Queen of Lies

by Kel Carpenter

  She frowned. “What is the meaning of this—”

  I beckoned the darkness forward. Then the screaming started.

  “Stop her,” the ancient voice commanded. Oh, what a mistake that was.

  Any who dared touch me fell to the darkness within as it sought them out in return. They, too, screamed.

  Plumes of black danced across my body like moving tattoos, traveling to those who tried to stop me. I held the screaming woman with nothing more than a light grip on her hand. My power invaded their senses, funneling deeper and harder than I had with the child. Aiming to cause pain while I simultaneously harvested their own energy.

  “Victor, what is the meaning of this?” the ancient one asked as darkness began to thicken in the very air, reaching its tendrils to those that weren’t even touching me.

  Her knees collapsed, hitting the marble floors with a crack.

  One by one, those around me began to fall, but they couldn’t break their grip. No one could. No one but me.

  More, the darkness urged. Take more. Take everything. Leave them as nothing but hollowed-out h—

  “Enough,” Victor commanded.

  The darkness growled, not liking how he spoke to us. Not liking how he thought he could control us. I should make him—

  A sharp tug inside made me stop. It was not light or dark, but something else.

  I stared down at my chest, following the thin red line that ran between Victor and myself.

  What was that—

  It tugged again and I dropped the Born Vampire’s hand. Her screaming cut short, warbling in her throat like a whimper before falling silent. I stepped away, breaking contact with my other victims, and it wasn’t entirely of my own accord.

  The darkness in me snarled at the grave insult to our power.

  Victor was a Born. He didn’t have any power outside that of his bite…unless he had already bit me.

  All of those little bits and pieces came crashing together.

  Victor’s demands. His persona. The way the others looked to him, Made and Born. The way the Made looked to me. It all made sense. Every little bit, if he were my master.

  If he could control me.

  I raised my eyes to his, the darkness still riding me hard, urging me to rip his throat out. That lying bastard. All this time he’d made me believe my master was someone else. Some other Vampire that had forced me to undergo the transition, but all this time it was him.

  And yet—could I really be surprised?

  I didn’t think I could. I’d been suspecting it for a few days. Now there was more to him. To us, than he’d led me to believe.

  Who was I to know if all I could remember were dark green eyes…

  I pulled the darkness inward, hiding it from the Council and from him. Hiding my strength. My knowledge. My power.

  Then I climbed the steps and came to stand right at his side like I’d never left. Without making him ask again. That was important. If he brought me here as a demonstration, I needed to play my part perfectly. Make him think he could trust me. Should trust me.

  That I was so wholly devoted to my master, to him, that I couldn’t possibly be planning to plant a dagger in his heart.

  A feather-light touch brushed across the small of my back as he rested his hand there, an almost purr rumbling in his chest. I’d pleased him. Good.

  “As I said before, who I bring is no one else’s concern. Lily is mine. She will do as I command her, won’t you, flower?” His strong fingers brushed up and down my back in slow, rhythmic circles.

  “Of course.”

  “Excellent,” he said, almost affectionately. His hand slid lower, curving around my side. “Now, where were we?”

  No one said a word, but all eyes turned to the man standing in the center of the amphitheater.

  Gregory Kamarov, that was his name, wasn’t it? I filed that away for later.

  “I believe, my prince, that your betrothed has taken you for a fool.”

  A pen could have dropped a mile away and we would have heard it.

  “Is that so?” Victor asked, a vengeful edge entering his tone. Unforgiving.

  I didn’t know who his betrothed was, but something just told me that I may end up being ordered to kill her.

  And the prospect didn’t bother me as much as it should have.

  In fact, it didn’t bother me at all.

  One day. Isn’t that what I swore?

  That one day things would be different.

  It was a promise I made to myself on this very balcony beneath the stars during an autumn night standing next to Ash. Here we were. Today was that day, but I didn’t quite imagine it like this.

  I didn’t imagine that when the sun rose for me again, finally, that it might also be the last one Lily ever saw. That even in death, she would never stop fighting to survive—no matter what that turned her into.

  “I will get you back. One way or another,” I whispered out into the open air.

  No one answered me as the sun went down. As it set, I knew that come dawn tomorrow everything was going to change.

  Chapter 38

  It was just before midnight when we entered the black market.

  The scent of sweat, clay, and blood tainted the air. Beneath it, subtler tones laced the breeze. Brutal northern winds, smoke and ash, pine trees from the south, honeysuckle, and sage. No stench of rot and I took that as a good sign.

  We beat them here.

  Clouds blotted out the sliver of moon, allowing the lights of Vegas to reflect, giving the sky a purple-maroon hue. The wind blew bitter and coarse, cutting me to the core. I tugged my leather jacket tight, stuffing my hands in my pockets as I hurried down the alley and out into the busy street, my footsteps sure and silent. Ordinarily, I would take my time looking at the booths and listening to the vendors as I walked by, but tonight wasn’t the night for that. I kept my head down and my pace steady as I approached the pits.

  A series of snaps, thuds, and grunts told me a ‘match’ was going on below. I wouldn’t have thought it with so few people hanging around the edge. The crowd was abnormally small for this time of night. Typically, there were hundreds hovering around the pits, trying to place bets or just get in on the action.

  Tonight, there were only seven.

  Out of the entire black market that was swarming with paranormals, only seven were standing at the pits. Something wasn’t right here…

  An uncomfortable scraping brushed against my neck, telling me that not all was what it seemed. I took a step back, stumbling when I bumped into someone.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, not even turning to look.

  I needed to get the hell out of here.

  Cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, bringing me to a standstill. Very slowly, I turned to face whoever thought to stop me, blinking twice when I saw who it was.

  My mind had to be playing tricks on me. It couldn’t possibly be…

  “Elizabeth?”

  “In the flesh,” my youngest cousin quipped. Her chocolate waves had been chopped short and died purple. She sported two nose rings and a bruised cheek. Her clothes were black and disheveled, but mostly fitting. A swipe of black colored her collarbone beneath her crew neck shirt. A tattoo maybe?

  “Where have you been?” I asked, not concerned per se, more curious as to what had happened over the past few months for the drastic change in the girl I saw before me. She shrugged coolly, dropping her hand from my wrist.

  “Here and there. It’s not safe to stay put for too long. You should consider yourself lucky I made the trip all the way out here for you,” she said. I rose both eyebrows. To say she’d changed was an understatement.

  “How did you find me?” Apparently, that was a dumb question to her. She cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head forward.

  “Really, Selena?” she asked in a hushed voice. “Anastasia is a lot of things, but I find it awfully convenient that after being gone for months she comes back to the same black market I last saw you in and declar
es a war on Vampires. You sent a message to the world. I hope you’re prepared to back it up.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I leaned away, crossing my arms over my chest, trying not to bristle at the implications. There were a lot of ways to interpret her last sentence. None of them boded well for me.

  Elizabeth unzipped her jacket and pulled out a manila folder. “You wanted to know why Anastasia was after you. I think I found the reason.” She extended it to me and my fingertips tingled where I touched the envelope. A heavy feeling settled into my stomach.

  “How? Blair said the mansion had been burned down…”

  “I burned it down.”

  I blinked rapidly, playing that over in my head to make sure I heard it right.

  “Did you just say—”

  “Yes. I burned the mansion down,” she repeated. “After you went batshit, I snuck out of the apartment and took the elevator to the black market in Detroit. It was easy since it was just me. From there, I hitched a ride with some elderly pixies in a biker gang”—she paused when my mouth fell open—“and made it back to the mansion. Took me nearly two days to find my mom’s secret office, but I did. This,” she tapped on the envelope in my hand, “is everything I found. Make sure you open it alone.”

  I narrowed my eyes in confusion. My spine prickled in apprehension. “Why?”

  Elizabeth hesitated, biting her lip in indecision before saying, “Because what’s inside that folder changes everything, and I don’t know if you’re going to want to change.”

  My muscles tensed, my fingers itching to open this here and now, but if what she said was true…I unzipped my jacket and slipped it inside.

  “Why are you doing this? I’ve been nothing but awful to you after last spring. I’m not apologizing because I thought you deserved it, but why help me?” I asked. My fingers trembled with the zipper as I closed it.

  “I…” Elizabeth paused, sighing to herself. “I’m a lot of things. A coward included. I honestly don’t know why I’m helping you. I wasn’t planning to until I realized what it all meant.” She paused again, shifting from foot to foot as if weighing something back and forth in her mind. “I don’t like you. I don’t think you’re a good person, but I don’t think you’re bad either. I think…you’re somewhere in-between, and right now the world needs an in-between. Someone that can do bad things for the right reasons. That folder has the power to change the world, but only you can do it. You and Alexandra.”

  I gaped at her, completely and utterly stunned.

  I’d said almost the same exact thing not forty-eight hours prior. Funny how it seemed like so much time had passed. When in reality, it wasn’t all that long at all.

  Elizabeth backed away, slowly slinking toward the crowd. I made no move to stop her.

  Instead, I whispered, “Thank you.”

  She nodded and then disappeared into the crowd like she’d never been here in the first place. It took a moment for me to collect myself and my thoughts. By the time I’d sorted through enough to leave it for later, I became distinctly aware that someone was watching me.

  The scent of pine and forests hit me. Familiar, but not recently so…

  I whirled around, my fists tightening, ready for a fight.

  “Hello, Selena.”

  Well, if it was none other than my piece-of-shit ex-boxing partner that got my sister killed.

  What an unpleasant surprise.

  Tori would be arriving with the others very soon, and it was going to make her and Alexandra’s relationship awkward when I killed him.

  Chapter 39

  “Lucas,” I breathed. A slicing sensation ran down my chest, opening the void of memories that I never wanted to recall.

  It burned like vodka, but that was betrayal for you.

  “You’re looking well,” he commented. I could easily have returned the statement, but to even speak to him…I prided myself on my self-control, but seeing his face—perfect, tan, healthy, alive—I didn’t know how long I could hold it in.

  The resentment. The anger. The hate.

  His raven black hair, just as dark as mine, was trimmed as if not a day had gone by. He wore a suit, black and white. All it was missing was the red.

  I bit my lip, the copper taste clearing my mind. Reminding me that if he was here, so was Anastasia. This is what we wanted. This is what I worked for.

  And still, it was only the bitter truth that escaped my lips.

  “You killed my sister,” I spat. Instinctively, I took a step towards him and he grinned that all too familiar lopsided smile. His eyes, once emerald green, were nearly black.

  “No. I found your sister and carried her to the ballroom. You killed your sister because you couldn’t control your power. So, you see, Selena, we’re both monsters.” His paper white teeth glinted in the low light, making his smile look sharper. Feral.

  Blood rushed to my head.

  Did he really just say that?

  “I would be very careful with your words, Lucas, because I could kill you with a thought. A. Single. Thought. Can you even comprehend that? The kind of power I hold? Because very soon, that power is going to be the death of you.”

  The wind picked up, howling in my ears like a wounded animal still grieving the loss I felt so acutely. Dead or undead, Lily had suffered immeasurably so, and it was the only reason Lucas was still alive. He needed to suffer too.

  “So bloodthirsty. I’m happy to see that time with the animals hasn’t changed you,” he grinned. I grit my teeth.

  “Why are you here, Lucas?” I asked him sharply. He laughed, and it was nothing like the way he used to and I was grateful for that. Before, it would be a quiet, thoughtful chuckle. Now, it was loud, boisterous, and obnoxious.

  “For you, of course.”

  Of course. Like that was a given. A guarantee.

  My head grew hot and my heart beat erratically, trying to keep up with the growing fire inside of me. I couldn’t let that power out. Not yet.

  “For me?” I asked, my voice dripping with condescension. “How on earth do you think that you’d ever have a shot with me after everything you’ve done?” The grin on his face froze and slowly started to fall. “You lied to me for over a year about Aaron and made me feel bad for not telling you my secrets—even though mine had nothing to do with you and could have gotten me killed if the wrong people found out. That alone is inexcusable.” His eyes tightened as he clenched his jaw. “But kidnapping my sister? Killing my sister? Lucas, I don’t know what la-la-land you’ve been living in, but I am going to take great pleasure in killing you.”

  His tan skin flushed as his breathing sped up. Clearly, not as unaffected as he would like to seem.

  “You keep saying that, yet you haven’t tried to kill me once.” He touted this, like it was infallible proof of my devotion. I threw my head back and laughed, just as cold, callous, and cruel as he had been to me.

  “You think,” I started, having to pause for another bout of mocking laughter, “that because I haven’t killed you yet, that means I won’t?” I lifted my head to look him in the eye and let him see the truth in my words. “You poor, pathetic fool. I haven’t killed you because I want to draw it out.”

  His head jerked back as if I’d slapped him, but I hadn’t taken a single step.

  “You can’t mean that…” he stumbled for the first time, struggling with his words.

  “Oh, I can, and I do,” I assured him, not hesitating in the slightest. His eyes darkened to a true black that I would have mistaken for demonic had I not known that it wasn’t possible for other demons to be created. Still, it was unnatural. A sign of Anastasia’s influence over him.

  “Then it appears I will just have to change your mind,” he replied, his face going impassive. I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I snarled, not liking the implied threat behind his warning. He smiled again, but there was nothing sincere about it.

  “Anastasia promised you to me, and I
will have you. Even if I have to kill the other half of your soul to do it,” he replied.

  He couldn’t possibly be insinuating…

  Behind him, coming from the pit, an animal roared.

  No. Not an animal…

  “Selena!”

  I ran past Lucas, as fast as my feet would carry me, pushing two blokes out of the way so I could stare down over the edge of the pit.

  No. No. No. No. No.

  This cannot possibly be happening.

  Not again.

  Ash sat slumped over in a wooden chair. Bound, but not gagged. His skin blurred, as if he was trying to shift…but couldn’t. Beside him stood none other than Anastasia.

  Holding a knife to his throat.

  “I got your message. I thought you might like one of my own,” she sneered. Her lovely, beautiful face contorting into something ugly and dark. It was only at that exact second that I noticed something off about her.

  Her eyes. They were no longer blue, but black.

  Demon black.

  Inside me, Valda sighed as if she already knew the answer I was only just coming to.

  “Hello, Cirian,” she whispered softly.

  No fucking way.

  Behind me, people began shouting. I couldn’t hear them and maybe that was because I didn’t care. In that brief fraction of a second that I took to come to realization of what—who— Anastasia truly was, she slit his throat.

  Scarlett flowed like a crimson tide, straight out of a holy book.

  My chest throbbed painfully tight and my throat constricted. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. All I knew was that my heart should have stopped.

  I loved my sister. I loved her dearly.

  But I can honestly say I’d never felt pain like I did in that moment.

  It was like…my soul being ripped in half.

  I didn’t even have time to see red. To anguish.

  All I knew was how to act.

  The world flashed from black to white, like an optical illusion that no one but me could see. It was everything and nothing simultaneously.

  It was matter.

  And it was mine to control.