I’d expected Caravass to be wearing some kind of goofy robes like a monk or something that would show off his position as leader of all the vampires in the world. Instead, he wore a crisp black suit with clean modern lines to it, paired with a navy blue shirt and silver tie. If not for the pale, superthin skin and color-changing eyes, which kept shifting every few seconds from icy white-gray to blue and then green, I might have had trouble recognizing him as a vamp.
Savannah, remembering the last time she had faced the vamp leader in this room, had no such trouble. She knew all too well exactly who he was and the power he wielded.
“And then I killed Dylan,” Savannah blurted out.
I turned to stare at her. What are you doing?
You’re my fledgling and my responsibility. I’ll take the blame.
I silently cursed. Turning back to the council, I said, “No, I killed him.”
“He’s trying to take the blame for me, your…er, honors. But the truth is I lost control and killed him, and I’m really really sorry.” Savannah had a death grip on my hand.
This was ridiculous. I opened my mouth to argue again.
Caravass raised a hand. “So what you are saying is that one of you two killed Dylan Williams after he and his father and their allies attacked your family and both of you, as well?”
“Yes, but it was me—” I started to say.
“I believe we have heard enough,” Caravass said. “Please step outside while we deliberate.”
“But—” I said.
“Outside now,” Michael murmured, half turning and jerking his chin toward the door we’d come in through.
Savannah hesitated then tugged me toward the door, her dad’s firm hand on my shoulder a second propeller pushing me to make my exit.
Growling under my breath, I stepped out into the tunnel, its curved walls and ceiling lit an eerie greenish hue by the f luorescent lights that ran along the ceiling for as far as the tunnel went until it turned at either end. The metal door to the council’s chambers clanged shut behind Michael.
He turned to gape at it.
“What were you thinking in there?” I asked Savannah.
She rolled her eyes but didn’t answer, either out loud or silently.
Women. Even when you could read their minds, they still managed to make no sense sometimes.
“Look, I don’t care how much blood you gave me to turn me. That still doesn’t make me or anything I do your responsibility.”
I love you, she said silently, her chin poking out. If I have to lie to the council to save you, then that’s what I’m going to do. I won’t see them hurt you.
Oh, but it’s okay for me to see them hurt you?
We were still glaring at each other when the door creaked open again and Caravass stepped out. He pulled the door shut behind him with a small smile.
“The council is in agreement. This Jim Williams has clearly staged a coup within the Clann. It was unfortunate that your human family was involved and you were forced to kill a descendant in self-defense. But you have been cleared of all wrongdoing against the Clann.”
My family…involved? They were a heck of a lot more than just involved. My mother had been murdered! I crossed my arms and stared at him, my back teeth grinding together.
Easy, Tristan, Savannah thought, resting a hand on my upper arm. He doesn’t understand. He thinks you probably hated your family for casting you out of the Clann. Not to mention he’s like two thousand years old and doesn’t even remember what it’s like to have a human family in the first place.
I took a deep breath then let it out slow through my nose.
“Then we are free to go?” Michael asked.
“Soon. However, the council has asked for a…shall we say, show of good faith on your part?”
Michael froze.
I read the council leader’s mind. “They want to know that we’re on your side.”
Caravass froze as well, losing all trace of humanity in the process. I’d seen wax figures at museums with more life to them. Finally he forced an attempt at a smile. “I forgot that you two are able to read all vampires’ minds regardless of whether they are your elders.” His Adam’s apple worked as he swallowed. “I would prefer to discuss the council’s…requests in a more comfortable venue, if you will permit.”
We need to get back to Mom and Emily, Savannah thought, her fingers tightening on my arm.
I know. But Caravass and the council seem to be trying to play nice. For now. Let’s see where he’s going with these new demands. Maybe if they’re not too bad and we can play along, we’ll get out of here soon and keep the council off our backs. The last thing we need is to have both sides hunting us down in the middle of a war.
“Lead the way.” I worked to make my tone and smile as diplomatic as I could, an accomplishment managed only by Dad’s endless speeches and my brief stint as the Clann’s leader.
“Wonderful! I promise you will not regret it.” Caravass led us down the tunnel a few steps, then hesitated and turned back, his smile sheepish now. “Ah, I nearly neglected a bit of security measures. I deeply apologize, I realize this is completely inhospitable, but unfortunately it is also necessary to maintaining the secrecy of our humble chambers’ location.”
A nearby guard vamp blurred over to us with two blindfolds.
I held my smile in place. “Of course. Your caution is understandable now more than ever.”
We allowed the older vamps to tie our blindfolds back into place before leading us out of the tunnels through a different route than before and back up to the street level. We were guided into a car, which smelled and felt like the same one that had picked us up from the airport. But this time, Caravass got into the front seat with the driver, and Mr. Colbert sat in the back on the other side of Savannah.
Caravass gave directions to the driver. Twenty minutes later, the car stopped.
The front passenger door opened then shut. Mr. Colbert got out, as well. Then he and Caravass helped Savannah and me out of the car, four steps over what felt like cobblestone and through a glass revolving door into some sort of building, gauging by the way the air pressure changed around us. A hand at my elbow—Caravass’s, according to his thoughts— guided me forward across soft carpeting and through a wide opening of some kind into a room I could instantly tell was cavernous because of how every sound seemed to echo on and on. Ahead, a bit of light filtered through the black cloth over my eyes, and I could hear music and the murmur of voices.
“You may remove your blindfolds,” Caravass murmured.
I pulled the blindfold off, felt Savannah do the same at my side, and then heard her gasp of pure delight.
We were in some sort of theater or opera house. Row upon row of red velvet seats spanned in every direction. When I looked behind us, I discovered there were two tiers of private boxes surrounding three sides of the huge space, which was crowned with a highly detailed central molding design Savannah was silently squeeing over. Ahead of us stretched the biggest stage I’d ever seen, even bigger than the Broadway stages my mother had dragged our family to in New York year after year.
And Savannah was in love.
I looked at her, with her hands pressed together before her parted lips, her eyes wide and darting from side to side as she watched the dancers rehearsing on the stage, and I was nearly hypnotized by the light shining out of her. For just a moment, she was so bright she made me forget all the darkness surrounding us.
Caravass smiled and spread his arms wide with the stage behind him. “Welcome to our hidden gem of an opera house, where our very own dance troupe will be performing tonight to what is sure to be a packed house.”
“There’s a vampire dance company?” Savannah’s eyes had widened and she spoke fast. Even without the ability to read her mind or hear her now racing heartbeat, we all would have recognized how excited she was.
Caravass nodded, his smile finally managing to warm up his icy silver eyes. “And I would very much like it
if you three would do me the honor of joining me in my private box for it.”
Savannah’s breath caught in her chest. Her dazzling smile melted like a candle sputtering out as her shoulders slumped, and inside myself I felt that empty, black pit that had taken over the moment I’d seen my mother’s body once again open up and try to suck me down.
“Ah, we have loved ones back in the States who require our assistance in hiding before this Jim Williams is officially voted in as the new Clann leader,” her father explained for us. “It is our sincere worry that as soon as he does so, he will waste no time in declaring war against our kind.”
Caravass’s eyes f lared wide then narrowed. “Is that so?”
Both Michael and I nodded.
“Mr. Williams is a real vamp hater,” I added, fighting to separate Savannah’s disappointment with my own feelings. “He’d love nothing more than to wipe every last one of us off the face of the planet if he can.”
“Hmm.” Caravass crossed one arm over his chest and tapped the index finger of his other hand against his mouth. “That is worrisome. But perhaps we could find some way to reach out to him and—”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing anyone can say that’s ever going to change his mind. He’s what you’d call a hardcore racist against vamps.”
Caravass sighed. “Then my worst fear has come true. After so many peaceful decades of working with your father and his father before him, I had so hoped we had managed to usher in a long-lasting era of peace. I will have to warn the council so that we can make preparations.” He half turned, frowned at the stage then nodded. “Yes, I can see this evening’s festivities must be cut short for everyone on our council. However, surely there is still enough time for you to at least meet the troupe before you go?” He addressed his question to Savannah.
She bit her lower lip and turned to her dad, and I could both feel and hear her yearning for his permission while also bracing for his denial due to lack of time. I had to forcibly stop myself from adding my own begging to hers as the mind connection once again blurred the lines between her feelings and mine.
Michael looked at her for two agonizing seconds, then nodded.
“Are you sure there’s time?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper as hope shot her heartbeat into the stratosphere. He nodded again.
She made a tiny, closed-mouthed squeal through her nose and vamp blurred down the aisle to the edge of the stage. Caravass followed at her heels to introduce her to the troupe.
Her blast of happiness was like four shots of espresso injected straight into my veins, rocking me back on my heels and making my eyes snap wide-open.
Enjoy, my daughter, Michael thought as we watched her jump up onto the stage to meet each of the dancers. Enjoy while the world is still capable of allowing you to, for soon all dreaming will come to an end.
Onstage, the troupe’s director began to teach Savannah part of a routine. Although she was hesitant at first from the habit of hiding her abilities around humans, her face was still filled with a childlike wonder. She was like a little girl opening presents on Christmas morning.
“You are among friends, Savannah,” the troupe’s director said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “On this stage, no vamp ever has to hide her gifts.”
Savannah took a deep breath then gave it her all, performing the short piece of choreography as it was meant to be danced. She whirled so fast human eyes couldn’t have possibly followed her, her wild red curls f lying out behind her and threatening to come loose from her ponytail holder in the process. Thinking of nothing but the choreography and ignoring her falling hair, she did some complicated little sequence of steps before launching herself into the air in a split leap that rose impossibly high. She seemed to hover there, almost making me believe vamps could f ly after all, before landing so lightly her feet didn’t make a sound on the stage’s wooden f loor.
In that instant I remembered the first time I’d caught her dancing in the Charmers dance room at our high school and how even then, not yet fully evolved as a vampire, she’d still moved with that same alien grace and lightness. It should have been my first hint that she wasn’t completely human. But then, as now, she had only been my Savannah, so achingly beautiful that she literally robbed me of breath for a few seconds. God I loved her, and every time I thought I couldn’t possibly love her more, she took my feelings for her to a whole new level.
I closed my eyes and immersed myself in her thoughts, forgetting who I was and concentrating only on what she thought and felt. As if her body were my own, I felt the way her blood rushed through her veins so fast that it seemed she really might be able to f ly right up to the ceiling and beyond.
And finally I understood what dancing meant to her. It was indescribable for a reason. I had to experience it with her through her own senses, filtered through her emotions, in order to truly get it. I’d always thought dancing for her was like playing football used to be for me, but it was completely different. For me, football had always been a challenge to prove myself to my teammates, my coaches and even my parents. It was about beating all the obstacles and pushing myself to my limits and beyond over and over again.
For Savannah, dancing was the complete opposite of all that. Instead of having to push toward or through something, she was letting go of everything. As she moved, she set herself free, allowing her body to do what came naturally. When she danced was when she stopped fighting.
And in that short moment as I forgot who I was and simply enjoyed Savannah’s experience up on that stage with her, I learned how to stop fighting, too.
And then my skin exploded with the stabbings of a million tiny unseen needles a second before the entire city was rocked by a series of rumblings, first in the distance, then closer and closer toward the opera house.
CHAPTER 12
Savannah gasped and froze for less than half a second. I was already running down the aisle toward her when she leaped off the stage and met me halfway. Caravass, Michael and the dancers joined us as we all ran up the aisle toward the exit then skidded to a stop in the foyer as the street beyond the glass doors erupted in a geyser of fire. Sirens began to wail throughout the city, and several of the dancers behind us hissed in alarm and took a few steps back.
“What is this?” Caravass asked Michael.
“The Clann,” I muttered as Savannah’s hand darted to the back of her neck and her gaze collided with mine. “I think they’ve found your headquarters.”
Caravass turned round, icy white eyes toward me.
I held up my free hand in surrender. “No way. I swear we had nothing to do with this.”
Savannah thrust out her wrist. “Take our blood as proof. The blood memories will show you. We didn’t lead them here or tell them anything about this place.”
She was right. The council leader might not be able to read our minds, but he could still read the memories in our blood. I stuck my own wrist out beside hers.
Caravass hesitated, then faster than our eyes could even track, his hand darted out and reappeared at his mouth as two thin slices welled with blood across Savannah’s and my wrists. Even as Caravass tasted our blood and read our most recent memories, the cuts began to heal. I had to tear my focus away from the amazing healing process in order to follow his thoughts.
He nodded, his eyes narrowing. “It is as you say.”
“It’s got to be Mr. Williams,” I said. “He must have called an emergency vote already.”
“But how could he have set this attack up so fast?” Savannah said, turning to look at the f lames still roaring a good ten feet up into the air. Smoke was quickly filling the street and darkening the skies above. “And how did he know where the headquarters were?”
“He had to have already sent a team to get into position before the vote,” Michael said.
“It is what I might have done if I were him,” Caravass said.
“If the Clann’s here, we need to leave,” I told him, bracing for who knew what h
e might say in return. Would he demand we stay and fight at his side?
He stared at me with narrowed eyes then sighed. “I suppose it is too soon to ask you to join us in this war?”
War, Savannah gasped silently. Oh, God. It’s really happening.
I shook my head. “I can’t. If Williams has declared war, then we’ve got to get back to the States to my sister and her mother. They’ll be in danger, too.”
Caravass scowled. “Fine. Michael, I trust you will remain at their sides at all times?” Silently he added, To ensure they do not act against us at least?
Michael nodded. “Of course. I will call you with any news I have. Will you f lee the city?”
Caravass shook his head, his jawline hardening. “I must try to find any surviving council members so we can discuss our next move. If this Williams truly demands a war, then who are we to refuse him?”
We all pushed through the revolving doors, coughing as soon as we exited the building and the smoke slammed our faces and lungs with the smell of a thousand unknown things on fire. The sirens were a hundred times louder out here, forcing Savannah and me to let go of each other’s hand so we could cover our too-sensitive ears before the sound could drive us to our knees.
Michael vamp blurred around the car still parked at the curb, getting into the front passenger seat while Savannah and I dived into the back. Caravass shouted directions to the driver as we slammed the doors shut.
Then we were careening on a madhouse ride through the city’s streets, every one of them ablaze with shooting f lames from both the streets’ many access points into the maze of sewers and underground tunnels that seemed to match the city’s layout of streets exactly. We didn’t get too far, however, before traffic jams brought us to a halt.
“We must make a run for it from here,” Michael shouted over the wailing sirens and shouting humans as he opened his door. To the driver he said, “Make sure the pilot knows we are on our way so he can ready for immediate takeoff.”
The driver nodded.
Savannah gave me one last round-eyed look of terror, then we jumped out of the car on opposite sides and started running, struggling to keep her father in sight as we used every bit of vamp speed available to hide our passage through the city on foot. Mr. Williams’s attack team had to still be in the city somewhere. The last thing we needed was for them to spot us before we could get out of Paris.
Clann 03 - Consume Page 11
