As did the Kral.
“How are you feeling?” I asked. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“Stunned,” Luc admitted. “But I’m here. That’s gotta count for something, right?”
“Yeah,” I offered with a grin and then let the smile fall.
“What else?” he demanded.
“The Kral won’t come to Paris,” I said. “He hates the place. The Iunctio handed down their sentence from here. So, he’s gone to Auckland instead. To face them. To challenge them. To get his revenge.”
“To lure us - me - to him,” Luc added.
“Yeah.”
“Damn it,” he muttered.
“You don’t have to go,” I started.
“Like hell, I don’t! Auckland’s my home, Ellie. The Plaza, the people, the Iunctio.” He shook his head. “No two-bit power-hungry monarch is going to attack my home and family and get away with it.” He looked up at Hakan. “But what about your vampire? What about you?” he added, looking directly at Zahra.
“He is not my King,” Zahra snarled.
I saw the pain there. The memories. The horror.
Lucien saw it too.
He was on his feet, his fangs down, his eyes smokey-red in a heartbeat. “I will kill him,” he growled.
My brother; the lover, the poet, the spy-in-training.
My heart broke into a million tiny pieces and then slowly started to rebuild itself.
This was our life now. Our future. And I would not abandon him.
“Steady on, bro,” I said, forcing a lightness into my tone I didn't feel. Hakan’s hand landed on my shoulder in support. He squeezed it softly. “You’re the backup,” I told my twin.
“Backup? El!”
I held up a hand and let my Light build, let him see it. Let it fill the room and then shine on all of Paris.
“Goddess,” he murmured in awe.
“Your little witch is not the most powerful one here,” I said, drawing on all the Nosferatin in the city. Drawing on the City of Light itself. Stealing their powers.
“Shit,” he said. “What the fuck have we become?”
I smiled. It was in no way pleasant.
“The Kral’s worst nightmare,” I said.
My brother smirked. “The boogeyman under his bed,” he offered with a devilish chuckle.
I could almost believe it, almost think it real. Luc was still Luc.
Not some mysterious new creature born from Black Magic.
15
Now The Crowd Went Wild
We arrived in Auckland just at sunset. The shadows of the Council building across the street from The Plaza provided enough darkness for those who could not stand the sun’s light. I wondered if that number now included Luc. Hakan had said Zahra couldn’t walk in daylight, so I assumed Luc would suffer the same consequences.
Would Alain?
I looked at Papa’s spymaster now. He’d been silent after his unwelcome sojourn into the Dream Walking realm. His fangs hadn’t retracted yet, but thankfully his eyes had settled down to their usual mesmerising blue; nothing supernatural about them.
Ediz kept a close eye on him. As did Goran. I thought perhaps the Dökkálfa believed Alain to be the most unstable in our group. I didn’t think Dupont was unstable. I thought he was in shock. For an old vampyre like him to be showing such emotion, things had rattled him.
It would have made me smile any other day. Hell, it would have given me fodder to press all his buttons and then some. Instead, I turned my attention back to my father’s hotel and watched.
“There is no movement,” Georgia said quietly. “Not even a bellhop.”
“I sense Ljósálfar,” Goran offered.
The parasite.
“I sense the Dark,” I murmured.
“I don’t,” my brother said.
I flicked him a glance and noted the disconcerted look he wore. Luc was good at hiding his fear; hiding his emotions. He’d been taught by the best and then moulded into something else by Papa’s spymaster. He was reeling, much like Alain was. Both of them operating sub-par.
Ordinarily, I’d give them a talking to. Snap them out of it. Right then, I didn’t have the heart.
This was no way to face off against a powerful opponent, but we did have one thing on our side. We knew the terrain. This was our home. Our city. Ours.
I watched the shadows as they darkened further, but they revealed nothing. The Plaza stood silent and still, a monolith to vampires.
“Norms are approaching,” Georgia said on a hiss.
“Carrying pitchforks?” my brother asked, a little of his old irreverence shining through at last.
“And torches,” Samson offered, encouraging my twin because he could see what I saw which meant everyone could.
I needed to keep Luc safe, but keeping him out of this fight would be a tall ask.
Papa, I said silently, sending my thoughts into the ether. Where are you?
There was no answer.
I shifted my weight and watched as a group of Norms marched up Mayoral Drive toward The Plaza.
“Not pitchforks or torches,” Georgia said in a drawl, “but crowbars and sledgehammers. Subtle.”
“Do we let them reach the hotel?” someone asked.
“No,” I said as Alain and Luc said, “Yes,” together.
“Why would you let them into the hotel?” I demanded.
“I cannot raise my master,” Alain explained. “The connection is silent. If it is intentional, then Michel will have something in store for those who enter his domain. If it isn’t…”
He didn’t finish his sentence. If the Norms made it into the hotel’s lobby unhindered, then something was very wrong with my father. And with the Iunctio itself.
“No one can take on the Iunctio and win,” I murmured. I thought perhaps the words were more for me than anyone else. I turned to Hakan. “Can you sense the Mhachkay or Erbörü?”
“No. Not nearby,” he said. “But they could still be in the city, just not here.”
“Or my cousins have provided a shield of Light,” Goran offered.
“Wouldn’t I sense that?” I asked.
He shrugged; a very human affectation. One Aliath had mastered, but the Hyrða had not demonstrated until now. I thought perhaps we were a bad influence on the fairies. Rather like the parasite.
“The parasite might mask it,” I said in sudden understanding.
“They are corrupted,” Goran agreed. “They are no longer children of Álfheimr.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I didn’t have time to ask; the Norms reached the curved driveway of The Plaza. I could hear them shouting at each other; getting up the nerve to storm the vampire stronghold. Whatever had made them come here today, they weren’t convinced about it. Had the Kral sent men to stir up unrest in the masses? Was this a distraction?
I held my breath as the most vocal of the group surged forward and slammed his sledgehammer into the plate glass window in the foyer. Glass shattered. The crowd cheered. Nothing jumped out and ate them.
My father’s wards were down.
“That’s it,” I said. I turned to my brother. “Take Ediz and Zahra and go to Newmarket.”
“Guts & Glory?” Luc asked.
I nodded. “Tell Frank he owes Papa.”
“I think he paid back that debt a long time ago, sis,” Luc pointed out.
“Then smoke him. Show him what you are.”
“I don’t even know what I am and I sure as hell am not gonna trade that knowledge with a ghoul.”
Samson stepped forward. “I’ll go with you. My methods do not require a trade.”
“Samson,” Georgia said in a growl.
“Babe,” he murmured, his eyes flashing chocolate and taupe. “I’m a vampire. I don’t need to alter his reality. I just need to compel him.”
Vampires could control ghouls. It was forbidden in Auckland City, so what Samson wanted to do went against Iunctio rules. It would never be forgiven.
“I’m counting on it,” I told him. “Just bring a horde of ghouls with you.”
He sighed. And then looked at Zahra. “Fancy a beer?” he asked.
She scowled at him.
“They serve top shelf too, but the beers are better.”
“What?” the witch asked, completely clueless.
“It can be our first date,” Luc offered. “Nothing fancy. But a good place to start. Atmosphere, you know?”
I snorted. “If you like your dates to be surrounded by flesh-eating monsters. Jeez, Luc, you really know how to show a girl a good time.”
He flashed a smile at me, fangs peeking out beneath his lips.
“Oh, I think she can handle it,” he murmured. “Have you seen the size of her sword?”
“I think you want her to check out the size of yours,” I muttered.
He winked at me and my heart flipped. “Go,” I mouthed at him.
Sending him off on a mission was killing me. Having him walk into that hotel at my side would have made me crumble.
I needed Luc safe. This was as safe as I could get for now.
Luc saluted and started heading off down the street whistling. Ediz fell in at his side.
“Ah,” Zahra said. “He does know I can just take us there, doesn’t he?”
“I think he wants you watching his butt as he swaggers,” Georgia offered.
Samson snickered and started following behind Lucien. I would thank Mama’s vampire later. I looked at Georgia. She stayed at my side. Theirs was a trusting relationship. She trusted Samson to take care of himself. He trusted her to get into trouble.
Besides, I had something else planned for Gigi.
Zahra sighed and with one last look shared with Hakan, raced after the men she would have to ferry to Newmarket.
I turned to Georgia.
“Sensations,” I said. The vampire owned nightclub was a well known supernatural haunt in the city. It had been around for decades, receiving overhauls throughout the years which only seemed to make it better and better.
Those who loved vampires, and wanted to get a peek at the Master of the City - the third member of Georgia’s triumvirate - went to Sensations for an evening on the wild side.
“On it,” she said and flashed away.
Alain was watching the spot on the street where Luc had last been. I knew he wanted to go with his kindred, but his master’s wellbeing held him rigid. What a dichotomy to live. Tied to your sire and yet joined to your kindred.
It was a wonder Alain Dupont hadn’t started his own line yet. I think my father would have let him. Unless he knew about Alain’s hidden increase in powers. Then my father would have wanted to keep him close.
I suddenly had a better understanding of the spymaster.
“Where are your men?” I asked him.
He turned to look at me, but for a brief moment, there wasn’t recognition evident in his eyes. Then he shook his head.
I reached out and touched the shirt on his arm.
“It’ll get easier,” I said.
“You do not know that,” he murmured and then stepped away from me.
Alain hadn’t stepped away from me for years. The past few months, he’d spent more time in my personal space than out of it. I’d wanted him gone.
But not like this.
I grimaced and then shook free of the unwanted emotions.
“Round them up,” I said.
“You are not my master,” Alain murmured. “You are but a child.”
My stake was against his chest in a heartbeat.
“A child who could kick your arse, Dupont,” I said.
“You would risk Lucien’s life when you have fought so hard for it?”
“Who’s to say your joining is symbiotic? The Black Witch changed it. I could rid the world of one sneaky little spy, and no one would notice.”
“Do it,” he said, pressing his torso against the tip of my stake.
I stared into his hard eyes. Cyan and turquoise stared back at me. Defiant.
Desperate.
Hakan’s hand landed on Alain’s shoulder.
“You have lost something,” he said quietly. “It hurts. But we are vampyre.”
“Survive at all costs,” Alain whispered.
“Survive at all costs,” Hakan agreed. “It was the one tenet of the Iunctio’s I could stomach. The one rule I could live by.”
“There are others worth knowing,” Alain finally said.
He stepped back, straightened the cuffs of his shirt, looked down at his hands, his fingernails. This was not the Alain Dupont I had grown up knowing.
He had lost something, and I feared it was his identity. Himself.
He finally looked up at me, and I saw a stranger. It hurt. Just like Hakan had said. But I showed no emotion.
“The Council chambers,” he announced. “They’ll be there. Waiting.”
“And we’ll bring whatever army we can muster,” I replied.
“You are your father’s daughter, Ellie,” he murmured. I took that and the fact he wasn’t calling me Bébé as a show of respect.
“Thank you,” I told him.
He nodded his head, met Hakan’s eyes, and then flashed out of sight.
“Your plan?” my Savaşçı said. He didn’t even spare the spymaster another thought.
Alain had never been a rival to Hakan. Merely an obstacle to overcome. And he’d just proven how well he’d managed that.
“Someone owes me a favour,” I said and started walking toward my once-upon-a-time favourite haunt.
“Lady Ellie,” Goran said. I stopped walking and faced the fairy. “I must make a report.”
“Will Aliath help?” I hadn’t considered the Dark Fey. I should have. But fairies could be contrary.
“I will ask,” Goran said and then popped out of sight.
“Shit,” I said.
“He asks for you,” Hakan murmured at my side.
“Yeah.” I shook my head. Goran would place himself in Aliath’s debt to ask for his help. For me. Not for my father and the Iunctio. But for me. “I guess for a green goblin he’s not such a bad guy.”
Hakan snorted and then gripped my hand, brushed his mind against mine, and then laughed. And then we appeared in Reggie’s Bar.
No, I corrected. We appeared in the arena out back.
I spun around as the crowd went wild. Stomping feet and loud cracks of sound as their beer mugs hit the bleachers at their sides. The cage came down. The rattle of the chains almost drowned out the sound of the crowd shouting. I could just make out what they were saying.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
I scowled.
The shadow of a figure appeared overhead, up in the viewing box that hung out over the stands. Ordinarily, you couldn’t see inside the one-way glass. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. Hakan had. Reggie looked down on the arena and smiled. It was a toothy smile.
Then the intercom crackled and the chant the crowd had been making quieted.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our favourite Nosferatin,” Reggie said. “Where you been, El?”
“Has patronage been down, Reggie?” I shouted back.
He narrowed his beady little eyes.
“You owe me a fight,” he snapped.
“I don’t have time for this,” I muttered.
“Does a Durand not pay their debts?” he taunted.
“I owe you nothing, you piece of ghoul shit!” I shouted, throwing myself against the bars of the cage.
People on the other side of it scrambled back as if I could break free of the reinforced metal by simply being enraged.
“I’ll even let you fight unbanded,” Reggie replied.
“I’ll show you banding, you flesh eating bottom feeder!”
“Now, now, now, El,” Reggie
said. “Just one fight. Come on! You practically lived your entire youth inside this arena. For old times sake. Come on! And it looks like you’ve got the perfect match already. Isn’t this the vampire you wanted to use to wipe the floor clean.”
“Ignore him,” I muttered to Hakan.
“I will cleave his body in two,” Hakan replied reasonably.
I smiled. Reggie’s scowl developed grooves on top of grooves.
“You owe me, Daughter of the Champion,” the fucking ghoul said.
“He didn’t,” I said with a sigh. Invoking my lineage always, always, got me riled.
But the anger wasn’t there this time.
I smiled.
Then I spun around and faced the crowd. Continuing in a slow circle, I spread my arms wide.
“You know who I am?” I shouted.
“El…lie! El…lie! El…lie!” the crowd cried.
“You know my name,” I said. “Good.” I took a step forward and thumped my chest. “I am the daughter of the Champion! I am the daughter of the Prophesied! I am the Entwined of a Mhachkay!”
Reggie’s scowl disappeared, replaced by shock which swiftly became dismay. I might have given him a juicy piece of gossip, and any ghoul worth his salt would salivate at that, but I’d given it to every one of the arena’s audience as well. He threw his hands up and sighed.
“You’ve seen me fight!” I shouted. “You know how good I am!” I pulled my jacket off and lifted my left arm up high. My Sigillum blazed all manner of colours. Red for passion. Crimson for fury. Honey for hope. Violet for outrage. Canary yellow for pride.
The crowd went wild. I spotted one or two familiar faces. Gavin, the young kid who’d held my gear for me while I’d fought Alain outside of Travis’ home met my eyes. He grinned back at me and pumped the air with his fist.
“Ellie! Ellie! Ellie!” he chanted.
“Today,” I said, amplifying my voice with my Light, drowning out his and everyone else’s words. The room blazed. The arena lit up with Enchanted magic. Hakan’s Mhachkay powers entwined with mine. The entire building came alive. “Today I will fight,” I said. “But not in the arena. Not here. Today I fight out there. On the street. In my city! Defending what is mine. I don’t need your money. I don’t need your adulation. I need you at my side. Will you fight with me? Will you fight to take back what is ours by right? Will you join the Nosferatin and the Nosferatu? Will you join me and fight?”
Blood Enthralled (Blood Enchanted, Book Three): A Vampire Hunter Paranormal Romance Series Page 14