it, and put the key into
the lock. As I turned it, I heard a commotion coming from the
stairs. I spun round, and saw a small army of shadows making their
way up towards me.

“
She’s here,”
roared the shadow closest to me.

“
Sound the alarm,” another beckoned.

Before they
came any closer, I turned the handle, and stepped through the door
with no clue of where I was going, or how I would get home. I
closed the door with a bang, and frantically turned the key,
locking it from inside.

Inside? I
was outside. I had left behind the hall, and, in fact, the whole
gloomy building. Frantically, I ran through the trees and overgrown
hedges that surrounded me. I had no idea where I was, but something
told me I was going to find out soon enough. The further I ran, the
more familiar the area became. I recognized the willows, and the
scents of the wild flowers. Water rushed down the stream, and the
bridge was soon in my sight. It was my worst nightmare. The door
had sent me back to the mountains of the Utmish Ato-tem. I was back
in Armenia.

“
Shit!” I
whispered as I approached the bridge that lay at the foothills of
the coven.

“
This could
only happen to me,” I said as I kicked a pile of leaves that lay
beside some rocks.

Sitting in
the late evening sun, I looked up the hill, and saw the outer
boundaries of the estate. I knew that nightfall would soon descend
upon me, and I did not want to be left outside and unprotected.
There was only one thing I could do, and even though it killed me
inside, I knew I had to take refuge within the coven and face Alex
and Atarah. My life sucked big time, and I was not expecting it to
get better any time soon.

The climb up
hill was a struggle in itself. I did not remember it being this bad
the last time, but then again, the last time was a weird experience
by all standards. I’d had my first glimpse of the shadow creatures,
and was then rescued by Leonid. As a result of the whole damned
situation, the damned mark on my chest grew darker each
day.

My stomach
churned as I stepped closer to the outer wall. I knew now that
there would be no turning back. Alex would have sensed me by now,
and something inside told me he was already waiting for me. Without
further delay, I stepped through the thick wooden gate, and walked
past the orange trees into the courtyard where my welcoming
committee was ready to meet me.

Atarah and
her mother, Angelika, stood beside the group of elders who had
performed the blessing at my consecration. Alex stood at the front,
his eyes blazing amber. I could instantly sense his rage, and I
knew he wanted to kill me.

Without a
second thought, I did the only thing I could think of. I ran into
his arms, and held on tight to him. Not needing much effort, tears
left my eyes, and spilled down my cheeks.

“
Alex, you wouldn’t believe what they were going to do to
me!” I sobbed, putting on my best performance.

He was
rigid, and I knew he had his doubts. His anger flowed into me as I
held on tight. I was too afraid to look into his eyes, and kept my
eyes closed.

“
Where have you been?” he asked bitterly, pushing me away
from him. He placed his hands on either side of me, and squeezed
hard. “Don’t lie to me. Where. Have. You. Been?” he roared into my
face.

This time,
my tears were real. I was frightened, and I could barely speak.
Shaking me, his face became twisted. His rage was about to
erupt.

Screaming
from both pain and fright, I cried out, “Hell . . . They took me to
Hell!”

Confusion
spread across his face. He looked back towards Atarah who calmly
stood with one finger pressed against her chin. She
nodded.

Turning back
to me, he asked, “Who took you?”

“
The shadows. They came and took me. I was so scared!” I
fell back into his arms.

This time,
he embraced me, and tried to calm me down. “No need to worry now.
You’re safe. You’re home!”

The words
sent a wave of fear through me. Coming to my senses, I broke free
from his arms. I wanted to hit him, to spit in his face. Hell, I
wanted to rip his throat out.

“
Where were you? Did you even try to find me?” I
shouted.

I clenched
my fist, and hit him as hard as I could across his face. My wrist
hurt from the impact, but the adrenalin was now flowing, and I did
not want to stop. I had to release all of my pent-up anger, and
this was the best and only way. It was my turn to toy with
him.

“
Do you even love me, huh?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Most ‘husbands’ would travel to the ends of the Earth and back to
find the love of their life, but no, not Alexander Baranski! No,
he’d rather sit back on his friggin’ ass, waiting for her to come
to him! Have you any idea what I’ve been through?”

“
Enough!” he shouted. “We’ll discuss this in
private.”

I chortled.
“Private? Don’t make me laugh. If I remember correctly, nothing we
do stays between us.”

“
Don’t be so
childish.”

“
Excuse me? Are you serious? Look at me, I am a child!” I
pushed past him, and walked through the crowd that had
gathered.

“
Where are
you going?” he roared.

“
To bed!” I shouted back at him, and continued walking until
I was away from their shrewd gazes.

I closed the
front door behind me, and ran up the stairs to the room I had
shared with Alex. Everything remained the same. My room was exactly
the way I had left it. Messy, but the bed looked inviting, and all
I wanted to do was sleep.

I stripped
of
f my clothes as I made my way to the
bed, but nausea overcame me. I ran to the bathroom, and heaved
until there was nothing more I could bring up. Defeated by my own
body, I lay on the cold bathroom floor, and waited for the spinning
to stop. I did not know what was happening to me. I felt weak, and
I believed I could not possibly feel any worse than I did at that
moment. I have no idea how long I lay there, but finally the
spinning faded, and I was able to lift my head from the
ground.

Alex
stood by the doorway, watching me as I struggled
to get to my feet. His face was stiff, and his expression was
severe. I stumbled as I clung onto the basin. The dizziness
continued, and with it came a profound heat, as though I was
burning up from the inside. I was really struggling to cope with
the illness, when he came from behind me, and lifted me up into his
strong arms. I gave in quite easily, as I had no strength left in
me. I was simply exhausted.

Alex smelt
wonderful. The same delicious odour I had become accustomed to
oozed from him. I easily lost my senses around him, and even though
I knew I did not love him, I could not help but to crave
him.

He set me
down gently onto the bed, and drew the covers up over me. He sat
beside me, and took my hand in his. His skin felt amazing against
mine, almost as though it was healing me.

“
Sleep, Giselle. You need your rest.” His voice was smooth
and silky.

And finally, I fell into a
dreamless sleep.

* * *

The wind and
rain stirred me from my sleep. As I sat up, I could see Alex
sitting in a chair by the window. He watched me as I fidgeted with
the covers. I felt uncomfortable, and his continuous gaze made me
feel like diving back under the blankets just to escape his
eyes.

I reached
over for
the glass of water that had been
set beside me on the bedside locker. The covers fell, revealing my
underwear. Flustered, I pulled them around me, and took the glass,
taking a long drink.

“
I can smell
him on you,” Alex said, breaking the long silence between
us.

I froze.

“
Who?” I
asked, trying my best to remain clueless.

“
Oh, Giselle, must we always play these games? You allowed
my father to take control of you. He and you . . . Do I really have
to spell it out?” he growled, shaking his head.

“
Alex, I . . .”

“
Don’t do it. Do not lie to me.” He got up from the chair,
and walked up to the side of the bed. He looked so angry. I did not
know how long I would be able to keep the pretence up.

“
Did you let
him drink from you?”

“
Yes,” I said, giving in. Because of our bond, he knew I was
lying. He could feel my heart racing, and knew from my scent that
something had been altered.

“
I didn’t want to. It was all crazy, and Antoine . . .” I
held back my tears.

“
Antoine? What has he got to do with all this?”

“
I don’t know, Alex. All I know is that I can’t take any
more of it. It’s killing me. It’s making me ill. You, your family,
this whole life . . . It’s not for me. Can’t you just let me go,
please?” I begged.

Laughing, he
ran his hand through his hair. “You are my wife, and your place is
here with me. There is no other life for you now. Besides, you are
sick because you haven’t fed properly. You look a mess, and, to be
honest, the smell has got to go.”

I sniffed at
my arm, and did not notice anything unusual, but then again, Alex
had heightened senses compared to mine. He would notice any
difference in me.

“
Aren’t you
angry with me?” I asked as I got out of the bed.

“
What do you suggest I do? Kill you? Kill my father? Or
maybe, I should kill your dying mother. Would that punish you
enough?”

I was
sickened by his bringing my mother into our fight. He had no right.
“How could you say that about my mother? She isn’t dying. She’s
just unwell.”

Pushing past
him, I went into the bathroom, and began to run a bath. He followed
me in, and stood in the doorway, ready for round two.

“
From what I hear, dear old Marilyn hasn’t got long left.”
He was taunting me.

“
Screw you!” I shouted, getting ready to hit him.

He chortled
as he approached me. “I remember a time when women obeyed their
husbands. Back then, women knew their place, but evolution and all
its graces have allowed you to become disobedient little whores. I
promise you now, Giselle, with every breath in my body, I will
destroy you if you ever speak to me like that again. I am your
master, your commander, and I will be obeyed. Do you understand
me?”

Of course,
me being me, I had to retaliate. “Go. To. Hell!” I spat in his
face.

I did not
see what was coming next. With a crash, I was thrown into the glass
of the shower door. The full impact had me on my back, lying on
shards of broken glass. I could feel warm liquid escape from me,
but before I could inspect my wounds, Alex had me pinned up against
the long mirror that hung on the wall, and began to tighten his
grip around my neck. He was choking me.

I could feel
the pulsating throb of my heart as oxygen fought to
circulate
throughout my body. It was
getting harder to breath, and I could feel myself losing the
battle. He was winning, as my life began to drain from my body.
Before I finally lost consciousness, he loosened his grip on me,
and I fell to the floor. I lay there bleeding. My wounds stung, and
I gasped for air.

He crouched
down beside me, and pulled my head back. “Death would be an easy
option, but for now, I think I’ll hang on to you.”

He let go of
me
, and then unconsciousness came to
claim me.

Chapter Nineteen

I COULD
HEAR
the faint sound of voices as I
fought the pain that consumed me. I knew I was not dead, yet the
burning pain made me wish for death. The voices kept repeating
themselves, over and over again.

“
She has lost
too much blood,” one said.

“
She may not survive,” another replied.

“
You better make sure she does survive, or it’s your life on
the line,” Alex said with contempt in his voice.

I lay
motionless, unable to move or speak. The only connection with the
world was through my faint heartbeat that skipped every couple of
minutes. I knew I had lost a lot of blood, but I did not realise I
would feel like this. It was surreal, as though I was living
outside my body. I could see everything going on around
me.

Three medics
worked on me desperately.
One stitched my
back as one tended to the tears in my scalp, and another pumped
blood into me via a drip. By looking at all the bloody swabs that
lay on the ground, I could see I had lost more blood than I first
anticipated. I was in a bad way.

My poor body
no longer looked like mine, and for the first time, I was afraid of
how I would eventually look. I did not want to look like some
freak. Things were bad enough that I drank blood and ingested
people’s souls, but to look like one, well, that was another
story.

Alex hovered
in the background, and did not seem too bothered about what he had
done to me. Atarah stood by his side. She was more concerned than
he was. She was angry with him, and made sure he knew
it.