Dark Heart Rising

by Lee Monroe

  ‘I don’t think he would do that,’ she said meekly. ‘Surely not?’

  ‘How naïve are you, great-mother? You really think he came back to be reunited with Lila? Lila was just a convenient way to worm his way back into society – befriending the mortal girl, helping her, then convincing her to help him. All along he had his eye on the main prize.’

  ‘Oh dear.’ Celeste looked as thought she was about to faint. ‘Is the boy still under lock and key?’

  ‘Thankfully, yes. To think I nearly thought of releasing him. I entertained an idea that we could be allies … I had big plans you see.’

  She said nothing, just looked questioningly at him.

  ‘What did Cadmium do with him?’ he said. ‘Where is Gabriel?’

  Celeste looked as though she were about say something vague, but hesitated, drawing in her breath, then: ‘Gabriel is in the moral world, Raffy … Your great-father sent him there with Milo to take care of him. I have no idea where he is.’

  ‘He’s alive?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ She looked down at her hands. ‘I wish I knew.’

  ‘You could go and find him. But your loyalty to Cadmium is greater,’ Raphael said sarcastically. ‘How noble!’

  ‘What are you going to do now?’

  ‘I’m going to make sure that Soren never sees his sister again, for one thing. And as for his share of the kingdom …’ He shook his head. ‘He will die before he has that.’

  Noise from outside drew their attention to the hallway, where Sion was arguing with a young man Raphael recognised – the guard he had left watching Soren’s cell. He frowned, moving quickly to interrupt them.

  ‘What is this?’ he asked. ‘Has Soren escaped?’

  ‘No sir …’ the young man bowed awkwardly. ‘The lady sent me over … She said you needed my help.’

  ‘Lady? Who?’

  ‘A lady with black hair and the blackest most bewitching eyes … She was very certain that you needed me here …’

  ‘Heaven above!’ Something snapped in Raphael’s head and a rush of adrenaline shot through his veins. ‘Fool! I told you not to leave your watch, on any account!’ He stepped up to the guard, glaring at him, his fists clenched. He turned his glare on to Sion, who looked alarmed. ‘Round up all male servants – and if you see Lowe, the wolf-boy, tell him I want everyone armed.’

  ‘Raphael?’ gasped Celeste behind him. ‘You cannot use force. We are a peaceful people.’

  ‘To hell with you and your “peace”,’ he snarled as he marched angrily down the hall landing. ‘To hell with you.’

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  ‘Oh, darling, you look awful.’ Vanya rushed towards Soren, who did indeed look awful.

  ‘I’m fine,’ he said, though he looked shattered. ‘I’ve endured worse.’

  She knelt by him, tenderly, and I glanced at Luca, who was regarding Soren, closely examining his face.

  ‘It’s true then,’ he said, as Vanya cooed and fussed over the boy. ‘You really did that?’

  ‘It was a long time ago.’ Soren’s eyes found mine and I felt myself squirming a little, remembering what had happened between us in the palace library. We hadn’t spoken since, and with the warmth of Luca’s body next to me, I felt a little sick. I looked away, hoping that my cheeks weren’t burning.

  ‘You don’t look … you don’t look like a wolf …’ Luca said suspiciously. ‘Not like any wolf I’ve seen. I could have sworn—’

  ‘Well, appearances can be deceptive,’ Vanya interrupted, a distinct edge to her voice. ‘Don’t dwell on petty details.’

  But it was true. Soren’s black eyes, his complexion … Pure vampire. I looked at Vanya and then back at Soren.

  I suddenly remembered the canvas in Paris. The dark-haired woman. It was Vanya.

  ‘You’re Vanya’s son!’ I breathed. ‘I can’t believe I did not see it before …’

  ‘Jane—’ Vanya began soothingly.

  ‘No …’ Luca edged closer to me. ‘Jane’s right, Vanya. And now that I see you, so protective, so fierce in your defence – just like my own mother. Soren is your son.’

  There was a heavy, shocked silence. I don’t know why but I felt horribly betrayed. As though Vanya and Soren had been in on a joke behind my back.

  ‘I don’t know what you are up to,’ said Luca, and his hand brushed against mine, so close that I wanted to grab hold of it, ‘but how do I know that this whole story isn’t false? You have seized on a conveniently buried murder to somehow cause trouble here? The two of you.’

  ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Vanya stood defiant.

  ‘Vanya, don’t.’ Soren put his hand on her arm.

  ‘You want the truth? Then, yes, Soren is my child … But he was brought up as a wolf cub. He was raised by a family who were paid by his true father to keep silent about his birth parents. Myself … and Gabriel.’

  ‘This has got to be a joke!’ I said, and felt Luca’s hand tighten on mine. ‘How? How did … ?’

  Soren was grim-faced. ‘I loved Lila like I was truly her brother. I missed her when she was no longer there. And I felt so – broken up by what she saw.’

  ‘You fed on your family didn’t you? You didn’t kill them as a wolf would have done. You fed on them, and then you left them to bleed to death.’ Luca was aghast.

  ‘Lila wasn’t the real reason you wanted to help me …’ I eyed him. ‘Are you planning to claim your right to power? If Gabriel is your father, you would be entitled—’

  ‘No – I don’t care about that! Lila is the only reason I am here, Jane. That, and you—’

  ‘Stop!’ I put my hands over my ears, frightened of what he would say. Looking quickly at Luca, I shook my head. ‘I need to get out of here …’ I breathed. ‘It’s all too much.’

  ‘Jane!’ Luca held on to me, concerned. ‘Don’t go.’

  ‘I just need some air,’ I said, dropping my hand. ‘Let me be. Just for a moment. Let me be.’

  I ran. I didn’t want to leave Luca, but I felt suffocated by the whole situation. And ashamed. I regretted that moment in the library with Soren – more than anything now. While I was gone, Soren would no doubt tell Luca what had happened. He had been about to, I was sure of it.

  The door to the basement was open, and with relief I burst out into the palace courtyard, running as fast as I could for the gates.

  But before I could get there, an arm hooked itself roughly around my neck, dragging me backwards, and my heart nearly jumped up through my throat.

  ‘It’s over.’ A voice whispered, dark and guttural, in my ear as I struggled. ‘Nowhere to run to now.’

  I stopped my futile wriggling and my attacker released his hold, just a little.

  ‘Lowe,’ I said, ‘I am going home. You don’t need to do this.’

  He turned me round roughly to face him. ‘I’m going to make sure you never come back,’ he said nastily. ‘I won’t be content until I know you are gone for good.’

  I looked into his brown eyes. Unlike his brother’s, they were steely and aggressive. It occurred to me that he wanted to kill me. Looking down at his body I saw the familiar chilling signs I had been dreading.

  Lowe was about to turn.

  Should I scream? Who would hear me? Would Luca? I swallowed. Lowe seemed to be battling with what was happening to him. He even leaned on me for support, putting the full weight of his body on me. I nearly collapsed then, but I saw a chink of hope. I stood back, and Lowe staggered forward, the jacket on his back tearing, an angry growl coming from him as he bent in pain.

  Seizing my chance, I ran. Faster than I had ever run before, slipping through the gates and out into the acres of black night in front of the palace. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would explode, and I needed to think fast. I had to go where Lowe wouldn’t find me. But not knowing the layout of the palace grounds, I was stabbing in the dark.

  The piercing roar coming from the courtyard hardened my resolve, and sharp
ened my wits.

  And adrenaline sent me running for my life.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Raphael was thwarted on his way to the cellars by the sight of a lone wolf roaming the courtyard. He shrunk back a little, unused to this animal display, but the wolf appeared to be gazing at him, imploringly, and he frowned, waving the beast away, horrified.

  With a final look at him, the wolf roared, pawing at the hard ground, before moving stealthily out of the courtyard – to Raphael’s relief.

  ‘How in heaven did he get in?’ he muttered, though he couldn’t pause to think about that now. Seeing the wolf bounding out into the darkness, he turned to continue on to the cellars. Cursing, he saw the outside door wide open. As he clattered down the stone steps, he was met with silence.

  The door to Soren’s cell was wide open. The cell was empty.

  Raphael shut his eyes, his lip curling. In his hand he clutched a crossbow. Violently he kicked at the door.

  Glancing down at the floor he saw something. A white feather. He frowned, picking it up curiously, turning it over in his hand. A memory came back to him. His parents, Gabriel and Dorcas laughing. Dorcas had dressed him as a fictional angel with white feather wings … He had only been about five. He remembered the look on his father’s face. Amused, loving. He remembered his own enjoyment. He swallowed. Memories such as this he had pushed away for so long. His heart had become so hard, so cynical. All innocence lost.

  One of his headaches was coming on, pulsing at the back of his head. He sat down on the hard wooden bench inside the cell, leaning back against the wall, too defeated to move from the time being. Alone in the cold basement, he saw suddenly the pointlessness of going after his half-brother. And he had a sudden and lucid epiphany.

  Had he not engineered this whole situation himself? Planted the right evidence – to bring all this to a head? He had not expected to hear that Gabriel had fathered a child outside of his marriage to his mother, Dorcas. But it made more sense that Dorcas had run away, unable to face the Celestial family. Now that he was adapting to the information, a tiny part of him felt intrigued that he had a half-brother. In his heart Raphael knew that, for all his outrage at the dishonesty his great-parents had shown, they had done it to protect him from the truth. And who was he to stand on such moral highground, when he would deny his flesh and blood the same chances that he had had?

  He no longer cared if his position was threatened here at the palace. The only thing he cared about was being reunited with the man who had been dealt the harshest sentence of all.

  His father, Gabriel.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  I felt my way through the bushes, sharp thorns pricking at my hands. Out of nowhere, it had started to rain hard. Rubbing at the drops on my cheeks, I knew my only hope of getting home was to find Dalya, but it was so late and I had run straight into the woods behind the palace – the opposite direction to where she and Luca lived. And then I had run out of steam, just stopped and slid to my knees where I hoped I would be hidden, undiscovered, until daylight … But after an hour or so the sounds of people had me up and on the move again.

  ‘Soren!’ I heard someone shout – a throaty female voice. ‘Don’t waste your time. She is long gone by now.’

  Vanya and Soren? Where was Luca? Had they done something to him?

  I shut my eyes in the darkness, and my breath came thick and heavy. But the voice was fading. Opening my eyes again, I peered through some leaves and saw Vanya’s white cape as she disappeared in pursuit of Soren.

  I had thought Vanya was on my side. I had actually thought she and Soren were my friends. But they were keeping things from me. All these lies.

  As I started walking again, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. I must have knocked it and not felt it. All that adrenaline masking the pain. I winced as an agonising twinge hit me again, and tried to take the weight off one foot, limping a little, slowly this time, and then there above me, a small patch of sky through the trees.

  As I pushed forward, I heard voices – far away, and shouting but there all the same. Who knew who they belonged to? Raphael and his crew? Lowe?

  Panicking, I turned as quickly as I could in the other direction, lamely kicking away the raspy thorns, before something, flying through the trees ahead, stopped me in my tracks.

  A crossbow quivered in the trunk of the tree to my left, and then my breath seemed to stop. Putting my hand to my mouth, I stared wide-eyed at the weapon, swallowing back fear.

  ‘There’s someone there.’

  A voice, familiar somehow, came through the dark. I shut my eyes trying to place it.

  ‘Over there somewhere.’

  The voice was closer now. I stepped back, drawing some foliage in front of my face. I was shaking.

  As I watched, two figures moved into my line of vision. One I didn’t recognise walked over to the arrow in the tree and plucked it. He turned to his companion, whose back was to me now.

  ‘No need to waste a good piece of weaponry.’ The boy with the arrow spoke.

  ‘Indeed not.’ His companion, taller, dark-haired, took the weapon from him, sticking it in a holder on his back. In one hand I saw he carried a crossbow. But my attention was drawn to something else now.

  Lowe?

  I pushed myself back and met with a tree. I sank to my knees as noiselessly as possible. The beating of my heart seemed impossibly loud to me.

  ‘She is somewhere out here.’

  Lowe’s voice was crisp now, imperious. Dangerous.

  Wrapping my arms about my body, I crouched hidden, listening.

  ‘She is not our target …’ the other boy was saying. ‘Raphael said—’

  ‘Raphael is taking care of the vampire,’ growled Lowe. ‘I want the girl.’

  Even through the bushes I saw the other boy frown.

  ‘The girl? What crime has the girl committed? She is no one.’

  ‘She is poison. She flaunted herself here with Soren. She was just using him. And while she’s still here, she will have her sights on Luca. To take him from his wife, from his family. You saw her—’

  ‘Lowe!’ The boy’s voice was steady, humouring. ‘This is madness. What harm can the mortal girl do? Luca is perfectly safe and happily engaged. Why would he go to her?’

  Lowe was silent, kicking at the undergrowth with his boot.

  I was aware of exhaustion taking me over, but I couldn’t afford to give in to it.

  Nonetheless I pushed one leg, which threatened to cramp, out from underneath me, rustling the leaves as I did so.

  The boys’ heads both jerked in my direction.

  ‘Who’s there?’

  Lowe stepped roughly, closer to where I was. He couldn’t yet see me. I held my breath, a light sweat covering my body.

  ‘It is no one.’ The boy took hold of Lowe’s arm, gently pulling him back. ‘Just the wind.’

  From my position I could see Lowe glowering straight at me. But he couldn’t see me. His eyes didn’t find mine.

  ‘Come,’ said the boy, still holding on to him, his eyes wary. ‘You are weary, Lowe. Let me take you back to the palace.’

  ‘Don’t patronise me.’ Lowe hissed. ‘I meant what I said, you know.’

  ‘I know.’ The boy’s voice was soft, coaxing … He stopped, and all three of us saw another body approaching through the trees. As the moon moved to become visible above us, the newcomer’s inky-black hair was unmistakeable.

  Soren. I hated him, but I couldn’t deny the relief I felt seeing him.

  ‘Well, well.’ He stopped, putting his hands in his pockets.

  Lowe’s face twisted with hostility.

  ‘You?’ he said icily. ‘You are not a werewolf. I have never heard of you. Nobody has. Lila doesn’t know who you are either – whatever fantasies you have fed her.’

  He drew an arrow from its case on his back and stepped boldly in front of Soren, who looked utterly unfazed.

  Soren ignored the crossbow. ‘But since you are so d
esperate to know …’

  Both boys straightened defensively.

  ‘I … I am whoever I want to be.’ Soren went on just loudly enough for me to hear.

  Lowe was gripping his crossbow, his body was rigid, tense. He glanced quickly at his companion. From where I was positioned I could see he was afraid.

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter whose blood runs through me,’ Soren went on. ‘Unlike you, I don’t allow my ancestry to dictate who I am.’ He paused, watching their incomprehension. ‘And neither does Raphael. Somebody you admire, I think?’

  ‘What are you talking about? You’re insane!’ Lowe snorted. His friend, however, looked shocked as he stared hard at Soren.

  ‘No need to be afraid,’ Soren continued calmly. ‘Raphael may have grown tired of the angelic philosophy, but he seems to quite like you.’

  ‘Don’t speak of him. You are nothing. A fool. A fantasist.’

  Soren smiled broadly in answer, infuriating Lowe even further.

  ‘Jane used you.’ Lowe lifted his chin defiantly. ‘To get to my brother.’

  ‘Is that so?’ asked Soren.

  ‘She just can’t take no for an answer. Hanging around here, trying to make him jealous and regret his decision.’

  The smile stayed fixed on Soren’s face. It was starting to bug me, God knew what effect it was having on Lowe.

  ‘She’s the only person on Nissilum whose agenda is pure,’ Soren said. He couldn’t see me, didn’t know I was hiding … I held my breath. Had I misjudged him?

  ‘But what’s your game?’ Lowe insisted. ‘Lila has never met you before in her life.’

  ‘Don’t speak of her again,’ Soren told him icily. ‘Lila deserves better than to have you as part of her family. I would not have believed what a poisonous little fool you were until I witnessed your malice with my own eyes. But now that I have seen it, I know for sure she is better off with me.’

  ‘Nonsense! She and my brother are in love,’ snarled Lowe.

  ‘Oh, grow up!’ Soren finally snapped. ‘Stop meddling in the happiness of others. It is not Lila that Luca loves. There is nothing you can do about that.’