Entwined With the Dark

by Nicola Claire

  But, as much as this was exciting, there was a part of me still quaking in fear. Amun Nadeem, the All Mighty Master of London City, was not my biggest foe in this country at all.

  Michel helped me into the Rover when it appeared beside us and pulled me into the curve of his side. He ran a finger down my cheek, then leaned in and wrinkled his nose. I frowned at his reaction to my scent.

  "Shower first, ma douce. You smell a little of him." I huffed a breath out at that. "Then," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "I think I owe you an opportunity for retribution."

  The frown lines in my forehead deepened. He just smiled wickedly.

  "I think your words were, Later, Michel, if I remember correctly."

  Oh yeah. That's right. He'd left me high and dry on that dance floor, in order to get Amun to show his hand. I leaned back in the seat and crossed my arms over my chest, a small smile spreading my lips wide.

  I was sure I could think of something worthy of payback.

  "I'm sure you can, ma douce," Michel said trying in vain to keep his laughter inside. "In fact, I was counting on it."

  I shook my head and willed Matthias to drive faster. The sooner we got home the better.

  Payback was gonna be a bitch. And a whole lot of fun.

  Chapter 29

  Worthy

  We were within five minutes of Michel's home when he stiffened, cocked his head to the side and closed his eyes. His free hand - the one not holding mine - came up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Worry lines deepening on his brow. I forced myself not react openly. Something had clearly happened that had him upset. I waited for him to finish communicating with whomever he was telepathically and tell me what hurdle we now faced.

  Finally he let a sigh out and half turned in his seat. Magenta flashed in his eyes.

  "Your chance for delightful retribution will have to wait."

  "I had kind of gathered that." I was too worried to be frustrated at losing precious make-out time.

  "The Ambrosia is waiting for us at the house."

  All the vampires in the vehicle stilled. I had never thought of the Ambrosia as being a scary monster, but he is an Iunctio Council member and older than any vampire I had ever met. Age usually - but not always - means strength. It takes time to accumulate Sanguis Vitam and it makes sense that the more time you have, the more Sanguis Vitam you accumulate. The only reason why the Ambrosia was not in the Champion's role, was that he was full of Light.

  Not that I didn't think a Light-filled vampire couldn't lead the Iunctio, but to come against the current Champion you'd have to call on your Dark.

  Despite that, the Ambrosia was full to the brim with power, the likes of which I had never, ever seen before. That alone was enough to make the vampires in this car fear him. He may be full of Light, but he was still a vampire full of Sanguis Vitam.

  "What do you think he wants?" I asked, dreading the answer.

  "When I left him," Michel started, still pinching the bridge of his nose as though pressure had built up there, "he assured me the joining could be reversed. That he could do it. To be here now, when we had not planned it, could mean he has made a mistake and he is letting us know in private and in the relative safety of our own home."

  It broke my heart to hear the defeat in Michel's voice. It took every ounce of my willpower not to give in to the tears that threatened and sob. I needed to be strong for Michel here. So often it was his strength I relied on, but this was something he coveted above all else and to come so close and have the possibility of losing it before him, was simply too much.

  I squeezed his hand and waited for him to look at me.

  "We don't know that. It could be for any reason, not necessarily that."

  "Ma douce," Michel said sadly, but I held up my hand.

  "And if it is, we'll find another way. The fairies. Someone. There has to be a way."

  "And if there isn't?" he asked quietly.

  I couldn't think of an adequate answer that wasn't just spewing words for the sake of it. I forced myself to smile at him, reaching up and cupping his cheek.

  "Let's just see what it is he wants first, OK?" He nodded, but returned to his tense position, staring blindly out the window of the car.

  With a sense of heavy trepidation we climbed the steps to his house. So many times I had not wanted to open the door to that dreary interior. I can count on one finger the only time I was pleased to be there and nowhere else. But on this occasion, the desire to run was for a different reason than the hideous décor. This time both Michel and I were in agreement. Entering that house was the last thing we wanted to do.

  Christopher opened the door as we came to the top step, his smile of greeting was genuine, but there was an undercurrent of tension in his frame. He'd been entertaining an imposing figure while he waited for us to arrive, but even as we got here, he still didn't relax. Like us, he knew what this meeting could mean.

  We walked into the front room, my heart already in my throat. I didn't bother to calm it, the Ambrosia would have already heard its rapid beat. I just wanted this to be over. One way or the other, I needed to know where we stood. And Michel was not acting his usual consummate politician self. His attempt at a neutral mask wasn't fooling me and I'd hazard a guess, no one else. I wanted this over for him. I wanted my Michel, the one who could handle anything, back at my side.

  The Ambrosia stood as we entered, his face a relaxed but blank mask. He looked no more than thirty years old, his hair much longer than most vampires I had seen - the only indication, other than his Sanguis Vitam, of his vast age. Long, nondescript chocolate brown strands hung loosely about his shoulders and as far down as his knees. He didn't have it tied back and despite the amount and length, it didn't look like it got in his way. It swayed slightly as he moved, but otherwise seemed well behaved.

  For some reason the length of his hair made me reach up and touch the edge of mine. It was still shorter than I was used to, having been on the receiving end of Queen Sofiq's rage. But I knew if my hair ever got to that same unbelievable length as the Ambrosia's, it would just knot and tangle or be an absolute frizzy mess. I envied him his perfectly smooth and shiny tresses, or the ability to use his power to make it act as he wished.

  His sepia toned eyes crinkled slightly at the edges and then a smile slowly developed on his face. It was like watching a miraculous and most beautiful flower unfurl under the sun's glorious rays. I wasn't sure if this development was just coincidental in its timing or if he was responding to my thoughts. But as he had easily conversed with me - and not to mention the Nemesis and Nut - in my mind before, I was betting on the latter.

  I returned my hand to my side and then immediately effected a vampire bow of respect. Perhaps I should have done that as soon as I entered the room, but his presence alone had distracted me and not just because of his unusual looks.

  I'm not sure if Michel had bowed, but he was the first to speak as I came upright again.

  "Welcome to our home Ambrosia." He'd recovered some of his usual appearance, clearly back in control of his own fear. Mine wasn't quite as easy to conquer, but the Ambrosia's smile had lifted my spirits to some degree at least.

  "I hope you do not mind the intrusion," the Ambrosia said in a soft and slightly musical voice. It was like nothing I had heard before and not in the least the same as it had sounded in my mind.

  Michel headed over to the drinks cabinet and started to pour us all drinks, our vampires had not entered the room with us, but I was sure they were out in the hall, remaining nearby. This meeting was obviously for just three though. I walked uncertainly toward the empty sofa and took a seat. As soon as I was sitting, the Ambrosia followed suit in his chair by the fire.

  "Not at all," Michel answered his question and handed him a snifter of Brandy. Then poured himself a whiskey, me a Bacardi and brought them over to sit by my side. I sipped on my drink immediately - fortification I told myself - Michel just held his on his knee. The Ambrosia mirroring his stance.


  I'm not sure what I had expected, but this stand-off was not it. For some reason I had assumed that Michel and the Ambrosia would have had at least some level of familiarity, having known each other for centuries, but they were acting like two opponents sizing each other up, preparing to fight. Were we at war against each other? I couldn't see how that would help. The Ambrosia had offered to aid us in the reversal of the joining, and thereby had chosen his side as far as I could see.

  "There are no sides, child," he said conversationally, as though answering my unspoken words was all quite normal.

  You can read my thoughts like the Champion? I asked, aware my mental voice was a little accusatory.

  "Yes, but I find answering them aloud is not so rude."

  I frowned, unsure if that was his way of telling me off for thinking that last question or not. Michel just took his first sip of his drink. The Ambrosia followed him with one of his own. I almost wanted to laugh out loud, but couldn't face the telling off I would undoubtedly receive. From both of them.

  "We need to discuss the ceremony," the Ambrosia said breaking the awkward silence.

  My head shot up as a wave of hope washed through me. Michel shifted his hand to my knee and just rested it there. A warning. He was obviously not as hopeful as me. Or was just reminding me not to show it.

  The Ambrosia smiled at me, a grandfatherly type smile that looked out of place on his young face, but also quite at home on the man himself.

  "I have had to think hard on this Emissary," he said, taking another casual sip of his drink and making my hope falter. Michel's hand gently rubbed my knee.

  "You seemed sure this was possible when I left," Michel said, his voice level and just a little harsh.

  "You must understand," the Ambrosia started, not looking at us, but instead staring into the flames of the fire, "this ceremony carries consequences, not just for you."

  "You've had second thoughts?" Michel asked, his hand tightening around his glass minutely. But the Ambrosia didn't look like he was going to answer and to my mind, Michel had entirely missed his point.

  "What consequences?" I asked, speaking for the first time since entering the room. The Ambrosia's warm gaze came up to meet mine. I didn't feel compelled to look away. If he was going to influence me I was sure he could find a way other than a glaze, but I had the distinct impression this vampire had honour. I'm not sure why, but I believed that to my very core.

  "It takes an enormous amount of power," he answered, now speaking directly to me.

  "Um," I said, unsure how to broach this, then deciding honesty was the best course. "More than you have?"

  He shrugged, an elegant shift of his shoulders that older vampires could make seem so chic. "It is not so much whether I have enough, as whether I wish to go there."

  I frowned slightly at that, not quite sure what he meant. Michel remained silent beside me, maybe he thought I'd have better luck with the ancient vampire than him. He was at least looking at me, whereas before he had been steadfastly looking at neither one of us.

  OK, so he had enough power to perform this ceremony, as he had called it, but he was unhappy about using it. Why?

  "What happens when you use this kind of power?"

  His smile told me I was asking the right questions, he was pleased where my thoughts had taken me.

  "Any power has the ability to Darken a person's soul. Even your Light."

  "My Light?" I knew my Light was powerful, but the thought it could Darken my soul - and I was sure he had used a capital 'D' on that word - was foreign. Light was good, Dark was bad. How could using Light make one have Dark?

  "The more Light one has, the more power one has. The more power one has, the more Dark one can have."

  No matter what, it seemed that Light and Dark were not mutually exclusive. That to have one you always ran the risk of having the other. Even Nut had said it, with that puzzling Fey Prophesy. Light and Dark are intertwined, never to be parted. I just wondered what the next part of that prophesy meant, but now was not the time to get distracted.

  "I have had to search within myself, " the Ambrosia said, interrupting my thoughts, "to ensure I am doing this for the right reasons. And for the right person."

  I lifted my eyes to his, he was studying me intently and I suddenly understood I was in the middle of a test of sorts. The Ambrosia was unsure if placing himself in this precarious position, so close to the Dark when he was normally full of bright Light, was worth it. If I was worth that risk to his soul. I had absolutely no idea how to reassure him. I am Nut's emissary. I am the representation of Light. It is my task to balance the Dark, balance the universe, with my Light.

  But I am not an angel. I am not always right and frequently battle my own Dark. I have thought bad thoughts and wanted bad deeds done. I had wanted that connection to Lutin broken so badly that his death had appealed. I may not have been able to carry out the actual deed, but had I done a thing to stop it? I suddenly wondered if I was a good bet or not.

  I know now that there is Dark in all of us. I feel it sometimes in me. But I also know I have a choice to embrace that Dark, to let it in. It is a temptation, it has a seductive allure, and although I have seen it, touched it, I am also aware that I have never completely accepted it. It is there and always will be. And even though a part of me thinks it was Dark of me to not save Lutin, a part of me knows I am not a goddess either. Lutin's path had come to its end and as Nut had told me, we get to choose how we travel there, but the ending is set in stone.

  To have interfered, to have thought myself powerful enough to halt his death, to avert his end goal, would truly have been to embrace the Dark. I hadn't, despite my grief at his death - and I had grieved - I hadn't entwined my soul with the Dark to prevent it.

  In a blinding flash of comprehension I understood the second part of the Fey Prophesy. Dark will call to our kind, Light has already started. Dark called to all of us, all of our kinds, and always would. But Light is our first calling. We all have Light in us when we are born. Human, shifter, vampire, ghoul or fey. We start out with Light and we choose whether to let the call of the Dark win. I have chosen not to let that Dark in. My life may be forever entwined with it, but the choice will always be mine. To embrace it or fight it.

  I choose to fight.

  The Ambrosia stood from his chair and walked toward me. Michel stiffened slightly, but didn't move to intervene. The old vampire crouched down before me and took hold of both my hands in his. Surprisingly, they were warm. For someone so old I had expected to feel a chill.

  "Child of Nut, you are worthy," he said simply and then raised both hands to his lips. He lay a kiss on each and then returned them to my lap. Getting agilely to his feet, he walked back to his seat and sat. His face was no longer a blank mask, but alive with life and happiness. Light was reflected in his gaze. I turned to look at Michel, to see if he was thinking the same thoughts as me. This was actually going to happen. Excitement was bubbling up inside me and I was finding it difficult to contain its effervescent fizz. He smiled and raised an eyebrow, then lifted one of my hands to his own lips for a kiss.

  "The ceremony," the Ambrosia said, bringing both Michel and I back to the room with a jolt, "is not how you will expect. You need to prepared for anything. And I mean anything." He looked at both of us and held us captive with his intense gaze. "This type of power can create absolutely whatever you can imagine. Your greatest hopes and desires, or your worst fears and dreads. You will both need to call on your Light." He turned to Michel. "Can you do that?"

  Michel had always had more Light in him than most vampires I had ever met. Besides the Ambrosia of course. But like most vampires, he also had a fair amount of Dark. I believed in his Light, I believed that he had it in him to chose the right path, to pick Light over Dark. But he hadn't always. There had been times when he had chosen the wrong side to back. Despite that, I fervently believed he could do this. He could call on that Light part of his soul. And I knew in the instant the
Ambrosia asked him, that I would do everything in my power to ensure Michel believed it too.

  Michel turned his head to slowly look at me, there was so much emotion on open display in his gaze. He reached up and brushed my cheek, his eyes searching my face as though the answer to all the world's questions could be found right there.

  "If you believe it, then how can I doubt?" he said in a soft voice and then he returned his gaze to the Ambrosia and announced, "For this chance, for Lucinda, I will shine with Light."

  "Excellent," the Ambrosia declared, not doubting him either I noticed. "Similar to a joining, there will be a sharing of blood. As well as the sharing of both your Light. After I have broken Lucinda's joining with the Interrogator, of course." Broken? Not just reversed. It sounded so painful. The Ambrosia focused on me. "It will be, child. For both you and the Interrogator, it will be a painful severing of your ties. Not something to be undertaken lightly. We need his permission, his will to comply."

  Oh hell, that just made the whole exercise insurmountable. There was no way Avery would readily agree to give up power, as well as take a hiding while it happened. He was a coward as much as an egotist. Convincing him was not going to be nice.

  "I will leave that up to you," the Ambrosia said, without offering any suggestions on how to achieve that goal. "We will also require witnesses. Like a joining, those of importance to you must attend. The Champion is essential, her blessing on the event required. I will not use this kind of power without the leader of the Iunctio being on board."

  He stood then, replacing his empty snifter on a side table. Both Michel and I came to our feet as well, as soon as he'd moved. I guess our meeting was over. It had been enlightening, if not a little terrifying along the way.

  "I have advised the Champion you will meet with her tomorrow night, Michel." The Ambrosia's tone had softened, maybe the fact he was using Michel's name, not his title, had something to with that. But it felt like the atmosphere had shifted to a more companionable one now. "Your presence is not required, Lucinda, in fact I would advise it best to stay out of her way until she complies." That's advice I'd readily take, but it didn't make me worry less for Michel. Neither did the Ambrosia's next words. "Good luck, son." He placed a hand on Michel's shoulder, a jolt of Light shining suddenly in the room. It hadn't been mine and I wasn't entirely sure it was the Ambrosia's either. But he did look satisfied when his eyes lifted to Michel's. The small smile on his face though, was serene.