Darklight 5: Darktide

by Forrest, Bella

  “Dorian’s group cannot reverse what has happened, but at least they are trying to prepare for the outcome, just as the Coalition is trying to do,” she argued. Her presence commanded the attention of the entire room. Leadership came naturally to her, when she wanted to make her voice known. “If chaos is hunting you down, your only choices are to hide, run, or fight. You cannot hide here forever. You know that. We all know that. So, you can either run or fight. As you keep saying, not all your people can fight. Dorian is giving them somewhere to flee to. For those who want to fight, the Coalition is offering the support and tools to do so.” She paused, eyes going glassy. “I lived my entire life in that forsaken city. Irrikus and his hunters won’t stop until all vampires, and those of all castes who defy him, are destroyed.”

  Mandola stroked his beard thoughtfully, but Glim frowned.

  “We do not have the ability to fight them,” the long-limbed elder said. “And we cannot be sure that moving to this supposed haven in the Mortal Plane would be any safer than staying here. At least here in the Hive, we preserve some scraps of safety and remain on familiar ground.”

  “If you believe you cannot defeat them, then you’ve already lost.” Reshi turned on her heel and left the room, her position made clear. I doubted she would show her face at another meeting.

  “Regardless of the opinions of some, the group from the Mortal Plane drew more attention to vampires, destabilizing our already fragile situation,” Glim bit out. He glared at Dorian. “You have done irrevocable damage.”

  I tensed beside Bravi, who, as she listened to the elders berate Dorian, balled her hands into fists so tightly I was afraid she might make herself bleed. Despite the testimony of so many in favor of our offer, I knew the elders would not be swayed.

  One of the makers sitting nearby whispered to his companion, “Do they really think they can hide from Irrikus? He’ll hunt them down himself, if he needs to.”

  I kept my eyes on the Hive elders, who sat with carefully constructed composure at the front of the room. Would anything move them to change their minds? It was looking likely that we were going to have to find somewhere else to be our base of operations.

  Pyma cleared her throat, patting a few strands of her waxed silver braid back into place as she regained her composure. “Our aim is for cohesion and peace, a goal we hope you can all support. Now, I’d like to remind everyone that the important holiday of Helix is fast approaching. Some of you may not know, but this vampire celebration of the balance between light and darkness is an important ceremony that…”

  As Pyma kept speaking, Dorian silently left the room, the audience watching intently as he did. I knew he needed some time alone to think, so I stayed with Bravi through the rest of the meeting. The council tried with forced cheer to draw attention to the festival, talking about how important it was to celebrate survival and light. But I could see the fear in Mox’s face as she glanced across the crowd in the room, the weight of leadership heavy on her shoulders.

  * * *

  Later, Dorian and I met with the Coalition in Linus’s workshop while Sike took the rest of our Mortal Plane team on a tour of the Hive. Laini had declined joining us, instead going to visit Rhome and the children again. I wished we could’ve gone to see Rhome and the kids too, but unfortunately, politics came first.

  Among the leadership were Arlonne, Bryce, Kono, Echen, Linus, and Reshi. There were also two shaggy-haired wildlings with violet fur who looked like twins, and a harvester who acknowledged me with an uncommon lucidity.

  “Just so you know, we asked that Juneau fellow if he wanted to join the Coalition,” Bryce said. “Even offered to have the meetings down in his room, with two guards who are part of the Coalition, but he said he doesn’t do politics.”

  There was a beat of awkward silence as Dorian folded his arms wearily. “The elders really don’t trust me very much, do they?”

  “You must understand why,” Arlonne said with a snort. “You went to do an undercover intel mission, ended up destroying one of Irrikus’s most important resources, and painted a burning target on every vampire’s back. Their mistake is trying to hide the target rather than striking first. You gave them an opportunity, but they refuse to see it that way.”

  “While the results of your actions may not have been intentional,” Echen said, his voice low and serious, “the council feels betrayed. Asking them to move to the Mortal Plane on blind trust alone is not possible.”

  “Then we need to earn their trust,” I said firmly. “Somehow. We need to prove that we’re not undermining them and are only offering help.”

  Kono sighed. “They’re too terrified to listen to anything.”

  Dorian frowned in thought. “No, their reasons are valid, as frustrating as that might be. The only way forward is to move to another location. There are few places we can strike from that the rulers aren’t aware of. The Hive would’ve been an ideal base, but I don’t want to provoke infighting or endanger those sheltering here.” He sized up the Coalition’s leaders. “The revenants spreading darkness in the Mortal Plane don’t care about politics, and neither do whoever is controlling them. I’d like to work with you guys to figure out how to move forward with our goal of destroying the rulers. The revenant masters, more specifically.”

  “You’ve come to the right place,” Kono said. “Reshi is building us some weapons to level the playing field.”

  I leaned forward expectantly. “What have you managed to create so far?”

  “We’ve almost completed some models for gauntlets that charge up by stripping spells like that stone of yours, then using that power to fire blasts of burning energy,” Reshi replied, a pleased curl to her lips. “I’m sure you’ll find them satisfactory.”

  Kono shifted. “We want you to join our cause, but the Coalition doesn’t want to be held back by the Hive elders any longer.” His eyes flashed with a razor-sharp seriousness. “We want to protect the Hive and everyone in it, but we’re not going to hide. We’re going to fight.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The next few days proved one thing: the elders were right about resources being stretched thin.

  Feeding for the vampires had become much harder since the collapse of the sanitarium. Bravi volunteered with Drinn, Neo, and other warriors less involved with politics or Coalition activities to help the Hive scouts on feeding trips, but, while patrols around Itzarriol had doubled, none were straying out to where they could easily be picked off. Scouts went out but almost always returned with nothing.

  Laini, Dorian, Kono, and all those who fed well during the sanitarium attack donated as much dark energy as they could to the weakest vampires, but it was all little more than a drop in the bucket. Despite these offerings from our group and the Coalition, icy stares from original Hive members—who were clearly unhappy about sharing their home with these many refugees—continued unabated.

  Every time I walked into a chamber, I stumbled across some hushed conversation, and most muttered darkly whenever one of the refugees walked by. The Coalition appeared mostly immune to the hostility; the wildlings ignored it, the makers rolled their eyes, and the harvesters drifted eerily from place to place, apparently uninterested in the visceral reactions their presence often created.

  The day following the meeting with the elders, I approached Kono after the first of many instances of Hive vampires treating our team from the Mortal Plane with suspicion and distain.

  “They do realize that we’re here to help, right?” I asked. “Sylas is treating the wounded, Juneau is working with harvesters and makers to create new clothes for those in rags, and all of us humans are helping to organize space and resources.”

  He shrugged. “A lot of them are resentful at needing to spread resources so thin, and many agree with Pyma and Glim, who think that all these issues were caused by you, Dorian and your group. They can’t seem to accept that these were issues that have been inevitable for a long time.”

  I sighed. “I’m working on
Mox, trying to win back her favor whenever I see her around the refugees.”

  "We don't have time to win them over.” He jerked a thumb toward Reshi, who was continuing to construct the curious metal contraption in the center of Linus’s workshop. “We're working hard on our own projects, while also keeping up with our daily duties around the Hive. Once the weapons are completed, we can move out of the Hive and start making some meaningful change. If the elders and their followers are sticking to the same arguments, then we're better off focusing our efforts on recruiting able-bodied refugees to our cause."

  He had a point. Many of the refugees remembered the sanitarium's horrors and were eager to help the Coalition in any way they could. Sike and the others who were building had more help in the workshops than they knew what to do with. But too many survivors sat in tattered rags, some of them too starved and weak to help with anything; others had completely shut down due to their trauma.

  I gently tried to engage with them when I could, providing a few encouraging words, helping to clean their faces and hair, and organizing sleeping arrangements. Gina, Zach, and Laini would help most often, the four of us working together with some of the more welcoming Hive vampires to create some sense of normalcy. On the second day after the meeting, Mox had come down to the storerooms, bringing food for the wildlings.

  Addressing my look of slight surprise at her presence, she said, “I am responsible for caring for everything and everyone within the Hive. That is why I cannot, in good conscience, bring in any more refugees. I do not have the resources or space to care for them as they deserve.” She gave me a shrewd look. “I am not some selfish fool hiding from reality. It is sometimes wiser to weather a storm in the harbor, rather than try to outrun or push through it, and risk sending your ship, crew, and cargo to the bottom of the ocean.”

  “This storm risks drowning you in your harbor,” I replied, my tone respectful, pleased that I repressed the flash of frustration that threatened to rise at her continued resistance to our point of view. “I did not come from the Mortal Plane to play pirate on your ship, Elder Mox. We are merely offering you an alternative map.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I shall think about your… map,” she said, stepping away to hand out a stack of new tunics courtesy of Juneau’s talented hands.

  I told Dorian of my possible breakthrough that night as we stole away from the others once again to exchange the tiniest bit of blood, and he reacted with enthusiasm. I looked forward to these precious moments with Dorian, and every morning I awoke refreshed. The heartburn had not returned. There were still times when anger sizzled into being in my gut at the slightest provocation, but I was keeping Gate Maker’s lesson in mind; I refused to be ruled by my emotions, not when there was so much at stake. It was fine. I was fine.

  My preexisting injuries were healing faster than usual, and my focus was laser-sharp despite the long hours. The effects were incredible, and it had been only a week since we’d started our regular blood exchanges.

  * * *

  "Human allies, it's now September sixth in the Mortal Plane," I reported as we wrapped another Coalition meeting. "Don't forget to wind your watches."

  I’d stressed at the beginning of the mission that the Immortal Plane had a way of stealing time and that it was imperative to not lose track.

  Zach made a grand show of winding his watch. “Only a few days until my birthday,” he said pointedly. “I’m not expecting a party or anything but… I’m definitely expecting a party.”

  His good humor, as usual, inciting scattered laughter as Gina stepped up to place a sweet kiss on his cheek. As everyone went back to work on the various weapons arranged across the workbenches, someone tapped my shoulder.

  "Do you have a moment?" Echen asked. His graying blue hair was extra unruly today, sticking up in all directions.

  "Of course."

  We stepped into the hallway.

  He grinned. "It took me an embarrassingly long time, but I finally realized who your vampire mate is. I can see why you're drawn to each other."

  "I don’t quite understand what you’re saying," I said, taken aback.

  He tapped his forehead playfully. "My old brain thought you and Sike were just being shy about your affections, but it's obvious that you and Dorian are in love despite your attempts to remain professional in public," he said, grin growing ever larger. A spark of interest lit up his eyes. "How can you stay so close? The last I’d heard from you, being in close proximity of each other caused you both to pass out."

  My cheeks warmed, not at being found out, but at the academic enthusiasm Echen had for my love life. I hesitated, though, not knowing whether I should let him in on our secret. Our exchange of blood wasn't common knowledge and had enough of a taboo twist that I assumed most people would disapprove. I mulled it over; Echen had helped me before, and he was by far the most knowledgeable person on the subject.

  I took a deep breath and quietly explained what we’d discovered following our terrible experience with Zeele in the sanitarium. Echen listened, eyes widening as I spoke. Instead of being horrified, he grew more fascinated as I talked about the process of blood transfusion.

  A tiny clawed foot scratched at me, and I resisted the instinct to flinch. What was Gate Maker doing in there?

  "What a fascinating discovery," Echen breathed. "I'm impressed. Sike and I haven't been able to make much progress in our search for historical evidence of human-vampire couples, although I did recently meet a vampire who said she’d known a vampire-human couple. Unfortunately, she is no longer in the Hive and was reluctant to give any details during her visit. However, it was clear she thought the match was a terrible idea. Still, it could be useful to introduce you and Dorian to her, should she ever return, even if it’s just so she can give you some worst-case scenarios to look out for."

  I frowned in thought. The prospect interested me, but I didn’t want to get too excited after running into so many dead ends. Was this woman even telling the truth, or, possibly similar to Halla, merely repeating a story she had heard as a young vampire? It didn’t help that she already disapproved of human-vampire relationships.

  Echen must have seen my doubt. "If you’d prefer, I could enlist some help from the science side of the Hive to run some tests on you and Dorian. It might give us more information."

  There was a momentary panicked ringing in my ears at the memory of Zeele's sadistic face fading from view as I passed out over and over. I hated the idea of being experimented on after the sanitarium, but it could give us answers about why the cure worked and help us avoid any possible side effects.

  "I'll think about it," I promised. "Not just for my and Dorian’s sake, but for anyone else who finds themselves in this position as well."

  "More vampire-human couples are likely to form as humans and vampires travel more often between the planes," Echen said excitedly. "It’s a historical opportunity for research. Are there any other couples that I could interview?"

  "None that I know of," I replied slowly. Louise and Sike hadn’t survived past the first stirrings of the curse. Arlonne and Bryce seemed suspiciously friendly, but nothing had happened there as far as I could tell. Roxy and Kane’s interactions had caught my eye a few times, but they seemed to have stopped at flirty friendship. However, if a new couple did emerge, would it complicate our group dynamic even further? It's not like I could or should stop them. If I’d known about the curse from the beginning, would it have stopped me from falling for Dorian? Unlikely.

  Echen patted my shoulder and stepped back toward the workshop. "Think about my proposition," he called as he rounded the corner.

  I headed in the opposite direction, hoping to find Dorian to discuss the possibility of careful experimenting, when Gate Maker scratched me again… and again.

  "Hold on," I muttered, ducking into a nearby storeroom. I pulled Gate Maker from my pocket and glowered at the little lizard. "Why are you scratching me?"

  "Is what you told the scholar Echen true
?" Gate Maker asked. It was strange to hear his rumbling voice come out of the lizard. "About the vampire blood and experiments in the sanitarium?"

  "I wouldn't lie about that," I said shortly. What was he getting at?

  Gate Maker frowned as much as was possible with a lizard face. "I gave you and Dorian your privacy, so I didn’t know this was what you were doing when everyone else is asleep. If I had known, I would have warned you earlier about exchanging blood.” There was a ripple, and his form stretched into the horned red goblinoid. With the most earnest expression I had seen so far on any of his faces, he said, “I have no interest in who pairs with whom or the mingling of castes, but for the sake of your health, this experiment shouldn't continue."

  A needle of pain screwed into my left eye as I stared down at him. "Why?" I asked, trying to remain calm but hearing the defensiveness in my voice. "I feel great. It improves my reflexes, my stamina, and most importantly it lets me be in the same room as my boyfriend without passing out.” I took a deep breath, trying to quell the anger bubbling up in my stomach. “We've been careful. My darkness isn’t increasing; Dorian would've told me if it was getting worse."

  Gate Maker was insistent. "I may not know you well, but I spend much of my time in your pocket. I can hear your heart, smell your emotions. You're angrier more often than not now, aren't you? Even when you’re calm, I can hear it in your pulse. The headaches… they’re becoming more common, aren’t they?"

  As if in response, the pain flared behind my right eye, pulsing in tandem with a burst of anger soaking into my flesh. "I have a lot to be angry and upset about right now, but I’ve been managing it,” I bit out, pushing through the pain. “And who are you to suggest I’m becoming darker? Only vampires can sense such things."

  "There are creatures and beings with abilities you could not imagine,” Gate Maker corrected, morphing his hand into a tree branch, a set of knives, hissing red snakes, then back to normal. “After everything you’ve seen and learned, are you really going to limit yourself to the notion that only vampires can sense darkness? That this plane holds all the magic and wonder not present in your own?"