“Wow,” sighed Ulric, after our kiss ended, “I wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.” I smiled, feeling proud of myself. Something else went through his mind that he did not say.
“What?” I asked, pulling away, trying to read his mind. What was that other thought or rather, feeling that had run through his mind? He was happy and turned on but what else was it?
“Nothing,” he said sheepishly. This time, I caught the thought.
“No, it’s something – I can read your mind, remember?”
“It’s not bad. It’s just that you have the whole sexy vamp thing going on. Your eyes.”
“Eww! They’re red, aren’t they?” I almost squealed, pulling further from him.
“No, I mean yes but…”
“Oh…” I groaned in embarrassment.
“No, no, you look amazing! I wish I could show you. What I’m saying is, you’re so beautiful,” said Ulric, looking as embarrassed as me. “Come here,” he said pulling me close again.
“You don’t mind?” I asked, my voice muffled into his chest.
“Why should I?” he asked, softly. “I have nothing against vampires for being vampires. It’s the whole wiping the floor with everyone else part. And you’re not like that, Kat.”
“But I…”
“You’re not,” he replied firmly.
“Is there something you want to ask me?” I said, smirking. I’d just caught another thought and this time it was one I wanted him to expand upon.
“That thing I said at the bar,” Ulric cringed, “I obviously want us to be more than friends and I know things have been really rough lately,” he looked into my eyes, searching, “I’m going to stop now.”
“So do I,” I replied all too quickly. But it was true. And just as we both smiled a sigh of relief and happiness, ready for another hug, there was a loud knock at the door.
Chapter 14
Before we could say anything, Pearl waltzed in, along with a man I sensed to be a warlock. He wasn’t very tall or muscular but his presence was still imposing. His straight, long, gray hair was tied back and he had thickset eyebrows which gave him a perpetual frown.
“This is Professor Frewin,” said Pearl.
“Frewin Diamond at your service,” said the warlock, in a crisp British accent as he extended his hand, shaking mine.
“Professor Frewin teaches only the most advanced students in their fourth year,” said Pearl, “because his is a subject that only the most skilled students can even attempt.” Was it just me or did she sound more and more like one of the up-themselves professors of Bloodline Academy? If Ulric thought she did, he thought nothing of it as he too, shook hands with the professor.
“What do you teach, professor?” asked Ulric.
“Vampire hunting,” replied the professor. I instinctively shrunk back a step.
“No need to worry,” said Pearl, almost cracking a smile, “he’s not here to hunt you, Katrina. Far from it. He’s here to help you and the rest of witchkind. The S.L.A. has a formidable vampire hunting division. Professor Frewin, trains the best and brightest.”
“I didn’t even know there was such a division,” I said. It was a lie. Thanks to Sophie-Anne, I had already found out that such a thing existed. And apparently, half of my lineage was a vampire hunting warlock. I suddenly wondered if Professor Frewin had once taught Cassander Quartz. The man I’d never known, who might have been my biological father.
“Well now you know,” said Pearl, “anyway, Professor Frewin would like to talk to you.” Frewin Diamond nodded slightly.
“You see Katrina, Pearl has brought to my attention that there’s a hidden chamber, concealed within the library at St. Erzsebet’s Academy – and you were able to get access to it,” said Frewin. Snuck in more like.
“Yes, I kind of stumbled upon it,” I said, not wanting to get into the details of how I got inside. Hopefully there wouldn’t be another Revelation involved.
“This discovery is significant, especially considering the charms you found there and one in particular.” Frewin eyed me expectantly. When I added nothing, he continued, “it’s called the Dark Spark.” That certainly rang a bell and the professor continued, noting my recognition, “It’s a very specific charm, we’ve been seeking for many centuries now. It’s the stuff of legends. We weren’t even certain it still existed. Until you heard the vampires talking about it!”
“Okay?” I said, “But I never saw it.”
“Listen carefully, this is very important,” nudged Pearl.
“She is,” said Ulric, not hiding his annoyance.
“Should he even be here, Frewin?” replied Pearl.
“A Black Bane?” asked Professor Frewin Diamond, addressing Ulric.
“A former Black Bane,” answered Ulric, meeting the professor’s gaze and holding it.
“Have you been initiated into the Silver Shadows pack, yet lad?” asked Professor Frewin.
“No sir, I’ve heard of the Shadows. I even know a few. They work with the S.L.A., right?”
“Correct. You can stay and listen to what I’m about to discuss with Katrina but you’ll have to begin your formal pack initiation immediately. In fact, I’d say it takes priority over your other classes.”
“But Frewin, he’s not a first year. He’s a third year who’s already incredibly behind what even the second-year students are learning,” said Pearl, wrinkling her nose. When I’d first met her, I’d never imagined that a witch as powerful and accomplished as her could be such a downer. The more encounters I had with her, the less I wanted. Poor Safi and Aviar must have had it tough growing up. Something that had never even crossed my mind.
“Fine, then you can put in your own time to do whatever it takes to prove your loyalty to the pack. You show potential to have helped Katrina in the way you have so far,” said Professor Frewin. “And I can always use loyal, strong werewolves in my class. You can stay for what I have to say as well.”
“You can trust me,” said Ulric, bowing.
“Let’s hope so,” replied Pearl unconvinced.
“Anyway, not to get away from the main point at hand. The Dark Spark is a necklace that carries the most potent, dark magic that’s ever been conjured. It belonged to Countess Elizabeth Bathory which allowed her immense control over the people in her kingdom including her hundreds if not thousands of victims.”
“But vampires can compel without charms and magic,” said Ulric. I kept quiet but my cheeks burned. What would they think of the information Sophie-Anne had shared with me? That a member of Bathory’s bloodline was standing in Superno, talking to a vampire hunting professor about some artefact that had helped Bathory?
“They can, indeed” said Professor Frewin, “but the Dark Spark is something on a completely different level. It allowed the wearer – who numbered only one vampire as legend has it – unparalleled powers. It made Elizabeth Bathory as powerful as any witch and vampire combined.”
All three of them stared at me. Frewin and Pearl immediately looked away but Ulric’s expression was mystified. “Where is this necklace?” I asked, wanting to divert all attention away from myself.
“That’s the mystery. Since Elizabeth Bathory was imprisoned in her near-ruined old castle, by the humans who tried her, the necklace disappeared,” said Frewin. “We should have gotten to her, taken her out with a stake or at least held her in our own supernatural prison but the mortals got too interested in her.
“At the time, we’d have been burned at the stake for being the practitioners of witchcraft quicker than she’d ever have been properly punished for the horrific pain she inflicted on humanity and supernatural beings. Humans. They were so naïve. And as is the case with anyone foolish, they thought they knew it all, including how to stop her. The mortals saw her as a psychopath from a noble family but had no real idea of who they were really dealing with!”
“Do you think that the necklace is in the academy?” I asked, knowing the answer and wanting it to be differe
nt.
“It might well be,” answered Professor Frewin, laying his well-worn briefcase across the over-sized desk. He opened it and rummaged inside, carelessly dislodging a few small glass bottles that held a clear liquid, a few straw pouches stuffed with herbs and an antique, hand-held mirror studded with rubies and pearls. He recovered a tattered and old looking book, like the ones that had adorned the shelves in the library at Bloodline Academy. The ones we’d had in the Reading Room at our coven had been old but in mint condition by comparison.
“Here!” announced Professor Frewin, passing the open tome across the desk towards me. Unlike the outward appearance of the book, the inside was completely different. Each page catalogued tens of different items which were encrusted with gemstones. The images weren’t old photos that had faded away with time but crisp and vibrantly coloured, infused with magic. The professor’s mossy eyes shone as he surveyed us for a reaction.
“They’re kind of small,” said Ulric, instantly giving Pearl a reason to frown.
“Right you are!” replied Frewin and his index finger hovered over the page and he tapped on a tiny picture of a red necklace. The photo immediately sprung to life and before our eyes, out popped the hologram of a very regal necklace.
“Wow,” I dumbly said. The necklace was gorgeous. Its’ several dainty strands, so thin that they were like strands of silver hair, held hundreds upon hundreds of tiny red gems.
“Yes, it’s quite something isn’t it?” said Professor Frewin, as awed as though he were also seeing it for the first time. Ulric’s eyes were wide and even Pearl’s gaze fixated on the jewelry.
“Are those rubies?” I asked, wondering if the piece had once belonged to a witch from the ruby coven, or had at least been spun into being by one.
“They look like rubies, don’t they?” said Frewin, kindly. “Unfortunately, what they are is far more macabre.”
“What are they?” I asked, my pulse quickening.
“They’re clear quartz crystals – like the ones you’ve grown up with,” said Professor Frewin, “Bathory wore them with pride, around her neck. She had cast the darkest magic on the necklace so it would serve her as a talisman. One day, her servants came upon a lone Crystal Witch who lived in a small house in the wilderness just beyond Bathory’s castle.
“Esmeralda Quartz was her name. She had been a lone witch for years but she was approached to go and provide healing services – specifically potions that would help preserve youth, inside the castle. She was to work directly for Countess Bathory.
“She alerted the witch and warlock covens in the area. Once approached by Bathory’s men, she knew she had only two choices. Either she could flee Hungary so she could go on the run and somehow survive, or she could go, as summoned to the castle and never return.”
“She went to the castle,” said Ulric, as taken in by the story as I was.
“She did. The other covens in the area decided to alert the human authorities to investigate Bathory. We didn’t have the right to exist back then, anymore than vampires did. Society simply didn’t accept magic and the supernatural. People wanted to interpret magic in a way that made them feel comfortable and made their own brutality acceptable.”
“Why didn’t the covens intervene though – at least to help protect Esmeralda?” said Ulric.
“They weren’t that organized back then. Most were in hiding, struggling not to be wiped out by mortals and vampires. Esmeralda entered the castle willingly, passing on snippets of information about Bathory to the rest of her brothers and sisters so they could protect themselves and humans, covertly.
“She even saved tens of Bathory’s victims from fates worse than death,” said Frewin, “but of course, there were too many and she couldn’t save them all as a single witch up against such a monster.”
“What about the proper vampire hunters?” asked Ulric, impassioned, “why didn’t they raid her castle? Help her?”
“Are you talking about Van Helsing and the Grey Guild?” asked Frewin, approvingly.
“Yes, we have stories handed down that there was a time when werewolves didn’t need something like the S.L.A., they were out and proud vampire hunters right alongside with Van Helsing and his crew,” said Ulric.
“My dear boy, the Grey Guild was running scared for its’ own existence throughout the sixteenth century and those that followed,” explained Frewin.
“The cullings!” said Ulric.
“Exactly!”
“The what?” I asked.
“It was our version of the witch trials,” replied Ulric, “only werewolves were killed at a rate many times higher than the witches.”
“Right,” I said, remembering that Ulric had mentioned this when we’d first met.
“It’s all speculation,” said Pearl defensively, “no one actually knows the extent of what happened and anyway, it’s not a competition.”
“Yes, it’s a point both controversial and sore to this day,” smiled Frewin, “certain witches hate to be out-persecuted.” I was really starting to like him. And I couldn’t say whether it was because he was a vampire hunter or despite it. Either way, he seemed like someone who was fair and didn’t judge a species based on some outdated pecking order. Apart from vamps.
“Can we get back to the story of Esmeralda Quartz?” said Pearl.
“Yes, yes. I do apologize,” continued Professor Frewin, “Soon enough, Bathory’s thirst for new blood, turned towards Esmeralda. Bathory obviously knew in an instant that Esmeralda wasn’t just some mortal peasant but had pure witch-blood. As you know, vampires can smell it a mile off.”
“She drank her blood and killed her?” asked Ulric.
“Bathory drank enough of Esmeralda’s blood that she was hooked and Esmeralda was alive,” said Frewin, his voice rising with emotion, “and that’s where it gets even darker, the necklace turned red, with the blood of the Crystal Witch and even the essence of the mortals who’d met their end before her. Bathory became much stronger because of the blood-bond she acquired with Esmeralda by drinking her blood.”
“Then what happened?” I asked, reaching out to grab the desk with one hand as I felt weak and dizzy. A realization crept through me as the darkness in my own bloodline made itself known. The knowledge that Sophie-Anne had been telling the truth made me want to scream.
“Only fire can break a bond so primal as blood,” replied Professor Frewin, solemnly. “Esmeralda ran outside the castle and in a final act of kindness to the peasants on the land, she declared herself a witch in exchange for some mortal women who’d been accused of witchcraft and were about to perish, thanks to the hysteria that had taken over human communities. As she burned, she cursed the necklace that if any other vampire ever handled it, they would be delivered their final death as soon as it touched their skin,” said Frewin, quietly.
“Then why is the S.L.A. afraid of what the vampires might do with the necklace?” I asked, feeling sick. My mind wandered back to Valenthia’s prophecy. Maybe it wasn’t about me at all but Esmeralda Quartz, some ancestor of mine. Being drained and forced to commit suicide by another ancestor. This was too messed up. Why couldn’t I just have been a simple Crystal Witch? Or even a werewolf?
“Because we know, that vampires are made to persist. They always find a way to turn everything to their advantage. And if they ever find a way to use that necklace, it’s power will stand the Dark Legion as superior – even above the S.L.A.,” replied Professor Frewin.
“And we need you to go back to St. Erzsebet’s Academy to find that necklace,” said Pearl, turning to me.
“Wait, hold it,” said Ulric, putting both of his hands up, “Kat’s part vampire. She can’t touch the necklace either.”
“It might not harm you as you’re not a pure vampire,” said Pearl “and you have the gift of Revival – you brought your friend back from the ashes, didn’t you?” she shot a catty glance at me.
“Vampire blood can do that too,” I said, too bewildered by everything I’d heard
in the last little while to argue outright and tell Pearl to go stuff herself.
“Not from the state that girl was in – that was light magic at its best,” said Pearl, she held my gaze accusingly.
“It’s not happening! Kat’s not going to do it!” said Ulric forcefully.
“You don’t have to touch the Dark Spark. For now. All you have to do is find out if it’s actually there. They might have a decoy instead of the real thing,” said Pearl.
“But how will I know if it’s a knock off?” I asked.
“You’re a witch, you’ll feel the potency of Esmeralda’s magic, as well as the dark means it’s been turned to,” Pearl replied with narrowed eyes. She looked like she was the one who’d been wronged and not someone who’d just handed out a potential death sentence.
***
Safi misses you,” said Aviar after we were outside in the main hallway of Superno. I said nothing. I was numb after everything I’d learned about myself and the crushing weight of the expectations both sides had of me. I’d go back to Bloodline Academy like nothing had happened, when in fact I was plotting to go after some dark as hell necklace that might well kill me if I so much as touched it.
And I didn’t want to let Ulric down so I had to find Winnie all the while pretending, in front of Duquette and the like, that each time I left to report back to Pearl, I was actually out hunting Safi. Oh, and there was Sophie-Anne’s little bloodline secret which meant that no matter what I did, I’d be going against a part of myself.
“Sorry, I don’t know what to say right now,” I said, “I miss her too but there’s so much going on. And your mom has basically made it so I can’t even see her again.”
Dark Spark: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 2) Page 14
