Pale Horizon

by Heather Renee

  “Go,” Jameson urged. “Evander knows you’ll kill him if anything happens to me, and he appears to want to live. Prime doesn’t know you live. The advantage is yours. Go.”

  My heart nearly broke at the thought of leaving him injured, but I knew he was right, and we would have a reunion later.

  “I love you,” I whispered quietly.

  “I know,” he answered, and a small smile spread across his marred face.

  I searched for his blue eyes for another moment before I turned away, unable to see them through his injuries. The fight was still going, but it had slowed as more people became injured or worse. I noticed several piles of ash littering the deck, and my heart eased a bit, knowing none of the ashes belonged to my crew.

  The only thing that could turn a vampire to ash was a hunter’s dagger. Solomon must have been able to stab vampires as he engaged Prime. My gaze searched for them urgently and finally spotted both men, but it wasn’t without difficulty. They were moving so fast that it was nearly impossible to make out who was who.

  The rage returned, and the darkness uncoiled inside me, but this time I didn’t fear it, and it wasn’t tearing me down. This time, I understood how I needed to use it and what its purpose truly was.

  I was Prime’s reckoning.

  Adjusting my grip on the dagger, I surged into the fray. As vampires stepped into my path, I either tossed them aside or stabbed them without a second thought. I avoided the ones with scents that I recognized, because they were on my side, fighting with everything they had.

  Spinning while pulling the dagger from the chest of a pirate, I lunged into the blurs that were Solomon and Prime. I pushed them away from each other, and they both paused, turning to see who had dared to interrupt their fight. Solomon’s dagger pulsed with a light brighter than I had seen before, and Prime’s pain-inducing sword was grasped in his hand.

  I flung my hood off and watched with satisfaction as Prime’s eyes grew wide again in recognition.

  “I thought…” Prime couldn’t find the words to finish his sentence, and it gave me pause. I knew in some sick way that he cared for me, but I needed to ignore that knowledge and focus on all the people he had hurt, including my mother.

  Before he could recover, I shook off the thoughts and rushed him, knocking his sword aside while plunging my dagger deep into his chest without regret. We stared into each other’s eyes, and it took every ounce of my strength to hold his stare, but I had to see with my own eyes the moment he was no longer a threat. When he could no longer hurt the people I cared about, my family. I also wanted him to know who had killed him.

  After several moments of silent staring, he still hadn’t turned to ash. Panic began to rise, and I withdrew the dagger, shoving it into his chest again. He gasped, and his breaths gurgled in his throat, but his body remained. Horrified that he hadn’t turned to dust, I backed away from him as he fell to the ground on his side, blood spilling from the wounds I had inflicted.

  “I don’t understand.” I spoke to no one in particular, glancing between the dagger in my hand and Prime, wondering why it hadn’t worked.

  “Prime is the first vampire, Lavinia. Unfortunately, today we learned that it’s going to take more than a thrust from a hunter’s dagger to kill him,” Solomon answered from behind me.

  “But… I thought,” I began, then trailed off, looking at Prime’s crumpled form on the deck. A crimson puddle formed around him as his red eyes watched me while he went through the process of dying and coming back, just like I had done so many times.

  “I thought the same, but my dagger was also ineffective,” Solomon confirmed, grasping my arm and pulling me away from him. “We must go.”

  Prime started to wake and tried to rise, but his hand slipped in the puddle of his own blood. I cried out in horror when he tried again, his red eyes never leaving my face. Bile rose in my throat as I leaned on Solomon. My adrenaline had diminished, and the fight was catching up with me.

  When Solomon drew me away from Prime, we turned to find the fighting had ceased on deck when Prime fell. Lots of red eyes were on us, and I worried the battle may have only just begun.

  Evander stepped forward, leaving Jameson’s side to address the vampires. “You have a choice to make today. You can walk away from Prime and have your freedom back, or you can continue to fight with this monster. Either way, we are walking off this ship, and there will be no more lives lost today.”

  Evander may have switched sides, but it appeared Prime’s crew still respected his authority. As we moved across the deck to get Jameson, not one of them bothered us. Murmurs ran through the crowd as pirates made their choice of whose side to join.

  Grasping Jameson’s arms, Solomon pulled him to stand. I moved toward the edge, and we all walked the plank, which was once again poised between the ships. Once we were safely on the other side, I looked over my shoulder one last time to find several men from Prime’s crew hastily crossing to our vessel, before it was too late.

  My eyes met those of Prime, and the hatred and pain in them reached me.

  I had chosen a side, and it wasn’t his.

  He would stop at nothing to snuff out the threat I now was to him. I was certain. A sinister smile spread across his face, and I took it as a promise that, one day soon, he would find me, and I might regret trying to kill him.

  Swallowing, I straightened my shoulders, letting my answer shine through my own red eyes.

  I was ready, and I’d be waiting.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Everyone boarded the ship, including several vampires who were once a part of Prime’s crew. Prime would need time to recover from my blows. His former men joined the others as we weighed anchor and set sail without hesitation. Our team and the vampires that had chosen to come with us all worked together, and we were soon leaving Prime’s ship far behind us.

  I was reeling from everything that happened, but I pushed it all aside as I led Evander and Jameson to the room we used as an infirmary. Evander gently helped Jameson onto the bed, then took a step back, while I grabbed several canteens filled with animal blood that I had stashed in there. Settling behind Jameson, I propped him up as best I could against my chest and pressed the edge of the container to his lips. He tilted his head back and drank deeply while I tried to ignore Evander’s watchful eyes.

  “What is he drinking?” he asked after Jameson emptied the first canteen.

  “Goat blood. He has never had human blood.”

  “Prime beat him badly when he refused the human blood. He could have caved, but he didn’t.”

  Jameson took the canteen from my hands and lowered it. “That’s because I knew I could survive the beating, and I wasn’t willing to lose my soul just to avoid the bruises.”

  Evander glanced between the two of us, perplexed. “You’re both an anomaly. You fight so hard to live differently, and it only serves to place a target on your back. Why?”

  My heart hurt for Evander. He didn’t know love, and that was more important than anything Prime could be fighting to achieve.

  “Why not?” Jameson countered. “Doing the right thing is not always the easiest path, but it remains the best path for us.”

  Evander didn’t respond, and I hoped he was ready to answer some of our questions.

  “You mentioned knowing what Prime wanted with me. If you’re truly on our side now, then I’m sure you’d like to share that information with us.” I met his gaze and considered forcing him to tell us, but using that kind of power was more than I thought necessary for the situation. Furthermore, I finally had the swirling darkness within me caged up again, and I didn’t want to risk losing control.

  “Are you sure you want to do this now? Shouldn’t we wait until Jameson is healed?”

  I shook my head. “No, but we should get Solomon. He’s involved with all of this as much as we are.”

  Before walking to the door to call for Solomon, I made sure Jameson was doing well enough to sit up on his own to drink the res
t of the blood.

  “Solomon, we need you,” I called with a slightly-raised voice, knowing he would hear me no matter where he was on the ship. Leaving the door open, I made my way back to Jameson.

  He handed me the second empty canteen, which I placed on the table before grabbing a washcloth. Dipping it into the basin, I apologized for the cold water, then wiped the blood from his face. Jameson winced a few times, but I could visibly see some of his larger wounds beginning to stitch themselves back together.

  Solomon walked in just as I finished cleaning Jameson’s face, but I continued on to his arms since it wasn’t me who needed to do the talking.

  “How are you doing, Jameson?” Solomon asked once he was settled in the corner of the room.

  “I’ll be back to normal after a good night’s sleep.”

  I nodded to Evander. “So, what does Prime want, besides power?”

  He shifted on his feet, seeming nervous about whatever he had to say. I didn’t understand why. I had witnessed some of Prime’s wrongdoings and knew he was twisted enough to turn a child. There wasn’t much that would surprise me.

  “When he found out about you, he did some research. He spent weeks in his room with books and papers, refusing to speak to anyone. Most of us thought he had gone mad. He had Pierce turning new vampires and doing his bidding, which gave him more time to seek the information he needed. I didn’t understand it for a long time, but when you escaped and we realized that Jameson was both hunter and vampire, Prime went back to the books when he remembered the prophecy from the Sea Witch.”

  My eyes shot over to Solomon. I had thought of the Sea Witch as someone who was good, but maybe she was neutral, meaning we couldn’t count on her to help us. If she was giving Prime information, too, that didn’t bode well for us.

  “What did the Sea Witch tell him?” Solomon asked.

  “Prime sought her out after Susanna died. He hadn’t meant to harm her. He only wanted to turn her, so he could be with her, but he was so angry about her having found another love that he lost control. He swore to the witch that he would do anything to have his one true love back, and she admitted to him that one day he would find another vampire so powerful that they could bring the dead back to life. But their path had not been set yet. There were no guarantees Prime would be able to garner help from this vampire.

  “He spent years searching for rumors of a powerful vampire. When he saw that Jameson was both vampire and hunter, he thought it was him. He only called for Solomon so he could finally kill him. He was never going to give Jameson up after he realized what he was, but I don’t believe Jameson is who Prime has been looking for.”

  Evander’s eyes met mine, and I stopped breathing. Shaking my head, I backed up against the wall.

  “Lavinia, you compelled me to keep a secret from my maker. Do you know how many times I’ve ever heard of that being done?” He continued when I didn’t answer. “Not once. You are the only one of your kind, and I believe you’re just beginning to access the depths of your power. If Prime gets his hands on you, he won’t ever let you go. He saw you use a hunter’s dagger and witnessed your vampire abilities today. He’s going to figure it out.”

  Jameson snarled. “Are you saying he wants to use Lavinia to bring her mother back from the dead?”

  Evander nodded, and a choked cry came from my throat; I dropped the washcloth I had been holding. As much as I wished I could have more time with my mother, there were certain lines a person didn’t cross; bringing someone back from the dead was certainly one of them. That was a whole different level of darkness, and I would not risk my humanity. My mother wouldn’t want that.

  Afraid to glance at Solomon, I looked everywhere but at him. We hadn’t talked about my mother, but if what I remembered from my childhood was true, then he must miss her dearly. Maybe even enough to ask me to consider what Prime was striving to accomplish.

  “I think we’ve had enough for one day. It’s getting late and I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d like some rest,” Jameson added, moving off the bed.

  Solomon nodded. “I agree. We are scheduled to meet the other ship at sunrise tomorrow. We can convene after we’re all together again. Evander, if you want to follow me, we can get the others settled, and I’ll show you to a room.”

  Once they left the infirmary, Jameson reached for me, and I gladly stepped into his embrace. Taking a deep breath, I inhaled the scent that was so uniquely his—rain and trees, along with something sweet. With increased vampire senses, each scent was easily discernable.

  “I missed you,” I cried into his chest as my body shook. “I’m so sorry he took you.”

  Jameson pushed me back, gripping the sides of my face. “Do not apologize for Prime’s evils. What he does in no way reflects on you. We know what he wants now, and it will be easier to evade him. He took a large loss tonight. Not only did he lose his second-in-command, but half of his crew as well.”

  I nodded, grabbing his hand so we could go to our quarters. I was ready for a clean change of clothes and our bed. I didn’t want to talk anymore. I just wanted to sleep and escape our reality for a few hours.

  When we arrived in our room, I used our basin to clean myself up before changing into my sleepwear. Ash and blood coated my hands and face. The cloak along with Jameson’s pants had kept the rest of me relatively clean.

  Crawling into bed, I winced when I saw the bruises still marring Jameson’s chest and ribs. Prime must have beaten him several times a day for them to still be present after two canteens of blood.

  “Do you need more blood?” I asked after my observations.

  “No, I don’t want to overdo it. I’ll be fine until morning. What about you?” His brow lifted curiously as he crawled into bed next to me. “Before I was taken, you were convinced you had completed your change to vampire, or some version of it. Has anything else changed?”

  “I haven’t been hungry for anything,” I answered wearily. “You’ll need to remind me to eat, but I don’t think I need the animal blood. There haven’t been any cravings.” I continued on with how training had gone with Solomon, followed by when I compelled Evander.

  “It’s going to be all right. I won’t let Prime use you for anything. There are a lot of people he’ll have to go through before he even has a chance of getting his hands on you.”

  Jameson pulled me closer until my head rested against his chest. The sun had set, and no alarms sounded to tell us Prime had taken chase. My eyes fell closed as Jameson’s touch lulled me to sleep. The next day would be soon enough to deal with the aftermath of today.

  The following morning, I was awoken by the sounds of Alice calling our names.

  “I know you’re in there. Now wake up!”

  Smiling, I crawled out of bed, leaving Jameson sleeping, and went to open the door before Alice woke up the entire ship. I opened the door and was unable to utter a word as Alice’s arms suddenly wound around my neck.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Is everything all right? Henry? The children?” Alice wasn’t normally that affectionate, and I was worried something had triggered her sudden outburst.

  She pulled back. “Yes, everything went as planned. We didn’t run into trouble getting to the meeting spot, but next time, I’m coming with you guys. I don’t like being left behind. You and Jameson have been taken one too many times.”

  “I agree. We need to go back to Ruth’s estate and check in on Nathan and Nettie, then stick together. There’s been too much separation.”

  I missed Nettie’s bright personality, and it would be nice to check in on everyone there before we planned another attack on Prime. There would be another one, and it would be soon. We couldn’t afford to wait for him to rebuild.

  “Let me wake Jameson and get dressed. We’ll meet you and the others in the galley soon.” I gave her another hug and slipped back into the room.

  Jameson was already awake and sitting up in bed. “Anything wrong?”


  “All is as it should be. You’re looking better.” His bruises had faded to a light brownish-yellow, and all of his cuts were now pink scars.

  “I feel better, too. I’m guessing we need to get up and go meet with everyone now? Probably to figure out where we’re going from here as soon as possible.”

  With his statement, we quickly got ready and headed to the galley. Alice, Henry, Solomon, Evander, and Joseph were present, so we took a seat after I grabbed a slice of bread from the pantry. I still wasn’t hungry, but I knew my body needed some sort of sustenance.

  “We’re headed back to Port Valor, as long as no one has any objections. We need to restock on supplies, and I must make sure Ruth isn’t having any issues,” Solomon announced first.

  “I’m fine with that,” I replied. “I was just telling Alice that I want to see Nathan and Nettie.”

  Jameson nodded in agreement. “We also need to take at least a week for formal training. It keeps getting pushed for other things, but it’s important we take the time for it. Prime isn’t going to take it easy on us when we meet him again, and everyone needs to be at their best.”

  A rush of anticipation filled with those words. I was eager for that, as well. I knew I was capable of so much more, and I needed to know how to handle it without losing control. I had barely been able to keep the darkness in check when Jameson was gone.

  “You’re right. Prime has a back-up plan, and we need to be prepared for it,” Evander added. “There is a small island outside of the chain, and I can almost guarantee that is where he is headed next. The army he’s been building isn’t just formed by the vampires you’ve found at the ports you visited. There’s a horde of them on this other island, along with blood slaves who are keeping them well fed.”

  I had never hated anyone before, but I did now. Prime couldn’t be redeemed. There was no coming back from all the damage he had done to the humans he’d either killed or turned and forced to follow him.