Almost Everything

by Tate Hallaway

  Elias steadied me when I banged my toes on a particularly stubborn moss-covered rock. When his hand cupped my elbow, I found myself straining to sense the passion he’d shown a moment ago. If it remained, it was well hidden, replaced by his customary stony efficiency.

  When we reached the natural circle ringed by ancient burr oaks, I saw that Nikolai had brought a small bundle of wood and sticks from the covenstead’s firewood supply. He knelt in the grass and arranged the pile in the center of a stone circle that hadn’t been there the last time I’d stood in the grove. Nikolai didn’t bother to produce matches. Instead, a flash of light flicked off his fingertips, and the brush caught. In a second, we had a blazing fire.

  Dad stood some distance from the flame or the magic; I wasn’t sure which bothered him more. He’d worn his hair loose, and it hung straight to his shoulders. In a white shirt and black jeans, he looked the part of a vampire prince. Of course, he was barefoot. I was just glad he didn’t feel the need to start shucking the rest of his clothes.

  I glanced around the circle.

  Elias moved to stand beside his sovereign. With his military-style cropped hair, he made for an impressive enforcer in a black T-shirt that showed off his well-toned physique and muscular arms.

  My mom stood next to Dad. The humidity had made her curls extra frizzy. I couldn’t have looked less like her, with my father’s slim features, dark hair, and pale complexion. She also looked the most like a norm, with her college professor fashion—a blazer thrown over a simple blouse. I could much more easily imagine a chalkboard behind her than the gnarled, twisted trunk of a massive oak.

  Nikolai poked the fire one last time with a stick and stood up to stand by me. His hair was tied loosely at the nape of his neck. The T-shirt he wore was dark and promoted some band’s concert tour. The Celtic knot tattoo was barely visible on his bicep underneath the sleeve. Maybe it was all the casual magic he’d demonstrated, but I thought he moved with a particular liquid grace that marked him as a witch to contend with.

  That just left me, feeling small and stupid and way out of my league.

  And, of course, everyone stared expectantly at me.

  So, I cleared my throat nervously and looked to my dad for some help. “What do we do first? Call the hunt or start the rite of passage?”

  He seemed to shake himself out of a dream before answering. “I will call the hunt. When you’re on the brink of passing over, we’ll begin the rite.”

  Passing over? I didn’t really like the sound of that. Neither did Mom or Nikolai, from the looks on their faces. “Wait, do you mean ‘dying’?”

  “That’s unacceptable, Ramses!” Mom said, taking a threatening step forward, which Elias matched almost unconsciously.

  “Okay, so you’re ruining the best part of my plan, Dad,” I said. “If you’re saying I have to be close to death for this thing to work, um, we need to talk more. And”—I pointed to the bumps on my chest meaningfully—“I can take these stupid things off.”

  Ramses stared at the lumps under my sundress. “Are those really bags of blood?”

  “I didn’t suddenly become a D cup.” I rolled my eyes. Then, more seriously I added, “Yes, see, that’s part of the whole I-don’t-really-want-to-be-bled-to-death thing. I even brought extra, you know, in case we could just toss them a bag or two.”

  For a panicked moment I thought I left those behind in the mudroom when I set them on the bench to tie my shoes. I looked around frantically, but Elias lifted his hand to show me that he’d thought to grab them.

  “You want my people to feed on prepackaged blood?” My dad sounded offended, as if he’d been expecting caviar and I’d substituted an Egg McMuffin.

  “You want your people to drink me dry instead?”

  “I just don’t think it’s going to work,” my dad said. He squinted at me as if using X-ray vision. “It’s not even warm.”

  “It’s going to have to work,” I said. Turning to Nikolai, I said, “What about the vamp repellent?”

  He, in turn, looked to my mom. “What about an illusion, Amelia? Couldn’t we cast a desire spell on the bags? And double that up with an aversion scent on her skin?”

  With effort, my mom stopped glaring at Dad. She pushed her glasses up on her nose. They caught the firelight as she considered. “That could work, if the vampires can be satisfied by bagged blood.”

  My dad started to open his mouth, and I could tell he was going to deny it. “They can,” I interjected quickly. “Mrs. Kirov told us they can be fooled by day-old corpses.”

  My mom looked at my dad as if scandalized by his poor judgment. He shrugged. “News to me,” he said.

  “I guess it’s a Ukrainian thing,” I responded.

  At that, everyone looked dubious, as though they figured the vampires in Ukraine must be extra shabby or stupid, but no one offered a counterargument.

  “That would suffice,” Dad said, “I suppose.”

  “If there is a question of preference, perhaps a protection spell would be in order,” Elias suggested with a quiet yet firm authority.

  Mom stared at him contemptuously, as if she considered him an inconvenient obstacle. How had I ever thought she liked him? Eventually, when it became clear that his suggestion was the best option, she grudgingly conceded his point. “Yes. I suppose so.”

  Nikolai stepped closer to Mom to confer quietly. I caught only snippets of their conversation. They seemed to be discussing the most effective choice. Mom seemed to think a binding spell was a good idea. Nik shook his head. He didn’t like anything that kept me immobilized, unable to defend myself.

  “Amen to that,” I muttered.

  Elias laid the blood bags in front of me. He gave me a smile as he stood up. “You’ll make an excellent vampire,” he said.

  I grabbed at his sleeve. “Will I? How do you know?”

  “Because you’re brave and loyal to the kingdom already.”

  “But that’s me,” I said. “Not her.”

  “‘Her’ who?”

  “My vampire soul,” I said. “How do you know she won’t be completely different? You’re not the man whose body you possess. What makes you think I’ll be anything like the person I am now?”

  Elias frowned deeply, and I could tell I’d offended him a little by bringing up the whole possession thing. But it was true, and I needed to know the answer. Behind him, Nikolai and my mom were doing something over the blood bags. I smelled roses and musk—an attraction spell.

  “Your vampire soul crossed over a long time ago,” Elias said. “The rite of passage is not the same magic as that horrible curse that rips us from our homeland. I’ve only ever seen it performed a few times before in my entire lifetime, because dhampyrs are rare. But I can tell you this with absolute certainty: you will be who you’ve always been. Only more so. You’ll finally have your inheritance—all the power you were born with but were unable to tap because the other animus was in the way.”

  “You’re sure?” I asked desperately.

  “You have always been part vampire, Ana. Whoever you think that other soul is, is who you’ve been all along.”

  I let go of his sleeve. “You don’t think I’ll change?”

  “Everything you do changes you,” he said philosophically. “This is a big thing we’re attempting tonight. I’m sure you won’t be the same afterward.”

  “But you know what I’m asking, right?”

  “You’ll have all your memories. You’ll still be Ana, the sum of all your experiences.”

  He moved away when Mom and Nikolai came over to wave their hands over me. They carefully avoided the area where I’d taped the bags to my body, but otherwise their magic felt like a soft mist. I knew it worked, however, when Elias coughed and took a step farther back.

  “Okay,” Mom said, and with a resigned sigh she turned to Dad. “We’ve done what we can to try to get the vampires to take the bait. You might as well start this show.”

  Dad nodded. He closed his eyes and took
in a long breath. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but, a second later, he opened them. They’d gone cat-slit. A glance at Elias showed me that his had done the same. I knew without needing confirmation that the hunt had begun.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was an unnerving sensation, knowing that somewhere, out in the darkness, far away, vampires were converging—their minds and bodies focused on one thing: finding and killing me.

  Even though there was no way they could already be close at hand, the nerves on my back tingled expectantly. I had to grit my teeth to keep from checking the woods every time the wind rustled through the trees.

  My dad watched me intensely. It wasn’t a look I particularly liked. In fact, it reminded me of the way he’d been when I’d come to tell him about the Southern prince and he’d sicced his minions on me.

  Elias also seemed to be having trouble not pouncing hungrily. He watched Dad studiously, his face turned away from me. But I could see that his hands had clenched into tight fists at his side.

  A hoot of an owl made me jump. I must have made a little noise, because Mom and Nik turned to look at me. I flashed an embarrassed smile. “Just a little nervous,” I admitted.

  “I think Elias had a good point a few minutes ago,” Mom said, moving closer to me. Her voice sounded falsely casual, and her eyes never left the two vampires. “We should consider extra protection beyond the aversion spell.”

  “Yeah,” Nikolai said. “That’s a really good idea.”

  “Make the protection really freaking strong, okay?” I begged Nikolai. He nodded, and then he and Mom returned to conferring about various options for my protection. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. When Dad tracked my slight shift like a panther, I couldn’t contain myself any longer. “Losing my nerve over here! Could we hurry up with the spell? Feeling a bit exposed!”

  Mom looked ruffled at the interruption. Nikolai, however, zeroed in on the two vampires, then tugged at her sleeve and pointed. The second Mom saw Dad’s heightened posture, she gave Nikolai a brisk nod. “The second option seems the stronger,” she said to Nik, apparently coming to some sort of decision.

  Nikolai didn’t argue. He kept his attention focused on Elias and Dad as he positioned himself between me and Elias. Mom flanked my other side. They raised their arms in unison.

  The magic began almost immediately. A cool breeze shook the trees, and the usual forest sounds hushed. I recognized Nikolai’s power in the musky scent in the air. My mother’s magic came up through the grass like a fast-growing vine and wound its way around my legs. Instinctively, I tried to pull away, but the tendrils held fast. Meanwhile, the air caressed me, reassuringly stroking my hair and whispering in my ear that I was safe.

  Dad flinched away from the magic, as if he suddenly smelled something foul. He glanced around as if trying to identify the source. After a second, his eyes narrowed, centering on Mom and Nikolai. He sneered at them, showing fangs.

  If it was possible, Elias held himself more tightly, still not trusting himself to look in my direction.

  Mom’s magic coiled around my waist like a rope. I couldn’t move my legs at all because they were so tightly bound. Even as the wind whispered its sweet nothings in my ear, I felt panic rising. What happened to my not being helpless? I’d be pinioned, unable to move, when the vampires arrived.

  “Don’t fight it, Ana. Please,” Nikolai said out loud, his words echoing the strange noises the air made in my ear. To my mom, he added, “I told you she’d hate this.”

  “We’ve got to protect her from a pack of vampires on the hunt,” Mom said, shaking her head at Nikolai sternly. When she spoke to me, she had that motherly tone she used when she wanted me to do something that might build my character or was otherwise for my own good. “The protection is strong, honey, but, remember, it will keep you safe.”

  When the curls of magic wrapped around my wrist like manacles, I spat out a curse. My own fangs dropped in response to the perceived threat.

  My dad shook his head violently all of a sudden, as if someone had slapped him. Elias finally looked at me. Their fangs were retreating, and their eyes were returning to being human.

  “The hunt call was severed,” my dad explained, sounding dazed. He peered across the flickering fire at my face. “It’s the transformation,” he told Elias. “The hunt rejected her sacrifice. It’s too soon. We’re not cannibals.”

  “We have to start the rite before the call fades entirely,” Elias suggested.

  “We could begin it, but we’d have to stop before the rite is complete.” My dad shook his head. “They won’t come if she’s a full vampire.”

  Meanwhile, I was completely imprisoned by Mom’s protection spell. A finger of her magic even clung to my throat, completely immobilizing my head. I thrashed against the bonds. Despite all the reassurances, I couldn’t stand the feeling of being tightly bound. The fire flashed extra bright as my eyes changed. The forest flooded with light. I pushed and strained with the extra strength the change brought.

  Dad stepped into my field of vision. He put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Ana, I need you to concentrate on the sound of my voice.”

  I nodded, but there were tears in my eyes. I was scared, and I didn’t want to die like this, unable to even twitch.

  Dad frowned and turned to Mom. His voice was a strong command. “Let her go. Or at least loosen her bonds, for Goddess’ sake. You’re destroying our chances.”

  Mom looked baffled for a second, as if she didn’t know how to respond, but the tendrils unwound slightly. I took in a deep breath.

  “Better?” he asked gently.

  I would have preferred being completely free, but I could turn my head and wiggle my fingers. I didn’t feel quite as smothered. I still felt as if I were standing stiffly at attention, but I could breathe. The claustrophobic panic subsided somewhat.

  Besides, I wanted the protection. I just didn’t like how it felt.

  Dad took my silence for assent and motioned Elias to join him. We’d formed a tight knot. Mom and Nikolai stood on either side of me, their arms outstretched, enclosing me in their magical circle. With my vampiric eyes, their magic appeared like a greenish haze that surrounded me. Dad and Elias moved in as closely as they could without touching the enchanted mist.

  He was still frowning. “The others will have to be able to get closer than this,” he said.

  Mom looked ready to protest.

  Elias cut her off. “Or we will turn on the nearest available meal: you.”

  The binding spell loosened significantly. My limbs no longer felt roped in spells. Now, in their place, was the sensation of loosely wrapped blankets, like a kind of magical Snuggie. This was much nicer. Now, Nikolai’s magic soothed my jagged nerves, lulling me into relaxing. My fangs retracted with a soft slide.

  “The call returns,” Elias said softly.

  I opened my eyes to the normal darkness. Dad was nodding, but with deep concern etched into his usually haughty face. With the firelight behind him, his face was a flicker of shadow. “Yes. Better. This will work only if you’re truly willing. You must have no hesitation, no regrets.”

  I took in a deep breath. The protection spell had relaxed me to the point of no longer feeling threatened, but was I ready for this sacrifice?

  “You can ramp it back up if you need to? Quickly?” I asked Mom.

  She nodded. “I swear as the Queen of Witches, I will protect you. Besides, there are other spells we can use to stop them. Hidden wards. Magical booby traps. If things get out of hand, I will protect us all.”

  Though by “us,” it was clear Mom meant “us humans.”

  Okay. It was scary enough that I was going to give up one of my souls. Mom and Nik had my back. They would stop things if it went too far. Mom had just promised as a witch and a queen. She’d do it or die trying.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember why I’d agreed to do this in the first place. The hunt had to be stopped. Otherwise, Bea’s mom and all the
other non-Initiates could end up dead if I didn’t try. I had an extra soul. I wouldn’t die. Mom and Nikolai had been so intent on protecting me a second ago that I’d felt stifled. That was a good thing. It meant I wasn’t alone in this. I just kept telling myself that they wouldn’t let anyone hurt me. I would be okay.

  After a long moment, I opened my eyes and said firmly, “I’m ready.”

  My father’s face flushed with pride. He gave a nod to my mom as if to say, “You raised her right.” He gave my shoulder a quick squeeze before dropping his hand. “This is a very old ceremony. The words will be unfamiliar to you, as they are in a language so old that it was ancient when I first heard it spoken. I’ll talk slowly, and you can repeat the words as best you can. Don’t worry. The Goddess will understand your intention if you mangle the pronunciation. All right?”

  Okay, things were getting serious. Swallowing hard, I nodded.

  To Elias, he asked, “You have the silver dagger ready?”

  On my left, I heard Nikolai mutter in astonishment, “Silver! So, it’s true.”

  Dad gave Nikolai the barest nod of acknowledgment. To me, he explained, “No doubt, like the hunter, you’ve heard the legends. Pure silver is the only material on Earth that can cut our souls from our bodies.”

  I didn’t much care for that word “cut,” but I reminded myself to stay focused and calm. If I had to bleed a little, it was okay. It would save someone’s life.

  “Tonight, you, Anastasija Ramses Parker, will become a full vampire. Is it your wish to join the kingdom?”

  “It is,” I said as formally as I could, sensing that, in some way, the ritual had begun.

  “So mote it be,” he said just as solemnly. He took the silver dagger Elias had produced from his back pocket and held it up in front of me. It was disappointingly tiny. Hardly bigger than a pencil and nearly as slender, it looked like a toy. But the firelight caught on the edge sharply and hieroglyphs flashed into view briefly when Dad turned and began walking around me in a circle.