“I—”
“Both Talon and Ashra reported no more than a few dozen daevas.”
“The narrow tunnels created a funnel and limited their numbers.”
Tera shook her head. Her eyes narrowed. “They’d just fed on you. You were disoriented from blood loss. You hallucinated—”
“I know what I saw. A cavern filled with thousands of daevas, and—” His brow furrowed as he sorted through memories blurred by pain. “I saw someone else—a human or vampire, I…I couldn’t tell from that distance.”
Tera threw her head back and laughed. Her tiny fangs gleamed in the florescent light. “That’s absurd. The only creatures outside Aeternae Noctis are the daevas and the immortali, and the immortali are insane. The daevas would never conspire with the immortali.”
Siri cut in. “Jaden, you were badly hurt even before the daevas drew on your blood. Tera’s right; the combination of your injuries and the blood loss, you shouldn’t have been able to raise your head, let alone see straight.”
“But he could, and he did. He fled the daevas, freed me, and then stood his ground, sword in hand,” Talon interjected. His dark eyes locked on Jaden. “Ashra’s blood flowing through your veins allowed you to survive what you otherwise would not have.”
Siri’s eyes widened. “Ashra’s blood?”
Talon continued. “When I tried to feed on him, I tasted the blood of an icrathari mingled with his.” He smirked at Jaden and licked his lips. “The flavor is heady. I expect the daevas noticed too.”
Had they? Jaden’s brow furrowed. Had the daevas been startled by the taste of his hybrid blood? What kind of information had they conveyed to the male figure Jaden had seen in the caves?
Siri’s incredulous gaze flashed to Ashra. “What did you do?”
Ashra’s chin tilted up. “He was injured, and the sun scorched him. He would have died without my blood.”
“And he didn’t go mad? How much did you give him?”
“Ten drops at dawn, and another ten three hours ago.”
Siri walked up to Jaden. Her wings beat down, lifting her up to look into his face. Her stare was direct, but lacked the challenge of Tera’s flinty expression, nor did it cause his heartbeat to race, the way Ashra’s did. With clinical detachment, she drew a fingernail across his wrist.
Jaden flinched, but did not yank his hand away. The vampires and icrathari were obviously nonchalant about spilling blood. He doubted he would ever be that relaxed about it.
Siri dabbed at a crimson drop trickling from his wrist, and brought her blood-smeared finger to her mouth. Her tongue darted out. Her eyes closed, and she inhaled deeply. The soft glow of pure appreciation flickered over her face, reminding Jaden of Thomas, the old vintner who all but smacked his lips when he sampled his prized wines.
“More than heady. I’d say his blood is intoxicating.” Her eyes opened, and she smiled. “Very interesting. Phillip and I will need to run more tests to confirm if you’re still human or if you’re turning into something else.”
Alarm shot through Jaden’s spine. “Something else?”
Siri chuckled. “Never underestimate the transformative power of an icrathari’s blood. I wouldn’t worry too much; I doubt you’ll transform into a vampire off a few drops of Ashra’s blood. Change is rarely immediate, though, and the most profound change is often the most subtle.”
Elsker cleared his throat. “What about the soul bond?”
Ashra tensed.
Jaden glanced around the room. The vampires and icrathari turned their faces away from him. A chill clawed through him. His fingers curled into fists. “What is a soul bond?”
Elsker hesitated. When he finally spoke, he seemed to choose his words with care. “A soul bond is the unbreakable connection formed between an icrathari and the person transformed by an icrathari’s blood. It lasts through death—”
“And apparently through reincarnations,” Talon cut in. The glance he threw Jaden was self-mocking.
Jaden’s eyes narrowed. Surely Talon was not suggesting that some kind of bond existed between them because Rohkeus had transformed Talon into an elder vampire a thousand years prior. He held Talon’s gaze. “What does the soul bond do?”
Talon shrugged. “Nothing or everything, depending on your point of view.”
Jaden gritted his teeth. Would he never get a straight answer out of the vampires and icrathari? “I need to know.”
Ashra placed a hand on his wrist. “We cannot tell you what we do not know. Our legends speak of the soul bond, but Talon is the only elder vampire, and Rohkeus died soon after Talon’s transformation. We’ve never tested the extent or the strength of a soul bond. You, however, are not an elder vampire. You have nothing to fear.”
But he did. When he stared into the gold of Ashra’s eyes, he could have sworn he had already succumbed to the soul bond. Forty-eight hours earlier, his fear of the Night Terrors had suffocated him like a death shroud, but at that moment, all he felt was irritation over their evasiveness.
Soul bond. Blood slave. It doesn’t matter what term they use. I’m becoming one of them—in spirit, if not in body.
Like Ashra, he had a stake in the survival of the city and the human race. Jaden looked at Tera. “I stand by what I saw in the caves.”
Tera glared at him, and then she snarled, a guttural sound of frustration. Her wings spread; the scrape of leather against leather whispered against her back. She paced the length of the chamber, and then spun, whirling on him. “If what he says is true, then we cannot take them on. Even if the narrow tunnels funnel their attack, twenty-five cannot stand against thousands.”
Ashra’s eyes narrowed. “I want to stop their attacks on Aeternae Noctis, not annihilate them.”
Tera glowered. “There is no other way to stop their attacks.”
Elsker shook his head. “Total war is not, and will never be, the answer. The last time the humans embarked on total war, they would have driven their own species to extinction, if not for Rohkeus and Aeternae Noctis.”
Siri shrugged. “We could seal the entrance to the cave, though I imagine there are multiple exits, none of which we’ve found. What we really need is to understand the daevas and their society. We’d be fighting blind otherwise—brute strength against brute strength—and they have far greater numbers, but if we could analyze them and find a weakness…”
Jaden glanced at Siri. Her short hair framed her face. Could she have been the icrathari who had met with the daevas? Knowledge was, after all, the sweetest of forbidden fruit, and Siri, more than any other icrathari, craved knowledge. She would parley with the daevas in exchange for information.
Talon cut in. “What about the infant Jaden took hostage? She’s daeva royalty.”
Several heads snapped up in his direction. It appeared that the daeva hostage was not common knowledge.
Elsker frowned. “What’s this about a hostage?”
Siri shrugged. “An infant daeva. Talon believes it’s a daughter from one of their ruling houses. Historically, icrathari and daevas have not tended toward democracy or layered societies.” She smirked at Ashra. “More likely, a small handful of daevas command the vast horde. If we can cut off the head, the masses will be useless until new leaders emerge from the inevitable scramble for power. I suspect there will be a fair number of casualties in the process.”
Ashra folded her arms across her chest. “I agree, but I doubt the infant daeva will be of any use to you in unraveling the mysteries of their society.”
Elsker shook his head. “If she is royalty, won’t the daevas attempt to retrieve her?” He shot Jaden an angry glance. “By taking her hostage, you’ve endangered the city.”
Doubt churned in the pit of Jaden’s stomach. With effort, he kept his voice even. “The daevas didn’t leave us too many options for escaping unscathed.”
Ashra waved a dismissive hand. “We will use the infant as leverage if we negotiate a truce with the daevas.”
With a hint of a sc
owl in her voice, Tera asked, “And what about our planned attack on the daevas’ cave?”
“On hold until we know for certain what we’re up against,” Ashra said. “The council is dismissed.”
Most of the vampires and icrathari filed from the chamber, leaving behind Dana, Ashra, Elsker, and Jaden.
Jaden broke the silence. “My sister and my father—”
“Your sister is in a suite next to mine. Your father is with his human companions in a cell.”
“Will you release them?”
Ashra contemplated his request for a moment. “No, not yet. Perhaps never,” she said with surprising frankness.
“Ashra, the tower is not a comfortable place for a human. The chill is more than we can take.”
Her gaze flicked up to his face. She hesitated.
He reached out and took her hand. “Please.”
“I will consider it,” she promised.
Elsker cleared his throat. “Ashra, we have to talk.”
Ashra nodded. She turned to Jaden. “Dana can take you to your sister. Wait for me in my suite. We will discuss the other humans later.”
In silence, Jaden followed Dana from the chamber. He did not look at her until they stepped onto the elevator. Jaden threw his mother a sideway glance. He searched for the right words, but could not force them past the heavy pressure against his chest and throat.
Dana, too, seemed unable to speak. She looked at him while swallowing hard and often. Her green eyes, so much like his, shimmered with unshed tears.
The immediacy of the council meeting had forced him to respond to the challenge of the other icrathari and freed him from the burden of reacting to his mother. Now, without the excuse of distractions, it was enough to be together, sharing the same space in silence.
Dana broke the quiet. “I missed out on so much, but you’ve grown up to be a credit to your father and to Lydia.” Her voice caught on the woman’s name.
“What happened?” he asked. “Why did the vampires take you?”
“It was the full moon after your fifth birthday. The vampires came for you.”
Jaden’s eyes widened. “What?”
Dana squeezed her eyes shut, as if trying to block out the memory. “Your father tried to stop them, but they knocked him unconscious. The vampires took you, and I followed.”
“You followed them into Malum Turris?”
A weak smile appeared on Dana’s face. Her eyes opened and locked on Jaden’s face. A glimmer of laughter lurked in their green depths. “Apparently, I was the first person in nearly a thousand years who had managed to do so unnoticed. I was eventually captured, though. The vampires would have killed me, but Ashra stopped them and offered me a place among the vampire scouts.” Dana swallowed hard and interlaced her fingers. Even so, her hands trembled.
Jaden reached out and wrapped his hands around hers. Her hands were icy cold, the texture of her skin as smooth and hard as polished marble. Not human.
The foundation of his identity cracked. He was not who he thought he was—a human warrior sworn to protect the child of destiny. My mother is a vampire, and for the past five years, I’ve dreamed of an icrathari’s love. He fought to keep his voice steady. “And you accepted Ashra’s offer?”
“On condition that she return you to your father, and that she swear never to hurt you.” Dana’s smile wavered. “Apparently, the icrathari only keep promises as long as it suits them. At least it purchased you a few years of peace until the icrathari saw you as a challenge.”
“All I did was defend Khiarra.”
“You killed two vampires.” She grinned. “That’s only slightly less difficult than sneaking into Malum Turris.”
Jaden chuckled. “Between what you and I have done and the prophecy around Khiarra, I imagine Ashra has found our family tiresome.” He paused before giving voice to the question that lay between them. “Why didn’t you come back to tell me that you were alive?”
“Oh, Jaden.” Her face twisted. “How could I? After the centuries of hate the humans have harbored for the vampires and the icrathari, how could I return to tell you that I had become one of the despised Night Terrors? How could I do that without your father blaming you for the choice I made, or worse, you blaming yourself?”
The denial shaped his lips, but he bit it back. She was right. His father would never have forgiven the betrayal. And I’ve betrayed him too.
He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed against the spike of pain in his chest. “I have to see him.”
Dana shook her head. “Not a good idea.”
“And leaving him imprisoned without explanations is? You know him; the longer he simmers, the worse his anger.”
“He’s human. He won’t understand.”
“I did.”
Dana stared at her son for a moment before her vivid green eyes softened. She smiled faintly. “Yes, you did. You’ll have to ask Ashra, though. Only the icrathari are able to access the cells.”
Jaden hesitated. “I think I can too.”
“But how?”
“Apparently, I don’t just have Rohkeus’s soul. I have his eyes too.”
“Really?” Dana’s eyebrows drew together. “And all this time, I thought you got those eyes from me.” She reached out to tap the controls on the elevator. It reversed direction, heading down and stopping on the lowest level of Malum Turris.
She led the way off the open platform and through the corridors that wound around the massive engine rooms.
Jaden paused at a raised threshold. He tapped the protruding steel panel. “What is this?”
“Fire doors. If one of the engines catches fire and spreads beyond its room, we seal the fire doors along the corridors to keep the flames from spreading.”
“Has it ever happened?”
“No, Xanthia is the consummate perfectionist. She single-handedly keeps the engines running in flawless condition, and just as well. Life within Aeternae Noctis is fragile. We can’t afford any mistakes.”
He had come to realize that fact too. Jaden followed his mother around a corner. “I never did find my way back to the city.”
“There are many ways to the city. The closest one is down that way.” She jerked her head at a narrow corridor. “It emerges under the statue in the city square.”
“Really?” Jaden’s eyes widened.
“Yes, though we’ve not used that door in awhile.” Dana laughed softly. “The vampires usually employ the front door and the bridge over the moat, and the icrathari will take advantage of any open window.”
She stopped in front of the sealed door of a cell and threw a glance over her shoulder. “Are you certain?”
He inhaled deeply. “No, but I have to talk to him anyway.”
She nodded. “I’ll wait out here for you.
He leaned down to peer into the biometric scanner. As he had expected, the cell door opened, and he stepped in.
Six pairs of eyes swiveled in his direction.
“Traitor!” Hands curled into fists, Gareth hurled himself at Jaden.
Jaden sidestepped, and Gareth slammed into the wall. His grunt of fury collapsed into a dazed moan, but he dragged himself upright and swung his fist out at Jaden.
The younger man caught his father’s fist in an open hand and pushed him back into the protective fold of the other humans. The old man glowered up at Jaden; he would have lunged forward if not for the restraining hands wrapped around him. “You traitor! You betrayed your sister, betrayed us all.”
“Father, it’s not what you think it is. The city—” How could he explain that for a thousand years, the icrathari had imprisoned humanity in a lie, but the truth was far worse? How could anyone who had not seen for himself the desolation beyond the dome believe anything other than the worst of the Night Terrors?
How could he defend Ashra when he was still struggling to separate the facts of the situation from his inexplicable attraction to her? An image of Ashra surfaced, but not one he had obtained in his life. T
he fresh delight of her smile, the innocence in her eyes—it was a memory of a much younger icrathari, before the responsibility of protecting Aeternae Noctis was placed on her narrow shoulders.
The images of her dancing on a dew-covered lawn beneath a full moon, her black wings glistening in the pale light were not his memories, but Rohkeus’s, and the memories were infused with love. Jaden did not know if the love echoing through those memories was Rohkeus’s or Ashra’s, but perhaps it did not matter. Her love for Rohkeus had kept her toiling for a thousand years, and Rohkeus’s love for Ashra…
Jaden clenched his hands. How could he ever tell the difference between Rohkeus’s feelings for Ashra, and his own?
Does it even matter?
His father’s voice, low and intent, recalled him from the distracting thoughts of Ashra. “Jaden, you’re not yourself. We saw her force her blood down your throat. She’s bewitched you—turned you against your people, your family.” His voice trembled, precariously balanced on the edge of tears. “You’re my son. I know you can break free. You have to. The Night Terrors have already taken Dana and Khiarra from me. They can’t take you too.”
She’s bewitched you.
Ashra’s voice countered with a whispered memory. The icrathari only taste memories. We do not create them.
Jaden took an unsteady step back. He shook his head to clear it of both his father’s voice and Ashra’s. His decision, his choice to love Ashra would be his own, damn it. If only his dreams, Rohkeus’s memories, were as easy to dispel. His voice betrayed none of his emotional turmoil. “I’ll bring blankets and food.”
His father leaned closer, his eyes locking onto Jaden’s. “You’re closer than anyone has ever been to these demons. Search out their weakness. Find a way to kill them. It’s the only way to end the eternal night.”
Jaden turned his back on his father. “The night is more kindness than we have deserved.” He walked out of the cell and allowed the door to lock behind him.
Dana straightened from her slouch. She wore a smile, but her eyes betrayed her pain at the conversation she had overheard. “He’s hated too much for too long to change his ways.”
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