by Tricia Barr
“I don’t know.” Ty turned back to Myreen, pulling his own blanket tighter. “In some ways, I do want to be a vampire. I mean, they’re so cool! Super fast and strong and smart. And Father says I’ll be the best of them all. I’m the next Denholm heir. I’ll get born with like, ten times the power. Or however many Denholms there are.”
“That does sound pretty cool... But you’re still not sure?”
Ty met Myreen’s gaze, the golden glow catching in his blue eyes. “It kind of scares me. And I’m not sure I want to take Father’s place as leader of the vampires.”
“Big shoes to fill.”
Ty nodded. “Don’t tell anyone that, either.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Ty looked back toward the horizon, the cherry pinks and soft peaches chasing the last of the evening from the sky. “I think I’d miss sunrises most of all. Do you think Father misses the sun?”
Myreen shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“‘Cause he’s not so mean, you know. He can be really nice.”
“Yes, he can.”
“Myreen?”
“Yes Ty?”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Myreen smiled. “Me too.” And she actually meant it.
It was strange. With her harpy wings, she could leave right now, but she didn’t feel the pull anymore. Ty needed her, and this place was growing on her. She fingered the turquoise necklace, feeling strangely grateful for this moment.
***
Myreen and Ty spent most of the day exploring the citadel. She half-heartedly looked for another escape route, but wasn’t too disappointed when she didn’t find one.
The guards caught back up with them, but didn’t say anything about Myreen and Ty’s excursion. She had a feeling they wouldn’t be the first to admit their mistake, and she was still here, so it wasn’t like there was anything to get in trouble over. At least she knew what to do if she decided she wanted to leave.
When they made it to the lobby and Myreen spotted Kendall slipping down the stairs to the Initiate quarters, she knew she needed to go further. If she was really going to embrace this life, then she needed answers, and despite the tension between them, she felt Kendall was her best bet at finding the truth.
“Ty, I think I want to head downstairs for a bit.”
Ty crinkled his nose. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I know Draven doesn’t let you go down there. Do you mind if I leave you alone for a bit?”
Ty brought a finger to his chin and hummed. “I suppose. As long as you’re back in time for dinner.”
“Six o’clock, right?”
Ty nodded.
That left nearly two hours. It should be enough. “I’ll be there.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” Myreen said, and was rewarded with another beautiful smile.
Quick as lightning, Ty wrapped his arms around Myreen’s waist, then dashed off to whatever he had in mind. Myreen stared after him for a few moments. The boy seemed so starved for affection. Had she been like that when she was his age? She didn’t think so. Even though their upbringing was similarly strict, she never felt deprived. But even as she thought that, a little voice whispered that she was lying to herself. Would a happy, content child have broken her mom’s rules?
Myreen shook the thought aside. She still wasn’t ready to deal with that. Somehow, she didn’t think she ever would be.
Gathering her courage, she headed downstairs to the Initiate quarters. Her guards hesitated, looking to each other with questions in their eyes, as if wondering what kind of trouble they’d be in for letting her wander through. But there was no way to escape beyond the main level, from what she could tell, and Draven hadn’t forbidden it. After all, what harm could letting her mingle with humans do—humans who were just as loyal to Draven as they were? And they still trailed her like pale shadows.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting—maybe students lined up like cattle, waiting to give blood to thirsty vampires—but the room she stepped into was rather normal. Almost mundane. The modest furniture looked comfortable, the common area warm enough, the students lounging around looking relaxed. At least, until they spotted her. Then they buried their heads again, as if by not looking at her, she wouldn’t be in their space.
After a few awkward seconds, Myreen decided to speak up. “Does anyone know where Kendall stays?”
A few startled glances met hers, but no one spoke up. Myreen was about to go search on her own when a petite girl whose head barely reached Myreen’s chin stepped forward.
“He’s the fourth level down,” the girl said, not meeting Myreen’s eyes.
“Thank you.”
The girl merely nodded, dipping into what felt like a small curtsey, and quickly swept back to the chair she’d been in.
Myreen shrugged and followed the stairs down until she reached the fourth level down. It wasn’t until she was there that she realized there was still another set of stairs leading deeper. She turned toward it, curious about just how many levels there were when a hand caught her arm.
“I don’t recommend going that way.” It was Kendall, his voice low, his hand around her arm just tight enough to tell her how serious he was. The guards eyed him, but Myreen waved them away.
“Why not?” Myreen asked, casting another glance toward the stairs.
Kendall looked around the common room, which only had one or two Initiates in it, and at the guards still standing on the stairs leading to the next floor. He nodded his head to the side. “Come on.”
Myreen planted her feet. “Not until you let go of my arm.”
Kendall let go and held his hands up. “You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“Do I?” She could feel the tense gaze of everyone in the room, but she didn’t care.
Kendall’s handsome features crushed, but he nodded. “I understand your hesitation. Can we talk?”
Myreen crossed her arms.
“Alone? You can cut my tail off yourself if I so much as look at you funny.”
Myreen sighed, dropping her arms. “Fine.”
She followed Kendall into a hallway as necks craned to watch them go. Doors dotted either side of the long hall, and Myreen wondered just how many humans were housed here.
At last, they reached the final room in the corridor, and Kendall opened the door, stepping aside so Myreen could enter. She nodded to the guards, who took up some wall space in the hall as she went in with Kendall.
The furnishings were stark—a bunk bed, a couple of cubbies with drawers underneath, some chairs and a small table. It wasn’t much, but then again, the Dome hadn’t exactly been a luxury suite. Truth be told, the only real difference here was that the walls were all the same dark obsidian as the rest of the citadel, casting a permanent gloom on pretty much everything.
Kendall closed the door and sat in one chair, and Myreen followed his lead, sitting in the other.
“So what are you doing way down here?” he asked, looking at his fingers.
“I just...” Myreen took a deep breath. “I’m trying to decide...”
“Whether to trust me or not?”
Myreen shook her head. “I’ve been spending time with Ty—”
“And the little guy has stolen your heart,” Kendall said, the corner of his mouth pulled into a half-smile.
“Yeah.” Myreen grabbed a strand of hair and gently tugged, curling it around a finger. “I was brought here against my will, but now? I need the whole story. I thought maybe you’d be able to help.”
Kendall sighed and leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. “If you’re looking for me to badmouth Draven, you’re fishing in the wrong pond.”
“No. I just... are they happy here?” Myreen asked pointing at the ceiling. “Are you happy here?”
“I don’t know if I’d call it happy, but they’re not unhappy. And I’m confident I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
“But everyone is so scared of Draven. And upstairs, they seemed afraid of me.”
Kendall crossed his arms. “Yeah, well you’re walking around with a couple of guards. Besides, no one wants to get on Draven’s bad side, and since you’re his daughter...”
“I get it. I just wish it wasn’t like that.”
“He’s united the vampires, the first time that’s ever happened, as far as I’ve heard. I imagine you have to be at least a little ruthless to keep so many vampires under control.”
Myreen nodded. His reasoning made sense, though the whole atmosphere of fear still bothered her.
“Are you afraid of Draven?”
Kendall laughed. “Terrified. But he’s kind of charming, too. Like if Draven likes you, everything is right with the world.”
Myreen got it. She’d had a taste of that the other day when she saw the pride in his eyes. But there was something else she wanted to know. “Why can’t I go downstairs?”
Kendall gave her another small smile. “That’s the dungeon.”
“So he really does have a dungeon.” He’d mentioned it that night she was brought here, but she hadn’t seen it, and it had pretty much disappeared from her thoughts. But knowing it was just below her sent a shiver down her spine.
“Draven has a lot of things, but yeah, he has a dungeon. Like I said, you’re not going to get a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires to behave by patting them on the head.”
“No. I suppose not.”
“But hey, it’s not like it’s full or anything. Most of the time when someone goes down there, it’s only for a day or so before being restored.”
“Oh.” Myreen wasn’t sure how she felt about all of it, but at least she was getting the truth—or at least as much of the truth as she could get from Kendall.
Kendall sighed. “Look, my advice is to keep your head down and your ears open. You’re smart. And you’re Draven’s daughter. You’ll be fine. Heck, you could probably do something relatively stupid and still be fine. Unlike the rest of us.” He smiled at her like it was a joke.
Myreen stood as she smiled back, though it didn’t quite meet her eyes. Suddenly she wanted to be alone again. “Thanks. That gives me a lot to think about.”
Kendall stood too, grabbing the door for her. “Any time. Really. My door is always open.”
“Thanks,” she said again. She walked into the hallway, tugging on another strand of hair.
“Myreen?”
She turned to face him. “Yeah, Kendall?”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“For what happened the other day?”
Kendall shook his head. “For everything.”
Myreen nodded once, then continued back the way she’d come, the guards trailing her once more. She wanted to go to her room and just think for a bit.
Hopefully she’d be able to sort through everything by dinner, because there was no way she was going to disappoint her “date.”
Chapter 13: Oberon
The white noise of the bus let Oberon escape to his thoughts, and he found himself analyzing his situation in the same manner his beloved wife, Serilda, would have. Finding the gryphons in Canada would’ve been her chosen path. Seri would’ve left the vampire fight to the shifter military.
He smiled, thinking of her, and allowed his mind to dig through numberless memories until it stopped on one particular recollection.
It was a rainy day, and Oberon had an itch to attempt to blow the storm clouds away and draw out the sunshine. He was new to his abilities, only performing his first successful shift just a few days ago. While shifting was exciting, it was painful. But manipulating the weather? That was fun.
Oberon had waited fourteen whole years for his abilities to surface. During that time, he’d witnessed his mother and father control the weather as needed. La Framboise Island was always protected from the harsher elements. While they saw snow in winter, they were never bombarded with blizzards. Tornados and other crazy natural disasters always avoided them.
“Watch this, Ren!” Oberon yelled over the slap of raindrops striking the Missouri River close by. He wouldn’t chase the storm away, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun. Calling upon the roiling clouds above, he summoned the built-up energy to crash together, causing a lightning bolt to spear downward, lighting up the dark sky. The strike of energy hit the ground just ten feet away, and Oberon jutted out his chest, taking pride in his precision.
The eyes of the short, teenage Ren widened, and his long, dark hair stuck out from the static. “That was amazing. Here, do it again!”
Ren’s eyes glowed a light purple in anticipation of using his own powers.
Looking up at the sky, raindrops pelting his face, Oberon created another flashing bolt and released it, letting it arc down. Before the bolt could crash into the ground, Ren tapped into his abilities. Oberon watched the streaking light bend at the last minute, shooting past him, then spiraling around Ren like a snake. It sizzled and cracked, and Oberon found it difficult to look directly at it. Still, it was fascinating enough that he stared through squinted eyes.
Like a spring, the manipulated energy flew up, then plummeted, coming to a sudden, hovering stop an inch above Ren’s cupped hands. The spiral swirled down, compacting until it was a crackling ball.
Ren’s hands glowed and his dark eyes reflected the magnificent light. But Oberon had to close his eyes and look away—it was as if his friend was holding the sun in his hands. Opening his eyes with his back turned, Oberon could see the top of the plus-sign shaped school nearby. His heart leapt as he heard rushed footsteps approaching through the greenery along the bank of the river.
To his surprise, his mother appeared among the bushes. Her hair was soaked and matted against her head. As soon as she spotted Oberon, she stopped in the mud and placed her hands on her hips.
“Oberon Alexander Rex, what do you think you’re doing out here in the middle of a storm?” But her eyes were ripped away as the dazzling sphere of electricity held in Ren’s hands filled her view. “What have you two been doing?”
“Hi, Mrs. Rex,” Ren said bashfully, looking around nervously, as if trying to find a place to dispose of his lightning creation. “We’ve just been playing around.”
“Playing around?” she said in an accusatory voice. “Using your abilities out here in the wild—unsupervised...?” Oberon’s mom trailed off, but her face was as red as Director Slegr’s nail polish.
“Practicing!” Oberon corrected, throwing Ren a glare. “You and Dad are always trying to get me to practice. And now you’re mad—”
She pointed at the crackling ball. “Do you realize how dangerous that much energy is? If Ren accidentally lost control of it, it could do significant damage to something or someone!”
“Come on, Mom,” Oberon replied, wiping his hand through the air, as if such an action could erase her emotional outrage. “Nobody else is around. And besides, we’ve got this.”
Whether or not the booming thunder overhead was triggered by his mother’s anger, it was loud enough to make him jump. Worse, it was loud enough to make Ren lose control of his ball of lightning.
The blinding sphere shot past Oberon. As it went by, it caused the wet hairs on his arms to stick straight up. Had he been hit with that much concentrated electricity, it would have stopped his heart in a second. Instead, the crackling orb swung back around, zig-zagging through the air as if a selkie was having some fun with it, then crashed into the nearby river. Water leapt into the air where it impacted, like an asteroid creating a crater. The water hummed and hissed as it sloshed back down, dissipating the electric current as it spread along the long river.
It all happened so fast, and Oberon found his small chest heaving with rapid breaths. He winced, then looked slowly at his mother. Her face was stoic, all except her eyes. Her eyes were fuming.
She pointed back toward campus, and with venom in her voice, she said, “Off to the school. Both of you.”
R
en didn’t hesitate, but set off with as wide of strides as his little legs could muster. Oberon drooped his shoulders and followed.
“Wait till your father hears about this,” his mother said as he passed her. “He just returned home and is in great spirits. Hopefully your actions tonight won’t put a damper on his mood.”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Oberon said quietly.
“You better be,” she replied. “What you two did today was unwise. Your father and I expect more from you.”
Dejected, Oberon took heavy steps through the foliage. He heard a whooshing sound and looked up just in time to see one of the tree branches Ren had pushed forward swung back and smacked him in the forehead. He yelped in pain, rubbing at it while tears sparked in his eyes.
“Gotcha!” Ren yelled up ahead. He disappeared among the trees and bushes in a hurry.
“Ren!” he yelled, chasing after his friend with intent to return the favor. “When I get my hands on you—”
Oberon was cut short as he watched Ren phase through the exterior wall of the school.
“That’s no fair,” Oberon grumbled, still rubbing at his head. No doubt the branch that whipped him had left a mark.
His mother chuckled from behind.
“It’s not funny,” he said with annoyance. “It hurts.”
“I’m not laughing at you, Obe,” she said, nodding her head toward the wall of the school.
He took a closer look and discovered a leg sticking out of the wall, wiggling about like a panicked worm. On the other side of the wall, he could hear Ren yelling for help.
“From what I hear,” his mother said, “phasing isn’t exactly the easiest ability to master. Ren has natural talent, no doubt, but his overconfidence has him a bit stuck, don’t you think?”
Oberon laughed, and—thanks to his mother’s humor—the edge of his pain wore off.
“We should probably help him,” he said. “His pant leg is soaked and his shoe is full of water. It’s only going to get worse dangling out here in the rain.”
“You’re a good friend,” his mother said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Others would let him deal with it after being whipped in the head. But we’ll see if he can work things out for himself, at least for a few minutes. It’ll be good for Ren. Come along, now. Your father has something to show you.”
