He collapsed and lost consciousness. Jakob grabbed my arm when I tried to go to him. “Let him be for now.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and grabbed the undulating blob off the floor. I followed him out the front door and up the stairs to the roof where he flung it into the sky. The strange creature hovered above us as it changed form, eventually sprouting wings before disappearing into the night sky.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
He let out a long breath and stared at the spot where it had vanished, probably to make sure it was good and gone. “When a vampire bites a mortal,” he began to explain, “it steals their essence and leaves behind its own. But when a vampire bites another vampire, the playing field is leveled. The two powerful forces create something very dark. An essence no one should ever have to face. Luckily for Hawk, my blood helped him expel it before it took up residence inside his body for good. He just got rid of what’s left of it.”
By the time we made it back downstairs, Hawk was sitting in the living room and Jules was getting him something to drink. The bright glow of his golden eyes had returned, and his skin was no longer pale.
“I think he’ll live,” Jakob said, getting a good look at the man who had stolen my heart.
Hawk got up, standing a couple of inches taller than Jakob, and extended his hand. “Thank you. I own you my life.”
Jakob shook it and nodded once. “If Mora thinks you’re worth saving, so do I.”
He dropped Hawk’s hand and looked at me. “Come home. We can spin this and make Hawk the hero.”
“You’ve known all along about the legacy, haven’t you? It’s all in the journal.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I made a promise to your mother. She wanted to tell you in her own words when you were ready. When you were more… mature. Don’t take this the wrong way, Mora, but until recently you definitely weren’t ready.”
Jules snorted. “Yeah, no shit.”
“You should talk.” I looked back at Jakob and wondered why he’d gone to all the trouble of commissioning that box with the auction house. “Why didn’t you just give me the journal instead of putting me through the fiasco of trying to open that box?”
His brow furrowed. “I never had the journal.”
“You didn’t commission the box it came in?”
He shook his head. “I was as ignorant as you were when you brought it home. I just assumed your mother arranged to have it sent to you.”
I tried to imagine her planning her own death and instructing someone to anonymously commission it with the auction house. But who?
“What’s important is that you have the journal and it’s safe where the clan won’t find it.” His face suddenly went grave. “You do have it, don’t you?”
“Yes. It’s in the bedroom.”
His relief was palpable. “Good. Give it to Jules for safekeeping and come home with me. We’ll worry about clearing Hawk of Rebecca’s attack after we win him some points for saving you from the Reaper.”
“They’ll just lock me up again. And by the way, the Reaper doesn’t exist. Ryker insisted it’s just a legend.”
“I’m well aware of that, but the clan believes what it wants to believe, so let’s use it to our advantage. The Reaper abducting the queen of his archenemies will sit better with the clan than telling them he did it because you’re his daughter. And don’t forget, the real reason they locked you up was to keep you from warning Hawk, which you’ve clearly already done. What you have to remember, Mora, is you’re the queen. And whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Ryker gave you something that makes you more powerful than even the twins. They couldn’t lock you up now if they tried.”
“You know what Ryker did to me? My… transition?” I cringed at his expression, which was consoling if not filled with a little pity—the last thing I wanted from him. “How?”
“I can see it in your eyes. Katherine had that same look after he forced her to drink the blood.”
“Blood?” Jules said, leaning closer to look at my eyes. “What the hell is he talking about?”
I let out a shuddering breath and broke the news to her, hoping it wouldn’t push her to the brink of leaving and never speaking to me again. “Ryker forced me to drink human blood. He called it my transition.”
Jakob elaborated when Jules just stood there looking shell-shocked. “Your best friend is a vampire now. She’s still half Winterborne, so she won’t need human blood very often.”
“Very often?” I said, taking a step back. “Like hell! Never!”
“I’m afraid you will,” Hawk said, standing up to try to console me. “But only when the hunger becomes unbearable, and there are plenty of human volunteers who’ll fall over themselves to offer it to you.”
I thought about Henry back at Ryker’s apartment. He begged me to use him, Ryker had said.
“Are you telling me you drink human blood?” I asked Hawk. “You told me you only drink from animals occasionally. Jesus, you said it was a choice!”
“It is for me because I’m a raptor. I get my blood from animal prey when I hunt. But it may not be a choice for you. Only time will tell.”
I glanced at Jules and waited for her to say something. She already knew about Ryker and my vampire heritage, but the whole human-blood-drinking thing might be a deal breaker, and I wouldn’t blame her if it was too much for her to handle.
She scratched her head and twisted her lips. “Okay,” she finally said. “I think I can handle my best friend being a witch, an immortal, a vampire, and a queen. But promise me you’ll go to Hawk if you start having those cravings.”
I laughed half-heartedly. “I told you years ago you weren’t my type.” It was an old joke between us that seemed appropriate.
“It’s getting late,” Jakob said. “We should go.”
“I haven’t agreed to go back with you yet.”
Hawk decided for me. “You should go, Morgan. They don’t have any power over you anymore, and I can take care of myself now that I know I’m on their hit list.”
I followed him to the door. “Where are you going?”
He turned around and smiled, his face a facade of confidence I didn’t buy for a second. “I have a date with the queen Flyer. To convince her to testify in my defense. Now go home, Morgan.”
Chapter 30
I asked Jakob to walk with me to the park before we traveled back to the Winterborne Building, because I wanted to show him the black opal and tell him what had happened with the Flyers. After listening to everything, he agreed that we needed the queen’s testimony to make it stick. Without it, it was just my word against Rebecca’s.
After that conversation, we traveled back to the penthouse and I headed straight for the bedroom to change into some fresh clothes. When I walked back out to the living room, Jakob was finishing a call.
“That was Cabot,” he said, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “He’s requested our presence in chambers in half an hour.”
“Half an hour?” Cabot’s patience surprised me. “You mean he didn’t tell you to get my ass down there immediately?”
He chuckled for a few seconds before getting an anxious look in his eyes. “Are you ready for this?”
I smiled uneasily. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.”
“Whatever happens down there, just remember I’ll always have your back.”
I took his hands and slowly released my breath. “You’ve taken care of me all my life, Jakob. How could I have possibly earned such devotion?”
“It’s called love, Mora. You could have attacked Rebecca yourself, killed her with your own two hands, and I’d still love you like my own.”
“Now I really feel like shit,” I muttered, dropping his hands. “You know Cabot’s going to have a field day with you when we get down there.”
“Nonsense. You called me and I dragged you back. They’ll probably throw me a parade.”
With
a humorless laugh, I said, “Well, I am still the queen. I’ll just declare a royal pardon for you if they try anything.”
He got that look in his eyes again. The same one he’d gotten back at Mrs. Wells’s apartment when he was explaining how he knew Ryker had given me the blood. “It’ll all work out in the end.”
I wasn’t as sure about that as he was. “What if they see what you saw in my eyes? What if they can tell that I’ve changed?”
“So that’s why you look so worried,” he said. “They won’t see anything. The only reason I can see it is because I knew what was happening to your mother. I watched her change for months, and in those last few weeks before she disappeared, it was all I could see in her eyes. Cabot will only see fatigue, which is understandable. It’ll fade in a day or two once your body gets used to the change.”
I went into the bathroom to splash some water on my face and get a good look at myself. I looked like hell, which would probably win me some sympathy points if they bought the story about Hawk saving me from the Reaper.
Jakob called out to me when I took too long. “It’s time to go, Mora.”
“Coming.” I dried my face and held my hands under the faucet, releasing the excess energy into the cool water as it ran over my skin. I didn’t want them to see my nerves.
We got on the elevator and headed down to council chambers. When the door opened, every member of the clan was staring at me.
“Samuel!” I couldn’t believe my eyes.
My uncle from Edinburgh stood up and greeted me halfway as I practically ran across the room. He hugged me and whispered in my ear, “Don’t let them see your fear.” It was as if he could read my mind.
Samuel wasn’t just my favorite uncle; he was my mother’s favorite brother. They were so close they were practically twins, and Cabot had always been jealous of their bond. She hibernated in her room for weeks when he left for Scotland, thrown into a depression so unlike her that I wondered if she’d ever fully recover. I’d been shocked that he didn’t return to New York when she disappeared.
He embraced Jakob next. “It’s good the see you, brother. I was afraid they might have run you off by now.”
Jakob glanced at me and grinned. “Not a chance.”
“Are you back for good?” I asked Samuel.
He leaned in and spoke quietly. “Not here. Breakfast in the morning?”
Cabot interrupted our reunion and practically ordered me to take a seat. At first I wasn’t sure if I should take my rightful place in that ridiculous chair at the head of the table, but then I decided it was time to show them that I intended to resume my role as queen whether they liked it or not. Let them try to ignore me now.
When I sat in it, Cabot shot me a look. I ignored him and focused on Jakob, who was giving me a very different look. One of pride and solidarity. The Elders made their grand entrance through the wall a moment later and took their seats on either side of me.
“Now that everyone is here, we can proceed,” Cabot said with a little smugness in his voice. “Our queen has returned. The question is, what do we do with her now?”
“You’ll do nothing,” I said, hijacking his grandstanding opening statement. “That kangaroo court you held the last time I was in these chambers was a farce. I was abducted by the Reaper, and if it hadn’t been for Hawk, the man you accused of attacking your wife, I’d be dead.” At the mention of the Reaper, the room buzzed, everyone seemingly shocked by the thought that I had been a captive of the legendary assassin and managed to survive. “Hawk risked his life to save me, and I intend to prove he wasn’t the shifter who attacked Rebecca.”
“Hmm,” Cabot mused. “Unfortunately, our misguided queen has forgotten that she’s been stripped of her duties pending the outcome of a trial which has yet to take place. And now we can add aiding and abetting to her list of offenses because I’m sure her shifter friend has been warned.” He nodded to Olivia and James, but Ramsey raised his hand.
“You say the Reaper took you?” Ramsey asked.
“He showed up in the penthouse and used some kind of magic jewels to control my will.” That took care of the explanation of how I managed to escape the twin’s spell. Now they wouldn’t suspect Jakob had helped me.
Ramsey seemed skeptical. “Your experience with this vampire assassin will have to be documented so we can better understand our enemy. But I am curious. Why didn’t he simply kill you?”
It was time to test my lying skills. “For the same reason, I assume. He wanted to get to know his enemy. When I refused to give him any information, he did try to kill me.” I lifted my hair to show them the faint scar that had not completely disappeared from my neck. “He said it was an eye for an eye. For all the Night Walkers whose heads had rolled at the hands of the clan. If Hawk hadn’t found me and stopped him, the Reaper would have severed my head.”
He finished examining my neck. “Is the Reaper dead?”
“No. He escaped through a window.” I pulled the ruby ring from my pocket and laid it on the table. “This is one of the jewels he used to control me.”
Cabot reached for it, but I grabbed it and shook my head. “Don’t touch it. It’s dangerous.”
Ramsey seemed convinced, but Cabot still had a suspicious look in his eyes.
“I’ll destroy the jewels myself,” I said, shoving the ring back in my pocket before anyone got too good a look at it. Couldn’t have them noticing the similarities to the earrings my mother used to wear.
“Let’s get on with this,” Rebecca said. “This has nothing to do with that shifter attacking me and Morgan helping him escape justice.”
“Yes, I agree,” I said with a cold smile. “Let’s get on with this.” I stood up and reached into my other pocket to retrieve the black opal. When I dropped it on the table, Cabot’s eyes were expressionless. But Rebecca’s were easy to read.
She clenched the spot on her neck where it usually hung and let out a small gasp. “Where did you get that?”
“From the Flyers. The queen confiscated it from the shifter you paid to frame Hawk. She returned it to me the other night, before I was abducted, and they’ve delivered their own justice to the real attacker. You’re not denying that it’s yours, are you?”
Her shocked expression eased. “Of course it’s mine. Hawk stole it when he attacked me. Ripped it right off my neck.”
“You’re lying!”
Ramsey stood up to examine the opal. “Is the queen Flyer prepared to testify to this?”
And there went Hawk’s defense right out the window.
“She would, but she’s afraid to ruin the alliance with the clan.”
He grunted and sat back down. “Then you have no evidence. It’s all hearsay. Your word against Rebecca’s.”
“The word of your queen,” I reminded him.
“A queen who committed a crime against her own clan,” Cabot said. “You’re still accused of attacking your own brother.”
Ethan finally spoke up. “Can we just lay this attack to rest? It was an accident, for God’s sake. Morgan would never intentionally hurt me.”
It was about time he admitted that. I wished he had said something the day I got hauled in here and accused.
Cabot glanced at the others and smirked. “It doesn’t matter. She was still helping the enemy. A vampire!”
He reached for the opal, but Samuel snatched it off the table. “I’ll hold on to the evidence for now. You’re not exactly impartial.”
I thought Cabot was going to explode. There had always been animosity between the brothers, and it was clear Samuel’s loyalty was with me.
“That’s enough!” Ramsey bellowed. “Morgan may be cleared of attacking Ethan, but unless evidence proves otherwise, this vampire will be hunted down and executed.”
“No, he won’t.” I stood up and faced the Elders. “I have proof that he couldn’t have done it.”
Ramsey gave me a suspicious look. “How can you be certain?”
“Because he was with me at
the time.” The room fell quiet, and I swear I could hear the hum of electricity traveling through the wires in the walls. “Hawk was with me the entire night. He didn’t leave the penthouse until almost seven that morning. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Avery. She stopped by early that morning and met him. But she didn’t know what he was,” I quickly added, lying to spare her from any complicity.
Cabot looked at me with disgust. “So you’ve been sleeping with the enemy as well as helping him. That in itself is a crime.”
It was a risk to tell them, but at least it absolved Hawk of the greater crime. Now we could work on proving that Rebecca and Cabot were guilty of setting him up. Get that payback for Hawk and the Flyers.
“I told you before, he’s not a Night Walker. I haven’t broken any laws.”
Not bothering to wait to see if the Elders took action, Cabot looked at the twins and nodded.
“Damn it, Morgan, I hate this,” James said, sighing as he reluctantly stood up.
But Olivia grabbed his arm to stop him. The two had a silent conversation for a moment before he sat back down.
“What the hell are you waiting for?” Cabot demanded. “Bind her!”
Olivia looked at me for a few seconds before addressing our uncle. “I don’t think so.” Then she gave Rebecca a brief glance before looking back at me. “Something smells rotten in this room, and I don’t think it’s Morgan.”
“That’s my girl,” Samuel muttered.
Rebecca glared across the table at Ramsey. “Who’s in charge here?”
The Elders seemed lost for words, but Ramsey quickly recovered and sided with the voice of reason. “We seem to be at an impasse. If Avery can substantiate Morgan’s claim that this… vampire shifter was with her at the time of the attack, then the council has no choice but to drop the charges against him.”
“This is insane!” Rebecca jumped out of her chair and rushed around the table. As she came within arm’s length of me, I turned to look her in the eye.
Dark Legacy (House of Winterborne Book 1) Page 23
