Ignoring the festivities, Clyde and his friends focus on the handful of problems that they have brought to the Scrumptious Siren’s doorstep. Not wanting to upset the other guests, the vampires stay in Chastity’s private bedroom, which she has moved further to the back, so it can double as a secret meeting place. Due to the gaping hole in his chest, Bob hungrily eats whatever food Mab can sneak out of the kitchen. Not wanting to ruin the satin sheets, the vampiric elf has made a nest on the floor by using horse blankets and a bale of hay that Luther argues will attract insects. Still fuming over having his body controlled, Clyde stays in the corner and holds his slit wrist over a basin. Once the container is filled, he heals the injury and carries it over to Bob, whose head he unceremoniously dunks under the ichor. Having done his part and apologized a twentieth time, the irritated Dawn Fang goes back to staring at the wardrobe that Titus is guarding. The glassy-eyed warrior has not moved an inch since Lost scrambled into the furniture and took control of his body.
“This is becoming a disaster,” Clyde says as he slumps in the plush chair. Taking a dried berry out of a nearby bowl, he flicks it at Titus’s head with no response. “Chastity is busy with one of her hot spring parties, so I don’t even think she knows we’re here. Gregorio isn’t going to arrive for another hour. The girl keeps screaming and hiding, which we can’t do anything about unless we want to cause a scene. Probably the only thing that has gone in our favor is being able to use Chastity’s rear entrance without bringing attention to ourselves.”
“Not like that’s an exclusive doorway in the first place,” Mab claims while emerging from the shadows with a basket of eggplants. Dropping the food next to Bob, she scowls at how everyone stares at her. “Yeah, I know the comments aren’t much fun unless Chastity is here to fight back. Just couldn’t let that one go. Has Lost said anything?”
“She has not!” the girl screams from the cramped wardrobe. The sound of thumping and a few whimpers can be heard as she tries to get comfortable. “All of these dresses smell like sweat and bad life choices. Can all of you leave, so bunny and I can sneak out? We promise not to start any more wars. I can even talk the others out of doing it. I’m their Princess General, which means they have to follow my orders.”
“At least the little skull-crusher is chatty,” the burglar replies with a smirk. Taking a seat next to Clyde, she gently smacks him in the head and puts her feet in his lap. “Quit sulking, you big baby. Bob jumped in the way and you stopped yourself from killing him. The crazy elf will be fine within a day or two, especially with all the blood he’s drinking. Let’s focus on figuring out what Lost really is.”
Having already heard the girl’s story during their journey, Clyde sighs and slides out from under his partner’s legs. “She isn’t telling us anything that we didn’t already know or considered in the back of our heads. Abandoned as an infant, raised by gnomes, and believes Xavier Tempest is her father. It sounds like she was born instead of turned, which explains her growing instead of being stuck as a baby. My concern now is that we have an army of these Dawn Fangs out there and they’re itching for a war. I can only imagine how many others are wandering around Windemere. None of them know what they truly are or that our kind needs to remain a secret. It’s a miracle that one of these kids hasn’t exposed us by now.”
“Perhaps they have a natural instinct to hide their presence,” Luther suggests, his hands covered in blood. Wiping them clean on his pants, he grabs a towel from a rack and lays it on the bed before having a seat. “You said it yourself, Clyde, that she isn’t telling us stuff that we didn’t already know or assume. The only reason we’ve come this far is because of your scrying gems in Xavier’s castle, which is amazing considering Chastity and I are two of the best information gatherers in the world. Our ignorance shouldn’t be surprising either. Lost didn’t know she was a Dawn Fang until she met Bob. The chances of her understanding her origin and abilities in detail aren’t very high, but she might have known enough to avoid suspicion. For now, I don’t think we can do much without Gregorio and Chastity. If she can’t use her charm to get the truth, then the old gnome can figure it out. That was the plan, right? We convince Lost to come with us for a talk and then make a decision later. Although, I should point out that this is feeling more like a kidnapping.”
“You’re not taking my bunny!” Lost shrieks before having Titus lift the wardrobe over his head. Her movements cause the furniture to shift enough that it slips from the other vampire’s grasp and lands with its doors against the bed. “Now, I smell soap and salty dreams. Do people clean anything in this place? As the first of the womb-born, the daughter of Xavier Tempest, and the great Princess General, I demand that you release me. Don’t make me do things with my mind again.”
Rubbing his eyes, Clyde walks over to the bed and lifts the wardrobe with one hand. He peeks through the keyhole and snarls when a hatpin comes through to poke him in the eye. It is more irritation than pain, but it stuns him enough for Lost to open the door and snatch his corn-shaped necklace. It takes Clyde a moment to realize what has happened, the biggest clue being Mab laughing and pointing until she falls onto the floor. Tossing the wardrobe into the corner, he prepares to punch a hole in it when Titus smacks him in the rear. Shoving the larger Dawn Fang away, the frustrated man tries again, but receives another spank that is hard enough to knock him into the wall. Clyde is about to try again when Luther catches him by the wrist and nods to where their mind-controlled friend is already reaching back for another blow. Holding up his hands in defeat, the frustrated vampire backs away and takes a seat on the edge of a bottle-covered nightstand. He smirks as he creates an illusion to distract Titus and darts for the wardrobe. A fist comes down on his head and sends him to the floor where he remains feeling more damage to his pride than his skull.
“I hate mental powers, especially when I have to restrain myself,” Clyde mutters while rolling onto his back. Moving slowly, he opens the lower drawer to come at her from below, but his hand is bitten by her bunny as soon as he makes a hole. “I can’t even figure out her powers with everything she’s doing. Dawn Fangs are supposed to have three, but she seems to have at least twelve. Could these natural ones be that much stronger? I just want answers, so I can make a final decision. The least the girl can do is explain what she means by first born and why they’re trying to have a war.”
“You’re more scary than smart,” Lost says as she cracks the door open. Clyde’s necklace is dropped onto his face before the vampire ducks back out of sight. “I don’t know what you mean by having only three powers, but I know I’m the first womb-born. All of us compared ages and birthdays, which made me the oldest. That’s why I’m in charge. Wait, is that creepy lady going to come in here? I know she can come out of darkness.”
“I’m not that creepy,” Mab argues, her hand partially in a shadow. She considers continuing her plan to extract Lost, but the thought of the girl controlling all of the void monsters sends a shiver up her spine. “I’ll behave since we really don’t want any trouble. In fact, we would have executed you now if that was the plan. Since you’re the first womb-born, you have to realize how special you are. This puts you at the same level as Clyde who is the first Dawn Fang to ever exist. You two have a lot in common, so you should talk. What about giving us a chance to become friends, Lost? I’ll even forgive you for breaking my skull twice.”
“I’m not coming out, but I’ll free your brother,” she replies an instant before Titus slumps to the floor. The wardrobe door opens a crack again, but the only thing that can be seen is her bunny’s twitching nose. “A grownup told me that vampires are conquerors and had lots of enemies. We thought that we had to start a war or one would drag us into it. Bunny and I agreed that it was better to initiate and control the situation than get surprised. Aren’t you in a war against my father? So, I wasn’t wrong. Why do all of you get to start battles, but I get in trouble for doing the same?”
Shaking his head clear, Titus gets to his feet and
braces himself against the wall. “It isn’t that simple. Our war started before Clyde returned to us and it’s evolved into something else. I speak for all of us when I say that we would prefer to live a battle free life. Not sure what I’d do with myself, but you can’t spend eternity soaked in the blood of your enemies. That feels like a waste of immortality. Honestly, I would say that we’re fighting to make sure younger vampires like you never have to shed blood unless you’re eating. Once this civil war is over, we won’t start another one unless it’s entirely necessary for our survival.”
“So, it’s better to finish a war than start one?”
“That’s a good way of saying it.”
“What if I finished the one you’re in now?”
“That would make a lot of people happy.”
The door to the bedroom opens and Chastity slips inside, the voluptuous Dawn Fang wearing a bathing suit that leaves nothing to the imagination. Tied up in a ponytail, her elegant hair is still wet and steaming from her having been in the hottest part of the springs. She frowns at the hay that Bob is lying on and uses her telekinesis to gently move him to the bed. The bale is casually flipped towards the backdoor, which opens to let the tumbling object travel down the hill. Chastity pats Luther on the leg to get him off her towel, which she finds is smeared in blood and useless for what she needs. With a sigh, she strips off her clothes and heads for the wardrobe to grab one of her robes. She only gets the door open an inch before it is slammed shut, so she tries again with more of her strength. Using her telekinesis to enhance her muscles, the confused hostess continues pulling until the hinges are on the verge of snapping. Not wanting to damage her expensive wardrobe and risk having to redecorate the room, she gives up and holds out her hand for Clyde to give her his shirt.
“I take it the girl is hiding inside, which would have been nice to know before I took my clothes off,” Chastity says before using her powers to lock Mab’s jaw. Smirking at the burglar, she calmly sends a puff of pink mist through the wardrobe’s keyhole. “Now, let’s stop causing trouble for a moment and talk in the open, little one. I’m sure you don’t like being in there, so come on out and have something to eat. Since you came in through the back, you probably don’t know that I run a bakery here. There are plenty of cookies and cakes. All you have to do is ask for whatever your heart desires. We’re all friends here, right?”
A few minutes pass before Lost opens the wardrobe and crawls out, the girl standing sheepishly in front of Chastity. “I only came out because I have a question for you. Why did you abandon me, mom?”
*****
“If I had to bet on any Dawn Fang getting pregnant, it would have been Chastity,” Mab admits through bouts of laughter. A cloud of pink mist heads for her, but she ducks into a shadow and reappears on the other side of the room. “You’re not charming your way out of this one, Sullivan. By the way, thanks for letting the rest of us know that Dawn Fangs can faint. I mean, you just went down before any of us could catch you. All kidding aside, for now, I’m still not understanding any of this. Lost and Chastity look nothing alike. She could take after her father more, but there has to be some similarity to the mother, right? At the very least, she should be a bit bigger up top, especially if she was growing like a mortal. Hey, is she going to keep aging?”
“All very good questions that I lack answers for at this time,” Gregorio replies from where he is working. Having taken over the top of a dresser, he examines the vials of blood and repeatedly zaps Lost before she can take any of his chemicals. “Nobody has ever dreamed of something like this. With Clyde, one can find a history of vampires wanting to be immune to the sun, but the same can’t be said for breeding through sex. It is clear that Lost came from such an act. As for her being Chastity’s daughter, I think the proof of that is the way Ms. Sullivan is slumped in her chair. There is a story for her to tell, which gives me time to finish these tests. I assure you that such a tale will be much more interesting than whatever I report in regards to the nuts and bolts.”
“I don’t know if I want big boombas,” Lost blurts out as she looks down her shirt. She whistles to get her bunny to wriggle into Chastity’s robe, which causes the hostess to shriek and leap to her feet. “I told him not to bite, but we don’t like you. Not that we hate you, but you abandoned me. I don’t know what I am and now I’m causing trouble without meaning to. You could have saved me from that if you bothered to keep me. Not to mention all the socks that I had to deal with, which you could have protected me from if you’d stayed. I really want to know why you threw me out.”
“Because you were dead!” Chastity shouts, her powers shaking the entire building. Her hands quiver until Titus puts an arm around her shoulder and Bob limps over to hand her a mug of ale. “I don’t . . . I . . . You . . . I can’t believe this. Remember when I was busy working and couldn’t see any of you for about four months a little over sixteen years ago? That’s because I had just realized that I was pregnant. At first, I thought it was because I’d been eating so much and Dawn Fangs could get fat. Not like we get periods to warn us about the possibility, which is a really cruel twist of nature. I mean, maybe we do and our bodies simply absorb the blood before it comes out because it would be a waste otherwise. Oh, will the boys in the room grow up and stop looking ill? Anyway, the truth scared me enough that I went into hiding and left a charmed double to run the Scrumptious Siren. The baby came out when I was returning from Vorgabog with supplies and it was dead. No pulse or breathing or crying, which freaked me out even more. Everything after that is a blur of bawling and cursing, but I swear I buried her on the side of a road.”
“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Clyde asks, his voice harsher than he intended. He holds up his hand to stop his fuming friend from attacking and smacks himself in the head. “Sorry for how that sounded. I’m wondering more as your friend than the ruler of Nytefall. This was a really big event and I can’t blame you for being scared and confused. We could have helped you, especially after you buried her.”
“Because all of you are handling the revelation of a naturally born Dawn Fang so well right now,” the hostess retorts with a nervous laugh. With a wave of her hand, a room divider slides out from under the bed and sets up to allow her to change with some privacy. “As much as I know I should have gone to you, I just couldn’t. I felt ashamed and disgusted with myself even though I never thought about what I would do if the baby had lived. The idea that something was wrong with me brought me to a dark place that I hid from everyone. If there’s one thing I’ve perfected over the years, it’s putting on a mask to hide my pain. This is going to sound cruel, but I had forgotten about the baby within three years. So, it never crossed my mind that she was the one everyone was hunting.”
“She told me about it,” Luther interjects from where he is sitting. He is about to bow his head in apology, but stops when he realizes that he is not sorry. “I tracked Chastity down soon after she gave birth. We talked and she made me promise not to tell anyone. Considering this was never my story to tell, I feel no guilt in keeping my mouth shut. Still, if you’re going to punish her then you’ll have to do the same to me.”
Unhappy with what she is hearing, Lost smacks the divider aside even though Chastity is still pulling up her ebony dress. “None of that is good enough. You should have brought me to a healer or kept my body with you. Then you would have seen that I was alive. Sure, you hugged me to your chest and my baby fangs cut you, which is how I got the drop of blood needed to wake up. Still, thinking I’m a corpse and feeling sorry for yourself is no excuse. I wanted to be a family with you and my father.”
“You know, their faces do look similar when they’re that close,” Bob casually points out.
Feeling a knot in her chest, Chastity tries to back away, but Lost follows her with an accusatory glare. The others are about to stand, but only Clyde gets to his feet while the others find themselves locked in place. He moves to separate the two Dawn Fangs before they get into a fight and he i
s promptly pounced on by the bunny, which tries to bite him in the face. He sighs as he grabs the animal by the ears and tosses it back to Lost, who turns to make sure she catches her pet. The distraction is enough for Chastity to hit the silver-haired girl with a blast of pheromones and whisper an order for her to fall asleep. The attack is met with a psychic command that causes the hostess to pass out, the two women yawning and falling over in unison. Clyde catches the snoring vampires and places them on the bed while his friends gradually regain control of their bodies.
“Times like this, I think we’re more mortal than vampire,” Mab mutters as she leans over Lost. Curiosity gets the best of her and she lifts the girl’s shirt enough to check for a bellybutton, which is barely visible. “That just brings up more questions. Does anybody find it strange that she can remember details of her birth? Nobody is supposed to be able to do that. Then again, this isn’t a normal situation.”
Lost (War of Nytefall Book 2) Page 15
