Lavinia hissed venomously, losing the remains of her charm.
“None of your business.”
“Oh, really?”
I stepped toward the girl. Lavinia recoiled, but I was fast enough to grab her hand. I didn’t need much, just a small scratch. Just a drop of blood.
“Let me go!”
I did. It was too late for her, anyway. I had already gotten the means to find out who she was. Blood was life, knowledge, power.
Lavinia looked daggers at me and disappeared into the park. I soaked the blood into a handkerchief and went to look for my friend.
You never knew what to expect of predators.
***
Tommy didn’t believe me, of course. Who would?
I had to beg him. My friend shrugged and promised to wait in our chambers until I dealt with the problem.
The issue was resolved the same night. I simply summoned the hunter.
As hellhounds weren’t simple dogs, hunters weren’t simple demons. He appeared almost immediately, looking at me with his blood-red eyes. He was tall, gangly, and reminded me of a cellar spider. In the cloud smoke which hid his features he seemed clumsy and awkward—if you didn’t know how fast and deadly he could be. Hellhounds chased prey. The hunter dealt the final blow.
“Did you call for me?”
He didn’t add “Master” naturally. I had to channel some more power into the pentagram. It’s not like I cared about titles, but status was something that demons placed great value on. If I let his arrogance go unpunished, I would get a rebellion later.
The demon winced in pain. “Forgive me for my insolence, Master.”
“Whose blood is this?”
I wasn’t going to forgive him.
The handkerchief flew inside the pentagram. The demon caught it before it could fall on the ground and gave it a sniff.
“What will I get for that, Master?”
I smirked and touched my wrist with the ritual knife. Just a prick, enough to draw a single drop of blood.
“Do you want it?”
He did. His eyes flashed scarlet, shining like rubies at dusk.
“Master?”
“Tell me whose blood is there, and you’ll get it.”
Necromantic power was bubbling and singing in my veins. Good thing I was a half-demon and a necromancer first, and everything else second.
The hunter put the handkerchief to his nose, smelled it thoroughly, touched it with his long tongue...
“A halfblood. Half-human. A human mother, a demon father.”
“Which one?”
“A vampire, average strength. Mixed with succubus, most likely.”
I nodded. So that was why she could wear silver. Only the weakest vampires and minions were afraid of silver. The strongest, well, they felt the sting, but that was it.
“Do you know this vampire?”
“No.”
“Does she feed on blood or life force?”
“Both.”
“What else can you say about her?”
“She can feed on someone’s passion or fear as well.”
Great. Now we had a half-vampire, and not the weakest, either.
“What about necromancy?”
“Only the inherent vampire powers. Very weak.”
That was better than nothing.
“Metamorphism?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Claws, fangs”
“This woman cannot change shape and transform into fog, bat, wolf, or a snake. The rest is just her appearance. Closer to her mother or her father’s blood.”
Huh.
“And are those guises true?”
“Yes.”
Everything was clear. In her human form, she was human. When she was sated, she became a vampire. And of course, she could wear silver; her half of human blood was enough for that, and enough for church as well.
I gave the hunter my blood and released him, then sat next to the pentagram. I just had to clean up and go to Tom.
What a nuisance. My brother was going to marry a half-vampire. Apparently, my mother had been far from the only one to roll in the hay with a demon. Giving birth to a vampire was easier, by the way. You just had to drink blood throughout the pregnancy—preferably human blood. A glass of that each day, a few sustaining amulets, and you would survive.
Why would her mother do it, though? Definitely not just for the hell of it. You would have to summon a vampire, compel it, conceive a child, carry it to term, deliver it, raise it... Why?
With Michelle, everything made sense. She had extenuating circumstances, plus, she was in hiding before giving birth. She also had Martha, who could handle me, and Henry, and Rick...
But here?
The next morning, I tried to question the servants, but to no avail. Nobody had served there longer than five or seven years, and when I asked them who had, they told me they had no idea. Was it just a coincidence?
“I’ll go for a ride around the neighboring villages,” I told Tom.
My friend, who had barely come around after learning the truth about the lovely duchess, nodded in agreement.
“But would you risk leaving Andre here?”
I shrugged.
“What’s the point of killing the groom before the wedding?”
“But after having the first child...”
Tom and I stared at each other dumbly. My friend’s dark eyes mirrored my own realization. The perfect solution. Vampires were born seducers, just like I was born with a tail. And sooner or later, someone would fall for that pretty face...
“What if they had a boy?”
“Why do you think they didn’t?”
“One woman couldn’t bear two half-demons and live...”
We exchanged looks, and raced to the portrait gallery. Thankfully, all the castle residents had gone hunting in the morning and hadn’t called us, since I hated that sport and never missed an opportunity to remind everyone about that. Hunts were too good of a situation to arrange an accident.
The last Duke Rataver, and three of his wives. The sign plates were under the portraits.
“Alicia Elizabeth. Died at twenty-seven.”
“Luisa Valencia. Twenty years.”
“Amila Lavinia. Still alive.”
“But often falls sick,” Tom backed me up. “Do you think it’s the third?”
“I think the first wife bore the duke the heirs, and then died. Just look at her...”
“Yeah. The difference is staggering.”
Three women, but only one of them was drop-dead gorgeous, the second and the third looked plain. The first was tossing her head up, as if saying, I’m young, beautiful, loved, envy me! And even the duchess’ sparkling diamonds seemed smug and haughty.
The second one stared forward in disbelief. Whoever she had been in her youth, she had clearly not gotten used to her new status. The third one was just a gray mouse, all timid.
“And who summoned the vampire?”
I shrugged. “It’s not that hard, Tom. Any mage could do it, provided a spellbook.”
“And control him, so he wouldn’t kill anyone?”
“If he’s not hungry, why not? Summon him, give him food, and offer a deal. Vampires feed on love emanations as well, so making a child wasn’t that hard for him.”
“But not in one night...”
“One or two. There are star maps, you can figure out the best time for conception, drink special potions, and the vampire’s seed is more potent than human’s.”
“How are they able to have children? I thought they were undead...”
“No, Tom. You’re confusing two species. Our sacred books talk about ghasts, who are undead raised by necromancy. Vampires are lower-caste demons, who live in other dimensions and can be summoned to perform various tasks.”
“But can they stay in our world?”
“They can, if the summoner isn’t careful enough. But if that happened, the duke’s family would have been long since dead. Like twenty years ag
o.”
“But why would they do that?”
I grinned, looking at my friend’s face.
“Tom, imagine our prince marrying that viper.”
“All right.”
“By the way, he probably will. I won’t be able to dissuade him, and announcing her nature to everyone isn’t the best idea. We only have the retinue and a few guards, while they have the whole of Rataver at their beck and call, plus Tevarr, which has never liked us.”
“But it’s just a betrothal. They’ll hold the wedding at home.”
“Don’t underestimate a vampire’s charisma. All right, so they marry. Who’s to say the girl won’t get pregnant, and after having a child, tear her husband’s throat out and become a regent during her child’s reign?”
“Nobody. But what about Rudolph?”
“Do you think he could stop her? Keep in mind—I might not be charming, but Lavinia’s bound to become popular with common people. She’s just like Rudolph, in a way.”
“You think someone planned all of it twenty years ago?”
“Why would they? There are lots of kings, dukes, and simply rich people. A vampire in the family guaranteed its prosperity.”
“So what can we do?”
“Whatever we want to the point that I’d marry my cousin’s widow.”
“Are you serious?” Tom’s eyes widened.
I snorted. “Well, for a day or two, at least. And why wouldn’t a half-demon raise a quarter-vampire?”
Tom rolled his eyes.
“Alex, sometimes, I’m scared of you.”
“I’m scary,” I readily agreed. “Beware of me.”
“You dog...”
We could have asked around in the villages, found the witnesses, questioned them...but I suspected that our guess was right. We didn’t have enough time for that, anyway.
The matter resolved itself sooner than we had expected. After realizing that she had been discovered, Lavinia went on the offensive.
***
My Lord,
I kindly ask you to meet me in a gazebo an hour after the fireworks.
We need to discuss an important issue regarding our relationship.
L.
Tom brought me that note, which had been handed to him by some servant. I quickly scanned the short text and snorted derisively.
“Does she think me an idiot?”
Tom shrugged. “I guess so. And then, the girl tried so hard...”
I carefully folded the note to return it to its original state—fortunately, the seal wasn’t damaged—and gave it a sniff.
True, she had poured her sweet perfume over the note...good. I wasn’t going to meet with her, of course, but it was a good thing that the author of the note could be so easily determined.
“I’ll also...try hard. Wait for me.”
And I slipped out of the window.
The most useful thing about our room were a ledge and ivy on the wall, the latter of which was covering the whole castle from the foundation up to the towers.
You could easily walk to the desired spot via the ledge and climb down to the room you wanted to get into.
Andre wasn’t in his chambers. Nobody was, even servants or guards. I took aim, and a small envelope plummeted down to his bed, which, thankfully, was not far from the window. I smirked and climbed back to my window.
“Where did you take it?”
What else could Tom ask? But I didn’t want to hide anything from my friend.
“I redirected the letter to Andre.”
“Oh! It has neither name nor title anywhere, so it could be addressed to anybody!”
“So what will we do?”
“We’ll lie in wait even before the fireworks.”
“I will. People should see you, but who’s going to care about me?”
“There are too few of us. We need someone else, too.”
“What for?”
“As an independent witness, Tommy.”
“A witness to what?”
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, my friend was too clueless, and on that day, it was quite unfortunate.
“Do you think she’s invited me for a glass of wine?”
Tom looked at me for a couple of minutes and then shook his head.
“Alex...”
“I won’t kill him. And if he provokes it himself...then it wouldn’t be my doing.”
“But it will start a war with Tevarr!”
“Not the first and not the last. So?”
“Nothing,” Tom shrugged. “You know...I don’t have any reasons to like Rudolph either.”
I knew that. Nobody could envy the fate of children whose father was executed. Poverty, hunger, death...my mother saved both Rick and his family, so they owed me a life debt.
I won't ask it from Tom, though. If my friend decides to go away, I will allow it. I will mourn him, I will cry for him, but I will let him go.
Friendship wasn’t a chain or a collar, it was a uniting of souls, and you could never gain it by force.
***
We selected two noble fops from Andre’s entourage as our witnesses. Tom chatted with them after dinner and in confidence, told them that there was a rumor going around—apparently, the duchess had arranged to secretly meet someone after the fireworks. How about sneaking on them and having a look?
Tell the prince? Or Duke Rataver?
Oh, come on!
It could be just servants’ gossip! What if it’s not true? Imagine the embarrassment! The shame!
Tom could be extremely persuasive when he wanted, and a whole hour before the fireworks, the three of them vanished from my sight.
I danced with everybody, including “my” baroness, watched the show, and also disappeared from the party, just for a short time.
But it didn’t look like Lavinia was going anywhere. Noticing that I had left, she shot a content grin and continued dancing, and that was it.
Wasn’t she going to meet me?
Or...I started to figure out what exactly was supposed to happen there. I wasn’t going to lift a finger to prevent that, however. Come what may.
I was sitting in a window pane behind a heavy curtain, eating a whole tray of delicious grapes I had snatched from a helpful servant, and looking at the sky.
Soon...
A savage scream came from the park. Alerted, I slipped out from behind the curtain—and with my luck, immediately bumped into Lavinia, who was performing a complicated dance number close by.
“You!”
So much shock and hate in her eyes...
“Me. So what?”
My eyes, however, were innocent. My hands were clean.
“Where else could I be, My Lady?”
Lavinia would have responded, definitely, but it was too late. One of the courtiers that had accompanied Tom ran into the ballroom, shouting,
“Murder!”
Tommy followed him. I breathed out in relief. My friend was alive; everything else could be fixed.
“Prince Andre was killed!”
Tom’s performance was so expressive that I barely held back from applauding him.
The duke clutched his heart. Lavinia fainted. After a moment’s hesitation, I followed the duke’s example and clutched my heart as well, with both of my hands, just in case.
“How could this happen?”
Tommy’s face assumed a look of pure anguish.
“Today, I found a note in my room, which said that Lady Lavinia was going to meet her lover in the gazebo this night! Of course, I had to go and take a look at this, so as not to tarnish the honor and innocence of an innocent girl.”
After such words, the fainted innocent immediately snapped out of it.
“I wasn’t meeting anyone! I was in the ballroom all the time!”
“Yes, young man,” the duke echoed.
Tommy threw up his hands.
“Your Grace, but I was sure it was slander! Your daughter couldn’t have done something like that! Somebody wanted to badmout
h her! This is why I came earlier and hid myself near the gazebo!”
“What happened next, then?”
“A man dressed all in black came there. His face was covered, but I wasn’t worried.”
“Why weren’t you?”
Tommy looked at the duke as if the latter was an idiot.
“Your Grace, but if he was someone’s secret paramour...”
“I see. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Tommy made a helpless gesture.
“Who would believe me? I didn’t even tell my master about it so as not to worry him. A planted letter...only a villain could do something like that.”
They couldn’t object to that.
“And then?”
“His Highness Andre appeared and headed to the gazebo. We didn’t really have time to stop him, we were too surprised.”
“And?”
“The cloaked man hit him with something, and then started a fight when Tipes jumped out from the bushes to help His Highness. We ran to get help.”
“You abandoned His Highness?”
I had to interject.
“Tell me, is there an assassin in every gazebo in your garden, or was my cousin just unlucky?”
The garden was already full of torches, noise, and people, and four bodies were lying next to the gazebo. Two of them weren’t moving, another was cursing and nursing the wound on his shoulder, and one more was being tied up in bandages as if he were a sausage.
I examined their auras.
Andre was dead as a door nail. The courtier—what’s his name, Tipes?—was dying. Another one, in a guard’s uniform, was croaking, clutching his cut throat. He was a goner as well; I had no talent for healing. The assassin, however, was alive and well, and quite angry to boot. He had intended to silently do his work and leave just as quietly. Instead, Tommy’s entourage had raised hell, summoning the guards and everything. What a pain.
“Get him to the torturer!” the duke commanded.
I smirked. Too little, too late. But I grasped my temples, portraying dismay.
“My cousin! My poor cousin!”
I almost believed myself, really. The duke was definitely touched, looking at me with compassion.
“Your Highness, maybe you should lie down for a while?”
“No! I must be beside his body! No matter what!”
“Let me through! My prince!”
Half-Demon's Revenge Page 25
