(Skeleton Key) Princess of the Damned (6 page)

He could barely hear her, like she was nearing exhaustion. But he followed her promptings, jogging along the asphalt into the depths of the cemetery.

There were no street lights. The sky was overcast. It was absolutely and perfectly pitch black, except for his flashlight that seemed to be on the verge of death.
Way to check the batteries, genius.

"
Almost there. Headstone. Angel."

He jogged faster, eyes straining through the darkness for the bright wings of an angel. The wings, unfortunately, were not bright. They were dulled with age, so much so that he couldn't see them in the darkness, and when he crashed right into one, it nearly knocked him off his feet. He staggered sideways as Eiress's mom whispered,
"Right here."

"Ya think?" Landon muttered, rubbing his shoulder. Shaking the flashlight to life, he peered at the headstone. The name was worn away, the year said 1812. A metal box, with a rusted lock and blackened metal, sat at the base of the statue.

"That's where the key is, isn't it?" He crouched down next to it, inspecting the lock. It was old, but still seemed sturdy. "Great. I need a key to get the key. What kind of irony is that?"

He had no idea whose grave this was, or why this person had the key to Bloody Mary's chains buried above their head. He also had no idea how he was going to break a lock with no bolt cutters…or even a hammer. Or a saw.

And a guard, walking right at him.

Landon swore and flattened himself on the ground. His truck was backed up to the gate. His flashlight was rolling across the asphalt and working now, inconveniently enough. There was no way the guard would miss him. He was going to get arrested, and they would make it harder to get into the cemetery, and he would never save Eiress.

He was working frantically for an excuse, any excuse, when there was a crash from across the cemetery. The guard spun and sprinted into the darkness, his light bouncing over the headstones. Landon scrambled to his knees and dove for his flashlight. He had seconds, probably, until the guard returned. "Thanks, Eiress's mom," he murmured. Using his flashlight as a club, he banged on the lock.

Miraculously, it crumbled under the first hit. He wasn't sure if he should thank Eiress's mom or time for that one. With shaking hands, he fumbled with the lid. It was rusted to the box and didn't seem to have any intention of moving. Grabbing the battered flashlight again, he whacked it against the box again and again until he missed and his hand smashed into the box. Searing pain shot clear up to his shoulder and he felt his hand bleed, but he couldn't see it. Muttering something along the lines of, "Ouch, that hurt," he used the pain to give him strength, and hit the box again. It cracked, half the lid sliding sideways with a groan. With his good hand, he shoved the pieces out of the way and peered inside.

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. A glowing key nestled in red satin, maybe?

But it was nothing special. Seemingly made of thick glass, about four inches long, with two "teeth" to open the lock. And what looked like some sort of precious stone—probably the ruby the ghost had mentioned. He could hear the guard coming, talking to someone on his phone—probably the police. There was no time to hesitate, even though sticking his hand into ancient, un-inspected boxes had never been high on his list of fun things to do. Landon sucked in a breath, thrust his hand through the broken pieces, and wrapped his fingers around the key. Then he was on his feet, grabbing the flashlight as he sprinted through the cemetery and back to his truck. Adrenaline gave him super powers as he jumped the fence, swinging himself over the top like an Olympian. He landed in the bed of his truck, leaped over the side, and threw himself into the cab. He could hear the guard yelling, could see the bounce of the flashlight in his rearview mirror, as he jammed the key in the ignition and started the truck. By the time the guard reached the gate, Landon was turning the corner and roaring off into safety.

Or so he thought. He tucked the key into his jacket pocket and drove home. The lights of the house were all on, and he could see his parents in the living room. He parked the truck and let his head fall back against the headrest. "I am so screwed."

But it was okay. He could be locked in his room for a year, for all it mattered.

There was a mirror in his room.

Resigned to his fate, he pushed the door open and cradling his injured hand against his chest to keep from dripping blood on the sidewalk, he slouched up the steps to the front door. "Hi."

His parents stared at him in shock. For several seconds, there were no words, just hanging mouths. And then they both spoke at once. "What happened to you?" "Where were you?" "What were you thinking?" "Let me see your hand!" That last one was from his mom, who jerked his hand away from his chest and then gasped at the injury. He hadn't had time to inspect it yet, so he risked a glance, too.

Yeah. He definitely wouldn't be playing football next week.

"Where did you go?" Dad asked as Mom dragged him into the kitchen.

"I…" He had no idea what to say. Why oh why hadn't he practiced lying more?

"We've got to take him to the hospital. I'm sure this is broken."

Funny, he'd noticed the pain, but it had been dulled, as if from a distance, because of the need to get the key and get to Eiress. Now, though, as he risked a look at the wound, it all hit him at once and nearly brought him to his knees. He felt the blood leave his face and black splotches blurred his vision. "I—I think I need to sit." He mumbled as he stumbled backward. His dad managed to yank a chair out just as Landon's legs gave out.

"I'll get the keys." Dad rushed out of the room as Mom wrapped his hand in dish towels. They were new—he'd given them to her for Christmas because she always complained about how ugly hers were. She heaved him to his feet and tucked herself under his shoulder, helping him toward the car.

But the key.

The key was in his pocket. And the ruby. He couldn't risk losing them, and he knew he'd have to take his jacket off at the hospital. Trying to muster more strength than he thought he had, he said, "I—I have to go to the bathroom."

She looked at him like he'd lost his mind, with something akin to dread.

"I can do it myself," he reassured her quickly.
That
would have been embarrassing.

She walked him to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. "I'll be right here if you need me."

Awesome. He flipped the fan on, hoping that would convince her he wasn't in here just digging through his pockets. With his good hand, he fumbled for the key and the ruby. Grateful for the cute plants his mom had on the corner of the counter, he tucked both treasures carefully into the dirt and prayed she wouldn't suddenly remember to water the flowers. That would be just his luck—she never remembered, except when he needed her not to. He risked a glance at the mirror, but Eiress, luckily, was sleeping soundly, Kaida curled around her head.

With the key and Eiress safe for the moment, he let his parents take him to the hospital.

E
IRESS HAD BEEN PLAGUED
by nightmares, and when she finally awoke, she had to convince herself that being awake was better than sleeping. Either way, she was surrounded by horror. She searched for him—the boy from the mirror. But he wasn't there, and that hurt more than any nightmare.

Of course, he couldn't be there all the time. She knew that. He probably wasn't trapped in a nightmare like she was, probably had a life beyond her, and he was out living that life. But he'd been there for her last night, during the monstrosity that was the ball. He hadn't left her, and had stayed until she'd fallen asleep. For that, she was grateful.

Still, she missed him.

Kaida hissed and puffed smoke next to her face, telling her to get up and face the day. Sighing, she threw the blankets off and forced herself to her feet. Her entire body hurt, like she'd been stomped by a dragon. That had happened, once. When one had invaded the castle and come straight for her. She'd had to crawl back to her room and laid on the cold floor, fighting for her life for hours. She hadn't been able to walk to the ball that night, and her punishment had been…

Severe.

But that had also been when she'd rescued Kaida. His egg had been just beyond the castle entrance, with all kinds of nightmarish creatures fighting over what got to devour it. She'd never ventured beyond its walls; her chains would not allow it, but she had stretched and strained and somehow, the chains had grown. She'd retrieved the egg and rushed back to her room, protecting it until Kaida had hatched.

He'd been the only bright spot in her gray world.

Slowly, she picked up the knitting needle on her side table and drew it lightly across her wrist. Deep enough to make it bleed, but not deep enough to do any real damage. One hundred and eighteen scars and one new cut. One hundred and nineteen princesses had gone since Eiress had come.

A part of her didn't want to bind the wound. A part of her wanted to see what would happen if she didn't. But she ignored that part. When she was strong—when the boy was there, she could shove that darkness deep into her soul, where she could barely feel it. But when he was gone, it was harder. She wasn't as strong without him, and could only ignore it, instead.

She wandered to the window to see what horrors awaited her this day. A person living outside the Isles would eat breakfast, but she hadn't tasted food in years and years. No one ate here.

Except the monsters. They ate quite often. Lost souls seemed to be their favorite meal.

Today, there was darkness. Even though the sun was up, it granted no light. Pitch blackness greeted her. Kaida hissed and attempted to blow fire, curling up her arm to her shoulder as something huge with gaping jaws and red, glowing eyes reared its head at her window. Eiress shrieked and leaped backward, slamming the shutters closed. The castle was enchanted, of course, because Mary didn't want to deal with any nightmares trying to kill
her
and send
her
to hell. If she died here—if any of them died here—they would go to hell. Mary wanted to avoid that, hence the enchantment. The only way in was through an open window.

Or an open door.

Of course, the one time Vlad left the door open when he let the lost souls inside for the ball, the dragon waltzed right in and tried to eat them all. Luckily, she was raising Kaida to be a good little dragon who ate spiders and not humans. Hopefully, he would remember that when he was all grown up and huge.

She sank onto her bed and let her head fall into her hands. Honestly, could hell be worse than this? Maybe it was time…

The boy was back.

She raised her head, a smile already creasing her face. He had a habit of showing up when things were at their worst. When she needed him most. "Last night was bad," she said, and paused as if waiting for him to answer, even though she knew he couldn't. "Thank you for staying with me."

She could feel pain from him. And fear. And confusion. She wasn't sure what was happening on his side of the mirror, but it didn't seem to be good. "Are you okay? I hope you're okay. I…I don't want you to feel pain." And then she blushed because that sounded stupid and lovesick.

Was it possible to be lovesick over someone you could only feel?

Yes. Yes it was.

"A thing tried to get into my room today," she said conversationally. She felt his alarm and smiled in response. "Kaida scared it away, though. And I closed the shutters so it couldn't get in."

It took her a moment to realize what his emotion was then. When she did, her heart nearly stopped in her chest.

Determination.

"Friend?" she whispered, but he was gone.

S
HE'D ALMOST DIED.
A
GAIN.

While he was off getting his hand set and being drugged to the gills with pain medication, something had tried to come through her window and kill her.

He was running out of time.

But he couldn't very well go through the mirror and fight Mary while he was so loopy the room kept spinning. He'd have to sleep off the pain meds and then go.