Dark Faery II: The Mercifuls (DarkFaery Book 2)

by Bridget McGowan

  Several of the Vampyres produced instruments and began to play. The others sat around them to listen or join in singing.

  “Flynn, come sing with us!” they called.

  He sat with them, joining in the singing. He began to enjoy himself.

  In due time they finished and Simon approached Flynn.

  “You’ve done well tonight. Come, you must feed again before dawn.”

  Simon leapt up into the tree. Flynn joined him. He had forgotten about the restraint. Before he could remember, Simon clamped it around him again.

  “Why?” Flynn asked.

  “We’re going to the Human lands. You have not yet learned the ways.”

  “I know how to feed on one.”

  “You don’t know how to avoid being killed by one.”

  They flitted back toward the Human lands and passed several houses. Flynn wanted to stop, but Simon continued on.

  “Why don’t we stop at one of these?” Flynn asked.

  “Even Humans will become suspicious if the same ones are bitten over and over. We must search different areas each time and not succumb to laziness.”

  Flynn felt quite lazy. He was in a hurry to feed. Tomorrow I’ll stop at the first house I come to, he thought.

  Simon indicated a house and they entered. He kept Flynn from any children, and he fed on a Human woman. It surprised Flynn that Simon didn’t stop him, but let him feed until he finished. He felt a little guilty. Simon seemed to know his thoughts.

  “You drank far less that time. In a day or two you’ll need less than you do now.”

  They returned to the cave and went to Simon’s lair. Lana was gone.

  “Am I to stay with you?” Flynn asked.

  “For now. Once you are honed, you’ll have your own lair.”

  “But I don’t have to follow you around, do I?”

  “You’ll be with me until I’ve determined you’re safe.

  Flynn was annoyed, but fatigue overcame him, and he fell against his bed.

  “You’re tired. It’s nearly dawn. Take your rest, and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

  20

  Nights blurred into one another. On some Simon sat and talked with Flynn in the office for hours, explaining the rules of the coven. He took him to feed – without the chain when Flynn appeared docile – and on some nights the band rehearsed.

  “How does everyone know when it’s time to rehearse?”

  “They hear it. We’re all connected.”

  “Why aren’t I?”

  “You are. I’m your sire.”

  “You’re not everyone’s sire.”

  “Still, when each swore fealty, they took a blood oath.”

  “They’re all thralls?”

  “With more freedom. And there’s never more than one bite. But it’s on the neck.”

  “I can’t hear the conversation.”

  “You have too much noise in your head yet to hear it.”

  He had Flynn sit with eyes closed clearing his mind and listening for Simon’s voice. It took some time, but finally he looked at Simon with surprise on his face.

  “You were just talking with Zoe.”

  Simon smiled. “Normally, I’d shield that from you, but I’m trying to teach you, and I didn’t have anything to say to her that I wouldn’t say out loud. And it’s easier to listen in on someone else’s conversation than to glean something intended for you.”

  Simon was more fun than he’d been when Flynn was mortal. Perhaps it was the blood kinship or that Flynn now understood the ways. Perhaps Simon could relax now that Flynn didn’t smell like a light Faery.

  Flynn was doing well. He obeyed well and caught on quickly. He progressed faster than Simon expected. One night when Flynn returned from a rehearsal Simon hadn’t attended, he was surprised to see his sire waiting for him.

  “You’ve progressed enough that you can have your own lair,” Simon told him.

  As Flynn beamed at the promotion, Simon led him down the corridor to his new sleeping quarters. The bed had been prepared, and Flynn’s clothes were arranged.

  “I’ll leave you to make what changes you want,” Simon said.

  Flynn slept alone for the first time since becoming a Vampyre. He reveled in the freedom of it before he slept.

  For several nights all was well. One of the Vampyres met him at the reception area, and he went with whichever one was there to feed. On one evening he awoke before the others. No one had forbidden him to hunt alone, but he had the feeling they didn’t think he could. He wanted to prove he had learned well.

  He left alone, and flitted out the way the others had taken him. He wasn’t so foolish as to wander into the land of the light Faery.

  The others always avoided the homes of the Humans at the edge of the forest. He could go there and be back sooner. Traveling alone was faster, anyway. Unfortunately, the Humans weren’t yet asleep. He would try another home.

  When the second and third houses yielded wakeful Humans, he thought in frustration that at least some of the children would be asleep. He discovered a sleeping child and busied himself with finding just the right spot to bite.

  As he was about to bite he remembered Simon telling him that he wasn’t ready to feed on children. That had been a few weeks ago. Surely now he was fine to take on any Humans. Besides, he was hungry and the child smelled good – oddly better than the parents. Only as he bit and the first stream of blood hit his tongue did he understand that Simon was right. This was the best, the sweetest blood he’d ever taken. He drank and didn’t want to stop. This was a human. He couldn’t drink enough to kill it, he thought to himself. But the blood was so good.

  He hadn’t noticed the movement in the room, the parents looking in on their child to make sure that all was well. He didn’t know that those living close to the forest worried about wild animals stealing into their homes. Although Flynn was no wild animal, he was about the size of a very large bug, and no parent would allow a very large bug to remain on their child. He’d been so overjoyed by the prospect of a child he’d forgotten to put a glamour around himself to keep from being seen.

  The mother screamed and the father crept toward Flynn’s side of the bed with rolled paper in his hand. Flynn was disgruntled at having been interrupted from such a sumptuous meal. He snarled and then took full advantage of his speed, seeming to the Humans to disappear before they could register what they’d seen. But see him they had, and despite the fact that he’d dropped to the floor and scuttled under the bed they were not giving up the search. He was able to scramble through the doorway and out into the main part of their house while they searched the child’s room for the insect. He was away, back through the forest when he realized that in his hurry he hadn’t sealed the puncture wounds. While the child wouldn’t bleed much from them, they would be red and visible. He’d made a mess of things but he’d escaped with his life and the pleasant taste of child’s blood on his lips.

  He licked at his lips and settled himself a bit once he was in the woods. When he was calm he continued back to the cave. He could hear various Vampyres calling to him in his head and the angry sound of Simon. Well, no harm was done, and once he explained it all, Simon wouldn’t be angry, would he?

  “No harm done?” Simon roared when Flynn returned and explained himself. As honest as any Faery, he told Simon every detail. “You let them see you! You failed to use a glamour in your haste and laziness. You stopped where I told you not to and took a child’s blood, which I explained you couldn’t handle! Beyond that you left the marks unclosed. The people at the edge of the forest are already a wary lot. Now there’ll be talk of monstrous blood-sucking insects, and those for miles beyond the forest edge will be more vigilant. It won’t be safe for any of us!”

  “But how was I to know?”

  “How? Haven’t you gone with one of us each night? Did anyone tell you that you could go alone?”

  “I didn’t think –”

  “You are correct in that: You didn’t think! Now
we must leave this place. We should’ve gone sooner. I was too complacent staying here, hoping you were wise beyond your years. Ready your things. Tomorrow night we will go to a place across the sea.”

  “I’m sorry, Simon.”

  “Sorry? As if that could solve anything. Go.”

  He wondered if Simon would destroy him. Had his sins been worse than Ethan’s? He hoped the fact that they were leaving meant his life had been spared.

  As various members of the coven returned, word spread that they were leaving for a time. They packed their belongings. As they finished they went to the rehearsal hall. Flynn was loath to go there, fearing the anger of the others.

  Kele and Aranck were deep in discussion, and each cast a wary eye at Flynn when he entered the room. Harry looked friendlier, and put a hand on Flynn’s shoulder.

  “Don’t take it so hard. We’ve all made mistakes in our time.”

  “Are the others angry?”

  “Only a few who had convinced themselves that we wouldn’t be leaving. Don’t worry. The plans simply came on us more suddenly.”

  “I thought Simon might destroy me.”

  “You’d have to do a lot worse than that,” Harry replied. “Simon can be quite wild when angry, but remember he groomed you. Your behavior reflects on his training.”

  The idea that not everyone was angry with him helped, but he was ashamed at having let Simon down in such a big way.

  “How do I make it up to him?” Flynn asked.

  “Don’t do the same thing again. I realize you want your independence, but ask before doing something. Soon enough you’ll have your freedom, but you must earn it.”

  “If we were going to go anyway, why are the others angry?”

  “Because all of us failed to stop you, so it’s nearly as much our fault as yours.”

  “But it was my act,” Flynn said, feeling the unfairness of Harry’s statement.

  “And we should know how young ones are.”

  “I’m sorry I let you down.”

  “Think nothing of it. Come, let’s sing. Tomorrow we have a hard journey.”

  21

  The next evening they all assembled in the reception area and Lana gave them a tearful goodbye before she left. Simon knew she hoped he would turn her before they left. Instead he said he’d let her know when they returned. He made her no promises, knowing that she would never become like them.

  “We will travel long before we feed,” Simon told them. They could, if need be, go for a few days without feeding, but they’d all be moody if that were the case. It would be more difficult for Flynn, and he feared what Simon might do to keep him obedient.

  They left the cave and Simon secured it against their return. The Human lands in these parts would be on guard against what they thought were blood-sucking bugs. The Vampyre Faeries were in danger for their very lives. If caught they would be studied, and would quickly die even if the Humans way of studying didn’t include their deaths. Exposure to daylight would cause them to burst into flame, flaring like a matchstick before disappearing into eternal death. They skirted Human lands, keeping a glamour around them every waking moment.

  By the end of the first day they found an abandoned rabbit hole. Securing the opening, they spread about finding places to sleep. There was no luxury in this.

  The next night they had a river to cross. Once they had flitted over it Simon saw houses of humans off to the north. They all stowed their belongings in the high branches of a tree and went off in search of food. Simon kept Flynn with him. Flynn half expected to be chained as he had been in the beginning, but Simon showed no leaning toward cruelty. They found a house with all of its occupants asleep. Cautiously, they entered. Simon signaled to Flynn which of the people he could have, and Simon took the other one in the room. Flynn noticed Simon had given him the tastier portion, and he was grateful for that.

  When all of the Vampyres had gathered again at the tree, they shouldered their burdens and continued. As they approached the time when they would have to seek refuge, they came to the sea.

  “Now what do we do?” Flynn asked. He’d never seen the sea before.

  “We go to the ship and find our space on it,” Harry said.

  They reached the harbor and saw the enormous ship the Humans used to cross the sea. They flew low to the ground, mixing around luggage until they all reached the sea edge of the dock. They flitted around to the seaward side and found their way onto the ship at various portholes. They found an empty corner of the top shelf of a cupboard in a dark inside cabin where they set themselves up. Simon glamoured it and they settled in. They’d never all gone on a voyage at once.

  The ship left in the morning, and the voyage lasted a week because their destination was on the far side of the next country, an island. The ship made several stops in daylight hours as it travelled around the island to the far western side. The Vampyres had to be very careful since there were people awake at all times. They travelled surrounded by a glamour, and never bit anyone who was awake. With twelve in such close quarters rather than four or five, they needed to keep track of who was bitten in each cabin. They varied their hunting times to ward off suspicions. They had no way of knowing whether or not word had reached the traveling Humans of the blood-sucking insects. They hoped the Humans didn’t have their guard up.

  After a few days Flynn felt listless. While he’d never been near the sea before, the initial excitement wore off when he realized he couldn’t risk going outside to smell the air or gaze at the ocean because of the risk of being seen. He wondered how Faeries managed to live among the Humans at all.

  They found space in the hold where they could stretch their wings. Flynn listened and watched. He was the reason they were in this mess, so he had no right to complain.

  Harry, who spent the most time with Flynn, noticed his silence.

  “Cheer up. We’ll be there soon.”

  “This is all my fault.”

  “No, none of that. You just need some air.”

  “But I can’t. Someone might see me.”

  “The glamour makes you nearly invisible. Haven’t you heard of Faery lights?”

  “We’re not on land.”

  “Strange visions happen in the open sea,” Harry said with a grin.

  Flynn looked curiously at Harry. Several others joined in telling tales of the glimmering shows they’d put on while crossing the ocean.

  “You don’t need trees. You can play glimmer anywhere. It’s only a matter of staying settled on your wings. I’m sure you’ve been able to do that since you were a child,” Zoe said.

  “Of course,” Flynn replied.

  “Well,” Calana said, “There’s no reason we can’t. What do you say, Simon?”

  All turned to see Simon’s reaction.

  “We’re all due for a little fun,” he replied.

  They gathered what they needed about an hour before dawn and went out to the stern of the ship. The dark Faeries ranged themselves from just above the waves to varying levels in the air above. Lower Faeries threw glimmer up to those above who caught it and threw it back down. After a few minutes, Humans noticed the tiny sparkles off the stern of the ship and stood watching. Gradually a crowd gathered. Because of the glamour around them and the darkness of the night, it looked like a magical light show in the middle of the ocean.

  The game continued for half an hour, and then the Faeries all dropped below the top of the ship and scuttled in through an open port hole.

  Back in their cupboard they caught their breath, laughing and feeling better than they had in days. They settled in just as the sky began to streak with purple and orange.

  The next evening they awoke to rough rocking and jostling, howling winds that they could hear even from their makeshift crypt. As they crept out into the night they saw only a few crew members dressed against the lashing storm.

  Inside, the dining and party areas were nearly as deserted as the decks. People had taken to their beds early. Some were ill w
ith the tossing of the ship. Harry told Flynn he was lucky to be a Vampyre, since they didn’t suffer ailments like seasickness.

  They were freer to feed that night since the agony of seasickness, while it didn’t affect the taste of the blood, was miserable enough for the Humans that they didn’t notice something as slight as the bite of Vampyre Faeries. It created a party atmosphere for Shauna Faun, and they pursued the hunt for several hours, glutting themselves on blood to such an extent that nearly everyone bore two tiny marks somewhere, although since they didn’t itch later like bug bites, they would probably heal unnoticed.

  When they were sated, they gathered in the cupboard that was empty but for them, and took out their instruments. They played, letting joy overtake them for the night.

  If one or two Humans thought they heard unusual music from somewhere on the ship, they might assume the band was well, and there was dancing somewhere. The sailors knew better. They thought it might be sirens far out to sea, or some otherworldly omen. Perhaps it was a sign that the weather was improving. They performed superstitious rituals in case it was an omen of impending peril.

  The following day dawned bright. The water sparkled in the sun, and the Humans could detect land on the horizon that gradually grew as the day progressed. By nightfall they came into port.

  The Faeries collected their belongings and flitted past, unnoticed by the throng of people departing. They were away from the harbor in a few minutes, and on their way.

  They put their things safely out of sight and hunted amongst the crowds of people disembarking or waiting for those who were. In short order, they were ready to gather their belongings and go on their way.

  “Where will we go?” Flynn asked, looking around his new surroundings.

  “There’s a coven nearby,” Simon said. The others seemed to know this and had no qualms about seeking out the other Vampyres.

  They had intended to travel to see some long-time friends of Simon’s when Artemis stepped forward into their path. Dressed in courtly attire of a bygone age, Artemis had a commanding presence. He had a haughty look about him as if none of them, including Simon, was worthy of his notice, and certainly not his kindness.