The Toad Prince

Chapter Eleven

Sorin took a deep, shaking breath, and Nadaria sat back as far as she could and looked at him. A beat of guilt coursed through her, and she swallowed hard. The ghosts danced in his eyes. His ghosts. And she was the one asking him to live his pain again.

But she had to know. If the curse was to be broken, she needed to know what happened here.

“Crina,” he whispered, his eyes traveling into the past. “It means lily. It was in this village I saw her for the first time. Her family moved from the Hungarian side of Transylvania, and I was so stunned by her golden beauty. Her hair was like sunshine spun into silk, and her eyes were blue like the summer sky. I had to have her. Only when I courted her did I know that her soul was as bright as her beauty. She never said a harsh word to anyone.”

For a moment, a flash of happiness erupted in his haunted eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it arrived.

“After we were wed, I traveled with my father to the capital for business.” His brow furrowed. “Crina begged me not to go. She said her heart didn’t agree with the trip. But I did. And I regret it every day.”

“She found you then, didn’t she?”

“Yes. Aurelia. Relia, as she was called. A true beauty, no doubt. Her hair was red like fire. She had doe eyes of emerald green, and heart-shaped lips stained red. I mean, so perfect and so innocent looking, she was. To this day, I don’t understand why me, you know? But she wanted me. She tried to seduce me, with aggression.” He rubbed his fingers over his closed eyes. “I tried to be gentle with my rejection. I knew what she was, a vampire, and I was frightened of her. And I loved Crina. I had my happily ever after, and I would not ruin it.”

Nadaria swallowed for what felt like the thousandth time, and pushed his hair off of his forehead. She had listened to so many people’s sad stories, and she always needed to comfort them.

“I didn’t know Relia followed me. My father died just three days after we arrived home. They said it was his heart, and I became lord of the estate.” He stared past Nadaria’s head, lost in his memories. “We had been married just over half a year when Crina came to me. ‘Sorin, gyerekkel vagyok.’ I am with child. She spoke Hungarian most comfortably. I was teaching her English and helping her perfect her Romanian…”

He trailed off, and she gave him time, squeezing his hand with hers. “Anyway, I digress. I was hiding this secret of Relia from Crina and keeping the vampire out, even though she begged to be invited in. She was seeking me anytime I left the gates, and I tried again to be rational. Reasonable. I wanted to convince her to leave us alone. Finally, she managed to speak to Crina instead of me. Called her names. Claimed to be my mistress. Relia hurt her with words because she couldn’t cross the threshold and hurt her for real. As I said, my wife never said a harmful word to anyone. And she didn’t that day either, but I saw the pain the words caused. I was so pissed, and I lost it. I told that vampire b***h to f**k off. That she made me sick. She was irate.”

Nadaria sighed and closed her eyes. He should’ve gotten help from a witch. For a human to say that to her… not good.

“I know,” he whispered. “Stupid. All I’ve made in this life are mistakes, bubblegum witch.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He sighed and put his head in hands. “This is where it gets bad. If I struggle, be patient. I’ve never shared it in such detail.”

“Of course I will. Take your time, Sorin. We aren’t going anywhere.”

And he did, collecting himself in the silence of the dark, musty crawl space for at least a minute.

“Crina was about halfway through the pregnancy when the old woman in the snowstorm arrived. Do you believe in fate?”

“Absolutely.”

“As do I, because I hadn’t slept well since the day I’d told Relia to f**k off, but for some reason, that night I did. Crina would walk in the halls sometimes at night. Her hips ached if she laid in the bed too much. So it was she that answered and went out to the gate.”

“And darkness found its way in.”

“Yes. Crina’s kind heart was her downfall. Once Relia was inside, there was nothing anyone could do. We were only human. She took me to a bedroom and tried one more time to have s*x. I rejected her, and she promised I would be sorry and I would be hers. If I just would’ve… I don’t know.” He ran his hands through his hair. “She ripped my throat open and bled me out. Then gave me her blood.”

“The vampire’s baptism by blood,” she muttered. It was how people were turned.

“Yes. She locked me away in a cell under the castle. I don’t know why we have a dungeon, but we do. I guess it’s a castle thing. The other poor souls that were here that night joined me one by one. Aurelian first, and then the rest. There’s twelve of us under the curse.”

He touched his fang, almost absentmindedly, as if to confirm it was all real. “When you first turn, it feels like your throat has been cut. She brought food and water, as a joke I think, but it did nothing to sate the hunger. The thirst is so bad, and your body aches. Your head. Your gut. Like you’re on fire and freezing at the same time. It drives you to madness. No one can understand it until they experience it. I knew I was Sorin, but who is Sorin? That’s the best way I can describe it. Relia starved us, but I don’t know how long. Days? Weeks?”

He closed his eyes again, and she was horrified to see his bottom lip quiver. “In moments of clarity, I was sure Crina was dead.” He swallowed several times. “But she wasn’t. Relia brought her in that white nightgown and pushed her into that cell with me.”

“Oh, no. No.” Nadaria covered her mouth with her hand and wanted to beg him not to say it.

“Crina said words to me. She wept them. ‘Sorin, a fiunk még mindig megszületett.’ Sorin, our son was born still.”

Tears rolled down Nadaria’s cheeks, and he was quiet for a long while.

“But the words made little sense then. Who is Crina? Who is Sorin? I only knew one thing, and it was the thirst.” He whispered the next words, and she leaned to listen because he was so quiet. “I killed my wife, my beautiful lily. I drained her. As I tell you about it, I can hear her screaming. Relia watched. She laughed and cheered for me, like it was a game.”

“Oh my Goddess,” Nadaria said, unsure if she’d ever heard of such vile evil, and she’d seen plenty in her lifetime. Anger blossomed hot in her chest at the cruelty of such an act.

“Then she let us out. All of us. We were crazed, starved, and lusting for blood. So we found it. Here. And even in the frenzy, people were drawn to the places familiar to them. Dumitra and Codi killed their parents and their two younger siblings. Nicoleta had a husband and three children. We slaughtered them all. From the oldest man to the smallest baby. Over a hundred people. They’re out there now.” He nodded to the door to indicate the undead.

Nadaria had her hands on her mouth, one on top of the other. No wonder Codi had been so horrified. His parents and siblings. She wiped at thick, hot tears, heartbroken for all of them. Roux rubbed his face on her cheek while she prayed to the Goddess that their souls were free and not trapped in these undead husks.

Sorin was quiet, rolling the tulle of her dress between his thumb and forefinger.

“Is that enough for now?” he asked, still barely audible. “There’s more. There’s my revenge, and what I had to do to get it, but I think I need a break.”

“Yes, it’s enough.”

Nadaria needed a break, too. She knew it would be bad, but nothing could have prepared her for this. He stared down at his lap, and Nadaria did the worst thing an empath can do. She opened herself to his emotions, and a searing tidal wave of grief and guilt and agony crashed into her. As soon as it did, his shoulders relaxed a little. She absorbed as much as she could from him, wanting to ease his burden.

His eyes snapped up to her, and his brow furrowed. “What are you doing? I feel that.”

But she couldn’t speak. Nadaria had never known such deep emotional torment, and it was only a fraction of what he was experiencing. She shook her head and laid on his chest, wrapping her arms around him. Violent sobs broke through her, making her whole body quake as she wept into his shirt.

At some point, his arms folded around her, and for the first time in decades, he wept, too.

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Dark chapter, guys. I didn't intend for this story to be so sad or dark when I started it. It's just the direction the characters took me. I swear they'll be some happiness soon!