‘Twilight Seeker’
1# Daybreaker
Pippa DaCosta
Urban Fantasy & Science Fiction Author
Subscribe to Pippa’s mailing list at pippadacosta.com & get free ebooks.
Copyright © 2020 Pippa DaCosta.
Jan 2020. US Edition. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictions, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Edited using US English.
Version 1.0 January 2020.
www.pippadacosta.com
For Keely & Alexa. The two halves of my heart.
Contents
Blurb
Your Invitation…
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
What to read next by Pippa DaCosta
Blurb
Stay in the light, avoid locked doors, and resist silver whispers.
Meet Lynher Aris, hostess extraordinaire. By night, she entertains the Dark Ones passing through the Night Station: vampires, demons, shifters, and worse. By day, she undermines them all by working with the resistance to unravel their enslavement of the human race. But Lynher has a dark secret, and with the imminent arrival of Ghost—a vampire overlord few have seen but all fear—she must play her role as the queen of the Night Station to perfection, keeping the resistance and her secret safe, or risk losing everything, including the powerful Night Station itself.
A new gothic urban fantasy series by acclaimed fantasy & sci-fi author, Pippa DaCosta.
Your Invitation…
On the border between the old world and the new, the Night Station welcomes you. Is it blood diamonds you seek, fair traveler? Or something more intimate, perhaps? Come, take my hand and walk among us. I’ll show you where the vampires laugh, their teeth sharp in the light. Best you guard your delicate throat, for worse monsters prowl these shadows.
Our fair hostess, you see her there? Miss Lynher Aris. A dream in satin and silk. Beware the beautiful, dear traveler. Didn’t you know? They say, by night, she entertains the Dark Ones, but by day, she leads the resistance. By day, she goes by another name: Daybreaker.
Hush, let’s not speak of such things. This night is made for revelry. Stay until the dawn train’s whistle breaks the spell. Drink and gamble and partake in all the sins you wish, for there are no laws at the edge of the worlds.
Wait. Heed this, dear traveler. Do not linger among the shadows. Do not question those with magic in their eyes. Some foolish souls arrive at the Night Station demanding answers. Those travelers do not see the break of dawn. This glorious station, poised on the border between two worlds, caught between day and night, swallows those it deems unworthy. Myth and rumor, of course, but stay in the light, do not succumb to silver whispers, and turn away from locked doors.
There is a hunger in you, traveler. You feel its spell? The Night Station has you now. Welcome to the end of the world.
* * *
Chapter 1
Night
“Charmaine of House Nether is complaining about the view from her room. The east wing watch reports there are brownies in the cellars, and there’s a succubus arriving on the midnight train. We’re short on space, so I’ll house her with the—”
“Don’t say vampires.” I pulled on my corset laces, cinching the dress tight, and slotted two throwing knives into a hidden sheath against the small of my back. I rarely resorted to knives to defend myself, but it never hurt to be prepared.
My assistant, Etienne, blinked. “Do they not get along?”
He carried himself well, upright and proud, with a stern face few would argue with. His staff uniform, a black cotton waistcoat and purple silk shirt, suited his dark skin and short ebony hair. The purple shirt highlighted an odd shade of mauve in his otherwise dark eyes. He had the same battle-weary old eyes most of us did, at least those of us who survived on the border between the old and new worlds, but he wasn’t as old as those eyes suggested. As all the station staff were orphans, ages were guesses anyway.
“I once housed a succubus near a vampire,” I explained, tying off the lace-lined silk dress—the colors black and purple to match all the Night Station staff—and scooped up my overcoat, buttoning it up under my chin. “The repair bill left us on rations for three weeks. Vampires and succubae get along too well.”
“Ah, I see.” Etienne’s voice trembled with nerves. “Then the demons drive the vampires—what is the word, loopy?”
“No, the other way around…” I circled a hand in the air, heading for the dressing room door. Vampires could charm the heart out of anyone and anything, and they loved nothing better than screwing with their demonic cousins, but they rarely killed succubae. What they did to them was far worse. Etienne would soon learn the needs of all the Dark Ones. “I’ll tell you more later.” If he had a later. “And don’t say loopy. It offends lycanthropes. Just keep the succubus housed far away from the vampireguard.”
“Goodness, there is much to remember,” he uttered, a touch of his native European accent slipping through. It reminded me of the way Gerome’s voice had sounded, before the vampireguard killed him.
“Yes. Yes, there is.” Something like sympathy tugged on my heart, giving me pause. “Check in with me regularly. If you can’t find me, report to Staff Manager Bee. You will have questions. You will face impossible situations. You’ll be challenged and possibly attacked. Respond with courtesy. Stay aloof, stay calm, stay above it all. The Dark Ones will posture and threaten, but they cannot hurt you here.” That last sentence almost lodged in my throat. I’d been lying a lot lately. “Are you ready?”
He blinked. “I er… I think so, yes.”
He wasn’t. Nobody was. I’d been the Night Station’s hostess for almost two years, and every night I learned I’d never be ready. All anyone could do was hope dawn came quickly.
My predecessor, Gerome, had excelled as a host. I’d known him all my life. He’d jiggled me on his knee as a child, in a memory almost too sweet to be mine. He’d retired two years ago and handed me my own key. Last month, he’d started a night shift and never returned. The vampireguard had driven an iron railway spike through his heart. Unlike the Dark Ones, humans didn’t get up from that. Under this roof, safety was relative.
If Etienne survived the week, it’d be a miracle, and I’d used my monthly quota of those.
“You’ll do just fine.”
A shadow fell over his expression. He’d heard the lie, but I wasn’t here to hold his hand. We all made our own way into the night. I had my own problems to contend with.
At the door, I closed my hand around the brass handle, lifted my chin, and breathed in, filling my lungs, expanding my chest, and spilling cool, calm control through my veins. Nerves and adrenaline tried to rattle through me. This usually happened. I was human, after all. I
t took a conscious effort to quell the heady mix of fear and excitement. Lately, the fear had gotten worse.
The shakes stopped. My heart slowed. My thoughts fell quiet.
Exhaling, I opened the door.
The night shift had begun.
* * *
Laughter tickled the air. Gaslit chandeliers scattered light; it danced and sparkled among the jeweled sea of people filling the grand hall. Glances were sharp. The teeth behind that laughter even sharper. As I descended the sweeping staircase, I wore my role as hostess like armor. I knew most of the creatures here by their real names and took their offered hands, greeting them into my domain. I cruised through their numbers, a minnow trapped inside a tank of hungry sharks.
Tails licked across the polished marble floor. Magic throbbed around beings best avoided. When they laughed, I laughed with them. When they smiled and charmed, I fluttered my lashes and played their game. It was a dangerous dance I’d spent my life perfecting. These sharks needed their little fish. Without me, this sanctuary wouldn’t exist. Without me, the vampireguard would find it difficult to transport their bloodslaves from the old world to their farms. Without me, the demons would be trapped in their hell, feasting on one another instead of humans. Without me, the fae would still be hiding in the earth, bored out of their trickster minds. This station was my castle. I had the power here.
They need me—they need me—they need me, I silently repeated over and over. The mantra beat through my thoughts like a second heart pumping a reason to keep on moving, to keep smiling, to keep seducing and distracting and entertaining, and to keep the great cogs of the Night Station turning. Gerome had told me the prettiest things had the sharpest bites, and that was true of 90% of the guests. The other 10% you never saw coming.
After an hour of silver compliments spilling from my lips, instincts ran a cool finger down my spine. I lifted my gaze to the huge clock over the Grand Hall. Its hands were as tall as me, a reminder that every creature here was constrained by time. The hour hand clunked over to join the minute hand at midnight. Right on cue, a train’s piercing whistle announced the newest arrivals.
“Do excuse me.” I dipped my chin respectfully at my small crowd and carved through the fray to the wall of arched doorways and out onto Platform One. The thousand-foot-long platform ran the length of the entire station, the white line a barrier that kept all the bad things out there, in the dark.
The night air tasted sweet, like fresh rain. Laughter and chatter filled the air outside too, but the thunderous sound of the arriving train devoured all sound but my rapid heartbeat. Guests looked up, intrigued and bespelled by the single beam of light tunneling through the dark toward them.
Steam rolled and boiled alongside the iron beast. The midnight train hissed. Her wheels screamed, and she ground to a halt. Inside her engine, her furnace heart throbbed and growled. The train had terrified me as a child. I’d learned to live with her, but the fear had never really vanished. Most thought of her as just iron and coal and fire, but my gut told me she was alive in the same way the station was.
I dipped my head and whispered, “Hello.”
More steam huffed from her stack.
Etienne’s fast approach through the gathering crowd caught my eye. Strands of his slicked-back hair had fallen loose and licked at his cheeks, but the rest of him had held up well through his first hour. His unblinking glare told another story. “We have a problem.”
The train’s hissing hid his words from most of the gathered guests, but they’d notice his agitated state.
“That’s your job, Etienne.” I smiled at him, too aware of the many eyes riding us.
The train pulled eight black carriages, each one encrusted with elaborate carvings like icing on a cake. Their window shutters lay open, revealing the arrivals readying to depart. Not all trains that came through this station were as luxurious. Most clattered through, brakes screaming, windows black. Death rode those unstoppable trains.
“Ma’am?”
I blinked, refocusing my thoughts. “Go on, Etienne.”
“The vampireguard is preparing for an arrival.” He tilted his head, gesturing farther down the platform.
The black- and red-clad vampireguard had spilled onto the platform in larger numbers than usual. Most of the time, the VG strategically spread themselves among the crowds, but clustered together like that, they reminded me of ants. Black and red ants. They pushed the crowd back to open a line from a carriage to the station doors, expecting an important member of their own. I hadn’t realized so many of the VG had checked in during the past few nights. Vampires in such large numbers always meant trouble.
“Why was I not informed?”
Etienne cleared his throat. “It appears they didn’t know until a few moments ago.”
A surprise arrival? I hated surprises. Throwing so many Dark Ones under one roof required planning and forethought. Guests attended the Night Station for its perceived safety. Without knowing who was arriving, I couldn’t keep them safe. Anything might disembark the train. This was reckless. The VG should have informed me. Typical vampires.
I picked up my skirts. “Well then, I’d best go see—”
Etienne blocked my path. “Wait.”
I looked into his eyes. I didn’t know Etienne as well as I wanted to, but he had always seemed passive, until this moment. I could appreciate someone who wasn’t afraid to block my path, although I’d have preferred to appreciate it away from my guests.
“They say… I heard…” he stammered, fast losing the bravado that had impressed me.
“Spit it out. There’s nothing you can say that I haven’t heard before.”
“Ghost.”
“What?”
Taking a deep breath, he dipped his chin and stepped closer. He was taller than me and had to lean down a little to whisper, “They say the arrival is the Ghost, ma’am.”
The Ghost, not a ghost. We had plenty of those. I blinked again, fighting to keep my composure. Nearby ears pricked at the name. I couldn’t let my surprise show, even as my heart stuttered in panic.
“Are you sure?” I whispered back, close to where the pulse in his neck fluttered too fast.
“Well, no, but…” Straightening, he glanced behind him at the furor. “The Ghost would keep his arrival quiet beforehand, no?”
I prepared for everything. Every night, I armed myself with blades and knowledge, ensuring my survival and the survival of my employees. I wasn’t prepared for Ghost. Nobody could prepare for that.
Whispers radiated throughout the crowd. Ghost, they hissed. Ghost. Ghost. Ghost. Some guests fled to safety back inside. Some shuffled closer to the lines of vampireguard. Many just stood and watched in awe.
Some monsters scared the monsters. The overseer known as Ghost was one of those. Few had seen him, but all feared him.
For the first time in a long time, fury burned the back of my throat. Why was he here? Did he know… Did he know about me and what happened in the day? No. No, he couldn’t. I was careful. So very careful. He was just passing through. Just another guest.
The carriage doors all swung open at once, hinges squeaking, to deliver their cargo of Dark Ones: demons with barely restrained wings and spiraling horns; lycans with glowing eyes; alien-looking elves; glittering jinn made of smokeless fire; and more. They disembarked from the train and spilled onto my platform, becoming my charges. Tails looped, horns glinted, and eyes drank in the Night Station. It was my job to greet them and entertain them, but I couldn’t lift my feet to move. Ghost. How was I supposed to manage this?
The crowd jostled, the numbers swelling as the new guests mingled among those already in attendance. So many. My thoughts tripped and stalled. I was better than this. I had to be better than this. Every second I delayed cost me the respect I’d worked so hard to earn. Every moment I hesitated revealed me for what I truly was: a woman in a pretty dress playing with killers.
“Ma’am?”
“Etienne.” I still had autho
rity in my voice. I was still the queen of my domain on the outside. Nobody saw the inside. Nobody. I ruffled my skirts. “Have the grand suite made up. Clear the corridors from the lobby to the suite.” I swallowed, clenched my jaw, and started forward, boots clipping the platform. “And find out if he has a damn name.”
The crowd parted ahead of me, as they should. Good. I was still untouchable. They didn’t see my fear, or taste it. My armor held. I had to reach the vampireguard. I had to be the one to greet Ghost. Any other outcome was unacceptable. The people peeled back, sensing my approach. Even demons and monsters far more terrifying than me stepped aside.
I have the power here. I kept my chin up, eyes forward, and walked like I fucking owned this tiny corner of the worlds.
“You must believe or they will not,” Gerome had told me. “We are not powerless. They surround themselves in illusion. We can too.”
“But we don’t have magic,” I’d said.
He’d patted my head. “Everyone has magic, ma chère.”
A well-dressed solitary man blocked my path. He stood proudly, his hands clasped atop a silver-tipped cane, his chin down but his gaze up, peering through dark lashes.
I jerked my chin. “Kindly move, sir.”
His cheek twitched. “Of course.” He bowed slightly and gestured for me to pass. I glanced back once—it was all I could afford—but the crowd had pooled in behind me, swallowing the figure. Something about him had snagged my attention. Another time I’d have sought him out, but Ghost’s arrival took precedence.
Twilight Seeker: Daybreaker #1 Page 1