I tried not to think about what had just happened between Jacobi and me. For one, I wasn’t sure what had exactly happened. And also I didn’t think the terms ‘Jacobi’ and ‘me’ belonged together. For every moment I remembered the sensation of his rough hands tracing my flesh, I also forced myself to remember him using those hands to shackle me in a torture room. When I held my breath while seeing his golden brown eyes bright in the night looking at me in my mind’s eye, I remembered the fear that came when they blackened like death preparing to take my life. And every time I recalled hearing that voice asking permission to touch me, I remembered that same voice stating many times that I was going to die and threatening to do horrible things to me.

I shouldn’t feel anything other than disgust and fear towards that man. But I just couldn’t shake that powerful electrifying feeling that had come from him without explanation. I’d never felt anything like that before. Something told me I never would again. At least, never by the hands of anyone else.

Jacobi Bryant, I spat at my own thoughts. He’s the reason I’m in this mess in the first place.

After sighing, I looked around at the garden of statues next to the lake and decided to wander around in hopes of distracting me from the confusing thoughts that were flitting through my mind. Coming across the first statue, I noticed they weren’t made of stone at all. In fact, upon further inspection, I noted it was actually polished wood. Someone had carved the figure of people into wood so delicately and finished it with polish and paint that it looked almost realistic.

Remembering the carvings in Jacobi’s bedroom, I could guess who made the statues. I lightly traced the surface of one, feeling the smooth solid structure. I’d never known someone so into something like carving wood. Drawing, sure, but carving wasn’t typical for the people I’d known. I wondered what made him take up something like this. I wondered why he had carved statues of people in this hidden garden in the forest.

As if calling to my musings, an image of the figurine in my dream appeared before my mind: a phoenix falling into a fire. The woman in my dreams wanted me to tell Jacobi something. I’d never been plagued by one person so persistently in my strange dreams before. Sometimes I’d been given hints to certain things, maybe things that happened or will happen, but never had a person haunted me like this woman did. Perhaps I should have just told Jacobi about it by now. But honestly, why would he listen to the silly dreams of a silly Monet girl? Who was that woman to him, if she was real at all?

My breath was struck from my body when I saw her before me in the garden.

“You,” I whispered, widening my eyes. She was standing closer to the lake, not quite in the middle of the garden but close to it. Her hands were cupped over her heart in between her breasts. Her face was content and amused, staring off into the distance. It was only after a long moment of a near heart attack that I realized she wasn’t actually the woman from my dream. She was another statue made of wood in the dark garden.

I hesitated, but then walked closer to the statue slowly. When I was close enough to touch her, I sighed with a small relief knowing I wasn’t crazy after all. She was real, at least to Jacobi. She was real, which meant my dreams were real.

“I know you,” I said quietly, touching her face and remembering her lips against mine in her desperation to give me her message. “I’ll tell him what I know.” I looked down, seeing a platform under her feet. There, etched into the platform, were the carvings of the phoenix I knew she was fond of. Those phoenixes circled her name: Adelaide.

I was shocked. This was the girl from my dreams? Eve’s Kindred; Jacobi’s possible mate?

“I see you’ve found our Master’s secret garden,” I heard Aveline’s voice behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin, turning to see her looking past me and at the statue of Adelaide. Her expression was plaintive, but she quickly pulled away from revealing emotion on her face when she looked at me.

“I… kind of followed him here,” I answered slowly, trying not to show any expression that might tip her off on the strangeness that was whatever happened between Jacobi and me. I decided the best bet would be to bombard her with questions. “What are all these statues for?”

Aveline looked around the garden. For some reason, the way she held herself made me feel like she was possibly standing in a graveyard surrounded by ghosts. I had a feeling I wasn’t far off. She moved to another statue of a smaller girl. The girl couldn’t have been older than fifteen. She was short for her age regardless, if the statue was meant to be an exact replica. Her monolid eyes were bright with compassion, her innocence framed in her heart shaped face. Aveline reached out to touch her wooden hair mournfully.

“They’re of the dead,” She said carefully. “The dead of the Bryant Coterie. Jacobi goes missing for hours and hours on end when we lose someone. By the end of a month, that member will be standing here with the others, so the Coterie can see them again.” She turned and looked at me. “Eternity is a long time without the people you love, little tiger.”

I shuffled towards the young girl’s statue, looking at the name on the platform: Leah.

“Who was she?” I asked sincerely, feeling an ache in my chest where Aveline was obviously hurting. It wasn’t the bond that made me ache for her. I knew that was only a one way street. But I didn’t wish pain on her. I was too used to her affection and lively attitude. Sadness was just that on her; sad.

“She was my Kindred,” Aveline admitted in a hushed voice. I was stunned. I had never known Aveline had made a vampire herself. “She was killed while out hunting one night on her own. We were still bonded. I felt it.” I rested a hand on Aveline’s arm, hurting for her.

“Who would kill her? Why?”

Aveline laughed then, but it was a dry humorless laugh. “A Monet, of course,” She responded simply, glancing at me for my reaction. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. A part of me wanted to feel guilty for being a Monet, but I knew it wasn’t my fault that the Monet family killed so many vampires. I was only bound to them by name and by blood. I wasn’t raised by them. I didn’t help kill any vampires. But it still hurt to know my family caused so much grief on so many people… vampires.

“Why didn’t you treat me the way the others did, then?” I asked, confused. So many hated me because the Monet family killed their actual or potential Mate, ‘brother’ or ‘sister’, Coterie member, and their Kindred. Why wouldn’t Aveline do the same if my family had killed her Kindred so young?

“I like to think myself as being evolved,” She winked at me then before grasping my hand in hers. “I learned it doesn’t help anyone to blame the wrong people. My Leah was killed so long ago by a Monet who isn’t even alive today. You weren’t even thought of much less conceived in that time. Since then I found my Mate. I moved on. So many people can’t do the same.” I looked down at her hand in mine, feeling something similar to gratitude towards her. She could have easily had a claim to hate me just like the rest of the coterie, but she chose to protect me instead. Even if she couldn’t help me escape, I could still trust her and for that I was thankful.

“Aveline,” My voice lowered nervously when I decided to tell her about my dreams. Would she think I was crazy? “I need to tell you something. I need… well, I need to tell Jacobi something. I don’t think he’ll listen to me…”

Aveline frowned in confusion. “What is it?” I opened my mouth to admit everything when I felt that warm tingling sensation over my skin. Xander was suddenly there, grabbing Aveline’s elbow in a most desperate manner.

“We have to go,” He said quickly, looking back towards a random direction where I assumed the Headquarters were. His eyebrows burrowed together and his lips were turned down in a deep set of dissatisfaction. “The Royals are here. They’re having a trial and they want everyone on the premises there, including Elysia.”

My heart began to thump painfully in my chest. Was it Darsana? Was she finally here to cast judgment? I hadn’t expected my death to be so sudden. I had hoped for some warning or indication that she’d be here soon rather than now.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Aveline sighed before beginning to lead me into the forest. “Might as well get it over with, I guess.” I was slowly beginning to panic. How could they lead me so easily to my death? Weren’t they concerned?

“I don’t know if I can ever get used to these feelings. It’s been so long since I was bonded to a human,” Xander stated from behind me, brushing his hands over my upper arms soothingly. “Calm down, Elysia, you’re going to give us all a panic attack.” Aveline flashed a smile back at me, her expression soft but the corners of her eyes were tense from stress. 

“I can feel your heart like it’s mine,” Aveline admitted, holding her hand up to her chest as if it intrigued her. “Why are you so afraid, little tiger?” I was beginning to tremble regardless of their attempts to sooth me.

“It’s Darsana, isn’t it?” I whispered in fear. “I’m going to die. I don’t want to die.” This made both of them pause in their steps. Aveline faced me, grasping my face in the palms of her hand so that my view was dominated by her.

“Listen to me, Elysia. We’re not going to just let you die. Do you understand? We wouldn’t just toss you to your death, especially now that you’re ours,” She said determinedly. “If death is what is decided, then so be it. There’s nothing we can do. But if Darsana was here, we wouldn’t rush you to go meet your doom. We’d keep you as long as we could. We’d fight to keep you. Understand?”

My trembling began to fade away as I realized what she was saying. Darsana wasn’t here. And if she was, they’d probably stall the meeting as long as possible. It wasn’t the best answer, but it was a relief to know I wasn’t being marched to my death immediately.

“Why are the Royals here, then?” I asked, confused, “Why do they want me at the trial? What’s the trial for?” Aveline released me now that my heart wasn’t racing out of my chest. She glanced at Xander, who I noticed was looking in the distance with guilt written on his face. It was then I realized what was going on.

“You said… Jacobi would be punished for missing the event,” I answered myself, looking between them. “This is for the punishment then. But why do they want me there?”

“That, we do not know,” Xander sighed, frustrated. “We have to go before they get impatient.”

Aveline once again began to lead me through the trees. This time I followed without the hysteria, but a deep anxiety was taking place in my chest. What confused me was that it wasn’t an anxiety for me and my wellbeing. It was for him. Jacobi Bryant. He was going to be punished. I was probably going to have to witness it. For some reason, I didn’t want to watch him get hurt. Even though he had threatened me for weeks now and was planning to kill me, I didn’t want to see him get punished. Why did I even care? He was going to be punished for saving me.

Why did he save me if he was planning to kill me?

My mind flickered to his bedroom, where he had traced his touch over my ribs against his door after admitting I would have made a lovely canvas. Yes, I told myself, but he meant you’d be fun to carve to pieces, not that you were lovely, you idiot. I wanted to punch myself. I almost began to muse over the event that had happened in the garden, but I forced it from my mind.

When we reached the Headquarters, I was tinged red from my own embarrassing thoughts. I guess I could be happy that the claiming bond didn’t mean Aveline or Xander could read my mind. That would have been mortifying. I chased away my stupid musings as we headed into my prison, where a trial was being held not for me but for my capturer. I only hoped I could make it out of this one intact.