“Do any of you know if Baran was by this morning? Before the incident?” I asked.
“He wasn’t,” Deza said. “I arrived well before dawn, and there were no visitors.”
“You were here with Emine when the event happened?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“And what, exactly, occurred? What did you see?”
“I’m not sure, really. When the bolt of magic came through, it was like it went after Emine directly. She was overcome, and then she fainted.”
I looked back at Emine. Was that possible? Could the Rift magic hone in on her specifically?
Brow furrowing, I turned to Merel and Isla. “Force her to take breaks. She must rest.”
Isla laughed. “And when have any of us been able to tell Emine to do anything?”
I smiled softly then glanced back outside. The sun was starting to set. I hoped Aydin was well on his way home. As for me, I had another meeting to prepare for.
“Very well. Please tell Emine I’ll be back later,” I said then rose to go. I steadied myself, hoping Merel would not see me swoon. But I was stupid to think I could avoid the sharp eyes of a healer.
“Pelin, rest here a while. You’re as stubborn as Emine. You need to take it easy.”
I smiled softly at her. How could I explain that all our futures rested in my hands? If I didn’t go, if I didn’t learn what the vampire knew, it might cost us any hope of a future.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Can you tell they are related?” Isla whispered to Merel, who smiled.
Turning, I headed out of the room. Before I left, I reached out with my senses to brush against Emine’s spirit. “Rest,” I whispered with my mind.
There was no reply, but for a brief moment, I saw Emine smile.
I headed back out. It was odd that Baran had not reported to Emine in the morning. Stranger still that he and his order had sequestered themselves after the attack. Where had Baran gone when we’d parted ways last night? I frowned, my instincts screaming at me that his absence was telling. But once more, I wondered if I was paranoid. After all, it would be just like him, Taavi, Cain, and Endur to spend hours sitting on their asses squabbling over what to do while we witches did all the work. That was nothing new.
But if the Order of Tengri would not lift a finger to help Nazar, maybe there was someone who would.
With hope in my heart, I steadied my woozy head and went to get ready to meet the vampire king.
Chapter 17
I headed to the bath where I freshened up then returned to my wardrobe and stood staring at the selections hanging before me. The plain blue robes of a priestess, my formal black gown, and one set of clothes—a simple pair of pants and sweater—in the style favored by the humans. Fantastic. So, my choices were to look like either predator or prey.
I pulled out a clean chemise and the least faded of my blue robes. In a city once famed for its textiles, why were my sisters and I confined to such stark clothing? How did it benefit our ability to channel the magic of Umay?
Frowning, I brushed out my hair and pulled on the robe.
The Turkish bath where Erlik had asked me to meet him was not far. Taking a deep breath, I forced my upset stomach to stay calm, and I headed back outside. This time, however, I exited the side corridor of the haremlik which had once been the servant’s entrance. I crossed the grounds and went to the wall. My head was swimming. I hated the thought, but after the events of the day, my supply of magic was low. Like the vampires, I needed to feed. But in my order, we did everything we could to avoid taking from others. If I had time, I could sit and meditate. I could take energy from Great Mother Umay, pulling into myself the magic of the earth. But I didn’t have time for that now. I touched the evil eye amulet on my chest. Its magic was intended to keep the wearer from harm, to protect them. But it was also an old and rich magic. Touching the charm, I drew a little of its energy, just enough to steady myself. After all, filling myself with magic intended to ward off evil—as I was going to meet a Berkano—seemed wise in this situation. The magic, unsuited to the task, helped just enough. Willing my body to do what it was told, I felt the stone wall for a handhold and climbed, a much easier task when I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up.
Up and over, I landed outside. I exhaled deeply then made my way to the street. The sun had already set. The last remnants of burnt orange and ruby red illuminated the horizon. I slipped down the narrow streets of old Istanbul. The crumbling facades of the buildings spoke of a world long dead. I’d been born too late to enjoy the delights of the modern world. Empty TV screens looked out at me from shop windows. Fashions of days past drooped on hangers in clothing stores. Tea houses and restaurants, their furniture coated in dust, bespoke leisurely meals in the company of friends. Yet in the bazaar, I had seen such places thriving. I envied the vampires their electricity and tea houses. I envied the humans their bountiful gardens, coffee, and busy marketplace. Life in the order was not life. It was service. It was sacrifice. It was not living. Just because I’d been born of magical parents, I was not allowed to truly live, and neither were any of the others. It was…wrong. It couldn’t go on like this.
By the time I reached the narrow street where the Turkish bath, Cağaloğlu Hamam, was found, it was already dark. I set my hand on the stone wall outside the entrance and closed my eyes. I cast my senses within. There were at least three vampires inside in addition to Erlik.
Touching the evil eye charm on my chest, I took a deep breath then entered. I prayed this was not a trap. If it was, I was doomed.
The old wooden door opened with a squeak. The building was a massive two-story structure. The marble floors, however, were clean and the chandelier overhead was lit with candles. I was surprised to see that the place appeared to be in frequent use. A marble fountain stood at the center of the entryway. Water trickled freely from it and looked fresh and clean.
I let my fingertips graze the water’s surface.
“Much like the wells at Topkapi Palace and in the old bazaar, the plumbing of this place predates the modern city thus survived the fall,” a voice called from the second floor terrace.
I looked up to find a red-haired beauty looking down at me. She wore a flowing black gown and heavy gold bangle bracelets. Her eyes glinted silver in the candlelight.
“I didn’t know anyone used this place anymore,” I said.
The vampiress shrugged. “We are busy at night while you sleep. My kind have long frequented this establishment. But come, he is waiting for you.”
She waved me to another sets of door, gliding down the stairs to meet me.
“Priestess,” she said, motioning for me to follow her to a set of interior doors.
As we passed through the intermediate room, I felt the temperature rise. The air became hot and thick. A heavy mist effervesced from the room beyond the doors. The vampire took a robe from the wall and handed it to me.
I stared at the garment.
“Please. You should change.”
The short robe, made of sheer white material, would barely cover me. I was about to protest when the vampiress smirked smugly.
“Very well,” I said. Turning to a bench nearby, I stripped off my clothes down to nothing save my evil eye pendant, hanging my garments on a peg. I pulled on the sheer robe. It crossed my mind to cast a mask of calm on my face, but in the presence of the Berkano, wanting to cast such a spell seemed foolish. I didn’t want to pretend I was brave. In this space, I had to actually be brave.
Seeming pleased, the vampiress smiled.
“You’re very beautiful,” she said, pushing my hair behind my shoulders. Coming around behind me, she gathered up my hair then bunched it at the back. She pulled the ivory pin from her own hair and slid it into my locks.
“A gift,” she whispered in my ear, “for the future High Priestess of Nazar.”
“Thank you,” I replied. The vampiress had been trying to work a charm on me. I could feel her ener
gy buzzing all around me. I had to admit that she was exceedingly pretty and her sensual ways were intriguing, but I observed such things only, unaffected.
The vampiress laughed, realizing her charm had no effect on me, and then motioned for me to follow her. She pushed a second set of doors open to reveal the main room of the bath. The hot room had a large, domed roof. Small, star-shared windows let in the moonlight. Otherwise, glass lamps in deep gem stone colors illuminated the room, casting their colorful glow on the steam that enveloped the place. At the center of the room was a large, marble platform. Erlik lay on his stomach, his backside covered by a thin towel. Another vampire, a dark-haired male who did not meet my gaze, sat massaging Erlik’s back.
His chin resting on his hands, Erlik smirked when I entered. Taking little care to keep himself covered, he sat up. He gave me that same playful smile, but I sensed a softness behind it. He was undeniably handsome, and admittedly, well built. His skin was dewy from the steam. His chest and stomach were muscular, a thin line of hair leading from his bellybutton downward to…to what the towel barely covered. I looked away, embarrassed when redness colored my cheeks. Hopefully they would think it was the steam and heat.
“Priestess,” he said. “I would stand, but…” he motioned to his wrap.
I inclined my head, grinning back at him.
His eyes were so playful. Who knew a man’s eyes could say so much? Present so many riddles?
“Come,” the vampiress told me. Moving gently, she took my hand. She led me to the platform. I sat, surprised to find the platform was heated.
Seeing my reaction, Erlik explained. “It’s warmed from below. Please, lie down. I asked Rosaline to join us so she could attend to you. She is very skilled. Please, you are my guest here.”
The vampire lay back down on the platform, motioning for me to lie beside him.
I could feel the test behind his eyes. He wanted to know what kind of woman I was, if I feared them, how I would react, and more, if he could play with me. He was both literally and figuratively seeking to strip me down. Something within me rose to the challenge.
“Remove your robe, Priestess. I will care for your body,” the vampiress said.
I looked at Erlik who had not taken his eyes off me. I met his gaze, smiled lightly, and then handed Rosaline my robe. Moving gently, I lay down on my stomach beside the vampire who had rolled onto his side to look at me. His hair wet from the steam, he looked even more handsome than he had in the Dark Bazaar. Reclining on his elbow, he motioned to Rosaline. A moment later, I felt warm oil drip down my back, the sharp scent of patchouli perfuming the air.
I looked around the room. The moonlight overhead slipped through the star-shaped openings, casting light and offering fresh air. Erlik followed my gaze.
“It is a beautiful old place, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“For one who explores beyond the wall as much as you do, I am surprised you hadn’t yet discovered it.”
“It is the safety of those in Nazar that encourages my explorations, not sightseeing,” I said. As Rosalind’s hands worked their way across my back, I felt my body relax. The pain I was carrying from the incident with the barrier started to melt away.
“And here I thought the walls were constricting you. Of course, the Order of Umay has no mission but to protect Nazar. There is much you are missing penned up behind those walls.”
“Indeed?”
“Indeed. And why does the order stay so secluded? We cannot, and are not remotely interested in, harming you. My kind has the deepest respect for the order. You are feared, of course, by both my kind and the humans. But your sequestering makes little sense. We are not at war.”
How was it that he, a grinning, half-naked vampire, was asking the questions my very soul grappled with?
“You pose interesting questions,” I replied simply. While part of me wanted to ask Erlik a million questions, the rational part of me hesitated in the presence of others whom I did not know. Not that I knew Erlik at all. And yet… There was something about him that made me want to trust him.
Erlik motioned to Rosalind. “Thank you,” he said, signaling for her to leave. He nodded to the vampire who attended him, waving him away.
“My lord,” Rosalind said, then exited the room.
A moment later, another blast of hot steam filled the room. Erlik lifted a bottle of oil from the tray Rosalind had sat beside me. He poured some oil on his hands then gently set them on my back.
“May I?” he asked.
It was my turn to smirk. “Of course.” Now he was playing with me. But surely he knew such games were dangerous. Perhaps he was strong, but he was no witch. Despite my bravado, however, the moment his strong hands stroked my bare skin, I felt like I stopped breathing.
“You must tell me what happened this morning. I had woken when I felt the tremor. My people were not outside yet, but one of the humans under our care reported the dome was damaged, that there was a strike inside the dome,” he said.
“The storms above the barrier are growing stronger. Somehow, there was a rogue blast, and the dome cracked. Magical energy entered Nazar. The effect of it was immediate.”
“The rogue blast, as you called it, shattered the barrier from above?” he asked.
I paused. Of course it had come from above, right? As I thought back, I considered the blinding light that had travelled with the magical energy. Now I wasn’t so sure. “The barrier above the palace cracked as a result. The dome has been destabilizing for weeks. Have you seen the barrier behave like this before?” I asked.
He slid his hands down the sides of my ribcage. I inhaled sharply, my body tingling from my head to my toes. “No, I have not.”
“Do you remember when the barrier was put in place? Do you remember the Rift and what happened after?”
At that, he stopped. I turned and looked at him. A strange, unguarded expression crossed his face. Whatever game he had been playing with me, it had been suddenly undone by my question. I reached out and lifted my robe then sat up, holding the garment casually in front of me.
Erlik met my eyes then smiled softly. “I do.”
“What do you remember?”
“Why do you want to know?”
It was a risk to tell him the real reason, but if I expected to get help from him, telling the truth seemed prudent. “The barrier is dying. Emine is dying. The nine acolytes are prepared, but I believe that Emine’s path is not the way. Something is wrong with the barrier above Nazar. When the Rift occurred, the protective dome put up was weak. Maybe the spell was not done properly. I don’t know. But the dome should not need constant support. And it should not be so unstable. But something is wrong in Nazar. I can sense it, but I do not know the source.”
The vampire nodded thoughtfully. “I have been in Nazar… Istanbul… Constantinople… a long time. I was here when this building was built, when Topkapi Palace where you live was constructed, and I have walked the walls of Yedikule—as a soldier. What was new when I was new is all that remains in Nazar. The city has shaken herself to her roots. The old remains. The young dies. I was in the city when the Rift happened. I was aware that an effort was underway to end vampirism, and I was among those who wished to stop it. Why would I seek to undo what I am? They say a tryst between a witch and vampire ended the world. I do not believe it. Yet the Rift occurred. The entire world shook, the sky imploded, and the order moved quickly to protect us, but there were problems in Istanbul that impacted our dome.”
“What kind of problems?”
“The witch and vampire who fell in love. Why was their love such an abomination? Do you think such a union is impossible?” He reached out then and stroked his hand from my ankle upward.
My body shuddered from the feeling of pleasure at his touch. The sensation evoked strong urges in me, stronger than I had felt for anyone before. The want I felt for Erlik in that moment towered over anything I’d ever felt for Aydin. The depth and breadth of it surprised me. “
I…I don’t know.”
He touched my cheek. “We are strangers, but I know you feel the energy between us. As you and I sit here, Berkano and witch, we are drawn to one another like the moon and the sea. In many places in the world, my brothers and sisters hate and hunt witches. In other places, witches seek to destroy my kind. And yet… And yet, it is always there, below the surface, always fighting the hatred and anger. There is terrible yearning, hunger,” he ran his fingers down my neck. “A witch and a vampire crave one another. It is why they hate but also why they are willing to shatter the world to be together. Don’t tell me you do not feel it as well. I…I have felt almost nothing these many years. Nothing until the moment you stepped foot in the Dark Bazaar.”
My heart beat hard. And for a moment, I swore I stopped breathing.
“Do you feel it too?” he whispered.
I exhaled deeply. My legs were shaking. “Yes.”
He leaned in and he set a kiss on my lips, his hand drifting to my robe, pushing the cloth away so he could gently stoke my breast.
I groaned in pleasure. He was warm and feral and fierce, and a terrible ache between my legs made me want to entwine my body around his and feel him completely.
Breathless, I pulled back. “No, no, no, this cannot be,” I whispered. Shocked by the wave of lust that had swept over me, I wondered if I had fallen under his spell. Had he mesmerized me? But when I looked at him, I saw the same expression of wonder mirrored on his face.
The sky overhead rumbled.
“They were wrong to seek to end the vampiric gift. We were created as opposites to rule this world, witch and vampire together, two halves that complete a whole. Their foolishness undid us all. We can no longer make new vampires through the exchange of blood. Witches can no longer bare witches. You and I are the end, the last full-blooded witch and the oldest vampire. If we wish to heal Nazar, we must give in to the forces between us, not deny or mangle them. From the moment I saw you, fierce with your evil eye glowing like witches of old, I knew the answer was in front of me.” Erlik stared at me, longing in his eyes.
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