The Vampire Gift 5: Whispers of Evil

by E. M. Knight

Which really, really ties my hands. Even if I were to consider revealing myself to them and making contact—I only have a year or two left to do it. I don’t want to come upon them ten years from now with the exact same face they remember me having at seventeen.

  It would scar them horribly.

  And that is assuming that all the dangers facing The Haven and our existence here are simply resolved.

  I scoff. I’ve become too cynical to think that anything can be that easy.

  I sigh. Mother’s letter put it best. A clean break was essential. It was written by her, it was not a forgery, now I know. I know it deep in my very heart of hearts. The wisdom imparted upon me there came from a sentiment rarely found in the world. My mother had the ability to see things that way. Few others do.

  So the window for seeing my parents, for actually talking to them, embracing them, giving them one last, final goodbye—it is very, very narrow. And I’m not going to shirk my responsibilities here, I’m not going to ignore all the things that have fallen on my lap, just for the chance of a self-indulgent visit that will probably wound all of us more than it will help.

  I just hope Phillip finds a way to pass my own letter back to my mom. I doubt it’s the highest of his priorities now… but he gave his word.

  Finally, I reach the upper levels of the stronghold. Conversation flows out from a small gathering behind an open door. There’s even a lamp or two lit inside.

  Just because vampires can see in the dark does not mean we do not appreciate the greater detail that having light gives.

  I look around before approaching. The other doors are closed. I can feel some of them occupied, but I have not yet learned to distinguish one Elite’s essence from another’s well enough to tell who’s there. My eyes will have to guide me on that.

  And I have absolutely no idea how to find Cassandra aside from asking one of these vampires if they know where she it.

  I push the door open all the way. Conversation dulls as soon as I enter. All faces turn to me.

  None of the expressions are exactly welcoming.

  I recognize one or two members of the Royal Court, along with some vampires I spotted in the ring encircling the humans. There’s a game of cards being played on the table. Multi-colored chips are stacked beside each participant’s hand.

  Looks like I’m interrupting a poker game.

  I clear my throat, finding it uncomfortably dry. I am stronger than all of these vampires. All of them should defer to me.

  Why, then, does being stared down this way make me feel so off-balance?

  One of the unknown vampires stands up, and it’s clearly a disdainful motion. He almost makes it seem like he’s doing me some huge favor by climbing to his feet.

  “Princess,” he drawls. “What can we do for you?”

  At one time, I might have expected snickers to come from the gathered vampires. But at least now they recognize my strength enough.

  “I’m looking for Cassandra,” I say.

  The standing vampire frowns. “Never heard of her.” He gives a bland look at the others. “Have you?”

  Murmurs sound from around the table, all expressing the same sentiment.

  But then a chair scrapes from off to the side. Another vampire stands up. “The new fledgling?” he asks.

  The vampire who answered me first glances back at the other. “What do you know of her? Come here! Don’t stay in the shadows. This is the Queen’s appointed successor. We must show her proper respect.”

  I can’t tell how much of that is said sarcastically and how much is honest truth, but at this point, I scarcely mind.

  The other vampire shuffles over. He’s weaker than any in the poker circle. That must be the cause of his hesitance.

  “Yes,” I say, in response to his question. “Cassandra was recently made.”

  A few of the vampires who’ve been studiously trying to stay out of the conversation now perk up with interest.

  “Well, what do you know? Speak up, tell Eleira,” the first vampire commands.

  The other one runs a hand through his hair. “Not a lot,” he admits. “I mistook her for a castaway. I thought she was a spy left over from that other coven the Queen let into our home.”

  From the bitterness in his voice, it’s easy to tell he disapproves of the decision.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “Felix claimed her for himself,” the vampire says. “You’ll have to see him.”

  “Where do I find him?”

  The vampire sneers. “My, you really have a lot to learn about our coven, don’t you?”

  I stand taller, showing him, and everybody else, that I won’t be a pushover. I don’t exert my vampiric strength, but I do make my spot in the world known.

  That small gesture is enough to make him hold his arms up in defense. “I did not mean to offend. I know you’ve got the Sorens on your side. But if there’s anything they’re lacking, it’s an understanding of the Incolam.”

  I blink. “The Incolam? I thought you were all the Elite?”

  The second vampire gives another lazy shrug. “Elite, Incolam, who can even tell the difference?”

  “Careful,” the first vampire hisses. “Remember who you’re speaking to!”

  “I’m giving the girl a chance to form her own opinion, dammit,” the vampire growls. “Ever since she got here she’s been shielded by the Queen and her sons. I accept that she’s bound to be our next leader. But I will not pretend that all in The Haven is right.”

  That bit of force in the weaker vampire’s words sparks my interest. “What’s your name?” I ask him.

  “Tudor,” he replies.

  “And Tudor, you are… Elite? I haven’t seen you around before. Of course, like you said,” I twist my lips, “I have been shielded.”

  “The Elite? Gods, no. I’m Incolam. Though I do, at times, keep them company.” He glances at the table. “When they’ll have me.”

  “Carter sided with those who were the most pretentious members of the Elite and Royal Court,” the first vampire explains. “His ilk are not invited to our table. We are slightly more… welcoming, here.”

  My eyebrows go up in a vague hint of amusement. “If this is you being welcoming,” I say. “I wouldn’t want to know what open hostility would be.”

  And that, for some reason, breaks the tension. A few at the table laugh. I feel an instant easing of aggression that had been building up.

  Even the first vampire smiles, and offers his hand. “My name is Luther,” he says. “These are all my friends. Even this rapscallion.” He nods affectionately at Tudor.

  “If you’re looking for Cassandra, then Felix is your best bet at finding her,” Tudor offers again. “I can bring you to him, if you want. There’s only one place he would be.”

  “Oh?” I ask.

  “Felix is a scholar,” Tudor explains. “All his time is spent in the library.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Eleira

  The Stronghold

  It seems there are more secrets in the stronghold than I had ever accounted for.

  When Raul and I were looking for information that might help the Queen after she was stabbed, I was under the distinct impression that we were in the only library of the compound. But apparently, private ones have been erected all over—places where the Elite brought their personal inventory of books.

  At some points, I get the feeling that all these vampire are a lot more cultured, a lot more educated, than they would present themselves as. It’s almost like they feel they have to upkeep appearances and play into the stereotypes of being cold-blooded, merciless killers.

  In truth? I think they are as diverse and interesting as any group of individuals gathered anywhere. They all have their own quirks and personalities. They all have their secrets and dreams.

  The more time I spend in their midst, as one of them—not isolated as I am when with Raul or Phillip or the Queen—the more I am able to appreciate those differences.


  And, of course, the more sympathetic I become to their plight.

  They are ageless but not invincible. They have flaws and concerns, and worries. They are, in short, not unlike so many of us.

  And as I grapple with that understanding, I feel a growing determination to both make myself known in The Haven… and to defend the sanctuary as my own home.

  Suddenly, it thrusts the importance of what will take place tonight into a whole new light.

  Tudor and I reach a pair of doors. It seems like every journey I take leads me to one set or another. He knocks. We wait. After a moment, a dignified-looking vampire steps out.

  “Yes?” he asks. “May I help you?” He notices me. “Oh. Eleira.” He bows his head in respect. “I presume you have come on the Queen’s business?”

  “And this is where I leave you,” Tudor says. “My turn’s coming up at the game. I don’t want to miss it.”

  “Thanks for bringing me this far,” I say. Then I turn to Felix. “Actually, I’ve come on business of my own. I heard you’ve taken Cassandra into your care. And I…” I hesitate for a brief moment, wavering under his scrutinizing stare.

  “…I wanted to come see her.” I finish calmly.

  Dammit, it’s not my fault that Felix resembles one of the most intense and frightening professors I had first term at Stanford!

  Felix, for what it’s worth, only looks vaguely amused at my slight stumble. He smiles and opens the door wider. “If you want to see Cassandra,” he says, “you should come in.”

  “Thank you.”

  I walk into his room—which, as Tudor implied, is actually a library. Great stacks of books line the walls. I stare at them, lost in momentary wonder. “How is it you managed to get all these here?” I ask.

  He closes the door gently and pads up to me. “The books?” he asks. “Simple, really. I had some of my constituents run out and retrieve them from my stores in the treetop apartments.” He winks. “When Carter and Deanna fractured, and the vampires loyal to them abandoned the stronghold, I thought it the perfect opportunity to have it done. Also, that way I could have one or two of my people on the inside of Carter’s group.”

  “Spies, you mean?”

  It seems to me that the deeper I go into The Haven, the more mysteries I find.

  “Yes, of course, but there is little need for them anymore. With the Queen’s safe return, things are slowly falling back into order. And we have the ceremony to look forward to, tonight.” His eyes sparkle. “Your grand coronation. How exciting it must be.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, slightly. Is he mocking me?

  He sense my shift in mood. “You don’t think so?” he asks quietly.

  I don’t know how much I am willing to reveal to a vampire I just met—even if he does seem to hold the esteem of the group of vampires on my side.

  “It’s… all a lot to take in,” I say, not committing one way or the other.

  “Ah,” he says. “Of course. You’re still so young, and I sometimes forget how recently you were made. Your strength exudes from you in spades. But there’s also your own steadiness. The way you handled the doubters at the last meeting of the Royal Court, for example.” He chuckles. “That left quite an impression on me.”

  “Is that so?” I smile a little, feeling a bit better about myself.

  “Oh yes. Few would have had the courage to stand up to so many of us. You showed then that you have the right temperament to rule. In truth,” he steps closer and lowers his voice. “In truth, that was when I made the decision to commit fully to you. You, of course, could not have known it at the time. But I said I would help the Princess, in anything she needs, when and if the time came.”

  He steps away and walks over to his desk. “I don’t expect you to take me on my word. In fact I’d be disappointed if you do. You seem smart enough to hold a healthy skepticism of everything you’ve been fed. That, in and of itself, is a mark of high intelligence. And for that alone you have my esteem.”

  My head threatens to spin from all these sudden compliments. “Did I really make that much of an impression?” I wonder. I shake my head. “I would have never thought.”

  “I know.” He smiles again in a gentle, almost fatherly way. “But one thing you must get used to, Eleira, is that you are always being watched. I’m not saying that to make you paranoid. I simply mean that your actions and words, intentional or not, will forever more be recorded, scrutinized, and debated. A flick of your hair, a roll of the eyes. Small subtleties in your expression that you would never have attributed value to before will now be under the most minute of microscopes. That, unfortunately, is the reality of court life. You must do with it what you will. If you permit me…” his eyes become gravely serious, “…I will help teach you some of what I know. A few tricks I have picked up over the years. Give me but six months, and controlling your actions to make sure they mean exactly what you want them to mean will become as natural as breathing. It’s not quite magic,” he chuckles, “but it does have a sort of liberating power to it.”

  “Can you really tell so much by someone’s body language?” I ask. “That seems…”

  “Farfetched?” he finishes.

  I nod.

  “It might not be the most exact of sciences… but certain gestures and mannerisms have universal meaning.” He shrugs. “Even so, that is not even the most important bit.”

  “What is?” I ask.

  “Knowing how others perceive those actions,” he says. “Knowing what they think each one means. So it’s not so much empty voodoo and hocus-pocus as it is intelligently presenting a front to others that gives them the message you want them to get. It is exploiting their presumed knowledge and prejudice and using it to your advantage. Quite a useful tool, too, if I may offer my opinion.”

  “I think you have a right to,” I murmur.

  “Would you like to sit down?” he asks. He gestures across from him.

  “I came here for Cassandra,” I remind him. I take the back of the chair and pull it from the table. “But yes, for now, I think I will.”

  “Excellent,” he says. “Please, rest assured that she will be here shortly. By your countenance, Eleira, I would say that you think yourself ill-prepared for tonight…?” He trails off. “Forgive me if I am over-stepping.”

  “No, no,” I say. I sigh. Nothing about Felix sets off any instinctual alarms. He actually seems to be completely genuine in his desire to help.

  “Be as critical as you can be,” he tells me. “Don’t take anything on blind faith. That is the best advice I can give you without having my personal opinion interfere.”

  “I want to ask a question.”

  He nods. “Go ahead.”

  “How long have you been in The Haven? How long have you been one of the Elite?”

  “I was part of the coven from the very onset,” Felix tells me. “I’ve gone through all the highs, and all the lows, which that entails.”

  “And do you… trust her?” I wonder. “The Queen, I mean.”

  Felix hesitates. “She certainly is a complex character,” he admits. “But over the years I’ve come to believe that her heart is in the right place. Sometimes her vanity gets the best of her. As does her pride. Couple those with a fickle temper, and you have the makings of a capricious ruler.” He lowers his voice and leans forward. “Understand, Eleira, how much trust I am placing in you just by revealing this. If the Queen got word of it, she would prosecute me for treason.”

  He leans back, having given the warning, and returns to ease. “But you asked an honest question, and you deserve an honest answer. The Queen can be whimsical at times, yes… but she has done a good job considering all the circumstances. She has her flaws, as do we all. So long as we account for those, and react accordingly, The Haven under her rule can truly be a sanctuary. And it has been, for many years.”

  “I don’t think the vampires whose souls she severed would agree,” I murmur.

  He looks at me thoughtfully. “How much d
o you know?”

  “I know there have been more than just the ones in the paintings that were on display in the castle,” I say.

  “Ah.” Felix contemplates things. “I see.”

  He considers it for a moment.

  “I take it you’ve seen the other room, then?” he asks.

  I nod.

  “Then you are better prepared for what is to come than I first thought. Who showed you, if I may be so bold?”

  “Carter,” I blurt out without thinking. Then I inwardly curse. I shouldn’t be so readily giving such information away!

  “Carter, Carter, Carter,” Felix mutters. “He seems to have his fingerprints everywhere these days, doesn’t he? Well, when he did… how did you react? Have you told anybody else?”

  I shake my head. “You’re the first. I figured since you are part of the Royal Court, you would know about it already.”

  “Indeed I do. But it is a closely-guarded secret amongst our members. Morgan—forgive me, the Queen—made it clear that any who spread word of it to those not of the Court would suffer similar fates.”

  He sighs. “So, yes, at times she can be heavy-handed. She is a proud woman. The only way you can get her to do something you want is to nudge her in that direction and make her believe she came up with the idea. Force does not work with her. Her walls come up. She becomes extremely defensive. If you corner her, she will lash out. As those vampires in the other set of paintings woefully learned.”

  I frown. “What do you mean? Carter told me they were runaways.”

  Felix’s eyebrows go up. “Did he, really,” he wonders. “Well… I guess they can be framed that way, if looked at under a certain light. It’s not a lie, exactly. But neither is it the whole truth.”

  “That’s kind of what I thought,” I say. “So many of The Haven’s vampires live in absolute luxury. Why would they want to get out?”

  “Oh, there are many reasons for that, dear girl,” he tells me. “Least of all is simply a change of scenery. Yes, it’s true that the Queen forbade vampires from leaving the coven once they’ve naturalized as part of us. But such an extreme punishment for a simple runaway attempt?” He shakes his head. “Even for her, it would be excessive.”