Blood Rose Castle…
Dario
I have never been to Lord Marcus's castle before but as Vladimir teleported us to the outside of the castle, I could see why he said this place was not a good place to be a captive in. The dark, uninviting, and gloominess of the place felt like a living being. I hated that Thalia was in there somewhere.
We made our way quietly into the castle having had little trouble as it seemed that all the guards were busy somewhere else. Vladimir had kindly placed concealment spells on all of us, just to give us time to get as far into the castle as possible. As we approached the door leading to the dungeons, we heard voices approaching from behind a door on the opposite side of the door leading to the dungeon. We all stood still listening intently to what was being said. The voices were clearly that of Lord Marcus, Serafina, and an unknown man.
"I should have thought of this years ago. That pesky child would have been long gone by now. You are quite sure this potion will work on the prince? He will forget the half-blood and fall madly in love with Serafina?"
"That is correct however it won't last forever you cannot force love. It seems from what I heard that the prince really loves the Dhampir."
"I honestly don't know what anyone sees in her. After all, she doesn't look so pretty anymore. I just wished she would have screamed, but it seems she is determent not to. Anyway, do I just slip the potion into his drink or pour it over him?"
"Any one of those will work. But I would like to make this clear Lord Marcus, from this point on I will not be aiding you ever again. My debt has been paid in full and I will have no more part of this."
"I did promise you your freedom which you have earned after all once she is dead and Dario is infatuated with Serafina, I will no longer have any use for you anymore."
With those last words, the door opened and they walked out. I could smell Thalia's scent on the unknown man and by the looks on Lucian, Griffin, and Vladimir's faces they did too because the strength of her scent was overwhelming which meant one thing and one thing only, he came into contact with her blood. A feeling of rage so intense like a volcano erupting came over me. My vision turned red and a haze of violence filled my mind. Vladimir must have sensed a change in my mood because the moment I wanted to move to tear the unknown man apart my limbs froze and would not obey.
"For the love of everything that is good pull yourself together. Killing him is not your priority. Finding Thalia is if what they say is true, she does not have a lot of time and needs you to focus on finding her. Leave the killing to your brothers and guards. You find Thalia and save her. I believe we have just been shown the way."
Shaking my head to clear the haze I focused on Thalia's scent, but instead of the overwhelming scent of her blood I tried to focus on the fainter fragrance of her scent somewhere farther down the corridor Lord Marcus and Serafina came from. I found it turning towards Lucian nodding my head indicating to him that it was time to put our plan into action. He calmly took out his phone and hit send on a text he had typed before we left, letting my brothers, Finn and Enzo know that the plan was a go.
Not waiting to see phase one of our plan being set into motion I lead Vladimir, Lucian, and Griffin down the corridor following the faintness of Thalia's scent.
Thalia
The pain was unbearable. I had no strength left my voice was gone and I couldn't even scream to give me some sort of relief from the intense pain. As my tears fell silently into the salty pit of death below, I wondered if I would ever see Dario, my parents, or my friends again. The saltwater running down my wrist had made deep burns that seemed to glow red. The constant dripping sound of my blood splashing into the water below was the only sound in this lonely place.
I was thinking how long it would be before I lose consciousness when another sound seems to find its way into the haze of pain that was what was left of my mind. I must be hallucinating because I swear, I hear guards fighting and I swear I can smell Dario's scent. The smell of rainstorm, green forests and that something that is so unique to him. I must be close to death and this is just my mind playing tricks on me. Either way, my eyes were swollen, and I could hardly see out of them. If it was my mind playing tricks on me, then at least I will die with the sound of Dario's angelic voice in my ears even if it was faint.
Dario
We hadn't made it far into the corridor before we encountered guards by this time Vladimir had removed the concealment spell from us as Logan, Leo, Finn, and Enzo had started their siege on the castle so we had no need for it anymore. The guards didn't wait and started attacking us at once. Lucian and Griffin went straight into guard mode.
"Dario, leave them to us. Go and find my daughter and save her and then get her out of this hell whole."
Seeing that he was serious I pulled Vladimir passed the battle scene because apparently seeing Lucian and Griffin fight like the deadly assassins they trained to be made him freeze in place.
"Come on Thalia's scent is this way. They will be fine"
I ran down the corridor taking down any guard that came my way. Vladimir followed setting a guard flying back a few feet when I was busy taking out two at a time. Finally, we made it to the only door in the corridor. The door was locked but I had enough of this hell hole and not feeling very polite about Lord Marcus's possessions I gave the door one hell of a kick, I hit the door with so much force I knocked it clean off its hinges. The first thing I smelled beside Thalia's scent was the smell of saltwater. As I stepped into the room my eyes found her instantly. She was still in the dress she was wearing at the ball, but it was torn and in tatters. She was suspended by chains and it was clear they had taken full advantage of her being weakened by the effects of the "Change" because it was clear they had beaten the hell out of her. My blood boiled and a rage unlike any I have ever felt before consumed me as I rushed forward towards Thalia completely forgetting that she was dangling in midair over a huge pool of saltwater. I would have probably fallen in, had Vladimir not been with me.
"Slow down and think, will you! Burning and potentially killing yourself by drowning in Saltwater is not going to help her. Plus, she is covered in saltwater it is dripping from the chains. She must have been in a hell of a lot of pain. I will get her down just be ready to save her because I don't think she has much fight or time left."
He walked to the very edge of the pool and holding his hands upward directing them towards Thalia. He started waving his hands in a pattern blue light emanated from his hands, the chains snapped and Thalia seem to floated down towards him he caught her in his arms and walked over towards me and laid her down at my feet. I knelt down to see her and to better touch her, hold her close, just to assure myself that she was still alive but before I could do that, he held his hand up to stop me. At first, I wanted to beat the hell out of him but then he spoke.
"Wait I have to remove the salt. It is all over her skin nothing you do will save her if the salt remains. She is half vampire which makes this so much worse for her plus she is extremely weak."
Again, he waved his hands in a pattern, and a rain cloud formed right over Thalia's body clear rainwater started falling all over her washing away all the salt and dried blood but also revealing just how bad her injuries were.
"Thalia? Baby, what the hell did they do? They will die for this I swear it."
"I know you didn't want her to be turned into a full vampire but…"
"She won't survive as a Dhampir."
Just then Lucian and Griffin came running into the room
"Is Thalia, ok? How….?"
Lucian didn't finish his question because the moment he saw her he knew Thalia was close to death and there was really only one way to save her.
Lifting her up and cradling her in my arms as gently as I could I brushed her long-wet crimson red hair out of her face.
"Baby, I know this isn't what you wanted. But I can't lose you. I can't live without you. I won't so please know this is the only way I can save you."
Lucian seems to understand because without hesitation he pulled out a dagger and took my wrist and slit it making my blood flow in a thick stream of deep crimson red. Placing my wrist over Thalia's mouth I forced my blood to flow into her mouth she was so very weak practically unconscious, but the moment my blood touched her lips she instinctively started swallowing very faint at first but then the sucking sensation became a bit stronger. I knew the pain will kick in very soon so willing my blood to flow faster into her I turned my attention to Vladimir.
"The moment her body starts riddling in pain put her in a deep sleep she suffered enough pain she doesn't need to endure any more agony. Then get us all the hell out of here."
He nodded and just as Thalia's body started to move because the pain of her transformation was starting. Vladimir swiftly wove a pattern and blue light covered Thalia's body, she went limp in my arms. I removed my wrist from her mouth and closed the wound. Standing up I cradled her gently in my arms, Lucian I could see was just as angry and filled with rage as I was. Looking him directly in the eyes I made a vow"
"I SWEAR TO YOU LUCIAN THEY WILL PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID TO HER. I WILL SEEK VENGEANCE ON THEM. I SWEAR THIS TO YOU."
Lucian nodded and my eyes fell on Griffin. He had not moved since he and Lucian came into the cell, I saw tears run down his cheeks. His sorrow was tangible and I could understand it Thalia was like his sister; they were both adoptive children to Lucian and Willow.
"When you are ready, I will teleport you back to the palace then I will come back for your brothers and the other two guards. I think it is best to remove Thalia from this place. Though I have to say I have a very strong desire to burn it to the ground."
"Do it, burn it to the ground I want nothing left of this place where they spilled so many innocents' blood."
Lucian and Griffin grabbed hold of his shoulders and he in turn grabbed mine and then he teleported us back to the palace to the only place he had ever seen other than the ballroom; my father's study….