Faerie Empire: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Vampire's Bane Book 2)

by Marian Maxwell

  It was a short descent. Below the skylight was a simple study area of wooden armchairs and partitioned work stations, each with a little light next to it. Typical of any student library, and empty. But they all smelled the monsters inside. They were not immediately near, so Clint went down. His padded feet touched the linoleum floor so softly that even Laura didn’t hear it. She went next, then Zyzz. He wished that there had been a seer with them to enchant the rope. Make it untie itself on his command, like Frodo’s, which had been so useful for him on his trip to Mordor.

  Fortunately, I’m not going to Mordor, Zyzz thought. Not yet, at least. All gifted knew that the Lord of Rings was only too true; that Mordor was the demon realm, and Sauron the Demon King, Diablo.

  So what Zyzz did was take the rope and throw it back up, through the skylight, to land in a tangle on the terrace. That way, all a creature on patrol would see is the open skylight, which they may or may not remember had once been closed. As long as it stayed open, the three of them could go out the same way they got in by forming a human ladder. The distance was short enough that the person at the top could grab hold of the edge and stay put as the person on the bottom, then the person in the middle, climbed over him to escape. And hopefully one more. Where would they be keeping Mona?

  Zyzz’s studies did not require much time in the Academy library, to say the least. That was true for all of the shifters, who spent more time in the woods and in the enchanted areas at the edge of the illusion that hid the Academy from the ungifted world. The U.S. government would have an apoplectic fit if they found out there was a magic college taking up five-hundred acres in Oakland.

  None of them knew the library’s layout. But they did know Mona’s scent. Laura, Clint and Zyzz all signalled that they weren’t picking it up. They had to move on, staying alert and out of sight until one of them smelled a trace of Mona. After that, they would at least have a clear direction.

  They stayed partially shifted, only their ears, noses and feet transformed as they sneaked through the rows of books. Zyzz signalled the others to follow him toward the staircase, that went up through the core of the library, linking all of the floors.

  The stench of brimstone hit them all at once.

  On instinct, the three friends hunkered down and held position. Hoping that a spell hadn’t just been cast on them.

  Nothing happened. But someone, or something, nearby was using black magic. And the smell of ghouls and demons and other, unknown creatures was tremendous. Almost overpowering. None of them had been surrounded by so many hell spawn before. If not for their few exposures to demons over the course of Lydia’s training, it might have been too much for them. Over stimulation, basically making their sense of smell blind to anything else.

  Laura and Clint were both squinting. Their eyebrows furrowed in concentration as they tried to sort through all the smells that were hitting them.

  Zyzz couldn’t say how many hell spawn were inside the library. The strength of the smell told him they were everywhere, numbering at least fifty. All the windows and doors were shut, keeping all the scents stale and trapped inside, making it even harder on the shifters to trust their noses.

  A slight breeze, coming in through the open skylight, provided some relief. The fresh air helped weaken the brimstone smell, and clear out the old odors of creatures who had passed through the area but were not there anymore.

  Zyzz was able to discern the old smells from the new ones. His nose, and a few, small noises caught by his wolf ears, told him that there were ghouls with them on the third floor. A group of them, walking in a circuit.

  Going by Clint’s expression, he was still trying to get past the stench of brimstone. He couldn’t sort the old smells from the new ones. He was lost, blind by shifter standards.

  Laura’s ears were twitching. She was staring at the ground, attention rapt on picking up the smallest noises around them. The three of them were still crouching in waiting silence, in the narrow confines of one the rows of library shelves. The row was long, going all the way back to the far wall and straight ahead to the carpeted path hugging the inside wall of the library’s third floor.

  That was almost certainly where the ghouls were coming from. Zyzz only smelled that they were in the area. The breeze was not strong enough to update him on their current position. He signalled to Clint, ‘enemies nearby.’ Laura touched her ears then pointed to the ground, signalling that she had a read on the ghouls, and that Zyzz and Clint should wait for her to tell them when to move.

  Zyzz had met Clint and Laura when they were all in their first year at the Academy. It had not been a friendly beginning. He and Clint butted heads enough times that they had their first fist fight four months into the school year. What followed was a series of matches to determine who would be the alpha of their class. Zyzz won, Clint lost. Then they became best friends. The tension was behind them. They had beaten each other up, watched how the other handled themselves after both victory and defeat. There was nothing but respect between them. All as Lydia planned to happen. It was her job to make sure the pack got along. There were no long-lasting feuds in the shifter hall.

  It took another year for Zyzz to fall into the role of alpha. His pride wasn’t as prickly as it once was. He did not mind temporarily taking a follower position. Instead of relying on himself and himself alone, acknowledging how Laura was superior and letting her guide them. Still, he had to consciously relax his muscles. Keep himself from wasting energy. Draining himself out with stress early on. It is no easy thing for an alpha male to rely on a woman in his pack. Especially when hell spawn are right around the corner.

  Fifteen seconds passed. Then thirty.

  Laura signalled Zyzz to move out from the cover of the bookshelves. He peaked around the corner, checked both sides, and stepped onto the carpeted path. Clint and Laura followed. They went on all fours, staying low, and reached the main staircase undetected. Zyzz could hear the hell spawn by that point. They were walking away from the staircase, having recently passed it.

  Zyzz nodded at Laura. She had guided them well.

  Now it was his turn. Zyzz knew Mona’s scent best. He searched for it, shifting through all the other smells…Signalled that it was not there. She hadn’t passed this way.

  The patrol would be coming back soon, making its way around the path. Zyzz had a choice to make: up, or down.

  ‘Up,’ he signalled.

  They took five, silent steps up the staircase. Another wave of brimstone hit their senses. An invisible bell began to chime, directly over their heads. Zyzz tried to move, but thick, Arctic ice formed around his feet.

  A ward!

  Zyzz had walked them right into it. He didn’t need Laura’s ears to hear the excited shrieks of hell spawn.

  11

  Mona’s black, short-sleeved dress sparkled under the Faerie sun. It was the sapphires that sparkled, to be specific. They were each the size of her middle knuckle and sewn into the smooth fabric. They were set in lines, two inches apart, following the map of her arteries. Up her arms and down her legs, and on her high, stiff collar, where a sapphire larger than the rest shone in its place against her jugular.

  It had taken the Hyde family’s gifted tailor thirteen hours to take Mona’s dimensions and craft her dress. The sapphires had been lying around, not being used by anyone. A gift for Yonafrew, from many decades ago. The Hyde family was like that: rich beyond belief, and tremendously generous.

  Mona could hardly believe her good fortune. The dress was one of many that would soon fill her spacious closet. Each was designed for different occasions: ballroom dancing, dinner parties, strolls through the park, shopping (if she was in the mood to do it herself), magic training, and anything else she wanted. The fabric was much softer than what they had forced her to wear at the Academy. And the Hydes had actually taken the time to make sure it fit her body. It was neither baggy nor tight.

  “Are you ready?” the man with the scissors asked.

  Mona took a
deep breath, and nodded. She held the air in her lungs and stiffened as the Hyde’s hairdresser snipped off a huge portion of Mona’s hair.

  It’s just hair. That’s all. Everyone has it. No reason to get emotional. Don’t get emotional.

  Her raven black hair had been long since…well, since forever. Mona had always kept it that way. She had decided, after mulling over a small comment from Yonafrew, that short hair suits her better.

  She fiddled with one of the sapphires. They were all heavily enchanted to open up the flow of magic through her body. Make it easier for her to draw on her connection to the behelit seed. In the event that she lost control, the sapphires would then act in reverse, cutting off the flow before Mona burnt out.

  It was a shame that the Masters hadn’t made the dress for her. They should have treated her with more respect. She was bound to a behelit seed, after all. It’s only a matter of time until I’m one of the most powerful magic users in the world. Fools. They don’t know the mistake they made.

  Mona was imagining how fun it would be to rift back to the Academy, and conquer it. Become their queen. Make new rules. Set things straight. Yonafrew had a lot of ideas on that. He was smart.

  Mona continued to daydream, doing her best to ignore the long pieces of hair falling free. A wind spell, the work of the hairdresser, assured that not a single strand ended up on her dress.

  Snip, snip, snip.

  More strands joined the hair already floating in the air. Then they were gone, whisked away to the garbage bin, out of sight. The more of her hair that was cut off, the less Mona thought about her old life, and the Academy. Her thoughts turned to the seed.

  It was then that Lord Hyde came to join her outside. He crossed the perfectly cut grass with long, confident strides. Past the groomed trees and hedges, to where Mona sat on an ornate, white chair in the middle of the yard. They were still on the estate; it was one of many gardens on the Hyde estate.

  A servant came after Lord Hyde, discreet, and looking quite pale. He carried a tall black chair. When Yonafrew paused at a friendly distance from Mona, the servant quickly placed the chair on the ground directly behind him. He rushed off, but not before Mona saw a smear of blood on the side of his neck.

  Uncouth. Disrespectful, she thought. The servants should be thankful to work for a noble family. The least they can do is keep themselves clean.

  She sniffed, reminded herself to inform the head butler when she next saw him.

  “It is time I told you about the behelit,” said Lord Hyde.

  Mona leaned forward in eagerness—and was gently pushed back into position by her hairdresser. “I want to know everything,” she said.

  Yonafrew chuckled, as he did whenever Mona was brazen. His lips were stained dark red.

  Wine? Mona didn’t put it past him. Yonafrew and his friends are drinkers, that’s for sure. Hardly an hour passed that she didn’t see him sipping a beverage from that onyx and ruby goblet of his.

  “Of course you do, my dear,” Lord Hyde replied. “It’s only natural. Such vast power is at your very fingertips. You only need to know how to control it.”

  Mona bit her lip, but did respond. She waited for her mentor to continue. My first lesson! she thought, with glee.

  “My son warned you of a curse. It is true, our family has suffered for many generations because of the behelit. But it was a sacrifice that I chose.” He paused, gazing at a building in the distance. Mona saw that it was the royal family’s palace, the tallest structure in all of Lodum. Dwarfing even the Hyde estate, and casting its long shadow across Yonafrew’s rooftop, along with all of Lodum, each and every day. A darkness passed over Lord Hyde’s face. A twitching of muscles, so slight to be barely noticeable.

  “The Morioka family, the royals. They hold all of the behelit seeds. All the ones in the civilized parts of Faerie, that is. It is how their family came to rule over us, and why they still remain in power. The head of each noble house is bound to a seed, and the seed itself remains in the King’s possession.”

  “What is the value in that?”

  “There is a thirst that comes with the binding. You have not felt it yet because you have not come into control of the seed’s power. Once it has ahold of you, it will twist you. Turn you into something more than human. More than fae.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Mona. The hairdresser finished. He held a mirror for Mona to see what he had done.

  Her black hair had been shortened to the bottom of her jawline. The thick locks fell straight down, still long enough for Mona to tuck behind her ears. Seeing that she was satisfied, the hairdresser swept his wind spell through Mona’s hair, tussling it all over the place and clearing it of loose hairs. He bowed, gathered his tools from the round table where he had set them, and entered the Hyde mansion. The door clicked shut behind him.

  Mona sighed, touched her hair. It was soft and full, thanks to the shampoo a servant had left inside her private, five piece bathroom.

  “You look like nobility now,” said Yonafrew, with simple earnestness.

  Mona gulped. Did not know how to reply, so asked another question. “What is the thirst? Do you mean for power?”

  Yonafrew laughed, and not in the controlled manner that Mona was used to. This was a full-on belly laugh, that left her mentor wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “No, my dear. I do not mean that kind of thirst,” he said, once he could speak again. “It is the thirst for blood. Gifted blood. The more magically powerful, the more it quenches the thirst.”

  “Vampires.”

  “Yes. I’m glad that you are remaining calm. Most people are not so understanding.”

  “Is that what you are?”

  “I am afraid so. Augustus lied when he told you that we have demon blood. It is what the fae nobility tell everyone. We must, to protect ourselves.”

  Mona wasn’t sure what to think. A small part of her brain screamed at her to run. It dwindled, diminished as she looked into Lord Hyde’s eyes. They told her that she was safe. He had been nothing but grand to her. And now he was being honest. Vulnerable. Exposing himself, and a great family secret.

  “Of course,” said Mona, trying to act like being a vampire was the most ordinary thing in the world. If the fae elite are all vampires, then it can’t be that bad.

  “It was necessary,” Yonafrew continued. His black suit jacket had large lapels, in an outdated yet stylish fashion. A sudden gust of wind caught them, making them flutter. At the same time, Mona’s hair was blown over her face. The wind went up under her dress, catching the edge and making it flutter.

  Yonafrew looked again at the royal palace. “These words are best said indoors,” he said.

  They went to a solarium near the top of the Hyde mansion. There were many plants inside, some small, some so large and overflowing from their brown, ceramic pots that they seemed to taken from a jungle. The walls and ceiling was made of a single piece of perfectly clear glass, curved so that they were no hard angles.

  Lord Hyde stopped just inside the entrance and seated himself at a tall tea table. He motioned for Mona to take a seat. How large is this place? There were still so many rooms that Mona had not seen. This one stretched on, for how far she could not say, as her sight was blocked by the fronds of all the plants. Chirping of birds told her that the solarium was more than a simple garden; it had been built to house both flora and fauna.

  Mona smoothed out the back of her skirt and sat on one of the high chairs. Her feet rested on a bar at the bottom of the chair, similar to the design of a barstool. Lord Hyde poured her tea, which had somehow been ready for them when they arrived.

  “No one can fully control the seed’s power without having the seed itself,” Lord Hyde stated. “It will slowly possess you, dominate your thoughts and dreams.”

  That dark glint in his eyes! Lord Hyde has experienced this himself.

  “How horrible,” Mona said, setting down her delicate teacup on its saucer. “I still want it.”

  “Y
es,” Yonafrew said, almost a hiss. “The will to power is strong in you. I sensed it from the very beginning. It is why I chose you as my apprentice.”

  It clicked in Mona’s mind. “You had to become a vampire. It’s the only way to stop the possession.”

  Lord Hyde smiled. “Believe me, we looked for other ways. Generations going back a thousand years. All tried, and failed. The heads of noble houses who refused to become vampires when it was their time to bind to the seed all went mad. Their houses quickly fell into chaos.”

  “It’s not fair.”

  “No, it isn’t. We did not want to be this way. But so it has been, for millennia. The Faerie King keeps the seeds, and we accept the curse.”

  “The curse of being a vampire.”

  “In exchange for our power,” said Yonafrew, and he smiled widely, showing off his twin fangs. Then took a small sip of tea.

  Savagery and civility. Yin and yang.

  “Why force you to do it? Why not just give you the seed?”

  “The royal family can destroy the seed at any time, and end our power. They keep our loyalty this way.”

  “But they do not have my seed, not yet.”

  “No,” said Lord Hyde. “Not yet.” He sighed. “But it does not matter. Your seed is far away. Too far to cast the spells necessary to stop the possession. You must become a vampire.”

  12

  I must have the seed.

  I must have the seed.

  I must have the seed.

  Mona repeated the mantra as she lay in bed. The light of the morning sun shone in through the open curtains.

  Her conversation with Lord Yonafrew Hyde the day before, the knowledge of her fate, had dominated her thoughts ever since.

  Being bound to a seed is only a curse if you don’t have the seed itself.