“Standing?” Dante asked.
She nodded.
Then he turned around and waved. “The faster we are, the faster we'll find an inn to rest.”
Violette absolutely agreed with his statement. They should hurry up so she could meet her long-awaited friend for the next couple of hours – a soft comfy bed. She drew an unstable step, another one and then her face flew down, but instead of the cold floor it crashed into Dante's warm shirt.
“Little Witch?” He looked down at her as he caught her in his arms.
She didn't answer. She was far away in a real dream. Somewhere where no vampires, no diseases, no crypts exist. A place far enough to not hear Dante and his tries to wake her up.
Chapter 19
HOPELESS ATTEMPTS
The first thing Violette saw as her eyes opened was a beautifully painted ceiling. She blinked a few times, shaking off the last remnants of sleep and then got up.
She was sitting in a big soft bed surrounded by an emerald canopy with gold embroidery down its trim, ending with tassels. The air was infused with begonias resting in a vase on a big fireplace opposite to the bed. She looked around: the thick emerald curtains, matching the canopy of the bed, were almost shut, except for a small dark gap.
Violette lowered her foot from under the warm blanket onto the soft white carpet, its fluff tickled between her toes. She found herself in the same clothes as before, in her deep amethyst dress with iris tracery from the heart-shaped neckline to the dark violet corset with lilac ribbons. Only the cloak was missing, which she later noticed on the velvet green chair near the bed, her boots were at its legs.
She slowly circled the bed to the window.
It was dark outside, only stars were glimmering in the sky in the company of the forever-changing moon. She couldn't say how late the night was and how long she was sleeping. Was it only a few hours after she passed out or was it days since then?
She hurried to the chair. There was no time to explore where she was, she had to find Dante. Quickly pulling on her boots, she took her magic wand and ran out of the room.
Violette hovered for a second, gazing at the hallway. It was a nice place with dark green walls lined with rich paintings. Deciding to follow the bright light, she came right to the big hall with a wide mahogany staircase. If it was an inn, it was much richer and more beautiful than the ones she was in before. A crystal chandelier illuminated the hall as well as a few other lamps down the marble stairway.
Her eyes dropped to the stairs and there he was – Dante, pacing up. And as he raised his head, his gaze met hers.
“You finally woke up. Great,” his voice came out friendlier than usual. “Be ready to leave in thirty minutes.”
Violette froze in place until he finally reached the last stair and his eyes were higher than hers.
“To leave?” Her lashes fluttered.
“We're going back to the crypt, did you forget?”
“Where are we? How long did I sleep?” she worried.
“Why don't you get your stuff and meet me downstairs in a few minutes?” Dante said and without much explanation, went down the hallway Violette just came from.
His words made her go back to the room to grab the forgotten stuff, but unlike the cloak she found in a span of ten seconds, she couldn't find her dark purple bag with all things she took with her. She searched under the bed, rummaged through the bed, beyond the curtains, betweencushions in the chair but it wasn't there. Then she let herself assume Dante took it, unless she lost it on the way here. The last thing she remembered was that she tried to get up from the cold floor after a really tiring dream. Then everything went dark. She didn't even remember if she'd seen the dreams after.
Violette was waitingfor Dante at the staircase when he showed up.
“Come,” he waved his hand and went to another big hall, inviting her to follow him.
“Where are we?” she asked, carefully looking around.
“Some nice people were kind enough to invite us to stay overnight,” he simply aired but his words raised suspicion under Violette's skin.
“Some people?” She side-glanced at him.
The room they entered featured a long wooden table set with food, drinks and so much cutlery that Violette didn't even recognize half of it.
“Dante, where are we?” she asked again, taking in the splendid table and the equally luxurious room.
