by E. M. Knight
“By the Forsaken Sisters?” I ask.
He nods. “They and their kin. Knowledge of it was contained between us. Later, I passed it on to Morgan, because of what she had inadvertently begun. When she started making the Convicted, I mean. The first of them could access that frequency perfectly. I believe it was entirely by fluke, but nonetheless, it made them particularly dangerous. More dangerous than the ones you and Phillip were exposed to in our fight not so long ago, for example. The method of making them had to be adjusted, it had to be changed, altered, so that new ones would not have the ability to harm us like that.”
“But then what could have done it?” I ask. “And why did my probing find nothing wrong with his mind, while your spell—” I gasp, “—while your spell actually healed him!”
Felix shakes his head. “I did nothing to heal. Not in the traditional sense. The frequency made his brainwaves operate at an unnatural wavelength. Think of it as… the reverberation that comes after a gong is struck. The sounds Raul was exposed to interfered and changed his normal operating capacity. The spell simply eased it back to what it usually is.”
“Simply,” Phillip scoffs.
I eye Felix in suspicion. “If the most you can do with the currents is make that feeble spark, how were you able to help Raul?”
He sighs. “The truth is, Eleira… torrials are not the only way to shape magic. The ancient language you heard me speak has the ability to do similar things. These are spells in a very real sense. The pattern of syllables and sounds guides the currents in an exact stream.”
“And you’re the one who taught this to Morgan?” I say.
He bows his head. “I did.”
“Then I’ve changed my mind. Felix, your first priority is to teach me what you taught her. I cannot afford to be blind in this venture. We have to do it as quickly as possible. The journey to the Forsaken Sisters will no longer be yours to take. I want Phillip to go.”
The two vampires in question sputter protests at the same time. I silence them with a raised hand.
“No arguing,” I say. “This is the way it must be.”
“So you really did plan to cast me out!” Phillip accuses. “You lied to my face about it, Eleira”
“That’s no tone to take with the Queen,” Felix reprimands.
“It’s fine,” I say quickly. I address Phillip. “I didn’t plan on sending you out, but the idea is not a bad one. Who is more capable than you to take care of himself out in the world?”
“Even crippled as I am?” Phillip sneers. “Release me from the oaths, and I will go without protest. Just don’t send me out there helpless!”
“You’re hardly helpless,” I retort. “After me, you’re probably the strongest vampire in our coven. Nobody you meet out there will dare challenge you.”
“That’s what you think,” Phillip says softly.
I cross my arms. “Unless you give evidence to the contrary, I stand my ground.”
I wait. Phillip doesn’t say anything. I give him a small, victorious grin.
“Thought so. You will go when night falls. That gives you, oh, about seven or eight hours to prepare.”
“I don’t even know where this place is,” Phillip snarls.
“Felix will be happy to offer directions,” I say. I look at the older vampire. “Won’t you?”
He hesitates for the briefest moment but then grunts and consents. “Certainly.”
“Phillip, this is your chance at redemption,” I say. “Do this well, and when you return, I will consider lifting a portion of the oaths.”
“How very generous.”
“After the way you attacked me in the generator room,” I say, “it is more than any rational person could hope for.”
Geordam looks at me in alarm. “He attacked you?” he asks. “Assault against our Queen cannot go unpunished!”
“He swore a second oath after,” I tell the guard. “That was punishment enough. Besides. Phillip was not himself.”
“I am always myself,” the youngest Soren insists.
“An oath, bound with magic or not, is not good enough,” Geordam growls. “Phillip should be in a cage!”
“If he tries anything similar again, he will be,” I assure him. “But I am a believer in second chances. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t given mine.”
“I don’t like it,” Geordam grumbles. “But you are Queen.”
“Felix,” I say, “how long would you reckon it will take Phillip to make the journey?”
Felix considers my question. “A week to get there,” he says. “A day or two to find the burial ground. And a week to get back.”
“I don’t even understand what I’m going there for,” Phillip says. “What is it you expect to find?”
I hesitate. I haven’t revealed to anyone the exact details of what happened to me in the Demon Realm. My deal with the Forsaken Sisters is precipitated on me finding their bodies, infusing them with the vampire serum, and turning each of them into one of us.
Before I can make my choice on what to say, Raul stirs.
I’m at his side in a flash. Groggily, he pushes himself up and looks around the room. He brings a hand to his head.
“What… what happened?” he asks. “How did I get here?”
“We were hoping you could fill us in on that, brother,” Phillip says very coldly.
Raul’s eyes suddenly go wide. “Cassandra!” he exclaims.
I look at him in concern. “Cassandra what?”
“Cassandra’s still back there! I couldn’t get her out, they dragged her in, those creatures—”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” I coax. “What creatures?”
Raul takes a deep breath and recites the terrifying tale.
When he’s done, the room is silent. Even Phillip looks concerned.
“But what are they?” I wonder. I tell the others of my brief trip into the stronghold and what I did to contain the things.
Felix exhales heavily. “From the sound of it,” he says, “these are the predecessors of the Convicted.”
“But that makes no sense,” I say. “Raul told us there were hundreds of them. Morgan couldn’t have turned so many vampires into those… those zombies.”
Raul pounces on the term. “Yes,” he exclaims. “Yes, that’s exactly what they were. Zombies.”
“But how were they made?” I repeat.
“They could have reproduced,” Geordam suggests.
All of us turn to him. “What?”
“I mean, it might be possible. Vampires can’t sire offspring. But these creatures are not vampires. Maybe they had been, once. Not anymore.”
Felix shakes his head. “That is extremely unlikely,” he says. “Nothing that I know of what Morgan did to create the Convicted bestowed upon them such abilities.”
“Then what?” I ask. “Phillip? Raul? You knew your mother, too. What do you think?”
“She always had so many secrets,” Raul sighs. “There’s no telling what she could have done.”
Phillip says, “I don’t know anything about them, either.”
“We need to kill them,” I say.
The rest of the group voice their agreement.
All of them, that is, except for Felix.
“Can we afford to be so hasty?” he asks. “From the sounds of it, the creatures, the zombies, whatever we’re going to call them, are not inherently violent.”
I stare at him, shock clear on my face. “How can you say that? Look what they did to Raul!”
“Maybe they were merely defending their home,” he answers. “You’ll notice that they did not kill the Prince. Neither did they kill Cassandra. All they did was drag her away.”
“We may as well presume she’s dead,” Raul snarls.
“Why?” Felix demands. “What proof do you have?”
“Well what else would they have done with her?” Raul hollers.
Then he stops, goes still, eyes Felix with stark suspicion.
“She told
me that you were the one to send her to the stronghold,” he says. “Why? You knew the villagers were there. You knew she would be tempted by their blood!”
Felix shakes his head. “I judged her sufficiently fed not to be prone to that.”
“And how exactly did you reach that conclusion?” Raul demands. “You’re lying through your teeth.”
“Raul,” I say softly. “Easy.”
He shoots me a look. “Felix put Cassandra in a very vulnerable spot. And he won’t reveal the reason! I’m not sure how far we can trust him, Eleira.”
“Felix has done enough to prove whose side he’s on,” I say.
Phillip sneers.
I face the Royal Court member. “But Raul raised a valid point. Why did you send Cassandra to the stronghold?”
“The answer to that is easy,” Felix says. “I wanted her to retrieve the few vials of blood I have stashed away and drink them to speed up the rate of her transformation.”
Phillip barks a laugh. “Oh, that’s a hoot!”
“You don’t believe him?” I ask.
Phillip gives me a dark smile. “There are no vials of blood kept in the stronghold,” he says. “I made sure of that myself.”
“What do you mean?”
Phillip rolls his eyes and walks over to the open window. He breathes the night air in deep.
He turns to me. “Are we protected against eavesdroppers?” he asks.
“What do you think?” I say flatly.
“Just checking,” he shrugs. He nods at Geordam. “And you trust this guard to listen in on all of this?”
“He would not be here if I didn’t.”
Geordam gives me a small but grateful nod.
“Mother had blueprints of the entire stronghold in her rooms,” Phillip says. “They showed the location of every secret nook and cranny. I stole them. After she made me feed and the vampire inside became insatiable, I fell into the bloodlust in full. While I was still Captain Commander,” he gives a sour grin, “I took great pains to hide it. But the truth is, I raided every single one of those stores. Yes, Felix, even the ones in your study. You sent Cassandra to retrieve something that did not exist.”
“Well, I didn’t know that,” Felix offers. “How could I? It’s not like I checked on the vials daily. We all had more pressing business.”
His eyes go to me.
I clear my throat. “That explanation is good enough for me,” I tell him.
“Thank you,” he responds.
“Back to the point,” I continue. “You think we shouldn’t kill them?”
“Not without understanding who they are and if they pose a threat.”
“Well, of course, they pose a threat!” Phillip explodes. “Eleira, I can’t believe you’re listening to any of the malarkey that leaves this old vampire’s mouth! You saw what the zombies did to Raul. How can anybody claim they don’t pose a threat? If they all scramble above ground, this could threaten the entire Haven!”
“That’s exactly what I think,” I say. “Felix? Do you have anything to counter that?”
“I do, my Queen. Contain them. Don’t let them run free. Lock them in their place under the earth, do it with magic, make sure they cannot escape. Then there is no threat, and it gives us a chance to learn things we otherwise would not.”
“They’re already contained,” I say. “What do you expect us to learn from them?”
“I’d like to know about the screams,” Felix says seriously. “I would like to figure out if it’s possible to counter them without magic.”
“You want to study those things?” I ask.
He nods. “Precisely.”
“Well, everyone says you’re a scholar,” I grant him. “Raul? You’re the only one here who actually saw them. What do you think?”
“I think keeping them alive is akin to ignoring a ticking bomb,” he says. “Take one into custody, maybe two, but destroy the rest. Whatever Mother did to mutate them into their current state is a crime against nature. They are worse than the Convicted, and you know my feelings about those horrid things.”
“They really frighten you that much?” I ask.
“It’s not that they frighten me, Eleira. It’s that if they’re allowed to linger, and are somehow unleashed, they can destroy us all. They are a more immediate threat than anything on the outside.”
I consider all the arguments. And then, I say, “I’ve made up my mind.”
The four vampires in the room all perk up to hear my decision.
“Raul,” I say. “You will accompany Phillip.”
He screws up his face. This was not what any of them expected. “Accompany him where?”
“To find the burial ground of the Forsaken Sisters,” I say.
He narrows his eyes. “Why?”
“I’ll tell you that in private,” I confess. I cannot trust Phillip not to destroy their bodies the moment he finds them, much less give them his blood. But Raul, I can give the full story and rely on him to do what must be done.
“And the zombies?” Raul asks.
“They’ll be dealt with by the time you and Phillip return,” I say. “Neither of you need concern yourselves with that.”
“So you’re going to listen to him,” Phillip snarls, shooting a pointed look at Felix.
“I will consider the options,” I say. “There is no need to make a decision in haste.”
“And how do you know they won’t just find some other path up out of the earth, and descend on our vampires?” he demands.
“I don’t,” I say. “Which is why I want Geordam to gather all the guards, and to accompany me to the stronghold immediately.”
Geordam gives a quick salute. “As you will.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Raul says.
“Do you really think, after all I’ve done, that I can’t take care of myself?” I ask dryly.
“Of course not,” he bristles. “But if you’re doing something so big, I want to be there with you.”
“And I want you to do what I told you to,” I say. “Which is to accompany Phillip and find the Forsaken Sisters for me.”
“Raul is right,” Phillip interjects. “You’re tossing aside two of the strongest vampires you have. Let me come with you and the guards to the stronghold. If the zombies attack, I’ll be able to protect you with magic.”
“I’m very capable of defending myself,” I say. “No more discussion. Felix, take Phillip somewhere and explain to him where the burial ground lies. Geordam, prepare the guards.”
“What about me?” Raul asks.
“You stay here,” I say. “I have to tell you what to expect on your trip.”
Chapter Fifteen
April
A small motel room
My eyes shoot open in the middle of my vampire slumber.
Something is wrong.
I take stock of my body. I am lying still on top of a made bed. I try moving my fingers. They respond as they’re supposed to.
But some very deep instinct warns me of imminent danger.
Without thinking, I let my vampire senses flare. They do not reach very far, but they tell me that the two vampires in the room with me are both asleep.
I turn my head to the window and wince when I see the little stream of light flow in from around the blinds.
Even that tiny ray of sunlight is enough to make my eyes burn.
I sit up. The air is absolutely still. Neither Liana’s nor Sylvia’s chests rise with breath.
I frown. I’ve never been awake around sleeping vampires before. I assumed we all breathe while we are deep in our slumber the same way we do when we’re awake.
I guess now I can see that’s not the case.
I look around the room. Everything is as we left it. By the amount of sun streaming in through the cracks, I assume it’s midday.
What could have woken me like that?
Gingerly, I put my feet on the floor and stand up. I tip-toe over to the door. The bolt is done up, the lock se
cure.
It does not give me any comfort.
I glance at the women here with me and catch the tail-end of a shallow breath by Sylvia.
Well, then. Maybe we do breathe when asleep, after all.
I make my way to the bathroom. I walk in and close the door. There are no windows here, and that lets me ease up a little.
Yet that tension I feel deep in my gut gives no hint of dissipating.
I stroll over to the sink. I look at myself in the mirror. Every time I see my reflection, it catches me by surprise. Every day that passes makes my features more refined, my face more beautiful.
I touch my cheek. The transformation is still going on. I wonder how long it will last? How long will it take for me to reach my final form? A few months, a few years, maybe more?
All I know is that every moment I’m alive, as this wonderful, majestic, beautiful creature, is a moment I will forever be grateful for.
The sound of a car rolling up makes me whip around.
I hear doors open. I hear them slam shut. Boots on the ground. And then…
I scream and drop to the floor as a spray of bullets rips through the wall.
One of them nicks me in the shoulder. Pain explodes all through my body. I cry out, not understanding why or how I’m so vulnerable. The stream of ammunition continues unceasingly through the wall. I flatten myself to the tiles, fear pulsing through me. I try to get a sense of the attackers, but my vampire senses pick up nothing.
It’s like the guns are being fired by ghosts!
Finally, mercifully, it all stops. The air is still. I glance up and see the absolute decimation the bullets left.
A moment later, the front door is kicked in. My shoulder is screaming in pain. I’ve got no time for self-pity. Frantically, I look around the tiny bathroom in which I’m locked. Whoever comes through the door will find me immediately…
Then I catch myself thinking such defeatist thoughts, and my rage absolutely flares. I am not some weakling human girl. I am a vampire of the Nocturna Animalia!