Chapter 39
I come back to myself in a cold, damp and pitch-black room. I wince from the pain in my body as I move, and then I feel a warm gentle hand stroking my brow.
"Shh—try not to move," Anthony says. "They hit your head hard."
I touch my head and find a huge, tender bump. "Where are we?" I ask, not able to see anything other than a few glimmers of light that shine through the gap between the door and the floor.
"In a cell below the castle," he says.
"My mom?" My stomach contorts. I want this all to be over, to be back at home with my mom, so I can tell her how much I love and appreciate her. This nightmare of a life I've been living lately seems only to get worse and worse and has now become completely unbearable.
"Still missing in action," he says, caressing my hair.
"Wait, how is it that you're not a beast?" I ask, now realizing he is just himself.
"Maureen...she forced something down my throat."
"Maybe an antidote of some sort?"
"Maybe." Anthony huffs.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'll be fine."
My head starts pounding violently, and I am grateful it is dark. Sitting up, I search for Anthony's hands. "Hold me," I say, needing to be comforted by him.
He wraps his arms around me and we sit still for a while.
"How are we going to get out of here?" I ask.
Anthony chuckles. "You are wonderful, do you know that? We're in the most hopeless situation of our lives and you don't complain, you don't despair, but you ask how we can get out of here. That's why I like you so much."
I strain a smile in the darkness. "I'm just glad I have you here, or I'd be totally depressed."
"I'm glad I'm here with you too, even though the setting doesn't quite fit my liking." He pauses and shifts a little where he sits. "I told Skuld that if I didn't return by 10:00 a.m. something has gone wrong and they need to come for us. They'll come looking for me, and for you, so all is not lost."
"When I roamed the castle at night, I never found the entrance to this place. Do you think they will find us?"
"I hope so, but I'm more worried about what Maureen has up her sleeve. She knows about the Lightálfars and may even be planning an attack on them."
"I didn't realize there were that many Darkálfars," I say. "Did you?"
"There may even be more than what we saw." Anthony sounds very worried.
"That would be bad."
"Yes, but I'd rather die here with you than fight on Maureen's side. She stole my gift, you know."
"Your fifth gift?"
"Yes."
He doesn't say what it was, and I don't ask; he will tell me when he is ready. I wonder if Maureen conceived Anthony just so she could get his gift. There aren't that many Huldras or Huldus in the world, so each fifth gift must be of extreme value. I don't mention it because I don't want to hurt him.
I have to get my mind off our miserable situation before it drowns me completely. I try to think of how life was back home in Sarasota. "You know the first thing I'm going to do when I get out of here?" I say. Or if we get out of here.
"What?" Anthony says.
"I'm going to call Ashley. She's probably thoroughly freaked out by now that I've dropped off the face of the planet."
Anthony chuckles. "You know what I'm going to do?"
"What?"
"Take you on a proper date."
I would normally have laughed, but I feel too stressed to do so now. "I would like that very much." So much has changed over just the past few days. The seriousness of our situation starts to weigh me down again, and I can't, no matter how hard I try and resist, stop the tears from coming.
"We can get through this, Sonia—together," he says. "But seriously, will you go on a date with me?"
"I'd love to go on a date with you. Where would you take me?" I say, my voice thick, as I struggle to get the words out.
"To Hawaii," he says. "That seems like a relaxing enough place, don't you think?"
I smile a little now. "Very relaxing."
He kisses my cheek and I turn my head to the side. Our lips find each other in the dark. The only thing right in my life is Anthony—my Darkálfar.
"My fifth gift was the gift of dimensional slicing, meaning the bearer of the gift can transport from one realm or dimension to another, from anywhere," Anthony says.
That would have been an amazing ability to have, and I feel so horrible that Anthony never received that gift. "Thank you for sharing."
A key rattles on the other side of the door, and the rusty metal door opens. Bright lights blare from the outside, and for a split second, I think I see Olaf standing in the doorway.