Absolution (League of Vampires Book 3)

by Rye Brewer

  We all saw her.

  Then her eyes flew open.

  21

  JONAH

  Philippa’s scream was loud, echoing off the walls. “No! It’s impossible!” she shrieked. She clawed at my side.

  I put my arm around her. I could barely move or make any sense of it.

  Gage looked at Fane. “You said she was gone!”

  “Because she is, son.” He took Gage by the shoulders. “This has to be an illusion. Don’t allow yourself to be taken in by it. Be strong. All of you!”

  “Jonah?” Anissa’s voice was barely a whisper.

  I put my other arm around her.

  “I don’t understand. That’s your mother?”

  “If it’s not her, maybe she has a twin none of us knew about.”

  Philippa, meanwhile, sobbed against my chest.

  I couldn’t blame her. It was unsettling, seeing somebody who looked just like her. But Fane was right. It couldn’t be her, even though her eyes were so much like Mom’s. Everything about her was.

  The door to the sarcophagus opened, and we jumped when she—I couldn’t think of her as anything else—stepped out. She wore a long, flowing white gown that just brushed the floor and made her hair look like fire.

  “Who are you?” Fane asked. “I know you’re not Elena. You can’t be Elena. Who are you?”

  She looked at all of us with a blank, flat expression. “Please, do not raise your voice in this chamber.”

  The fact that it didn’t sound at all like our mother was a relief. If she had the same warm, sweet voice of my mother, I might’ve lost my mind. I wouldn’t have been able to take it. It would’ve been too cruel.

  Philippa stared at the woman with our mother’s face and body.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “There is no time for that,” Mom-not-Mom said. “We’ve been waiting a long time for you. I’m glad you’re finally here.”

  We? She was alone in there, or so it seemed.

  “Come. Follow me. Valerius awaits.” She swept along the floor.

  We didn’t have a choice but to follow—and at that point, I was too curious not to.

  “You look like my wife, but you don’t sound like her,” Fane said as we walked. He still looked horrified. For once, his steely exterior cracked a little.

  When Allonic spoke, it was almost a surprise. He had been silent up to that point. “It’s Nivia,” he whispered.

  She whirled on him, and the gown whirled with her. “Very good, shade.” She stood in front of a small, stone door.

  Nivia?

  I looked at Anissa, at my family. The same look of confusion was on all their faces.

  “Come.” She pushed the stone door open and stepped into a small room.

  “But Nivia is dead,” Allonic said as we followed her inside.

  “Not exactly,” she murmured. “I’m in this body now. I’ve needed it, in order to watch over my beloved.”

  “Your beloved?” Allonic asked.

  Instead of answering, Nivia—whoever that was—raised an arm to motion to one corner of the room.

  All of us turned to look.

  A tangle of roots overtook the corner, filling it completely. Tree roots, thick and white, crisscrossing over each other, forming a sort of tomb.

  In the center was a white-haired man.

  He was old.

  Ancient. His skin was as thin as paper, his cheeks sunken and gaunt. He didn’t move. It didn’t even look like he breathed.

  He was in a state of living stillness—alive, but not alive.

  “Valerius,” Allonic announced.

  Nivia nodded. “My love. My consort, now and forever. I have been keeping watch on him for longer than you’ve lived.” Then her eyes landed on me and Gage. “You’re here. Finally.”

  Fane stepped forward. He had shaken off the shock of seeing our mother again and had composed himself. “Why are you in my wife’s body?”

  Her thin shoulders rose in a shrug. “My soul needed a vessel, and this body was available.” She raised her arms to the sides, flexing her fingers. “I could’ve done much worse.”

  “How

  Did you do this?” Allonic asked.

  “He arranged it.” She looked at Valerius with an expression that could only mean love. Adoration, even. Complete devotion. “It was after I died, and before he became trapped in this… this hell. Motionless, surrounded by roots.”

  How had that happened? And why? I glanced at Anissa to see how she was taking everything. Her expression was one of complete awe.

  Nivia smiled at us. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re finally here to free my love.”

  “That’s why we’re here?” Gage asked.

  “How is that possible?” Fane’s voice overlapped Gage’s. “Why did Valerius brand my sons?”

  She drew a deep breath. “I suppose it would be best to start at the beginning. You’ll understand better then, why we’ve gone to these lengths.”

  She looked at Valerius again. “I was born a shade, many centuries ago. Valerius, on the other hand, was a member of the fae. We fell in love, even though we knew it was a terrible mistake for us to be together. There is no stopping true love, however. Neither of us could fight what our hearts wanted.”

  Her eyes went unfocused, like she was looking at something very far away. “When my father found out, his fury was otherworldly. He killed my love. My Valerius. I was certain I would die with him—there was nothing worth living for without him. Father didn’t care. Our love disgusted him. Valerius did not deserve to live, and I barely deserved protection from my father anymore.”

  “And yet, Valerius lives,” Allonic murmured.

  “Yes, because I made a deal to bring him back,” Nivia replied. “I found a witch and a necromancer who were willing to barter. They brought him back to life—or, rather, a sort of life.” Her expression darkened.

  I had stopped thinking of her as my mother, but when she looked like that, I couldn’t help but remember the way my mother would look when I was in trouble. It was uncanny.

  “I didn’t know the necromancer would turn my love into one of the undead. I had him back, but the creature he’d become was possessed of a severe bloodlust.”

  “A vampire.” The words were heavy as they fell out of my mouth.

  “Yes. The original Ancient.” She shook her head sorrowfully. “I still wanted him, of course, even though I had no idea what to do with him once I realized what he was. It didn’t matter, since his soul was still his. He still loved me. Enough that, when my father had me killed for bringing him back, Valerius used his powers to resurrect me—as well as creating a cadre of vampires to attack the shades in revenge. Those vampires became the Ancients.”

  My head spun from everything she was sharing. I had always wondered who the original vampire was, how they had come about. How we had spread throughout the world.

  “Once the war with the shades was over and I was safe, Valerius rarely created more vampires. They’d served their purpose. However, there were a few exceptions. One of them was—” She looked ill. “Lucian.”

  Philippa went stiff.

  Gage let out a growl.

  Fane didn’t move a muscle, but the tension in his frame gave him away.

  “It was Lucian who put my love in this hell,” she said, and her voice was deep with rage. “He weakened him by feeding him a victim whose blood was laced with silver flakes.”

  “Sick,” Anissa whispered.

  I agreed with her. Only a monster would even imagine something so twisted.

  “He was in agony,” Nivia mourned. “And weak. So weak. Too weak to fight back when Lucian then imprisoned him here. He couldn’t dig his way out of his tomb. So many layers of roots, thick and strong. It’s been hundreds of years since Valerius has fed. He’s been starving all this time.”

  I couldn’t imagine. When she used the word “hell,” it wasn’t an exaggeration. Every moment of his life must’ve been h
ell.

  “Where were you when this happened?” Allonic asked.

  She closed her eyes. “I was in another body then, the body I’d taken over after I first died. Lucian locked me away, far away. There was nothing I could do. It took me ages to free myself. After that, I needed to find a new body. Which I did.” She ran her hands over her sides and hips.

  A twinge struck my heart. My mother’s body. What happened to Mom?

  “How are we supposed to help you?” I asked instead of asking about my mother. “Why did Valerius bring us here?”

  “The blood of true vampire twins carries indescribable power,” she explained.

  So Allonic was right about that.

  “That’s it? He’ll drink our blood?” It seemed a little too easy—not that letting an Ancient feed off me sounded easy.

  “That’s all.”

  “Why did you wait so long?” I asked. “We’ve been vampires for a very long time.”

  She nodded. “And it’s been torture, waiting all these years. But the timing had to be just right. All pieces had to be in alignment.”

  What pieces, I wondered, but I had the feeling that explanation would only lead us down yet another road full of more questions than answers.

  “Why were we branded?”

  “How else could Valerius be sure of your protection, while at the same time ensuring you could find your way here?” She shrugged like it made all the sense in the world—and, in a way, it did. I wondered why they had to hurt so damned much, but that was another story.

  “What happens after he drinks our blood?”

  Gage and I looked at each other.

  I could tell from his expression that he wasn’t a much bigger fan of the thought than I was.

  Her smile was beatific. “He’ll be restored. Valerius will return to me, as strong and powerful as he once was, and he will seek his revenge against Lucian.”

  “What about the other Ancients?” Fane asked. “You said Valerius stopped creating vampires after that first group, but where did they go?”

  “They’re everywhere, all over the world,” she replied. “Some choose to live in anonymity while others possess positions of power. But none of Valerius’s other vampires sought out power the way Lucian did. It twisted and warped him.”

  She wasn’t kidding.

  He had wreaked havoc on so many lives—and I wondered how many we were unaware of.

  Her eyes fell on Allonic, who returned her gaze. “You are a shade, the way I was born. At the same time, you are not. How is this so?”

  “My father was a shade. My mother was—is—a vampire.”

  “And of what line was your father?” she asked.

  “The Archein, the first line of the shades. I’m the son of Traxon.”

  “Traxon?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Does this mean you rule?” It surprised me that she was aware of the name, being locked up in a sarcophagus as she was.

  He shook his head. “Ressenden would never allow a half-blooded shade to rule. Only a pure-blood is allowed to do that.”

  “So who does rule now?”

  “A blood relative,” Allonic said with a shrug.

  I wondered why he was being so evasive.

  “This is very nice,” Fane interrupted, “but it’s not getting us anywhere.” He stalked over to her and stood face-to-face.

  Philippa shuddered, seeing the two of them together.

  When she wasn’t speaking, it was so easy to think of Nivia as our mother.

  “I want your assurance that my sons will not be harmed when Valerius takes their blood. I want your assurance that their blood is all he wants.”

  “Do not be alarmed. All he needs is their blood. Nothing more.”

  “What about his body?” he asked. “He’s withered and decayed over the centuries. What will become of his body?”

  “Oh, not to worry. I’ve already obtained a host body.” Her tone was chilling. She lifted a hand to point to another corner of the room.

  For the first time, I was aware of a body slumped there.

  Chained to the wall.

  22

  PHILIPPA

  I squinted to make out the body in the corner. There was just enough light to make out the thick, heavy chains around the wrists and ankles. I could see arms, legs, and a head hanging low.

  A dark head.

  Then, slowly, the head lifted.

  I blinked hard, stunned.

  Then a shriek nearly tore me in two as I ran to Vance.

  Jonah tried to hold me back but I shook him off and fell to my knees.

  “Vance! Oh, no! Not you!” I whirled on Nivia—the mirror image of my mother. “Let him go! Release him immediately! I will not allow this!”

  “That’s impossible,” she replied in that voice that was so not like Mom’s. “The chains are enchanted so he cannot escape, and there is no way I’ll release him. He’s too important. I’ve already explained to you how important he is.”

  “No. This is impossible.” I looked at him again, and I was sure my heart was breaking.

  Not Vance.

  I wouldn’t watch him being forced into something against his will. Just seeing him looking so pathetic, chained to a wall, made me want to tear Nivia’s throat out.

  “Vance?” I reached for him. My hands ached to touch him. How could I ever have hated him? Was I insane?

  He looked around. When he laid eyes on Fane, they went wide with surprise. Then, he saw me.

  I expected him to be happy to see me.

  Instead, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

  “You? You’re with him? You did this to me!” His voice was weak, but there was enough power behind his words to chill me.

  “No! I didn’t do anything!”

  “You’re the only one I told about my mission. The only one. You never told me you were collaborating with Fane!” He almost spat his words at me.

  “I didn’t even know him yet! Vance, I swear, I didn’t betray you. I would never do that. Please, believe me.”

  I would’ve done anything to make him understand, but the anger in his eyes told me my words fell on deaf ears. He didn’t want to understand. I tried to put myself in his place—how would I feel if I were chained to a wall? Would I be reasonable?

  “So this was your contact?” Jonah asked. “This is how you knew?”

  “You told them?” Vance asked.

  Just when I thought he couldn’t sound more disgusted with me, he did.

  “I didn’t mention your name, like Jonah said. I never told them how I knew. But, Vance…”

  “Don’t bother trying to explain. I have bigger problems right now.”

  “Enough.” Nivia’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “I’ve waited long enough for this. Valerius has waited long enough.”

  “No!” I jumped to my feet. “Don’t do this!” I turned to Fane. “Please. Don’t let her do this.”

  Meanwhile, Nivia produced a bronze goblet inlaid with jewels, along with an old knife. Its handle was heavy, carved ivory. “Send your sons forward.”

  “Sons?” I heard Vance ask, but I brushed it off.

  “Please, don’t let her,” I begged my father. “Please.”

  He hesitated, then looked at the boys. They looked at each other, and nobody but someone who knew them the way I did would have noticed the tiny nod they exchanged.

  “No way,” Gage said. “You can’t make us do it.”

  “Maybe I can’t,” she said.

  Suddenly, both of them doubled over in pain.

  I watched as their faces contorted in agony—meanwhile, even from a distance I could see the brands getting bigger.

  Jonah cried out, and the veins on the side of his neck popped out as he went rigid all over.

  Gage dropped to his knees, rocking back and forth, gripping his arm.

  Anissa looked stricken as she hovered over them.

  “Do something!” Anissa shouted, but it was to nobody in particular.

  I knew
how she felt for once. I was totally helpless.

  “This can stop very easily,” Nivia said. Her words carried over the overlapping voices. “It doesn’t have to be this way. You can make the pain end right now.”

  I looked over at the Ancient, asleep, almost too weak to breathe. But he still had the power to put my brothers in agony.

  How powerful would he be when he had his full strength?

  “It’s… killing me…” Jonah gasped.

  Anissa looked at Fane.

  He was barely holding himself in check.

  “Make it stop, please!” Gage begged.

  I could just make out the sound of sizzling, and it turned my stomach.

  “It can stop easily,” Nivia almost shouted. “All you have to do is give me your blood.”

  Anissa bent over him. “Jonah, please. Give her what she wants!”

  I didn’t know what to think. They would use Vance. I looked down at him.

  He was still furious with me, though what was going on around him shook him up. He grimaced when Gage screamed in agony.

  It was a knife to my heart to hear that.

  “All right! Please, make it stop.” Jonah struggled to his feet and went to Nivia.

  Gage did, too.

  I knew it was the last thing they wanted to do, but they knew they didn’t have a choice. I watched as Jonah took the knife from Nivia’s outstretched hand and sliced into his wrist.

  Gage did the same.

  They both held their wrists over the goblet. With the pain no longer an issue, they breathed easier.

  “That’s enough,” Nivia said. Her eyes were wide and her nostrils flared as her chest heaved up and down. She had been waiting a long time to do this and her excitement was obvious. I looked down at Vance again, and he looked up at me. I couldn’t imagine what would happen to him.

  Nivia raised her arms, along with the goblet, and chanted in a language I didn’t understand. Maybe it was from back in the time when she and Valerius were what they were before.

  We all watched, frozen.

  Once the chant ended, she bent to put the edge of the goblet to Valerius’s mouth.

  I gasped when the glowing started.

  It was almost blinding. It started at his mouth, then ran over his face, down his neck, and through his body. His skin smoothed as his face filled out. He wasn’t gaunt anymore, or even old. The centuries fell away and he became a rugged young man—though his hair was still long and white—a fae trait.