by Zara Novak
“That’s right,” the Vistor said and nodded. “They were holding survivors of the York clan hostage until an agent of my returned their leader to them. A shifter by the name of Logan Nash. He escaped here recently with a female vampire by the name of Ruth Summers. They killed one of my top generals, a powerful female vampire by the name of Jago Vangzali.”
The news took Valdis by surprise. A shifter and a vampire escaped the Red Keep together? He’d never heard of anyone escaping the monumental fortress. “That is most surprising. I didn’t know about that part. All I know is that there was a battle. The two sides came together but seemed to find some resolution. The prisoners were handed over and a truce was called.”
“And then?”
Valdis took another deep breath. “A group of mine attacked the church with shifters that had fractured from the other half of the pack. A fight resumed, things got messy. A witch showed up. Everything got really fucking confusing.”
“Skip to the part I want to hear,” the Vistor said, whispering the command with cold malice.
“Right,” Valdis said, secretly hating that he felt as though the vampire had taken control of the conversation. “The feral showed up, demanding that one of my soldiers go with him. He claimed the girl was his mate. He claimed the girl was one of the lost daughters.”
Heavy silence lingered in the air between the two men. The Vistor spoke next, prompting Valdis once more, delivering the question he knew would come. “And this girl… how does she fit into your organization… Who is she to you?” The old man stared at Valdis with eyes blazing, nodding slightly for the vampire hunter to share the truth.
“She… she is my daughter. My adopted daughter. The soldier taken by the feral is called Ellie. She is my only daughter.”
Cold and dark laughter erupted across the room, coiling from the lips of the ancient vampire. The sound reminded Valdis of glass being scraped against stone. It nauseated him, and the uncharacteristic animation was unsettling. “A daughter of the prophecy!” he shouted. “Daughter to the leader of all vampire hunters!”
The Vistor wheezed, almost bent over double, wiping non-existent tears from one of the many creases bordering the edge of his eyes. He composed himself after a short moment and sat up straight, taking a large intake of breath. “Apologies Thorn, but it is not often that I laugh. What a world we live in. What a sick and twisted thing this prophecy is… to lean forward and pluck a daughter from the arms of a caring father. Delivering her to the one thing that father fears the most.”
Valdis remained perfectly still, bolt upright, lips clamped firmly over his grinding teeth.
“I would consider that of vast importance Thorn,” the Vistor said, his usual dead expression taking back control of his face. “I wouldn’t like to think you’ve been keeping things from me. Full disclosure is of utmost importance if we want our plans to succeed.”
The vampire hunter looked down at the ball of atomic light in his hand, turning the glass orb slowly. What would happen if he unleashed this thing right now? He could activate the device, use his remaining portal stone and teleport back to the safety of the white fortress. One move and he could destroy one of the most powerful vampires in the world. That could be a great advantage to the Order. It was tempting. Very tempting.
“I’m not keeping things from you,” Valdis said as he pulled his eyes away from the orb of explosive light. “It didn’t seem worthwhile reporting the development. Ellie’s abduction was most unexpected, but I don’t think it’s a major development. Several of my soldiers escaped the conflict with their lives intact and reported the night to me in great detail. The vampire is insane by all accounts. He has nothing to do with the prophecy, and neither does Ellie. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was dead now.”
The Vistor studied Valdis with enquiring eyes. “You seem very calm for a man that suspects his daughter might be dead.”
Valdis shrugged it off. “Every soldier in the Order understands the risks of their work. Ellie knew what she was getting herself into when she signed up for this life.”
“Be that as it may,” the old vampire replied, “I suspect your daughter’s abduction is no happy accident.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Valdis said, jaw squeezing tight in his skull as his body tensed.
“Your daughter is most likely part of this prophecy, whether you like it or not. You raised the girl did you not? Surely you would know if she had the spiral mark at the base of her back?”
Valdis squeezed the glass orb of light in his hand so hard that it nearly broke. His involvement in Ellie’s upbringing had been scarce at the best of the times, but he knew for a fact that his daughter did contain the mark. “She doesn’t have the mark,” he said firmly. “I know.”
The Vistor stared back at Valdis with indifference he raised a finger to his temple and tapped. “You humans are always so easy to forget that we hear everything Thorn. She’s a pretty girl. Blonde hair. Large blue eyes. A face like innocence.”
“You read my mind?!” Valdis said, pushing his chair back.
“Ever since we first met,” he said plainly, flicking his eyes down to the orb in Valdis’s hands. “I’d also encourage you to test your little device if you wish. That thing will have little effect on me Thorn. You might take out a few hundred of my men, but the rest would be on you soon enough. You’d be dead within the hour.”
Valdis pulled his hand back from the table, looking down at the ball of light. This thing was supposed to be his fail-safe contingency, but the old bastard was acting as if it was nothing at all. Had he walked into a trap? Was this some sort of setup?”
“Relax,” the Vistor said and pushed back his own chair from the table, standing to his feet. “Such a fight would be a pointless waste when we can achieve so much through cooperation. You have nothing to worry about. Your little ball of magic might make you feel safe, but in all honesty, it is not required. You are in no danger here. Your updates are most interesting to me either way, and I’m glad we could meet again. The second daughter… a vampire hunter.”
“The vampire that took my daughter was clearly out of his mind!” Valdis said, pounding his fist against the table as he stood to his feet. “There’s no way she’s part of this prophecy! No child of mine will breed with a vampire!”
“That will remain to be seen,” the Vistor said in his low voice. “For now, such things don’t concern me. My men will find the two at some point and we will clear it up one way or another.” Turning, the old man looked away from Valdis and approached the windows overlooking the lab, his arms crossed behind his back. “Come with me down to the lab. I’d like to show you the next phase of our attack.”
Valdis walked over to the window at the words, keeping his distance from the old man. He looked out through the glass at the sprawling lab below them. Long rows of equipment-filled tables stretched across the room. Large silver vats sent steam up into fans on the high ceilings. Vampires in long white coats stood to attendance at complicated looking machines, holding test tubes of brightly colored liquid up to the light and making notes about their observations. Valdis stared over it all, wondering what the Vistor had in store here exactly.
“Next phase?”
“Yes. It is the ace up my sleeve. A hidden weapon that holds more power than both our armies combined. My scientists have been working around the clock to bring this thing into fruition.”
“Sounds promising,” Valdis said, turning his head to glance at the old man.
“Oh, it is,” he said with a whisper. Not taking his eyes from the lab below them. Silence beat and then he glanced back at Valdis. “Follow me and you can see how our world ends.”
Valdis swallowed at something in this throat, suddenly aware that he was quite afraid. “Our world?”
“The prophecy,” the Vistor answered back. “I want to show you the weapon that will end all vampires. The thing that will crush the prophecy. The thing that will crush the lost daughters.”
13
The vampire came to on the dark road. Wind blasted against his face. The loud bike engine rumbled underneath, sending vibrations through his body. Vision faded in from black, and he saw he was riding down a long road in the early dawn. Confusion overwhelming him, he eased off the throttle and let the bike glide to a gentle stop at the side of the road.
Arms squeezed around his mid-riff gently, followed by a stirring voice. “Wraith? What’s happening?”
It was a very good question indeed. Last thing he remembered he was in the arena, pitted against three vampires. He was trying to cross the border with his mate. Had he made it? Stepping off the bike, he looked around at the dark countryside and then examined the girl on the back of the bike, who looked as if she’d just woken up.
“Where are we?” he asked.
The blonde girl gave a sleepy chuckle back in response, rubbed sleep from her eye and climbed off the bike. “What? Wraith? What are you talking about?”
Wraith? The vampire looked around in puzzlement and cast his eyes back on the girl. He couldn’t remember much, but he knew who she was, and he knew her name. “Ellie, I…”
The girl shook off the rest of her slumber and stood up straight, staring at the vampire with concern. “You’ve forgotten again, haven’t you? You don’t know who you are…”
It took a few minutes to clear things up. The girl explained what had happened since the fight. There had been an attack. They’d barely escaped with their lives. They were now on the way to meet the rest of the coven at a town north of the border. “You’ve blanked twice now from what I can tell,” Ellie said.
“It’s the amnesia,” the vampire said. “I know it’s happening, but I can’t recall what’s happened.
The girl shook her head and walked around the bike. “No. I think amnesia is too simple an answer. You seem to have multiple personalities. Before we arrived at the northern gate we decided your name was Jack. After the fight you woke up in the night and insisted your name was Wraith.”
He froze at the word. She’d mentioned it just before as well when she woke. Wraith. “How did you know that name?” he asked, not quite believing it.
“You’re the one that used it,” Ellie said. “Apparently it was your name before you lost your mind. One of the servant girls at the camp knew you before your memory loss. You’re Wraith. Wraith Belmont.”
While the name did feel familiar, it didn’t strike up any immediate memories for the vampire. He got the sense that the name meant something to Ellie though. She spoke the words with slight hesitance. There was a certain weight in the way she said the name, whether she realized it or not. “That name. It means something to you, doesn’t it?”
“Are you serious?” Ellie raised her brows and half-laughed. “Yeah. It does. The Belmonts are well known to the White Order. They’re kind of the holy grail of vampire hunting, but we’ve never been able to get close to them.”
“And I’m a part of this family?”
“I guess you were before you lost your mind and went feral. We first heard rumors over a year ago that Wraith Belmont had died. Clearly the tales of your death have been greatly exaggerated.”
“And this… Wraith. Who was he? What was he like?”
Ellie blew air from her lips as she considered the question. “He doesn’t have the best reputation, put it that way. He’s killed quite a few soldiers in the Order, and he’s not well liked around vampires either. I believe you’re quite infamous Wraith.”
“I believe you’re talking to Jack, actually.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said and nodded. “I remember everything before the border. I remember the fight too. It seems that Wraith took over for a little bit and resumed control. I apologize. I hope it wasn’t too chaotic.”
Silence breathed between them for a minute as Ellie stared back at him. Jack was familiar with Wraith by now. It was the name of that voice that came into his head sometimes. It was as if they were two entities sharing the same vessel. When the other was in control he had to sit in the background, watching as something else lived his life. Memories weren’t always guaranteed when he reclaimed control, but sometimes there were faint recollections.
He looked at Ellie and studied her face. She dropped her gaze from his. She was hiding something. Jack looked into her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. He had a faint recollection of a dark room. He was standing at the foot of her bed. There was…
Recollection flashed before Jack’s eyes as a stream of disorientated imagery. Bodies coming together. Flesh pressing against flesh. The scent of lavender and honey. Arousal. Tension. Lust. Sweat. The vision ended as fast as it had begun, and Jack found himself standing in front of Ellie once more.
“Are you okay?” she said, looking over at him in concern. “Your eyes have gone black. Your teeth…” The girl took a step back.
“I’m fine…” he said and paused to collect himself. “What happened while Wraith was in control?”
Her eyes glanced away once more. “Nothing,” she stammered. “Why?”
“We had sex,” he said.
“We did not!”
He stood, looking past the girl as he tried to feel out the truth. “No… but you were with him. You were with me.”
Her cheeks reddened in the darkness, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “He controlled me. I don’t want to talk about it. You don’t even remember! It’s just ridiculous really, I—I—” Ellie broke away mid-sentence and doubled over to cough hard. She winced at the movement, clutching her hand to her side.
The scent of iron wafted through the air to meet Jack. It caused his eyes to flush black once more and pulled his teeth into long points. Blood. “You’re bleeding,” he said and rushed over to Ellie. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing—” she stammered as she held the bloody mark on the side of her torso. Jack crouched, only to be met with a vibrant wall of the strong and alluring scent. There was blood, and a lot of it.
“This isn’t nothing, Ellie!” Jack snarled. “How long has it been like this?”
Sitting down, Ellie reached out a hand and grabbed Jack’s, swaying slightly as she attempted to sit up straight. “Since we left town. Five, six hours?”
“Jesus Christ, I have to heal you. You’ve lost way too much.” Standing, Jack turned on his feet and looked around the dark landscape. The black sky overhead was turning to a deep purple on the far horizon. They’d have to find shelter soon if he wanted to help Ellie.
“We have to keep going,” she protested. “The Circle will be after us.”
“Hell, to the circle,” he snarled back while scanning the horizon for anything. “I’ve fought them off a dozen times, I can do it again just as easy. There!” Hope spiked inside Jack as his eyes nestled on the silhouette of a barn just a mile from their position. He turned around and scooped Ellie up into his arms immediately. The girl winced slightly as he held her against his chest, her eyes drooping and head lolling as she tried to keep herself awake.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything…” she mumbled. “I didn’t want us to get in trouble. Are we getting back on the bike?”
“There’s a barn over there. The bike would take too long, but there’s another way. Hold on tight. I hope you don’t mind heights.”
Ellie forced her eyes open to look at the vampire. “Heights?”
Crouching down, Jack twisted his feet into the ground and turned in the direction of the barn. He launched up from the earth with an explosive jump that carried them high into the sky, soaring them across the dim dusk. Air whistled over their ears, the world rushed by underneath. Ellie squealed in his arms, holding him tight and shoving her face into his chest.
He touched down outside the barn a moment later, crouching to reduce the impact. The landing was expertly timed, carried out with the finesse of a falling cat. Ellie opened her eyes a moment later, not even realizing they had landed.
“We’re back on the ground,” she mumbled in a
mazement.
“That we are,” Jack answered as he pushed inside the old barn. The building had been abandoned for years by the looks of things. The trees outside were tall and overgrown. The wooden slats sagged from years of changing seasons. He’d been lucky to see it from his position on the road in the first place.
Inside, the barn was quiet and dark. Jack carried Ellie up a ladder to the hayloft and lay her down on the wood. The barn might have looked disheveled from the outside, but it was much better off inside. It was weather tight, and the harsh effects of nature hadn’t affected the interior too much.
“What’s going on?” Ellie mumbled as Jack rolled her blood-soaked shirt up her midriff. He found the source of the blood, a long scratch that traced up the side of her body. Not too deep, thankfully, just covering a large surface area of skin.
“I’m healing you,” he said while taking off his own shirt and lifting his arm to his mouth. “You helped me out before, it’s only fair that I return the favor. Vampires get nauseous from drinking their own blood, but it’s quite invigorating to drink if you’re a mortal. This will help heal your cut.”
“No,” Ellie said, shaking her head and lifting her arms up to stop him. “I’m not doing that, I’ll just—”
Jack pushed her arms away with ease, pressing his bloodied wrist against her mouth. It only took a brief taste to silence her protest. Not only was the blood invigorating, it tasted good to mortals too. “Just shut up and drink, Ellie. I’m doing this for your own good. I’m only doing this to protect you, I promise.”
He crouched like that for the next two minutes, holding his arm against her mouth while she drank deep. That distant voice grew louder in his head. The voice of the other. Wraith.
Funny. In all my years I don’t think we’ve ever used blood to help someone. You’re really damaging my reputation? You know that?
“Shut up!” Jack roared under his breath, pushing the voice in his head down and silencing it. It was true that he’d never used blood to save another before. The idea would have been laughable to him once. Wraith Belmont? Voluntary giving blood to save a human? Please.