Darklight 5: Darktide

by Forrest, Bella

  “If you don’t let me sharpen these instruments at some point, getting a clean cut will be impossible,” he grumbled to the guards.

  Although they didn’t respond, they watched with interest as he moved around the table, trying to keep the fabric from crinkling as he cut with a pair of apparently blunt scissors. With a grunt of frustration, Juneau raised his head, spotting Laini as he did so. A surge of joy broke across his handsome but exhausted features, an unrestrained expression that he reeled in somewhat when he saw me just behind her. I unexpectedly had the feeling that perhaps I’d stumbled somewhere I didn’t belong.

  “Ladies,” Juneau said, stepping forward with open arms and a smile to greet us. Even the guards and restraints couldn’t dampen his style and dramatics. He jerked to a stop as he reached the end of his rope, which was tied to a metal ring in the wall. He dropped his arms with an awkward laugh. “Well, it’s nice to see you. Since I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again, a visit is a very welcome distraction.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Juneau,” Laini said warmly, stepping closer to place her hand briefly on his forearm.

  “How did you make it here?” I asked him, curious. The two guards shifted uncomfortably but didn’t make any comment about the unfamiliar vampire and human who had turned up to talk to their charge.

  “I went on the run with all my staff. After I dropped Laini off at a stone circle with Kreya, I returned to the Gray Ravine, where a group of vampires led by your friend Kono found me. He offered shelter here, although he couldn’t convince his fellows not to tie me up. I understand, of course, considering I’m a ruler and all that pesky business. They blindfolded me on the way in and then shut me away under guard. I was told the rest of my staff also found their way here, but I haven’t seen them and don’t know what condition they’re in.” There was an edge of resentment in his voice at being treated like a criminal. “I keep telling them I can assist them, but they only let me work with this ghastly fabric to make clothes. I requested a meeting with the elders to advise them on a color palette, but they refused. Can you believe that?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh before gently explaining to my friend, “They use this fabric because it’s durable and available. There’s no room for luxury here, Juneau.”

  He exhaled slowly, nostrils flaring. “You can survive with style. They’re not mutually exclusive. Can’t you talk to them about letting me do more? I could at least work with some makers to design better fabrics.”

  Laini gave him a fond look. “I’m happy you’re alive, Juneau, and I’ll see what I can do. But you need to understand that the Hive members don’t trust rulers at all.”

  “I know that,” he said with a grimace. “I just want to help however I can.”

  I studied their interaction carefully. So much had changed between these two in a few days.

  Laini glanced at me and cleared her throat. “We’re trying to negotiate with the Hive about other plans, so we’ll see if we can include your offer of help in our discussions. It might help prove your worth to them.”

  Juneau sighed pitifully. “Between a complete lack of interest from my family about my well-being and the power of my wealth in social circles … well, I’m not very used to having to prove myself.”

  “I know this is all very different for you,” I said sympathetically. “The past few months have made me very familiar with having to find my feet in strange places. If you have the chance to prove yourself, you should take it. But trust isn’t built quickly. We all know that. Many of the vampires here have lived through the horrors you’ve only read about. It might take some time for them to let their guard down.”

  “But we’ll do everything we can to help you fit in here,” Laini promised. “Even if we can’t get you out of this room immediately.”

  Juneau shrugged with a slight smile. “It’s not unbearable here. I have a continuous, rotating audience, after all.” Here he waved to the two guards, one of whom hesitantly waved back. He turned back to Laini with an honest, serious gaze. “And things are infinitely improved now that you are here, but try to get me out when you can. My fingers are blistering from the work. You’ll visit me every now and again when you’re not busy saving everyone else, won’t you?”

  “Oh,” Laini muttered. “I—I’m not really saving anyone. But of course I’ll visit you.” She averted her eyes.

  A headache was blooming behind my eyes, likely caused by the fact that my emotions were in shambles, and so I covertly slipped away, giving Laini and Juneau some privacy (albeit with guards), searching for somewhere to calm my own thoughts. Farther down the hallway, I found another storeroom, where I tucked myself behind a pile of crates and sucked in a deep, wavering breath. Gate Maker crawled out of my pocket, perching on my knee to stare up at me with his knowing violet eyes.

  “Tough day?” he ventured.

  I nodded.

  He returned the gesture as sagely as a lizard could. “You see an unfortunate number of those over the course of your life, trust me.”

  “It feels like the world keeps spinning faster and faster, and I’m desperately trying to keep up,” I confided, letting my eyes fall shut for a moment. I’ve always been the capable one. Who am I if I can’t help everyone? I’d hoped that on this second mission, I would feel less off-balance in the Immortal Plane. It was true that the physical side effects were easier to process this time. Unfortunately, the uncertainty of how we should proceed in this conflict clung to my throat like one of the wire collars at the sanitarium. Already I was weary from trying to negotiate through the infighting between factions.

  Gate Maker grunted, breaking me out of my mental spiral. “In times such as these, it is crucial to take care of yourself.”

  “How?”

  “Listen to your feelings, but do not let them overwhelm you,” he answered honestly. “Most beings would be better off if they did that. Otherwise you end up like Irrikus, lashing out with every ugly emotion, totally ruled by his passions rather than looking past his internal world and putting his energy into those around him.” His gaze turned inward momentarily. “The price of power can mean abandoning parts of yourself. Sometimes the best parts.”

  We sat together for some time in silence. For the first time, Gate Maker had spoken without self-interest or defensiveness. I thought over his words, determined to do as he suggested and not let my anger, as unwieldy and powerful as it was, rule me. I took a breath, smothering the rage for now.

  It was progress.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was the end of the day, and we were entwined together behind a pile of supplies in a storeroom, a few doors down from our makeshift barracks. While everyone else slept, Dorian and I had slunk away in the shadows in search of a bit of privacy.

  Dorian brushed my knee with his hand. “What did you want to show me?” he asked, dancing his fingers up my thigh.

  “Not that.” I smirked.

  I leaned over to grab the pack of single-use syringe needles I’d stashed here earlier. Dorian watched curiously as I opened the pack with a flourish.

  “It’ll make the curse treatment a bit easier.” I pulled out one of the sealed syringes. “I don’t want to ingest your blood every time we do this.” I gave an exaggerated shudder, remembering the taste. Since drinking his blood hadn’t staved off the curse for long, I thought that this time we could try exchanging blood via injection. “We won’t be able to draw multiple syringes to keep a supply handy because the blood will coagulate and become unusable. So, we have to make some time for this every night.”

  “It won’t just coagulate. If we don’t use it fast enough the traces of your aura in the blood will fade, which is a problem if my assumption that the mingling of our auras is part of what’s stopping the curse, is correct.” Dorian sat up and took the sealed syringe from my hand. “But I’m willing to try it, if you think you know how to do it. Have you ever used things like this before?”

  “Not really,” I admitted. “Okay, not
at all. I did some research before we left, and I’ve had enough blood drawn in my life to have some idea of how the process works. Ideally, I’d like Sylas to do it, but I don’t think a Bureau medic would inject me with vampire blood just because I asked nicely. For the foreseeable future, this is our issue to deal with.” I paused, and Dorian’s eyes glittered with interest as I went quiet, too attentive for his own good.

  “What is it?”

  “I’ve been experiencing something strange,” I admitted, knowing that total transparency was necessary when we were embarking on such a risky experiment. “The last day or so I’ve been getting these spikes of rage, and these migraines that come from nowhere.” I kneeled on the pile of blankets we were sitting on. “It only started after I drank from you, so I don’t know if that’s the cause, but…”

  “But we’re also in the middle of a high-pressure situation?” Dorian suggested, following my suggested train of thought.

  I shrugged. “It’s been a tough few months. My life has been turned upside down, and things are only getting more complicated every day. Struggling with anger is not a strange thing at this point. I just want to be sure it wasn’t caused by me drinking from you.”

  Dorian took my hand. “I absolutely support you in that. Do you have any idea how we can figure that out?

  “While you were with the kids today, I took some time to think things through, trying to find an answer.” I squeezed his hand. “The only thing we’ve done differently from when Zeele triggered this the first time, is that you didn’t drink from me. I think we need to swap blood for this to keep working.”

  Dorian stared at the needles, nodding thoughtfully. “I think you’re right. We’ll take it slow this time and see if your anger issues get worse or better. If it’s not the blood causing the anger, then talk to me or Zach or Gina or anyone you’re comfortable with if you’re feeling out of control.” He drew me back down to curl into his side. “And promise me that if you’re really worried about yourself, you’ll tell me, and, if needed, we can discuss if you feel like you need to go back to the Mortal Plane.” I started to protest, but he hushed me, not condescendingly but with a desperate worry in his eyes. “I promise I’ll do the same if I feel I’m at risk to myself or others. We’ve been through a lot, Lyra, and we can’t let it destroy us before we reach the finish line.”

  “Okay,” I agreed after a moment. “I’ll tell you if I feel like I’m spiraling.” I hated the idea of leaving my team in the Immortal Plane, but Dorian was right: we were no use to our cause if we were no longer functioning safely. I’d do my absolute best to follow Gate Maker’s advice about not being ruled by my emotions and work hard to make sure I didn’t become a liability when I was needed as a leader. My hands fluttered to his chest. Before we started with any needles, blood, or risk, I wanted something else.

  Dorian hummed with pleasure as I captured his lips in a fierce kiss. His touch seared me in the best way, and even as the heartburn of the curse flared, it was barely noticeable beneath the pleasure.

  I sighed as we broke apart. This was why swapping the blood was worth it. It seemed to be working… even while all our other plans were experiencing setbacks.

  Over Dorian’s shoulder, a movement caught my attention. Gate Maker, in lizard form, was perched on a crate, staring at me with unblinking violet eyes. Dorian hadn’t seen him, so, as I leaned forward to hug Dorian, I gave Gate Maker a pointed glare that Dorian couldn’t see. I hadn’t brought Gate Maker along to judge my life and relationship. I was a grown woman, damn it.

  The reptilian form blinked and scurried away, either uncaring or suitably chastised.

  Dorian grabbed the sealed syringe, holding it out to me as he bared a forearm. “Ready?”

  I swallowed my fears, taking the needle. “Definitely.”

  * * *

  Our third day at the Hive began with a meeting with the elders of the council. Just as the last time we’d faced the council, Dorian was the representative for our group. He’d been polite and humble, assuring the elders that it had never been the intention of our team to draw attention to the Hive or cause chaos in Itzarriol. Kono stepped up to corroborate that he had been the one, while under torture, to leak the scraps of information that led to the discovery of the safehouse.

  Dorian had then once more presented his offer of sanctuary in the Mortal Plane, calling up vampires from the VAMPS camp who hadn’t been with us on our last visit. Neo, Drinn, Harlowe, Rayne, Castral, and Bravi all gave calm and detailed testimony about the benefits and protection available, vouching for the trustworthiness of the humans who had set up the compound.

  As Bravi returned to sit by me, Mox, the small-statured head of the council, leaned forward, her bright cerulean eyes hard. “You keep telling us how safe this camp in the Mortal Plane is, yet when you asked for our aid previously, you told us that the Mortal Plane was under attack as well. Now there are these out of control, revenant vampires running loose. Can you absolutely guarantee our safety?”

  Mox had been kind to us the first time, or at least kinder than the others, but her expectation had been that our mission would be a quiet one. It had been anything but quiet, and now we had lost her favor.

  Dorian stepped forward. “I will not make you hollow promises, so I will not give you an absolute guarantee. But the Mortal Plane is safer than here, even if just for the short term. You would be beyond the reach of Irrikus and his hunters as they cannot survive there for long. They require the ambient dark energy of the Immortal Plane to live.”

  Mandola leaned forward, his golden eyes focused. “So you are trying to convince us to leave a familiar place, that you say will not be safe for much longer, for an unfamiliar place that is also, arguably, unsafe? You are asking us to evacuate vulnerable vampires, relics, and tomes of knowledge from the Hive to flee from enemies you insist will breach our walls any day. Yet you would send us to a place where we are equally reviled and would be at the mercy of those who, only a few years ago, hunted us to extinction in the Mortal Plane.” He sat back. “What you ask is impossible.”

  I wasn’t surprised by this reaction; they were understandably scared, and we were asking them to leave the place they saw as an impenetrable sanctuary for somewhere they knew nothing about.

  “At least in the Mortal Plane you are out of the reach of the rulers and hunters,” Dorian insisted. “You keep saying that you want to protect the history of our race. I want the same thing; I can promise you that. My whole team does, humans and vampires alike.”

  Glim, his lanky limbs emphasizing his spider-like appearance, cocked his head. “Yet you are already connecting with the Coalition, a group that has repeatedly challenged the council’s authority?”

  Mox quieted the other elder. “After your actions in Itzarriol that disregarded the terms of our previous offer of aid, you must understand that we are not quick to trust you on your word alone." She gave Dorian a hard look, but I could see the exhaustion in her face. "The events at the sanitarium have drawn fresh hatred of the rulers and Immortal Council toward us. It is the genuine belief of this council that the danger you warn us of is being created by those of you going out to stoke the blaze. If you would stop, we might be able to retreat once more into invisibility and safety.”

  I studied the crowd for reactions and found myself surprised by just how much the audience had changed since last time. The crowd was far more diverse—vampires, makers, harvesters, and wildlings sat among the attentive spectators. Some of those in the crowd nodded in support of the elders, but others scowled and exchanged meaningful glances. Zach gave me a wide-eyed look, and I understood his alarm. It was a tangled political situation to land in the middle of.

  “Your request for more aid is insulting, after what you did,” Pyma piled on icily. “Our safehouse was compromised, you then immediately started fraternizing with a ruler, and then made the unbelievably stupid decision to walk into Irrikus’s palace where your team, naturally, got arrested.” She sneered. “We’ve all h
eard the dramatic tale of your noble escape from the sanitarium with your hordes of brand-new acolytes, but what you didn’t consider is that your actions simultaneously cut off our main source of food and provided more mouths to feed.” Her glare landed on Kono at the front of the crowd. “We tried setting limits on the number of creatures we could accept into the Hive, but some have decided they are above such rulings.”

  Kono immediately reared up to protest. “I cannot in good conscience leave anyone out in the wilds,” he argued. “The Coalition has brought you numerous reports that the numbers of hunter patrols in the area are beginning to increase. Anyone wandering in the wilderness is vulnerable, and now that the sanitarium is gone, death is guaranteed. You speak of protection, but you ask me to turn away from those in need, to condemn them to death?”

  Memories of the sanitarium’s experiment rooms and torture chambers floated to my mind. Once again, I felt the panic and despair that had nearly overwhelmed me after I’d been separated from all my comrades.

  “The more strays you drag in through the tunnels and the front of the cave, the more likely it is that one day you’ll lead hunters straight to us,” Pyma snapped, her one eye burning with anger. “Unless you are trying to prove your claims that attacks are imminent by causing them yourself?”

  There was an angry clamor from various members of the Coalition. With a sharp hand gesture, Mox signaled for Pyma to back off, then stood, holding everyone’s attention despite her diminutive stature. I felt my heart rate rise, but calmed myself, knowing I needed to remain calm and attentive.

  “If you work with us to remain hidden, and silent, the upheaval of evacuations and the price of open warfare will not be necessary,” Mox said. “We are trying to preserve normalcy here, for the sake of those we protect within the walls of the Hive.”

  Movement from the crowd caught my eye as Reshi stood, her catlike face curled in disappointment as she coldly regarded the Hive elders.