by E. M. Knight
Slowly, understanding starts to form.
“I think...” I say softly. “I think I know what this place is.”
“Oh?” Deanna sounds skeptical. “Do tell.”
“It’s an ancient repository,” I say. “A repository of torrials.”
“Huh?” Deanna asks.
“Yes, yes, of course, that’s it. It must be!” I’m seized by a feeling of euphoria and enlightenment. “What else would be hidden down here? What else would make sense? And, of course, you and I can’t sense it, we don’t have The Spark.”
“You’re rambling,” Deanna says flatly. “What’s your point?”
“Look, do you want to get out of here, or not?” I turn on her. “Do you want our venture to end in success? Then shut it, and trust me!”
She straightens before me. “You’re so full of yourself, you know that?” she asks. “You think nobody is better than you. But if you’re so smart, Carter, how come you never progressed past your spot on the Royal Court? How come you’ve dwelt in exactly the same place you are for so long? And what do I care for these ‘torrials?’ They have nothing to do with me.”
“Then you’re a bigger idiot than I’ve given you credit for,” I snarl. “The vampiric essence that animates us is the same stuff that gives rise to magic! If these—some of these—contain torrials, if we can find such objects in the city, imagine the power we can wield! Imagine the influence.”
“What power? What influence? You said it yourself, we lack The Spark.”
“How can you be so short-sighted?” I grunt. “The Queen was able to maintain the wards through the use of the throne. Who knows what wonders she could have achieved had she been given access to more?”
“You want to give her access?” Deanna asks, incredulously. “You want to grant her more power?”
“Of course not,” I snap. “I want to sell it to her. To her, or the highest bidder.”
Deanna’s eyes light up. Now she’s beginning to understand.
“You told me yourself, when we banded together. You want to join the outside world. You don’t want to live hidden away from modern society forever.
“Well, for that we need a different sort of power. We need money. We need wealth. And this—” I gesture around us, “—could be key to achieving just that.”
“If these are torrials here,” Deanna clarifies. “Which neither of us can tell. As you said.”
She sneers. “Face it, Carter. We’re screwed. You’re lost, and you’re pulling at straws. Your little plan didn’t work. We left the freaking Queen behind, for crying out loud! Her body’s probably buried in the rubble. She’s likely to be dead.”
“Oh, I’d put more faith in her than that,” I say slyly. I won’t tell Deanna about what I saw the Narwhark do. Why give away more secrets?
“We need to worry about us, Carter, right now. Not about getting rich.” She scoffs. “We need to figure out how the hell we get out.” She turns her back on me and takes a few steps away…
Like a snake I strike. I lunge forward and grapple her to the ground.
She cries out in surprise. But the poor woman has already exceeded her usefulness to me.
The claws of my right hand extend, and I rip them into her back, tearing out her still-beating heart.
I crush it in my hand. Blood oozes down my arm.
And just like that, Deanna is dead. Dead, gone, never to bother me again.
I stand up and turn away. I drop the heart and give it a mindless kick before it hits the ground.
It flies high and far over the tiny city structure.
With a grimace, I pull out a white handkerchief and begin to wipe off my hand. Vampire blood stains, worse than that of a human’s. I don’t think I’m ever going to get it off my clothes.
I sigh and drop the handkerchief. Then, changing my mind, I pick it up and place it over the gaping hole in Deanna’s back.
“Such a shame,” I mutter, looking down at her. “We could have made a great team.”
Quickly, I unclasp the necklace round her neck and stuff it into a pocket.
“But you just had to go on talking didn’t you?” My lips curl upward in a smile. “Fear not, dear friend. Your death has not been in vain. In fact, if anything...” My smile spreads into an even wider grin, “...It’s served to help further your purpose. And I swear to you, for this final injustice… I will get revenge on the Queen and her sons.” I touch the necklace in my pocket. “You’ve just provided me vindication of my guilt. How noble of you.”
And then I rise, and, humming to myself, stroll out of the city, back toward the cloud we fell through, absolutely confident in my ability to find my way out… and to turn the disaster with the Narwhark to my advantage.
After all, if I’m the only witness to what happened?
Who could prove my guilt?
Chapter Thirty-Two
JAMES
A CAVE OUTSIDE THE HAVEN
I watch April as she sits shivering in the middle of the cave.
Her eyes are wide. Haunted. She keeps looking around, searching the encroaching shadows for something.
For what, I don’t know. I don’t pretend to know. There’s nothing there, obviously, but her mind has made up some type of demons—
“It’s the sun,” Victoria says, as if reading my thoughts. “She’s frightened because her body knows it’s risen. It’s made her paranoid.”
I nod, deep in thought.
Victoria has proven more useful that I could imagine. She’s managed to calm the poor girl and get her to sit still. At first, April was frantic. I thought the only way of calming her down would be to force her to my will, using my vampiric influence—but I did not wish to resort to that.
Not with her so clearly vulnerable.
Victoria spoke to her, however, and some of her words had their intended effect.
Still, the only thing to do now is wait.
I touch the folded map in my breast pocket. Smithson is out there, with his sword. I’m going to find him. And when I do, I will kill him.
He won’t find the vampire James Soren so pliable this time.
But I have to bring April along. What other choice is there? And for her to be any use, she has to feed.
That means we’ll need to make a pit stop in a real city.
“So you really thought giving her animal blood would be enough, huh?” Victoria asks, settling down across from me.
I grunt. “It was good enough for Phillip, so why not her? How was I supposed to know the first feeding was so vital to a vampire’s formation? Unlike in The Crypts, we of The Haven never made a habit of adding to the spawn.”
“Formerly of The Haven,” Victoria corrects.
“Yes, yes,” I say.
I look over the blonde spitfire’s body and wonder how much I can trust her.
“You keep doing that,” she says.
I give a start. “Doing what?”
“Fondling your pocket. What have you got hidden there?”
I scowl in irritation. I’m annoyed that I’ve been so careless.
“I promised to keep your secrets, remember?” she reminds me. “So you might as well share. It’s going to be a long time till nightfall otherwise.”
In a very deliberate motion, I fold both hands at my lap. I keep them there, saying nothing.
How much do I dare reveal?
“Come on, James,” she says. “We were allies once. I saved you from your Father. Or does that no longer count?”
“A lot has changed since then,” I say. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.”
“It’s not like my life’s been a walk in the park since you got us captured,” she fires back, suddenly fierce. “I had to crawl my way out of the wreckage you caused. I had to attach myself to Smithson, that disgusting, vile—”
“Wait,” I cut her off. “You know Smithson?”
She tosses her head back. “You could say that.”
“And… you’re not a fan?” I pro
be slowly.
“Are you kidding?” She shows her teeth in a snarl. “I would skewer him with my bare hands if I got the chance.”
“Is that so?” I ask softly.
“Yes. You won’t believe the things the man made me do. How I had to degrade myself before him.” She glances down at her body. “You think I gave my powers away freely? He made me do it. He made me weak.”
“And what, exactly…” I move closer. “Did he make you do?”
“He made me share my blood with all The Haven vampires. How else do you think they healed after the battle? There were scarcely enough humans left to give a dozen injured vampires sustenance.”
“But your blood was strong enough to serve that purpose,” I say. My mind works quickly. “Interesting.”
“Is it? Why is Smithson a concern of yours?”
“Because,” I say darkly. “He tried to kill me. He thinks he succeeded. And now,” I take out the map, “now I am a ghost, returned from the dead, and I am hunting him.”
Victoria’s expression shifts. Her eyes take on the look of deep introspection. “If you can help me get revenge...” she begins.
“I think that our interests align once more,” I say. “Quite perfectly. Look at this.”
I show her the inky dot on the map. It hasn’t shifted from its location in the Rockies, but it continues that slow, steady pump… almost like a beating heart.
“What am I looking at, exactly?” she asks, sitting beside me.
I get a whiff of her feminine scent, and all of a sudden, raw, primal male desire explodes within me. I push it down. For now. Time enough for that later.
“A map showing his location in the world,” I tell her.
She reaches out. Her hand hovers over the surface. “May I?” she asks.
I nod.
Her fingers touch down, and she gently traces the black ink lines.
“It’s enchanted,” she says, in an awed sort of way. “I can feel a trace of magic. Faint, of course, so faint… but how else would it work?”
She pulls her hand away. “Who gave it to you?”
“My brother. Apparently one of The Haven’s vampires planted a tracker in Smithson’s sword. And it’s transmitting his location to us.”
“So that’s where you’re headed,” she says. “Isn’t it?”
I nod.
“Smithson… is more dangerous than you might think.”
“I don’t need the warning.” I flex my fists. “I know what I’m up against.”
She makes a sound of disbelief deep in her throat. “Really? Just like you knew about what would happen to April?”
“That’s different.”
“Just saying. I don’t want you under-prepared.”
“That never happens.”
She raises her eyebrows.
“Fine, fine,” I hedge. “I’ll… be careful.” I glance at her sideways. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you care about what happens to me.”
She scoffs. “Yeah, keep dreaming,” she says.
But there’s no malice in her tone.
For a brief moment, I feel the darkness clouding my mind parting, and a tiny ray of light shine in.
Suddenly, April bolts up.
“They’re coming!” she exclaims, eyes full of fright.
Victoria and I both race to her. “Who’s coming?” I demand.
She looks away, past me, at the shadows in the far reaches of the cave. She remains unseeing.
“They,” she repeats in a bare whisper. “They.”
She shudders once, wraps both arms around herself, and starts shaking.
“Dammit, what’s happening to her?” I curse. I look at Victoria in exasperation. “Explain!”
“I don’t know!” she hisses. She takes April by the shoulders and looks into her eyes. “April? Talk to me. Who’s coming?”
“They,” she repeats. Her skin has gone a horrible, pallid shade of white.
I grimace and gesture around the cavern. “Nobody’s coming, April,” I snap. My patience with her is very thin.
Victoria glares at me. “Losing your temper won’t help,” she says. “This is your doing, anyway.”
“My doing?” The darkness is back, and so is the rage, and so is the uncontrollable anger. “How dare you accuse me of that. She’s a damn grown woman. She should be able to take care of herself!”
“She isn’t herself, that’s the whole point!” Victoria fires back. She looks April in the eyes and moderates her tone. “April, honey, talk to me. Tell me what’s coming.”
I turn my back on the two women. Their behavior is ridiculous.
“They’re coming, they’re coming, they’re coming,” she repeats, over and over again.
Somebody grabs my shoulder and pulls me back. I snarl. Victoria is holding me in place.
“This happened before,” she tells me, voice full of concern. “With Wanda. She spoke as if she’d lost her mind.”
“April is not Wanda,” I hiss.
“No, but they were both made by you.”
“Wanda was stabbed by the Narwhark! Whatever’s wrong with April, it isn’t the same!”
“Are you sure?” Victoria asks. “Really, are you sure? Look at her face.”
For the first time this day, I look and truly see her.
She’s not just frightened. She’s terrified. Thin, dark veins spider web out from around her eyes. She is on the verge of an utter collapse. “What the hell is that around her eyes? Look!”
Victoria spins April back. The poor girl has no conception anymore of what’s going on. She just repeats her admonitions. “They’re coming, they’re coming, they’re coming...”
Victoria grumbles something under her breath. I don’t make it out. “What?” I ask.
“I said, hold her still!”
Seeing as I’ve got nothing to lose, I wrap my arms around April. She struggles against me at first, but quickly gives up.
Victoria begins to chant.
The words are of no language I know. But I’ve been around witches and vampires long enough to recognize them for what they are:
The gates to a spell.
Victoria’s voice grows fiercer, louder. A nimbus of blue light surrounds her body. She grabs April’s face and screams those foreign words right at her.
April stiffens. And then, after a moment, her energy gives out. She goes limp.
The halo of light dies.
Victoria staggers back. Sweat beads on her forehead. She looks as if she hasn’t slept for weeks.
“What did you do?” I demand.
“All that I could,” Victoria answers. “All that I have the power to do.”
“And what does that mean?”
“It means I locked her mind away, you bastard! Give me a second, at least, to recover.”
I stare at Victoria. Locked her mind where?
April has gone completely placid. She is like a zombie in my arms.
Cautiously, I let her go, afraid that without my support, she’ll fall over. But she manages to stand on her feet, somehow.
Still, it seems a precarious position. I take her shoulders and guide her down. She has the look, in her eyes, of a gelded animal.
Then I rise, and so does my anger. I turn on Victoria. “If you don’t explain yourself,” I begin…
“Please.” She scoffs and walks off, giving me the cold shoulder.
“Victoria! You will tell me what you did. Right now.”
“Or what?” She has to use the wall for support as she lowers herself to the ground. Her legs sprawl out in front of her. “What are you going to do, James? We’re both on the same side.”
Scowling, I walk stiffly to her. I know she’s right, and that irks me the most. I sit on my heels at her side.
“Explain yourself,” I say again.
She sighs. “You saw April. You heard her. It sounded like her mind was breaking.”
“Was it?” I press. “Or was it just temporary, until she could feed?
”
“I don’t know!” Victoria explodes. “But the girl was in trouble, and liable to hurt herself.”
“So you did… what, exactly?” I ask. I peer back at my only coven member. She is still as a lump of clay on the ground.
“I put a wall around her mind. It’s only temporary. Think of it as a sort of sedative for vampires.” Victoria exhales again. “We just need it to last until night.”
***
Anxious hours pass, where Victoria and I only watch April.
I think I would feel something, through that tentative link, were she truly in trouble. As is, I think—I hope—that as long as she remains awake, she’ll be okay.
And yet, being ”awake” and absolutely still? It’s unnerving.
I swear that if we get through this, the future members of the Nocturna Animalia will be properly made.
Finally, the sun starts to set. I feel the change deep in my bones. I do not need to be outside to see.
I glance at Victoria. “It’s time.”
She nods.
I take April beneath the shoulders. She’s meek as a calf.
“How long is this spell of yours going to last?” I ask the weak vampire sorceress.
She shakes her head. “I thought it would expire by now.”
My eyes narrow. “Did you harm her?”
“If I did, do you think I did it on purpose?” she snaps.
Grudgingly, I admit she’s right.
We venture out of the cave. The night is cold and the stars are bright. The air is fresh.
It feels like the perfect time for a feeding.
I start in the direction of the airfield.
Victoria doesn’t immediately follow.
“So you really did split from The Haven vampires,” she says. “Didn’t you?”
“I told you as much,” I grunt, leading April forward.
“I… don’t know if I believed you at first.”
“Doesn’t matter what you believe. You swore to me. Now come on. I don’t want to spend any longer here than we have to.”
Victoria trails after me in contemplative silence.
We reach the tall fence. I do a quick scan with my mind.
There are no other vampires close by.
