by Rye Brewer
“Does it look or sound as if I’m making a joke? Is this the sort of thing I would ever joke about?” He tipped his head back to rest it against the chair’s cushion, something I’d seen him do countless times. We might just as well have been back in our farmhouse, when all of us were human.
“How do you know it? Don’t tell me you were there when it happened.”
“Not only was I there,” he murmured, eyes closed, “but Gage was, as well.”
“No.”
“Gil Rivera held him in an underground cell along with his mate, who happened to be Gil’s daughter, and two of their friends. They’d been… performing tests.”
It was my turn to sit, as my knees had gone jelly and my head had begun to spin. “Tell me he’s unharmed.”
“I couldn’t have arrived at a better time,” he confirmed. “He’s well enough, but he might not have been had Gil gotten his way.”
“Are you the one who—”
“It was Sara. She’s… changed.”
“Sara? Scott’s Sara?”
“Not his any longer. No one’s, now. I’m afraid she’s nearly unrecognizable. A full elemental witch, more powerful than any I’ve ever seen. She destroyed the compound and everyone both inside and outside. And it didn’t even seem to drain her mana.”
I quaked inside at the thought, and remembered the Sara I’d first met when we’d freed her from Marcus’s dungeon. I couldn’t imagine that weak, shaky thing becoming so powerful. Or so deadly.
“Do we have to worry about her?” I asked.
“I don’t believe so. She seemed focused on the Starkers.”
“It makes sense in a way. They killed vampires, and she used to be one.” Still, I held my head in my hands, feeling like it might crack open at any moment. “I wonder if Anissa knows about this. It will be difficult for her to hear.”
“I’m sure it will. Then again, it wasn’t as if the Starkers were anything but a blight on —maybe not exactly humanity—but definitely a threat to vampires the world over. Some would say she did us all a favor.”
“While I don’t doubt it, it sounds as though she’s lost.”
“I believe she is,” he sighed. “Very sad, truly.”
“Thanks to Marcus.”
He looked surprised, his eyes opening wide.
“Yes, I got confirmation on that. He contaminated the blood supply which Sara drank from. And Elena.”
“Good riddance to him, then,” he snarled.
“Gage is safe, though?” My chest tightened when I considered how close he might have come to unthinkable disaster.
“I believe so. They were on their way to Paris when I left them. I gave him a phone and told him to keep it close.”
“Good. I hope to rectify that situation soon.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that once I’ve been voted in as permanent head of the League, I intend to overrule the old laws. There isn’t a need for murder as punishment for turning a human. It’s ridiculous. It’s barbaric. That isn’t the League I wish to oversee.”
“You’ve given this quite a lot of thought,” he observed, his face devoid of indication of his feelings on this.
“Shouldn’t I have? If I’m serious about bringing Gage home someday, not to mention moving the League forward into a new age.”
“That’s what you wish to do, then?” He sounded tired—drained, really, wrung clean out—but there was interest in his voice, and understanding. I wouldn’t allow myself to call it respect.
I wanted it to be respect, of course, but that was childish.
He wasn’t even a vampire anymore. And he hadn’t been involved in any of our lives for so many years. It had been decades since he’d held a position of authority. Odds were, he pitied me for caring so much about issues he’d long since shed as part of his old life.
Incredible the way he turned me into a young man searching for his father’s approval without doing much more than raising an eyebrow.
“Of course it is,” I replied. “Why wouldn’t I? Lucian clung to the old ways, because he felt he could use old misinformation and outdated modes of thinking to maintain control. I’m not interested in that. I would rather be a true leader, rather than a dictator who uses fear to rule.”
“I fully agree,” he smiled. “And it pleases me to no end to hear you speak this way. I have faith in you, and hope for the future. It’s a future which your sister will be part of.”
“First thing’s first,” I reminded him. “Getting my wife out of Hallowthorn Landing. I hope that once matters are settled here and I’m installed, and we know for certain there won’t be any backlash against you or Sirene or even baby Elena, we can bring them home.”
“I second that,” he said, standing. There was new energy to him now that he had a fresh purpose. “What can I do?”
“You can stand with me and agree to serve as an advisor to the League, on behalf of the witches.”
He blanched. “What... That is, they believe me dead. I’ve been dead to them for decades.”
“Then this is just as good a time as any to explain why you disappeared and why you were forced to remain in hiding all this time. Let them know it was Lucian who set the fire, knowing you would be blamed. Let them know you’re now a warlock. That you are uniquely qualified, understanding both the vampire and the witch point of view.”
“You know you have my support. I only wonder if you’ll have theirs.” He nodded toward the door.
“I’ve already secured Landon’s backing and promised him a position as my second-in-command. I felt that would lessen the chances of him staging a coup.”
“I’m impressed.”
“Not really.”
“Yes, really.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, and the resemblance between us was clearer than it had ever been. I might have been looking in a mirror—if the mirror was a bit smudged, maybe, or covered in steam. “You impress me with your innate understanding of how to manage challenges before they blow up into something worse. That is the mark of a truly gifted leader, and it pleases me to no end to see it in you.”
“I’ve had more than enough practice,” I pointed out. It was almost embarrassing, hearing him speak that way, even if I’d been waiting to hear it for years. How I’d longed for him to see how I’d grown, how the clan had thrived under my watchful eye. How I’d asked myself, time and again, whether he would appreciate the pains I’d taken to honor his legacy.
“That you have, and I believe you’re the best chance the League has to move forward.”
“I hope they agree with you. There’s nothing left to do but get it over with.” I straightened up, threw back my shoulders and marched out to the nave to greet the others.
I might not have had Anissa behind me, but I had my father, and that was more than I could’ve hoped for.
The room went silent when he entered, like a wave which rolled down the length of the center table as he came into view. By the time we stood side-by-side at the head, there was hardly a breath drawn by any of them.
“You recognize my father,” I said as he sat. “Or, as he is now called, Fane.”
“Fane?” Will gasped as this revelation sent shockwaves through those gathered. “You mean, you have been posing as another person all these years? Not just another person, but as Fane? The legendary Fane?”
“I haven’t been posing. I’ve been living as another,” he corrected, staring Will down.
He’d always been able to get much more across in the pause between sentences than while speaking, never having to so much as raise his voice. If it hadn’t been for Lucian, he might have been standing in my place—and he should’ve been.
“My father had no choice but to leave, along with my mother, when it was clear there was a plot against them,” I explained, holding up my hands to signal for quiet. It took a long time for the murmurs and exclamations of surprise to die down, but they eventually did. “They were set up to take the fall for the Great Fire, and they knew
it to be the case. Rather than stay and leave their children in danger of taking the blame along with them, they allowed all of us to believe them dead and gone. It was a grave sacrifice, one which I only recently learned of.”
“Why aren’t you a vampire now?” one of the Carvers asked. Leave it to them. “You have a different aura about you. I could read it the moment you entered.”
“Yes, that is so,” my father allowed.
“I’ll get to that in minute, I promise.” I couldn’t allow questions to steer me off-track. “The purpose of my bringing him before you is twofold. First, allow me to use him as an example of our treacherous past leadership. I won’t hear anything about it,” I added when new protestations arose.
“What about Landon? Do you think he wants to hear this?” one of the French delegates demanded from the other side of the table.
Landon cleared his throat, leaning over the table that he might be seen at the far end. “I can speak for myself, and I agree with Jonah’s assessment. Crimes were committed by my father. Let us leave pretense at the door and speak frankly. There was hardly a vampire in existence who had not in one way or another been used or double-crossed by Lucian. He was a spider in the center of an intricate web. If I can admit that, I believe you can, as well.”
There was no arguing with that. It was a wise decision to get him in my corner, after all. He was already paying off.
“I’m not here to vilify anyone,” I said. “Only to show by example how twisted up we all were. I include myself in this, because I was just about as twisted as anyone else. Believing the Carvers to be enemies of the Bourkes, believing witches, shades, even the fae to be enemies of vampires as a whole. Who do you believe benefits from such thinking? Those in power.” I looked up and down the length of the table, taking in every pair of eyes fixed upon me. “I won’t have it any longer. It’s time we told the truth and started fresh. It’s time we did away with archaic laws which might as well have been written in the Stone Ages. I won’t have those of our kind believing themselves in danger simply because they acted out of self-preservation—or the preservation of others.”
“What do you mean?” Will asked, his head cocked to the side.
We hadn’t discussed this.
Landon appeared confused as well—I should have mentioned it to him before bringing it to the League’s attention.
“For instance, the practice of putting those of our kind to death after they’ve turned a human,” I explained. “That is just one of many shameful laws we’ve upheld. I would wager there isn’t a single vampire at this gathering who hasn’t lost someone they cared for—whether it was to death, or due to their loved one running away, going into hiding rather than accept their fate.”
So many eyes now downcast. So many guilty faces. “Yes, and if you knew of it, that makes you complicit in breaking the law,” I reminded them. “Why do we do this to each other? Why make each other into enemies when we ought to be working together, as our very existence is so tenuous? Why present greater challenges than the ones we already face?”
“Why make enemies of those who might assist you?” a new voice said.
Into the hall strode three familiar figures, their presence making my heart swell until I thought it would burst. They might not have been Anissa, but they were close seconds.
“You all know me,” Gregor announced, his voice strong and booming. It looked as though he’d recovered well after losing Tabitha—or that he was at least doing his best to make it look like he had. “My name King Gregor of Avellane. Ruler of the fae.”
“And I am Allonic. King of the shades,” Allonic announced.
Even I reeled back at this. King? No one had told me.
He took Felicity’s hand. “My Queen Consort Felicity.”
She bowed her silver head, blushing a bit.
It looked as though I’d lost control of the meeting once again.
37
Elewyn
I felt her return before I ever set eyes on her. There was a shift in the air, in the energy surrounding the island.
And I realized I dreaded seeing her again. If she was returning, she had accomplished her mission. There would be no stopping her now that she knew just how powerful she was. I wasn’t entirely certain I felt comfortable with the notion of her sharing the castle with me.
Or even the island as a whole.
Why had I agreed to take her under my wing? It was difficult to remember caring enough about that dreadful Stark to use her as a way to bring him closer.
How was I to know she would drive him away with her fanaticism?
“Elewyn!” There was excitement in her voice. “Where are you?”
I considered not answering, but what good would that do? She would eventually find me.
“In my study,” I called out, rolling the scroll I’d been in the act of studying when a shift in the air told me I was no longer alone.
Her rapid footfalls grew louder as she drew near. When she rounded the corner, entering the room, the glow of utter pride shining from her face told me what I needed to know. She’d been successful.
“It was majestic!” she gushed, clasping her hands together. “I wish you could have seen it. That is the only thing that could’ve made it better.”
“You found them?” I asked, unable to muster any excitement.
Her face fell a bit. “You don’t sound pleased. I thought you agreed with me that the Starkers needed to be wiped from the face of the Earth.”
Self-preservation rose to the surface and brought a smile to my face. I’d spent my life smiling at those I cared nothing for, had I not? This was no different.
Except I had so hoped to never pretend again. What was the use of eliminating the Senate and taking control of the island if I still had to take care with my true thoughts?
“I’m pleased, naturally, especially as I knew how much it meant to you. They were nothing but a stain on the world, a bunch of fanatics.”
Much like the fanatic before me, whose eyes all but glazed over when she nodded in agreement. “I made them pay. I made them all pay. Did you know they were holding four vampires in their compound when I arrived? They’d intended to kill them, I’m certain.”
As if I cared for the fates of four vampires. “It sounds as though you arrived just in time.”
“Yes, they escaped. I knew two of them. And Fane,” she added.
“Fane? Fane was there?”
“How he got there before I did, I have no idea,” she shrugged. “He freed them, and they escaped before I destroyed the compound and every tree on the estate. It was glorious.” Hers was the smile of a woman regarding something truly wondrous. A newborn babe, for instance.
If Fane had learned of the location of the Starkers, it more than likely meant he’d been talking to Stark. I couldn’t have explained why I found it so disturbing that he’d changed allegiance over the years, that he’d suddenly come to care for vampires so much more than he did for those of his own kind.
Perhaps because it all felt so… forced, though I knew well that he’d never forced himself to do anything he didn’t wish to do. Even when I’d approached Dracan with the information about his treasured granddaughter—that mousy, dreadful Branwen—being in love with Stark, I knew Stark would never turn away from her and toward me unless it was something he wanted to do.
Which was why the threat Dracan had made against Sirene suited my purposes so perfectly. He would want to save her. He would want to make it look as natural as possible, his interest in me, for the sake of pleasing Dracan and sparing Sirene’s life.
He didn’t want me, not truly. He never had. The few moments I’d spent with him were stolen moments. We both knew it, which was the most humiliating of all.
I would never truly understand him, when that was all I’d ever wished to do aside from taking power on Shadowsbane.
Now, while I’d freed my brother, he was dead. While I’d destroyed the evil Senate and there was no one left standing in my
way, I understood the futility of ruling an empty island.
“What were you studying before I entered?” Sara asked, touching the scroll I’d just put aside.
I fought my way back from my dark thoughts. “Hmm? Oh, the original plans for the cottages in the village. I’m curious as to how they could be improved.”
She frowned as she unfurled it, taking it to the window that she might study it in the light. “I doubt anyone would wish to make their home here, new cottages or no. There is too dark a history, and it is so remote.”
“Some people appreciate living remotely,” I informed her, barely keeping my temper in check.
She thought herself my equal now, that she could offer opinions as though they were facts. All because she’d destroyed the Starkers.
And it was I who’d encouraged her to do just that.
“We might offer shelter to other witches,” she suggested. “Rather than leaving them to take care of themselves in a hostile world, we can give them somewhere safe. We might even teach them to develop their powers, the way you taught me.”
We. We could do this, we could do that. As if she had a say in anything. As if this were her island, too.
I’d created this monster, and there was nothing I could do to stop her—short of murder, which did not seem like too entirely poor an option at the moment.
“It’s just us now,” she reminded me with a smile, shining in the sunlight. “In our own world, where we create the rules.”
I couldn’t find it in me to return her smile. “Yes,” I replied with a sinking heart. “It’s just us now.”
And it would be for the rest of our lives.
What had I done?
38
Jonah
“They are here at my invitation,” I called out, though that wasn’t technically true. I’d invited Gregor to assist me once I was voted in, but that was as far as I’d gone. I hadn’t told Allonic to come, and I certainly hadn’t learned of his new position.
“Why invite these outsiders?” one of the German delegates demanded, pounding his fist on the table.
