I find the door in the corridor Arlo told me about and open it to see a small winding staircase, most likely used in case of a fire. I rush down the steps and come out into the garage. Seeing as Katy hasn’t jumped out from anywhere, Arlo must be doing a pretty good job of distracting her. Being as silent as I can, I run across the garage and slip out of the door into the night, breathing in the cold air and scent of the forest.
The sound of the waves crashing against rocks fills my ears as I walk through some trees and out onto a clearing on a cliff a few seconds away from the house. The waves are harsh tonight, blowing sea water into the air every few seconds, and I wipe a few drops from my cheek as I stare out. The moon hangs high in the sky, a full moon, fitting for this night.
I hear the bike first, the engine noise just about exceeding the sound of the waves, and I turn to see a man riding an all-terrain vehicle through the forest. He comes to a halt right in front of me, kicking up sand and dust around us as he takes off his helmet.
“Cross? You sent me the note?” I ask the second I recognise the red hair and grumpy face. “You have a way to get off the island?”
He offers me the helmet. “Get on and trust me, Riona. You have two minutes to make the choice.”
I grit my teeth, unsure if I can trust him, but I’m desperate enough to have no real choice in the matter. Taking the helmet from him, I slide it on and do up the clip before climbing on the quad bike behind Cross, wrapping my arms around his chest. “Hold on.”
I close my eyes and do just that, remembering my sixteenth birthday party when Austin and I rented out a dirt track and several of these bikes. Our parents paid for us to have lessons with our friends, and then we all raced. Austin beat me by a second, Arlo somehow got lost on the track, and many of my other friends gave up, knowing Austin and I were always the most competitive ones. He won a football match, and I would win a violin competition. He would break a record for the fastest swimmer at our school, and I went and did a painting of the school they hung up and celebrated. But that was us, always competing, always in each other’s shadow. I know some people might not have liked that, but we did. That’s why we chose the same university, why we were always close, and since coming to this island, I feel like a ship without an anchor. Arlo is my only real reminder of home, and when I’m around him, I ache more than usual for the things I miss.
Cross drives us for a good hour before slowing down and pulling into the clearing. There is a fire lit in the middle with at least thirty people standing around it. They all turn to watch as Cross climbs off and I take off the helmet.
“Everyone, this is Riona Dark, the one we discussed,” Cross calls out. “Of course, you are aware of her, Hector.”
“Hector?” I question, jumping off the bike, and he walks over to me.
“Oui, madame, not all vampires are free to leave the island, and this is my one chance,” he tells me, the flames flickering light across his features. He waves towards the group. “It is yours as well, Madame Dark.”
I take a wild guess that everyone here is human from the way they are crowded around the fire, the way they stare and move every so often in a nervous manner. I join Cross’s side with Hector on my other, looking around at the people in the group. Most of them are young and men, but there are three women on the ground. One is an old lady, I would guess in her seventies, and she smiles at me.
“Never before have we had a chance to escape like now. We do not know the exact time, but there will be a ship coming to the island that is not with the stealers, but with a vampire who owns it. He rarely comes back to the island, but I have heard from Prince Maddox he is visiting soon to see Riona Dark, the famous human who can’t be compelled,” Cross shouts out, and my cheeks burn as they all stare at me.
“Want to tell us how you can do that, kid?” the old lady calls out.
“I have no idea. If I did know, I’d bottle it up and hand it out like candy,” I reply, making a few of them laugh.
“Deborah, please let me finish,” Cross chuckles and clears his throat when everyone is silent. “With Riona’s help, I believe we have a shot. Nothing about this plan can go wrong. Deborah, would you explain your part?”
“Of course,” she states, stepping forward. “I have spent years of my life finding just the right ingredients to make a powder to knock out a vampire. We all know that only a blade enchanted by a witch’s death can kill a vampire.” She pauses. I did not know that. “But if you scrape the iron of the blade and mix it with several other ingredients, it does knock them out without seriously hurting them.”
“Thank you, Deborah,” Cross takes over. “I’m sure many of you would wish to see your captors dead, but many of us do not. We just want to escape.”
There are dozens of murmurs in the crowd. “When it is time, I will get the powder to you, and we will meet at the docks at midnight. Be ready to leave.”
“What if they find us?” I question. “What will stop them from murdering us all?”
“The orbs,” Cross replies. “You’re going to steal Reign’s orb after knocking him out, and that is your payment onto the ship. I will take Maddox’s as I know where he keeps it. If the vampires find out, we can bribe our lives with the orbs.”
“Arlo is coming too,” I tell him. “And you must search for my brother, Austin. I need to know for sure that he’s not on this island. I also want a girl named Ann found; she comes too. She was on the ship with me.”
Cross stares me down, and he sighs, nodding once. He looks towards a man in the crowd, a dark-skinned man with several long cuts down his cheeks. “Will you find them for me, Simeon?”
“Yes,” Simeon replies and looks towards me. “I work with Merethe as one of her slaves, and she records all the humans that come in and out of The Onyx. I will be able to search the records for the day you arrived.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, a little bit of hope filling my chest. “Has anyone ever escaped The Onyx before?”
“No,” Cross is quick to answer. “Not alive, anyway. We will be the first and forge the pathway for all the humans trapped on this island as slaves. We will show them we are not theirs to own.”
“For our children,” Simeon calls, and many repeat the saying as I look up to Cross. He calls for everyone to leave and directs me back to the bike.
“Why didn’t you just tell me this at the castle?” I ask.
“Because Maddox is always close to you. Always watching,” he replies. “You’ve become an obsession, and in some ways that has been good. There hasn’t been a murder party since you’ve come, and I haven’t buried as many bodies as usual.”
“He isn’t...” I pause, shaking my head. “Maddox could be better. I know it.”
Cross laughs. “Don’t fool yourself, Riona. He is a monster, and nothing you can do will change that. One day you will beg for your life, and he will rip out your heart. That’s why you must leave with me.”
“I’m leaving because I want to see my family, not because I fear Maddox or anything on this island. They may think they own my body, my blood and soul, but they don’t. I am free no matter where I am because I make it that way,” I counter, climbing on the bike. “Maddox is broken and sinned, but I don’t believe he is truly evil.”