Page 2 of Blood that Burns
PARTI
BEFORE THE COLLAPSE OF THE AUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
MAGGIE
The air erupts from my chest as I soar over the side of the cliff, dropping like dead weight, racing toward the jagged rocks of the shore below. A scream tears through my throat as realization of what I’ve done smashes through me. I’m going to die.
Just like each of those nights when the monster stood at the end of my bed and I thought the end was near, I slam my eyelids shut and send a prayer up to Heaven, begging for a quick and painless end. I push down the panic, refusing to even think about what I’ve done.
If it saves Marina, it was worth it.
My arms fan out to my sides like wings as I bask in what will be the last few moments of my life. For this one peaceful second, I pretend I’m a bird soaring through the sky.
The wind caresses my cheeks and my stomach flutters with butterflies.
My eyes blink open as I realize that the end is near, seeing the unrelenting waves crash against the rocks just below. A promise to carry me out to sea on impact.
Death never comes.
I sit straight up in bed, the memory-turned-dream of that fateful night washing over me, like it has every night since. Sweat beads on my brow, and my hands shake at my side.
“You’re all right, Magdalena. I’ve got you.”
I’m wrapped in the warm embrace of the man who saved me. No, not a man, but a vampire.
He swooped in, using a witch’s magic to catch me before I hit the bottom, cocooning us both in a cloaking spell to keep us out of view of the vampires looking over the cliff’s edge above.
It’s as much as he can tell me, as he’s bound to secrecy, a pact made with the unnamed witch who aided him. The only other piece of information he was able to share with me is that I’m needed for a greater purpose.
Fan-freaking-tastic.
To know that vampires exist is crazy enough, but to find that witches and magic surround humans at every turn is insanity. I’m not convinced this isn’t some coma I’m in, unable to wake up to the real world.
That world doesn’t exist. It never did.
Marcellus Bellamy didn’t allow me to die. Instead, he brought me to his estate, where he’s kept me hidden. Safe.
“Why?” I snap, growing tired of this nightly routine.
It’s the question I’ve asked for the last eleven months. Every time I wake from the nightmare, Marcellus is here to comfort me. To ensure me that all is well. And every time, I askwhy, but I don’t even know what I’m asking.
Why did you save me?
Why are you keeping me here?
Why do you comfort me?
That one word holds so many questions.
But tonight, I want a specific why answered.
“Why am I needed for some greater purpose?”
Marcellus lets out a breath, squeezing me once more before pushing away and standing from my bed.
“I don’t know, Magdalena.” His hands run back through his long black hair. “You know I’m only given the information I need. And what I was told is that I need to protect you at all costs.”