"Yes," I murmur. A tear wells up in my right eye. "I do. It's a terrible burden to bear."
He looks at the female vampire and his face softens. "Esther will be a strong Progenitor. She will call back all of the evil I have unfortunately spread throughout my long reign. And you will have your normal life, just like you always wanted."
"It's not fair," I say.
The Progenitor chuckles. "Nothing in life is ever fair. That's why I'm looking forward to oblivion so much."
His words echo in my mind as I stare at him, shocked. This is a man who wants to die and will do so at any cost. I don't judge those who choose suicide as a way out. I've had quite a few different situations where the idea was tempting, though not enough for me to make any actual attempt. Even when Meghan died and I realized my fate, I never wanted to end it like that. However, that doesn't mean that I don't sympathize with those who want to. If, after living an eternity, he wanted a way out, I wasn’t going to hold that against him. Especially when he was burdened by something as horrible as this.
"I'm sorry," I say. "I'm so sorry."
The Progenitor smiles and bows his head. "You're about to help out more than anyone else in thousands of years."
Esther has a grim smile on her face, and I feel like she's taking the role of the Progenitor out of necessity rather than for the actual position. Although that could change at any point in time in the future, I know.
Can I trust her? According to the current Progenitor, I'll lose all my hunter powers. I'll be cured and Jude would be returned to human, but we'd be helpless to intervene if anything happened.
It wouldn't be my problem anymore. I bite my lip, thinking that. It doesn't feel right. I guess a life of servitude to humanity instills a sense of responsibility that you can never shake.
"Good to know I'm good for something," I say, shaking my head.
The Progenitor laughs. “You’re good for quite a few things, Miss Harker.” He reaches out and grabs my hand.
A shock hits me again, and I'm back in the penthouse, standing exactly where I'd been before. I suck in a deep breath, glad to be back in the relatively normal world, staggering backwards.
Back here, I feel hollow, like I’ve been made transparent for everyone to see my insides. It’s a terrifying feeling. I guess that’s what it’s like when you see the evil that could easily destroy your world.
“Is it normal to feel like you’ve been run over by a train after that?” I ask.
“Yes,” Esther agrees. She looks pale herself.
“You see now why you must do what you have to?” the Progenitor asks gently.
“Yes,” I whisper. I close my eyes, feeling the tears drip down my face in big rivulets.
Now, I’m able to see a future that I've never believed possible before me. Amelia can live without fear of waking up in the middle of the night with vampires swarming all over her house. I can explore a life where I don’t have to hunt vampires, because there’d only be one, Esther as the Progenitor. And I can face the future with Jude, who’d no longer be a vampire.
It sounds wonderful. Hell, it sounds too good to be true.
So long as Esther is a good person it could work. Not that I trust the Progenitor, but at least he's offering this up as an option. Anthony made it clear that his intentions were to have absolute power, and I wonder now about her intentions?
"Why do you think you're worthy of being the Progenitor?" I ask Esther point-blank. "That you will remain vigilant and not let it get out of hand? Or spread the virus?"
She chuckles. "Oh Harker," she says in her accented voice. "I am prepared to go live by myself for a long time."
"You want that?" I could think of nothing worse than being by yourself for centuries, living with that hell inside your body.
"I want what's best," she says simply.
For some reason, as I look at her, I believe her.
"Anthony said that my blood wasn't ready," I tell them.
"That's only a problem if you're trying to fight me and I'm unwilling," the Progenitor explains. "That is not the case for Esther."
I look up at them. "Okay. What do we need to do to get started with this?"
A grin spreads across Esther’s face. “We’re ready now if you’d like.
“Now? You don’t want to wait or think on it any longer?”
“Trust me, Miss Harker,” the Progenitor says, “Edie. When you’ve been around as long as me, you don’t want to wait any longer for it to end.”
“Why all of the sudden interest then, after waiting so long already?”
The Progenitor’s face darkens. “We’re down to only two of you left—you and the previous Harker’s daughter. Since you’re the only ones who can offer up the right mix of blood, it’s now, or I may not get the chance for a long time. I’d have to create more familiars, and that takes time.”
I shiver.
It’s now or never.
35
Jude
"You can't be serious. This can’t be really happening," Carl says unhappily, playing with the charm around his neck.
Edie’s leaning against the outside of the Ritz Carlton, taking in a long drag on her cigarette. She won’t say what she saw in private with Esther and the Progenitor, only that it’s something she doesn’t feel like she should share. At the same time, I can tell that she’s shaken to her core. She can’t stop the tremble in her hands as she brings her cigarette to her lips.
"It'll stop vampires,” she says. “It'll save me and free both of us from a life of servitude. Isn't this what we always wanted?"
"Yeah," Carl says, still sounding unsure. "It seems too easy. Like, why hasn't this happened before?"
"It's coming at a convenient time," she says vaguely. She stubs the smoke out underneath her foot.
She looks tired. Her black and red hair is hanging limply and she looks incredibly pale, like she hasn't seen the sun in centuries. Dark bags hang under her eyes, a testament to the fact that she hasn't been sleeping well.
If all goes according to plan, I want to take her on a vacation where she can sleep.
It's sometime after ten o'clock and the Progenitor and Esther are in the basement of the Ritz Carlton to get set up for some sort of ritual. What that means exactly, I'm not sure, but we’re all supposed to show up in another fifteen minutes.
When Edie opened the doors after her private meeting with Esther and the Progenitor, she looked scared. She won’t even hint at what they showed her, though I know it must have been bad.
"Why the hell does there have to be a ritual?" Carl asks. "It sounds ridiculous."
"Because we're dealing with forces that are far older than us," Edie replies.
"I want you safe, Cuz," he says softly.
Edie nods. "I will be, after this. We both will be."
"It sounds too good to be true. I don't know what to think. I mean…no more vampires? Can you imagine?"
"I've been imagining it ever since my mother was killed," Edie says.
I can’t even imagine what Edie must have gone through as a kid. She never told me much about her mother, a Harker years before we met, but I can tell that her death has impacted Edie in so many ways.
"We'll help you," I promise, my voice rough with emotion. "With whatever you need."
Edie forces a smile. "We should head back in. Don’t want to be late for this thing.”
I fall into step beside her. "I need to talk to you, in private."
She looks up at me in surprise. "You want to talk? Now?"
I can’t think of a better time. Because after this, there might not be another time. I don’t want her to think that I’m taking advantage of this, I only want her to know exactly what I’m thinking. About after. I nod silently.
She sighs and looks back to her cousin. "Okay. Carl…"
For the first time all night, Carl cracks a smile and nods approvingly. Which is funny, because I always thought he had something for me. “I’ll be right here.”
I gr
ab Edie’s hand, and duck into an alcove beside the hotel, out of sight.
"What did you want to—"
My lips crash against hers with the same desperation I felt last night. I want Edie. All of her.
I press her against the wall, the thud of her body against the brick setting my senses on fire. She clings to me, moaning against my lips, and I hold onto her as if our lives depend on it.
I break the connection with our lips and rest my forehead against hers.
“I love you, Edie Harker.”
She searches my face, curiosity playing across her beautiful features. “I know…”
No “I love you” back, and my heart aches at the silence. Yet, she’s not pushing me back, and I can feel the curve of her body as I press her against the wall. Her expression is full of wonder. I swallow the lump back down my throat.
“What are you going to do after this?” I ask.
She chuckles lightly. "I'll be cured. No more vampires."
“I mean, after? What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I never thought there’d be an after, to be honest.”
The admission makes me want to punch brick walls. Because she always thought there was no way out for her, she’d been resigned to the fate presented before her. Now she can have the life she has only dreamed of.
And I hope that it’s with me.
"You could consider…me…" I say. "I don't know much about me or my past, but I'd take care of you, Edie."
My emotions lay bare as I present my heart to her. I feel naked, like all of my defenses that I’ve spent the last fifty years building up have been obliterated. All because I met a vampire hunter that has captured all of who I am.
She touches the side of my face with her hand and I lean into her palm and kiss it.
"I’d like that, Jude…”
I barely have time to process what she said before she kisses me, this time with a desperate hunger, probing. This is her. Kissing me. Of her own accord. One of the few free choices she has made in her entire life.
"I may not be worth it,” I say, “but you are. Regardless, I'm here for you."
She shakes her head. “No. You’re totally worth it, Jude.”
This time I kiss her, and I lose myself in it again. I don’t want this to ever end.
36
Edie
The thought exhilarates me. There is going to be life after being the Harker. After this, I’ll just be Edie. Jude’ll just be a man, not a vampire, though still a man without a past. And that’s all right with me. We’ll figure out our future together.
Hand in hand, Jude and I follow the Progenitor’s entourage down to the basement where this ceremony is supposed to take place.
Where my future starts anew.
“This is a bit terrifying,” Carl says to me.
He didn’t mention Jude and I disappearing for a bit, and neither he, nor Zhi or Maria have said anything about the change in how Jude and I are acting around each other.
The temperature grows colder the deeper we follow the stairs. I’m glad I have my hoodie on, although I wonder how Carl’s handling it, since he’s wearing his Sublime tee.
Thirty-nine steps down, and then we walk out to an ornate ballroom shrouded in shadows. The door shuts loudly behind us with a resounding thud, making Carl jump. My vampire senses go haywire. There are a lot of vampires here, probably more than what you’d get at your typical vampire bar. After my eyes adjust to the darkness, I see that they’re dressed in hooded robes, chanting something in that same language the Progenitor used to send us to the Void earlier. At least, I think it is. It becomes a low hum that sets my teeth on edge.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Zhi mutters, echoing my sentiments.
In the center of the room, lit candles form a circle, and in the middle of it, the Progenitor sits facing us. The dancing light and the shadows make his face look like a haggard mask. He's shirtless, showing off a toned chest that is very un-William-Shatner-like, with red symbols painted on it in what I can only assume is blood.
He has a grin on his face, not a maniacal one, but one that could be considered dangerous.
Esther stands away from him, topless herself with similar symbols emblazoned across her torso.
My breath comes out in white puffs, and with my clothes on, I'm having trouble staying warm, and I wonder if she isn’t freezing. Maybe I'm getting literal cold feet with this whole thing.
Beside me, Carl looks too pale and white. I wish he had someone with him, as Zhi and Maria are supporting each other, and I have Jude, whose mere presence offers reassurance that words could not. I wonder what Maria thinks of this whole thing, if she’s okay with the changing of the Progenitor’s identity. Who will she become once all vampires go away? Who will Zhi become, for that matter?
So many questions. And everything is happening so fast.
I feel a hand at my back, gentle, comforting, and I look up at Jude. His eyes are intense and he nods at me. He’s excited. He knows what’s about to happen.
I clench my bad hand, feeling the scar stretch around it. Will it still be there when Esther is Progenitor?
"Harker."
Esther holds her hand out to me with a demure smile. I take a breath and step out to her, the feeling of Jude's hand on my back lingering. I take her hand and she laces her fingers in mine, drawing me out into the middle of the room where I feel exposed.
"Follow as I do," she says me. "And I promise, I'll take only what blood I need."
"Thank you for that," I say nervously.
"All will be fine, Harker."
The chanting grows louder and the group closes the circle around us, facing the interior of the circle.
I now know that it's not some sort of weird ritual that we're doing for the Progenitor. Not entirely. It's his own funeral.
This is the end of an era. I'm witnessing something rarer than a Rafflesia flower blooming. This is the death of the Progenitor and the birth of a new one.
The Progenitor closes his eyes and tilts his chin up towards the sky. He begins his own chant, complemented by the hum of his surrounding circle, this time in English, so I’m able to follow along.
* * *
"In chanting this, may you always find
Victory in your never-ending fight.
May you carry this terrible burden
Without succumbing to the night.
May you have all my power
And rule darkness with courage and might."
* * *
A breeze picks up, brushing my hair across my face. I shiver, crossing my arms about my body, as much of a protective gesture as it is for warmth.
There's power in his words, mingling with the chant around us. It's dangerous, ancient, and I can feel it slithering around my skin like a thousand worms struggling to possess me. It doesn't feel malevolent, only all-consuming. Tempting.
He starts glowing with a blinding white light, eventually becoming an ethereal being, other-worldly. His body loses all detail and he becomes merely a shape within his glow. I have to squint to even look his way.
The Progenitor holds a hand out. At first, I think it's towards me, then Esther takes it in one of her own, creating a small arc between the three of us. She closes her eyes in a serene bliss.
The temperature drops even further and the chanting picks up, the congregation reflecting the change in the air and in us. The cold crystalizes each puff of air I breathe.
Esther lets go of both our hands and strides over to the Progenitor, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. He gives her a thin-lipped smile. It's genuine, though it's one of the saddest smiles I've ever seen.
The younger vampire looks at me. "Harker," she says, and I know exactly what she means, to follow her lead.
I walk up to the Progenitor and give him a peck on the lips too.
Esther takes hold of my right hand, and looks to me for permission. Of course, it had to be my better hand. Resignedly, I let out a white-cloud breath
and nod.
"No glamour," I whisper. I want to have my wits about me in case the worst happens.
“I can make the pain go away,” she tells me.
"I want to make sure that you don’t take more than you have to,” I tell her, knowing the pain will keep me grounded.
I notice the Progenitor watching us with a serene expression. His gaze shifts between the two of us, and while he has an enigmatic smile on his lips, I can't tell what he thinks of the entire thing.
She holds my wrist up, baring her teeth as she is about to take a bite and drink.
Then…
I see a ghost. And it makes sense as to why it’s so fucking cold in this room.
Meghan appears behind Esther, her spectral form silently screaming. Her hands are clapped to her ears, her hair swirling around her head. She's warning me.
"Wait!" I say before I can fully process what's happening.
Only it's too late.
Esther's chest explodes in a spray of blood and gore, droplets landing on my face and on the Progenitor. She gives a strangled cry, her lungs no longer working. A hand protrudes from her chest before another joins it and rips her in half. I don't know if you've ever heard the sound of a human body being ripped in half, but it's a jarring, alien sound, flesh rendered from itself.
"Father, didn't you know that you chose the wrong successor?" a familiar voice sneers.
Despite the absurdity of everything, despite the fact that everything has gone horribly wrong, I can't help but think, Goddammit, it's Anthony.
Never mind how he got here, somehow knowing where the Progenitor has been hiding. Never mind that he somehow got through the wards and came down here. He is here. And we all know exactly what he wants.
He killed Esther and, with her, all of the Progenitor's hopes and dreams. He killed my cure from this disease. He killed any hope for Amelia to have a normal life.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 41
