Emerald Keep

by Edmund Hughes

  “I know you’re listening, Katherine,” said Pierce. “Is he there with you? Your childhood friend?”

  Katie didn’t move, and she didn’t say anything. She stayed where she was. Jack wondered if he’d ever be able to explain to her just how much that meant to him.

  “So be it, then,” said Pierce. “I can see you’ve made your choice. Jack. I know you’re there, too. I know you won’t come out and fight me.”

  Pierce chuckled to himself. He had a smug smile on his face, like he knew that he was right, and that irritated Jack. But not enough to make him do something stupid.

  “This isn’t over,” called Pierce. “You aren’t a hard man to find. I know where you live, after all. I don’t suspect you or your broodmother will give me much trouble when I come after you. And I will come after you.”

  Pierce scanned the trees again. For an instant, his eyes passed over Jack’s, though he gave no sign of noticing. He shook his head, sighed, and wiped a copious amount of blood off his face and neck. Then, he crouched slightly and hurled himself into the air.

  It was almost like watching a superhero—or rather, a supervillain—take flight. White light and flashes of blue electricity surrounded Pierce in a translucent cocoon. He took off into the night, briefly competing with the moon for the brightest object in the sky before disappearing into the distance.

  CHAPTER 36

  “I am unused to this sort of pain,” said Mira. “I’m afraid it’s making it difficult for me to maintain my focus.”

  “You’ll be okay.” Jack furrowed as he looked at the puncture wound in her shoulder, which still hadn’t begun healing yet. “I’ll see if I can find some first aid supplies at one of the stores when we get back to town. I doubt bringing you to a doctor would be a very good idea.”

  “I agree,” said Mira. She ran a hand through Jack’s hair and sighed. “You’ve sacrificed a great deal for me tonight, my sweet Jack. I appreciate that in a way I can’t properly explain.”

  Jack smiled. He felt a little surprised by how good her praise felt to his ears.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I just tried to do what was right.”

  The key word there was “try.” Katie, standing apart from him and Mira, was evidence enough of that fact. Jack squeezed Mira’s hand and stood up from where he’d been sitting on the ground, making his way over to his childhood friend.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Katie hesitated before answering.

  “I’m managing,” she said. “I guess it’s a little easier this time around.”

  “What is?” asked Jack.

  Katie gave him a level look.

  “Seeing somebody I care about covered in the blood of other people,” said Katie. “Seeing… whatever the fuck that just was.”

  She shook her head. Jack wasn’t sure what to say, especially given how hard it was to listen to her compare him to Pierce like she just had.

  “Well, it’s over now,” said Jack. “You’ll be able to decompress once we get back to Lestaron Island, at least.”

  “I’m not going with you, Jack,” said Katie.

  He stared at her, and he couldn’t parse through her words right away.

  “What?” asked Jack.

  “I’m not going with you,” she repeated.

  She still had her new crossbow slung over one shoulder, and she let one of her hands reach across her body to run across its wooden frame, as though considering whether to pull it into her arms.

  “Why not?” asked Jack. “Why, Katie? Why do you have to make this so fucking hard? Why do you have to look at me like that?”

  Her expression didn’t soften, but she let her eyes meet his. There was no hate in them, and no malice. It was a subtle undercurrent of wariness that Jack saw looking back at him. She had the eyes of a woman who’d been burned before and now knew better.

  “Do you remember that one Halloween when we were kids?” asked Katie. “The one where you wore the Swamp Thing mask?”

  “Of course,” said Jack. “You were so scared.”

  “I was,” said Katie. “I didn’t just immediately stop being scared when you took the mask off. It wasn’t that simple.”

  Jack took a step forward, letting himself draw nearer to her than he probably should have. It had been a long night, and catching even the barest hint of Katie’s smell was enough to trigger his bloodthirst. His eyes lingered on the nape of his neck, drawn to it like he would have been to a beautiful woman in a bikini on a beach.

  “You’re scared of me,” said Jack. “Even now?”

  “There are worse things than you out there, Jack,” said Katie. “But that doesn’t mean you aren’t a monster.”

  Her words hit him hard, but only because he let them. Only because Katie was someone he couldn’t help but let his guard down around, even though he knew better. He scowled at her and exhaled through his nose.

  “Then what does that make you, Katie?” asked Jack. “I’m the monster? You chose to come along for this. You basically forced your way into this situation, to be around me, and to be around Volandar and Pierce. And if I’m a monster, Katie, then they are both something that’s even worse.”

  “Maybe.” Katie shrugged. “Probably. But it doesn’t change my decision. I’m leaving, Jack. Right now. I can find my own way back to town.”

  “And then what?” he snapped.

  “Then, I contact the Order of Chaldea,” said Katie. “I’m still joining up with them, just as I’d already been planning. I’m telling them everything. About you, about how I helped you, about Pierce. No more lies. No more fucking hiding.”

  “Why?” Jack shook his head. “How is this going to help anything?”

  “It’s the right thing to do,” said Katie. “I think it’s what Peter would have wanted.”

  “My grandfather never joined the Order of Chaldea, and actions speak louder than words.”

  Katie shrugged.

  “Either way, it’s my decision, and I’ve made it,” said Katie. “The only way you could stop me would be to kill me.”

  Jack rolled his eyes, and then considered the statement. There was another way. If he really wanted to, he could just enthrall her. Sink his fangs in deep. Drink his fill of her blood and save himself from the headache of being pursued by self-righteous, vampire hunting mages.

  Pierce had said that he was the only one, other than his former subordinate Margaret, who knew about him. Jack doubted he’d be volunteering the information to his previous employer now that he’d gone rogue.

  But it wasn’t an option. Not for him. He might be a monster, but he wasn’t evil. He smiled a little as he recognized how simultaneously ridiculous and true the statement was.

  “You’re right,” said Jack. “That would be the only way for me to stop you. And obviously I’m not going to kill you, Katie.”

  He reached out and took her hand into his before she could stop him.

  “I could never kill you,” he whispered. “Never.”

  He squeezed and let go of her hand before she could make it into a bigger deal than it was.

  “We might not see each other again for a while,” said Katie.

  “You’re right.” Jack leaned his head to the side, giving her neck an exaggerated look over. “One last time for the road?”

  “Fuck you,” said Katie.

  “That mask you were talking about before,” said Jack. “I wish I could take it off for you. So that you could see me again, underneath.”

  Katie folded her arms.

  “Do you really?” she asked.

  It was kind of a stupid question, but Jack gave it some thought. He found that he didn’t have a good answer for her, or even a bad one. He’d had a chance to take the mask off, so to speak. Of course, it would have involved leaving Mira to die.

  Maybe it would have involved letting Katie die, too, given that he wouldn’t have had the power to take on Volandar and get her out of the keep safely. Would it have been worth risking
and sacrificing the lives of people he cared about to regain his humanity?

  “That’s what I thought,” said Katie, when he didn’t answer. “I… should get going.”

  She took a step toward the forest. Jack scratched his head.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” he asked. “It’s not like it would kill you to stick with us until we got back to town, at least.”

  Katie adjusted her crossbow on her shoulders.

  “I can find my own way,” she said. “Goodbye, Jack. This might well be the last time we see each other.”

  Jack chuckled.

  “I doubt that,” he said. “Knowing you and knowing myself. I doubt that very much.”

  He held his arms out and quirked an eyebrow. Would she risk giving him, the big bad monster a hug? After everything she’d said to him, and everything he’d done to her?

  She did. Jack squeezed her tight and tried to ignore how good she smelled.

  "I wanted to marry you,” whispered Katie. “I dreamed about it nonstop. Once upon a time.”

  He looked straight into her face. He wanted to tell her that she still could, but part of him knew that it wasn’t true. Instead, he brushed a few strands of loose brown hair back from her forehead and planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

  Katie let a moment pass before she started kissing him back. It was passionate, and it was sad. They stayed like that for a couple of seconds, Jack holding Katie against him, both of them standing apart from the chaos and the cold of their own separate futures.

  Then he did the hardest thing he’d ever done. He pulled back, and he let her go.

  CHAPTER 37

  Mira was more or less able to walk on her own as they made their way back around to the front of the keep. They moved slowly, stopping every few hundred feet to make sure that they weren’t being watched, though Jack suspected that few of Volandar’s vampires remained alive after the fight with Pierce.

  The courtyard was unguarded, and the rental car was right where Mira had originally parked it. The keep was now genuinely abandoned, and Jack felt a prickle of unease at having to go back inside of it.

  “Are you concerned about Aiden?” asked Jack. “Your thrall?”

  Mira shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment.

  “Vyara drained him when she captured me within the keep,” said Mira. “I’m not sure what she did with his body.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Jack.

  Mira sighed.

  “It’s alright,” she said. “I could only do so much for him, in the end. He lived a better life with me than he had on the streets. But even if he’d survived, there would be no place for him with me now.”

  Jack frowned, drawing in a little closer to her as they made their way toward the car.

  “You wouldn’t need him?” he asked. “Why not?”

  Mira turned to look at him. She stared at him blankly with her now perfectly blue eyes.

  “My sweet Jack,” she whispered. “Have you not realized it? I was struck in the shoulder with the tip of Zedekiah’s Scepter.”

  Jack shook his head.

  “And?” he asked. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “The weapon stole the Potential from me,” said Mira. “And it stole my curse along with it. I’d wondered why that weapon was considered to be so powerful against vampires and those with supernatural gifts. It’s obvious now. It’s also obvious why Volandar had it locked away in his vault.”

  “It… stole the curse from you?” Jack pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “Am I understanding this correctly? You aren’t a vampire anymore?”

  Mira shook her head. Jack inhaled through his noise, noticing another obvious clue he’d been missing. He could smell Mira now, as a potential blood source. Before, he’d only been able to pick up on the scent of her perfume. Now, he could smell her. It was a soft and downy scent, like a fresh spring breeze with a delicious hint of bubble gum.

  “Wait a second.” He looked down at his hands. “If you’re not a vampire, how is it that I still am? You’re my broodmother. It would make sense if my curse ended with yours, wouldn’t it?”

  Mira climbed into the passenger seat of the car, wincing and touching her shoulder as she climbed into her seat.

  “The Sacrificial Gift,” she said. “You still haven’t given it back to me, yet. I never stopped to question what would occur if something happened to me whilst you were harboring my essence within you. I suppose this is the answer.”

  Jack stood outside of the car, unsure of how to feel. The implication of his circumstances was clear enough. He was still a vampire, and now it didn’t seem as though there was a straightforward way for him to ever break that curse. He’d long since abandoned any serious consideration of killing Mira to return his humanity, but there was still a fatalistic element to not having it as an option.

  He drove them back into town in silence. Mira’s breathing slowed, and Jack wasn’t sure if she was sleeping or just dealing with the pain she was in. There was a 24-hour convenience store on the way, and Jack stopped to buy some painkillers, rubbing alcohol, and bandages.

  They returned to the same motel they’d stayed at on their first night, sans their luggage, which they’d had to leave within the Emerald Keep. Jack paid for a room with his credit card and helped Mira inside. Almost as soon as she’d sat down on the bed, she stretched herself out and pulled her blonde hair aside from her neck.

  “It’s time, then,” said Mira.

  Jack raised an eyebrow. He was thirsty, and she did smell incredible.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “You’ve already lost a bit of blood from your shoulder wound. I probably shouldn’t feed off you.”

  Mira frowned at him and shook her head.

  “You misunderstand me, my sweet Jack,” she said. “I’m not offering to let you feed off me. What I need is for you to give me the Embrace. To turn me back into a vampire, as I should be.”

  Jack wasn’t sure what to say to her. He considered her request, feeling a bit put out by the reversal of roles. She was human now, capable of living a normal life, without needing to take advantage of other people.

  Being a vampire meant living under the effects of a curse. Oftentimes, it meant being a monster. If Jack made her into one again, wouldn’t that mean having to take responsibility for her actions?

  “No,” he said.

  “Excuse me?” Mira’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Jack. I’ve spent the vast majority of my time alive as a vampire. It is what I know, and what I’m used to. All I’m asking from you is to return me to normal.”

  “And I’m telling you no,” said Jack. “Mira, I don’t think this is a decision you should make lightly.”

  “I know myself,” said Mira, through gritted teeth. “I am aware of my needs and my desires, and I know what I want. Turn me back this instant.”

  “Take your shirt off,” said Jack. “I’ll need to clean the area around your shoulder before bandaging that gash.”

  “Don’t change the subject!” snapped Mira. “You owe me this. I risked my life to give you the power to come out victorious in your death challenge!”

  Jack couldn’t help but smile a little.

  “You should sit up, too,” he said. “You’re bleeding on the sheets.”

  He put a hand underneath her back and gently helped her upright. Mira’s expression was ferocious, and it almost made her look silly. She was just a woman now, and an injured one at that.

  “If you don’t give me the Embrace, I will find another vampire who will!” she said, defiantly.

  Jack shrugged, considering the threat.

  “I sincerely doubt that,” he said. “I won’t stop you if you want to go looking, of course. But you’d need to find another vampire who you trusted enough to actually give you the Embrace, and not just enthrall you. Or even drain you.”

  Mira slowly shook her head. Her glare was so exaggerated that it bordered the line between angry and cute.

  “N
ow,” said Jack. “Are you going to take your shirt off, so I can treat your shoulder? Or are you going to make me do this the hard way?”

  She blinked, and her expression wavered. A small, amused laugh escaped her lips.

  “Oh, my sweet Jack,” she said. “You really have come into your own. I think I like this version of you. But I will convince you to Embrace me, eventually.”

  ***

  “Are you alright?” asked Jack.

  “Fine,” said Ryoko. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  He breathed a sigh of relief and shifted his cell phone against his ear. Pierce’s cryptic parting words, combined with his departure through the sky had left Jack worrying that he might decide to strike where he was weakest.

  “Nothing,” said Jack. “At least, not yet. Can you do me a favor?”

  “Of course,” said Ryoko. “What is it?”

  “Stay somewhere other than the mansion,” said Jack. “Just until I get back.”

  Ryoko was silent on the other end of the line for a couple of seconds.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.

  “I’m fine,” said Jack. “Just tired. And ready to come home.”

  “I wish I could have gone with you,” said Ryoko.

  “No you don’t,” said Jack. “Trust me.”

  Ryoko giggled into the phone.

  “Anyway,” he said. “The other reason I called was to give a heads up. We’re going to be taking on a new employee.”

  “A new employee?” asked Ryoko.

  “Yeah,” said Jack. He glanced over at Mira, who was glaring down at her bandaged wound with the kind of insolent expression he would have expected from a child. “It’s someone who might have trouble finding a job elsewhere.”

  “Of course, sir,” said Ryoko. “I can arrange for that.”

  Jack talked with Ryoko for a while longer about nothing much in particular. It felt good to hear her voice, and to know that he still had at least one person in his life who wasn’t changing. Mira made her way into the bathroom to wash up, and Jack eventually finished the call and said goodbye to Ryoko after teasing her profusely for her continued insistence on calling him “sir.”