by Helen Bell
“My mother and I were treated like we were animals. We were humiliated and tortured until Herit freed us. She spared my father’s life, but I didn’t. For years I planned his death—dreamed of it. After I decapitated him, Djar was declared the next Ruler. But I didn’t fight the decision. It’d have been foolish of me to do so. Despite the fact female vampires received their rights back, we were still considered inferior to male vampires, even to this day. It is unacceptable to have a female Ruler. No vampire would accept me as a leader.”
“So Djar ruled instead of you?” The new revelation dazed me.
“Djar has never really ruled,” she said. “He doesn’t know how to lead. He does anything I tell him. It was I who have been behind his every decision since he replaced my father. I control his every move.”
“Okay, so you’re the real Ruler, but what does that have to do with me?” My face twisted in puzzlement. “Why am I here? What do you want with me? Who’s Serena?”
“A powerful demon. She’s extremely dangerous, so her security level is classified as maximum, which is why she’s held in an invisible cell. It changes location every month or so, around the three sections of Ice Prison. Prisoners who are labeled top-level security are separated from their bodies, and their souls are locked inside an invisible box for eternity. Magic becomes their only food source, not human food, human souls, or blood.”
“Wait, you want her to feed on my soul? Have real food? Is that it?” My voice rose with anger.
“Not exactly. It’s your body she wants,” Kelly said.
“What! No, don’t do it. Why are you helping her? She’s a demon, your enemy!” I pulled back.
She yanked me to her and answered, “Yes, but things changed when thirty years ago it came to my attention that the king of demons was searching for the location of Serena in Ice Prison to free her. Because supernatural beings can’t touch, feel, or sense inmates that are in boxes, he asked his witch to pinpoint Serena’s cell for him. Though, all her magic was able to find was in which section of Ice Prison her box was located.”
“Why is Damon interested in getting her out of Ice Prison?” I was afraid of the answer. He was a demon; his reasons had to be evil.
“Many years ago,” she started, “there was a vampire named Edwin, a brilliant thief. His daughter contracted the UV virus, and he sought a cure. He was willing to do anything to save her, even steal the red dragon’s blood for Ferdinand , who was a US Ruler before he was killed. Ferdinand lied to Edwin about having a cure for the UV virus and promised to give it to his daughter in exchange for a few drops of the red dragon’s blood. Edwin agreed, and he did the impossible: stealing a small amount of the red dragon’s blood. To never be on the Soul Reapers’ death list, the four Rulers of the US drank it, including me. Edwin realized then that Ferdinand had deceived him. There was no cure.
“After his daughter died, feeling betrayed by Ferdinand and the Rulers, Edwin stole the vial containing the dragon’s blood from my brother. Furious at the Rulers, he didn’t want them to have it. Since dragon blood is indestructible, he hid it before he committed suicide to join his daughter. Now, Damon is after the hidden vial, and Serena can help him find it because she possesses unique abilities, one of which is the power to phase through solid objects. Damon was desperate and willing to try anything to get her out of Ice Prison, and I saw an opportunity.
“Serena can sense a human’s soul from many miles away and draw her victim to her as she eats their soul. However, Damon can’t use humans to locate her since they don’t survive in Ice Prison. The moment regular humans set foot here, their bodies shut down, and they die. Serena doesn’t eat dying souls or ones that are in severely injured or sick bodies.
“So, thirty years ago, I came to Damon with a solution: put a Gifted human in the section that Serena’s cell could be found. In Ice Prison, the victim’s soul doesn’t become sick until one month later—a sufficient time to locate Serena. I have the Tera Stone in my possession, and I offered to help him find Gifted humans with the help of the rock, which glows when near them.
“Damon asked me what was in it for me. I told him I wanted Dr. Johnson, a genius scientist who works for him. He’s an epidemiologist who specializes in demon and vampire diseases and is very loyal to Damon. I need him to work on a cure for the UV virus. Many vampires have tried before me to find an antidote but all have failed. If I’m the one who makes this cure a reality, I’d gain respect from the other Rulers. I’d be accepted as a Ruler—no vampire will question my leadership. My authority.
“Damon acquiesced to my terms and had a few demands of his own. The Gifted human must be a female at the age of eighteen to twenty. Serena is going to take over the human body, and she’ll want it to be in that age range. His second request was that the Gifted human would be smart enough to survive Ice Prison. Like any other demons, if Serena starts to eat a human’s soul, she must complete the feeding before her victim dies, or else she dies too.”
“The challenges,” I whispered, thunderstruck. It hadn’t been Brad who ran everything, after all.
Reading my expression, she said in a placid tone. “Yes, I lied. Brad didn’t pay Damon to help him. It’s the other way around. He works for the demons too. The challenges were Damon’s idea, and he was the one who planned them. Twenty girls each time. He believed a human’s probability of surviving in Ice Prison would be higher if they knew how to pay attention to the small details while under pressure. I concurred with him on that. Throwing the first person the stone detected into the Jungle, a place where there are many traps, without checking the human’s suitability beforehand, would be unwise. If the Gifted human doesn’t survive until she reaches Serena, Serena will die too.
“After he explained the importance of the challenges, he moved on to his third and final request. Selecting a Gifted human who had never been compelled. Compulsion by an Ancient may sometimes leave a permanent odor on the human soul and body. Only demons smell it, and to some, it can be extremely repulsive. Damon was afraid Serena wouldn’t want to take over a body that had been touched by an Ancient.
“Understanding that, I agreed to his terms and started the search. To blend in, in a span of a few months, I studied the way young humans speak and act. Then, I melted a piece of the Tera Stone and made a pearl necklace out of it. Wearing it on my neck, I looked for Gifted humans, girls between eighteen and twenty. As my Change happened when I was twenty, I pretended to be a college student. Unthreatening, weak, and naive. I targeted human females who weren’t rich or from prominent families, spending my time in universities, bars, and nightclubs, waiting for the stone to react.”
I snorted in anger, shaking my head. “God, I can’t believe it. It was you all along. You kidnapped all those girls.”
“No, not me, personally. The chosen Gifted human had to think I was a victim as well since I was supposed to join her in Ice prison,” she explained.
“Right, so you asked Brad to do your dirty work.”
“Not at first. Brad was not born yet at the time, but his family has been working for my brother for a long time, many generations back, so I contacted Brad’s father, William. Our arrangement was simple. He took care of the abduction part, making it look as if the girls had decided to leave everything because they needed a new start. That way, the human police wouldn’t get involved. Every time the stone located a Gifted human, I gave him her name, her description, and her home address. He handled the abduction and forced the girl to call her parents and the people who were close to her. Then he kept them locked up in his basement for months—even years—until I had twenty girls. Detecting Gifted human females could take a lot of time. He was paid handsomely for his trouble, however.
“Years later, Noah, Brad’s brother, replaced him. Then, Brad took his place, two years ago, and he did things differently. He preferred to woo the girls and make them fall in love with him, then lied. To each girl, he told something else, but the most common lie was that he was leaving for another cou
ntry, and he asked them to leave their life behind and join him. He did it because he wanted the girls to sound convincing when they called their parents.”
A clap of thunder cracked the sky, and I said, “But I don’t understand; why did you spy after that vampire who broke into your apartment, and what were you doing at Philippe’s home that night? You looked scared … and you …” I trailed off, my thoughts jumping from one place to another.
At my confusion, she told me, “The vampire who Izzy saw in my apartment works for me. His name is Daniel, and he didn’t tear it up. It was Philippe, suspecting I had something to do with Zoey’s disappearance. He broke into my apartment. I knew it was him; I lied about hiring a private detective to find the identity of the culprit, of course. The night following the break-in, I sent Daniel to my trashed apartment, to collect the Tera necklace. I prayed Philippe hadn’t gotten his hands on it. Izzy was there, snooping around. I didn’t have time for that human. Twenty Gifted humans had just failed the challenges, and I had to start the search all over again. Izzy annoyed me to no end. I tolerated her only because she introduced me to many female humans who were her age.
“After the failure of the twenty Gifted girls, I was tired and frustrated. Fortunately, my brother gave me some good news. He came across an Ancient vampire with a rare ability. Lucius, the Ancient, can sense Gifted humans and lure them toward him, which meant I didn’t need Izzy anymore, and I didn’t need to spend my time in bars and nightclubs.
“I’d have forgotten about Izzy, except she got you involved. When Daniel was on his way to meet me, he spotted the two of you trailing his car, and he updated me about it over the phone. I ordered him to pull over and shove the two of you into his back seat, then bring you fools to me. With you two in his car, he parked in the woods, where I was in the middle of a meeting with my brother and Lucius. Daniel sent me a text message. After I paid Lucius to find me Gifted humans, I went to Daniel. Izzy was shocked to see me. She—”
“What? What are you talking about? That’s not how it went down.” I cut her off. Rain started to pelt us. “He didn’t shove us into his car, and we weren’t in the woods. We were in a factory area.”
A slow smile formed on her lips as if my bewilderment amused her. “You were not immune to compulsion back then, and I’m an Ancient vampire. I wiped the memory of this event and put in a new one to replace it. Then I compelled you to tell me everything about yourself. I learned that Zoey was your sister and that you have a strong vampire named Gideon by your side. When I noticed the powerful black magic on your palm, I knew immediately that you were Gifted even before the stone glowed. Never in my many many years of existence have I ever witnessed such rare dark magic. It’s tremendously powerful. I was stupefied that a mere human was capable of carrying it in her fragile body. I knew you must be exceptional and was sure that you’d pass the challenges. I decided right then and there you’d be one of the twenty Gifted humans.”
“But you have a problem now. You compelled me, and Serena won’t take my body. You didn’t follow Damon’s third demand. You’re gonna have to let me go.” A sliver of hope slid into my words.
“Demons love black magic more than anything,” she said. “When I told Damon about what you have on your palm, he was fascinated. He didn’t even care that I’d compelled you. He agreed that the smell of the black magic would excite Serena more than the odor of my compulsion.
“After I ended my call with Damon, I contacted Brad. I informed him that I had a faster way to find Gifted humans and that he’d be getting the next twenty names in a matter of weeks, not years. He wasn’t pleased to hear that because it didn’t give him enough time to court each girl and make her fall in love with him. Later that night, he called and suggested assembling all the girls in one place, at his father’s mansion. He’d fake an interest in them by inviting each girl to his party, then like his brother and father, force them to call their parents and say they would not be coming back. But with you, things had to be done differently, so I told him I’d deal with you myself. Of course, I could’ve just kidnapped you in the woods, but I didn’t because of Gideon. I had to make sure he wouldn’t cause trouble if you disappeared, so I killed Izzy and drove you to your vampire’s house to see who he was.”
I gasped in horror. “Izzy is dead?”
“Yes. I compelled you to think she was driving, but it was me. I had to learn more about Gideon. And I was right to be cautious; my sources informed me he had many connections in the Hidden World. I waited until I’d gathered more information on him before I took you. I had to be certain I could handle him in case he didn’t believe me when I told him that Brad killed you at the party.
“My original plan was to separate you from Gideon, then compel you to do the challenges and take me to Serena’s cell, if you passed them. However, I had to change everything when I discovered that Gideon had taught you how to resist compulsion, and then Brad called me, telling me that you and Gideon were in New York City, talking to Andrew, the lawyer.”
My eyes widened, rain soaking me to the bone. “The package was for you? What was in it?”
Not seeming bothered by the weather, she answered, “It was for me, yes. Since I have no way of knowing if a Gifted girl smells bad to demons, Damon supplied small bottles of a potion that reveals whether a human has been compelled in the past. If the human consumes a few drops of it, he or she can’t be compelled by Ancients for a year. A few months back, the supply ran low, and I notified Damon. He ordered Maura, a royal demon, to give me more bottles. Not wanting to deal with it, she paid the vampire lawyer to take care of it, as I did with Brad.
“By then, I had only fourteen names of Gifted humans. There was no time to search for more since you were getting closer to the truth about me. That’s why I had to act fast and instructed Brad to host the party at the mansion in a week, giving him the names of the girls he needed to seduce. After I explained the situation to Damon, he agreed to let fourteen girls, instead of the usual twenty, do the challenges. And then I called you, making up a story about being at my cousin’s house.”
I glared at her. “It was all a lie. You saying that Brad had come over and offered to pay you to bring me to his party, you acting scared at the mansion and at Philippe’s house—wait. Jesus, you were the one who killed Philippe, weren’t you?”
“I had to. I couldn’t risk you querying him about Daniel. He’d have known I lied, and he already suspected me. I didn’t want him to plant doubts in your head about me. I had to eliminate any possible threat to my plan. When my men informed me he’d returned to that dirty alley he referred to as home, I rushed over to kill him. As he ran from me, he managed to call his cop friend before I daggered him.
“Then, I heard your voices outside his basement. I quickly hid in the living room. When you and your vampire came inside Philippe’s office, I headed to the front door. My phone slipped out of my hands to the floor, so I had to show myself. I improvised a story about why I was there.”
I huffed in contempt. “And played the perfect role of a skittish Newborn vampire, so you could kidnap and force me to do those damn challenges. You know what I don’t get, though? Why go to all this trouble with them if your poor victim has you—an Ancient vampire? Isn’t your protection in the Jungle is enough?”
“How can I really protect her if I’m supposed to act as a weak Newborn vampire? For my plan to work, the Gifted human’s cooperation is mandatory. She can’t know about my real motives. She needs to lead me to Serena without rebelling,” she answered.
“If it’s so crucial to keep the Gifted human alive for Serena, why didn’t you help me with the vampires abusing Buster?” I asked.
The rain finally stopped, and she tucked her wet hair behind her ear. “When you were overpowered by them, I almost did. I was about to reveal myself as an Ancient to kill them, but then you fought back, and to my surprise, you turned out to be an excellent warrior. After the fight, I was sure the worst was behind us until the black magic on yo
ur palm pinned you to the ground, and I had to decide fast. Trying to save you meant I could die from the UV virus or from the gargoyles, but leaving you in the clearing meant you’d die, and I’d suffer Damon’s fury because I’d failed. In the end, my existence was more important.”
I thinned my lips with anger before my face twisted with pain. My headache escalated, the weakness intensifying.
“It’s Serena. She’s feeding on your soul to get stronger,” Kelly told me.
I thought about everything she’d revealed, and then about Zoey. “My sister, is she …” My voice wobbled. Since the first moment I’d searched for her, I refused to consider the possibility she was dead, even when everything had pointed to that conclusion. I could not deny the obvious anymore, though. And it hurt more than Serena’s feeding.
“I am sorry. She’s no longer with us. Neither is Kyla,” she replied.
Hearing it out loud made something inside me snap. Seething with anger, I punched her with my free hand. The blow caught her by surprise and shoved her backward. I was free of her hold, and in a semicircular motion, I swung my leg around and struck her. As she staggered sideways, I pulled the dagger from its holster. She regained her balance, fangs popping out of their sheaths, long and wide.
I scoffed at her. “And to think I trusted you. You killed Zoey!”
“But I’m not a monster. I didn’t want to hurt her,” she said. In a flash, she was a few inches away from me. I was quickly disarmed and in her grip again.
“Not a monster? You’ve been murdering innocent girls for thirty years! You psycho bitch!”
“I didn’t enjoy doing it, but the end justifies the means. You must know it was not easy for me, especially with Zoey. She was as brave as you are. I respected her.” Her expression softened as her mind seemed to travel back in time. “I met her after months of searching for the twentieth Gifted human. By then, I was tired. Tired of spending my time where young humans were, pretending I was one of them. When the stone finally glowed after Izzy introduced me to Zoey at Asgard’s club, I was thrilled. Brad, at the time, had in his basement nineteen humans, and he was dating Kyla, the girl’s name I’d given him three months before.”