“Welcome, stranger,” Teilo said when he answered the door. Flynn was surprised at Teilo’s height. He towered over Flynn, almost as much as Simon had, but the darkness that shrouded Simon was nowhere in Teilo.”
“I bring greetings from the Merciful clan,” Flynn said, bowing as he entered Teilo’s home.
“Good tidings, indeed,” Teilo replied, and offered Flynn a chair.
Jessica entered, and Flynn introduced himself. Teilo introduced himself, his wife, his son, Bran and his daughter, Dawn. Then Jessica went off to prepare refreshments.
“What is it I can do for one of the Merciful clan?”
“I have been told you are the most knowledgeable about Shauna Faun,” Flynn said, and Jessica, who had just reentered the room with food and drink, gasped.
“They were long ago for me,” Teilo said.
“You speak as if they were no more.”
“Of that I have no knowledge,” Teilo replied. “It has been five years since I’ve had any dealings with them, and with each day memory seems more to fade.” He rubbed his arm as he spoke.
“But I have seen them. They are wondrous musicians,” Flynn insisted.
“I seem to recall being taken in by their music.”
“Simon told me I should speak with you. You would tell me all I need to know.”
“What is it you need to know? You listen to their music. There’s no harm in that.”
“But I wish to be one of them.”
Jessica gasped at his words.
“Surely, you cannot mean that?” Teilo said.
“Why do you say so?”
“How old are you, Flynn?”
“Sixteen.”
“And your whole life ahead of you. How many times have you seen them?”
“Only once. But I went back and saw their cave. I was in Simon’s office.”
“He invited you?”
“No. I followed him. I was there for some time before he knew it.”
Teilo laughed. “A while before he let you know he knew.” Flynn started. “Little passes Simon. He has years of experience.”
“He told me you would be able to tell me of them since you worked for them.”
“I was not Shauna Faun. I collected teeth.”
“Can you trust him?”
“I never had a sense that I could not.”
“Why do people think they’re dangerous?”
“Because they are – or they can be.”
“Why? I get hints and insinuations. Why will no one be clear?”
“As I told you, memory fades with time. One thing Simon always said that I haven’t forgotten is I would not be safe around them. I could trust them, but I could never think it was safe to work for them.”
“Why?” Flynn persisted.
“Because they’re Vampyres!” Jessica blurted.
“Jessica!” Teilo replied.
“Vampyres?” Flynn asked. “Those are things of myth. Human myths.”
“He needs to be told the truth,” Jessica said. “You were bitten before you knew.”
Flynn stood up. “You are a Vampyre?”
“No,” Teilo said with a smile. “If I were I would not have a family. Sit.”
“Why did you not tell me?” he asked.
“As I said, some things in memory fade.”
“Teilo was a thrall,” Jessica said. “What he remembers and forgets of them Simon controls. I was not a thrall. My mother is High Priestess, and she told me of the Vampyres when Teilo first met them. Be careful of them, Flynn. You cannot be Shauna Faun without being a Vampyre.”
“How can this be? Why does everyone not know of it?”
“Flynn,” Teilo said, “My wife is perhaps less discrete than she could be. She has never trusted Simon.”
“Didn’t Simon try to make you one of them?” she asked bitterly.
“Only when I had nothing to live for. And didn’t he release me from all bonds as soon as we knew you were alive? Simon is honorable.”
“Simon made you a thrall!”
“To insure I would keep their secrets. Flynn did not come to see us bicker. Flynn, I implore you not to spread this information. You’ll be scoffed at, but it could also cause undue difficulties for Shauna Faun. Not all of them are as fair or as forgiving as Simon.”
“Would they turn me for it?”
“Kill you, more like.”
Flynn had the sense to look frightened. Then he squared his shoulders and assumed a resolute look.
“If Simon thought what you said would frighten me, he doesn’t know what I’m made of.”
“I’m sure he has some idea,” Teilo said. “I was much like you. If Simon had wanted to frighten you, he would have done it much more effectively than I could. I’ve forgotten much of my time with them. But I do know Simon keeps his word, and if he doesn’t want someone following the band, he’ll see to it they don’t.”
Flynn thought it fitting to change the subject, and mentioned that Jessica’s sister was High Priestess for his clan.
“I’m surprised you don’t look much like her,” he said.
“She’s more like her father, I think,” Jessica replied. She and Aoife had only their mother in common.
Jessica asked about his clan and why he would not study the herbs.
“We cannot all minister to the sick, just as you cannot all collect teeth.”
“That is true enough,” Teilo said.
Flynn took his leave, thanking them for their hospitality and their information.
4
Simon was more like himself after the concert. He took a more active part in rehearsals, and the day to day activities of the Vampyre coven. The others commented among themselves about his profound interest.
“He’s found someone,” Kele said.
“Not another Teilo, I hope,” Fiona replied.
“I wonder if he could be satisfied with one less than Teilo,”
“Teilo, but wanting to be one of us.”
Kele agreed. “We are eleven. Ethan hasn’t been replaced.”
“He needs someone better than Ethan.”
“He was talking with that boy the other night.”
“Making my decisions for me, are you?” Simon asked as he entered the room. His tone was light, as they hadn’t heard it in some time.
“Is he to be ours?”
“We will see.” He told them he had sent the boy to Teilo.
“Is that wise?” Fiona asked.
“I doubt Teilo will remember much.”
“Jessica has forgotten nothing,” Kele said. “She has venom for us.”
“But she is honest.”
“Will she tell him our nature?” Fiona wondered.
“I think she will. But who would believe him if he said it?” Simon asked.
They chuckled among themselves. Others had, from time to time, made the claim and been laughed at. Only the priestesses and Teilo Feather knew the truth of it. The only other who knew was now dead. Faeries scoffed at Vampyres as pure fantasy. They couldn’t imagine how anyone could believe anything so fantastic.
Regardless of what Flynn might do, Simon was happy for now and they rehearsed for their next concert.
When the time came for the concert, Simon was the first on stage. The crowd cheered as Fiona, Zoe, Harry and Kele took their places. Simon wasn’t singing the first song, so he took the time to look around the audience as he played his flute. Flynn wasn’t obvious in the crowd, but Simon saw him in a tree branch. He didn’t look up yet. Let Flynn think he didn’t see him. Still, a smile spread across Simon’s face. Whatever Teilo and Jessica had told him hadn’t scared him off entirely.
When it came time for Simon’s first song, he stepped forward and looked up at Flynn as he began the words to You Are Mine. Flynn looked back mesmerized, as if he were alone at the concert.
When the song ended, Simon stepped back, the spell broken. Flynn was shaken, as if he’d awoken from a dream. He felt odd, as if something wonderful ha
d happened to him. He had never experienced such happiness as when Simon sang the song to him.
The crowd was ecstatic throughout the concert. Different groups of fans cheered different members of the band. Nearly every clan in the Western lands was represented: Cerebrals, Cantares, Benevolents, Celestials, and Mercifuls. As always, rumors abounded about the band, but no one knew for sure besides the druids and priestesses. As long as the Vampyres behaved, they would remain silent.
One Vampyre, Ethan, had threatened that peace. Simon had been forced to end Ethan’s existence. Worse, Ethan had wanted to forcibly take, and possibly kill Jessica, Teilo’s wife. Jessica was the one person Simon might have wished away, clearing the way for Teilo to become a Vampyre. But allowing Ethan to have his way would’ve meant war with the light Faery. The bloodshed and decimation on both sides would have been too much to bear.
Ethan was gone, but so was any possibility of Teilo becoming a Vampyre. He would live his life, grow old and die, happy with his wife and children. Simon couldn’t bear to think of it. He was afraid to hope that Flynn, so much like Teilo had been, would accept the offer of immortality. If he did, Simon wouldn’t waste precious time.
The concert ended and the Vampyres returned to the cave. Simon took meticulous care with his instrument to help pass the time until Aedd Sloe, faithful thrall to Jennica, would bring the willing fans. Flynn had hidden, he told himself. Perhaps staring directly at him during the song was a mistake. Perhaps the boy would be scared off. Perhaps –
Aedd arrived with a cluster of fans. Simon pretended not to notice Flynn.
As the amazed fans looked around, Simon took his instrument to his office as if he hadn’t noticed the influx of Faeries, certain Flynn had seen him disappear down the hall. He put the instrument into a cupboard and turned to see Flynn looking a little awkward as he stood in the middle of the room.
“Are you surprised to see me?” Flynn asked.
“Should I be?”
“Well, you sent me to see your friend. I thought it was to scare me off.”
“If I wanted to scare you off, I could do that easily enough myself.”
“His wife hates you.”
“She sees only threat. It’s the way she was raised.”
“Why? All that stuff isn’t true, is it?”
“I assure you, it’s quite true,” Simon said, a bit of fang showing.
“You’re a Vampyre?”
“I am. So are the others of Shauna Faun.”
“How do you get away with biting other Faeries without destroying all of us?”
“We don’t bite Faeries.”
He explained the concept of Human hosts rather than Faery. Flynn looked amazed that their eating pattern was completely thought out. He had assumed that Vampyres bit Faeries, and after a few months of being food, one died to rise again as a Vampyre.
Simon laughed at Flynn’s naïveté. He wondered how such lore ever started. Then he explained that there was a specific ritual involved with becoming Vampyre, and simply being bitten wouldn’t do it.
“Just a bite and a sip will make you a thrall,” he said. “Of course, we don’t bite necks to create thralls. We are more discrete than that. But once you are a thrall, you can’t give away our secret information. You can’t remember it if you deliberately try. Most Faeries would die after a single use as food, or at most, after two. Once dead, they would stay dead. No rising from the grave. You’ve listened too much to Humans if you think that. Still, the death toll would soon decimate all of the clans, so we have made a pact to feed on Humans, leaving Faeries unharmed except for the rare thrall or even rarer new-made Vampyre. It provides us with fans and also makes Faeries skeptical of the existence of Vampyres. In a sense, we make ourselves mythological beings.”
“How is a Vampyre made?”
“One is bitten, and drained. Then, just before the heart ceases to beat, the victim must drink from the Vampyre.”
“Then what?”
“It takes a few nights before the fledgling is able to hunt for itself. The sire is responsible for the fledgling during the first few weeks, to make sure it feeds properly and takes precautions to keep from being flattened by Humans thinking to kill bugs.”
“But humans can’t kill you, can they?”
“Rarely, but it does happen. If the Human manages to break the Vampyre’s neck, there is no coming back from it. Biting Humans on the neck or other easily accessible places is not for the newly made.”
“Is Teilo a Vampyre?”
“No. We cannot – breed.”
“Then, I could work for you without being a Vampyre?”
“No. Teilo was a mistake. I should have taken him when I had the chance. Then Jessica would have cause to hate me. Thralls generally only do occasional work, except Lana, our receptionist. She would be a Vampyre if we would but let her. Unfortunately, there is something detectable in her personality that would destroy her if we took that step. She works for us in the false belief that one day she will have her turn.”
“Why didn’t you take Teilo, then?”
“A consideration for Jessica. It’s a weakness of mine. But he was a thrall.”
“So, the one who brings us here –”
“Is a thrall. You couldn’t find your way here without him unless you were a thrall, or I put it into your mind. Once here, you wouldn’t find your way a second time.”
“So, a thrall is –”
“On the way to becoming a Vampyre. Anyone who becomes Vampyre must first be a thrall –that is our law here. Too often things go wrong, and it’s easier to make a thrall forget than to kill a Vampyre. A bit of blood from you protects us from being revealed. And thralls can do things we cannot – daylight things, mixing comfortably with the light Faery, anything to do with fire. But a thrall cannot be Shauna Faun.
“You’d take me into Shauna Faun if I wanted, wouldn’t you?”
“I’d make you a Vampyre if you wanted. As far as Shauna Faun, you’d need to audition – and become a thrall.”
He sat down at his desk and gestured toward the sofa. Flynn sat.
“When can you do it?” Flynn asked as if making an appointment to harvest herbs.
“I could do it now.” His fangs slid into place with a click. It startled Flynn. Simon wanted him to understand this was no game. “I will not make you a Vampyre tonight.”
“What if I don’t come back?”
“Do you think to frighten me?” Simon asked as he stood beside Flynn faster than the boy could see him move.
Flynn jumped. “So, you have superpowers?”
Simon laughed. “Is that your interest? Super powers?”
“Well, it’s –”
“Go home, Flynn.”
“Wait. What?”
“This is no playground for children. You would give up your family, have no children. You would never see sunlight. You would feed on blood. Consider those things when you think of immortality. Speed is meaningless unless it’s for a purpose.”
“You sound like you’re trying to talk me out of it.”
“You act as if it’s a game. This is forever. Eternity. Your life as it is now will cease to exist. You will be as you are now forever. Until you can consider that as something other than a superpower, you cannot choose to become one of us. So, go home. Do not try to play games with me.”
The words tumbled out of Simon’s mouth against his will. Here was a willing candidate. If he wanted to enter into it stupidly, why not? Since when did Simon Mallow have ethics? He knew well: Since Teilo Feather entered his life. And more, since Ethan’s insanity.
Ethan had been one like this, taken in by immortality and power, by speed and trickery. And it had cost him in the end. Simon had liked Ethan, even if he was impetuous at times. His maker, Arwen had been taken in by the blond hair and brown eyes, the crooked smile and the wicked sense of humor. But eternity had weighed heavily on Ethan. It had been Simon’s job as leader of the coven to end him. He hoped never to have to do that t
o another Vampyre.
“I thought you liked me,” Flynn said.
“You followed me to my office uninvited and looked through my things.”
“You wanted me to follow. And I wasn’t looking through your things. I picked up the box to get your attention.”
“Saying ‘excuse me’ would’ve worked as well. And I gave no indication to anyone to follow me. You would know if I wanted something.”
“You’re lonely and hiding behind your walls,” Flynn said.
“I do not turn children!” Simon practically shouted.
“I’m not a child. I’m seventeen.”
“Your behavior says child. You don’t know your own mind.”
“Okay, okay, I thought you’d like it if I showed you I was impressed.”
“Don’t try to second guess me. Be yourself. I’ve seen thralls go badly because they presented themselves as other than what they are. It’s weak and a waste of my time.”
He knew as he spoke, that Flynn wasn’t weak. He might be more than Simon could handle. He glared angrily at Simon through the tousle of hair that fell in his eyes.
“So, you won’t take me?” Flynn asked.
“That depends on you. You need to think seriously about whether or not you’re prepared to leave your family. Think about what we are and what we do – not just the music. And if you think you can bear what you must go through, think this is what you truly want, then meet me at the concert grounds in a week’s time, and we’ll see.”
“I’ll just come here.”
“You won’t find it. At the concert grounds.”
Flynn started to go.
“And Flynn –” The boy turned. “ – you’ll need to learn to do what you’re told if you’re to be one of us. Fledglings have much to learn.”
5
“What happened last night?” Fiona asked.
“I didn’t take someone when I had the chance,” Simon replied.
“Was it Ethan or Teilo that stopped you?” Her perception always startled Simon. Perhaps it was the fact that she’d been in her late 30s when she was changed. She’d lived in the light world so much longer than he had.
“Both,” he said.
“Don’t you think he’ll come back?”
Dark Faery II: The Mercifuls (DarkFaery Book 2) Page 2
