by E. M. Knight
“I don’t think she gained that much strength,” I say. I shake my head. “No. It’s impossible. Even erecting the wards requires the help of the strongest torrial in existence. Affecting the actual moon? No way.”
“I saw it change shape,” Raul confides. “One moment it was a sliver. The next it was nearly full. Something is being done. Remember, the ceremony is supposed to take place on a full moon.”
“I know.”
“That’s why I was so concerned about tonight. The stars are not yet aligned. The moon is just a proxy for that, I always thought. But what if it’s not the stars that are needed, not the placement as it is in the celestial charts, but something else? Mother still thinks she can do whatever she intends to.” He looks at me. “Do you now see the danger?”
“The goblet is a failsafe,” I tell Raul, trying to sound confident. “I’m confident in my abilities.”
“Even against a witch who’s been practicing magic longer than she’s been a vampire?” Raul asks. He stops and holds me by the shoulders. He lowers his voice. “Felix isn’t here. You can confide in me. If you don’t think you can handle it—”
“I do,” I cut him off. A flash of anger takes hold. “Raul, you have to stop doubting me. I tell you I can do something, and I mean it!”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Oh? Then what are you doing there, standing in the way?”
“Giving you an out,” he stresses. “Look around you. Look where we are. There’s nobody here! Listen, there’s a secret exit less than two hundred yards away. We can take it, just say the word, and then—”
“And then what?” I interrupt, jerking free from his grip. “You want me to run? To abandon all of this, to go into hiding, just like a coward would?”
“That’s not what I said,” he growls, his own frustration mounting.
“It sure sounds like what you’re suggesting,” I counter. “I don’t need you like this, Raul. I don’t need you to give me an ‘out’, whatever that means. I don’t even need you now!
“I needed you hours ago, after you dashed off without a word. And then you disappeared, leaving me on my own at the exact moment I did need your support?”
“You think I left you by choice?” He sounds exasperated. “I left you because that was the only way I could sneak out of the stronghold without anybody noticing! I had to look through Mother’s things, to try to find some clue about what she intends! I went back to the apartments because I was trying to help you.”
“Next time, try harder,” I tell him, crossing my arms. He ditched me for that? To go sneaking around without a word of warning? “What it you were caught? What if someone saw you disobeying orders and took a cue from your behavior?”
“Trust me, I know how to make myself unseen when need be.”
“So why don’t you go and make yourself unseen now?” I snap.
“What?” He sounds shocked.
“You heard me.” I’m angry with him for treating me like such a little child. I’m angry with him because he didn’t think he could trust me enough to tell me where he went before he left. I’m angry with him because now, after Felix and I put our plan together, he’s trying to interfere and dismiss it all completely.
“You ditched me in my hour of need,” I press on, anger giving shape to my thoughts. “You have no right to offer an out now. You lost that privilege when you left me to fend for myself. After we made love! You know how that made me feel? Cheap. Dirty. Used!”
“Eleira… I didn’t know…”
“I didn’t say anything before because when could I? We had so much more important things to focus on. But now, since we’re being so honest with each other—” I sneer at him, “—I’m going to tell you exactly how I feel.”
His face falls. “I didn’t realize…”
“Yeah, there’s plenty you don’t realize,” I snarl, turning away from him. “For a vampire who’s been alive for five hundred years, your common sense is comically absent.”
With an angry first step, I start back in the direction we came. “I’m going back. You can come, or you can stay behind. But I’m not looking to let my resolve be weakened by you any longer.”
I make my way forward, not so much as glancing back.
I expect to hear his footsteps, or some words of defense, but instead, I get… silence.
My heart falls and for a moment I waver. Had I been too harsh?
But, no, he got what was coming. He had to hear me out. I didn’t even know I was harboring such contentious feelings until they revealed themselves in the heat of the moment.
I keep going.
Raul stays quiet.
That pisses me off even more. He should be standing up for himself, even in front of me—especially in front of me—if he wants me to respect him in any way as a man.
I didn’t expect him to just lie down and take it!
When I reach a turn in the tunnel, I stop. Irritation is bristling through me. Still no words from Raul!
Directed by anger more than anything, I dig my heel in the ground and turn back.
“If you think silence is going to get you anywhere…” I begin.
The words die on my tongue when I see the scene behind me.
Raul is surrounded by a ring of guards. Each of them is holding a silver-tipped spear to his neck. Off to one side stands Morgan, casually leaning against the rock. A continuous weave of magic streams from her to Raul. I see it tight around his mouth, keeping his lips sealed and jaw locked in place.
“Bravo, my dear,” the Queen drawls. “You’re going to need that type of fervor when you’re dealing with the court.”
She signals behind me. Before I can so much as move, I feel a pinch in my neck, almost like a dart.
A heaviness comes over me.
The world goes black.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Eleira
Location unknown
I come to and jerk my head up. I try moving my arms—I cannot.
I’m bound.
All my senses kick in to high alert. I strain against whatever’s holding me in place.
It’s no use. My legs, my arms, my waist are all tied tight.
It takes an extra second to recognize the unwelcome sensation of silver coming from all around me.
A soft, almost mocking sigh comes from the far side of the chamber.
Morgan.
“Finally, you’re up,” she says. She’s lounging on a sofa made of deep red leather.
We are the only ones in the room.
“What is this?” I demand. I thrash against the bonds. “What are you doing?”
She tsks. “The question, my dear, is the right one… but misdirected.” She picks herself up. “The real one… is what you are.”
She sweeps her hand in front of her, and a vision swirls into the room.
I don’t see any of the four forces giving it life.
Shapes become prominent in the haze. They’re blurry at first but quickly sharpen.
It shows me and Felix conferring in the older vampire’s room.
I gasp.
“Surprised?” the Queen mocks. “Don’t be. I’ve got eyes on every inch of this place. What kind of ruler would I be if I didn’t know what was going on in my kingdom?”
“You spy!” I accuse.
“Keeping an eye on unruly children is far, far different from spying, Eleira.” The Queen walks through the clouds of the vision. They part and give way, then rejoin as soon as she’s moved past.
She steps close to me. “Especially when they conspire against you. Don’t you think?”
Suddenly Felix’s voice booms through the air, magnified a hundred times. “…THE GOBLET CAN PROTECT YOU, BUT ONLY IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT AGAINST HER—”
It sounds, and it cuts off. Morgan gloats in my face. “You see? How easy it is to ensure complete compliance. I know all you planned, Eleira. Don’t worry—I don’t blame you.” She laughs. “Somebody else poisoned your mind.”
/>
Another sweep of her hand, and the vision shifts. Suddenly it shows Felix, bound to a silver stake and screaming as lashes made of fire rain down on him from behind.
“A tad melodramatic without sound, don’t you think?” the Queen asks. “Hmm…lets fix that.”
Her fingers move in a precise pattern. Suddenly the screams blast through the room.
“Ah,” she smiles. “Much better.”
I try to put on a strong face, but inside, I’m terrified. If the Queen did this to him…
“When was this?” I demand. “Tell me!”
She has the gall to look shocked. “Why, it’s happening right now, my sweet.” She trails a finger down my cheek.
I recoil in disgust.
“Liar,” I spit. “You need to be present to do magic. I can see the weaves making the flames!”
“Yes, but whoever said I was the one channeling?”
The point of view zooms out, and the lens slowly rotates to reveal…
Phillip.
I gasp.
The vision streaks forward and offers a close-up of his face. His eyes are glazed over and unseeing. Black specks flow across the whites.
“What did you do to him?” I whisper.
Morgan laughs, and the vision vanishes.
“I gave him a nudge,” she answers. “And revealed to him his true potential.”
“You bewitched him!”
“No. I only showed him the path. I let him give in to his vampiric nature… and that paved the way to his.”
“Where are they?” I demand. “Let Felix go!”
“You’re not Queen yet, to make demands of me,” she murmurs. Without another glance she turns away. “No, Eleira, you are still but a child. Powerful, yes… but doomed to languish below your potential. Because you are held back by your ideals.”
She sighs. “Such peculiar things, those are. You know, I was bound by them once. I wanted to do good. I tried, I really did, to protect the vampires of The Haven. I did so for many years. And how was I repaid?”
Her back stiffens. Her hands clench into fists at her side. “Betrayal. Disloyalty. Conspiracy. A coup. Well, Eleira, none of those things will be possible any longer… because I have you.”
She turns her head to me. “You remember what happened to your friend Patricia, yes? Oh wait, no, not Patricia. Patricia was killed by the demon. Her husband. What was his name?”
She makes a mockery of the injustice of their deaths.
“Jacob,” I say through gritted teeth, trying hard not to unleash my anger.
“That’s right, Jacob,” she says. “I cleaved his soul from his body. As I did to so many others through the years. In truth, all of it was building to this point. Because I need your powers, Eleira. And the only way to get them…?” She smiles.
“Is to sever my soul from my body and plant it into yours.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Eleira
My eyes bulge out of my head. Fear takes a stranglehold on me.
“The missing piece, all along…” Morgan says, casually running her hand over the distant wall. “Was something you helped me discover yourself. For that I am grateful. And do not worry. I mean not to kill you.” She laughs her chiming laugh. “You are much too precious to waste.”
“Where is Raul?” I demand. “What did you do to him?”
“My son? Your lover? Funny, how those are one and the same. Well, soon I’ll be able to experience him for myself. He’ll have no idea anything is amiss the first time his lips touch mine while I’m staring out from your eyes onto his body.”
“You’re sick,” I say. “Twisted.”
“You think those words hurt me?” She shakes her head. “Fling your insults, Eleira, for they’ll do you no good.”
“What did you do to Raul?” I repeat, my teeth grinding from frustration.
“He’s safe enough,” she says dismissively. “Though I fear he has no part to play in what comes next. He was supposed to offer you marriage, did you know? I thought he would have done it by now. You look surprised. Don’t be. Raul was never one to take decisive action with the women in his life.”
She turns back and faces me again. “He never took my advice to heart. Unfortunately. Just as I helped Phillip, I could have helped him. But not in this body, no.” She gestures down at herself. “He does not see me as he should. But when he looks at you… well, soon enough I’ll know exactly what it’s like to be the object of his affection. And I won’t squander it, like you have.”
“You think you can just take over my body and nobody will know?” I’m bewildered by what is happening in front of me.
“No, no. People will know. You will know. I will know, too. But of course you won’t be able to do a thing.”
“Just try me,” I snarl.
Morgan throws her head back and laughs. “I don’t need to ‘try you’, my dear. Look at yourself now. Bound tight and helpless. The only reason you’re alive is your potential… which, by the way, will soon be mine.”
She starts playing with the jewel bracelet on her wrist. “Truth is, I’m doing you a favor. You aren’t ready to handle the responsibilities of being Queen. Look how you bungled things with Logan. Of course, the blame cannot be set entirely on you. Raul was there, too. He is equally responsible. But if it had been me at his side, you can be assured that the threat from The Crypts would have quickly been eliminated. We vampires, we are stronger when together. The Crypts have a King. The Haven has a Queen. Two of the most powerful covens in the world, each with their own set rulers.
“Well, of course we should be joined with them. We do not need to fight. Together, our covens will make the greatest dark alliance the world has ever seen!”
“You know what he wants,” I hiss. “I will never allow that!”
I keep straining, straining against the bonds but they do not budge. And somehow, at the same time, the Forces are blocked from me. I can only feel the faintest hint of their presence, nowhere near strong enough to channel. A hint, a wisp, a left-over trail… that’s all there is.
“Fortunately for us,” Morgan says, “it is not you who will be making that decision. Once the ceremony is done.”
She claps her hands once. On the cue, a hidden door in the side of the chamber wall pops open. Four vampire guards march in, dragging a large metal cage behind them. It’s pulled by a massive chain.
Inside, the Narwhark is snatching and snapping and lunging at the bars, trying to break free. Each of its assaults shakes the structure, but the bars do not give.
I recognize one of the guards. “Jonathan,” I plead. “Help me!”
He keeps his gaze steadfastly on the floor.
Morgan sneers. “My vampires are, and always have been, loyal to their Queen,” she says. “Loyal to one. Loyal, only to me.”
She walks over to the guard named Jonathan, tilts his chin up, and seals her lips over his.
She lets him go. Then, she looks up and gloats at me. “You see, Eleira? That’s loyalty.”
She dismisses the guards with a quick gesture. Not one of them looks my way.
Then it’s just me, Morgan, and the Narwhark together in the room.
The Queen glides up to the cage. When she’s within a few feet of the bars, the demon suddenly goes quiet. It retreats to the center and slowly, uncertainly, lies down.
Its tail flicks up once then goes still.
“Good,” Morgan coos. “It knows its master.”
Then, to my utmost horror, she reaches over and unlatches the lock.
“Come,” she says.
The Narwhark trots out, tail between its legs. “How docile,” Morgan murmurs. She starts toward me. The demon walks at her side.
My body tenses. Even though I am a vampire, I know that when I’m bound and blocked like this, I am easy prey for the Narwhark. I heard descriptions of the grisly scene it left of Patricia.
The demon comes to a full stop just a few feet away from me. It sits down. Its eyes stare into
mine.
“It will do anything I command,” Morgan tells me. “You mustn’t be scared. It is on our side.”
I catch the swarms of black specks beyond the Queen’s irises, and suddenly, I understand.
She’s controlling the Narwhark with dark magic.
“Whatever you’re planning—whatever you’re going to do—it isn’t going to work,” I bluff. “Raul will find out. The Royal Court will find out. They will hold you accountable, and—”
“Oh, no. No, no, no. Raul is quite incapacitated at the moment. As for the Royal Court… well, you see what’s being done to Felix. Phillip is square on my side, too. So—” she grins, “—you are, unfortunately, all alone. There is nobody who can help you.”
She steps so close that I can feel her breath on my skin. “Nobody, that is, except for me.”
She turns away. The Narwhark jerks its head toward her. Then, it turns back to me.
“I’m not your enemy, Eleira. You and I want similar things. Intuitively you know that you have tremendous, amazing potential… just as you know you are hamstringing yourself with those pesky morals of yours.”
“Let me go. I won’t hold it against you. We can work together, as you said—”
“Really?” She cuts me off. “Really, you resort to begging? Please. Don’t insult us.”
I almost scram in agonizing frustration.
“The Haven was promised a new Queen. This will come on the next full moon. But in the days before, there are other things that must be done. I am tired of waiting for you, Eleira. Perhaps, if we had time—years, decades—all this could have worked the way it was intended to at the start. But you simply cannot be trusted to have the best interest of our vampires in mind.”
“And you do?” I challenge. “You lie and cheat and kill to get your way!”
She looks at her nails. “A ruler has to be merciless,” she murmurs. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”
With a sudden move she spins around and throws her arm out at the demon. A slash of vertical energy stronger than anything I’ve felt before rips through the air.