Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) by Shalini Boland

Author:Shalini Boland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, urban fantasy, thriller, adventure, young adult, supernatural, hidden, teen, ya, vampire romance, turkey, teen fiction, ya fiction, vampire series, teen romance, historical adventure, epic adventure, cappadocia, teen adventure, vampire book, teen horror, teen book, vampire ebook, thicker than blood, epic love story
Publisher: Shalini Boland

Chapter Twenty Five

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

As they walked towards the cave entrance, Aelia realised she was clutching her bag so tightly her hands hurt. She relaxed her grip a little and tried to breathe normally. The man, Mislav, smelt of vanilla and moonlight – a warm fresh scent that made her a little woozy. She shook herself lightly. She was just tired from the journey, that was all.

Five natural columns of pale stone rose up before them – three at the cave entrance and two on its roof, like sentries on duty. They were way over head height, cone-shaped, with pointed tips. Aelia had seen the cave several times in her life. As children, she and her friends had dared each other to enter, but none had been brave enough. They had always ended up squealing and running away. The cave was said to be the home of a wicked god who had been banished to live underground for all eternity. The pillars were supposedly the god’s chimneys. Now they were someone else’s chimneys – but human or demon? That was the question.

‘Do you have family below? Friends?’ Mislav asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Where are you from?’

‘Here. Selmea.’ She wished he would stop asking questions. She didn’t want to tell him about her expulsion from the village and she couldn’t think straight. She just wanted to concentrate on the task ahead.

‘Is it … safe down there?’

‘Safe?’ he replied. ‘Safe from the invaders you mean? Of course. No one would ever guess a single person was below the ground, let alone a whole city.’

That’s not what Aelia meant, but she couldn’t very well ask him if there were demons underground. ‘Is it really the size of a city?’

‘Yes. It’s enormous. Larger than you can imagine. But you’ll see for yourself in just a short while.’

They reached the pillars and Aelia reached out a hand to touch one of them, its chalky surface rough against her palm. Mislav gestured for her to go in.

‘Wait,’ she said, a feeling of panic sweeping through her body. Aelia turned and looked out at the night sky, at the stars and the moon and the dark shapes of the trees and rocks. She breathed in deeply through her nose, a final breath of freedom that might have to last her forever. ‘Alright,’ she said. ‘I’m ready.’

Mislav gave a nod and she entered the cave. It was wide and low and cool. No one stood guard. He took a torch from a bracket on the wall and walked to the back of the cave. Aelia followed him as he slipped through a small crevice, again it was unguarded. The silence was eerie. If a city’s worth of people lived here, she certainly couldn’t hear them. The torchlight flickered across the narrow passageway walls and her breaths echoed like a thousand whispers. She patted the place below her ribcage where she had tied the box in place against her skin, relieved to feel its shape beneath her fingers.

After a few moments, the passageway ended and Aelia stepped out into a huge cavern.

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