Claimed by the Prince of Darkness novel Chapter 223

Chapter 223: When the Dead Still Grow

Far away, the Slater Mansion had grown darker than any night could bring.

A heaviness settled into the walls of the mansion, as if the house itself understood that something had gone terribly.

The family had placed Dane’s and Lachlan’s bodies on a bed made of ice which sat at the centre of the cold room.

Usually, there were rituals. The clothes of the deceased were prepared and changed. The funeral was arranged with the weight of tradition behind it. But tonight, no one could move. The shock held them all in place. From a distance, the two men looked like they were only sleeping.

Hailey, who had gone out to the theatre in the company of the Ravencroft siblings earlier that day, now looked devastated. One piece of bad news after another.

The rim of Hailey’s eyes had gone red. She wiped at a tear before it could spill, pressing the heel of her hand against her cheek as if she could force the grief back inside.

"Kevin?" the name broke out of her the moment she saw her friend appear in the doorway. She crossed the room before she knew she threw her arms around him. "Ruelle is missing!" her voice cracked.

"I heard." Kevin’s frown deepened, and he patted her back with slow, steady strokes. When the news had arrived at the castle, he had taken permission and left right away. "Let us hope Lucian or King Septimus finds her quickly."

Hailey weakly nodded.

Kevin pulled back gently and turned, offering bows to the family members who’d gathered in the hall. The door opened, and Hermes returned with Peyton, the prince absent from their company. Sawyer’s father demanded,

"Did they find anything?"

"No, milady." Hermes shook his head. "They are still looking for Miss Ruelle. They have covered most of the ground, but it is like they just... vanished."

"Who knew that a halfling could go to such lengths and extensive measures?" Lady Ravencroft murmured. She stood beside her husband, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. "And to think he went and attacked Dane and Mr. Hawksley... To be taken away so young..." she rubbed her forehead with her hand. "Too soon," she whispered.

Hermes walked toward the bed of ice, as if inspecting the bodies might yield some useful clue the living had missed. But Lachlan’s body had gone colder than the ice beneath him, and the colour of his lips had faded to something pale and wrong. There was nothing there but stillness.

He moved to the pureblooded vampire’s body and paused. A faint scent reached him, and he leaned in, almost without thinking, and sniffed again.

"Should I bring another block of ice?" Maude asked, in a steady voice.

Hermes turned to look at the vampiress. "No. I just thought I picked a familiar scent," and for a moment his head felt dizzy when he got too close and he shook his head. He was then about to leave when something caught his eye and he frowned.

Angelina, who was watching them, made her way to her deceased cousin’s body. And when she looked at what Hermes was looking at, she frowned. She murmured,

"It wasn’t like this before, was it?"

"I thought I was seeing things..." Hermes commented, and this invited others who were in the cold room.

The hollow gap in Dane’s chest had black threads.

Only ten of them. Thin and dark, they traced the edges of the wound like stitches, so fine they might have been missed by anyone not looking closely. But now that they’d been seen, they were impossible to unsee. They looked like something that had grown.

Angelina’s hand shot out, catching her cousin’s hand. It was as cold as before. No, colder, as if the ice had seeped into him completely. But that wasn’t what made her breath catch.

"He is dead," she whispered, her fingers tightening around his. "But why is that happening..."

"Get the physician, Maude!" Lady Ravencroft shouted in hope and the head of the housekeeper bowed before leaving the place.

Kevin stared at the hollow which was lined with something black and when he looked closer, he said, "Doesn’t it look familiar?" He hadn’t forgotten the night when Lucian had tortured the other students for trying to harm Ruelle. They were similar string lines. "Like corruption. I might be wrong," he added.

"But Dane was never affected by corruption," Angelina challenged the thought.

"That is indeed true," Lady Ravencroft nodded before wearing a deep thought. Lucian was the only one to be affected by it, so it didn’t make sense to see the small black threads that had moved from one end to another in the hollow space of her nephew’s chest. But then something crossed her mind and her eyes narrowed. Unless...

The lady quickly left the room, trying to find the housekeeper and when she did, she asked, "Maude! When Dane and Lucian spent time together after Lucian’s corruption, Dane missed his classes in Sexton, right?"

"Mr. Oak had granted him leave of absence but Master Dane left for Sexton once Master Lucian’s corruption stopped," Maude answered and heard Lady Ravencroft sigh.

"What happened, milady?" Hermes asked who had followed her.

The older vampiress stared at the wall before she said, "I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. But it seems like Dane tried to take some of Lucian’s corruption."

The physician arrived at the Slater Mansion just past midnight, summoned by a rider who hadn’t stopped to explain more than the barest facts. He set down his bag without a word and approached.

He lifted Lachlan’s wrist first, pressing two fingers to the cold skin, watching for something that would not come. He leaned close to check the eyes, the lips, the faint discolouration already beginning to creep along the jaw despite the ice’s efforts to hold it back. Then he moved to Dane, his motions slowing, his brow furrowing as his fingers hovered over the pureblooded vampire’s chest.

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