by J. L. Myers
“Sis, what did you see tonight?” Dorian asked.
The room fell silent and Kendrick moved to my side, remaining far enough away to ward against any further shocks. The blood had repaired the damage of the shock and my bite, but he was still weak.
I crossed to the arched window and pushed open the panes. Fresh air poured in, clearing the collective blood in the air and ruffling my posters. I remembered the dank stink of clay and all those watching, obedient red eyes. “I saw the damned. Whole lines of them.” I shivered and clutched my own elbows. “A vampire is leading them. He’s instructing them to build their numbers in preparation.”
“So they are back. The others were right.” Mom seemed resigned as she got up off the floor and sat on my bed, clutching a sequined throw pillow. “Preparation for what?”
I stared up at the glowing moon. I felt unequipped and unworthy of being the bearer of these horrible fortunes. Especially when I couldn’t change the futures I saw. “I don’t know. But I can feel it in my bones. Something bad is coming.”
Mom bit her nails, staring ahead at nothing in particular. Sudden sadness welled in her eyes as they met me at the window. “My beautiful daughter. The Oracle.” She sighed, long and slow. “I did everything I could to protect you. To keep you from this world. Now I must stand aside. The decision is yours, Amelia. I will not force you either way.”
“The decision?” Dorian leaned against the doorjamb.
“Whether to come out to The Council,” Kendrick answered. “Being the Oracle comes with expectations. There hasn’t been one for centuries.”
I didn’t know what these expectations were. And with what I did know, they didn’t matter. Lives were at stake. Besides, The Council wouldn’t just accept an anonymous warning. I needed to come forward. I needed to make them all believe.
Mom glided over with a forced smile and went to touch my shoulder. I backed away before her flesh could connect with mine. She sighed, looking truly upset as tears flooded her silver-blue eyes. “A weight of responsibility accompanies such a rare gift, sweetheart. You don’t have to decide now. Take your time—”
“No. My mind’s made up.” I gulped at the choking, metallic wave rising up my throat. “I won’t have innocent lives on my hands. The Council must be warned.”
Tears spilled down Mom’s face. “So it shall be. I’ll call a special meeting for tomorrow. Though I’ll need to get clearance from Caius.”
I moved from the window as Mom headed for the door after Kendrick and Dorian. With limited time until tomorrow’s meeting, I desperately needed to be alone.
As the door swung closed, something flew in through my open window.
“Amelia. Oh my God. You’re okay.”
I heard Ty’s worried voice a split second before I picked up his rich aroma. My bedroom door flung back open and my mom shot right back in. “What is he doing here?” Her gaze skewered Ty like a bug on a pin.
I gulped and Ty froze. Kendrick and Dorian didn’t come back in, but a voice spoke in my head. Lie. Don’t tell her about the dreamscape.
With everything that had happened I’d almost forgotten our dreamscape and being ripped from his control by my latest vision. That wasn’t supposed to be possible. Ty held all power in a dreamscape, able to trap whoever he’d captured while asleep. But nothing about tonight’s dream had been normal. Thinking about it all left a blanket of dark hopelessness weighing me down, like bricks underwater. This vision had forced me from Ty’s dream and into someone else’s body. And not Caius’s. My heart felt as if it had been packed with dry ice. Caius had orchestrated the attack on the boat, and also the attempt on Kendrick and Dorian’s lives at the snow. But was someone else pulling the strings? Was someone else targeting us, too?
I shook off the foreboding and stepped between Mom and Ty. “Ty, I’m okay. And Mom, we were talking on the phone earlier when I blacked out with the vision.”
“You had a vision?” Ty said at the same time Mom muttered, “On the phone. Sure.”
“Yeah.” I glanced away from Ty, remembering how deep my fangs had plunged into Kendrick’s neck. Feeling my guilt like a neon sign over my face, I stared at my bedside table. The quarter eaten block of chocolate that I’d devoured after getting Caius’s note was still there. I wanted to steal a piece now. Though I knew it wouldn’t lift this suffocating feeling in my chest. I’d already broken our promise to drink from Ty alone. “That’s what forced me away. Someone else is commanding the damned. They’re growing their numbers.”
“Amelia has made a decision,” my mom said, steel in her voice. “One that may force her to reside at The Council here in Portsmouth, or maybe even the Armaya. Her school and human life will be over.”
So that was one expectation of being the Oracle.
“Amelia?” Ty didn’t move from the arched window, but the need to be closer was written all over him. “What is she talking about?”
Seeing the worry in Ty’s face was like a knife to the heart. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. But I couldn’t change my mind now. I’d seen too much. Being selfish and letting vampires die wasn’t an option. No matter how much every part of my body ached at what I was about to say.
I sunk onto my bed, pulling the purple comforter over my knees. “I’m the Oracle.” Saying the word out loud sent shivers down my spine. How was I supposed to carry the weight of such a rare obligation? How was I supposed to live without Ty if they forced me away? “Tomorrow Mom’s taking me to the council meeting. And I’m…I’m revealing my visions.”
As Ty stared at me dumbfounded, Mom spoke. “Five minutes alone. Then he’s to be gone.” Her hard look softened at me. “Given your decision, this may well be one of your last encounters.”
When the door eased shut behind her, Ty stumbled forward. He fell to his knees, hands fisting the duvet on either side of me. “Amelia, no. Don’t do this. You don’t have to—”
“But I do.” I held up a hand to cup his face, stopping an inch away as the sparks returned. Tears blurred my vision and my voice cracked. It felt like I was drowning, sinking lower and lower into a murky swamp. “I hate this. It’s killing me.” I clutched the amulet to my heart. “I won’t have blood on my hands, I can’t. If it were you,” I said as Ty began to argue, “could you choose me if others would die because of it? Could you turn your back on who you are?”
Ty nodded and stood, his expression vacant. “No, I guess I couldn’t.” He smiled a dreadful, hopeless smile. “This isn’t the end of us. They can’t chain you inside twenty-four/seven, here or at the Armaya. We will see each other again.”
The gleaming hope in his eyes made me suspicious. “Promise me you’ll stay away tomorrow. That you won’t do anything reckless.”
When Ty didn’t say anything I balled my hands into fists. “Please Ty, I can’t risk you. I can’t lose you.”
“You never could.” Ty threw one leg over the windowsill and faked a smile. “At the very least I’ll see you in your dreams.”
Then he was gone, nothing but moonlight replacing the now voided place on my window. And my heart.
I fell back onto my bed, curled my body into a ball and squeezed my eyes shut. “What have I done?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I fiddled with my long, rubber-lined gloves as I followed after Mom with Kendrick. My chest felt like it was trapped in a vice; my lungs balloons that were about to burst. This was it. The big reveal. After today my whole world would change, again. Ty. I could still see his face, the pain that had scarred his features at the possibility of never seeing me again. Because despite his encouraging words, he knew this could be the beginning of the end.
Kendrick nudged me. “I’m right here. Everything’ll be fine. And you will see him again. I won’t let them make you a prisoner.”
Mom stalled before two armed guards who stood blocking the soaring entrance. They both dipped their heads at Kendrick. “Lord Baldassare.” They looked to my mom in question, flicking glances at me. One reste
d a hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Miss Amelia Lamont.” Poise and authority oozed from Mom’s straight posture. “Lord Bathory has granted her entry for today.”
After Mom’s call to Caius, she’d managed to get him to agree to let me join this meeting. Although without revealing the why of it, Dorian wasn’t included in that invitation.
The guards eyed me. After a long silent moment one nodded. “As the Lord commands.”
As we passed, their heads turned to follow as we entered the large open hall of the Portsmouth Council. The pitched cathedral windows around the hall were tinted dark, letting the smallest amount of twilight through. Otherwise the room was the same as I remembered. Candles illuminated the wrought iron chandelier, and the massive marble table was packed with council members. This time there were more thrones around the table. A few lower ranked council members stood to make room for the growing group of royals. Caius headed the table, opposed by Uriel and flanked by Kendrick’s mom, Serafina. She nodded when she saw her son, but made no other move to greet him.
At our entrance, Uriel’s azure-blue focus shifted from the debating crowd. “Lamayli?” Her gaze shifted over me, speculative and curious. “What is this?”
Mom raised a hand for us to stop as she fronted the table. “I know this is unorthodox, but I have not brought her here without good cause.”
Caius traveled around the slab of marble, gentle arms enfolding my mom. My stomach churned as his hand ran up and down her back before holding her at arm’s length. He ushered a council member from the other seat beside his throne. Now noticing Kendrick and me, every set of eyes in the room slid from my mom to us. Distrust and curiosity were plain in their expressions.
“Please sit, Lamayli, and enlighten us on why your daughter is present.” Caius’s voice was gentle but held a distinct edge. “After your insistence last night, I am eager to understand your motives.”
Mom took her position, letting her voice ring out strong and steady. “The damned, as some of us suspected, have returned.”
Uproar exploded, council members and royals divided in belief and flat-out denial.
Caius’s hands spread wide, palms down. The simple and soundless motion instantly silenced the room. “This bickering will get us nowhere. Now Lamayli, would you explain what brought you to this belief?”
Mom straightened her spine and drew back her shoulders with a nod. Then she eyed each council member. “We know with certainty that the damned have returned.” Again, hushed words of venom struck out while others nodded in concurrence. “An army is being built to wage war against us. One among our own kind commands them.”
“How do you come to know this?” Serafina’s sharp voice cut like a knife, eyes narrowing at my mom.
Kendrick stiffened beside me, and I took his hand, the rubber glove shielding the static at my fingertips. After spending the early hours of the morning practicing how not to blow things up, I had gotten a slight handle on it. But this was an emotionally charged room, and it seemed that raw emotion fueled my sparks. Being at The Council and with this audience, the last thing I wanted was to put on an electrical show. So bravery without my special gloves was not an option, yet.
“Because you’ve seen it.”
I scanned for the voice that’d spoken to find Uriel staring at me. Everyone in the room followed her line of sight and now watched me with mixed expressions of confusion and contempt. I twitched uncomfortably. Their piercing gazes made me feel like a frog ready to be sliced in biology.
“You,” she continued, finger pointing straight at me. “Have been gifted by life and death, kissed by the power of spirit and touched by The Sight.”
My stomach coiled, threatening to make me puke. I freed my hand from Kendrick’s and forced myself to nod. The room fell into deafening silence, leaving my rapid-beating heart throbbing through my ears. “I—I have visions.” My voice was a quiet croak. I wanted to slap myself. I sounded weak and unsure. Why would they believe anything I had to say?
“That’s impossible,” a middle-aged man retorted. The same one I’d seen when spying on the council meeting. “She’s not even a Pure Blood.”
“We have not been blessed with the power of an Oracle for centuries,” Serafina added.
“We have not lost God’s favor,” a white-haired, elderly woman almost sang. Her words of praise were shunned by sharp whispers demanding proof.
It’s okay, Kendrick sent. His fingers laced through my gloved ones and squeezed. The contact didn’t make me feel any better. Because all I could think was how they wanted exactly what I couldn’t give them. Proof.
The argumentative chatter grew louder, everyone becoming more distressed with every passing second. Then loud clapping rose behind us. The crowd fell silent, their gazes diverting. I turned too.
Marcus strolled in through the tall wooden doors, casually dressed in torn jeans and an open collared shirt. A haughty smile lit his face as he stood beside me, occupying the space opposite Kendrick. “So glad that we can act civilized amongst ourselves. Especially when such a volatile threat is knocking on our door.”
“Marcus, what are you doing here?” I ran a gloved hand down his forearm, so badly wanting to wrap my arms around him. My warning hadn’t been able to save his family and the guilt was eating me alive. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Marcus sighed, but his expression remained strong under the eyes of everyone around the table. “Just keeping myself busy.” His sharp focus traveled to the others. “You want proof she’s the Oracle?”
The crowd murmured. Some demanded this so-called proof while others stated I had none to offer.
“What are you doing?” I spoke under my breath.
He smiled again, white teeth gleaming against the chandelier’s light. “Trust me.” He eyed everyone waiting and watching around the table. “The proof we need—those of you who have taken their ancestral knowledge with the importance it deserves should know—will be imprinted on her flesh.”
With blurred movement Marcus bit into his wrist and pressed the punctures to my mouth. His forceful free hand found my neck, locking my lips against his flesh. Breath flooded my lungs in surprise and fear. But the voltage that I’d expected to floor Marcus didn’t. Instead, his touch absorbed the power, relieving my skin of further rearing static.
Then all I tasted was his blood. That rich, peppery nectar that was distinct and individual. So similar, yet so different to Kendrick’s.
As the council hall and its members faded away, Marcus’s wrist tore from my lips. His hand flung my long hair over my shoulder. Then his other hand squeezed, turning my back to the now gaping crowd. “See,” he said with and edge of triumph. “The Sight marks her flesh.”
Through Kendrick’s wide eyes I could see what everyone else could. A liquid-like, silver filigree glistened from the back of my neck. It shimmered like it was set under floodlights, not the flickering flames from chandelier candles. The tattooed picture revealed a bunch of swirls surrounding an eye. The same eye I’d seen in the elemental book Marcus had shown me at the Armaya.
My breath caught. It was…beautiful.
Surprised words rose around the hall, echoing through the thick columns that held up the second level balcony and pitched ceiling. Some were of disbelief, others of muted acceptance. Marcus’s grip on my neck released and he spun me back to the stunned faces of everyone around the table. “Told you you were one of us,” he whispered in my ear.
Caius rose from his throne and made his way to me with arms outstretched. “My dear niece.” His voice was warm, a total mismatch to the disgruntled expression that darkened his face.
My body tensed, the pressure inside me building to volatile limits. If I could have done anything to stop him from touching me, I would have. But every set of eyes was focused on us, both skeptical and adoring.
Shit, shit, shit.
Caius’s arms closed around me, and I held my breath. The electricity inside my body surged from my heart in
veiny sparks. It didn’t run along my exposed skin, but instead shot from inside to every part of me that he touched.
Caius jerked back ever so slightly, eyes wide and lips frowning. Now he knew. The power he’d engineered me for resided in my bones.
A controlled mask reset his wrinkled features as he turned back to the crowd. “Our Oracle, Miss Amelia Lamont.”
As the awestruck council members began to clap, a commotion sounded from outside. I whirled on the spot to see the two guards. One guard was hauling someone through the tall open doors. The other had his sword pointed at the guy’s back.
I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. Their hands were clenched around the biceps of someone I knew. My throat choked closed in disbelief at the boy being thrust forward.
Kendrick? The fight and raw determination across his face was familiar. But I’d never seen my best friend look like that. The Kendrick who still stood beside me mirrored my frozen shock.
“My Lord, he was outside.” The guard with his sword aimed addressed Caius with a nod. “Though we already saw him enter the hall, and not leave.”
Kendrick’s double growled, struggling against the guards’ vice-hard grips. Veins along his neck and arms popped against his pale skin. As he freed one arm, two more guards—ones I hadn’t even noticed—rushed in from the back of the hall. They joined the restraining force, locking hands behind Kendrick’s double’s back and immobilizing his legs. The sword now lay kissing the flesh at his jugular.
Caius curled his fingers around the arm of the Kendrick beside me. Then he thrust him forward to face his double. “One of you is an intruder. Reveal your true form or you will both be sentenced for plotting against The Council.”
Serafina vaulted to Caius’s side, losing her cold control. “No, Kendrick would never.” She panned back and forth between the two, bewilderment raging through her silver-blue eyes. She had no idea who the real Kendrick was, either.
But I did.
Ignoring the crawling of my skin at being so close to my murderer, I stepped forward. I took the hand of the Kendrick who had been standing beside me. The same Kendrick I’d arrived with. The same one’s eyes I’d seen through when my tattoo was revealed. “This is the real Kendrick.”
