Dawn Thompson by The Brotherhood

Author:The Brotherhood
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

One thing and one thing only moved Cora then; she must leave Whitebriar Abbey. She had nearly succumbed to the lure of a vampire’s kiss. As improbable as it was, she was falling in love with Joss Hyde-White. She would have given herself to him if she hadn’t seen those fangs. Was this attraction a result of his hypnotic charm? She had heard of such amongst vampires. Or was this feeling genuine—was it inevitable that she would melt in the arms of the right man after what she had been through in the clutches of the wrong one? She could not stay long enough to find out. Either way, the outcome would be the same if she stayed: sooner or later, he would break down her resistance.

No, there was nothing for it but to go. She gave no thought to where, only that she must put as much distance between herself and Joss Hyde-White as was humanly possible. It would be light soon. They would take the coffin below to the kirk, and she would be on that sledge, even if she had to climb into the coffin with the dead butler to do so.

Cora dressed as warmly as her wardrobe would allow, in a gunmetal-gray wool frock, her sturdiest pair of ankle boots and her chinchilla-lined and hooded mantle that the servants had set to rights below stairs. That would have to do. She would have to leave the rest of her things behind. She shrugged. What did it matter? What use were her pretty frocks if she were doomed to pass the rest of her days among the undead? It all seemed like a terrible nightmare. It couldn’t be real—any of it! Her ruination, this trip, these monsters . . . She would wake soon, and laugh at such a stupid dream. But she did not wake. The nightmare was real, and tears stung her eyes as she slipped out of the master bedchamber and crept through the shadows that clung stubbornly to the old halls as dawn approached.

She had no trouble finding the salon; Grace’s mournful wails echoing along the empty corridors led her straight to it. Cora had never met the woman, yet sorrow welled in her as she came nearer. Other voices ringing from the rafters joined the din, driving her deeper into the shadows. She backed into a recessed alcove where a small, rounded door was almost obscured by a tapestry. Without giving it a second thought, she turned the knob and entered a small vacant chamber.

Dawn hadn’t yet broken. There were no draperies on the room’s only window, and she backed toward it as the voices outside grew louder. Glancing through the frost-painted glass, she searched the frozen breast of the tor for some sign of life. It wouldn’t do to be discovered leaving. There was no sign of anyone, though a sledge waited directly below. Cora held her breath. From the scuffling outside and the wails and sobs and hushed whispers, she could tell that they were carrying the coffin below.

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