I told her how I had entered the barn, spoken with Elena, and then left. I didn’t leave out the screams I heard as I ran.
“William is reluctant to move, and I don’t blame him. The doctors don’t think Alison will live through the birth of their child,” I whispered.
“He’s given up, hasn’t he?” Sam asked as he pulled Helen to him.
“Not quite, I don’t think. He’s taking them to a cabin he has until something more permanent can be arranged.” If I could have, I would’ve insisted he return with me, but separate was better.
“Can you not find out who’s giving them their information?” Ray was unfazed by my outburst.
“We’ve tried. For years we have tried. All we know is they keep receiving these letters with details in them. But when we trace them, we get nothing! The least they would have to know is our names and who had found their partners. With that alone The Seats could find us. But who knows that?” I sighed. “However, I think I have an idea of who it may be, but I won’t voice my opinions on the matter. If I’m wrong, then I’d rather be the only one to take the blame. If I’m right, then I don’t want to think of the consequences of their actions.”
“Serenity, you know I could help. I know the records almost as well as you do.”
“Not this time, Helen.”
“You know you cannot do this alone! I can give you an unbiased opinion.”
“No! There isn’t a single person among us who could give an unbiased opinion on this matter. Not this time, and certainly not my family.” There was no need to snap at her, but she needed to understand. I couldn’t ask my family, not when I thought they were the ones responsible.
Everyone fell silent. The air was thick with tension. “Forgive me, Helen. These past few days have been a little much.”
“Nothing to forgive, but I think you should tell him about Lona.” Helen’s smile was sad as she spoke.
“Thank you, and yes, I suppose it’s time I told you that story.” I turned to Ray.
“We can leave this for another day if you like.”
“No, I need to tell you this.” It was something I’d been meaning to tell him. There never was a good time to detail how someone had been murdered. “You know I had a sister once, she was named Lona. We were identical twins; the first twins to be born in our race. We looked the same in every way: red hair, green eyes, average build, but we were opposites in every other.”
“You forgot beautiful.” He smirked.
“Behave.” I offered him a small smile as I playfully chastised him. “As I was saying, she was fourteen when she reached maturity, whilst I waited until I was twenty. She was so volatile, and I was always calm and collected. Even our gifts were opposites, though I have no idea what either does. Hers was Death, where I supposedly hold Life.”
My story wasn’t one I told often, not outside of the prettied-up version held in the book I read to Jayne.
Lona had found her partner when she was about fifteen hundred years old. Henry was a good man, from a good family, and I understood why she’d been so taken with him. He was the opposite of her: calm, cool headed. When they met, she retired. Whenever we found our partners, we stopped our work. Instead she updated certain parts of the records and raised her family.
I was going to visit her when I heard the cries. I hadn’t known what it was at the time, but knowing Lona was in the direction of the screams, I took off running, not caring who saw me. It was only a minute later that I arrived at her home.
I was too late.
Two vampires were dead on the ground, hearts torn out, throats ripped to shreds, their insides staining the sandy ground. If there had been any others, they were gone.
Henry lay, broken and turning, his body suffocating one cell at a time. Lona lay next to him, shrieking in pain.
The shift from human to vampire wasn’t a pleasant one. It hurt, a lot. The body changed, transformed, died. It only took a few short hours, but the entire time was spent in unimaginable agony. The vampire blood destroyed everything, changing every part of a person.
As Henry turned, Lona died.
For hours I held her, hoping she would survive the pain she was in. She was incoherent, apologising over and over, but making no sense at all.
It was sometime just before sunset that Henry took his last human breath. With his last breath, Lona took hers.
“She died in my arms,” I whispered. “I have witnessed some of the worst plagues mankind has ever seen, and none of that suffering can compare to what my sister endured. Nothing compares to the change between human and vampire.”
“Serenity,” Ray said, pulling me closer to him.
“Henry was devastated. Those first few weeks after turning, a vampire is vulnerable. No matter how little they feed, they’ll burn in the sun as easily as those who kill every day.” My voice was barely above a whisper. “But the sun was almost set, and it wasn’t enough to kill him, so he begged me to do it. He loved Lona so much, as much as she loved him, or I love you. He couldn’t live without her, and I granted his wish.”
“I’m sorry,” Ray whispered.
“It was years ago. I’m still bitter over it, I always will be, but it’s been centuries.”
Word of what had happened spread quickly among our race. Many wanted vengeance against the vampires. I’d opposed it at the time. We would’ve been as bad as they were if we’d done the same to them. But wiping them off the face of the planet was a very tempting idea.
And I wondered why they called me Azrael.
“I watched my sister die, and I spared their lives.” I pulled away from Ray and stood. “I gave them their lives, and they destroyed us.”
It wasn’t enough that we were going to die anyway, whether from a slow illness or a quick accident. The vampires had to take from us the only things in our lives we looked forward to. They made us dread the day we found out partners. Knowing our lives were drawing to an end meant there would be one less of us standing between them and the rest of the world. And then they had to take away the joy our children brought. Because we knew what was in store for them: growing up in a world that would soon be at the mercy of bloodthirsty destruction.
“It wasn’t your fault, Serenity,” Helen said.
“Helen is descended from one of Lona’s twin daughters. Laura, who I stayed with, is descended from the other.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ray whispered again.
He’d stood and wrapped his arm around my waist, and I hadn’t noticed. “It was a long time ago.”
“But you still feel it.”
“It was one of them,” Helen said. “You think one of Lona’s daughters started selling us out to the vampires?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
“You think Laura told them you were alone,” she continued.
“Well, I know it wasn’t you.” There was little point now in trying to keep my suspicions a secret.
“When did you know?”
“As I was leaving Lyon.” It was why I lied about Ray’s name. “No one can say anything until I’m certain.”
“Agreed. We don’t need to inspire a mob mentality over a wrong assumption,” Sam said.
“May I ask why it would cause such a reaction all these years later?” Ray inquired, shuffling slightly.
Taking his hand, I pulled him down to the couch again and sat beside him. He would be more comfortable that way. “Lona was the first to be murdered by the vampires. We all knew someone gave away our secrets. The vampire that killed her knew her weakness, how to kill us. I found out a few weeks later the village had been surrounded. William had been on his way to visit Lona, as had his sister. It was our birthday, and we were all meeting up for a celebration.”
Another of my sisters had come across the water, intending to give Lona news for the records. She’d stopped a mile or so short of Lona’s home, knowing what the sounds were and opting to keep watch in case there was more trouble.
There’d been five Keepers there, and in
all the years since, I’d never believed one of them to be responsible. At first I’d thought it was an attack gone wrong, an accident that had revealed our secrets.
The years had passed, however, and still they found us. One by one we were slaughtered, and in the end there’d been but two left. William and myself.
By the time anyone realised it could’ve been one of our own, it was too late. Everyone there that day was dead. And how could I suspect my own flesh and blood? The daughters of my sister.
“If our race found out there was a chance it was Lona’s daughters, and their daughters since, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill the entire family,” Helen finished.
“Including Helen, Sam, and Jayne.” It was a possibility, but unlikely, that they would come after me as well. Helen wouldn’t be so lucky. They would see her family’s decision to stay with me as a way to have access to the records. It wouldn’t matter that I knew for certain Helen wasn’t behind this. “We aren’t violent people by nature, but there are some things that are wholly unacceptable, and unforgivable.”
“You really think it was Laura who told them you were coming?” Sam asked, eyes narrowing as he stared at me.
“Aside from you three, she was the only one who knew I was alone. If it was her, then I’ll have proof soon enough,” I told him. “If not, no harm done.”
“Proof?”
“When the vampires come, they won’t be looking for Ray Synclair.”
After explaining a few more details, I excused myself. I hadn’t had a chance to change, and there were still bits tangled in my hair. A hot bath always helped me to relax.
Helen insisted on drawing the bath so I could spend some more time with Ray.
When it was ready, I left him in the capable hands of Jayne, who was, as always, eager to share more stories with him.
Sinking into the steaming water turned out to be exactly what I needed, despite not wanting to be separated from Ray. I could’ve spent hours steeping in the water, just lying there letting my fears wash away.
When the water started to turn cold, I dragged myself out of the bath.
Once I was dressed again, back to wearing my normal dresses, I went back downstairs to Ray.
Seeing him safe after so much worry had a profound effect on me. He was part of my very being, something I could no longer live without. Literally.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“How long can you stay?” I settled into Ray’s waiting arms, feeling a deep sense of relief.
He felt so warm, my skin having cooled since being in the bath. His heart was beating steadily, and I closed my eyes so I could listen to it. The sound was so peaceful. The even thud was a wonderful background to the gentle sounds of life carrying on throughout the house.
When he whispered his answer, his breath was a warm ruffle in my hair. “My mother is out of town for another day.”
He had a wide smile on his face.
“Are you staying home alone?”
He shook his head. “No. My mother didn’t trust me to feed myself properly.”
That I well believed, having seen his lack of skills in the kitchen.
“I’d planned on staying with Professor Baruti, but Helen was kind enough to offer me your room.” He was still smiling, but mine had slipped. “I hope you don’t mind?”
Realising he thought my frown was because of him, I quickly answered, “No, not at all. I was thinking of something else.” It was time I sat down with Ray and told him what his professor was. Good friends or not, I couldn’t chance him ending up as Issac Baruti’s next meal. Or worse, Poppy’s. “I’m wondering how to tell you something.”
“Do you need to leave again?” He couldn’t quite hide the sadness in his voice.
“No, not at all. It’s about Professor Baruti.”
“What about him?”
“Have you ever noticed anything unusual?” I watched his reaction carefully.
“He isn’t . . . human?” Ray asked, sounding unsure.
“No, he isn’t.”
“What is he?”
“The professor is a vampire who was turned six hundred years ago. He was an emissary, travelling from Egypt to Yemen when he was attacked. Poppy found him soon after and turned him.”
Poppy had reportedly not killed a single person since the day she turned Issac Baruti. It was hard to believe. It was harder to believe that Issac Baruti had never taken a single life. What was it about the tall Egyptian that was capable of changing so much about not only the worst vampire in the world, but also our knowledge about vampires?
He wasn’t the only one, of course. There were a handful of vampires who refused to kill. Most didn’t last much longer than a century, having been hunted down by their own and slaughtered as a disgrace to their race. Had Issac not been so deep in Poppy’s favour, he would’ve gone the same way. They were amusing for a while, entertainment for the killing vampires that wanted to test the convictions of those who didn’t. But after that, they were entertainment in a different way.
“It’s his wife I need you to be careful around.” I couldn’t stress the point enough. “She has connections in very high places. When she found Professor Baruti, she was the only other female vampire in The Seats. She may have left the Egyptian Seat soon after, but she still holds a lot of power with them. All of them.”
Ray took the news that his mentor was a vampire surprisingly well. He sat there, calm and collected, nodding when necessary, and accepting my explanation quietly. When he spoke, it was to promise not to see the professor unless he had to. He would not, however, arouse suspicion if approached. It was a fair compromise. Professor Baruti was sure to know something was wrong if Ray ran away every time he got too close.
That didn’t mean I was overly happy with it.
“What would you like to do today?” I asked, changing the subject to something more agreeable.
Helen had gone out with Jayne and Sam was taking the carriage to get it fixed. Ray and I were alone in the house.
“How about we sit here like this all afternoon?” he asked, a wicked glint in his eye.
That particular expression in Ray’s eyes had become a regular occurrence. We may not have progressed much further than kissing, but I was more than happy to spend the afternoon in his arms.
Every part of him pressed against me as he took hold of my waist and pulled me closer, the heat of his body radiating outwards and blanketing me. He was the only man I’d ever kissed, and the only one I ever wanted to. As his lips moved with mine nothing else mattered. Time no longer existed and all there was in the world was Ray. The taste of his lips was sweeter than anything I could have ever imagined, or had ever tasted.
“I love you,” he whispered, pulling away so he could breathe.
“I love you, too.”
He was pressing gentle kisses along my jaw and down my neck when Helen called out from the front door, having just returned. Ray immediately straightened up, looking sheepish. I just laughed.
Helen knew I cared very little for the rules of whatever year it happened to be. They changed so often that there was little point in learning them all, and when it came to Ray I was more than happy to throw all of them out of the window.
“Good afternoon.” Helen tried hard to hide her smile.
She couldn’t hide it for long.
Ray looked far too worried for either Helen or me to be able to hold back our laughter. It was the first time we’d been caught doing anything other than simply sitting together. He couldn’t have known it didn’t matter to Helen what we were doing. I was happy, that was all that mattered to her.
“Do you have any plans this afternoon?” she asked, finally able to catch her breath.
“I thought I might show Ray some of the records. If he wouldn’t find that immensely boring.” I was teasing. Ray had spent hours poring over the book I’d given him, determined to decipher the stories in my language. He would find our history anything but boring.
“Come
with me.”
“You really keep them with you?” he asked as I led him into my study.
“I keep everything that needs updating. Just over half the records are kept here. The rest are with William.” It saved me looking after books I didn’t need. “You may want to stand back.”
The locked cupboard that was situated against the far wall covered the entrance to the basement. I’d had the cabinet cast out of solid steel so it could hold some of my weaponry.
“Before I open up, there’s something else I should probably show you,” I said, reaching up for the hidden key. I kept it high, out of sight, and hidden in a specially designed rut so someone had to know it was there to find it.
Unlocking the door, I tried to suppress the shiver that ran down my spine. I only used weapons when I needed to. The only reason I hadn’t destroyed them was because the time would come, when I was gone, when my family needed them.
“The key is always on top of the cupboard. If you ever need to defend yourself when I’m away, aim for the heart, the neck or the head. A blow to any of them with one of these is an almost guaranteed death for a vampire.”
“They look like they’re made of bone,” he whispered.
“They are.”
Their pale colours almost glowed in the darkness, standing out against the dark backdrop like twisted stars in the night sky. Each was older than I was, some as old as our oldest records. There were dozens of different weapons, everything from a sword and daggers to arrowheads and spear tips. They were all made from the bones of vampires, and that fact alone haunted me. I shuddered every time I saw them.
It was bad enough I couldn’t bring myself to destroy them, but it was worse knowing that because I couldn’t, some poor souls were trapped in between this life and the next, forever. It was widely believed that unless a vampire was burned in their entirety they wouldn’t be able to cross over. Stuck for eternity, or longer, because of a single missing piece.
“Before The Seats were established, there were terrible wars among the vampires. Land and human life were brutally fought over, and as punishment for those who opposed the winning sides, their bodies were used like this.” I gestured to the rows of weapons.
The Last Keeper Page 14
