“With all due respect, I think that goes for all peoples,” Kalon retorted, somewhat offended by my brother’s conclusion. Frankly, I was split between the two as far as Visio was concerned. A beautiful world, yes, but ripe with so much trouble. “There are secrets and there is darkness in all societies. More in some than in others, but I doubt we’re the only ones with such issues.”
“We usually have GASP to intervene and maintain peace,” Tristan said, standing his ground.
“Either way, we’ve got our hands full here,” I interjected. “Worst of all, we’re nowhere close to figuring out who killed Nethissis. We only know it was most likely the Darklings. That’s it.”
“Listen, let’s head back to the palace,” Valaine suggested. “We’ll rest for a bit, drink some blood, talk this through, and put together an action plan for later today or tomorrow. I promise you, Esme, just like I promised Tristan, that we will not rest until we find Nethissis’s killer.”
It felt a little reassuring, though I knew she had no control over the situation. Her intentions were what mattered most, much like Kalon’s. The four of us made our way out of the square, leaving the silver guards to handle the Red Threads. Tomorrow, Kalon and I might have to start asking the survivors some hard questions.
Kalon and I…
How quickly he’d become a fixture in my life here, on Visio. I no longer envisioned going anywhere alone. I woke up looking forward to seeing him again. His smile as I joined him for whatever activity made my heart flutter. How strange to feel such things in the midst of so much mystery and danger.
Even now, he stayed close to me, stealing glances every other minute, whenever he thought I wasn’t looking. I did the same, and our gazes frequently ended up meeting by fortuitous accident. Every time, we both looked away but couldn’t resist peeking again whenever we thought we could. A sweet but vicious circle, in which many words were left unspoken, as we led the way back to the Lord and Lady Supreme’s palace.
Esme
At one point, approximately two miles from the palace, the hairs on the back of my neck began to frizz. I took deep breaths, trying to analyze whatever scent available, while Valaine, Tristan, and Kalon discussed today’s events. We were nowhere close to a plan, since we were understandably tired and somewhat dismayed, but our desire to resolve this had not faded.
I caught a familiar whiff. It wasn’t the first time. I’d sensed it before the square and afterward. Someone was following us, and I knew I wasn’t going to see who it was unless I gave that person an opportunity to get closer.
Giving Kalon a discreet nudge, I decided to part ways with my brother and Valaine. “I forgot, we’ve got one more place to visit before we get back to the palace,” I told them. “You two go ahead, and Kalon and I will meet you there.”
“Where are you going?” Tristan asked. I wished he hadn’t. Now I had to lie some more.
“Just a flower shop I saw in the area a couple of days ago.”
“You’re stopping for flowers?” my brother replied, thoroughly unimpressed.
I grumbled a slew of profanities before raising my voice. “Will you just mind your own damn business and meet us later in your room?”
“Tristan, let’s go,” Valaine said, visibly amused. She hooked her arm around his and pulled him away. She’d used several handkerchiefs to clean the blood from her hands, but the shade of crimson still persisted on her pale skin. It seemed to matter to Valaine, as her gaze darkened whenever she looked down at her hands.
I grabbed Kalon’s hand and jerked him onto the nearest side street, while Valaine led Tristan toward the palace. Kalon was well within reason to be a tad confused about this, but it did not explain that surprised half-smile on his face, until he opened his mouth.
“If you wanted some privacy, you should’ve said so,” he muttered. “There are plenty of prettier alleys in this area for a romantic walk.”
“We just mowed down two dozen Rimians. I can still smell their blood on me. And you’re thinking about romantic walks?”
His smile faded. “I may have misunderstood the purpose of this detour.”
He made it difficult for me not to laugh, sometimes. There were so many facets to Kalon, and he was so quick to change between them, that being around him was a true delight. He kept a certain distance, for the most part, but then he swooped in, either by closing the distance between us or by making an off-handed remark, continuously keeping me on the tips of my toes.
“We’re being followed,” I said, feeling my cheeks rise with a smile. “It’s been going on since before we reached the square, based on the scent, so I know we’re the targets, not my brother or Valaine.”
“And you thought separating us from them would be a good idea?” he replied dryly.
“Whoever is following us is getting closer now,” I whispered as we kept walking down the tight alley. Another street opened up to our right, and I made the turn, swiftly joined by Kalon. “I don’t think this pursuer is out to hurt us. They’d have to be an idiot.”
“Wow, look at you, all fierce and sassy.” Kalon chuckled, but quickly changed his expression when he, too, caught the scent. “I know who it is…”
I waited for him to tell me, but he didn’t. Instead, he positioned himself behind the street corner and brought a finger up to his lips, basically telling me to shut up. I couldn’t help but put my hands on my hips, glowering at him. I’d thought this was my operation, my initiative. I was planning to lead our pursuer on for a little while longer, ideally in a slightly more private setting.
There were still a few people going up and down this street.
But then Trev Blayne turned the corner, and Kalon grabbed him and pinned him against the hard wall, baring his fangs at him. “Why are you following us?” he hissed.
“Oh, that’s what you meant,” I murmured. Kalon had recognized Trev’s scent, having known him for so long. It must’ve come so naturally to him. I hadn’t made the connection, and I was too shocked to make sense of this unexpected situation. “What are you doing here?” I asked Trev.
The Rimian didn’t fight back, allowing Kalon to exert his dominance. He raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Not looking to hurt you.”
“I would love to see you try,” Kalon said, grinning. “I’m not going to ask you again, Trev.”
An idea shot through my head when Trev refused to answer. Connecting several dots, I searched his pockets while Kalon held him in place. Trev tried to move, but Kalon had a firm grip on him. Seconds later, I pulled out a braided thread from his dark green tunic, and my stomach sank.
Kalon’s face turned pale at the sight of it. “Care to explain, Trev?”
“No.”
“Don’t mess with me!” Kalon growled and grabbed Trev by the tunic, angrily shaking him. “The Red Threads just tried to kill us, so you’d better have a good explanation as to why you’re following us around and why you’re carrying a red thread in your pocket!”
Trev hesitated, further stoking Kalon’s swelling rage. I worried he might lose control, since he was dealing with a potentially treacherous friend who, above it all, had also lied to him earlier with regards to the Red Threads.
“You need to tell us the truth before someone else gets hurt,” I said, hoping the Rimian might do the right thing. Kalon was dangerously close to the tipping point now.
“I didn’t know they were going for your heads,” Trev finally said.
Utterly astonished by his response, Kalon let go and moved back a couple of feet, as if the rug had just been pulled out from under him.
I gasped. “Are you serious?”
“You’re with the Red Threads, then,” Kalon replied, glowering at him.
“I didn’t ask for it!” Trev said. “I’m doing this because I want to take the Darklings down! Don’t think I forgot about what they did to Luna!”
Suddenly, it all seemed to make sense for Kalon. There was a piece of history I was missing here, but he knew exactly what Trev wa
s talking about. Lights flickered in his blue eyes, and the Rimian let a deep sigh roll out from his chest.
“I have spent years trying to figure out a way into the Darklings. It’s why I’ve joined the tournaments. Why I angled for the big prize. It’s all so I can become an Aeternae. So I can infiltrate the Darklings,” he added.
“You told me you wanted immortality,” Kalon murmured.
“What’s eternal life without Luna, huh?”
“Guys, I’m glad you’re not at each other’s throats, but I’m way behind here. What’s going on?” I asked.
Kalon offered a bitter smile. “My cousin Luna. She was only nineteen when the Darklings murdered her,” he said. “We don’t know why. Well, actually we do now… She was supposed to be a sacrifice for the Black Fever, I guess… Anyway, she wasn’t their only victim, but she mattered to us. To Trev, in particular. They were in love.”
“Whoa,” I managed. “Is… Is that allowed?”
“It’s not against the law, but it’s socially frowned upon,” Kalon replied. “Point is, they never got a chance at a life together.”
“And no one avenged her death,” Trev continued. “Five years gone, and her killers are still free. It’s been my sole motivation to get out of bed in the morning. The thought that I will get them eventually.”
“How do you plan on doing that, exactly?” I asked.
“The Red Threads have connections to the Darklings. Connections that not even that guy you two captured knows about,” Trev said. “It’s known only in the leadership circle. They exchange intel, occasionally. They don’t work together, as factions, and they pretend to be against each other, but really, they’re not.”
“I’m confused,” I mumbled. “The dude we captured said they were anti-Darklings.”
“He knows what the leaders told him,” Trev said. “In the end, the Red Threads are perfectly happy with Darklings dropping Aeternae bodies. A little bit of anarchy never hurt a rebellion, did it?”
“Holy crap…”
Kalon chuckled softly. “Right there with you.”
“I’m in touch with one of the Red Thread leaders. I told him I want to switch over to the Darklings after I’m turned. He said he can introduce me to the right people,” Trev said. “That’s been my strategy from the very beginning. I spent months in the Rimian taverns, eavesdropping on the right conversations, until I realized that my best shot as a Rimian at entering the Darkling circle was via the Blood Arena and the Red Threads. It’s the only reason why I joined these so-called revolutionaries.”
I noticed the contempt in his voice. “You don’t seem to like the Red Threads much.”
“They traffic in Rimians and Naloreans, much like the Darklings,” Trev replied.
Kalon didn’t seem surprised by this.
“What do you mean?” I asked, increasingly overwhelmed by this sudden dump of crucial information. My blood ran cold, as part of me already understood what Trev had meant.
“They abduct Rimians and Naloreans from the poorer neighborhoods. In some cases, they pay flying-ship pirates to smuggle them in from Rimia or Nalore, directly, by the hundreds,” he explained. “They tag them and sell them to rich Aeternae. It’s Visio’s best-kept secret, in case you didn’t know. The upper echelon and the government know about this, and even though outright slavery is illegal, they don’t enforce the law on these hounds because they’re direct beneficiaries. Almost every Aeternae household worth over a hundred thousand gold coins has at least one Rimian or Nalorean locked in a room, somewhere, on whom they feed.”
My stomach turned. I was close to retching, instinctively covering my mouth. Kalon, on the other hand, was perfectly calm, his gaze fixed on the ground as he listened.
“You know about this?!” I croaked. “Do you have Rimian or Nalorean blood slaves at home?”
He looked at me with ice-cold shock. “Never! I would never do this to anyone! I would never hold someone against their will.”
“But you know about the practice.”
“He knows, Esme. But there isn’t much he can do about it,” Trev said. “He’s tried, more than once, for as long as I can remember. They always shut him down.”
“How do they shut you down?” I asked Kalon.
His brow furrowed as he avoided my gaze. “You don’t want to know. Trust me.”
“I’d like to trust you, but you seem to be holding back a lot of information!” I said. “You could’ve told me about this sooner!”
“It’s none of your concern, Esme!” Kalon replied, his tone clipped. “It’s got nothing to do with Nethissis’s murder, or your day-walking protein. I’m still an Aeternae, remember? I cannot turn against my people. Once you leave, I’ll have to answer for a lot of things. Stirring up this blood slavery is just one thing I’m not itching to put back on my naughty list.”
“This is insane,” I whispered, suddenly disappointed in all of them. Valaine probably knew about it, as well. As much as I hated to admit it, though, Kalon was right. It wasn’t my business. I wasn’t supposed to get involved in their internal policies. But still, dammit… it made me so angry!
“The best way to take both organizations down is from the inside,” Trev said, after a long pause. “The members you caught today? Low-level grunts. They wouldn’t be able to give you good intel even if they had it.”
“And this is where you come in, right?” Kalon replied, staring at his friend. His gaze was cold and impassive, but I caught the occasional glimmer of guilt in there. I knew he had a conscience, but there was a small rift between us now, and I had to find a way to get over it. The mere thought of distancing myself from Kalon made me feel bad. There had to be a middle path… maybe Trev was it.
“I’ll give you the Red Thread leadership, every name I’ve got, as soon as I enter the Darklings,” the Rimian said. “I’ll have no use for them, then.”
“And you’ll follow up with the Darklings, too?” I replied.
He nodded. “Absolutely. I just need to get to the ringleader. Once I know who that is, I can cut the head off the beast. But my only way in is if I become an Aeternae,” Trev said, and gave Kalon a meaningful gander. “It’s time, old friend.”
Kalon thought about it for a moment. “You’re getting yourself in danger. Are you sure about this? If they find out you’re lying, they will cut your head off, and it will all have been for nothing.”
“I’ll go down swinging,” Trev said. “Turn me, Kalon. It’s my prize. I’ve earned it.”
“It’s irreversible. You can never go back.”
“Just turn me, Kalon!” Trev snapped. “We’re wasting precious time here!”
From where I stood, Kalon came across as hesitant. He didn’t really want to turn his friend into an Aeternae, but honor compelled him. Trev had, indeed, earned this opportunity upon winning the Blood Arena tournament. It was time for Kalon to come through for him. In the end, Trev becoming an Aeternae worked to everyone’s advantage, because he was more than eager to infiltrate the Darklings.
And if we brought those SOBs down, I could consider Nethissis’s death properly avenged. If he pointed out her killers… well, that was one heckuva bonus.
Kalon breathed out. “Come to the palace with us. I’ll have a small room set up for you, where we can go ahead with this.”
“You need privacy,” I murmured.
“I have to drain him of most of his blood, then give him some of mine,” Kalon said. “It’s not something we do willy-nilly, in the middle of the street.”
I remembered about the whole process being quite similar to humans turning. Transitioning into an Aeternae was a deeply private and personal affair, as Trev would have to deal with a sudden and powerful thirst for blood. He needed a controlled environment in order to overcome the first few days of the process. Kalon would be by his side at all times.
Once that was done and over with, Trev would then be introduced to the Darklings. Finally, I had something more concrete to help solve Nethissis’s murder.
I wasn’t going to leave this place until I got the truth.
Tristan
Even with some of the Red Thread faction in prison, it didn’t feel like much of a win for us. We were no closer to discovering who’d killed Nethissis, and most of the Aeternae we dealt with—mainly the upper echelon, with the fortunate exception of Valaine and Kalon—didn’t even believe that Nethissis had been murdered. It felt like an uphill push, but it was only the first day.
I was nowhere near ready to let go of it.
Everything was connected. That baffled me and scared me the most. One way or another, everything was connected. The Red Threads, the Darklings, the Black Fever, Nethissis’s death. Whether the links were mere coincidence or the result of years of thought-out conspiracies, I wasn’t sure, but I had learned long ago that coincidences weren’t always just that.
Esme and I agreed to keep digging. Kalon and Valaine were still on our side and were equally invested. Valaine had every reason to get to the Darklings, since they had tried to kill her repeatedly. Kalon, her friend, seemed willing to do whatever it took to protect her.
Upon our return from the city, the four of us had sat down in my room, going over the details and assumptions we’d made so far. Kalon and Esme had said they might have something in the pipeline, but they didn’t go into details. I, of course, had demanded more information, but they’d both insisted they would tell us when the time was right. Valaine had convinced me to trust Kalon on this. “If he says he’s got something, he’s got it. Give him time,” she’d urged me.
I’d relayed everything back to Derek, Sofia, and Amal. The three had said the same thing. “Give it time. You’ll get to the truth, eventually.” I wanted to believe that with all my heart, but I worried there were elements working against us. My inner voice told me that we were in for a world of trouble, and we didn’t even see it yet.
Now, dinner in the palace was more awkward than ever. Valaine and Corbin had joined us, along with Kalon and his mother, Petra. To our surprise, Prince Thayen, the only son of Acheron and Danika, had been allowed to dine with us, since it was a restricted circle. Not even Zoltan was present—that didn’t really bother me, if I were to be honest. There was something about the chief councilor that irked me beyond belief. Maybe it had to do with his persistence with regards to Nethissis’s cause of death, his insistence that it had been a fox. Then again, Corbin had droned on the same, not to mention the Lord and Lady Supreme, and even Petra. But no one annoyed me more than Zoltan whenever he spoke about Nethissis.
A Shade of Vampire 79: A Game of Death Page 19
