“She has always disliked me,” says the voice. “I guess failing a mission made her lash out.”
My eyes snap open, and I bolt upright. As expected, light sears my eyes, and I have to slam my eyes shut. The leather couch beneath me squeaks, and Evangeline’s words falter.
“Bree!” says a familiar, male voice.
I squint at the blurred figure kneeling at my side. “Uncle Fred?”
He wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me into his chest. All traces of anger and resentment recede into the back of my mind as I inhale his citrus scent.
“What are you doing here?” I murmur into his neck.
“As soon as I heard you were missing, I got on the next plane to Jaeger.” He squeezes me tight. “I came to join the search effort.”
“We all did,” adds a stern voice.
I open my eyes and find Grandma standing over us. She purses her lips with disapproval and glowers down at me with hard eyes. She wears a round-necked tactical jacket with matching leather pants. While Grandma is all muscles and angles and scowls, Aunt Clarissa is warm and matronly.
Grandma’s conciliar stands at her side, wearing her slaying outfit: yoga pants, a hoodie, and a tactical leather waistcoat. She’s pulled her blonde hair into a bun and looks like she’s ready to help Grandma slay.
“Hi,” I murmur.
“I expect more of an explanation than that.” Grandma bares her teeth. “Explain where you went, how you lost your conciliar bond, and why you attacked another acolyte.”
Uncle Fred pulls away to glower at the pair behind him. “Michaela, give her time—”
“Gabrielle is on the cusp of becoming one of the most powerful slayers in existence,” Grandma says in that hard tone she uses to accuse Uncle Fred of coddling or spoiling me. “She’s about to ruin her chances of receiving the Blessing with this reckless behavior.”
“It’s alright.” I place a hand on Uncle Fred’s arm. “I’m ready to speak.”
Uncle Fred helps me to my feet, and I take in our surroundings. Sunlight streams through the tall windows of Presbytera Driver’s office. The four figures I expected to see stand around the desk—Driver, Evangeline, Sister Shevette, and Doctor Shevette, but only one of them looks terrified.
The Presbytera crosses the marble floor and stands at Aunt Clarissa’s side. “Can you explain what happened between you and Acolyte Shevette?”
I glance at the trio standing by the desk. From the disapproving expression on Sister Shevette’s face, she completely believes her daughter’s twisted version of events.
Every gaze on the room fixes on me, every gaze except one. Evangeline bows her head. Maybe she believes all the accusations she hurled at me that I got preferential treatment for being an Augustine. It doesn’t matter because what I’m about to say will be the truth—to a point.
After a deep, calming breath, I speak. “You’ve all heard the reports from my team?”
The adults nod.
“After your teammates secured the master vampire, Apprentice Sydenham boarded the van,” says Driver. “She was the last to see you.”
I tell them everything, from the creature snatching me into the sky, the battle over the ocean, my swim to shore, and the female vampire I found on the beach. They stare at me slack-mouthed as I describe the monster and its capabilities. Even Sister and Doctor Shevette break away from their daughter to listen.
“Are you sure it flew with wings?” asks Grandma. “Some vampires soar through the air, using the ether in human blood to defy gravity.”
“I saw the wing, heard them, and even shot through one with a hand cannon. It wasn’t a vampire, a werewolf, or anything I’ve seen in a textbook. It was more like—”
“More like what?” asks Doctor Shevette, his voice breathy with a mix of fear and awe.
I shake my head. “A mummified angel.”
Evangeline snorts. “It was a deformed werewolf.”
As everyone turns around, Uncle Fred raises his brows in that look he gives me when we’re watching a movie together and he’s worked out the upcoming plot twist. A corner of my mouth twists, and I raise a shoulder. Evangeline is a very good fighter, but I never once said she was smart or sane.
“You saw it?” Grandma stalks across the room toward the desk.
Evangeline steps back, her arms raised in a defensive stance. “Aren’t you going to say anything about Augustine attacking me?”
“Your report failed to mention having seen my granddaughter,” says Grandma, her voice full of ice.
I exhale a tiny breath through my nostrils. It’s too early to feel relief. At any time, the gazes will turn back to me, and the questions will continue: how did I break my conciliar bond with Poppy? Why did I remain missing for another two nights without calling for assistance? Did the monster bite me?
“Arch Mother Augustine asked you a question,” says Sister Shevette.
Evangeline glances at the older slayer. “Mom, I—”
“Answer her!” Sister Shevette screams.
Something in Evangeline’s expression breaks. She presses her lips into a hard line of silver piercings. While her face doesn’t crumple, and neither does her posture, her eyes turn vacant with defeat.
Shaking her head, Grandma turns to Aunt Clarissa. “Make her speak.”
Evangeline’s eyes widen, she darts her gaze to Sister and Doctor Shevette, who huddle together like frightened birds. This girl left me to get mauled and infected by a hideous supernatural creature of unknown origin, and I would have died or lost my humanity if not for Alaric’s intervention. She doesn’t deserve any mercy, yet I can’t help but feel pity.
Aunt Clarissa crosses the room and raises her hands, securing Evangeline to the spot. She places her palms on the taller girl’s forehead and murmurs an incantation.
I glance at Doctor Shevette, who wraps an arm around his wife. As a mage, he could have performed the spell, but he stood aside and let a stranger manipulate his daughter’s mind.
Evangeline clamps her lips together, and the white light of truth that should spill from her mouth streams from her nostrils.
Driver walks toward the girl. “What was the creature you saw attacking Acolyte Augustine?”
Her eyes go dull. “I don’t know.”
“Was it a vampire?”
“No.”
“Was it anything you recognize?”
“No,” she replies.
“What happened when you found Acolyte Augustine on the beach?”
Evangeline pauses. “I ordered Kofi to place two enchantments over her and the creature. The first to make them invisible to natives, and the second to make us invisible to the creature.”
“Then what happened?” Driver asks.
“We walked to her. Kofi wanted me to attack, but I refused.”
“Why?”
“So that Augustine would die,” Evangeline says.
Uncle Fred pulls me to his side and hugs tighter. Aunt Clarissa turns and places a comforting arm on my shoulder. Grandma’s posture stiffens. Maybe she experienced this kind of sabotage when she was an acolyte. I can’t tell because she doesn’t turn around.
On the other side of the room, Sister Shevette buries her head in her husband’s chest. I chew the inside of my cheek. Was this the reason why they didn’t want Evangeline to compete for the Blessing, or did they already know about the vampire blood?
“What did you do next?” asks Driver.
“We returned to the van and told the other girls not to speak about what they saw.”
“Did they see Acolyte Augustine on the sand with that creature?”
“Maybe,” Evangeline replies. “I didn’t ask.”
“Why?” Sister Shevette’s voice breaks. “You could have tried. You could have called for backup. Why would you leave a fellow acolyte in peril?”
“It was the only way I could get Theodora’s Blessing,” says Evangeline.
Silence stretches across the room. Nobody seems to know what t
o say. Evangeline’s behavior violates the Order’s principles of bravery, chivalry, and sisterhood. While the Blessing is an honor that offers its recipient great power, it also means the most dangerous missions. I wanted the Blessing to become strong enough to help Grandma search for Mom. I can’t imagine Evangeline’s motives.
“Why did you defy us when we showed you how the Blessing cursed the unworthy?” asks Evangeline’s mother.
Her words pierce through my musings. I’m about to ask Sister Shevette what she means when Evangeline speaks.
“I want people to respect me,” Evangeline says, her voice dull. “You’re both smothering, subservient, unambitious cowards. I wish I was an orphan, just like Augustine.”
“My mother’s still alive,” I snarl.
“She got herself enthralled by that vampire,” Evangeline says. “He’s probably turned her already.”
“Which vampire?”
Doctor Shevette rushes forward, slams his hand on Evangeline’s forehead, and she falls unconscious onto the floor.
Chapter 16
The pounding in my head is nothing compared to the curiosity burning through my veins. As Doctor Shevette kneels beside his fallen daughter, I turn from Grandma to Aunt Clarissa, to Uncle Fred.
Uncle Fred squeezes my shoulder. “If I knew, I would have told you.”
“And that’s why we kept Gabriella’s affairs with the vampire a secret,” Grandma says, her voice acidic. She turns to Sister Shevette. “What do you know about the disappearance of my daughter?”
Evangeline’s mother gulps. “Not much. We trained together at Malone Convent. I barely knew Raphaella. My daughter must have overheard something I said to my husband in confidence about slayers and vampires.”
Grandma glances over her shoulder. “Clariss—”
“No!” Sister Shevette raises both hands. “I’ll tell you everything.”
“When Gabrielle leaves the room.” Grandma folds her arm.
I lower myself onto the sofa and mirror Grandma’s crossed arms. “Not this time. If the Shevettes know anything about what happened to Mom, I deserve to know.”
Grandma clenches her teeth. “If you so much as leave the convent to go out and look for her—”
“I won’t.” The lie pours from my lips.
Uncle Fred sits next to me. “I’ll repeat whatever I hear if you don’t let Bree stay.”
“Proceed,” says Grandma to the instructor.
Sister Shevette licks her lips. “It was only a rumor, but one of the other slayers said she saw Raphaella kissing a dark-haired man wearing black.”
Grandma raises her chin. “I can force you to elaborate.”
“They say he was a vampire.”
“On what basis?”
Sister Shevette shakes her head. “They were just jealous. Raphaella was at the top of her classes, and some of the girls were blowing off steam. They even made up things about her conciliar.”
I turn to Uncle Fred, who raises a shoulder.
“That’s all?” asks Grandma.
“I swear to Saint Theodora,” replies Sister Shevette. “My husband and I were talking about rivalry amongst acolytes, and Evangeline must have overheard and misunderstood.”
Uncle Fred and I exchange glances. His raised brows say he thinks this is a lie, and I match his skepticism with a twist of my lips. At least I have a lead. The library holds records of vampire sightings dating from the first days of the Order. I just have to narrow down my search to Dublin and the four years Mom was an acolyte at the Malone Convent.
Driver walks across the room with her hands clasped. “I’m terribly sorry that Acolyte Augustine was a victim of such treachery.”
“When I was the Arch Mother Superior of America, such an action would have warranted an execution,” says Grandma.
Doctor Shevette helps Evangeline to her feet. “My daughter knows she did wrong. She’s young, impulsive, and wasn’t thinking of the consequences.”
I clench my teeth. What part of her wanting me to die to get the Blessing did he not understand?
Sister Shevette falls to her knees and clasps her hands in prayer. “Mother Augustine, have mercy.”
My gaze rises to Evangeline, who stares down at her mom with an even greater level of vitriol than she reserved for me during our fight. I can’t help but despise a girl who doesn’t appreciate two living parents who love her desperately.
Uncle Fred was a wonderful parent, but sometimes it was like living under a shadow. When I said something that reminded him of Mom, it would make him sad for hours. Other times, it felt that I disappointed him for not being the same as his slayer.
He squeezes my hand and I squeeze back. Uncle Fred didn’t have to put his life on hold to look after someone else’s child, but I’m grateful that he did.
“Stand up,” Evangeline hisses at her mother through her teeth. “Have some dignity for once in your life!”
Grandma gives her head a minute shake. “Stop groveling and teach your daughter to follow the principles.”
Driver wraps an arm around Sister Shevette and pulls her to her feet. “There will be no executions of minors, but I won’t tolerate murder in my ranks.” She turns to Evangeline. “By your own admission, you left a sister to die and attempted to cover up your misdeeds. You face excommunication and a memory wipe—”
“No,” says Doctor Shevette. “Evangeline is our only child.”
My heart thuds in my chest like it’s going to explode. Everyone has heard rumors about excommunication. It usually applies to the called slayers who decide to leave the Order. The Magister will wipe all memories of the supernatural world in her mind and leave her with her family.
I doubt that Evangeline’s parents have relatives in the native world. Mages are born into magical families, and Sister Shevette comes from a line of slayers.
“There has to be another option.” Doctor Shevette wraps both arms around Evangeline.
“Or,” the Presbytera says in a louder voice, “You can serve out the rest of your life as a Sister of Servitude.”
Evangeline shoves her father aside and raises her chin. “Excommunication.”
“Very well,” says Driver. “Confine yourself to your parents’ quarters until the full moon ceremony.”
“What about the other girls and the mages who left my granddaughter in the clutches of that creature?” asks Grandma.
Driver’s shoulders slump. “The Magus and I will investigate the matter thoroughly. If I find them complicit with Acolyte Shevette’s crime, they will face the same choice.” She turns to me with a tired smile. “Go and get something to eat. I’ll expect a written report first thing tomorrow.”
I incline my head. “Thank you, Presbytera.”
Grandma turns to Uncle Fred. “It’s time for you to vacate the family home. Jaeger has the highest concentration of ether in the United States. It’s a perfect environment for an unmarried mage.”
I gape at her cold dismissal and I’m about to protest when I realize Grandma wants him closer to me.
Uncle Fred nods. “I’d better check into the Agia hotel, then.”
Grandma steps around the kneeling, sobbing woman and heads for the door. “Goodbye, Driver. I hope the next time we meet will be under more auspicious circumstances.”
“Yes, Arch Mother,” replies Driver.
Aunt Clarissa turns to me with a warm smile and flicks her head. She wants me to walk them out. I scramble off the sofa and cross the room. Uncle Fred will be at the hotel, so I’ll catch up with him later.
By the time I reach the door, they’re already halfway toward the grand staircase.
“Grandma?” I say in a small voice.
She raises a hand, and my mouth clicks shut. We walk through the hallway in silence. The grand staircase stretches out toward the ground floor, where some of the acolytes have already finished their lunch and walk to their next classes. Grandma and Aunt Clarissa stride past the stairs, take a left at the mezzanine that overlooks the c
ourtyard, and open the door to a smaller stairwell.
“There’s a helicopter waiting on the tower.” Aunt Clarissa loops an arm through mine. “I’m so glad you returned to us unscathed.”
“Yeah.” A nervous laugh reverberates in the back of my throat, and I hope she’s not going to perform her truth enchantment on me. “So am I.”
As we continue up the stairs to the increasing whirr of a helicopter’s blades, an older mage passes us and inclines her head at Grandma. Since she only retired from being the Arch Mother Superior seventeen years ago, every slayer over a certain age knows her by sight.
At the top of the stairs, Grandma pushes open the fire door, and the noise of the helicopter intensifies, along with a blast of warm air. My gaze darts around the flat space and beyond, and I take in an uninterrupted view of a landscape that stretches out to the mountains, which meets the deep, blue sky in a covering of haze. From this side of the convent, I can see the planes take off from Jaegar airport.
“That’s better,” Aunt Clarissa says into my ear.
“Yes.” Grandma rounds on me, her eyes narrow. “What are you hiding?”
My eyes widen. “I’m not—”
“You were missing for two nights.” Grandma holds my head in place with both hands and stares deep into my eyes. “You lost your conciliar bond and returned unusually aggressive.”
“But Evangeline—”
“We’ve already established what that girl did,” she snaps. “Now, what happened to you?”
My throat convulses, and a thousand excuses spiral through my mind faster than the helicopter’s blades. I glance from Grandma to Aunt Clarissa and back again, and my stomach tightens with one irrefutable fact. If I don’t say something convincing, I might end up like Evangeline, forced to spill my deepest secrets.
The only way I’ll get through this interrogation with my mind intact is to throw them enough truth to scandalize, but not enough for Grandma to do something drastic, like return me to London. I gulp several times in quick succession and bite down on my lip.
“When the monster left, a mage found me bleeding on the sand.”
Vampire Bonds (Darkbloods Book 1) Page 17
