We traveled along a dirt path, lined either side by gnarled black trees, which led into a clearing filled with tombstones. The royal graveyard. I remembered passing by this before. The foot of a mountain lay up ahead. There was a massive wooden door at its base. The ogre drew keys from his pocket and pushed the doors open. Chilly air crept down my neck as he entered the base of the mountain and locked the doors behind us.
We passed through one cavernous hall after another. The walls were lined with long, blood red and deep orange tapestries depicting various pastimes of their ancestors of old. Mostly involving consumption of human flesh.
I was beginning to lose track of how many chambers we had traveled through when the ogre finally stopped and set me down on the ground.
“Please wait here.”
Turning his back on me, he walked up to a door to our right and knocked. It swung open after several seconds. I couldn’t see who was behind the door because the guard’s imposing form was blocking my view.
“You have a visitor. A black witch. Her name is Annora.”
There was a pause before a deep male voice said, “Show her in.”
The guard stepped aside to reveal a tall figure, his face cast in shadow. I stepped into a grand high-ceilinged hall whose walls were covered with rich velvet tapestries. Now that Anselm had turned around, in the light of the torches, I was better able to make out his face and I immediately realized who he was. He was almost a splitting image of his father. He was the prince of this kingdom.
As he was royalty, his features and physique were very different from any usual ogre’s. His frame was tall, muscular but slender. While he had brown leathery skin, his facial features were more humanoid. His nose was thin and straight, his jawline sharp, and he had no tusks. He had a regal appearance and I found him almost handsome.
“Annora.” He bowed his head, reaching out a strong hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
I shook his hand.
“Come sit.”
I followed him to the end of the hall where there was a long table and high-backed, cushioned chairs. He drew one up for me and took a seat opposite me. He reached for a jug of blood and filled two goblets.
Now that I was a human, the idea of drinking blood was vile. I wasn’t even sure what type of blood this was—human, I suspected, since that was a favorite of the royals’. I couldn’t make him suspect anything was different about me, so I took a polite sip of the cool liquid before setting the goblet back on the table.
“What brings you here?” He flashed me a charming smile, revealing a set of surprisingly white teeth.
“On behalf of my fellow witches, and to thank you for your loyalty all these years, I have come to offer a rare gift to your majesties. A human girl whose blood is one of a kind. It will taste unlike anything you’ve had before.”
Anselm looked at me expectantly. “Well, where is she?”
“She is in the human realm, waiting for you on the island we use to trade. Not far from the other side of the gate.”
He frowned. “Why didn’t you bring her with you now?”
I gave him a gracious smile. “Well, you see, this young woman really is quite a beauty. If you have room in your harem, before you taste her, I was thinking she would make an exquisite addition.”
He smirked. “My father and I always have room in our harem.”
I chuckled. “I thought as much. Then you can understand why I wanted to leave capturing her to you. I know you royals enjoy the chase…”
He licked his lips, his deep orange eyes gleaming.
“Indeed we do.”
Chapter 20: Rose
Annora still hadn’t shown up by the time night fell. Although we’d stayed around base camp in case she returned, we both wanted to take a bath before sleeping. We climbed down the tree and walked to the edge of the lake.
My mouth fell open as Caleb dropped his pants on the grass. He dove in and resurfaced in the water, flicking his hair back and looking up at me. He cocked his head to one side.
“What are you waiting for?”
Apparently too impatient to wait for my answer, he climbed out onto the bank and stood up. My cheeks ablaze, I kept my eyes fixed on his face as he approached me. He fingered my bra straps.
“This thing is filthy,” he said, looking it over disapprovingly.
Before I could respond, he reached around my back and unclasped my bra. He’d already seen what I looked like on the boat, but I still found myself blushing as his eyes roamed me. There was a warmth in his eyes as he smiled at my bashfulness. He caught my hand, pulling me toward the water. Scooping me up in his arms, he leapt, submerging both of us in the cool water.
I resurfaced, gasping for breath. Since my panties were half off already from the contact with the water, I just discarded them completely too. I threw them on the bank near my bra.
Caleb resurfaced a foot away from me, reaching out and pulling me against him. I shivered as his palms began running up and down against my skin, scrubbing me like a sponge. He breathed deeply into my neck.
“You always smell good to me,” he whispered.
I couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Would I still smell good if Annora dropped a pile of bird poop on me?”
He laughed, and I once again found myself looking up into his gorgeous brown eyes. They sparkled as they reflected the moonlight hitting the water.
“I guessed that was you,” he muttered, looking at me with mock disdain.
I considered pointing out that the crap and the spider were both a light punishment considering she’d tried to burn me alive in the submarine. But I was in too good a mood to bring up that traumatic incident.