Dark Secrets Box Set

by Angela M Hudson

  “I’m glad he’s dead.” I folded my arms.

  “Well, despite your hatred for him, I loved him.” Arthur looked down at the ground between his feet. “He was like my own son. As was David. And now, I have lost them both.”

  I felt bad then, imagining how I’d feel if someone said they were glad Harry was dead. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, Amara. It’s this blood feud.” He closed his eyes tight, slamming a fist into his open palm. “This started before my boys’ time, and yet it tore them apart and forced me to break a promise to my dying bother that I would not turn his descendants. He would look down on me in scorn for knowing it was that very decision that took their lives from them.”

  “It’s not your fault, Arthur. If you hadn’t turned them, they’d have been dead in the war.”

  “This is true.” He looked thoughtfully to the day above. “It is immensely unjust that all of you have fallen victim to this war, and I want it to stop. I want peace,” he said. “You can bring that. You can bring order to our society. Think how many lives you will save, Amara, by ridding the world of Drake.”

  “It’s a big responsibility, Arthur,” I said in a low voice.

  “One you do not have to bear alone.”

  “But who do I trust? I mean, I always make mistakes, trust people I shouldn’t.”

  “You can trust me.”

  “Can I?”

  Arthur leaned over and lifted my face again, seeking the eye contact he so constantly desired. “The child you were to have with David was foretold to possess the power to free all vampires from the curse; to free the Immortal Damned—to free me. I wanted this nightmare to end.” He nodded to the children by the lake. “I wanted that life. So many of us do. And I know you do not trust me, but why would I sabotage the one chance I had at being cured of vampirism just to see the girl my dead nephew loved be hurt? I’m a prisoner, Amara. I am bound to the Council for all eternity.”

  “David left the Council? Why can’t you?”

  “David was sentenced to a life of torture for leaving,” he said sternly. “I don’t want to be hunted. I want a family, a life, and one day I want to die. The peace of an eternity in Heaven is a dream I had long forgot. I wanted that.” He lifted his sleeve, showing the clear veins like they were chains around his cuffs. “Not this.”

  “Oh.”

  Arthur looked at the sky again. “Even though we no longer have hope of this child—hope of being freed—there is still hope in you. With you on the throne, ruling the Three Worlds, we can allow vampires to once again live freely, peacefully among the humans.” He sighed. “It will not be the freedom we need—the freedom of being human once more—but it will be enough. And I can help you, my dear. This nightmare must end, but only you can be at the helm.”

  I scoffed, grinning. “That’s a little far-fetched, don’t you think?”

  He looked back at me. “No more than having a conversation with a vampire.”

  I laughed softly when he flashed his bright white fangs. He seemed so young, with a special kind of energy around him that made me want to tell him all my problems and spend the day laughing about how silly it all seemed. “Thanks, Arthur.”

  “For what, my dear?”

  “For making me smile. It’s not so easy lately.”

  He bowed his head. “It is an honor.”

  We sat in silence for a few minutes then, watching spring burst to life in the gardens and trees around the lake. Until he turned his gaze back to me and said, “Amara?”

  “Yes, Arthur?”

  “Will you accept me as your friend and counsel?”

  I nodded. “I will, but… suspiciously.”

  “Guilty until proven innocent then?” He smiled.

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, I can live with that for now.” We stood up, and he took both my hands, kissing one, then the other. ‘‘I must bid you adieu.”

  I nodded.

  “David was a lucky man,” he said, “to have held you for even a breath. I know your beautiful face brought him a kind of joy he had never imagined before.”

  I lowered my chin. “Thank you, Arthur. That means a lot to me.”

  “Farewell, my dear. I will keep the memory of your smile in my heart while I am away.” He rested his hand over his chest and bowed. “I hope that when we next meet it shall be under happier tidings.”

  “Arthur,” I called as he turned away.

  “Yes, my dear?”

  “Hang on.” I caught up to him and stared into his face. “Straight up, okay, no lies. Are you really on our side?”

  His eyes focused then softened. “Yes.”

  I watched for the same hint of lies David always showed. Nothing. “And Jason? He really… he didn’t want to hurt me?”

  “Not you. What you are, according to his blood oath, but never you—never the girl he was in love with.”

  My throat went dry.

  “I shall see you soon, Amara.” Arthur stroked my face once and then disappeared into thin air.

  The hard ground felt infinitely empty with his words and truths lingering in the space behind him.

  Jason didn’t want to hurt me?

  I folded over, clutching my stomach. He gave me the chance to kill him—to break the spirit bind, and I refused. I watched Mike beat him for merely trying to protect me. And his words—as he said I would never know the true measure of what he’d done—finally sunk in, haunting me.

  “You okay?” Mike materialized behind me, his arms around my shoulders, rolling me to stand again.

  “Did you… did you hear?” I whimpered.

  “Yes, baby.” He kissed my head. “We all heard it—all of it.”

  “Did—did David?”

  “Yes, he was listening too.” Mike turned me to face him and rested his hands on my shoulders, keeping me at arms-length. “Morgaine wants to see you.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.” I wiped my nose on my wrist. “I just need to calm down first.”

  “Okay, take your time?” He went to walk away.

  “Mike?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When were you planning to tell me you’re leaving, to go to this… Loslethal place, or whatever it is?”

  He chuckled softly. “It’s Loslilian Manor. I uh—I’m heading out there early to train the recruits and get to know the landscape before we send for you.”

  “So you’re leaving me—alone?”

  “No, Ara. Not alone.” Mike moved closer but stopped a step away. “Emily’s staying here. I’ll come back a few days a week to train you, and when you’re at full strength we’ll move you out to Loslilian with me.”

  “What about David?”

  “He has to stay here.” Mike nodded once. “Even when you leave, Ara, we have to maintain—to everyone except this small circle—that David’s dead.”

  I nodded, half shrugging. “Okay. But if you think you’ve got a hope in hell of getting me to leave him, you’re delusional.”

  Mike’s brows rose, dragging a conceited smile with them. “You, my spoiled little princess, will do as you’re told.”

  I huffed, wedging my hands on my hips.

  “It’s not just about you anymore, Ara. Look, it won’t be for long. David can come to Loslilian when we capture Drake.”

  “Fine. But I’m at least staying until he gets better.”

  “We’ll see.” Mike folded his arms, then looked down, chewing the inside of his lip. “So, when were you going to tell me about the spirit bind?”

  “Mike?” I hummed sympathetically.

  He shook his head, tapping his heart with a fist. “This is not a spirit bind, Ara—it’s not. I love you. I always have. Always will.”

  “I know, but I—”

  “But you don’t love me?” He nodded, his Australian accent slipping back into place.

  I looked at my feet. “It’s not real love—”

  “Right.” Mike walked backward, one step at a t
ime. “Got it. Loud and clear.”

  I let him take the heartbreak, let him walk across the road with it, a slightly hunched, sweeping step as he pinched the bridge of his nose, not looking back. He needed to hurt; he needed to feel like I’d moved on in order to find that peace himself.

  I waited until he closed the front door, then plonked down on the park bench again. I hadn’t counted on him finding out about the bind, especially not like that.

  All around me, a cold calm blanketed the lakeside park. The children had run home, leaving buckets and spades behind, the birds quietened in the trees and parents walking with prams all disappeared. It was just me and a steely breeze. And the labored breathing coming from behind me.

  I spun around, eating my heart when it jumped into my throat, my eyes taking a second to recognize the broad, sturdy husky on the grass. “Petey?”

  He stared up at me, his tongue hanging out over his white fur.

  “Petey, is that really you?”

  The dog whimpered, shuffling forward a little.

  “Well, come here, boy?” I patted my lap, losing air to the sudden mix of dog fur in my mouth and his heavy paws on my thighs, like he was some kind of puppy that could actually fit on my lap. “What are you doing here, how did you find me?”

  Surely, he didn’t sniff me out. I looked around the park. Maybe he’d been here before, with Jason.

  “Are you all alone now, Petey?” I asked, tugging the fur on his neck to get his wet dog-scented tongue off my face.

  Petey sat back on his haunches, whimpering.

  “Do you need somewhere to live?”

  He shook his head, his entire body following as if he were shaking off a flea itch.

  “So, are you just… checking up on me?”

  A high-pitched whine sounded from the back of his throat and he nudged my chin with his slimy nose.

  “I’m okay, Petey. I mean… I’m not, but I will be—when David is.”

  The dog slumped heavily against me, and I rested my arms over him for a minute. Somehow, the world didn’t seem so restless and empty with Petey beside me. They say dog is man’s best friend, but I think, for this girl, he was exactly what I needed: a companion—one that didn’t want my heart, my body or my soul. One I could confess all my deepest thoughts and nightmares to and never have to fear judgement or that round-eyed-pity-stare I got from those who loved me.

  “Petey?” I said, and the dog looked up at me. “I think you and I need to have nice long talk, somewhere far away from here.”

  29

  “So, Ara did a good job with Arthur the other day. He’s totally convinced David’s dead,” Morgaine said to an unidentified ear.

  I listened more carefully for the other voice as I sat on the floor beside David’s bed, secluded in this room as if I were alone.

  “Yes,” she continued, without anyone else speaking. “Mike went back to Loslilian this morning. He’ll start phase two of Ara’s training on the weekend.”

  I figured then that she must be on the phone. Either that or the other person was using sign language.

  “Yes, I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”

  My ears pricked. Happy to see who? This sensitive hearing thing was growing on me, but I wished I could also magically prod people and tell them to shut up. Last thing I needed was visitors.

  I looked at David. “Can’t you just miraculously wake up, so we can run away together?”

  But he wouldn’t have heard me. He was still lost deep in his induced coma.

  “Come in,” I said quietly when someone knocked.

  “Hey.”

  “Eric,” I beamed. “Hi.”

  “Hey, Amara.” He grinned widely and sat cross-legged on the floor beside me. “How you doin’?”

  “I’m okay. Was that you on the phone with Morgaine just now?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you get here so fast?”

  Eric raised a brow, a half grin on his lips. “You’re not serious, are you? Really.” He shook his head. “Mike needs to teach you how to run properly.”

  “Oh.” I looked into my lap. “Guess I just didn’t really think of the whole vamp speed thing.”

  “S’okay. I can forgive a blond moment.” He laughed, then nodded at David. “So, how’s the man?”

  I shook my head. “Not so good. I slit my wrist every few hours and coat him in blood, and Emily’s been robbing the local hospital to get human stuff, but he can’t open his eyes, I mean”—I let out a breath and sniffed it back in so as not to cry—“he doesn’t even have eyelids.”

  “I’m sorry, Amara.” Eric reached over and laid a red rose on the bedside table, the soft scent blessing my otherwise dark day with a small pang of familiarity. “If I could trade places—”

  “Thanks, Eric.”

  He took my hand, ignoring the slight electric shock of sudden touch. “How have you been coping, kiddo?”

  I took a long breath and held it. Every time someone asked me that question in the last few days it’d been in reference to coping with what happened to David. But I knew Eric meant this in reference to surviving torture—a subject no one else around here mentioned, whether for fear of upsetting me or for sheer repulsion, I wasn’t sure, but the only friend I’d had to talk to about it so far was Petey.

  “I’m okay,” I lied.

  “You’re not okay, Amara?” Eric said, softly tracing a fingertip across my collarbones. “You need to eat, girl. You’re very thin.”

  “I—” I jerked my head in David’s direction. “I don’t want to leave him.”

  “Hasn’t Emily been coming in to feed you?”

  “She offers sometimes, but I… well, I think they’ve all forgotten I’m here.”

  Eric smiled sympathetically. “They haven’t, kiddo. They’re just busy recruiting knights and organizing the refurbishment of Loslilian. They can’t have a queen come out to an old run-down manor that’s been inhabited by vampires.”

  “But they can leave her in a room for eight hours a day with her crispy husband?”

  Eric burst out laughing. “Ah, the girl finally found a decent joke book.”

  I half smiled. I wasn’t joking, but I guess that might’ve sounded funny to a vampire with a sick sense of humor.

  “Funny as that is, though, are you really alone all day?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Some days. Not all. Em comes in and out to nurse David, and Mike was taking me out for walks, but he’s gone now, so—”

  “So I should visit more then?”

  My frown turned to a smile. “I’d like that.”

  “Good. Then, consider it done. And while I’m here”—he held out his wrist—“eat.”

  I looked up at David, still not breathing, still as bad as he was the first day I saw him.

  “David’s unconscious, Amara,” Eric said impatiently. “Even if my feeding you offends him, I welcome his rebuff. Besides, he’d agree it’s better than you starving yourself.”

  “I’m not starving myself. Emily fed me last night, and offered again this morning, but I…”

  “You’re starving yourself.” His tone rose like a lawyer presenting a fact. “Punishing yourself because you blame the blood for the reason you bit David.”

  “Maybe a little,” I mumbled to myself, then look into Eric’s bright eyes. “But it’s also that I don’t think David would like it if I had your blood, Eric. He’s okay with Emily, but you’re a guy.”

  “Amara?” Eric got up and knelt beside me. “It’s not that big a deal, really. David and Emily have been sharing blood since she was turned.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a quick means of nutrients.”

  “Do they…?” The burst of shock simmered through me, making me forget how to speak. “I mean, would they have…”

  “Amara, don’t even go there.” He angled my face upward, resting his wrist to my lips. “Vampires sharing vamp blood is like a human drinking his own urine to survive.”

  I p
ulled away. “Ew.”

  “What I mean is: you can’t live on it, but it gets you through, except uh…” His eyes drifted away as he thought about that more carefully. “Drinking another vamp’s blood isn’t quite as gross as urine, but you get what I mean. It doesn’t have to be lustful.”

  “How do you know they were sharing blood? David never told me that.”

  “He never told you how many humans he killed a day either, did he? Doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing it.”

  I looked sideways at David, feeling the anger and hunger burn in me at intervals. “So, you think he won’t be upset if I drink from you?”

  “What does it matter if he is?”

  “He’s my husband, Eric. It matters.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you, my friend, are immortal now. Everything’s changed. You’re not just David’s little human girl, drinking blood from a big bad predator anymore.” He put my face back in position, bringing his wrist up again. “If you don’t feed from a vampire, you get blood starved. He has to get used to it.”

  “I suppose. It’s not like I can choose which species to survive on. Like you said, I kinda have to eat vampires.”

  Eric chuckled. “Well, you can drink from me, but the idea of being eaten isn’t so appealing.”

  “Ha-ha. You’re so funny. Not.”

  Eric rolled his sleeve a little further up his arm and then cupped the back of my head, almost forcing my lips to his skin. “Okay, so vampire etiquette one-oh-one: the wrist isn’t as intimate as the neck. If you offer the wrist it’s like offering a can of drink to a friend; if you offer the neck, it’s like sharing straws at a milk-bar.”

  “Nice analogy.” I nodded, positioning my fingers on his wrist. “Can I use my teeth with you?”

  “No, I’m not immune to your venom.”

  “Why?” I covered my fang with my tongue.

  “I had a choice of drinking either Mike’s or your blood for immunity but, well, Mike’s a guy, and you’re the untouchable.”