Not that any in their coven would have denied them this embrace. In times of death and destruction, love is the greatest armor one can possess.
Shufah turned to the Furies. “I think it best if you three take Coronel Pilar.”
The three nodded in unison. “We agree,” Tisiphone answered.
“Celeste, Taos, and Thad, you three take the village of Ha.”
“Sounds like a blast,” Taos said. “I’ll pick you up a souvenir.”
“I’ll take Illizi, and hopefully, not alone.” Shufah combed her fingers through her hair. “I’ll coordinate our travel arrangements with Lamorak. Once we locate the Watchtower and are in position, we’ll make a synchronized attack. Once we have the Watchtower, we must also synchronize our return. It won’t do any good to have Jerusa leap into the midst of two-thirds of us before we even have the Necromancer.”
“Once we have the Watchtower, where are we supposed to return to?” Celeste asked. “It’ll have to be somewhere remote if we’re going to face Jerusa.”
“How about Antartica?” Taos suggested. It was hard to tell if this was a joke or a serious suggestion.
“Probably not there,” Shufah said. “The Necromancer is a powerful entity, but he’s still housed in a human shell. He wouldn’t last long at that temperature.”
“We need somewhere uninhabited,” Tisiphone said, “but not so vast that we lose each other. How about, Howland Island, between the U.S. and Australia? It’s small and rarely has visitors. We once spent a time there hiding from the Hunters.”
“What if this is one of the times humans are on the island?” Thad asked.
“I’m afraid we can’t help that,” Shufah said. “Tisiphone’s right. Howland Island is our best option.”
“It’s settled then,” Tisiphone said. “We’ll call you when we have found a place to shelter.” The three started for the door.
“Wait,” said Shufah. “I think there is one more thing we should do before we part ways.” She motioned for the Furies to return. “I want you to know that what I’m about to suggest is… delicate. Intimate. Any of you is welcome to refuse, but I believe it’ll strengthen us for what’s ahead.”
The Furies tilted their heads slightly to the side. “You wish for us to feed from each other. To share our blood and power.”
This was no small thing. To share blood with another vampire was to share a piece of your soul. The Stewards had outlawed such practices, yet the High Council and Hunters skirted their own law in the pursuit of power. Taos and Celeste shared blood often, but they were in love. The Furies had been sharing blood for far longer—a small but not insignificant cause for their shared mind. But this wasn’t exactly what Shufah had in mind.
“Yes, and no. I want us to share blood. But I want to form a blood ring. To bind us closer to one another, but also to lend our strength to the younger vampires.”
Thad’s face alone lit with intense interest. The others seemed unsure.
Even the most tightly knit covens rarely—if ever—shared blood. Perhaps a little drink here or there to help quickly repair devastating wounds, but it was considered dangerous to make weaker vampires equal with yourself. They were perpetual creatures. Endless time meant endless possibilities. A vampire who is your best friend, or even lover, today, might be your enemy a century from now. Shufah knew this all too well. Her greatest enemy was her own twin brother.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, and I feel your concerns, but the old laws are dead. We make our own law now.” She glanced to Taos and Celeste. “Sharing of ourselves, just this once, will not diminish the eros between lovers.” She looked into Alecto’s large, expressive eyes. “Nor will it dilute the unfathomable bond held by you three. But our enemies are stronger than we. Our only chance to defeat them is together. Our only hope that we all survive is to go into battle as equals.”
Shufah had made her case. Now she waited. She stood with her eyes fixed on Alecto’s. Ultimately, the decision rested with the Furies. Their blood was almost as old as Shufah’s, their combined strengths thrice her own. They had more to lose from this exchange than anyone did, and no other vampire knew the sting of betrayal from their own kind like these three women.
Time stretched unbearably long, and the silence in the tiny cabin weighed heavy on them. Alecto’s eyes remained locked onto Shufah’s, but behind that indestructible gaze, a silent conversation was unfolding.
At long last, Tisiphone stepped forward. The other vampires in the room exhaled as though they all had been holding their breaths. Perhaps they had been.
“We consent,” Tisiphone said, “on one condition.”
“Speak,” Shufah replied.
“We will share no blood with the Monster. Though he is the enemy of our enemy, and destiny has thrust him into our coven, his blood is tainted by too many fallen Hunters.”
Thad started to speak up, but Shufah silenced him with a raised hand. “Agreed. We won’t taste of his blood, but we must hurry in our union, lest Danielle arrive with him in tow, and he decides to taste some of ours.”
The seven vampires formed a tight circle, each taking the left arm of the one to their right, placing wrist to mouth, plunging their fangs into the artery hidden just below the surface.
Shufah fed from Alecto; Alecto from Celeste; Celeste from Tisiphone; Tisiphone from Taos; Taos from Megaera; Megaera from Thad; and Thad from Shufah.
The circle shivered with ecstasy as all the cares of life fled away in a crimson tsunami. They tumbled to their knees, succumbing to the alternating explosions of pain and pleasure, jolting them like high-voltage electricity.
Shufah lapped at the fountain pouring from Alecto’s wrist, forcing the tiny wound to remain open with the tip of her tongue, all the while willing the gash in her own wrist to cease its healing. She swallowed the blood in fast, greedy gulps. She could drain a victim in mere moments, if need be, and at the rate she was going, she should’ve emptied Alecto a dozen times by now. Yet the blood kept coming, spilling from one to the other, round and round in the unbroken circle until their very souls seemed intertwined.
Shufah sensed the thump, thump, thumping of their seven hearts sliding into perfect sync and had never known a greater peace.
Taos’s devotion and protective love for Celeste filled her heart. Yet, at the same time, she understood Celeste’s gratefulness for no longer being alone, and having someone to give her heart to.
From Thad, there arose a cloud of desperation. A mourning for friendships lost, and love unrequited. A fear of forever being a wanderer. Cursed to a pilgrimage in a strange and hostile land. Beneath that, however, stood a young man’s resilience. A cord of steel that would not be broken. A mind that would find the best in all situations, and a lust for life that would carry him many centuries. And hidden deep down, like a gem waiting to be unearthed, was a sliver of hope that he would someday find his rightful place. His purpose for being.
The single mind of the Furies struck Shufah as such an alien landscape that she nearly released her hold of Alecto’s wrist. These women had endured such heartache and fear over the centuries that they were now drowning in a sea of mistrust and anxiety. The physical pain of their disfigurement gnawed at them relentlessly, but paled compared to the psychological damages. Yet, despite all they had endured, the love the three had for each other swelled so far beyond mere companions, or familial, or even lovers, that Shufah felt dwarfed by its presence. It was a love for which no words had ever existed. A love powerful enough to bind three souls into one.
A terrible envy filled Shufah. What would she give for such love, such an undivided connection to another living being? Would she maim herself if the sacrifice of her own flesh purchased entry into their mysterious cabal? As more and more of their commingled blood filled her, Shufah believed the answer was yes. Yes. YES!
The ring of blood spilled from one vampire to the next, not in a slow trickle, nor did it rush like a flooded river bloated by a deluge, devouring the banks, and washing aw
ay all that lay in its path. No. The ring of blood had become a vortex. A fierce force of nature, awe-inspiring and terrifying, all at once. A deep, vacuous hole pulling all within its grasp down, down, down into cold black death.
It was the Furies that broke the chain, all three women rending their mouths away from the fount of blood flowing from the wrists, still gripped tightly in their hands with perfect synchronicity. The ring shattered, sending all seven vampires flying backward, smashing into the walls hard enough to knock the simple building askew upon its foundation.
A collective groan flowed from them, even the Furies, blending together in a chorus of agony so terrible the broken walls trembled, raining dust down upon them.
Shufah had never felt such loneliness, such detachment. It was as if all her appendages had been violently plucked off until all that remained was her head. And she was left to live, forever mourning what had been stripped away from her.
Thankfully, the moment didn’t last long. She noticed a steady, growing heat that filled her core. The fire bled outward, flooding her extremities, even invading her hair all the way to the ends.
Then came the blood swoon to end all swoons.
Every time they tried to regain their feet, the twisting, shifting world sent them reeling back down to the uneven concrete floor. Finally, Shufah gave up trying and laid on her back, panting, her eyes clenched shut in an attempt to reestablish her equilibrium.
As the swoon eased, and the spinning world slowed, Shufah understood two things. First was that the blood vortex that had threatened to swallow them had not been completely a metaphorical vision. The ring of vampires, at some point during feeding, had started moving together, each mindlessly following the one before them around the circle. By the end, they had been moving fast enough to create a real vortex. That was why they had all flown backward when the chain was broken. Good old centrifugal force.
The second thing she realized was that the connection they felt had been far beyond mere telepathy. It had been a blending of their spirts, if that was even possible.
But she knew it was. The Furies were proof. The three blended women had felt Shufah’s bitter lust for that connection. Had sensed her unholy desire to mutilate herself to gain entry. And not just Shufah alone, but the others as well.
Thank all that is good, Shufah thought to herself. Had they not had the strength to break the chain, something terrible would’ve happened.
So many blended minds or souls or whatever made sentient creatures what they are, would’ve resulted in nothing less than madness. A shouting, gnashing, real-life pandemonium.
Shufah’s thoughts were her own once again, and she’d never felt so alone.
It took a bit of time before the seven could stand again. Once the effects of the blood ring faded, and they found their feet, they stood with their backs to the wall, as though afraid to draw any closer. No one spoke. After sharing each other’s most hidden, intimate thoughts, perhaps there was little else to say.
Shufah closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the rough wooden wall. The heat of their combined blood still burned within her, as did the heightened sense of power that always came after feeding from another vampire.
She was already blood-hardened by fifty centuries, so the change in her was small yet noticeable. The same held true for the Furies. But for Celeste, Taos, and especially Thad, the blood had worked wonders.
The three youngest vampires burned with a ruddy glow, their faces flushed as though aroused or embarrassed.
Celeste stood with the backs of her hands pressed against the wall, her fingers working with mad fury. She gazed around the room, her eyes wide and dreamy, as though seeing for the first time. She cocked her head this way and that, listening to some subtle stirring that only augurs can detect.
Taos stared down at his massive hands. Tiny blue flames, no larger than sunflower seeds, danced between each fingertip. His face tensed, his pupils dilated, and the flames spiraled around his fingers from webbing to tip and back down again. “That’s amazing,” he whispered to himself.
Shufah started to warn him to keep his fire under control, but she held her peace. Taos could, very well, now be the most powerful pyro-kinetic in the world.
The question was, would it be enough to defeat Suhail?
Though Celeste and Taos seemed enthralled with their newly enhanced strengths, Thad’s face held a look of terror. Shufah broke from her spot along the wall, crossing the center of the small space to reach him. Thad saw her coming, clenched his eyes and turned away.
“No. Don’t touch me.” The ground suddenly quaked, underlining the severity of his dread.
Shufah continued, unfazed, motioning for the Furies to fall in behind her. Celeste and Taos, snapped from their trances by the movement of the others, turned toward Thad with startled concern.
“Thad,” Shufah said in a soothing tone, but the fledgling flinched anyway. “It’ll be okay. Tell me what’s wrong?”
Thad’s breaths were short and sharp. “Too… too much. I… can… see too… much. Hear… too much.”
Shufah reached out to touch him, but thought better of it. Her own powers had deepened as well. Touching the boy could put him in a hypnotic coma that she couldn’t bring him out of. Better to wait until she could settle her own churning mind and bring her unique abilities under subjection once more.
“Thad, hear me,” she whispered in his ear. “Can you hear me?” He nodded vigorously, his eyes still clenched tight. “It will pass. Give it a moment. You had the most to gain from our union. We have thrust the maturation of your gifts ahead by a thousand years, possibly. But it’s no different from when you went from being a mortal to a vampire. Breathe. Concentrate. It. Will. Pass.”
Thad pressed harder into the wall and several of the thick beams cracked, sending more dust raining down. “The earth… is calling… to me. All around. Everywhere. I… I can feel it. It wants… to open. To swallow us. I… can’t… let it.”
Celeste moved forward, motioning for the others to retreat. Thad was too tall for her to reach his head, so she placed her hands on his shoulders, at the base of his neck. Celeste exhaled slowly and Thad shuddered.
“Thad, hear me,” Celeste said. Her voice seemed to echo as if they were in a deep cavern. They gazed at one another, but none would speculate whether the echo had been real or only in their heads. When Celeste continued, the echo was gone.
“Thad. Breathe with me.” She took several deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Thad didn’t at once join in, but soon matched Celeste’s rate and rhythm. “The earth is not alive. It is but an extension of yourself.”
“Are you… are you sure?” Thad asked. Shufah was pleased to hear a bit of his youthful fortitude bleed through the fear.
“If it lives,” Celeste responded, “then it is the servant and you are the master. It will not move unless you say so. If you command it to react, it must obey.”
The ground quaked again, voicing its protest.
“No,” Thad whispered, and the tremor ceased.
“That’s it,” Celeste encouraged. “Nothing has changed. You are still who you’ve always been. Blood and time cannot strip your mind from you. It’s as it’s always been. Your powers are deeper, more rich, but they are weak compared to the strength of your mind.”
“Yes,” Thad said, nodding his head. He continued to breathe deep. Soon, his shoulders dropped. The muscles in his back and legs relaxed.
Celeste removed her hands from his neck and backed away. Thad turned away from the wall, wiping blood tears from his cheeks. He looked about, his face lighting in awe for one moment, and then he blinked as if awakening from a nightmare.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I feel better now. It was just so… overwhelming. I think I’ll be all right.”
The Furies patted him on the shoulders, in unison, of course, which brought out Thad’s boyish smile. “Don’t be ashamed,” Tisiphone said. “To our knowledge, you are the
only vampire to go from fledgling to blood-hardened elder in a single night. It’s bound to shake one’s nerve.”
Taos leaned down and kissed Celeste on the cheek. “Good job talking him through it and keeping us all from being buried alive.”
Celeste’s brows knitted together, and the sides of her mouth turned down. “You heard me? But I never spoke out loud. I used a telepathic connection.”
They turned to look at Shufah, as if she had all the answers. She shrugged. “I’d say we’ll have to endure a bit of that from time to time. I suspect it will eventually fade. These things almost always do.”
Shufah hoped she was right. The events of the past few nights had not changed her mind on watching the sun rise—if they somehow survived all of this. If anything, the loneliness following the blood ring only solidified her decision. She wanted to see Foster again, and would soon enough. But this knowledge was a burden too heavy for her friends to bear.
A terrible thought occurred to Shufah. What if the sun could no longer kill her? But she had no time to allow such a pondering to permeate.
Celeste made a quick gasp, and they all turned toward her. “I think Danielle has found the Monster.”
“How do you know?” Taos asked, but shrank back from Celeste’s impatient look. “Right… Right… Augur magic.”
“He’s resisting her,” Celeste said, face returning to normal. “But I think she’ll have him here soon enough.”
Chapter Fourteen
The Furies rushed for the door. Alecto stepped out first. Megaera next. Tisiphone stood a moment longer, the cold air whipping her red locks into the fiery blaze. “Good luck with the Monster.”
Then, the Furies left, eager to put as much distance between them and the cabin as possible. Whether it was fear of Jerusa sensing the larger group, or repugnance of the Monster himself, was up for debate.
The Savage Vampire (The Perpetual Creatures Saga Book 5) Page 15