Revelation (League of Vampires Book 5)
Page 22
“What happened out there?” he asked with a pleasant smile. As though he were asking about the weather.
“You saw for yourself,” I admonished him with a distracted shake of my head. “You can see the courtyard from the window.”
“Indeed.” Eyes that were so like mine flashed with barely-suppressed humor. “But what does it mean? You look as though you’ve been shaken. Hard.”
“I have,” I admitted, dropping my voice until it was barely a whisper.
Elazar and I had enough practice with reading each other’s lips that it didn’t surprise or challenge him.
I leaned closer. “Something’s going to happen. Something which will change everything.”
He rose to his feet, coming as close as he could to the bars without triggering an alarm. When a visitor stood just outside the cell, both they and the imprisoned had to maintain a distance from the bars. Not that it mattered much—there was no way for either of us to pass an item to the other, anyway, without again triggering an alarm. But rules were rules.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked in a low, nearly teasing voice.
He loved this, I knew. He lived for intrigue such as that which I was bringing him. What else did he have to live for, in all honesty?
I frowned. “Not now.”
“Why?” he mouthed.
“Because it would only bring you trouble, knowing what I have planned. If it goes wrong, they’ll come to you first. You’re my twin. They know how devoted I am to you. They’ll assume I told you everything, and they’ll use you against me. I need to be sure you’re as innocent in this as can be.”
“It sounds serious.”
“It couldn’t be more serious.”
He jerked his thumb in the direction of the window overlooking the scene of all the drama. “And you think that little disturbance is going to serve as the conduit for something big?”
“I’m sure of it. I’ve only been waiting for an opportunity like this one. I can’t believe it fell into my lap.”
“And what do you intend to get out of this?” I tilted my head to the side, lips pursed. “Tell me.”
“I’ve already said no.”
“You want to get me out, don’t you?”
“What do you think?” That wasn’t all. Not by a long shot. But it was enough to satisfy him against asking further questions.
“Why is he here, anyway? Fane. Did he tell you anything?”
I shook my head, deciding it best to hold back. “No. I never had the chance to speak with him before things blew up out there.”
If Elazar knew Fane was looking for Nivia, it could mean trouble. I didn’t know how or exactly what the trouble would be, but the fewer potential conflicts, the better.
I continued, “The Senate is meeting at midnight. You’ll know before morning whether things went according to my plans.”
“Elewyn.” His face lost that teasing, chiding quality it so often took when the two of us plotted.
Our plots had never amounted to anything, since he was still locked up with another century to go. It was merely a way to pass the time, to distract him from the misery of his situation.
“Yes?”
“Be careful.”
“Always.” I awarded him one confident smile before sweeping down the corridor, down the stairs, and out to the courtyard. They must have found a way to transport the vampire, since all that was left of the block of ice was a puddle in the center of the stone circle.
My cottage was near the road which led up to the castle, a road my feet had worn smooth over the centuries. Centuries of waiting. Waiting which was about to be richly rewarded, if I had anything to do with it.
I burst through the door just before rain started falling in gusty sheets and flicked my wrist absentmindedly, causing flames to jump and flicker in the hearth. The room seemed to glow, revealing the sparse but serviceable furnishings I’d adjusted to living amongst.
It was worth it for Elazar. To keep him safe and sane while he waited out his sentence.
Over time, Stark had made it worthwhile, as well. If anything, he’d made life interesting again. He’d given me added reason to make that lonely walk up the cobblestone road every morning and back to the cottage at night, when the sky would be just as dark as it had been on my trip out. I had lived in perpetual night for so long, I hardly remembered what it was like to feel sunshine.
That would all end soon.
My hands tingled at the images of what was to come, to the point where I had to close my eyes and concentrate until the feeling passed. I hadn’t felt so on-edge and volatile since my girlhood, when my powers had first revealed themselves, and I’d created chaos in my little town.
Enough so that I was banished and my twin came with me, unwilling to leave me alone. I’d only been repaying that kindness ever since. I might have died back then, living alone and penniless, had he not made it possible for me to survive.
“It’s all about to change, brother,” I whispered, staring into the flames which mirrored the fevered pattern of my thinking. “You’ll have everything you’ve been dreaming of for so long. As will I.”
A knock at the door startled me out of my near-trance, and it was with a frown that I opened it to greet my guest.
I could’ve predicted who I’d find standing on the doorstep. She came around far too frequently for my liking.
“What do you think it all means?” she murmured, brushing past me to barge into the cottage just as she’d been doing for far too long. As always, I controlled my temper. He loved her. I would never understand it, but he did.
“I’m not sure,” I lied, pulling a second chair up to the fire so Samara could settle in.
“They haven’t held a midnight meeting such as this in… I can’t remember how long,” she admitted, shaking rainwater out of her dark waves. Droplets sizzled as they hit the stones at the edge of the hearth.
“Nor can I,” I agreed. As always, I watched her movements closely. The practiced grace of the waving of her hands. The way her eyebrows rose when she was excited. The way she tilted her head and jutted her chin whenever she was frustrated or confused.
I couldn’t wait to watch her die.
“Will you be there? When they pass sentence, I mean?”
I shrugged as though I hadn’t given it any thought. “I don’t know if the Senate would allow such a thing. They take these matters very seriously, of course.”
“Of course,” she parroted, staring into the flames.
“It would be a shame, though, to see Fane’s family punished…” I glanced at her, weighing her reaction.
She knew damn well why he was on the island, even if she hadn’t admitted it or even acknowledged his presence. She was one half of the pair who had placed Nivia in his former wife’s body—my brother being the other half. If Fane were looking for anyone on Shadowsbane, it would be the two of them.
“It would,” she agreed.
I wondered how much of her past life had washed clean over the course of the vigil she’d kept with me. Did she feel any guilt for the crimes she’d committed? Or over the fact that it was my brother, not she, who sat in a cell? Even though she was just as guilty as he?
I cleared my throat, careful to keep my excitement at bay. It had to sound as though I were only just coming up with this idea.
“I wonder if there isn’t a way to use this to our advantage, now that we have potential allies here on the island.”
She turned to me with wide, surprised eyes. “How could we possibly?”
I bit the inside of my cheek to calm myself.
She couldn’t see how anxious I was to proceed. “Here is what I’ve been considering…”
Afterword
I hope you enjoyed Revelation! I can’t wait to bring you the next book in this series!
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