Blood Moon (A Louisiana Demontale): Book 1 of the Crescent Crown Saga

by Schuyler Windham

  “You’re okay!” She grinned. Then she peered back at Arachne’s sullen face. “An old cathedral overlooking the city across the lake. That’s where you’ll find her.”

  The weathered cathedral stood composed on a sheer cliffside overlooking the bay and city beyond. Gray pillars towered toward the sky, with ornate archways and shimmering crosses atop the spires. Leo parked Marceline’s truck in the empty parking lot, and they rushed to the wooden doors, Leo grasping the sword in his hand.

  The front hall opened wide to a sanctuary whose mosaic floor was lined with pews. The ceiling above was painted blue and gold. Images of Mary, the apostles, and Jesus lined the front dais, decorated with flaming candles. Distant aromas of frankincense and myrrh hung heavy in the air.

  Leo and Arachne darted into the center of the sanctuary. Glittering stained glass windows illuminated their faces with faceted rainbows. Staring out a windowsill on the balcony above stood Keres. The crescent crown sat on her wavy ebony hair, thirteen glowing stars dancing lazily around her temple.

  “I see the city did not submerge.”

  “Keres!” Arachne shouted, her violet eyes seething. “Too many died today because of you.”

  Keres turned from the window and leaned over the balcony to meet Arachne’s eyes.

  “I did not bring Leviathan here,” she said.

  “Bullshit!”

  Keres frowned deeply, holding her gaze steady.

  “And here you were, just planning to watch as the city sank? As innocent people died? Why am I not surprised?”

  “I warned you to leave,” Keres scowled, then her eyes suddenly flashed with fear. “You didn’t listen. Now I don’t know what our fate will be.”

  “I know what my fate is,” Arachne sneered. She leaped from the floor up to the balcony, crouching on the railing. “It’s yours you should be worried about.”

  “I only did what I could to protect you.” Keres’ lips trembled as she stepped away from Arachne. “If I didn’t agree to take the crown, you would already be dead.”

  “Enough of your lies!”

  “I speak only the truth, sister!” Keres backed up as Arachne prowled forward. “I’m not your enemy. I’m your protector.”

  Arachne laughed, cold and bitter. “You poisoned me. You left me to die, and our home to be destroyed.”

  Keres edged around the pews of the balcony, keeping pace with Arachne, who watched her with hawkish eyes. Arachne’s nails screeched on the granite railing as she stalked forward. Then Keres hopped from the balcony to the dais below. Arachne followed suit, cutting her off.

  “I beg your forgiveness.” Keres gritted her fanged teeth and put her hands up, palms out toward Arachne. “I only did what I thought was best. You don’t listen when your mind's made up. A dark force is working against you. If you die, we all die. So, I made a choice to keep you safe.”

  “Really?” Arachne stepped forward. “To keep me safe? You shouldn’t have.”

  “But again you never listen!” Keres gasped as tears sprang to her eyes. “I told you to flee the city, yet you stayed to fight. Why do you curse us?”

  “The only curse I see is a treacherous arachnid cowering before me.”

  “No, please. Arachne!” Keres back up slowly. Then she turned her ruby eyes to Leo, and she begged with her hands together like a prayer. “Leo, please. Tell her to spare me! Leave here. Leave the crown be . . .”

  “You betrayed us.” He glared. Was she serious?

  “All you want is to keep her safe,” her voice caught. “That’s all I wanted, too.”

  “Enough!” Arachne snapped. Keres cowered before her. “I don’t even want to think about what to do to you. But I don’t have time for that. The blood moon is already rising, and we only have a seven-minute window to conduct the ceremony shortly after midnight.”

  “Please . . .” Keres whimpered.

  Arachne stepped forward, arms outstretched. She snatched the crescent crown from Keres’ head. Just as soon as she did, a blur of brown and black dashed across the sanctuary with a whirl of wind.

  “Shit!” Arachne nursed her hand. “Fucking bit me!”

  The figure flew up to the balcony with the crown in its mouth, and a gasp escaped Keres’ rose-red lips.

  She begged toward the balcony. “Please . . .”

  Chapter 29

  The little brown bat perched on the balcony with the crown between its teeth. It spread its coal black wings impatiently and began to grow to full height—nine feet tall, with a mighty wingspan and pointed, wolflike ears.

  “Vrykos.” The name was a whisper on Arachne’s tongue.

  Vrykos pulled the crown from his fangs. Then he began to twirl it on a curled, clawed finger.

  “Congratulations, Keres. You upheld your end of the deal.”

  “Th-thank you my lord.” Keres’ eyes widened and she bowed her head. “But please. Please don’t harm Arachne.”

  “Well, now . . .” Vrykos peered down curiously at Arachne. “I will not harm her if she is wise.”

  “Vrykos!” Arachne demanded. “What’s going on?”

  “I raised you better than that.” He frowned.

  “You . . . you set the Casquette Sisters to attack Leo,” Arachne murmured. “You manipulated Keres to steal the crown for you . . . You led Leviathan to New Orleans.”

  Vrykos conjured a kerchief from thin air and began to polish the crown without responding.

  “You wanted it for yourself.” Her breathing became shallow and she gaped up at him, her head shaking back and forth, incredulous.

  “Not particularly,” he scoffed, still eyeing the crown. “But when you succeeded in obtaining it, I knew it would be too dangerous to leave in your incapable hands.”

  Arachne gritted her teeth. “You were the one making it dangerous.”

  “I warned you not to violate our contract.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “I suppose you think you’re clever.” His dark eyes flashed, and his wings flared out with anger. “But by activating the crown, you would have powers greater than I.”

  “It was the only way . . .” Arachne took a step back.

  “I gave you everything you needed, yet you wanted more. Always greedy, always conniving.” He paused, eyeing her. Then he laughed. His sinister and bellowing laughter echoed about the sanctuary and Leo’s blood ran cold at the sound of it. “This was fun.”

  “This wasn’t . . .” Arachne’s chest heaved, and she gasped for breath. “. . . a game.”

  “No, no.” He cleared his throat. “It was a lesson.”

  “A lesson?” she whispered, her face flushing bright pink.

  “What did you learn?” he asked as his ears twitched in amusement.

  Arachne glared up at Vrykos and her hands clenched into fists. “Give me the crown.”

  “Nothing, apparently. A shame, really.”

  “Vrykos . . .”

  “You are like a child to me.” He curled both hands around the crown, coveting it close to his chest. “Therefore, I will forgive you for your transgressions. No punishment necessary.”

  “Leviathan killed innocent people,” Arachne growled, tears welling up in her eyes.

  “No further punishment necessary.”

  Arachne outstretched her arm, palm up toward him. “The crown.”

  “Demanding child!” Vrykos frowned. “I tried to dissuade you from this foolish errand. I tried to protect you from your own hubris. At every turn, you were stubborn. Undeserving. I do not wish to harm you, child. I will give you one last warning. Leave here unscathed with your pets, or suffer the consequences.”

  Keres looked from Arachne to Vrykos and back. “Please, Arachne. Let’s go. Forget the crown.”

  “Arachne . . .” Leo murmured. “What do you want?”

  She held her head high, and her gaze did not waver from Vrykos, from the crown in his hands. Firm and clear she answered, “I want freedom.”

  They could die here and now. But Leo wasn’t
going to back down. He couldn’t guarantee Arachne would ever be safe. He couldn’t protect her. But it didn’t matter if she was safe or not if she wasn’t even free. Leo swallowed and took a deep breath.

  “Then fight.”

  Vrykos’ lips curled into a malicious grin, his fangs exposed as he set his eyes on Leo. “This is your human pet, Leo Gaumond . . .”

  “Leave him out of this—”

  “Don’t you feel used, Leo? You didn’t need to take the crescent crown. But you did. For her. You tried to warn her against using the power. You trust that she won’t? That she won’t be ensnared by the addictive force of this power? You think she cares about you and the other humans? How naive!”

  Leo pressed his lips together, his hands clenched into fists.

  “Arachne wants to control others because she is so out of her own depth. But other creatures of the night deserve freedom, too, don’t they Leo?”

  Leo did not respond. Vrykos continued.

  “She’s woven a clever web of lies, hasn’t she? But she’ll only use the power for herself. Beastly. This is what demons do. They attract danger for weak humans such as yourself. Such as for your sister . . . Don’t you wish to protect her? This is why Arachne can never have the crown. She is dangerous.”

  “You’re right!” Leo shouted back, his eyes fierce.

  Arachne gasped, her body shaking. She wavered, peering over her shoulder at Leo with fear swirling in her violet eyes.

  “Arachne is a demon. And she shouldn’t use the power to control other creatures of the night. But, yes. I do trust she won’t do that. She’ll show restraint and do the right thing.”

  “Such arrogance,” Vrykos hissed. “But then again, you are blinded by love.”

  “Vrykos.” Arachne’s lips trembled as she turned to face the bat demon once more. “Why? Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just amend the contract and be done with me?”

  “Ah. Because you decide wrong. You were always arrogant. You were always weak. When I offered you a deal, when I created you—insolent child—I knew I couldn't make you a full-fledged demon. You were undeserving, a mere mortal girl punished for not subjecting yourself to the gods. You empathize too much with humans, because at your heart you still are very much too weak. I tried in vain to mentor you . . . teach you. But at every turn, you fail me.”

  “You made me a monster. A monster without power.” Arachne gritted her teeth. Then she retracted her arm and instead grasped the amethyst heart necklace at her chest. “I may be weaker than other demons. But you are right about one thing—I have a heart. More than anything. What little humanity I have left gives me strength that you could never even imagine.”

  “Is that so?” Vrykos sneered. “We’ll see if you still feel that way when your pet sees what you really look like and you’re begging for mercy at my feet.”

  Vrykos splayed his winged arms wide, and a dark aura seethed around him. His arms and wings separated. His claws lengthened at the tips of his fingers and toes, and muscles rippled under his dark coat of fur.

  “If you’re so sure, child, then come and get it.”

  Arachne’s rose gold hair suddenly flared a blazing crimson and her eyes fiery to match. Her fingernails lengthened, and in a heartbeat, she leaped from the mosaic floor toward the balcony with a bloodcurdling yell. She aimed a punch at Vrykos, who easily dodged her.

  Leo ducked behind a pew, the sword clanking next to him. He fumbled for the cell phone in his pocket. He hesitated for a moment. Should he even tell them? This seemed like a dangerous situation, and what if he was putting his sister directly in the line of fire?

  He remembered Monette’s scar. Was she right? By protecting her, did he actually endanger her? Just as Keres had done with Arachne? He took a shaky breath and quickly shot off a text message to Monette and Eshe. He had the sword, but he didn’t know how to use it. On the battlefield, he hacked ineloquently at the sea dragon’s tentacles. And when he summoned the flames from the sword . . . he didn’t know how. Only that he somehow did. Accessing that magic might be their only hope, but he was uncertain that he could use it. The power seemed locked away once more.

  The crash of wood on wood alarmed Leo, and he peered tentatively over the edge of the pew. Keres was also taking shelter behind a pew on the other side of the aisle, watching as Arachne and Vrykos dueled precariously on the balcony railing. They wielded wooden pews like cumbersome swords, and each strike shook the cathedral like thunder.

  Keres glanced at Leo over her right shoulder. “This won’t end well.”

  Leo nodded, gritting his teeth and ducking back down, covering his head as a pew from up on the balcony plummeted to the sanctuary floor and splintered into several pieces. The next sound was a shatter of glass. A million shards of stained glass showered down on Leo, followed by the golden glow of the nearing sunset through the bare window. He panted as he slowly rose from behind the pew, and his eyes widened.

  Vrykos had Arachne pinned to the wall of the dais. She struggled against his grip, attempting to kick him.

  He hissed in her ear. “You’re still weak. Fallible. I’ll add a few scars to match your throat, insolent girl . . .” He traced a claw along the jagged white scar on her neck.

  “Arachne!” Keres dashed forward, grabbing a fallen wrought metal candle holder from the floor as she went. She struck the metal through Vrykos’ left wing, into the back of his shoulder blade. He roared and dropped Arachne to the floor.

  Vrykos gripped the metal and yanked it from his back. He glared at the hole ripped through his veined wing, and then whipped around to face Keres. Without another moment of hesitation, he grabbed her ebony curls with a clawed hand and held her high by her hair. She screamed, writhing as he raked his claws across her face, gripping her chin between two clawed fingers.

  “Keres!” Arachne leaped forward. But Vrykos kicked her back with one clawed foot.

  “Lesson number two.” He snatched a wood shard from the broken pew and pierced it through Keres’ heart. Blood sputtered from her chest and lips as she gasped.

  “NO!” Arachne ran forward to catch Keres as Vrykos threw her body to the floor.

  “I’m so . . . sorry . . . I . . . love you . . .” Keres murmured, blood dripping from her lips, her limbs withering. She took one last shaky breath and slumped into Arachne’s arms.

  Chapter 30

  Arachne trembled, still embracing Keres’ limp body in her arms on the mosaic floor, surrounded by rainbow shards of glass. Tears streamed down her cheeks, splattering onto the floor, mixing with droplets of Keres’ blood.

  “Keres . . . Keres . . .” Arachne murmured into her dark hair.

  “Oh dear.” Vrykos frowned. “It’s too bad it had to come to that. A true shame. Maybe you have learned something this time? Or will we need another lesson?” He shifted his dark gaze toward Leo.

  Leo’s breath caught in his chest. Keres was dead. His hands shook uncontrollably as he gripped the hilt of the sword tighter, pulling it forward to defend his face. Come at me.

  Vrykos twirled the crown on his finger once more, peering down at the scene with a bored expression. “I hope we’re quite done, then.”

  Arachne tenderly set Keres’ body onto the floor and she raised her eyes to Vrykos. Her pupils were no longer red; now they were black as night, and searing with rage. Her crimson hair darkened to match, and her body trembled. From her waist down, a hairy black abdomen began to grow, followed by eight long spindling legs. A dark purple marking decorated her spider back, like a sigil, intricate and haunting.

  Leo’s eyes widened at the sight of her, nearly unrecognizable save for her face and torso.

  “Ah . . .” Vrykos grinned with malice. “Finally, we see the real Arachne. The monster, the demon within. But is she strong enough to overpower her master?”

  Arachne roared as she pushed off with her spider legs toward Vrykos with all her might. She was faster despite her size, and her legs blurred as she spun a web, shooting it toward Vry
kos with precision.

  He laughed as the web caught him, pinning him to the wall. Then he tore through it with his claws and flew at Arachne at full speed, crimson lightning sparking around his fist. It smacked hard into Arachne, sending her flying across the sanctuary into the opposing balcony, shattering more glass.

  “Still slow. Still weak!” Vrykos spat. Arachne righted herself and flung her body from the balcony, swinging from a strand attached to the ceiling. She pummeled into Vrykos, hard. And again spun a stronger, thicker web around him, pinning his wings to his body.

  He struggled against the web for a moment and then flashed a wicked grin.

  “What are you going to do to me, child? Kill me?”

  Arachne panted, her dark curls frazzled. She glared down at him. Her hands curled into fists, and she punched him across the face. He spat blood onto the floor and began to laugh once more.

  Leo tentatively edged from behind the pew and raised his sword, stepping forward. Arachne spun to face him and put her hands up.

  “No! We can’t!”

  “We can . . .” Leo scowled down at Vrykos.

  “If he dies, I lose my powers. I die. And all the vampires die. Saint-Germain . . . Eshe . . . Ulric.”

  Not Eshe . . . not Bea . . . Leo bit his lip, sucking in a sharp breath. He lowered the sword.

  Crimson sparks flew from Vrykos’ eyes, hitting Arachne. She crumpled on the floor under a pile of debris.

  “ARACHNE!” Leo shouted as he sprinted around pews to reach her side. Red lightning danced along her body, forcing her to squirm and twitch in agony.

  “Leo,” she murmured as she squinted up at him through watery eyes. “I’m sorry . . .”

  He hovered over, waiting as the last of the lightning fizzed into the air and rubble around her.

  “What could you be sorry for?” He reached for her face.

  She winced, pulling away. Then she wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself. “I’m hideous.”

  He tenderly cupped her face in his hand. Her eyes widened, and her breath caught as he stroked her hair. “You’re beautiful. Spider and all.”