“She’s not even your friend. Why does it matter?”
"Because of our mutual friend. Look, please, the specifics don't matter. You shouldn't need any details. You're my mother, so can you stop with the questions and just say yes already?"
“First of all, I don’t appreciate that tone at all, young lady. Second of all, I don’t know what you want or expect of me. Third of all, this can wait. I’m here for an appointment—”
“Mother, you look fine. You don’t need your hair done, your nails, none of it. You’re a vampire. You’re beautiful and perfect as is.”
Mother narrows her eyes at me, purses her lips so the very faintest of lines appear, and then glances around us. She grabs my elbow, her fingers pinching me like tiny daggers, and she drags me into the nearby alley.
“I don’t know what has gotten into you, but do you not realize where we are?” Mother hisses. “I will not have my daughter, my own flesh and blood, be the one that alerts the humans to the existence of…” She leans forward and drops her voice. “…us. Can you imagine? I want you to have it all, not to be rejected and scorned and mocked at and ridiculed for years to come. For centuries! For all time!”
“I am your daughter, and I am your flesh and blood, so please, please, Mother, I am begging you to help me.”
She releases me to throw up her hands. “Help you with what?”
“I need you to convince Father to give you a tear.”
Mother blinks a few times. “A tear? A demon tear? Why are you asking me and not him?”
I say nothing.
“Ah.” Mother smiles softly as she nods her head several times. “I see. You want me to get you a demon tear? I can get you one.”
“You will?” I embrace her. “Thank you, Mother! I knew I could count—”
“Provided you marry Constantine.”
“Marry Constantine?” I gape at her. “Why are you and Father so obsessed with him? Did you sell my soul to his father? Did you promise me as a baby to him? Why won’t either of you listen to me? He treats me like an object, like I’m a possession, like I’m already his. Why does he think that? Why does he act like I am his?”
My mother calmly folds her hands together, still wearing that soft smile. “Do we have an agreement? We honestly don’t ask much of you, Romelia, so if you want something from us, then it’s only fair and right and justice for us to expect something in return.”
“You aren’t listening to me! Constantine isn’t the one for me! I don’t want to marry him!”
"There are plenty of children in arranged marriages who grow up to accept what must be done, and a few are even lucky enough to fall in love with their spouse. Maybe you just need some time."
“There. So it is an arranged marriage, is that what you’re saying? You and Father made some kind of deal that involves me, didn’t you? Why? To what end?”
“Romelia, please. Be sensible and reasonable. You need a demon tear. There are precious few potions that require such a potent ingredient, and you mentioned a friend… or a friend of a friend. Whichever the case, it’s clear to me that you require a magical panacea, don’t you? And if need that, well, then, someone is dying, and time is of the essence, isn’t it, dear girl? Stop being such a child and acting as if your thoughts and feelings are the only ones that matter. You are my daughter, and you will do as you are told. You’re lucky I’m not just insisting that you marry the man and that I am willing to give you the demon tear you so desperately desire. You do want it desperately, don’t you?”
“You’re just like Father,” I spit out. “You two are meant to be together. I didn’t see that before, but I do now. You two both disgust me.”
“Is that so? Does that mean you don’t want the tear, then?” Mother asks, tilting her head to the side, her small smile still there, looking smugger and smugger with every passing second.
“I will not marry him. I refuse.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, my father appears in a puff of smoke. Black and green wisps slowly fade away as he strolls over the three steps to stand before me, my mother behind him.
"You and your selfishness. You would think that I would be pleased with what you have done, but no, no, I am not. I have told you before that there will be consequences for your actions, and I delayed doling them out because I hoped you would see the error of your ways but no longer. You do not know much at all about the world, about the hold that demons have on it, and now, you will see just how very much you have lost. By refusing to obey me, you will no longer be under my protection. The wolves will come for you, and I do not merely mean werewolves. All of the enemies of living vampires will breathe down your neck, and that includes demons. You are no longer my daughter. You are disowned, penniless, homeless, and you will struggle to survive all the days of your life."
“Oh, will I?” I ask coldly. “A struggle you say. I don’t need your protection. I don’t need your house or your money. I don’t need anything from you.”
“Not even my tear?” he asks with a smirk.
“I need nothing from you,” I repeat.
With that, I race away, not wanting to be in their presence any longer. Just what did he mean about protection? What protection? I certainly never felt as if any walls were closing in on me, that any shadows trailed me. Maybe he is bluffing. Maybe he isn’t. Either way, I will survive because I have what truly matters.
Love.
And Father will not take that away from me.
As for my love’s friend…
I do not stop running until I return to Jade’s cottage.
The witch stands on her front porch. She smiles as I approach. "You have it, then?"
“No.”
“No?” Her expression falls. “Without a demon tear, I can’t—”
“Do you know of any demon I can ask? You have to have dealt with other demons before, and—”
“If you can’t get one from your father, you have to realize that no other will go up against him.”
“But if you were to ask…”
“Why would I? I can’t risk my neck for you. I live a good, decent life, and I’m happy. If I were to do what you ask, everything would come crumbling down on me, and I might even end up dead. No, I cannot secure a tear for you, and it seems as if you cannot either. As a result, we have no deal. I have no magical panacea to give you.”
"Make the next strongest potion that you can possibly make," I cry. "Please."
“You’re desperate. That’s plain to see, and if your own blood won’t help any…”
I turn my back on her and walk a few steps. My hand shakes as I lift my phone. Miraculously, it’s not dead. It’s at one percent, barely hanging on, and I text Julian, hoping that a text won’t eat away the battery’s last bit of juice as quickly as a phone call.
Is Mercy all right?
I don’t know.
My heart hurts. I gasp out a sob. I’ve never met Mercy, but I feel for her. I feel so many things, and I can’t… I don’t know what to do, where to go, what to think, and I’m off again, racing, running. My legs burn even though they shouldn’t, and my chest aches with every breath I take even though it shouldn’t, and tears stream down my face.
Our love. That's what caused all of this. I can't say I hate my mother. I've always suspected she was nothing more than a pawn for my father, and earlier seems to confirm rather than deny that. My father, though, it's much easier to hate him.
He can disown me all he wants. I am nothing like him, and I won’t ever be. I’m not Romelia Covenshade. Not anymore.
Julian and I never talked about this, and maybe we’ll end up taking up a new surname, but for right now, for this moment forward, I am Romelia Moonblaze.
Even that thought can’t get the tears to stop.
Chapter 30
Julian
Having no other place to go, not wanting to alarm my parents, who will surely hear about my fall from grace soon enough, I go to Blackhope Manor. Here is the source of my happine
ss, but all I feel is misery.
When I arrive, I sit on the steps leading to the front door. My head feels so heavy that I drop it into my hands. I don’t know how long I sit there until an arm drapes across my shoulders.
Romelia.
My wife.
I turn to look at her. My love’s face is drawn, paler than its normal porcelain, and she bites her lower lip.
“I know most of what happened, I think,” she murmurs. “Tyra challenged you.”
“She thought we were engaged. I corrected her on that point, and she became incensed with anger.”
“You refused to fight…”
“She’s your cousin, which makes her my cousin through marriage. We’re kin. I couldn’t…” I stare at my hands that had tried to attack her despite my best intentions.
“Mercy stepped in. How is she?”
“I don’t know. She’s at Moonstone Academy. I can’t set foot there ever again, Romelia. I’m expelled.”
“What? Why? Because of the fighting?”
I nod. “The challenge.”
“But you didn’t—”
“I did attack her. You spoke with her. Did you see…”
“I saw her torn clothes. She was almost all healed by the time she returned to Blood Haven.” Romelia reaches over and squeezes my knee. “I tried to see a witch my father worked with before. I wanted to see about securing a magical panacea. She had on hand everything she would need except for one. Julian, I would have paid any price, done anything, but—”
“A demon tear.”
She gapes at me.
“I thought of it too,” I say softly, “but I have no demon to turn to.”
“I don’t either. Father won’t. He refuses. Not unless I marry Constantine, and you know that won’t happen. I refused, and I asked Mother to intercede, to help me, and she said she would but only if I marry Constantine. Again, I refused, and Father disowned me.”
Romelia turns toward me and holds my face in her hands.
“You are my family, and you are all I need,” she murmurs. “I will figure out a way to help Mercy. Is Bermon with her at least?”
“He is, but there’s been no news. No update. I don’t know if she can survive. I gave her three vials of your blood, but I don’t know if that helped at all. If vampire blood can’t help, the magical panacea is our only chance.”
“Julian…”
“Let’s just sit here a moment,” I murmur.
“But Mercy—”
I place a finger to her lips, and she stares at me with solemn eyes before slowly nodding. Tenderly, she lays her head on my shoulder, and we hold each other, clinging to one another, relying on the other for strength, but I have a feeling we’re close to the breaking point. At least I am.
Our love has cost us so very much. Romelia's lost her parents, and while she might not think that is too large of a cost to pay, but I know better. Even if her father hasn't been the dad she might have wished for, that doesn't mean she doesn't need a father. Her mother has done some unspeakable things in the past, yes, but it's better to have parents than to have none, right?
Maybe not. Maybe I’m too deluded to judge properly considering my home life. My parents are wonderful, which is why I now feel the need to push them away. It’s for their sake, for their safety, but it pains me.
If we have to stay here, then we’ve lost her family and our friends. Whether or not Mercy is strong enough to survive, I may lose her anyway. My family as well. If word spreads that I married a vampire despite our going into hiding, then my parents and siblings might be attacked. It’s a feat that has me trembling, and Romelia rubs my back.
Her touch is soothing, but it can’t soothe my soul. Where do we go from here? How can I handle Mercy’s death? She most likely won’t survive, and it’s my fault. If I hadn’t tried to stop the challenge, if I allowed them to continue fighting… I honestly don’t know who would have emerged victorious if I hadn’t interfered. What if Tyra was the one knocking on death’s door? Then Romelia would be the one ready to mourn her friend instead of me.
“It’s not your fault,” Romelia whispers.
“But it is. I got in the way. I wanted to stop them from fighting. I almost convinced Tyra to stop. At least, I think I was close, but then Mercy went to attack her from behind, and Tyra turned around at just the right moment to deliver what’s most likely a deathblow. Mercy is dying because of me.”
“She’s strong,” Romelia says desperately. “She’ll survive.”
“Vampire blood didn’t make her wounds heal. I don’t think she can be saved.”
“There are other demons in the world. We can try to—”
“I don’t think we want any more demons involved in our business,” I say slowly.
“Even if one is the only way to save her?” Romelia whispers.
I hang my head when my phone vibrates. I almost drop it in my haste to answer. “Bermon. Is she…”
“She’s sleeping.”
“Is she in the infirmary? Are there healers there? Witches? Anyone?”
“They’re doing what they can.”
Romelia squeezes my knee.
I close my eyes. “Romelia thinks we should try to get a magical panacea. We would need a demon tear for that. Do you think we’re at that point?”
“Julian, I don’t know. I won’t lie to you. I don’t know if she’ll pull through, but I do know how Mercy feels about demons. She hates them even more than vampires, and you know that’s saying something.”
“But if they’re her only chance—”
“That won’t change anything. She fought the challenge for you, right? She was willing to die for you, but she would rather give up her life than for you to live indebted to a demon.”
“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission,” I argue.
“I don’t think… Hold on.”
I wait impatiently. Romelia has out her phone, and she’s texting away. After a moment, she grabs my hand and tugs me inside. She heads to the kitchen, where I left a phone charger earlier. My wife plugs in her phone and keeps on typing.
Too agitated to sit still, I start to pace back and forth.
“Julian?”
“Doria?” I ask, shocked to hear from her. She’s the healer I was supposed to intern under, only there hadn’t been much hands-on experience for me to acquire due to the lockdown.
“I understand that you want to help Mercy.”
“Yes, I do. A magical panacea might be her only hope.”
“Julian,” Doria says softly.
Her tone makes my heart feel squeezed to the point of bursting. It’s not a pleasant feeling at all.
“Yes, Doria?”
“Whoever is trying to convince you to buy a magical panacea is a scam artist.”
“But a demon tear—”
“It won’t help you any. It won’t help Mercy.”
“But the witch… demons know about it…”
“It’s a scam,” Doria says in that same soft tone. “I have no reason to lie to you. If it could help Mercy, I would tell you. I would ask you to take that risk and involve demons. It’s my duty as a healer to do whatever it takes for my patients. Please, Julian, I’ve been around for a long time, and I’ve seen the darkness that demons spread, especially when it comes to this so-called magical cure-all. It doesn’t exist.”
“Not even a half demon’s—”
“It doesn’t exist.”
She’s wrong. She has to be.
But Doria doesn’t have a reason to lie, just like she said, and a witch in league with demons will say anything and everything to manipulate potential clients.
“There really isn’t anything I can do for her?” I ask desperately.
“I’m afraid not.”
“But why isn’t she healing?” I blurt out. “It doesn’t make any sense!”
“We’re trying to figure that out,” Doria says. “I have a team here with me. We’re doing all we can.”
/> “I wish I was there. I feel so helpless.”
“I know. I’m sorry, Julian. If things were different, I would be teaching you all about this, but…”
I hang my head.
“I need to get back to her. Should I put Bermon back on?”
I shake my head and then realize she can’t see me. “No. Ask him to text me when he has an update.”
My stomach twists into knots as I hang up. My head remains low as I shuffle back out the door and sit on the step.
After a moment, Romelia joins me, sitting beside me. “Julian…”
“Your father is a terrible, vile monster,” I spit out. “He used the magical panacea as an excuse to manipulate you, and when that didn’t work, he disowned you.”
“I don’t need my father in my life,” she says simply. “I just need you.”
“The magical panacea—”
“I know.”
Her harsh tone has me glancing over. Her lips are pursed, and she’s staring straight ahead.
“I tried to hunt down a demon who would be willing to help me with a tear,” she says. “That’s what I was doing on my phone. An angel contacted me and explained that demons have been using the magical panacea as a hoax dating back thousands of years. That’s all they know how to do—manipulate. Oh, and destroy. Those are a demon’s favorite plaything, and I feel for it. I feel for it hard.”
“Not hard enough that you caved and gave in.”
“No, but I feel responsible.”
“You? For what? For Mercy? She chose to set in for the challenge. For Tyra? You can’t control what your cousin does. It’s not your fault.”
“But it is. Tyra only suspected that something was up because I was so happy. I couldn’t contain my joy about being married to you, and look at what’s happened since we wed. Our friends are fighting, and now, one is dying, and there’s nothing we can do to try to save her.”
“We can’t save the world,” I say simply. “All we can do is save each other. You have saved me, and I think, I hope, I’ve saved you too.”
“Oh, Julian, you have.”
Blood Haven: Year Two: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Page 19