I hated the dark.
My stomach twisted, and bile rose in my throat. My breaths came in short, shallow gasps as I sought a reprieve from the writhing black fog all around us.
Beside me, the vampire didn’t say anything.
“Please,” I begged. “Where are we?”
I tried to yank myself out of her grip, but her nails tightened around my arm as she dragged me through air as thick as mud.
“Stop struggling,” Estrella hissed a moment later. “This will be over in a minute.”
The seconds dragged on as the shadows enveloped us, making it impossible to see or hear or do anything. My chest was tight, my throat constricted, and my head spun as I gasped for air. My free hand grasped my neck, the darkness feeling like it was crushing me as Estrella pulled me forward.
It felt like an eternity passed before a tiny dot of light appeared in my vision. I exhaled, and relief flooded through me as cold stones materialized beneath my feet.
“We’re here,” Estrella said, contempt dripping from her every word as she thrust me toward the ground, stepping away from me as the shadows receded. I stumbled, falling on all fours as I took in breath after gasping breath.
Or at least, I tried to.
Within moments, the crippling fear that had come over me in the darkness gave way to something else.
Cold.
Every single part of me was cold, from the hairs on the top of my head to my feet clad in flimsy golden slippers. I had never been so cold in my entire life. Frozen air tasting like ice slammed into me, stealing the breath from my lungs. Pinpricks of pain started in my hands and feet, and my teeth chattered as a brisk wind blew in through a crack in the stone wall.
For a moment, I couldn’t do anything. It was as though my body forgot how to live. I froze as the frozen air of this northern land rammed into me.
Then I took in a breath. The first inhale felt like I was pulling shards of ice into my lungs. Things did not improve from there.
I thought I knew what it meant to be cold. I thought I understood what the wintery air felt like against my face. Nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being in this northern country where even breathing hurt.
With every beat of my heart, the inhospitable air burrowed itself deeper inside me. The stones beneath my hands were ice cold, and my fingers numbed as I grappled at the ground.
As soon as my body adjusted to the temperature, it rebelled against the horrible method of travel. My knees trembled and my head throbbed as my stomach churned.
A moan left my lips, and Estrella tsk’d. “This is why we had to shadow up here. I just knew you would be a weakling.”
I wished I could have said something snarky in reply, but I was too busy trying not to throw up. It wasn’t like I’d asked to be dragged through the shadows.
When my stomach settled and I no longer felt like I was going to be sick, I lifted my gaze from the floor. A single purple sconce hung on the wall, the Light Elf magic casting dark, violet shadows all around me.
That wasn’t a surprise.
My research had been clear that the people of the Northern Kingdom had particular aversions to fire and sunlight.
Once my eyes adjusted to the violet light, I took in my surroundings. The blonde vampire leaned against a crumbling, windowless wall, braiding her hair as though she hadn’t a care in the world.
Even with the purple light, this small room was one of the most depressing places I’d ever been in my entire life. Gray stones filled the empty space as cold air seeped in through dozens of cracks. The wind howled, sounding like a screaming female as it ploughed into the outer walls.
“Happy birthday to me,” I grumbled.
My first few minutes in my new home were turning out to be just as delightful as I had predicted. That was to say, they were not delightful, nor were they enjoyable. Was there any pleasure to be found in this land of snow and ice? Any beauty? How did one entertain oneself when it snowed for ten months out of the year?
The only positive I could see was that I was still breathing. Life still pulsed through me, despite the incredible cold.
But the night was young.
I pushed myself onto my knees, just as more shadows pooled on the ground near my feet. Shoving myself backward, I hit the nearest wall, the stones cold beneath the too-thin material of my golden dress, as the shadows curled on the ground. They disappeared moments before the dark-skinned vampire from the Great Hall appeared beside the blonde.