Hell's Consort

It was Jon, the right-hand man of the Vampire King. "It's better if you don't know at first."

Cederic quipped. "Well, it might make the new High Priestess less paranoid if she did know."

Fei raised his wrinkled hand to shut everyone up. "Stupid girl, you forgot Hecate's grimoire." Fei threw it in Luna's direction.

She caught it but almost dropped it.

Cederic saw that and smirked.

"Stupid girl." He mockingly repeated. "---dropping the Witch Goddess's prized treasure under the table. Well, so much for being the new High Priestess."

"Luna's face went hot as she looked down the trail, mumbling as she shook her almost transparent skirts. "It's not like I have a pocket to shove that gigantic book into here."

"Careful with that, My Lady," Cederic muttered, chuckling. "Jon seems to be interested in what's underneath."

Luna hesitated and looked at Jon, and, indeed, his gaze appeared to be transfixed on her legs which were showing a bit.

She glared at him pointedly, and the bastard blew her a kiss.

Cederic's horse sidled tight against hers. "I think we should get moving."

"I'm not going anywhere with you and your minions dressed like thisHigh Priest," Luna told Fei, trying to keep her voice steady. She did not want him to know that she was afraid of this initiation.

Before Luna could react, Jon reached down and seized her horse's reins forcefully.

"Now, now. If all of you would please calm down. A High Priestess does not deserve this kind of treatment. Let us keep everything civilized."

The last time she dove into the unknown, it almost left her dead and her fate in the hands of these vampires.

"My Lord, you don't have to act like I am the Kingdom's most sought-after criminal. Please tell me what we are about to do, and I will gladly come with you. I do not want to be blindfolded and pushed headfirst  off  the cliffs."

Fei glanced around at the other palace guards.

He gave a meaningful look at Jon as if they knew what to do because they had discussed their plans beforehand.

"Trust me, High Priestess," Fei assured Luna. "Besides, Jon will be with you at all times to make sure you are safe. The Vampire King specifically ordered him to watch over you during the test. It will be painless, but Jon will not be able to help since he must keep you alive throughout the whole endeavour."

"Alive?" Luna said. "You must be joking."

"I am dead serious, My Lady," Fei replied. "Do you think I am funny?"

Fei might be right about that but wrong if he thought Luna would go without a fight.

Luna jammed her spurs into the sides of her horse, and she reared, hooves striking out and knocking away Fei's hand.

"Hah!" Luna screamed as she lunged down the road in a gallop. Sensing her desperation, the horse ran faster than ever before.

But Jon's stallion was bigger.

If Luna stayed on the trail, he would catch her.

Another snowy and rocky trail appeared ahead, and she swung down the path.

Branches tore at her hair and skirts as they leapt over fallen trees, crashing through the undergrowth.

Luna concentrated on staying low so that she wouldn't be unseated from her horse.

Behind them, she heard hooves thundering against the ground along with Jon's vile threats while Cederic and Fei were rumbling in her direction, too.

They neared a forest.

Ahead, there was a visible break in the woods. Just beyond that lay a frozen lake where the ice was so thin it would probably break if she continued to charge forward.

She would be brought down into the water along with her horse.

Luna screamed, deciding to risk everything again.

Just trying to squeeze more information out of them by causing just enough trouble.

It would be bad for the new High Priestess to die on their watch.

The Vampire King would threaten to take their souls, especially Fei's, alongside hers.

Luna forgot that she was practically immortal.

A glance behind showed Jon and the others in fast pursuit.

Cederic was near enough for her to see the fury written on his face as one of his arms reached for her hair.

Luna could not let him catch her.

She applied pressure by squeezing her calves on the horse's barrel, and it immediately responded by increasing its speed.

She would not.

Then a branch smashed across her chest, launching her backwards.

Her horse disappeared from under her, and she was falling, her eyes fixed on the blood-red moon filtering through the dead branches of the trees.

Then, nothing.