The Last Keeper's Daughter

by Rebecca Trogner

  “Walter was upstairs in a guest room sleeping off the tranquilizer. We, the witches and I, were on the patio outside your mother’s room preparing for the ritual. I went into her room to get Randolph and Marissa. He had …” Henry averted her eyes. “There was no pleasure he did not take from her body.” He reached out to take her hand. “Randolph paid for what he did to Marissa. I promise you, he paid dearly.”

  “And?” Lily’s voice was ice.

  “Martha must have heard her screams. She came charging in with a butcher’s knife. Randolph wrestled it out of her hand and set upon her like a wild dog. I separated them. Took her upstairs and tranced everything from her mind.”

  Lily pulled her hand back. “Go on.”

  “Marissa was barely conscious. I carried her outside for the summoning. For the first time Azazel was able to cross over enough to have some form. He hovered over her. Something about her gave him strength. He made Randolph leave, enraged that he’d hurt her. He ordered me to place her on the bed and wait outside. He stayed with her a long time, as long as he could before the gate’s power imprisoned him again. As he disappeared he told me to care for her and her unborn child.”

  “That night, I tranced your mother with a beautiful memory of a romantic evening with Walter. I thought of it as a conception present. Then I fed her and healed her wounds. You have her aura about you. Even as enticing as she was, you smell a thousand times sweeter. What does she taste like, dear brother?”

  “You’ll never know,” Lily answered.

  “You’ve said that to me before, and yet, I do not believe that is so.” He laughed. “Those nine months were the happiest of her life. I gave her that, at least. You feel the connection.” Henry cocked his head. “Yes, I see that you do. It’s my blood that helped nestle you inside your mother’s womb. I couldn’t stay away from her. I watched from the shadows as her belly grew large. Crept into her bed like a beggar and suckled from her breasts. I tranced her doctor into prescribing a special drink for her which I provided.”

  “Your blood,” Krieger said.

  “Yes. The taste covered by a vitamin drink, but yes. She grew fat and healthy.” He stopped, listening for something or someone. Stood, turned towards the back wall and listened again, then turned back to Lily. “I almost lost you. Can you imagine?” He looked at Lucien and Krieger. “The doctor was incompetent.”

  “It’s true,” Lily murmured, “I killed her.”

  “No Lily, it was the doctor’s fault. The nurses tried to intervene, but he ignored them, and waited until it was almost too late. I’ve told you this so you’d understand that I loved her. Even without her ever really knowing I existed. After you were born, I tried to turn her, but was not powerful enough then.”

  Lily looked down at her hands. “Why did you kill Walter?”

  “It was the bargain he made. I agreed to reunite him with her, if he would care for you until you reached maturity.”

  “There’s one explanation none of you have suggested.” Lily waited until she had their undivided attention. “I could be Randolph’s child.” She winced at the thought.

  “No, you’re an Other.” Henry smiled with pride. “Just look at you.”

  “But that’s just it, I probably am by now. My mother might have carried some small trait in her DNA. You just said that you gave her your blood until I was born. What would that do to a fetus?” Lily turned to stare at Krieger. “How much of your blood have I had? Wouldn’t that do amazing things to any person? Why were you all so sure?”

  Her only answer was silence.

  “So, no vampire has done this before? I mean…” She hesitated, not sure how to say it. “Shared their blood with an unborn child? Maybe I’m–” She swallowed. “The child of Randolph and Henry.”

  Henry stared at her differently. “I never thought of that. You, my child, my blood.” His mind was working through the possibilities. “No,” he closed the door to the idea. “You must be of Azazel, otherwise he could not have crossed over.”

  “She does have a point, though.” Lucien stepped forward. “Without your blood she would probably never have been born.”

  “Yes,” Merlin agreed. “Until we have more proof, I think we should assume nothing.”

  “Did you–” Lily tried to stand, but her legs would not cooperate. “Did you reunite Marissa with Walter?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Walter and Gibson were the sacrifice, the final offering to Azazel, if that is his name. It allowed him to break free of the gate, correct?” Krieger asked. He took the opportunity to move closer to Lily. “Did you know Walter asked me to take her?”

  Henry seemed distracted. “Only after it was too late. I knew he had doubts. Winston started sniffing around. He was looking into what Randolph had been working on, asking questions. I had his remains shipped to Walter as an incentive to keep up his end of the bargain. Gibson was sacrificed, but my revenant had spent too much time playing with him, he barely had any life force left. Walter was unhinged, thinking he could hear Marissa singing. He wasn’t really there anymore. When he was coherent, he told me what he’d done. Said that he’d never let me do to Lily what I’d done to Marissa. How did he know?”

  Lily kept her eyes fixed on Henry. A plan was taking form in her mind. “You cared for me, didn’t you?” She stood, shook off Krieger’s touch and walked towards Henry. “You visited me when I was small.” Things fell into place. The memories of a dark man, always in the shadows, her night walks with Walter, and the strange sensation throughout her life of someone watching her.

  Henry’s face softened, became almost childlike. “He sent for me, the night you walked in.”

  “Walter, you mean, when I found him with–”

  “Yes, he’d tied you to a chair opposite the bed. You were so small, huddled, pushed as far away from the bed as the rope would allow, your eyes staring at her. What father would do that?” He glanced at Krieger, perhaps answering his own question. “I took you to your bedroom, rocked you, comforted you, eventually tried to take the memory away, but a child’s mind is too nimble. You stopped speaking after that. I visited you as often as I could, left you presents, notes, keepsakes.”

  “The clues, it was you, wasn’t it?” Lily asked.

  “I should have known,” Krieger sighed. “Henry loves a good game. You planted those, didn’t you? To keep us searching, always one step ahead of us.”

  “She needed the truth. Marissa’s daughter deserved better than what Walter did to her.”

  “The code,” she murmured.

  Henry’s eyes held pity. “I created the puzzles, not Walter.”

  “A dark force now roams the earth, and you speak of puzzles. Incredible.” Merlin rolled his eyes and took a step closer to Henry.

  “No, you’re wrong,” Henry insisted. “Azazel is not evil or dark, and yet he was imprisoned. Have you ever wondered why the Elder ignored the pleas of the Others? Watched as their numbers dwindled and their children died. What of us, brother? When was the last vampire made? Lily is proof that there is no evil in this. Mere cracks have been opened, and look at the wonders it has created.”

  “I feel it.” Lily stepped into Henry’s personal space, brushed her hand across his shoulders, causing him to turn and face her. “I feel our bond. It’s always been there, I just didn’t recognize it. I should have had your blood, not his.” She looked over her shoulder at Krieger, hoping he’d understand her motives. “Do you still want me?” she asked Henry.

  Henry’s face radiated the righteousness of a zealot. “You see, brother. I knew she would choose me.”

  “I won’t let you take her.” Krieger ground out the words through gritted teeth.

  “Little girl, you play a dangerous game,” Lucien spoke inside her head.

  “Azazel will find me.” She smiled up at Henry. “He’ll reward you. I will reward you.”

  Henry placed his left hand on her shoulder. “Yes, I always knew you’d understand.”

  Lily kept
her gestures normal as she crossed her arms over her chest, slipping her right hand inside the jacket breast pocket.

  Henry looked up at Krieger. “Do you remember our pagan birth? Did the Roman’s burn the fire from you, dear brother? After so long, we are no longer ruled by the Elder, or our creator. We are the rulers now.”

  A long low wail pierced the night. The Vantors were baying at something, like hounds trapping a fox. She felt Henry’s attention divert to whatever was happening outside.

  “Now,” Lucien’s voice urged, inside her mind. “Do it now!”

  Her hand wrapped around the hilt of the dagger. Henry pulled back, to go to the pitiful wailing thing, his head turning away from her. She could partially see his lips moving, knew he was screaming, but she was too focused to hear. His chest was completely open to her now.

  Lucien appeared behind Henry, holding him for that brief second, long enough for Lily to rip the dagger out and back, plunging it into Henry’s chest, exactly where Krieger had indicated. It went in too easy, she’d expected it to be more difficult to kill a man. She looked down at her hand, still holding the hilt of the dagger, the blade completely driven inside Henry’s chest. Blood, thick and dark, oozed out between her fingers.

  Lucien held Henry’s arms, the dagger sticking out of his chest. Krieger grabbed her shoulders.

  “No, no,” she screamed. “Let me go.”

  “Why?” Henry sank down onto his knees and she with him. He looked down at the dagger in disbelief. Just a second ago he was alive, brimming with life, and now… She’d killed him. He fell onto his side, into a pool of his blood. Lily couldn’t tear her eyes away from his. She watched them dim. He blinked, his lips moved, she had to lean down to hear him. “Forgive me,” he whispered.

  Krieger pulled her back. “Don’t look.”

  It probably only took seconds, but they ticked so slowly it felt like hours. Henry’s face turned gray and lost all defining features. He was disintegrating before her eyes. In a flash, the Dragon, Lucien’s sword, separated Henry from his head. Merlin began chanting, the fireplaces springing to life with infernos. With a sweep of his hands, the sorcerer propelled what was left of Henry into the flames.

  “I killed him,” Lily said. “I killed your brother.”

  “Yes, he can’t hurt you anymore.” Krieger enveloped her in his arms. “You’re shaking.”

  More than that, her teeth were chattering. “Burn it,” she said. Not sure he could understand, she yelled as loud as she could. “Burn it all down.”

  “Waverly?” Lucien asked.

  “Yes!” It was hard for her to speak. “My mother, everything.”

  She was drifting, probably in shock. Her eyes were heavy and refused to stay open. She heard the ocean, the pounding surf echoing louder and louder. She was aware enough to know she was still in Krieger’s arms. She was losing consciousness now. The dragon swooped down and landed beside her, nodding its massive head in approval.

  “Lily,” she heard Krieger’s voice.

  “I’m sorry,” she said to Krieger, before slipping away.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Do you know what they talk about?” Lucien asked Krieger.

  “The Ancient does most of the talking.”

  They watched Nina walk towards the garden, now healed and healthy. Gas lights flickered valiantly against the dark, illuminating her path. The winter solstice had passed, but the temperature remained in the low forties. Krieger knew in the valley below, sheltered by his mountain, it was warmer. He saw Lily turned toward Nina and wave her over to the bench she was sitting on with the Ancient.

  “Almost every night, since that night, they sit like this.” Lucien didn’t need to say what night. “Is it good for her?”

  “It is,” Merlin replied. The three men stood on the rise of land that Stoke Castle sat upon. They watched the strange trio below, who were looking down at what had once been Lily’s home, Waverly. “The doctor says this is cathartic, for both of them.”

  “Has Dr. Caanan confirmed our suspicion?” Krieger asked, not taking his eyes off Lily.

  “Yes, Henry’s revenant was Randolph.” Merlin’s voice drifted off with each word. “He paid for his sins, many times over.”

  “Not nearly. I should have been the one to end his miserable existence.” Krieger heard Lily laugh at something the Ancient said.

  “He barely speaks to anyone but them.” Lucien kept his voice very low. “Even I feel intimidated in his presence, and yet, there they sit, like he’s the favorite family uncle.”

  “He soothes them somehow, telling them stories of places and times. They’ll come to no harm from him, and no one will harm them whilst he is near,” Merlin said.

  “We have more important things to discuss.” Krieger looked down the valley to Waverly, or what was left of it. They had done as Lily asked, and burned her mother’s corpse and everything else inside the manor. Merlin created an explosion which even destroyed the stone walls and foundations until Waverly was reduced to a heap of rubble.

  Liam came running up to Lily. He was in wolf form, his coat a blur of black and gray. He lay down at her feet. Krieger knew he did this to keep her warm against the night.

  “Hunter and Meirta are on their way back. They confirmed Merlin’s visions. A new king has risen to rule over Russia, Grigori.”

  “And Henry’s coven?” Merlin asked Lucien.

  “Advisors.” Lucien laughed. “Hunter calls them the king’s advisors.”

  “Were they able to secure a picture?” Krieger asked.

  “Some sketches, Hunter will email them tonight. It could be the beautiful man, as Lily calls him. Hunter said they can’t be sure. He appeared out of nowhere six weeks ago with no record of his existence before that time.” Lucien rolled his finger around Dragon’s hilt. “She still has no idea who or what she is. This Grigori, could he be what Henry summoned?”

  “Azazel and Grigori, they could be one and the same, or two separate entities.” Merlin rolled his shirt sleeves down against the cold. “We shall know in time.”

  “The visions have ceased?” Lucien asked.

  “She says that they have,” Krieger answered.

  “Did you truly mean it?” Lucien asked Krieger.

  Krieger raised an eyebrow. “Truly mean what?”

  “That she is free to choose her mates?”

  Merlin coughed.

  “Lily will always be my Sanguis Ancilla.” Krieger turned back to look at her. He knew she was aware of his attention, but refused to acknowledge it. “She is a woman of free will.”

  “Well.” Merlin coughed again. “We need to prepare for the Council meeting. I’m sure one will be called shortly, given we now have a new monarch.” Merlin gave a long look to Nina and started the walk back to the castle.

  “Go on, I’ll join you later.” Krieger watched the two men leave. He stood for a while watching Lily, hoping she’d return his gaze. When she did not, he walked down the overgrown path to his cabin.

  Dale Hunter’s Notes on the Other World

  Ancient(s): Vampires. Older than old. Some sleep for hundreds of years. Sort of like hibernation. One has arrived at Stoke. Best description is a debonair Neanderthal.

  Lily Ayres: Daughter of Walter Ayres. Krieger’s Sanguis Ancilla. Very interesting young woman. Looks like an Other, though what type no one seems to know. Liam and Meirta say she smells better than anyone else they’ve ever met. I think it’s strange everyone goes around smelling each other, but to them it’s normal. Meirta says everyone has their own unique scent.

  Randolph Ayres: Walter Ayres father.

  Walter Ayres: Human. Keeper to Krieger Barnes. Since the 1600s, the first born son of this line of Ayres has been a keeper.

  Krieger Barnes: Vampire King of North America. Merlin says he was born in Germania during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He is massive and deadly. Need to research Germania.

  Bast: Seen Other with Egyptian lineage. Beautiful people, graceful, polite and,
from what I can tell, very intelligent.

  Henry Beckett: Vampire. Krieger’s brother. Subject of Queen Ekaterina.

  Martha Best: Human. I have not met Ms. Best, but she is the surrogate mother of Lily.

  Lucien Black: Vampire. Slayer to the King of North America. Krieger and Lucien are close, like brothers.

  Brotherhood of the Sanguis: A sect of vampires, and maybe Others, who try to disturb the balance of the Other world. Have been known for terrorist acts. Assumed that Nina was captured and tortured by the Brotherhood.

  Dr. Caanan: Human. Royal Medicus. Graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Caanan’s father was also a royal Medicus to the king.

  Cherie: Seen Other. An Ouled skilled in the arts of seduction and passion. Extremely beautiful.

  Dark Ones: Myth? Vampires and Others that fought against retreating into the shadows during the Great War. They were either exterminated or imprisoned inside one of the gates.

  Drago: Unseen Other. Leader of the Dragon Men. Have tusks, need I write more? Haven’t had any contact with the Dragon Men. I have heard they are fierce warriors.

  Dragon Men: Unseen Other, see above.

  Queen Ekaterina: Vampire Queen of Russia. Merlin says that she is a cross between Catherine the Great and Caligula. I hope to never meet her.

  Elder: Other (both seen and unseen) - Supreme Ruler of the Others. In charge of the Legacy Foundation and the keepers. His true name is Huthwiat. I think he’s been here since the beginning, of earth, our solar system, the universe?

  Fallen: See Watchers below.

  Gates: Supposed to be nine gates between hell and us, here on earth. Not sure if this is just myth or real. Scares the shit out of me though.

  Detective Dale Hunter: Human extraordinaire. Exceptional detective. I couldn’t leave myself out.

  Keepers: Human go-between for vampires. The tradition is dying out since the advent of technology. Now they are historians, archivists, and archeologists.

  Legacy Foundation: Head office located in London, England. The Elder, along with Mathers, is a permanent resident. The Elder is in charge of the keepers. Housed inside are archives of documents and artifacts regarding the Others that have been retrieved, or stolen, depends on how you look at it, for hundreds of years. Oh, and a really big tree.