Francis spoke to him very slowly, the gentleness in his voice rather surprising. “I am not going to kill you. Understand? But this might hurt.”
Nikolai nodded slowly, breathing in deeply through his nose. Sarah guessed that was the first breath he’d taken the entire evening. He knelt in front of them in the snow.
“Now,” he began again to Nikolai, “give me your wrist.” He held his hand out expectantly to the boy who apprehensively shifted forward, offering Francis his arm. “Good. Now, carefully….”
He prodded quietly as he carved a shallow cut into Nikolai’s wrist. He winced as his blood began to flow in scarlet ribbons down his arm. Tenderly, Francis pressed Nikolai’s cut to Charlotte’s parted lips. He held it there for a few moments, grasping the back of Charlotte’s head, holding it up so that Nikolai’s blood would slide down. Sarah couldn’t help her small grimace.
“Good!” Francis announced, quickly sealing Nikolai’s wound shut as well. In one swift movement he was standing with the girl in his arms, smiling delightedly at Valek. “I’ve done it. You can thank me now!”
Valek still looked like a Greek statue in rubble and ruin as he watched Francis prance toward him. “What did you do?”
Francis handed him Charlotte, whom he took apprehensively.
“I’ve saved her life, Valek,” he shot back sarcastically. “I believe a thank you is in order.”
Sarah glanced up again. Was it true? Charlotte was going to live, and not as a Vampire, but as…as her own warm smiling soft self? Sarah beamed. She heard Mr. Třínožka’s sigh of relief next to her.
“Thank you,” Valek offered quietly, something still gravely solemn about his tone, though he seemed to relax a fraction as well. For the first time, he looked to Sarah, who tried her best to offer up a soft, sincere smile. “Her temperature is returning to normal and her pulse has gotten a bit stronger already,” he said.
Sarah clapped her hands once, the joy warming under her skin, feeling Edwin hug her tighter. Even for all the magic in Prague, this was a miracle.
Valek turned to Francis. “How did you do it?”
“Well, it seems the little fighter did something good by piercing her heart with the sword. Not only has she severely maimed the big-eared bastard, but she also did something to release some of the lethal toxins that were spreading throughout her system. The blade reverses the Curse, you know.”
“But how could you possibly know about that?” Valek prodded with his eyebrows raised.
“Oh, we’ve all been watching, darling.” Francis smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.
“We?”
“The Elders and I, of course.” Sarah couldn’t help her gasp. It was all making sense. “As my reparation to them for restoring me back to my full health, I agreed to come and collect you.” He extended a claw to Valek, who frowned his response.
“Me? Why?”
“When Cicero makes up his mind, you don’t argue.” He waved his hands through the air. “Milo!” He called loudly in the direction of the empty forest behind him.
Squinting through the haze and shadows and more flurries of snow, Sarah could faintly hear the noises of horse hooves trotting through the frosted, winter foliage. Another sound followed quickly behind—the rickety bumps and screeches of wheels. A carriage? The thing clambered into the clearing through the thicket of trees, dark horses like Beta and Jiri leading the way, though there were many more of them—probably six. A militant-looking Vampire adorned in a very official, fine black suit with tails and trimmings in silver and deep indigo gripped the reins out front. His expression was impassive as he made eye contact with no one. Like every other Vampire she knew, he was beautiful, with skin carved from mother-of-pearl and impossible glacier eyes. His hair was more modern than Valek’s and Francis’, though, cropped short at the nape of his neck and combed over at an angle.
“Time to go.” Francis’ tone turned more businesslike as he clasped his hands in front of him, lacing his fingers.
Valek frowned, glancing in Sarah’s direction. “I do not understand. You are going to take me to Abelim?”
“Yes. We are to leave straight away. The Elders have requested counsel with you. Our fight with the Light isn’t over. Something great is coming and it seems the fates have pointed you out as the go-to guy.”
Valek’s gaze touched Charlotte’s face as he cradled her, his hard expression going soft again. “What about Charlotte?”
Francis sucked in a quick breath of air. “Oh, no, no, no. She cannot come with. Sorry, Valek, but I’ve helped her the best I could and the Parliament has given me strict orders to fetch you and you alone. The girl is to stay here for now.”
“But you said ‘for now’. Surely you won’t keep me away forever? I can return to her.” Valek’s voice turned back into adamant desperation.
“Perhaps, but that is not for me to decide. You’ll have to see what the others say.” Francis’ gaze flicked to Mr. Třínožka and Edwin and back to Valek. “I do believe she’ll be safe in the care of her…friends. Sarah will stay with her, too.”
“Absolutely!” Sarah chimed in.
Francis sighed, clearly fatigued of the conversation. “Okay, well, let’s not have these goodbyes become dramatic. Say them quickly and let’s be off.”
“She’ll wonder what happened to me when she wakes and I am gone again,” Valek murmured.
“If I remember correctly, Charlotte didn’t want to stay with you, anyway.” The crowd gasped quietly at Nikolai, who had spoken up for the first time since all the blood was shed.
Valek’s jaw tightened a fraction as he absorbed the blow of the boy’s words. Blinking, he forced the pain in his eyes to become cool. “You’re right. She did make her decision, didn’t she? So it seems this is all for the best.” Valek turned his attention to Mr. Třínožka who walked gracefully over to him. Sarah watched, Valek’s broken heart tangible to her, as he handed Charlotte over to the giant spider.
“Whatever questions she has, answer them honestly. Most importantly, tell her how much I love her, and how much I am sorry.”
Grasping Charlotte in his two front hands, Mr. Třínožka gave one silent nod in response before Valek turned back to Francis.
“It is for her betterment that you are leaving, Valek,” Francis said matter-of-factly. “From a loftier position, you will be able to protect her better. There is much in store for you in the Dark City.”
Valek inhaled slowly. “I’m ready.”
Without so much as a glance over his shoulder, Valek silently followed Francis into the dark carriage, closing the door behind him.
Sarah could understand why Valek didn’t regard them one last time. Maybe it was just too painful for him. Maybe he just wasn’t good at saying goodbye. Tears brimmed in the corners of Sarah’s eyes as she watched the one called Milo beat the reins, prompting the horses to begin their long journey to the city of Abelim.
The wheels left no tracks in the snow as the carriage rounded and retreated back in the direction from whence it came, a dark and ghostly fog eclipsing the sight of it from her. She watched, fresh tears rolling down her frosted cheeks, wondering what would become of him.
Epilogue
V a l e k
* * *
The massive castle square was completely abandoned in the midnight hour, the gates locked and chained from the day filled with hoards of tourists and official Czech Republic business.
Mortal guards looked on as Francis and I swept through the first courtyard. I was positive they were privy to what we were, though strangely, they didn’t move. They didn’t stir, not even a twitch, their gazes fixed forward. Do they know, I thought at Francis. I didn’t want to speak for fear it might attract attention to us.
They do, his mind responded to mine. Here’s a new secret, Valek. One Aiden Price never knew. Mortal governments all over the world know about the existence of the Occult.
I frowned at him. But what of Law One?
Meant to control
us more than to protect them—to keep order. Understand.
I nodded.
This was all becoming very interesting. Curious, I focused in on one of those guards. I could see now, even from my distance, his pupils were wavering. I could hear in his mind the shock and the desperate desire to look at me—to see me and study me for his mighty curiosity of what I was. He was newly-assigned to the castle guard, that I could tell. This was his first sighting of a nightwalker, or so, that was what he called me in his mind. Not Vampire. Not demon. Nightwalker. How curious.
When I’d been a member of the Parliament, things were quite different. Headquarters were in Romania, then. Humans were privy, though none were in such proximity.
The platoon officer barked an order then, and in complete synchronized choreography, each of the guards positioned at the various castle entrances turned on their black polished heels and retreated to some unbeknownst place. A new set of guards formed up, ready to replace them at each post. The sounds of their marching ricocheted off the ancient cathedral buttresses of Saint Vitus, which stood ominously in the center of the open square.
Depictions of Jesus and his disciples were etched with the most intricate detail along the cold gray façade. My focus flicked intently over the thousands of impossibly tiny sculptures along the walls and doors. I tried my best to hone in on every detail, perfecting the visual memory in my mind. Of course, I’d seen the Saint Vitus in my human years, but my heightened Vampire eyes lent to an explosion of crisp lines and color. The experience was totally different. And anyway, the busier I kept my mind, the better. I had to do everything possible not to imagine her face—the way she looked at me before—
“How do you suppose humanity achieved this?” I interrupted my own painful thought, asking the question out loud so my mind wouldn’t spiral any further. Distantly, though, I wondered if she’d awakened yet—if her eyes had opened, hoping to see me there waiting.
“Whatever do you mean?” Francis’ tone sounded incredulous and bored.
“It is so intricate. The Saint Vitus cathedral is. I was just wondering how it’s possible for human fingers to have done it. The job seems to me too overwhelming,” I said, marveling again.
Francis cast me a sideways look and walked forward a few paces faster than me. “Please, Valek. Do you actually believe this is the work of mortals?” he scoffed.
“Isn’t it?”
Francis snorted.
We continued up to the cathedral’s great mouth. The doors looked bolted shut. I was confused, because this didn’t seem like we were on our way to any sort of city. I wondered if Francis was taking me on some sort of convoluted detour—if he needed something from this place, or if we were visiting someone on our way.
I watched as he pressed his claw against the depictions on the door. Then there was a thunderous booming—the sounds of a hundred locks or more from the other side sliding open—the turning of enormous gears, until finally, the door cracked.
“After you,” he said as he pulled it open wide enough to bow me inside.
Zillions of colors from the moonlight through the dozens of stained glass windows washed the marble floors around me in pools of lavender, cobalt, scarlet, and emerald. They reflected off the pews and down the long isle where several marble tombs slept in tranquility in the chilled midnight.
“Francis?” I turned back to him. “I’m afraid I do not understand. Why are we here? This isn’t what I remember of Abelim” My memory flickered once my earlier days with the Curse.
“These are the new gates of Abelim, my darling.” Francis batted his long glittering eyelashes at me. I had no idea where Milo had escaped. He was quiet and seemed safe, more or less. The last I saw of him was after he’d dropped us off in Hradčany, the most painful place for me to have gone after leaving Charlotte alone in the snow. I gazed around again at the interior of the cathedral, but could not see what Francis meant. This wasn’t a city.
“Abelim lies underground, now, Valek,” Francis said exasperatedly, as if I should have known. He waved his claw vaguely at in the direction of the marble tomb resting dead center between the others. “The entrance is there. The grave of Charles IV. We’ve got quite a walk ahead of us,” he sighed. “So let us begin.”
I didn’t make a step forward. I barely moved. Something gripped me tightly, holding me back from journeying below of the bowels of the Silver City. Of course, it was her. It was knowing she was waking up somewhere without me. And despite our recent hurt and angry exchanges, I wanted nothing else than to be by her side, whether she wanted me there or not.
“Valek.” Francis spoke again, hearing the devastation wracking my mind. “She is heavily protected right now. She is being watched over by the elites and creatures of the night.” He tugged at my hand, reminding me of the deep line of fate chiseled across my palm, linking me to her. “Do not worry, dear friend. Your paths will certainly cross again.”
I relaxed a bit. Perhaps, he was right.
“Whether she’s friend or foe when that happens, I do not know. But we will be ready for anything, won’t we?”
I frowned at his words. Was he right? Could Charlotte possibly hate me now? To my discontent, it was not such an improbable thought.
Finally, I followed my liege down the hall and imminently, down into the depths of the Dark City. I would watch her from afar. I would wait, trusting that she would eventually come looking for me.
And most importantly…I would not let the monsters get her.
* * *
“You were going to change me . . . .” Realization struck her like a bucket of ice. “You, you were going to—”
“Lottie, no. Please, I was only—” But Valek was rendered silent as she took hold of her wrist, turning the soft side up to examine the gash now closing itself up again. She peered at him, tears drowning the light in her eyes. Valek inhaled sharply. “Charlotte, I can explain.” He shot to his feet.
Across the clearing, Nikolai was wearing a rather smug expression. He crossed his arms over his chest. He thought he’d one.
“It was him!” Valek flung his pointed claw in the boy’s direction. “He was hunting you. I saw him over you as he slept! He was going to—”
“Pull up her blanket?” Nikolai suggested with a gross sort of earnestness. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shrugged. “Make sure she was warm? She was shivering. You left her cold, as usual.”
“Do not martyr yourself, boy!” Valek growled. “You know nothing of what I usually do.”
“I know plenty about you, Valek Ruzik.”
What did that mean? But what Nikolai, the perfect stranger, thought didn’t matter. Valek turned back to Charlotte who was glaring at him angrily, tears streaming silver down her face.
“I know what I saw,” she whispered, the heat of her breath swirling around in the cold. Her gaze dropped to the ruby stains in the snow at her feet. Evidence. “You weren’t even going to ask me.” Her eyes narrowed at him like he was a serial killer on trial. He was, in fact, a serial killer, though, wasn’t he?
“Lottie, I swear it! He—” Valek bellowed, jabbing a talon at Nikolai again. “He is playing tricks on my eyes. There’s something wrong about him, Charlotte. You’ve got to trust me. He is not as simple as you think he is. There is something occult in his blood, I can smell it.” By the end, Valek was starting to stalk toward Nikolai, a feral growl resonating deep within his chest. “You know what you’re doing, boy! Tell her! Tell her what you are able to do—the powers you have! Tell her! Do not lie to her again! I’ve seen them!” Now close enough to bite the nose off of Nikolai’s face, Valek shoved him so hard, he sent him skidding backward several meters in the snow.
What happened next made Charlotte shriek and go ghost white.
Just before Nikolai’s back crunched against the hard body of an elm, her evaporated into thin air, reappearing at once behind Valek. “Boo!” he taunted, causing Valek to whip around breathlessly.
“See? Do you see
what I mean?” Valek seethed. “He’s a liar! A traitor! Who do you work for?”
“No one! I told you! I’m all alone!”
“You’re lying!” Valek roared and lunged for Nilolai’s throat, until—
“STOP!” Charlotte cried, the sound echoing off the snowy boulders and the forest’s empty shadows. “Stop it! Both of you!”
They froze, Valek still trembling with fury, Nikolai panting, either out of fear or exhaustion, Valek couldn’t tell yet.
Charlotte toed closer toward them, her boots tracking through the snow. She held herself, a think line of periwinkle forming around the edge of her lips.
“You did lie,” she breathed at Nikolai and Valek felt some sense of relief unwind in his gut.
“I told you when I met you,” he said with sorrow coloring his features. “I don’t know what I am. That is the truth. I kept my abilities a secret because . . . .” He inhaled sharply. “Because I wanted you to like me.”
This made Charlotte fall back a step and something sunk into the depth of Valek’s chest.
“You’ve got to understand . . . I’ve always been like this. I wasn’t turned.” He gestured to Valek. “This isn’t a spell. This has lived inside me since the day I was born. And anyone who found out about it has left me in one way or another. Please, believe me, Charlotte. You were the only person who ever saw me. Me. Not a freak. Not a monster. Me. You never looked at me like you were afraid. I didn’t want to lose that.”
A tiny line creased between Charlotte’s eyebrows as her focus dropped to her feet.
“Oh, come off it!” Harrowed Valek, fury bubbling in his center again. “Is this some sort of game to you? Do you really think you are to sell her on that pathetic—”
Of Blood and Magic Page 42
