A not-so gentle rocking motion roused Sloane from a dreamless sleep.
'A carriage?' she unconsciously wondered.
But those were for ranked ladies. Pack slaves didn't get to ride them.
Her eyes snapped open, and she squinted at the sting of the bright sun rays.
It took a moment for her to adjust to the brightness, and as the haze in her mind began to clear, the memories from last night returned.
She'd been drugged by those enforcers, she realized.
Her mind was a blur of faces and voices. But one face stood out amongst the rest...
Grayson...
Grunting, she sat up quickly, only for a sudden jostle to send her sliding off her sitting position, bumping her head into something hard.
"Fucking hell!" She hissed, rubbing the aching spot.
"I'd stay put if I was you." A voice warned lightly,
Sloane glanced up with a start. She hadn't realized she was not alone in the carriage.
Three girls of similar ages stared at her like she was some crackhead they'd picked up by the roadside.
Of the three, the scowling redhead continued, "With those bloodsuckers lurking around everywhere, a bruise is your ticket to becoming tonight's dinner."
"Don't say that!" A blonde girl snapped at the redhead, "The Red Cloaks are the most prestigious order in all of Lykanor."
"We get it, Elise!" The redhead bit back, "You're one of them pampered ladies that believe being sold off by your pack to a bunch of Lycans and Vampires is the honor of a lifetime... you'll wake right up when those creepy red-capes suck you dry!"
"That's a bit too harsh, Alexis." The brunette who'd been quiet chipped in, her tone exasperated, "We're all here to keep our packs safe in the only way we can."
"Speak for yourself." The redhead snapped, "I'm good for a whole lot more than warming some Lycan's bed."
"Being a tax bride is more than that!" The blonde insisted, "Didn't your parents teach you anything?! We get to attend Eclipsera! The most prestigious academy in the realm!"
The redhead scoffed, "If you can live long enough to get there, that is. See how they didn't bother asking for our names? I'm sure whatever they have planned, a good number of us won't make it through."
Sloane's eyes were wide and wary as her gaze darted between the bickering girls. Their voices blurred together for most of it, but a single phrase stood out, echoing louder than the rest.
'Tax bride'...
A slow dread crawled down Sloane's spine.
It couldn't be... could it?
But what other explanation was there for last night? For the enforcers Alpha Mercer had brought in? And waking up in a strange carriage with even stranger company?
"Quiet down!" A guttural voice snarled outside the carriage,
Sloane jumped. Glancing around wildly.
Meanwhile, the girls shrieked, huddling closer to each other, like they hadn't been at each other's throats mere moments ago.
"We'll be arriving at the Evernight soon! Prepare yourselves to alight!" A distant voice announced as the sound of hooves faded and a flash of something red billowed past the partly opened window.
'Red cloaks?' She wondered, apprehensive.
Sloane hesitantly reached for the window of the carriage, pulling it open further and peering out.
Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her.
Their carriage was but one in an unending line of similar carriages that stretched as far as the eyes could see, traveling down a long, winding dirt road.
Vast fields of blood red sands stretched out on either side of the road, like a desert of blood.
Each of these carriages would be transporting a similar number of ladies as her own carriage was, Sloane presumed.
All else paled when her eyes landed on the party escorting the carriages.
There were over two dozen men on horses riding alongside the carriages on the sand desert. The hooves of their horses kicked up a cloud of dust as they surged forwards and backwards in some coordinated formation.
The riders were all tall, almost terrifyingly so. And the monstrous looking horses they rode had large single horns erupting from the center of their heads.
But it wasn't their magnificence that chilled Sloane to the bones. It was the matching red cloaks each one of these riders had on. The hoods covering their heads were large enough to shield them from the perils of the weather... including the glaring sunlight.
Especially... the sunlight.
'If you ever see one of those red cloaks, Slo...run. Run as fast as you can, and don't ever look back. Because it can only mean one thing...' The voice of Harmony, the old mistress of the laundry room, who'd nursed and raised her echoed in Sloane's mind.
'Those dreadful creatures of the night barely travel our lands. But when they do, they do not come bearing good tidings. Those blood cloaks mark the harbingers of death. Run... Sloane, run from the Red Cloaks...'
"The Red Cloaks..." Sloane whispered in horror, "Vampires...those are vampires!"
Just then, one of the riders stirred his horse, galloping straight for Sloane.
'Run...' She thought, 'I have to run...'
But the sheer terror coursing through her veins left her frozen in the spot. Eyes wide, and horror surging through her veins.
As he drew closer, her blood ran cold.
The discerning circlet around his temple told her a horrifying truth...
A Red Knight! The cruelest kind of red cloak the tales told of.
For a brief moment, Sloane found herself staring into the darkest pools of blood red eyes she'd ever seen in her short lifetime.
The horse galloped right by, barely a hairsbreadth away, the billowing cape brushed Sloane's cheeks, chilling as a ghost's caress,
She retreated into the safety of the carriage, trembling from head to toe.
"What's... going on here? Why am I here?!" The panic built quickly. The truth she didn't want to accept sinking into her very bones.
'A selfless sacrifice for the pack... the Lycan tax bride.'
She'd been traded to the Lycans in Sancia's place!
"For the same reason we all are." The redhead was the first to break out of the terrified haze, her expression once again contorting to a scowl. "To parade to Lycans and Vampires, and hope they want to fuck or suck us."