Age of Vampires- The Complete Series

by Caroline Peckham

  "You're wrong," Clarice stepped in. "It's only a small group of rebels.”

  “They’re the ones you see on the streets,” Fabian answered. “But I know that idea lurks in plenty of their minds. Erik, your own Elite are biting on duty,” Fabian goaded him. “General Wolfe is a prime example.”

  Erik's face contorted with fury. “A man you have insisted be banished for his crimes instead of killed. I'm beginning to suspect you have a higher motive.”

  “It is the law,” Fabian answered easily.

  “We make the law!” Erik countered.

  "Argh, stop, you're giving me a headache,” Miles complained. “I vote we locate the sisters and figure it out from there.”

  “We must speak with Andvari,” Erik said, nodding firmly. “He will know what to do.”

  “He hasn’t been very enlightening before now,” Clarice said tentatively. “Do you think he will guide us?”

  “If we are on the right track, he has to guide us,” Erik said, though doubt simmered in his gaze.

  They all stood and Clarice and Miles trailed from the room. Before Erik could exit, Fabian caught his arm. “I’m sending my own men after Magnar and the girl. If I get to her first, I will decide her fate.”

  Erik bared his fangs at him. “Then you’d better be prepared, Fabian. Because if you touch a hair on her head, my fight will not be with the slayers. It will be with you.”

  They exited the room and I gazed at the empty space with my heart crashing against my ribcage.

  “It seems Erik Belvedere is loyal to you,” Julius murmured in my ear. “That doesn’t make me trust him though.”

  I dragged in the cool air. “I want to go to him tomorrow,” I said, my gut knotting at the thought. “If he’s going to talk to Andvari, I have to be there. I need to know if the prophecy really does refer to me and my sister.”

  “If you go back to him, he’ll never release you,” Julius snarled. “And I will not be responsible for that. I can’t let you leave.”

  I shifted away from him, my heart hammering in my chest. “What choice do we have? Staying here won’t do us any good. I have to know the truth. And if it is what we suspect…”

  My heart raced, my throat closed up. Could I go through with it? Turning into one of them? I wasn’t sure, but perhaps we were wrong anyway. Maybe I could rule out that possibility by speaking with Andvari.

  “I didn’t risk my neck just to send you back into the arms of those monsters,” Julius bit at me.

  I dropped my head, threading my fingers together as I thought over my options. It wasn’t like I wanted to be a prisoner again. But maybe there was a way to prevent that…

  “So we get some leverage first,” I offered. “A bargaining chip. Something that means Erik has to do as I say.”

  Julius’s brows rose. “Like a hostage?”

  “I didn’t say that-”

  “No, but I did.” He beamed. “I’ll take someone Erik cares about, someone he has to give you anything for.” His voice rose as his excitement at the idea increased.

  “Erik doesn’t care about many people,” I said uncertainly. “Apart from his family and…” My heart stalled as a name flitted into my head. Someone more valuable to the city than anyone else. The vampire who could control the weather and keep the sun from weakening the entirety of New York.

  “Valentina,” I breathed, turning to him.

  His brows pulled sharply together. “Erik Belvedere cares about Valentina?”

  “You know her?” I gasped.

  “Of course I do,” he snarled. “She was a slayer in my clan a thousand years ago. She was betrothed to my brother,” he revealed. “When I woke from my enchanted sleep, I found her waiting for me beyond my hiding place. I saw what she had done to herself in an instant. Her face was captivating and deathly pale. She’d become one of them. Our sworn enemies.”

  His eyes darkened. “My sword hungered for her end, so I drove it through her without hesitation. But I missed her heart. I was weaker after the sleep and needed time to recover. She begged me to spare her and I didn’t know what the right course of action was. The only other slayer I’d seen as a vampire had asked for death. So I fled.”

  “Did you find out why she became a vampire?” I asked, my voice hushed.

  “No…although I have considered confronting her here in the city. I followed her to New York after our encounter. Since then, I have been lost as to why she has accepted their ways. But perhaps this life was forced upon her…”

  “She offered to help me once,” I said, rubbing the mark on my arm. “I didn’t know if I could trust her.”

  “I am not sure either. But if she is still on our side, she may be a good ally to have. Especially if she is valuable to the royals.”

  “She is,” I insisted. “She controls the weather here. She keeps the clouds covering the sun. I’ve seen it myself.”

  Julius shook his head in horror. “Then she has retained her slayer gifts...” A slow smile grew on his face. “She is our target. Do you know where to find her?”

  I nodded, a thrill rolling through me at the mad plan we were designing. “I’ve been to her apartment. I think I could find it again.” My excitement quickly scattered into a hundred doubts as I realised how impossible it was going to be to move through the city undetected. “But how are we going to get to her?”

  Julius grinned. “Don’t worry, my damsel. I have ways.”

  I tried to get more out of him, but he evidently enjoyed keeping me in the dark as he sank into his own thoughts.

  I sighed, figuring I had to place my faith in him. And if we pulled it off, tomorrow I would be facing Erik with a threat up my sleeve. The idea alone set my veins burning with adrenaline. How the hell was he going to react to me blackmailing him?

  I pushed away my fears, my heart growing strong walls and sparking courage in my chest.

  He blackmailed me first. It’s about time Count Erik had a taste of his own medicine.

  I slid the door to my suite open and stepped out into the corridor. Thankfully no one was there to see me leave and I pressed my back to the door as I released a shaky breath.

  You’re meant to be here, Callie. No one will question you if you stop questioning yourself.

  I pushed off of the door and set a quick pace as I headed towards the rear of the train where they’d been loading the cargo.

  I set my feet down softly, not wanting to draw the attention of any more of the Elite who may have been behind the doors I was passing. I hardly dared breathe until I made it to the end of the carriage

  Once I’d passed the suites, I crossed over into the next carriage where the lesser vampires sat around small tables on comfortable chairs. Some of them looked up curiously as I passed but I kept my chin high and ignored them.

  My heart pounded as I moved down the aisle and tension knotted in my gut. What if they could hear it? What if they realised what I truly was? I was surrounded by these beautiful monsters who hungered for my blood. I felt like a sheep creeping past a pack of sleeping wolves. They hadn’t noticed me yet but if they did I was done for. Gifts or not, I knew I was no match for this many enemies at once.

  I kept going, fixing my gaze on the door at the end of the carriage. None of them seemed to want to question me. If they wondered what I was doing they didn’t voice it. It seemed their fear of the Elites overruled any curiosity they may have felt. I made it past them almost too easily.

  My hand trembled as I reached for the door handle and I stepped through quickly, pressing it shut with a sigh of relief.

  The next carriage was cooler than the others and no lights illuminated it. I squinted into the space as my eyes adjusted and spotted long rows of the wooden cargo boxes.

  I began moving between them, trying to spot the scratch I’d carved into the box where Magnar was hiding. As I walked, Fury tingled at my hip. I reached beneath my coat and grabbed it, the warm hilt seeming to hum in excitement.

  Old friends this way.

>   The blade urged me on and I upped my pace as I let it guide me towards Tempest and Venom.

  I moved into yet another carriage, passing more crates than I could count and feeling immensely grateful to Fury for saving me the effort of having to check them all.

  As I neared the end of the long room, the blade sighed a greeting through my mind and I stopped. A deep scratch was carved into the box on my right and I knocked on it lightly.

  “It’s me,” I called as I grabbed the edge of the crate and tried to haul it out of its position in the line. I grunted with effort, the huge box slipping forward reluctantly as I struggled with its weight despite my enhanced muscles.

  I finally got the box clear of the shelf above it and forced the lid open.

  “Took you long enough,” Magnar grumbled as he sat up, rotating his shoulders.

  “I would have been faster if you weren’t so damn heavy,” I replied lightly.

  “Did everything go to plan?” he asked, ignoring my comment as he clambered out of the crate.

  “Pretty much,” I hedged, not really wanting to explain about the Elite.

  “Tell me.”

  His command fell over me like a punch to the gut and my mouth opened, spilling the whole story to him whether I liked it or not.

  “There was an incident with an Elite,” my voice was flat and emotionless but anger flared in my chest as he used his power over me once more. “He followed me into my room under the pretence of checking up on who had sent me here. Once he had me alone, he made it clear he had other intentions. He persisted despite my refusal and tore my dress in his attempt to convince me. When he touched me he could feel the heat of my skin and-”

  “WHAT?” Magnar bellowed and my heart flipped over as I looked back towards the other carriages, praying that none of the vampires had heard him.

  He grabbed me, shaking me slightly as his eyes raked over me. I felt a touch of fear at the fire which burned in his gaze. “What did he do to you?” he demanded.

  “Nothing,” I breathed. “I killed him.”

  The tension fell out of Magnar’s grip and he pulled me against his chest, his arms encircling me as if he wished to protect me from everything the world had to throw at me.

  I wanted to return his embrace but my arms felt like they were weighted with lead as Idun’s laws refused to allow it.

  Magnar growled a curse as he slowly released me before stepping away. I realised that he’d just fought off her control so that he could hold me close for a moment. I had no idea how he’d managed to do it. I couldn’t move an inch beyond the boundaries she’d set and yet he’d just punched right through them.

  “I won’t ask you to go near them alone again,” he said and I could still hear the anger in his voice.

  “It’s fine, I dealt with it. I just hope no one realises he’s missing before we’ve done what we came to do.” I stepped away from him and pulled open the crate which he’d used to hide our supplies.

  The silence grew between us and I could tell he was holding back on something he wanted to say.

  I grabbed my pack out and located some clean clothes. I didn’t have anything else that looked right for an Elite but I had a pair of black leggings and a black long-sleeved shirt which clung to my figure and hopefully wouldn’t draw much attention anyway.

  I shrugged out of my coat and hung it over the crate, turning my back on Magnar so I could at least imagine I had some privacy.

  “Where is your dress?” Magnar asked, his voice dangerously low.

  I glanced over my shoulder at him as I pulled the clothes on. “I told you it was torn,” I replied dismissively. I didn’t want to keep thinking about how close I’d come to being discovered. Or of the look in the Elite’s eyes when he’d refused to take no for an answer.

  “Just tell-”

  “Are you going to force it out of me again?” I snapped before he could finish the sentence. “Don’t you trust me enough to allow me to choose what I say now? Have I lost the freedom to speak my mind as well as the freedom over my actions?”

  Magnar glared at me and I glared right back. Tension crackled between us and I couldn’t tell which one of us would back down first. I could see the war going on behind his eyes as he tried to decide how badly he needed to hear every detail of what had happened to me. And whether it was worth the damage he’d do to my trust in him if he made me speak.

  He let out a huff of irritation and turned away from me. He was clearly unhappy about it but he didn’t force my tongue and my chest swelled with victory.

  “I promise I’m okay,” I said quietly. “The rest doesn’t matter.”

  Magnar made a noise which could have indicated he understood then turned his attention to the crate containing our things.

  I put the coat back on and tugged my hair out from under the collar. Magnar took Tempest from the crate but left the rest of our supplies where they were. He slid the two crates back into position, concealing the evidence of him stowing away.

  “We need to hurry up and find the blood. I don’t have unlimited time with this disguise and we might need it to get past the vampires,” I said.

  “Come then.” Magnar started to lead the way but I caught his arm and slipped past him.

  “I should go first,” I reminded him. “I won’t raise any suspicions. You on the other hand stand out like a bear at a tea party.”

  “What?” he frowned at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes.

  “Never mind. Let’s just get on with this.”

  The next carriage held more crates of supplies and we passed through it quickly. When we reached the following door, I eased it open and cold air washed over me.

  My breath rose before me as I stepped inside and Fury sang with victory at my hip.

  “This is it,” I whispered.

  Magnar pressed the door closed behind me and I frowned at the dark space ahead of us. I found a switch beside the door and flipped it on. The carriage was illuminated with pale blue light and I gasped as I spotted four huge, glass vats filled with dark red liquid.

  Curling letters were etched into the glass on each of the vats. I ran my fingers over them as I passed through the carriage I H F... G. I stopped beside the vat labelled with my old Realm’s letter. Was my blood in there?

  Rage and disgust flowed through me in equal measures.

  I reached out and pressed my hand to the cool glass. How much blood was inside it? How many vampires would it feed?

  I turned back towards Magnar and found him leaning over vat H as he unbolted a hatch on the top of it. Once he’d opened it, he pulled the apple Idun had given him from his pocket and cut a slice from it with his blade before dropping it inside.

  As the fruit sank into the blood, it began to dissolve. Tiny bubbles spread throughout the liquid, rushing towards the glass and bursting against it. Once they’d all fizzled away, the blood fell deathly still. There was no sign of the apple or its effects.

  I watched him silently as he repeated the process with the other vats and my heart swelled with hope. We were finally striking at them in a way which would really hurt. This could kill hundreds if not thousands of the bloodsuckers. It felt like striking the first blow in a war they didn’t even know they were fighting yet. But it was time that humanity fought back. And I was proud to be spearheading the assault.

  Hide! Fury hissed urgently and I flinched in surprise.

  The faint sound of voices reached us and my heart leapt in panic.

  I ran to switch the light back off and Magnar’s hand landed on my elbow as he wrenched me further into the room.

  I stumbled as he tugged me along and forced me into a small gap between two of the vats. He had to suck in his chest to follow me and he barely made it through before the door opened and the lights flickered on again.

  I was pressed up against Magnar in the tiny space behind the vats and I hardly dared to breathe as the vampires stepped into the carriage.

  “Well. What do we have here then?” a male
voice cooed.

  My heart raced and I widened my eyes at Magnar as panic gripped me. How had they known we were here? It didn’t make sense. I’d been sure none of them had followed me-

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” another, deeper voice replied. “I wish we could sneak a taste but the volume has been logged. They’ll know if we touch even a drop of it. This blood is destined for the royal wedding; they don’t want it sampled until after the celebrations.”

  “So you just brought me here to tempt me?” the first voice asked.

  The second vampire laughed. “I remember what it was like working my first blood delivery. It drives you mad knowing it’s so close but not seeing it. So now you have.”

  “Thanks. I guess I’ll have something to dream about the next time I sleep.”

  “Imagine swimming in one of those vats. I think I’d just die all over again from happiness.”

  The two vampires laughed before switching the lights back off and heading out of the carriage.

  I released a shaky breath and Magnar eased back out of our concealed spot. I followed him and we waited in tense silence for several long minutes. When Fury’s hilt cooled in my palm, we headed back out of the door. We kept moving until we reached the cargo crates where our things were hidden.

  Magnar pulled the crate out of the line and removed our packs from it before pointing me into the space behind it.

  There was just enough room behind the rows of shelves for me to crawl in and lean against the wall out of sight. He followed me before pulling the crate back into place behind us.

  Magnar shifted into the corner, getting as comfortable as possible in the confined space. I sat beside him, curling my legs in front of me with a smile tugging at my lips. We’d actually done it: poisoned the vampires' blood supply and now this train was a weapon heading straight for the heart of their nest.

  “I’m starting to think this will really work,” I breathed. Though there were no vampires in this part of the train; I didn’t want to risk alerting any of them to our presence. We’d made it this far, all we had to do now was make it off of the train without being seen. I wasn’t sure how we’d manage such a thing but that was a problem for tomorrow. “Did you hear them saying the blood is headed for the wedding? Surely an event like that will be full of the most important vampires in the country. We could cripple them with this one act.”