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Sebastian
THE PASSAGEWAY WAS the only place within the castle that I could think of that Alessandra didn’t know about. It was the only place I could think of where Lila would be safe from harm.
Unlocking the door, I stepped into the darkness of the passageway. Zoe stepped inside, too. I assumed Lila must have come in after her, because she closed the door behind her.
I grabbed a lantern from the wall and lit it up. “Zoe, please lift the invisibility spell.”
“Are you sure about that?” The witch’s eyebrows rose in question. “What if Princess Alessandra comes here?”
“The risk is practically nonexistent, since she knows nothing about this secret passage,” I explained. “Now I wish to see Lila. Please lift the spell.”
Zoe didn’t look happy, but she focused her gaze on what I assumed must’ve been Lila.
A moment later, Lila appeared before me.
I could hear the sound of her heart pounding. It sounded fast, almost like the beating wings of a hummingbird. I realized that our run-in with Alessandra must have put her on edge.
“You’re still wearing your clothes from the Chambers,” I realized out loud.
She nodded. “I am.”
“I’ll bring new clothes to you,” I assured her.
As she began to unpin her chocolate brown hair, allowing it to cascade over her small shoulders, she shrugged. “There’s no rush. I’m a little confused about what I’m supposed to do here, though. It’s so dark in here. It may be even worse than the Chambers.”
“I don’t expect you to stay here, Lila. I want you to go to the Shore of Tranquility,” I explained.
Her eyebrows lifted. “You want me to just stay at the beach?”
“You’ll be safe from vampires there, and the weather is always perfect.” I handed her a blanket. “Take this with you.”
“How do I get there?”
I pointed down the dark passageway. “If you keep going straight, you’ll come to a door. Go outside and keep walking for about half a mile.” I paused. “I would escort you if I could, but going outside right now would be dangerous—possibly even deadly—for me. The protection spell has been lifted, which is why the sky is no longer red.”
She nodded. “How long will I need to stay there?”
“Until I come for you.”
“I’ll miss the other girls. It will be lonely there,” she commented.
“You’ll be safe there.”
Her emerald green eyes met mine through the darkness of the passageway. “I hate knowing that I’ll be so far away from you.”
“I’ll come visit you any time I can,” I promised.
Lila nodded, even though the disappointment was written all over her face. “I guess I should probably get going, then. The sooner I’m gone, the less likely Alessandra will be to find me.”
She began to turn away from me, but I reached out and caught her by the waist. “Lila, wait.”
As she whirled around to face me, her eyes met mine questioningly.
Before she had a chance to say anything, I brought my lips down on hers. Her hands wrapped around the back of my neck as she pulled me in closer to her.
As we kissed in the darkness, it was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I wished that I could keep her close to me, that I could never let her go. But deep down I knew that wasn’t a possibility.
What I wanted more than anything was for Lila to be safe, protected. And I knew the further away from me she was, the safer she would be.
When we pulled away from each other, Lila stared up into my eyes. I held her gaze for a few moments before whispering, “You ought to get going.”
She nodded and then began to continue her way down the secret passageway. I heard the sound of her opening the door and then the light streaming in.
Once she had gone outside, I turned back to Zoe. “Let’s be on our way.”
The witch nodded and took a few steps ahead of me. She twisted the doorknob open.
We stepped out into the hallway and I closed the door behind us.
As we began to head in the direction of the side entrance of the palace, I glanced over at Zoe. “What does your intuition say about this?”
“My intuition?” Her eyes didn’t move in my direction as she spoke.
“Do you think she’ll be safe there?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” I asked sharply.
“You know how my intuition is. It comes and goes, mostly through dreams. I don’t know if she’ll be safe there or not.” Her facial expression remained stony as she continued to avoid my gaze.
“You’re mad at me,” I noted.
“What makes you come to that conclusion?”
“You won’t look at me. That’s something you do when you’re mad at me.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” she replied, but she still didn’t look at me.
“Zoe, stop this. What have I done?” I moved to stand in front of her, giving her no choice but to meet my eyes.
“You’ve done nothing, Sebastian.”
“Then why won’t you even look at me?” I pressed.
She shook her head. “It’s nothing. It’s stupid, really.”
“I’m sure it’s not stupid. I can’t imagine you ever having a stupid thought,” I insisted. Staring harder into her eyes, I said, “Tell me, Zoe. Please.”
She sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
A hint of a smile touched my lips. “Nope. Not until you tell me.”
“You Stark men sure are persistent,” she muttered. Swallowing hard, she glanced up at me. “It’s just... I was wondering what Alessandra would do if she ever found out you’re lying to her.”
I studied her face for a few moments. It was long enough for me to know that Zoe was lying to me.
I knew that she was keeping something from me, but I wasn’t sure if it was for my sake... or hers.