Isabel and the Werewolf Beast (Vampire Tales #1)

22. Dante

Chapter twenty-two

Dante

I ’d thought the time had stood still during the curse and the perpetual full moon, but inside the pitch-black cavern where no sound penetrated and the only noise was the steady beat of my heart, time truly stood still. I didn’t know how long had passed or if Isabel was still headless.

Nothing.

I understood nothing.

Where was Asher? Had he waited for me in the forest and the vampire Lucian killed him? I doubted he’d let Asher live if he found him. I at least knew Isabel and could prove it. Asher would be a lone wolf in the forest waiting to be picked off by a vampire. I hoped he’d run far. So very far that even I wouldn’t be able to find him.

My stomach growled. I placed a hand over the tight muscles of my stomach. At least during the curse, I hadn’t suffered hunger. Or thirst. My lips were dry and bleeding. I licked the welts trying to drink the tiny drops of fluid. Vampires might have something with this drinking blood. What would Isabel’s blood taste like? Why was I thinking about blood? I must be going insane in this cavern.

Endless torture that’s what this was. I deserved it. Isabel had never hurt me and look what my brother did to her. If it wasn’t for me asking her to bite me, then he wouldn’t have cut off her head.

The door slid open. I scrambled to my knees, but I swayed from the lack of food and water.

“Out, werewolf,” Lucian said.

I crawled on my hands and knees into the larger cavern, gulping in the fresher air as though I’d feed on the oxygen. Firm hands hauled me to my feet. Lucian’s stern yet eerily handsome face swam before my eyes.

“I have questions for you.”

I wet my cracked lips. “Ask them.”

“Why are there broken items in the castle? Did you attack Isabel?”

“No. I never attacked her. I accidentally broke them trying to help her when the maze poisoned her.”

His head tilted to the side. “How did the maze poison her?”

“It came alive and sliced into her, the branches speared into her arms like hooks. I had to rip them from her body so I could carry her out.” I hung my head. “Please can I have water?”

He clicked his fingers. A hand appeared with a bottle of water. How hadn’t I noticed the other vampire? He faded back against the wall and seemed to blend into it. With shaking hands, I unscrewed the lid and sipped the water slowly so I wouldn’t bring it back up. My stomach gurgled reminding me it was empty and starving for food too.

“How long have I been down here?”

“A few days.”

“Why did you leave Isabel like that for so long? Or did you find Silas and her head?”

He released me from his tight grip and I fell to the floor. The bottle toppled from my hands, and I scooped it up in a rush so I didn’t lose any of the life-saving fluid.

“We didn’t find Silas.” He squatted in front of me.

“Let me go. I’ll find him. The moment I saw him holding Isabel’s head, I ingrained his scent into my soul.”

“I don’t believe him,” the other vampire said.

“Maximus, you saw the evidence.”

“I saw a ruined pile of books and a pair of curtains outside. Not to mention the Turkish rug and the Venetian glass,” Maximus said, moving out of the shadows and looming over me menacingly.

“Why are the books ruined?”

“It rains outside, dumbass.”

“No. Shit. Isabel will be upset. She loves her books.”

“See,” Lucian said. “He knows too much about Isabel for his story to be a lie.”

Maximus’s glare lessened, but the hostility was still there. “What do you comprehend about the curse?”

My stomach groaned, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Not much. We couldn’t work it out. It seemed to change the longer we were in here.”

“In what way,” Maximus asked.

“Every time Isabel walked inside the castle she’d become a ghost. She couldn’t touch anything and I couldn’t touch her, but she grew fainter each time until I forbade her to go inside. ”

“You forbade her to go in her own home?” Lucian laughed. “I’m surprised she didn’t rip out your heart.”

“I think she liked it,” I said. The way the feisty woman had enjoyed me bossing her around for her safety had surprised me.

“You care about her,” Lucian stated.

My cheeks warmed. “I do.”

Maximus blew out a long whistle. “A vampire and a werewolf?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Lucian said. “We need to hear Isabel’s side of the story first.”

“Bit hard when her head is no longer attached to her body,” Maximus said.

“Let me find it.” I drank the rest of the water. I’d need the water and more to get her head back.

“We’ll have to keep him a secret,” Maximus said. “The other vampires won’t agree to a werewolf helping.”

“No, they won’t.” Lucian jerked me to my feet. “If I let you out of here and you don’t return with her head, then I will hunt you down. She’s like a daughter to me. I want her whole again.”

“How do I find Silas?”

“If I knew that, then I wouldn’t need you, would I?” Lucian glared.

I touched an unsteady hand to my forehead. “Sorry. I’m lightheaded with the lack of food.”

Lucian clicked his fingers. “Maximus, take him to the forest and find him a meal. We need him back to full strength to battle Silas.”

“Battle?”

They shot each other a look but ignored me.

“I’ll stay with Isabel until you return, werewolf. Don’t make me leave her side to hunt you down.”

An icy shiver ran through my body at his chilling tone. Isabel said most vampires fed but didn’t kill. Lucian radiated killing vibes. I didn’t want to let him down because I suspected the death he’d give me would be slow and torturous. His lips spread into a smirk as though he read my thoughts.

“Let’s go.” Maximus tugged my arm toward the stairs and shoved me up the steps before him.

We followed the hallways through the interior of the castle. The dark passageways wove a long way, and I feared Maximus was taking me somewhere to kill me instead of letting me go. At the end of one particularly long hallway sat a solid-looking door with heavy metal hinges. Maximus turned the key that was sitting in the lock and opened the door. Beyond sat a forest.

A different forest from where I’d entered the castle.

“Where are we?”