by E. M. Knight
“Not directly,” Phillip says. “But it’s not a pleasant existence, to say the least. Maybe you would have been able to influence things, had this latest wrinkle not occurred.”
“I’m not going to be welcomed back after this escape, am I?”
“I was going to say, we have to succeed first. But your point is valid. You won’t be welcomed back… as a human.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
RAUL
The fire started innocently enough, but soon grew way out of control. I was too eager with setting the dry hay. I’d used too much, and now the conflagration is threatening the entirety of The Haven.
Screams and shouts surround me.
I race from my kind to the humans, risking my own life to pull them from their burning homes. Only a handful of other vampires are doing the same. Most are concerned with putting out the flames. There is no love lost between our species. Most of the vampires who could help, chose to look out for their own skin.
I’m no saint, but for now, I’m different. The fire was my idea. I feel acutely responsible for every human life that might be lost. The more I can do to reduce casualties, the better it will be.
Besides, I have Patricia watching out for Eleira’s emergence. Once the girl appears, I’m gone.
“We need more water!” April screams. The humans have formed a bucket line and are passing on pails from the nearest lake. I curse my Mother’s insistence in not providing the village modern technologies. This would be so much simpler if we had a hose.
But then again, this way, Eleira has more time to escape.
I run back into the flames engulfing the village, searching, searching, always searching for more humans who need my help. My attention goes to a tiny hut. My vampire senses tell me there are people inside.
I crash through the doors. Two children are huddling in a corner. A burning pillar separates me from them.
They're crying for their mother. I look around—and my heart sinks when I find her trapped beneath the pillar.
I run over and strain to pick it up. “Please, no,” the woman pleads. She has eyes only for her children. “Save them. Not me. Please!”
I have enough time to do both — but then I understand. The way the woman’s back is twisted, it’s been broken.
She won’t walk again.
And in The Haven, a cripple’s life lasts only until the next Hunt.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and jump the burning beam to grab her two children. They scream for her and beat against my back. I clutch them to me and pull them out of the burning building.
Seconds after we emerge, a great crash sounds behind us. A blast of hot air whips against my body. I don’t need to look to know the roof had caved in. The cries of the children are evidence enough.
I race to a safe clearing some distance away from the fire. The younger humans are gathered there. “Somebody look after them!” I command as I set the children down. Then, knowing they’re finally safe, I turn back and run straight into the fires.
Over and over I repeat the process, hunting down the people trapped inside, pulling them out, dragging them to safety. Most are too hysterical to notice who I am. The ones who do, look at me look in wonder. Why would the Prince risk himself for us?
But they’ve only seen the side of vampires that Mother has allowed them to see. They don’t know, cannot fathom, that beyond our need for blood, we’re a lot like them. We were them, once, and just because we’ve transformed, does not mean we’ve become creatures with different needs, desires, wants, doubts, and, yes, even insecurities, as when we were human.
Of course, it’s hard to imagine those human qualities in a race that keeps you constantly oppressed.
On and on it goes. I catch glimpses of other vampires darting through the flames. I wish I could say they were there rescuing the trapped humans, but I know better than that. The truth is, most are probably taking advantage of the confusion to feed.
I run back to the outskirts. I call for my Mother, the Queen. I don’t spot her anywhere, but surely she knows what’s happening.
“Where is the Queen?” I demand of the vampire nearest to me. “Where is your monarch?”
“She hasn’t been seen, my Lord,” he answers quickly. “It’s just been us.”
“And her guards? Have they come?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
I curse. I should have known better than to expect Mother to risk her personal guard for the sake of the villagers, but if they’re not here, it means she could have sent them to ensure Eleira doesn’t escape.
I curse again. I just pray Phillip has enough luck on his side.
“Raul! Raul!”
April is screaming my name. I run to her. She’s taking care of the children that have been separated from their parents.
“What is it?”
“Raul, you have to go!” Her eyes latch onto mine. “You’ve wasted too much time. Most of the villagers are safe. We’ll get the rest. Go!”
I know she’s speaking the truth. But my conscience won’t let me just abandon the humans I’ve condemned.
“Patricia?” I ask. “Jacob? Where are they?”
“Already gone! They’re waiting for you. We’ll manage. Go!”
I can’t believe the earnestness in the girl’s voice. Does she really care so much for Eleira?
“Yes,” I say grimly. “Yes, you’re right. I’ll —”
A terrible scream sounds from the very heart of the village. The fire is still raging there.
My head whips around. “What was that?”
“What? Raul, you have to —”
But of course the girl couldn’t have picked out the sound. Not amongst the chaos raging all around us.
I take off without another word. The scream comes again, and it’s so shrill, so filled with fear, that I cannot just ignore it.
It’s like the screams that come the night of The Hunt.
I see a farmhouse in the middle. The entire structure is engulfed in flames. The screaming is coming from inside.
I dart around the building, searching for a safe way in. The heat beats against my skin. It’s like being caught in the middle of an inferno. I see the safe path out, the one I’d laid out beforehand. All I need to do is get whoever is inside out of the farmhouse and put them on the path. Then I can go to Eleira.
There’s no easy way in. So I resort to using brute force. I shield my face with one arm and barrel into the main doors. They split then fall, the timbers weakened by the flames.
Inside, I discover a horrific sight.
There’s a group of humans bound to a central beam like hostages in a robbery. Eleven of them. They have rags stuffed into their mouths to prevent them from yelling. Nearby, a group of four vampires are throwing a half-naked woman between themselves. She’s alive, but her body is marred by bite marks. On her chest, her arms, her back, her neck. Her ripped dress is stained with blood.
The vampires are too preoccupied with their little game to notice me. They’re too far caught up in their bloodlust.
One of them catches the screaming woman and sinks his fangs into her neck. He drinks and he lets her go, then pushes her to his accomplice, who catches her and takes his fill.
She isn’t the first they’ve done this to. There are three discarded bodies on the dirt floor.
They were the ones who screamed for help.
Such anger fills me at the display. A horrible fount of rage opens up inside me. I know the four vampires. They’re part of my Mother’s guard.
I step forward. The bound humans have seen me. But they think I’m the next of their torturers, so they huddle back in fright.
“Stop!” I command. “In the name of the Queen’s rule, stop what you are doing!”
My voice echoed around the room. The vampires turn their heads to me. Their eyes are glazed over in ecstasy. They’ve consumed more than their fair share of blood. Much, much more — so much as to make them lazy. The feast has turned them in
to drunkards.
“Oh,” one of them says. He drops the woman, who crumbles to the floor. “Look who it is. The Prince.”
He takes an unsteady step toward me. His body lurches one way before he catches himself. He gives a mocking bow.
“Won’t you join us, your Highness?” He swings an arm to the captives. “Their blood is fresh and yours for the taking.”
I know this man specifically. He’s Andrey, one of James’s closest confidants, and also his gambling pal.
“You know the law,” I snarl. I take an aggressive step toward him. “No humans are to be taken except in The Hunt, or by special decree.”
“Decree? Decree, you say?” His three friends stare at me, their jaws slack like junkies who’ve just had their hit. Andrey’s hand juts into his coat pocket. “Well, I’ve got your decree right here…”
For a second my heart stops beating. Could Mother have actually sanctioned this?
But then Andrey’s hand comes back out holding with nothing but a finger raised in obscene gesture toward me.
“There’s your damn decree, Prince,” he spits. “We all know James is the heir to the throne. Not you.”
He laughs, and his cronies join in.
By now, my blood is boiling. “You’ve taken this a step too far,” I threaten.
“Oh, really?” He motions for his friends to join him. They form a solid wall separating me from the humans. The poor woman they were taking advantage of lies in a heap on the ground, barely even breathing. “And what are you going to do? Convict us? We all saw what you did in the court.” He jabs a finger into my chest. “We know what a stickler for the rules you are.”
The last insult is too much. They may be the Queen’s guards but I am Raul Soren. Only two vampires in the coven stand above me; my Mother and James. Only the former is stronger than I am.
“I’m going to say this one more time.” My voice comes in a soft growl. “Let. The humans. Go.”
Andrey puffs up. “Is that a threat?”
“You bet your bloodthirsty heart it is.” I address the others from his gang. “Let the human go, leave now, and no chargers will be laid.”
Andrey scoffs. “And if we refuse? It’s four against one, Prince.”
“If you refuse,” my tone becomes dangerous. “I will have no choice but to kill you.”
Andrey’s expression changes to one of shock, and then a split-second later, stark anger. His face screws up, and his claws jut out as he lunges at me.
But I’m faster than he is. I duck around and come up behind him, then strike him in the back of his neck. It’s a debilitating blow. I feel his spine fracture beneath my hand. He goes down—but then the others are on me.
They crash into me, snarling, swiping, biting, fangs and claws out. For a moment I’m at the bottom of the heap. Then, with a savage roar, I surge up and throw the three vampires off.
They recover fast. Now they know I’m a threat. My eyes flash to the humans, who are paralyzed by fear and shock—and wonder. They’re astounded that I would stand up for them, just like the villagers who recognized me earlier were astounded I was risking my life to get them to safety.
The vampire on my right throws himself at me. His claws scrape along my chest, cutting through the clothes and gouging deep into my skin. But his attack leaves his throat exposed. I roll with him, using his momentum to carry us to the side. My hand clasps onto his Adam’s apple, and I crush his windpipe. He falls, and then there are only two left.
They look to each other, no longer so certain of themselves. Their eyes connect, and they give the most minuscule of nods. They’re going to come at me together, and I no longer have the element of surprise.
The muffled cries of the humans continue in the background. From the corner of my vision I see the bloodied woman crawling toward them, using the last of her strength to work on the knot in the heavy rope around them all.
In that moment I have the utmost admiration for her.
Then the two guards fly at me, and I’m consumed by the fight. I see a flash of silver in one of their hands. I don’t have time to react to it before the knife is thrust into my thigh.
I cry out, then roar in anger. I rip the weapon free, twist, and impale it into the vampire’s heart. He didn’t expect me to move so fast. His eyes widen in shock, and then he collapses.
Now it’s just me and one other. The cut along my chest is already closing. But the healing process is making me thirst for blood. The scent of blood from the woman, even from the human corpses, becomes incredibly tantalizing. I was able to ignore it before, but now…
My drop of focus gives the last guard the opening he needs. He ducks his shoulder and slams into me, catching me in the midriff. We crash into a burning wooden beam. The impact makes it crack and splinter. I hear a heavy groan, and then part of the roof collapses beyond us.
Suddenly the humans are trapped. Fire rages on all sides. The air, already thick, is filling more and more with smoke. Some of it escapes from the new hole in the ceiling, but most of it builds and builds from the burning timber close to the ground.
I fend off the vampire’s claws and struggle against him. He smells the human blood, too, but now his eyes are set on a much more lucrative feast:
The blood of his Prince.
He pulls back his lips, and his fangs extend. I catch him by his jaw just inches from my neck. The venom drips from the points. It takes all my fading strength to keep him off me, my mind is still being pulled in two directions with the bloodlust on one side and the need to fight on the other.
His jaw snaps, and his hands grip my shoulders. His claws sink into me. I scream in pain. I focus only on keeping him off.
Suddenly there’s a cry of euphoria and a rush of movement on the other side of the farm. The woman’s managed to set the humans free. They don’t have an escape, but they still lumber away from the fight, away from the blasting fire.
At the same time, a draft of wind sweeps from the hole in the roof. It blows the scent of the humans away and gives me just the opportunity I needed to refocus my attention.
My hands split between my body and that of the guard’s. I pare them apart and shove the guard off me. I have the briefest moment to lunge at him, extending my own claws to sink them through his chest.
They find his heart.
He looks at me in wonder… and then dies.
I gasp for breath. I’m heaving with exhaustion. I’ve just killed four of my own kind. None of The Convicted have committed crimes greater than that.
Not even close.
But I don’t have time to reflect on my sins. The barn is going up in flames. It’s becoming more and more dangerous by the second.
I need to get the humans out. I scan the surroundings. There’s no way for them to escape without going through the burning part of the roof that’s now on the ground. And that’s impossible.
My own way out, from the other side, is clear. The roof groans and the fire licks the base of the walls. I turn to escape. Anguished cries call for me from the other side. They think I’m going to abandon them.
“I’ll be back!” I scream. “Stay away from the wall! As far away as you can get. Do it now!”
They huddle together, panicking, and seem incapable of following my instructions.
“Now!” I command.
Then another pillar collapses and I lose sight of the group. I rip back and jump through the flame to get outside. Adrenaline is pumping through my body. I don’t know what else would compel me to act so rashly this close to fire.
But the humans — they need to be saved.
In the deep of the night I am the only one present. The homes around me are all evacuated. Each one still billows and smokes. I run to the part of the barn where the humans are. I look for something I can use to break the wall in. But all I have are my bare hands.
“I can’t believe I’m going to do this.” I mutter an oath, close my eyes, and use all the force I can to slam my body into the building.
I crash through the wall into a fiery hell. The humans see me and cry out in surprise.
“Go!” I scream at them. “Go, now!”
They rush past me to safety.
I’m about to turn back—when that tantalizing blood scent catches my attention again.
The woman who saved them is still inside.
I run through the interior, searching for her. I know I have only seconds left. The structure will soon give way, and when it falls, there’ll be no escape. I’ll surely die, and, even worse—I’ll have failed Eleira.
But something in my conscience prevents me from leaving the woman to her fate.
I spot her right where she fell after untying the knot. I leap past the flames and cradle her in my arms. The smell of her blood is overwhelming, enticing, exotic. It’s all I can do not to sink my fangs into her and draw deep. My body needs it, the monster inside me craves it, and the bloodlust is infinitely close to consuming me whole.
But I fight it off. I fight it all off and think only of Eleira and my need to get to her.
This woman barely has any life left. Her eyes are closed, her heart is weakly beating. I can feel her fading away. I navigate the obstacles left in my path and emerge on the outside. The humans I released have already scattered. I start to run, getting as far away from the fires as possible.
I reach the edge of the woods. Heat from the fire still blazes, but it’s so much cooler here in contrast.
I set the woman down gently on the forest floor. She doesn’t stir. The bite marks over her body are horrendous. Her dress is ripped, and she takes the most feeble, shallow breaths. They sound faint even to my inhumanly vampire hearing.
She’s only got minutes to cling onto life. Maybe less. The scope of my failure consumes me. Who is this woman, this human, to me? Nobody. And yet, I feel compelled to help. Not just because of my guilt for causing all this. No, it goes deeper than that.
I want to help because Eleira woke something up inside me, something that has lain latent since Liana’s death.
Compassion, or at least a renunciation of the stark indifference that has lain heavily over my heart for centuries.
