Chapter 3 The Other Bride

ARIA'S POV

I woke up in the town square with my face pressed against frozen cobblestones.

Pain shot through my head as I pushed myself up. Around me, I heard crying. Lots of crying.

Five other women huddled near the fountain, all of them marked with the glowing crimson rose. Their faces were wet with tears. Some were my age, others younger. One girl looked barely eighteen.

"Get up," a vampire guard ordered, yanking me to my feet.

The entire village had gathered to watch. Hundreds of faces stared at us—some crying, some praying, some just looking relieved it wasn't them. I scanned the crowd and found Celeste standing with Marcus and Vivienne. My stepmother caught my eye and smiled.

That smile said everything. You're finally gone.

Rage burned through my fear. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing me break.

"Listen up!" The lead vampire—the woman from my cottage—stood before us. "You are the chosen brides of the Winter Feast. In moments, we leave for the Crimson Vale. You have one minute to say goodbye to your families."

The other girls rushed toward the crowd, sobbing. Parents grabbed their daughters. Husbands held their wives. Children screamed for their mothers.

I stood alone.

Nobody came for me. Celeste stayed exactly where she was, looking bored. Marcus wouldn't even look at me. My so-called family wanted me dead.

Fine. I didn't need them.

"Hey." A voice spoke beside me. "You're the healer, right? Aria?"

I turned and found a girl about my age with wild red hair and fierce green eyes. Her crimson rose mark glowed bright on her collarbone, just like mine. Unlike the others, she wasn't crying.

"I'm Elena," she said. "Elena Cross. My father's a farmer." She looked me up and down. "You're not saying goodbye to anyone either?"

"Nobody worth saying goodbye to," I muttered.

Elena's laugh was sharp and bitter. "Same here. My father sold me to pay his debts. Told the vampires to take me instead of my brother." She shrugged, but I saw the hurt in her eyes. "Guess sons are more valuable than daughters."

Something in my chest loosened. I wasn't alone.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"Don't be." Elena grabbed my hand suddenly, squeezing tight. Her palm was rough from farm work, but her grip was strong. "We survive together. Deal?"

I squeezed back. "Deal."

"TIME'S UP!" the lead vampire shouted.

The other girls were pulled away from their families. Their screams echoed across the square. One woman—a mother of two—fought so hard that three vampires had to drag her. Her children ran after her, crying.

My heart broke watching them.

"Form a line!" the vampire ordered. "First Bride in front."

The other girls looked around confused. Elena nudged me. "That's you. I heard them talking. You're going to Lord Sebastian Thorne himself."

My stomach dropped. Right. First Bride. I'd almost forgotten.

I stepped forward, and the vampires pushed me to the front of the line. The other five brides lined up behind me, still sobbing. Elena squeezed in right behind me, still holding my hand.

Ten vampire escorts surrounded us, their black cloaks moving like living shadows. I'd never seen anything so terrifying. Their eyes were completely black, their skin pale as death, and when they moved, it was too fast—not quite human.

The lead vampire raised her hands, and the air started to shimmer. Reality bent and twisted in front of us, creating a hole in the world. Through it, I saw darkness and red light.

"The portal to the Crimson Vale," Elena whispered behind me. "We're really going."

The mother who'd fought was still screaming. "Please! My babies need me! Please!"

The vampire dragging her showed no mercy. "Your babies will forget you. Everyone does."

Those cold words made something snap inside me. I turned to face the lead vampire.

"Let her say goodbye properly," I demanded. "One more minute. That's all she's asking."

Every vampire turned to stare at me. The crowd went silent.

The lead vampire walked slowly toward me, and with each step, the temperature dropped. When she stopped inches from my face, I could see my breath fog in the air.

"First Brides don't make demands," she said softly. "They obey."

"I'm not your bride yet," I shot back. "And that woman deserves to hug her children one last time."

The vampire's black eyes narrowed. For a moment, I thought she might kill me right there. Then, shockingly, she smiled.

"Lord Sebastian chose well," she murmured. "You have fire." She turned and waved her hand. "One minute. Then we leave."

The mother collapsed, sobbing, as her children ran to her. The other brides got a few more precious seconds with their families.

Elena squeezed my hand harder. "That was either really brave or really stupid."

"Probably both," I admitted.

The minute passed too quickly. When the vampires pulled us toward the portal, I took one last look at my village. At the home I'd never see again. At Celeste, who looked furious that I'd shown mercy when she'd shown me none.

I'll survive this, I promised myself. Just to prove her wrong.

"Move!" The vampires shoved us forward.

Elena's hand slipped from mine as we stepped into the portal. The world turned inside out. Colors exploded and disappeared. Sound became light became pain became nothing—

We fell.

And when I opened my eyes, I was lying on black stone under a purple sky with three moons.

The Crimson Vale.

A vampire guard yanked me up. "Welcome to hell, First Bride."

In the distance, a massive palace of black ice rose into the sky. At its highest tower, a figure stood watching us. Even from this far away, I could feel his power pressing down like a weight.

Lord Sebastian Thorne.

The vampire who requested me by name. The vampire who knew my mother's secret.

The vampire who was going to kill me in twelve days.

Elena grabbed my arm, breathing hard. "Aria. Look."

She pointed at the palace gates, where a woman in crimson robes waited. Beautiful, ancient, and smiling like a snake.

"That's Lady Morgana," a vampire guard whispered nervously. "The High Priestess. She oversees the ritual." He glanced at me with something like pity. "She's never let a First Bride survive past the first night."

My blood turned to ice.

"What do you mean, 'survive past the first night'?" I demanded. "The ritual is in twelve days—"

"The ritual is in twelve days," the guard agreed. "But the First Bride must pass Lady Morgana's test tonight." He looked away. "Most don't."