by Brandon Witt
Sonia wasn’t sure she agreed, but neither did she care to discuss the theory of merblood magic. There were more promising things. “You said that I would be a Royal tonight. If it took you and Menos years to locate mers, how are you certain we will find some this night? Are they more plentiful in the current age?”
“No.” Gwala let out a laugh that tapered off in an exasperated sigh. “Much to my disappointment, they are much less plentiful now. And while I’d rather you experience the thrill of a fresh, wild kill, I have another option for you if the need is required.”
“How?”
Gwala settled back on the sofa, signaling Sonia that it was story time once more. “It was Menos who told the other vampires our secret. I was happy with just the two of us being the only two vampires that held the power, but not she. She was a social woman, needing much interaction. Even more than that, she was ambitious and saw an opportunity for power. A vision that I still benefit from today.
“Once the other vampires were convinced our claims were true, they pledged their loyalty to Menos and me for the price of our secret. While I didn’t need the interaction Menos did, I saw the opportunity to make the vampire species into something better than it was. I was tired of living in caves and being constantly nomadic.” He gestured back to land, presumably toward the Vampire Cathedral. “We shared our secret with them, and in return, Menos became queen and I became king.”
He turned, watching Christopher out the window. “I doubt that he will be successful, which I regret, but I did know the chances were less than slim.” Gwala returned his ageless gaze to Sonia. “We hunted like this for centuries, slowly capturing mers and building the Royals one by one. A little over a thousand years after Menos made us royalty, the strangest thing happened. Something just as magic as the mermaid blood itself. I was on one of my morning swims through the currents when I was approached by a merman. He was an ugly sort, scarred and thin. He made me an offer. He said he would give us two and a half scores of mers for the price of two things. The commitment that we would stop hunting mers in the ocean and that the ones that turned over their fellows would be allowed to drink vampire blood. Not kill us, just drink from us.” Gwala leaned forward, face inches from Sonia, as if whispering a secret. “I almost killed him then and there, but then realized there was no harm in finding out if the nasty creature would keep his end of the bargain.”
“Why would he make such a deal?”
“Good question, my dear. While I knew he secured the safety of the rest of the mers living in the open ocean if we promised to be satisfied with the fifty mers they gave us, I didn’t see the point of them wanting to drink our blood. It wasn’t until later, around the first century, I believe, that I discovered our blood makes them immortal—around the time the Vampire Cathedral came into being, when a different bargain changed everything once more.”
Sonia thought on this awhile, then looked back out at Christopher. “So, if there is a pact between vampires and mers, why are we hunting them right now?”
He laughed once more. “It’s been three thousand years, my dear. There are term limits on these things. Even if the mers would disagree.”
It was neither a shock nor repulsive that Gwala wouldn’t stay true to the truce he’d made with the merman. She doubted she would either. Another thought struck her, filling her with feelings other than fear and anger once more, much to her surprise. “I am sure you’ve exhausted fifty mermaids in three millenniums, so what leads you to say that I will be a Royal by sunrise if we do not find one on this hunt?”
Gwala stroked her cheek with the back of his thumb, then leaned forward and licked the path his thumb had made. “I’m a resourceful man, my queen.”
Sixteen
SONIA LIU
Sonia halted in a very unvampire-like jerk, nearly colliding with Gwala. They had just returned from their unsuccessful moonlight hunt, suffered through a mind-numbing “check-in” with the old warlock, and her thoughts were jumbled by the notion of soon being able to be in the sun. Though it had only been a little over half a year, she hungered for the feel of the sun on her skin. Even more than she craved blood. She and Gwala had exited the royal chamber and come face to face with Finn de Morisco.
The warlock’s eyes bulged in surprised recognition when his gaze traveled from Gwala to Sonia.
“It is only an hour until dawn. What has you up at this time of night?” Gwala peered over Finn’s shoulder. His voice took on a secretive tone. “Is your fairy sleeping? Has a vampire caught your fancy? It would not be the first time one of the Royals has had a dalliance with the Cathedral’s witch.”
To Sonia’s relief, Finn—his face contorting at the assumption—looked back at Gwala. She was certain she noticed a look of hatred wash over him as he addressed Gwala, but he covered it quickly. He had more gumption and fire in him than she would have guessed from her brief interaction with him when Brett had brought him to their home in Hillcrest. He’d been cute and sweet and anything but tough. However, he didn’t seem to be the same man she’d met those few short months ago.
“I couldn’t sleep. I went to check on my sister.”
“I trust you found her well?”
Sonia wondered if Finn was able to hear the insincerity behind Gwala’s concern. He definitely wasn’t as charmed with the vampire king as the rest seemed to be.
He gave a slight bow toward Gwala, but when he rose, his eyes were on Sonia. “If I could only speak to her, let her know I’m here. Find out how she really is.”
Sonia sneered, her upper lip revealing her fangs in a silent threat.
Finn’s eyes darted quickly back to Gwala. “Please, Your Majesty. Just for a moment?”
The syrup coating Gwala’s tone was so obvious that only the most desperate would hear genuine compassion. “Has Omar expressed satisfaction with your progress, then?”
Finn’s gaze dropped to the floor. “My magic has increased beyond anything I ever dreamed possible.”
The king let some of the saccharine slip. “Still I ask, is he satisfied with what you’ve accomplished?”
Finn made no reply, nor did he look up at Gwala.
“I must insist that you make no more requests about your sister. The fact that I allow you to watch her is more than Omar suggests. Any more and I might have to assume it is your obsession with your sister that is holding you back from attaining his approval.”
Impressing Sonia, Finn looked the king in the eye once more, covering any hatred or fear he might be feeling. “Will you require my presence this morning?”
Gwala glanced over to Sonia, a genuine smile creasing his eyes. “No. I will be otherwise occupied. Report directly to Omar.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” With a final glance at Sonia, Finn walked off the way he’d been going.
Glancing over to Gwala to see if he was watching, Sonia turned to see if Finn would look back at her. He didn’t. Good. She wasn’t sure if there would be any repercussions if Gwala learned she had known Finn in her previous life, but she saw no reason to find out. The entire first month she’d been at the Vampire Cathedral, she’d heard Gwala talking about the new warlock he was acquiring. Like he was getting a brand-new toy. When she finally heard he’d appeared, she’d felt no more curiosity to meet him than she had hearing about his impending arrival.
Even when she’d at last seen him from afar, she was uncertain if her eyes were deceiving her. They had once before, when she’d thought she’d seen Brett’s boyfriend in the Square. Like the man she’d seen that night, the new warlock looked much like the good-looking man she’d met for those few brief moments. While not as sickly looking and hate filled as the version she’d seen at the Square, Finn was still somewhat thinner than when she’d met him, and he had none of the previous joy that had seemed to seep from every pore.
Gwala was a few feet in front of her by the time she realized he was moving forward once more. He paused to look at her over his shoulder. “Is the excitement getting to you, my queen?”
With two long, graceful strides she was beside him once more and slipped her long fingers into his hand. “Lead on, my king.”
He beamed, once again a child excited to show off his most prized plaything.
As they traveled down endless curving hallways and descended lower and lower into the depths of the Cathedral, past the tunnels that led to the harbor they’d just returned from, Sonia’s thoughts drifted back to her previous life. Maybe the possibility of seeing the sun once again was responsible for the unbidden nostalgia.
The only flash of humanity she’d experienced since becoming a vampire had been the night Brett had caught her midsnack as she devoured an entire family in one of the San Diego suburbs. He’d interrupted her as she was finishing draining the little girl, and she’d nearly ripped out his throat before she’d realized who he was. For the briefest of moments, shame had flooded her, and she’d fled, tearing through the house and running at blurring speed.
Within a few miles, fury had replaced any guilt or shame she might have imagined. Many times since, she’d wondered why she hadn’t killed him. She’d killed her family without a second’s hesitation and without a modicum of guilt. The same was true for what’s his name who she’d started dating those last few human days. What was different about Brett?
Maybe it was simply that by the time he’d discovered her, she’d been a vampire for a couple of weeks and the bloodlust had lessened. Which led her to wonder if she’d not woken up in her parents’ house, whether she still would have killed them later. After all, she wasn’t making it a point of searching out her brother and killing him. She assumed she would have gone to her parents’ eventually, but she wasn’t entirely sure.
She couldn’t help but wonder what her old friend made of it all. Finding out that his best friend had been turned into a vampire. Had he realized she was a vampire? Maybe he thought she’d gone insane and started attacking people. Maybe he was still out there searching for her, trying to get her help. And now he’d lost his boyfriend as well. What would he think if he found out he’d been dating a warlock? She hadn’t thought of Brett in what seemed like forever, and here she was wondering about him. The realization made her pause in her walk once more. She couldn’t say she felt love, but obviously some part of her cared about him. Somehow.
“Is everything all right, my queen?”
She flashed Gwala a smile and began walking, her eyes taking in the dimly lit stairway they were in for the first time. It looked exactly like the dungeons she’d seen in hundreds of movies, save for the beauty of the rock and marble that comprised the structure. “Just excited to accept this gift you offer, master.”
He nodded in satisfaction. “It is only right that my queen be a Royal. It would be an injustice for your beauty to never be seen in the sunlight again.”
“You have yet to explain what will provide the source of the ability to be in the sun since our hunt was unsuccessful.” She didn’t want to give him a chance to question her preoccupation any further, and, truth be told, she wasn’t at ease with her thoughts of her past life either. It was all a reminder of the creature she had been.
Even as he picked up the pace once more, Gwala turned and gave her a look of pride as he explained. “While Menos had a vision for the power we could attain by sharing our secret, it was I who foresaw the opportunity to make this shift in power a renewable resource, especially when the convenience was so readily provided once we attained the fifty mer specimens.”
Like clockwork, he paused at the perfect spot to allow Sonia to question him, giving him the opening to continue reveling in his brilliance. Not missing a beat, Sonia played her role. “And what opportunity was that, my king?”
“With so many mers, it was a fairly logical leap to realize that if we could get the creatures to breed, we would have a never-ending supply of mer blood. A commodity that brings with it much power and riches. There is no limit to what a vampire will pay or service they will provide to become a Royal.”
Sonia was surprised she hadn’t jumped to that conclusion herself. It seemed a rather obvious solution. Then a thought caused her to question the logic of such a proposition. “I suppose I have been attributing too much human intelligence to these creatures. I would assume that they would realize their fate and that of any offspring they might produce. I am surprised they are willing to mate and produce young if they realize they are to be sacrificed for our benefit. Are they more animal than man? Mating much like cattle before entering a slaughterhouse?”
Gwala’s expression exuded pure pleasure. “Ah, my dear, there are ways around that. The fact that they indeed realize their children’s fate makes the experience all the more delicious. If anything, the mers have an intelligence and moral compass much superior to humans.”
She gave the king a skeptical raise of her brow. “A species that would sacrifice their own for profit, even for the sake of immortality, does not seem superior to human morality to me. I would say equal, if anything.”
“You may have a point, my queen, but the choices of some do not seem to be indicative of the entire species. At least from what I have seen of them since.”
“So how do you convince the mers to produce offspring if they are aware of the consequences?”
He gave another smile. “One of the many reasons I require such powerful witches to be employed by the Cathedral.”
Finn again. She didn’t point out that he would hardly qualify as an employee. She was relieved to realize that, while there may be some residual concern for Brett, she had no such emotions about his boyfriend. Finn’s fate mattered not.
Countless twists and turns in the winding staircase and one massive stone door later, Gwala ushered Sonia into a suddenly modern chamber. He left the door open behind them.
The space was out of place after such a long journey through what felt like the bowels of a medieval castle. The floor, walls, and ceiling all formed a rounded interior and made it feel like they had just stepped inside a globe. The surface was completely encased in a light-pink marble, with honey-yellow striations spiraling throughout the expanse. Sonia couldn’t tell if the stone room had been covered in the lavish rock or if the space had been carved out of the material. Even with her perfected vision, she saw no seams in any part of the marble. Golden sconces decorated the room, spaced out every three feet, their gaslit flames flickering—causing the huge space to seem both luxurious and homey.
Besides the golden sconces, the space had no other adornment. In the very center of the room was a circular, crystal-clear pool—the water shimmering purple from the hue of the flames reflecting off the rosy marble. The pool’s diameter spread out roughly fifteen feet, the marble floor curving delicately into the pool.
“It’s beautiful.” Sonia didn’t have to fake the reverence in her voice.
“Tonight, it is yours. You may do as you wish. I have only two exceptions, and then I shall leave you until our noonday meal.” He offered her another authentic smile. “Yes, in a few hours, we will lunch under the sun.”
For once, Sonia could not respond. She felt her throat constrict in excitement.
“You will see a young male. He will be the only one chained. He is not to be touched. He has become my prized bull in the past several years.”
He paused, waiting for Sonia to ask for clarification. She did not.
“The other request is this: the first one you must devour is a new acquisition from Hawaii. A mer child with dark skin, long black hair, and a green tail with blue patterns. He is the one that will enable your transition into the sun. Beyond that, you may drink as many others as you wish.”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then turned and walked toward the door. Before he exited, he looked back at her. “Actually, one more request. I would ask that you leave at least most of the females alive. Our bull needs something to make him worthwhile.” With that, he exited and shut the several-ton stone door as if it were made of insignificant fluff.
Sonia stood on t
he edge of the pool. She turned, once again checking the door, quite unable to believe Gwala had actually left her alone. If this was truly what he claimed, it seemed atypical that he would not stay to gloat of his accomplishment of manufacturing a mer-breeding program and expecting her to grovel over his benevolence. Even this time of solitude was a gift, let alone that it was coupled with the possible ability to live in the sun once more. For once, she wouldn’t have to pretend to be thankful. She truly would be able to stand in the sun again. She would be beyond grateful.
Returning her attention to the water, she peered into its depths. It was crystalline to the point that she could tell the pink marble continued into the lowest point of the pool. She narrowed her eyes, trying to determine if she could see the bottom. It seemed like she could. Even from here, the gas lamps cut through the water and reflected back the blush hue from the smooth floor of the pool. She could make out no shape or form under the water’s surface. Thinking she might simply be seeing the reflection of the ceiling overhead and mistaking the mirror image for depth, she knelt and dipped her hand into the water. The water was warm and had the thick sensation of salt water against her skin. Her hand was perfectly clear beneath the surface. It made no sense. She could see the entirety of the underwater space and nothing was there. Surely if the mers were invisible, Gwala would have mentioned it. She let out a huff at her own stupidity. He’d described the mer he wanted her to eat first. Of course they weren’t invisible. So what was his game? A trap of some type?
She chuffed at herself once more, rising to her full height. “What is wrong with me? You would mistake me for the weak creature I was before.” Her words echoed around the chamber. She hadn’t noticed such a sensation when Gwala had spoken earlier.
She looked around one final time. Everything was as it had been. With a frustrated shake of her raven hair, she slipped the narrow sleeves from her shoulders and let her dress slide over her body to pool on the floor. She stepped out of her shoes and over the dress that had partially landed in the water and was quickly soaking up the moisture.
