Chapter 421: Within Reach
Penelope awoke on another apparent morning, still with no August to share her room. Zagan hadn’t brought up the fact that she was missing, and Penelope was afraid to bring it up herself. Not that she had much of a chance. She only saw him a few times.
But with each day that passed with Penelope awaking and eating and staring blankly out the window into the dark forest and then sleeping again, her anxiety was growing. She would pace, wondering if August had been killed. Why else would there be no news of her and no return?
"I should have never let her leave," she groaned to herself, imagining how she could have convinced her to stay—how she could have persuaded her that it was a bad idea to go exploring the castle, which had obviously turned into exploring the entire island if August were even still alive to do it.
"Would he even tell me if she were dead?" She spoke aloud. It was a habit now with no one else to talk to and nothing else to occupy her time.
A knock came at the bedroom door, and she trudged over to it, expecting Brandt to be delivering food to her again. The food was honestly the one thing she looked forward to in this bleak, boring place, but even the monotony of this routine was wearing on her.
She had to keep reminding herself that this was the price she had agreed to pay in exchange for setting the alyko free. That is, if the alyko had actually been set free. How would she even know if Zagan went back on his word? This could all just be some kind of sick game.
"I would not go back on my word to you," the vampire’s amused voice greeted her when she opened the door, and her eyes went wide.
She hadn’t seen him for many days now, and his hair was white.
"Oh, yes," he said, noticing her gaze and pulling a strand of his hair up to run between his fingers. "This is what happens without blood."
"Are you... are you reading your... I mean my thoughts?" Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly and she backed up as he stepped inside without waiting to be invited.
"No," he chuckled. "I mean, I can... but you would certainly know if it was happening. It can be quite painful."
Penelope swallowed and stared at him with the same surprised confusion.
"You were staring at my hair," he explained patiently, arching his eyebrows and bowing his head slightly her way. The amused smile did not leave his lips.
"But I opened the door and you—you said you would not go back on your word to me," she muttered.
"You were mumbling about it. Did you not realize you were speaking aloud?" He asked, his head tilting to the side.
"Oh," she breathed. "I guess I have taken to talking to myself with so little to entertain me."
"Hmmm," he hummed, rolling onto his heels with his hands folded behind him. "Well, would you like to accompany me to breakfast? Perhaps that will be a nice change."
"I eat breakfast in my room," she muttered, looking around at the space she had been occupying here. "Or am I... am I the breakfast?"
Zagan chuckled at the question. There was something hesitant about his laughter this time though, and he looked down at his feet to avoid her eyes. She noticed the feathering of tension in his forehead and jaw as an awkward silence loomed around them.
"You are hungry," she swallowed, realizing the truth of it. "Would you like to..." she walked forward with her wrist outstretched in offer, but he put a hand up and backed away.
"No, that is not why I am here," he said cautiously, continuing to avoid her eyes.
"But your hair..." she said.
"I do not drink blood for mere vanity," he said, glancing up at her long enough for her to notice this time how grey and dull his eyes had become.
"This was the deal. If you are hungry..." she started again, and he interrupted her by putting his arm out for her to take instead.
"Brandt is setting up breakfast in the dining room. I don’t believe I have ever had a guest eat with me. Would you like to?" He asked, extending his other arm toward the door where he could offer her passage with his presence alone.
The chance to just be able to leave this room she had been trapped in was such a relief.
"Yes, sure," she answered quickly, looking at his arm in momentary hesitation before she accepted it, wrapping her arm around his.
Once they were on the other side of the doorway, Zagan dropped her arm and began walking to the staircase with the assumption that she would follow, but Penelope stood there looking around. She was finally out of the cage. She had imagined going to find August if she got the chance, but now the task seemed daunting. This hallway alone was so long. Who knew how many rooms there were on this floor alone.
"She is not down there," he called patiently, suspended in his walk to wait for her.
"You know where she is?" She asked, turning to skip and catch up with him.
"This is my island, Winter. Of course I know where she is," he smiled.
"Why have you not brought her back?" she asked, relief finding its way into her voice as the mystery of whether or not August was even alive was put to rest.
"I imagine she is just attempting to discover how best to kill me. Perhaps it is better she do it on the island with what resources she can find rather than trapped in a castle room. What knowledge can come from that?" He chuckled to himself.
Penelope rolled her eyes. So she was just the lucky one to be trapped.
"Can’t you let me go as well, then?" She asked. "I can assure you I am not learning anything being trapped in that room either."
"I am afraid you must stay within close reach," he replied, glancing at her as they descended the main staircase. "It is with you that I have made this deal and let my most precious resource go."
"I thought your most precious resource was the Great Star of Africa," she reminded him. "You let the mine go. That is the metaphor you used."
"I recall," he replied with that amused smirk back on his lips.
"So your Star of Africa is safe to wander the island?" She asked, jealous that August was allowed that freedom when she wasn’t.
"She is within my reach as well."
