Dark Heart Rising

by Lee Monroe

  ‘Soren,’ I cut in, ‘please get to the point before I die of cold.’

  ‘The Borgias,’ he said. ‘Vanya Borgia and her—’

  I gaped at him. ‘Vanya? You can’t be serious? She’s a vampire!’

  ‘She would never hurt you. For one thing she would respect any friend of mine. For another, this is Nissilum. There is no danger here.’

  ‘I know what Vanya’s capable of!’ I hissed, before an uneasy thought occurred to me. ‘You haven’t been lying to me, have you?’

  Soren frowned. Even in the darkness I saw his black eyes flash.

  ‘Of course not,’ he said emphatically. ‘Honestly, Vanya and Valdar are old friends of mine.’

  ‘Well, they’re not my friends,’ I said. ‘She tried to … well, she knows I am mortal.’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ Soren waved a hand dismissively. ‘She knows who you are. She knows I am bringing you here.’

  ‘Soren,’ I said, agitated, ‘I don’t like the sound of this. Vampires and werewolves don’t get on … Vanya hates Luca. Will you stop being so flippant!’

  ‘She doesn’t hate Luca.’ Soren sighed. ‘Or you. Vanya was overwhelmed by you when she met you. She has lived here for so long … Been abstinent for all that time. It was a temporary lapse.’

  I shook my head, recalling the last time I’d seen Vanya. How she’d very nearly seduced me.

  ‘I don’t trust her. And I don’t trust you either.’ I was beginning to shake now. ‘I’ve changed my mind.’ I stared at him, wondering already if it was too late.

  ‘Please,’ he said, softly now, ‘I understand why you might be afraid. I apologise. I didn’t think.’ His black eyes looked dewy as he stared imploringly at me. ‘The Borgias took care of me one year when I made the journey here for the Great Ball. Years ago. I was alone and nervous and they took me in.’

  I said nothing. I thought of Luca and me dancing, the night of the Great Ball; his soft green eyes, the feel of his arms around my waist.

  ‘I think they see me as a little brother of sorts …’ Soren went on.

  ‘But—’

  ‘But no one will hurt you when I am around. I would not let that happen.’

  He gently took hold of my hand. ‘I will take you home now. I can see I have not been sensitive.’

  Above us the sky was growing lighter. I thought for a moment.

  ‘No.’ I sighed. ‘I said I would come back with you once. And now I’m here.’

  The rustle of an animal nearby made us both tense.

  ‘Come.’ Soren took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Please.’ Vanya held out a bottle of something dark and dubious-looking. ‘More juice.’

  Soren and I had arrived at her grand house and been greeted as long-lost friends – as though Soren was part of her family. We were sitting in a dimly lit, stone-walled kitchen at a vast wooden table.

  I shook my head, avoiding eye contact. ‘Thanks, but I’m fine.’

  She smirked at Soren. ‘She’s no fun. I told you, didn’t I?’

  Soren half smiled, but his eyes flickered reassuringly towards me. ‘Jane is wary of you, Vanya,’ he said. ‘I must say I don’t blame her.’

  ‘Oh, darling.’ Vanya pouted. ‘Not you too.’ She rolled her eyes, putting the bottle noisily on the table in front of him. ‘I have so little fun in my life. I at least thought you would join me.’

  Soren picked up the bottle and poured himself a drink. ‘There,’ he said. ‘Happy now?’

  Vanya settled herself on the trestle bench by the table. ‘So,’ she said, with a sigh. ‘That boy of yours has turned his back on you. I should have warned you about that.’

  I shrugged. ‘I should have known.’

  ‘These wolves …’ she said, considering her words. ‘They’re a stubborn breed.’ She patted me on the shoulder and her hand felt cold through my clothes. I edged subtly away from her.

  Soren cleared his throat. ‘Jane needs assurance from you that she is not in danger,’ he prompted.

  Vanya sighed, pressing her palms together. ‘My weakness is my strength,’ she murmured. ‘But, of course, Soren. Jane is safe.’

  She smiled broadly at me. ‘I pity you, dear. Luca has embroiled you in all sorts of strange goings on … and now he has deserted you.’

  I kept my expression steady, but her words brought back a painful reminder.

  ‘But together we can see if something can be done,’ she went on thoughtfully. ‘For both of you.’

  Soren dropped his head, drawing his beaker towards him.

  ‘Soren has been banished from this place,’ she told me. ‘He has to sneak about from this world and yours. But here, with Valdar and myself, he will always be welcome.’ Her hand stole out and took hold of Soren’s. ‘As will his friends.’

  I smiled tightly. Something didn’t feel quite right, but then I was tired. Vanya seemed harmless enough tonight, but I was beginning to feel hopeless about Soren’s plan. I didn’t want Luca through subterfuge. I wanted him to be with me because he wanted to be. As horrible as it was to think of losing him for good, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to steal him away from Lila.

  ‘Well, I do have some news.’ Vanya spoke. ‘That fiancée of Luca’s has gone back to her family. She will return in a few weeks for the wedding.’

  Soren looked hopeful. ‘She is East?’

  ‘Now, darling,’ Vanya purred, ‘don’t go getting any ideas about going after her. You’ll only make her more determined to marry him. I hear she is besotted …’

  I looked sympathetically at Soren, but he seemed to be taking that bit of news quite stoically. His eyes slid over to Vanya and locked with hers. The look that passed between them seemed loaded. But within seconds he turned his attention to me.

  ‘Lila is a complex girl,’ he told me. ‘And a slave to her family’s code of honour. It doesn’t surprise me that she has convinced herself that she is in love with Luca.’

  Why wouldn’t she be? I thought to myself. Luca was everything I wanted. Why wouldn’t Lila feel the same?

  Mindful of hurting Soren’s feelings, I gave him a weak smile.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said lamely, feeling more despondent than ever.

  Vanya cleared her throat.

  ‘Now listen. It may well be that the girl is attracted to Luca. But that doesn’t matter. Attraction can be fleeting …’ She stroked her chin. ‘It is very possible that she will transfer her attentions back to her childhood sweetheart. She just needs the right incentive.’

  ‘Such as?’ Soren said archly.

  Vanya ignored his tone. ‘Darling, surely you know the answer to that.’

  I looked at them. There seemed to be a subtext here that I wasn’t getting.

  ‘I suggest we form a plan of our own,’ Vanya went on thoughtfully. ‘We need to be clever.’

  Soren smiled sadly at me. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, touching my fingertips with his. ‘It will be OK.’

  His black eyes drew me in and the curve of his mouth sent a ripple of something through me. I kept my hand where it was, though I looked away from him, uncomfortably aware that his eyes were still on me.

  ‘You have heard that the boy is back?’ Vanya directed her words at Soren, though glanced quickly at me.

  ‘Raphael?’ Soren nodded. ‘I heard, yes.’ Was it my imagination or was he carefully not looking at me. ‘Ready to take on the mantle of king one day.’

  Vanya’s nostrils flared. ‘We’ll see. Personally I have long felt that kid was odd. Ever since he was a child.’ She pulled her glossy black hair into a loose bun at her neck. ‘He killed a fox once, all because it broke into the palace grounds?’

  Soren shuddered. ‘I remember you telling me. Celeste hushed it all up, blamed it on a servant.’

  ‘But I saw,’ said Vanya. ‘I saw him do it. It was the early hours of the morning, not yet light. He was so intent. His expression …’ She quivered theatrically. ‘Pure ice.’

  ‘People kill fox
es all the time on Earth,’ I said, frowning. ‘It’s actually a sport.’

  Soren and Vanya turned, eyebrows raised.

  ‘You mortals are a violent lot,’ Soren said, with a hint of teasing. ‘Indeed, it should be us that is afraid of you, little Miss Innocent.’

  ‘Well I don’t hunt foxes …’ I protested. ‘And I admit, it’s barbaric.’

  Vanya shook her head. ‘The point is, Raphael is a bad seed. I would admire him if I weren’t rather fond of his great-mother.’ She sniffed. ‘His mother is useless, of course.’

  ‘Dorcas?’ I was interested. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘Away with the fairies … literally.’ Vanya’s tone was dry. ‘She has begun an odd sort of relationship with a gathering of beings in the Old Forest. Nobody talks about it because it is frankly embarrassing, but that’s where she spends her time. Half mad with grief over Gabriel’s death, or something like that.’

  ‘So Raphael is more or less an orphan?’ I said. ‘Kind of alone in the world.’ I must have looked pitying because I caught her scornful expression.

  ‘Alone!’ Vanya laughed. ‘He is surrounded by love and devotion at the palace. Celeste dotes on him. Utterly blind to his true nature.’ Her eyes widened at me. ‘And I don’t know why you’re defending him. That boy tried to kill you, didn’t he?’

  ‘Yes. I know,’ I said firmly, remembering with a shudder. ‘And I’ll never forget it. But I guess he went a bit mad. You’d have to be, to do something like he did.’

  ‘You can say that again,’ Vanya shrieked. ‘Stark raving mad!’

  ‘Vanya,’ Soren said warningly, ‘we’re veering rather off topic here.’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ Vanya poured herself some more juice. She watched us for a moment before gracefully getting up from the table. ‘I must go to my husband now,’ she told us. ‘Soren, you and Jane are welcome to stay here … Though Valdar and I will spend much of tomorrow in our chamber.’ She lit a candle, placed it in an elaborate silver candle-holder and swept out of the room.

  ‘So, now you know. Vanya is not a threat.’ Soren said softly, edging closer to me. ‘Do you feel better?’

  I shook my head. ‘Not better. I’m not sure this is going to work, Soren. I—’

  ‘Shhh.’ He placed a finger on my lips. ‘You’re tired. I’ll escort you home. Once you have slept properly, perhaps we can talk further.’

  I nodded, wearily.

  ‘This is your last chance, Jane,’ Soren told me as he chivalrously helped me on with my jacket. ‘Think carefully before you throw it away.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  Soren held my sketch up to get a closer look. ‘Not bad,’ he said. ‘But watch that your lines are not too heavy …’ He handed it back to me and moved on to the desk in front of me. I couldn’t help notice the slink of his hips as he walked. There was nothing I could do about my Art teacher but put up with his constant criticism of my work, but did he have to be so good at acting?

  ‘Now.’ Soren was back at the front of the class. ‘Time is nearly running out for today. There is just time to remind all of you of your individual assignments for this term. This is a chance for you to discover your natural mediums.’ His eyes swept the room, alighting briefly on me, just as the bell rang.

  ‘Thank you for your hard work,’ he said solemnly. ‘Ms Jonas, could you stay behind, please?’

  I sat putting my pencils back in my bag, pausing to check my phone. A message from my mother.

  LATE HOME TONIGHT AT DOT’S PARENTS’ EVENING.

  FOOD IN THE FRIDGE. MUM.

  Snapping the phone shut, I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder, making my way slowly to Soren.

  ‘Do you have to be so critical?’ I said, crossing my arms over my chest. ‘It’s not good for my confidence.’

  He flashed a handsome smile. ‘I’m sorry, Ms Jonas, I was trying to avoid preferential treatment. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.’

  I shrugged, though for some reason I could feel myself getting hot in the face. ‘There’s preferential treatment and there’s picking on a person,’ I said sniffily.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Soren shoved a notebook into his bag and took off his glasses. ‘Perhaps I am overdoing it.’

  ‘Do you even need glasses?’ I asked, as he put them in an ancient-looking leather case.

  ‘Nope.’ Soren grinned. ‘But I look good in them, yes?’

  I rolled my eyes, colour creeping back into my cheeks.

  ‘So.’ He put on his jacket, also ancient leather. ‘Now, you’ve done the hard part. Are you ready?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I sighed. ‘It all seems too much. I mean, I don’t think I’m up to taking on the mighty Hunters. Henora is one scary lady.’ ‘A puppy.’ Soren slung his bag over his shoulder. ‘Vanya could eat her up for breakfast.’

  ‘I’m sure,’ I murmured. ‘But I’m not Vanya. It’s me who needs to convince Luca. And if he needs convincing then I don’t think it’s going to work.’

  ‘Where’s your fighting spirit?’ Soren eyed me sternly. ‘Think of what you have been through already. You simply need to hold your nerve.’

  ‘Game playing.’ I shook my head. ‘I’m not into that.’

  ‘Nonsense. Everyone plays a little game …’ He hesitated. ‘What’s courtship if isn’t a carefully balanced game of push and pull?’

  ‘I …’ I thought about it. ‘I suppose so. But it’s horrible.’

  ‘Exciting, though.’ Soren’s eyes flashed darkly. ‘Life is a dreary continuum, made bearable by those moments of excitement. It’s called feeling alive.’ He studied me. ‘And for you mortals, that life is so short … You owe it to yourselves to feel alive … at the very least.’

  I laughed. ‘That’s one spin on it, I suppose. But what about safety, stability and all that?’

  ‘Pah. That is for when you are old.’ He grinned. ‘Youth should be full of adventure and experience.’

  I thought about the months, years stretched ahead of me. I couldn’t imagine meeting another Luca. And I wanted that feeling back. The feeling I had when he put his arms around me and I felt his breathing as he pressed his face against mine. The tiny sparks that flew around inside me when he kissed me.

  I stared at Soren. ‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘I wish I didn’t have to do this … It’s all so complicated. But I don’t want any regrets.’

  ‘That’s my girl.’ Soren held out his arm and, without thinking about it, I let him pull me towards him.

  ‘I have to tell you, Jane,’ he said, leading me through the Art room door. ‘I have had such a heavy heart since Lila has been promised to Luca, and have been so intent on getting her back’ – he paused, as though wondering whether to go on or not – ‘my intention was to use you. Convince you to help me, with no real thought of helping you in return. But meeting you … getting to know you, I find I care very much that you get what you want. It is no longer just about me now … It is about the two of us.’

  He didn’t look at me and, though I had been on the verge of outrage, his honesty knocked the anger out of me.

  ‘Thanks for telling the truth,’ I told him.

  Soren turned to me then, his black eyes sweeping my face. I couldn’t read his expression properly, but he looked sad.

  It was dark outside college. Soren got out his car keys.

  ‘Let me drive you home,’ he said, pointing his keys at a beaten-up-looking vehicle in the car park.

  ‘I’ve got my bike,’ I said, remembering I had no helmet today. I’d been in such a rush to get to college that morning, I’d left it hanging on its hook in the hall at home.

  ‘No helmet.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘And so too dangerous.’

  ‘I’ll call my dad,’ I said, flustered. ‘It’s fine.’

  ‘Jane.’ Soren’s tone was exasperated. ‘Stop being so … proud.’

  I stood, tensely for a few seconds.

  ‘OK, then.’ But just to the mountain road.’ I thought of bringing yet another strange bo
y back home to meet my parents.

  ‘Fine.’ He nodded. ‘Get in.’

  As he drove through the dark, Soren stared straight ahead of him, while I concentrated on not remembering another car, another boy. A boy who’d wanted to kill me.

  ‘It must have been frightening for you,’ Soren said after a while.

  ‘What?’ I turned to him. It was as though he’d been reading my mind.

  ‘Raphael.’ He was still looking straight ahead.

  I tucked my hands between my knees. ‘I don’t really want to talk about it.’

  ‘OK.’ He returned to looking out at the road.

  ‘I mean … It just reminds me of that time …’ I shut my eyes. ‘I thought it was all over. I thought everything was going to be OK.’

  ‘It will be.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ I looked defiantly at the side of his head. ‘Everything has gone wrong.’

  ‘I just have a feeling.’ With a swift movement his hand closed over mine. ‘And I am here to help you.’

  I pushed his hand away. ‘Not you too,’ I said, contemptuously. ‘All these boys tripping over themselves to help me.’

  Soren laughed then, tilting his head back. I saw the flash of his perfect teeth, his perfect cheekbones.

  ‘I can see what it looks like,’ he said, smiling. ‘But I really am here to help you.’ He tapped the steering wheel. ‘And you will help me.’

  This did make us more even, I had to admit. I sighed heavily.

  ‘It’s just up here,’ I said, as we came up to the bottom of the hill. Soren pulled up against the verge and stopped the engine.

  ‘We don’t have too much time,’ he said gently. ‘If you want a future with Luca, we have to go back …’

  ‘I know.’ I clasped my hands together. ‘When?’

  ‘It’s the weekend tomorrow …’ He studied my face. ‘You need to tell your parents something … anything.’

  ‘I can’t.’ I shook my head. ‘It’s impossible, Soren … What am I going to say?’

  Soren shrugged. ‘A college field trip … I don’t know.’