by E. M. Knight
I look around the haunted room. I cannot take it. All of this reminds me of Liana, of Mother, of my utter failures time and time again with the women close to my heart.
Maybe I am not meant for love.
My eyes narrow.
Actually… that is not such an absurd supposition.
Vampires are born to darkness. We embrace it. We make it a part of our souls. Maybe my constant, irrational search for love is the very thing preventing me from living my life.
Maybe it is just a vestige of my human nature - the human nature that should rightfully have been abolished years and years ago.
I can’t stand this place. I don’t even know why I came. All of the stronghold, hell, all of The Haven, reminds me of all the times I’ve failed, over and over again.
I need to get away.
The thought is shocking. Never before have I felt a need to get away from my home. But right now… right now, yes, it is the only thing that feels right.
I crane my neck up and look at the jagged rocks of the ceiling. Somewhere up there, above ground, the others are celebrating. I know Eleira was successful. If she were not, the stronghold would be teeming with vampires seeking sanctuary from the coming sun.
Do I have it in me to abandon this place? To go out into the world, to forsake The Haven, to try to make it on my own?
No. I shake my head. What a stupid, moronic, idiotic idea. The Haven is my home. I belong here. No matter what happened, I am still part of the Royal Family. If the rest of the coven discovers their Prince gone…
Well, I’m not sure Eleira would be well-enough equipped to handle that on her own yet.
What a disaster! I don’t want to be here. And yet, I cannot leave.
I wish I had somebody to look to for guidance. Even though I’ve been alive for hundreds of years, sometimes I feel dreadfully ill-prepared to handle the worst of these circumstances.
I cast one more look around, and the truth dawns on me.
I’m hiding.
A growl comes from my throat. Screw that. It’s pathetically weak, completely unbecoming, for a vampire like me.
I need to be above ground, I need to be seen, I need to let the other vampires all feel my strength so they do not forget who I am.
So I do not forget who I am.
I head out. If there is friction between me and Eleira, so be it. We have a long time to figure it out. To figure out if this affair will ever even work.
I leave the same way I came, scowling in annoyance when I see the vacant guard-spot.
Somebody needs to restore order to The Haven. Maybe I’ll do it. Hell, that’s a better purpose than anything else I can think of.
Anything is better than nothing to at least distract myself from my constantly poisonous thoughts.
I walk slowly toward the exit, stopping for a moment to look at the room where those corrupted fledglings were burned to death. The smell is gone, but I still think I can feel it lingering in the air.
That was another one of my multitude of failures.
I step outside. My eyebrows go up when I feel a sort of… tranquility… descend over me.
I look at the sky, and for a moment I think I can see a part of the shimmering orb Eleira cast above this land.
But then I blink, and the illusion is gone. Ah, well.
At least, I hear my coven’s vampires over in the distance.
I start to jog, then run, then sprint toward the sounds of festivity.
But a quarter of the way there, I come across a guard patrol escorting a smaller vampire in cuffs. His head is down, but his shape is unmistakable.
Riyu.
I race to them, halting them with an upraised hand.
“What is this?” I demand. “How did he get here?”
A guard steps forward and addresses me. “We found him on the grounds as the Queen was preparing to make the wards. We think he’s a hideaway of the Wyvern Coven.”
“No, he’s not,” I say immediately. “That’s Riyu, a vampire of The Crypts. Not only that—” I look at him in deep suspicion “—but he can do magic. He’s only letting you think you have him captured.”
Upon my word, the guards all shift their weapons and aim them at Riyu.
“Magic?” the lead guard snarls.
I wave the rest of them down. “Those weapons will do you small good if he decides to lash out. Uncuff him. Silver won’t help much, either.”
Riyu shifts his gaze to look at me but keeps his mouth shut.
The leader hesitates. “If he is who you say he is, he needs to be taken to the cells immediately.”
“What cells?” I sneer. “The silver rooms inside the castle are the only containments suitable for one like him, and they were destroyed.”
“Then we should kill him,” he spits. “Split him like a pig!”
“Ah, but I don’t think the Queen, or your Captain Commander, would look kindly on that. Remind me who has highest authority here?”
“You do,” the guard hedges.
“Then do as I say, and uncuff the prisoner.”
The lead guard starts for the key, but Riyu raises his hands and lets the left cuffs fall.
“There’s no need,” he says slyly.
The guards immediately sputter, alarmed, but I only say, “See? Silver is no deterrent to magic.”
“Evidently not,” one of them grumbles.
“Who else knows he’s here?” I ask.
“Nobody. We were going to bring him to a cell and then inform the Commander.”
“Stupid of you,” I say. I address Riyu. “Why are you here? Where are your friends?”
“I came alone,” Riyu says.
I sniff. “I find that hard to believe. Guard, send a patrol out. See what else you can find.”
“There are already patrols running,” the leader tells me. “We scavenged the ground for others as soon as Riyu was found.”
“And?” I ask.
“And, so far, nobody else has been discovered.”
I step to Riyu. Along the way, I pull a knife out of one of the guard’s belts.
I press it to Riyu’s throat.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t skewer you right now,” I hiss.
Riyu seems completely unaffected by the blade biting into his skin. “Because, I come with a message for the Queen.”
“If you want an audience with Eleira, you’d better think again.”
“Not the girl,” Riyu sneers. “I must speak to Morgan.”
“Morgan’s dead,” I inform him coldly.
His eyes flicker in surprise. “Dead?”
“Dead,” I say.
“By what cause?”
“I’ve already been too generous with information.” I press the tip of the blade harder against his skin. “You’d better give me a good reason not to kill you here and now, Riyu, for all the things you’ve done in the past.”
“I’m no longer fighting against you, idiot,” he mutters. He looks at the guards. “You really think I would have let them apprehend me if I did not want them to?”
“I don’t know, Riyu. But you’re not giving me very much motivation not to sink this knife into your throat.”
“I was exiled from The Crypts,” he admits. “Your Father put a hit on me. I managed to escape. And I came here.”
“Oh, that’s rich,” I tell him. “But I don’t believe you.”
“I came to warn Morgan about what is happening in the Paths. Since she’s no longer with us…? The message must go to Eleira.”
“I think I can take it to her,” I say.
I look into his eyes, searching for the truth. The little vampire has always been so difficult to read.
Finally, I grunt and pull the blade away. “Leave us,” I tell the guards.
“But—”
“Do not make me say it twice,” I growl.
Just for good measure, I exert a bit of the vampiric influence over the group.
That’s enough for them to comply.
>
When it’s just me and Riyu in the woods, I look at him again.
“Are you telling me the truth?” I ask.
“Every word.”
I shake my head. “Doubt it.” I prod him forward. “Come on, then. We’re going to find Eleira so she can decide what to do with you. I can’t wait for her reaction when she sees you here.”
“She already knows I’m here,” he says.
“How?”
“Before she cast the spell. Our eyes met.”
“It’s a wonder you’re alive, in that case,” I mutter.
He makes an exasperated sound of disbelief but does not say another word.
I take him along the familiar route. When we close in on the village, however, I turn away and press Riyu against the trunk of a massive tree.
“Why are you really here?” I ask. “I don’t buy the story you’re selling. Not with the animosity between our covens.”
“I am not a part of The Crypts anymore,” he says.
“Difficult to believe,” I snort.
“Why would I show up here otherwise? Unarmed, by myself, just minutes before the wards came up.” He tilts his head sideways. “I consider that very lucky, for what it’s worth. Now I’m inside, and I benefit from the protection.”
“After all you did,” I say. “And all you were responsible for, do you think I have any intention of letting you live? Or of truly granting you a meeting with Eleira?”
My claws come out, and I menace over him. “If you are really alone, as you claim, you are defenseless. You are entirely at my mercy. Don’t think I forgot what that corrupted blade did to me.”
He smiles sadly. “You wish to hold me accountable? As far as I see, the danger has passed. You have recovered. I say, let bygones be bygones.”
“Not when the vampire responsible for what happened is standing right in front of me,” I growl.
“So kill me, then,” Riyu suggests.
I grunt and take a step back.
“Make up your mind,” the smaller vampire says. “Either bring me to Eleira or don’t, but make a decision and stick to it!”
“You really want to tell her of the Paths? You can tell me.”
He exhales. “I’m afraid you would not understand the severity of the danger.”
“Try me.”
“The danger is for Eleira and any other vampire, with who takes to the Paths. They are being destroyed. I know how and why.”
“Tell me.”
He sneers. “And give away all my power? No. The hows and whys will only be revealed to your Queen. To the only one capable of passing proper judgment.”
“You’ve got a lot of requirements for one in a position as precarious as yours.”
Riyu shrugs. He does not appear to be affected by my presence at all.
“I’ve sized you up, Raul. I know who you are. I know you won’t kill me until hearing what Eleira thinks. So why don’t we just stop playing these useless games and go to her? Unless…” his eyes narrow, “… unless you’re avoiding seeing her.”
“Why would you think that?” I demand, a little too harshly.
It gives my true feelings away.
“You are the Prince, set to become King once you marry. Isn’t that so? Beatrice always said your coven was bound to such peculiarities.”
“What does Beatrice know of us?” I challenge.
Riyu licks his lips. “More than you think. She made you and Eleira an offer, didn’t she? How much longer do you think she and Logan will wait?”
“You said you’re no longer part of that coven.”
“Doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly forgotten everything I know.”
“Tell me. Why were you exiled?” I take a step forward, closing the distance between us so that he has no choice but to feel threatened. “Your answer will dictate what happens next.”
“The King considered me a threat,” Riyu says with a straight face.
I can’t help it. I burst out a harsh laugh. “You? A threat? Please.”
“Logan is more aware of the might of magic than you will ever be,” he says. “That, together with the fact that his blood runs through my veins, makes me a threat.”
My eyebrows bunch together. “The King let you feed on him?”
“No, idiot,” he says derisively. “I am Logan’s son!”
“What?”
He sneers. “You didn’t know? I thought all the Soren’s did. I am your bastard half-brother.”
“No.” I shake my head. “No. It couldn’t be.”
It’s Riyu’s turn to sneer. “Why do you think I am able to command the Elemental Forces? It comes from my lineage.”
“Who was your Mother?” I ask. I back away, giving the smaller vampire a bit of room.
We are related?
“You think I’ll give all my secrets away?” he asks.
“So you don’t know,” I murmur.
Suddenly, I’m reminded that Eleira doesn’t know her Mother, either. She doesn’t know either of her true parents.
Maybe that is something I can help her investigate, after I’m done with Riyu.
Maybe it’ll help put me in her good graces again.
“Oh, I know,” Riyu says, too quickly, an obvious tell that he’s lying. “It’s just not something I’ll share with the likes of you.”
I leave him where he is and start pacing back and forth. “Who else knows of your lineage?” he asks. In my head, I consider just how good a hostage Riyu could be. If his Father—my Father—considers him valuable…
But that all depends on whether or not he is telling the truth about being exiled.
Riyu shrugs. “Some suspect it, I’m sure. Yet trust me: it is nothing you can exploit.”
He spreads his hands. “I am telling you the truth. There’s no trap. Logan thought me dangerous, so he sent one of his vampires to kill me. I managed to escape. It would have been better if I would have managed to fake my death and have The Crypts think me gone… but, alas, sometimes such things are not possible.”
“Why did you come here, then, Riyu? I don’t believe it was just to give the Queen information about the Paths.”
“Of course not,” he says. “That just gives me something to offer. As a symbol of good faith. I’m here because I am no longer welcome in the coven where I was raised. I wanted to find sanctuary here.”
“And you think we’d give it?” I ask. “Just like that?”
“There are other things I have knowledge of, you know. The secrets of The Crypts are all in here.” He taps his head. “There is plenty of information your generals will find useful.”
I almost laugh. The idea of us having generals is comical.
Then again, in times of threatening war… why wouldn’t we organize an army accordingly?
“Give me something, then,” I say. “Prove your intentions. Tell me something that would help us, something that only you would know.”
Riyu hesitates… and then he speaks.
“Beatrice was exiled, too. The King wants her dead for attempted treason. She has laboratories, horrible experimentation rooms, underground. She made six awful vampire hybrids, all of whom could withstand UV light. Perhaps they were something akin to your Convicted. I don’t know. But they were dangerous and mindless. She called them her children. She thought they would respond only to her.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“Beatrice fled as soon as the King gave the order to kill her. I don’t know how she found out. Maybe luck, maybe intuition. But she is gone, too, lost somewhere out there in the world. Dagan and I destroyed her creations. Yet the knowledge of how to make them lies still in her. She is a threat, both to The Haven and to The Crypts. If she sets up another experimentation room somewhere and manages to make more, there’s no telling how strong they might become.
“The good thing is that these hybrids take a long time to grow. But for as long as she is still alive, they are a ticking bomb, waiting to explode. It is in your coven’s best inter
est, and here I am being genuine, to find her, kill her, and destroy any new hybrids she has made. Otherwise, vampires the world over will face an entirely new threat.”
I consider the tale for a very long time. Finally, I say, “What proof do you have?”
He smiles. “Only my word, Raul.”
I grumble in irritation and then say, “It will do for now. But I’m warning you, Riyu. If you prove false, or if you so much as even think of lifting a finger against Eleira, you will be dead before you can blink.”
“Eleira’s a big girl now, if she is Queen.” Riyu looks up at the sky. “She resurrected the wards. I do not think she’ll be threatened by someone like me.”
“We go find her, then,” I say. “And see what she has to say about all of this.”
Chapter Forty-One
Eleira
The Haven
I follow Phillip down the curving stairs leading to the generator.
We reach a long and narrow hall. There’s a steel door on the far side.
He extends a hand to it. “After you.”
I smile. “You want me to turn my back on you? I don’t think so.”
He exhales. “Eleira, if you remember, I am still bound by your oath.”
“You’re quite capable of weaseling your way out of it,” I say, “if I’m not careful. So go on. You first. Your Queen commands it.”
He opens his mouth as if to protest, then snaps it shut and walks out in front of me.
As he passes, I see a hint of those black specks swirling in his eyes.
He reaches the door. I’m a step behind him. He puts his hands on the circular vault handle and turns it until the door opens.
My breath is taken away by the machinery I see inside.
I never had a mind for mechanics, or electronics. Never was I interested in how engines or radios work. But the structure I see in front of me is magnificently elegant. It’s nothing like a simple hunk of metal forced into some ugly shape, like a hot water tank or a furnace.
This one looks like it was made by an artist’s hand.
Phillip nods toward a glass orb near the ceiling. “Magic is supposed to collect in there,” he tells me. “There’s a conduit above ground that I’ll have to show you next. You direct a portion of the throne’s might to it, and the generator will do the rest.”
