by D. N. Hoxa
Helen didn’t need immortality—she was a vampire. But Nikola wasn’t.
By the gods, I was a fool for not seeing it sooner.
“So she wants the plant for Nikola,” Sinea whispered, shaking her head. “I don’t understand why the Guild destroyed it. If it can really give immortality to mortal supernaturals, what’s so bad about that?”
“Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone was immortal?” Chaos wouldn’t even begin to describe it.
“The fae and the elves are,” she said in wonder.
“And they’ve got nothing better to do but war with each other for over a thousand years now. Nobody is meant to live forever. Time does something to you. It strips away reminders because it’s easier to cope that way. It gets very hard to hold onto life.” Much harder than anyone would think.
“There has to be more,” she said, going over the pages of the book. “Where does one find such seeds? How do they plant them?” Then she looked at me. “I bet that’s what Diane Devlin was doing when she was caught by the Guild. She wasn’t burying anything—she was planting seeds.”
I nodded. “Exactly. We don’t need any more information. I have a friend I can ask now that we know what we’re dealing with.”
I stood up and closed my books, and Sinea did the same. It was after four in the morning, but I still wanted to try to find Yutain before sunrise. I wondered if she wanted to come with me when we left the books on the shelf. She looked very tired, trying to stifle yawns every now and again.
“Is it somebody you trust?” she asked.
I grabbed my jacket from the chair and we walked out of the Library together.
“Yes, it is.” I trusted Yutain with my life, not because he was possibly the oldest vampire in existence, but because he’d never betrayed my trust before. Though I wasn’t sure how much he’d be willing to tell me. The last time I’d gone to him for information, he told me not to go looking for him for another couple centuries. Let’s hope he was kidding because I didn’t trust anyone else with the knowledge that the Treasure of Saraph was somewhere out there—and Helen probably had it.
“If you want to come with me, you’re welcome,” I told her when we came out of the Library. The night had gotten colder than I expected.
“No, I need to go check on Malin, see if she came back. Make sure Robert Perry will keep his mouth shut,” she said.
The compelling need to say anything I needed to say to change her mind was strong, but I held myself back. She needed to sleep. It didn’t matter that I craved her company more than I craved blood.
She stopped walking and turned to me. “Call me tomorrow?”
The hope in her eyes was almost too much. “I will.”
She lingered for a second longer, looking at me like she wanted me to stop her. And I wanted to tell her that I was sorry for letting jealousy get the best of me, but the same thing that gave me the urge to grab her in my arms right now and take her away stopped me. We’d already made more than enough mistakes. A few more and the damage might be irreversible, and I couldn’t let that happen.
“Good night, Damian.” She turned around to leave, her footsteps echoing in the silent street and in my head. There weren’t any people around the Library at this time of morning.
Once more, I suffocated the urge to call her back to me. “Good night, little thief.”
I turned around and ran all the way out of the Shade.
I searched the City for Yutain for thirty minutes, but he wasn’t there. Either he didn’t want me to find him, or he was busy doing something else.
When the sun peeked over the horizon, I decided to call it a night and get some rest. I could continue my search at nightfall.
At the penthouse, I expected to find Nikola there, but then I remembered that he’d texted me at two in the morning to tell me that he’d be searching the City for Helen. I doubted he’d find her, but I was in no rush to tell him about what we’d discovered about the Treasure.
The sound of three hearts beating down the hallway took me by surprise at first. Then I smelled the scent of the girl—Charlie—and I realized Moira had already brought her here. They were both in Moira’s room, and by the sound of their breathing, they were both asleep. Tonight, I didn’t want to drink wine, and I didn’t want to talk. The sun was getting brighter by the second. I didn’t see it through the drapes, but I felt it in the way it stripped me of half my powers. I had no patience for a shower so I went straight to my bedroom instead. In the drawer of the nightstand next to my bed, I found a pair of headphones. Music would relax me. I’d prefer to listen to it without those things in my ears, but I didn’t want to wake Emanuel and Moira. I lay down on the bed in complete darkness, and for the next few hours, I surrendered my mind to imagination.
Chapter Fifteen
“How sure are you that I won’t get bitten?” Charlie McGaff was asking Moira. They were still in the room, though it was almost six in the afternoon.
I smiled at the pages of the book I was reading. I could smell her fear all the way in the living room.
“I grew up with them, Charlie. They’re not going to bite you. John and Zane are more than capable of handling themselves. Come on, you need to eat.”
“I don’t mean them! I mean Damian!” Charlie whispered, but it sounded like she wanted to yell very badly.
Moira laughed. “Yes, Dam’s gonna bite you. He’s gonna drink you dry in a second.” The door opened. “If you see him, you run for your life, okay?”
“Are you kidding? I can’t tell if you’re kidding,” Charlie said as she followed Moira.
Moira came out of the hallway with a grin on her face—she knew I was sitting in the living room, but apparently, the witch girl didn’t. And when she saw me, she froze completely. I couldn’t even hear her breathing.
“Run, Charlie! Run!” Moira shouted. She laughed her heart out, but the girl looked like she was about to pass out. Closing my book, I left my glass of wine on the table. She took a step back.
“She’s kidding,” I told her, nodding at Moira. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Going any closer to her—or even standing up—didn’t seem like a good idea, so I stayed put. “I’m Damian Reed.”
The girl looked at me, then at Moira, who had yet to stop laughing.
“Charlie McGaff,” she said in a breath.
“Well, Charlie McGaff, as long as you’re in this apartment, nobody’s ever going to take anything that belongs to you without your consent. You don’t need to be afraid.”
“Unless you’re asleep,” Moira said. “Then you’re fair game.”
I opened my book again. “She’s still kidding.” Because the girl looked like she wasn’t sure.
“Or am I?” Moira said, squinting her eyes at the girl, who already wanted to punch her in the face. She was shorter than Moira by a few inches, hair as straight as Moira’s, only her’s was brown and cut close to her shoulders. She was just a kid. Her heartbeat was so loud it felt like it was in my own chest, and the way her blood rushed did make me think I needed to feed. I wondered if I’d made a mistake not forcing Moira to return her to her family. But if they didn’t want her, she’d be better off away. I just wasn’t sure if here was the right place for her.
“We’re going out to grab a bite,” Moira said, walking over to me. “If Emanuel comes back, tell him to call me.” She leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.
“He’s with Nikola. I doubt they’re going to be back soon.” They’d left for lunch, too, an hour ago. They’d left, and I hadn’t told Nikola about the Treasure of Saraph. I didn’t think it was my secret to share.
“Cool. Be back soon. Also, the maid’ll be here tonight,” she said, and went to the elevator, where Charlie was already waiting for her. She pretended to be looking at the floor, but she was perfectly aware of my every movement.
When they got in the car and the doors closed, I could hear her sighing. She’d get used to us in time.
T
wo hours later, I walked onto the pier where I’d last met Yutain. I’d been there the night before, too, but he hadn’t been there.
This time was no different. The pier was long, over five thousand feet, longer than most of the others on the foreshore. I strained my ears as I walked to the edge. There were plenty of people on the foreshore, but nobody seemed to be on Yutain’s pier with me nor in the boats berthed to it. To try to smell him would be a waste of time because of the strong smell of the Hudson that overrode all other scents. I could see he wasn’t there, but I still walked to the very edge and looked at the river.
Yutain didn’t want to be found.
It complicated things for me because I’d meant what I said to Sinea—I didn’t trust anyone with the information about the Treasure of Saraph. In order to find out more about it, I’d have to talk to people who wouldn’t hesitate to do anything in their power to get their hands on it. Helen’s life was too valuable to risk it.
I closed my eyes and tried to think of one person who could have this information, someone I could trust not to spread the word—or use it for themselves. If this information got in the wrong hands—like Amina’s and the Uprising—it would be very hard to stop them without involving the Guild. Maybe the Shade Library was still my best bet, even if it was very time consuming.
“You know, I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been two centuries yet,” a voice said from behind me. My muscles locked instantly and the monster inside me tried to take over. My fangs had begun to extend by the time I took control of my instincts again.
It was Yutain. I turned around and saw him atop the last berthed yacht, arms crossed in front of him, which made him look even wider than he already was.
If it had been anyone else, I’d have believed that my ears were giving up on me, but it was Yutain. He was an air elemental. Elementals were rare even among other supernaturals, and Yutain was the most powerful man I knew. He could erase his tracks and any sound he made with the wind that blew at his call.
“It hasn’t,” I said, never moving from my place. I still didn’t know if he would ask me to leave, and I didn’t want to push it.
He jumped from the yacht onto the pier, but I didn’t see the movement—only him when he started walking toward me. Yutain was a big man, over six foot four, a square head and eyes so grey they looked like ice. He didn’t scare me, though I knew for certain that I could never win a fight against him unprepared. I wouldn’t even be able to raise my hand before he was done with me, and he was the only person in the world I could say that about. Knowing that, it was easy not to worry. If he wanted me to die, I would before I knew it.
But I doubted it. Yutain wasn’t a murderer. He only killed when he needed to, and I wasn’t his enemy.
“I’m sorry to drop by here again, Yutain. Things have gotten a little complicated,” I said and offered him my hand. His was big enough to make mine look like a child’s.
“Things always get complicated, my friend.” He stepped onto the edge of the pier, staring at the Hudson. “Is it that organization again? The Uprising, was it?”
“No, not them,” I said. “It’s about Helen Marquez. You do remember her, don’t you?”
He only needed to think about it for a split second. “I would think so, yes. What does Helen have to do with me?” Yutain said.
I’d caught him in a bad mood, it seemed. The last time, his voice had been different, his shoulders more relaxed.
“Nothing. She and a group of others are after something called the Treasure of Saraph,” I said, hoping he’d know what I was talking about.
“You want to know what it is,” he said.
“No, I know what it is. What I don’t know is where it grows.” Because that’s where Helen and her friends would be. And if that plant grew anywhere in Manhattan, Yutain would know. This was his City.
“The Saraph is very dangerous, Damian. Immortality isn’t for everyone.”
“That is why I want to find it and destroy it before anybody else gets their hands on it.”
“Why? What’s in it for you?”
“I have a debt to pay to Helen and Nikola—her mate.”
He laughed and the sound seemed to disappear completely a second after leaving him, blown over by the soft wind. “I would say you have too many debts, my friend.”
I laughed, too. “Far too many.” I hadn’t always had a choice. The jobs I did for the Guild were never easy. Only a fool would hope to go at them alone.
“Gina’s worried about you,” I told him. “She thought you were dead.”
“Ah, Gina. The painter,” Yutain said, nodding his head. “She always worried too much. Maybe I’ll visit her sometime soon.” Sometime soon in his sense of time would probably translate into a few decades, maybe even a century.
Yutain stood silent for a while. He looked out at the river, taking in breaths every now and then, like he was looking for something.
Eventually, he spoke and made me wish I’d never gone to meet him.
“Is she under your control?”
My dead body would never betray me because it couldn’t. I didn’t have a heart to give me away, so all I did was take a second to gather myself.
“No.” I wanted to lie, but he would know. I was better off with the truth.
“Word is spreading. It’s only a matter of time before they know.” By they, he meant the Guild. “Is she your mate? The wind tells me conflicting stories.”
That was the wrong question. The right question was, did I want Sinea to be my mate?
The answer was so simple, it scared me.
“She’s not my mate, but she’s my responsibility.”
“But she’s not in your control,” Yutain said. “You’re old enough to know that that never ends well.”
“The Guild will not find out. She’s a Marauder, and she’s been hiding her whole life. She knows how to keep her secret.”
“That may be, but most don’t.” Yutain turned to me. “I don’t want trouble in my City, Damian. I would think you know this by now.”
“I do.” What happened in the Shade, Yutain didn’t care about it. But out here, it was his domain.
“Then make sure she doesn’t cause trouble.”
“She won’t.” Sinea wasn’t someone I could control—and not only because I didn’t want to. It was my mistakes that had led her here—first, for not telling her about that amulet, and then for not telling her what she was. Maybe then she wouldn’t have gone to Gina Giselle to ask questions and give away her blood.
“Good,” Yutain said and put a hand over my shoulder. “That’s good, my friend. And I will tell you what you want, but I need something in return.”
“Name it.” Whatever the price, if I could pay it, I would.
“A fruit. One berry from the Saraph.”
Even if I’d tried, I wouldn’t have been able to hide the surprise from showing on my face. It made Yutain laugh again.
“Don’t look so surprised.” He slammed his hand on my shoulder a couple of times. He probably thought he was patting me. My skin would be bruised for hours. “I don’t intend to use it, if that’s what you think. Immortality is a curse, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, even if I had an enemy. But to destroy it completely would be a crime against nature. She created that plant for a reason.”
I didn’t need to think about it. “I’ll bring you a berry.”
Yutain grinned. “In that case, let’s have a drink.”
He took me back to the last yacht along the pier. By the looks of it, it was his. There were bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages everywhere. He went inside and I waited on the front deck, trying to put my thoughts in order. It didn’t surprise me that Yutain knew about Sinea. Yutain knew most things, if not everything that was whispered in the streets of Manhattan.
What bothered me was that he expected trouble from her. Sinea didn’t want trouble, but she wasn’t the type to back down from a fight. If it came to it, she would use her power, like she had in
Estird.
But if she was backed into a corner somewhere in the City, Yutain would know. It occurred to me to tell her not to do that, but I didn’t want to. If she was in danger, her life topped everything else—even Yutain’s wrath.
The water below me looked completely black, a mirror of my own mind at the moment. I never thought the day would come when I’d have to prepare, to plan, for a way to kill Yutain.
“To debts and favors,” he said, stepping next to me, handing me a water glass filled with wine. He drank his like a shot, then clicked the bottle of wine to my glass.
I drank the wine and didn’t expect a taste, but it surprised me. The taste was strong, stronger than it felt on even my best days. I looked at the wine.
“Like it? It’s a special mix. Not as strong as I’d have liked, but it does tingle a bit,” Yutain said, taking another swig.
“It’s perfect,” I said and drank another sip. Again, it rewarded me with taste. My mouth, my whole body felt alive, even if only for a fraction of a second.
“The Saraph requires very careful planning. It grows within minutes—thirty if I’m not mistaken—but only if it’s kismet,” he said, waving his hand at the dark sky. “Only if all its conditions have been fulfilled exactly the right way.”
“It must require special soil, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does. But more than that, it requires magic. Natural magic, the precious kind that builds in the ground in time, just like precious metals and stones. It requires witch magic and a full moon, a very complicated ritual, as I understand, but truth be told, I don’t understand all too much of witch magic.”
“So it can be planted anywhere with the right conditions?” I said, resting my elbows against the railing.
“Not anywhere—only in a few places where there has been heavy use of magic for a long period of time, possibly several years. A big source of water would have to be nearby, as I understand.” He scratched his cheeks, looking down at the water. “Oh, and it needs something else, too.” He scratched his cheeks. “I forget what it is.”
