by Cege Smith
It was strange to think about the place that had been his home all those years. It didn’t fit then, and it didn’t fit now. The whirlwind that happened when he kidnapped Angeline on her journey back to Brebackerin threw all of that into chaos and highlighted it for him even more.
First, he broke ancient vampire law by accidentally turning Angeline into a wraith. Then he committed treason when he swore his allegiance to her. Finally, he turned traitor on his sire when he sent Rhone to Monroe’s hiding place and gave Rhone the information needed to kill him. He would understand if Angeline didn’t trust him. He had reached the point where he wasn’t sure if he could trust himself.
Theodora was clearly someone of vast importance. First Seat was a position of power. He only had to watch the immediate deference and the way that Feldon scurried away under her stare. Connor still didn’t know where Angeline was, and finding her was his first priority. As long as he kept Angeline at the forefront of his mind, he could withstand anything that was thrown at him.
Yet witches made him nervous. They had the ability to weld immense power effortlessly, and the Clan used magic to bend the world of Altera to their will throughout all of history. As long as he kept Theodoa talking and not casting spells, he thought he might stand a chance.
He kept his eyes on her. She studied him with equal curiosity. If he was a mortal man, he thought it was possible that he would be attracted to her. Her silver blond hair hung almost to her tiny waist, and she wore a dress that clung to her voluptuous curves. Her lips curled up in the corners in a small smile. Connor wasn’t fooled. He learned over the years that the more attractive the package, the more vicious the bite.
“Not a very chatty fellow, are you?” she said after several long moments.
“So far I don’t see a reason to be especially chatty,” he replied. “I’ve been separated from my companion. Your minion Feldon seemed more interested in antagonizing me than telling me why I’m being held here against my will. I’m just waiting to see what other treats you have in store for me.”
Theodora laughed and clapped her hands together. “You have nothing to worry about from Feldon. He’s harmless.”
“But you’re not, are you, Theodora?”
The small smile turned into a full grin. “You think you’re clever. Is that it?”
“I’ve lived a long time. I’m no stranger to danger or to deception.”
“Yes, I would say so. I dare say that you are a master of deception.”
Theodora snapped her fingers and two chairs and a small table appeared between them. Connor tried not to appear surprised. It was a blatant show of the strength of her power that something so small could be so easily conjured into existence. He refused to appear impressed.
“Please, Connor. Sit.”
Conner sat down, and a teapot with two teacups appeared. He leaned over and found that the tea was already in the cup. “I was feeling a bit parched. Thank you.”
“I realize that it’s not your standard fare, but I thought it would do in a pinch.” Theodora picked up her cup and sipped it as if they were sitting in the midst of a formal reception, as opposed to a dank dungeon room. “I heard that you recently returned to your species original fare. After fifty years, that must have been quite an experience for you.”
The eyes and ears of the Clan were everywhere. It was a shameful thing for Connor to admit that he broke his vow, but his intentions had started out honorable. “I did so only to save my own skin so that Monroe wouldn’t suspect things had changed for me.”
“That sounds like a convenient excuse.”
“I couldn’t allow my allegiance to Queen Angeline to be discovered. I drank human blood only when it couldn’t be avoided and only to ensure that the other members of my coven didn’t question my behavior. Given the secretive nature of your own tribe, I would think that you would understand that, at certain times, compromise of your value system is required for a larger purpose.”
“I like you, Connor. I can see why the Queen is taken with you,” Theodora said, placing her cup back down on the table. “But you started this journey for a reason and a reason that had nothing to do with Queen Angeline. It’s something that you have been searching for since you became a vampire.”
“That is no secret,” Connor said. He couldn’t be swayed so easily. He wasn’t even sure that there was a cure for him.
“It caused a rift between you and your sire and ultimately your coven.”
“It is not my coven. It never was,” Connor said scornfully.
“Yet no matter what you try to do, you are, and perhaps always will be, a vampire with a thirst for blood.” Theodora crossed her legs and rested her hands lightly on her knee. Although the position was intended to make her look casual, Connor thought that she was wound up tight ready to spring.
“You are toying with me. Let’s stop being coy. I don’t want to be a vampire anymore. That is no secret. I didn’t ask for this life or this fate.”
“You desire the fragility of human form again? As a normal man, you would not be able to protect the love of your undead life as you can now.”
Angeline was his weakness. He should have known that Theodora would use her against him. “To be human is all I have ever wanted.” He deliberately skirted the question of his relationship to Angeline. It was necessary to keep the two separate, and he knew that Theodora was trying to keep him off balance by intermixing the two.
Theodora stood and started to pace the room. She appeared deep in thought. “I want to believe you, Connor.”
“You have my word that it is true. You just pointed out that you know my motivation for everything I’ve done was to find a way not to be a vampire for the rest of my life, but that makes no difference unless someone could provide the way out. All of my research says that the Clan can help me. Is that true?”
Theodora spun on her heel and put her hands on her hip. “Perhaps, but what would you do if I told you that the way to your cure requires sacrifice?”
The truth was that kind of news didn’t surprise him at all. “What kind of sacrifice?”
A knock at the door caught Theodora’s attention. Feldon stuck his head inside the door. “Theodora, your presence is required.”
The annoyed expression that crossed Theodora’s face told Connor that she had not intended to be interrupted. She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but then she changed her mind. She turned and looked at Connor. “Since it appears that I have to leave you for a time, I don’t want you to be bored while I’m gone. Feldon, send Bryant in to amuse our guest.”
Theodora swept out of the room leaving Connor to wonder who Bryant was. As soon as she was gone, Connor quickly made his way over to the doorway. Even though the door was open, he wasn’t able to put even a toe over the threshold. Magic made the room his prison as surely as a door.
He didn’t have to wonder long about Bryant. A hulking shadow crossed the open doorway, and then the man lumbered inside the room and kicked the door behind him, not that it was required to keep Connor in the room. He thought that it was all for show.
Connor prepared to rush the man, but then saw something that drew him up short. Bryant bared his fangs at him. Connor was immediately thrown off guard.
“You are vampire,” he said.
“I am Clan,” Bryant said. He grinned at Connor. “You wildlings are amusing. We’ll have fun.”
“Wildlings?”
“Those of you who don’t live here with the Clan and are still ruled by the blood thirst. I feel sorry for you.” Bryant slowly moved deeper into the shadows of the room where Connor had not been able to explore. “Your ways are evil. Treacherous. You lost your way.”
Connor was stunned that he was being lectured on vampire behavior by another vampire. It was a role that he usually assumed, so it felt strange to be on the other side. “Those vampires you speak of and I have nothing in common. I’m sure your Mistress told you that.”
Bryant chuckled. It was a deep
rumble that made the floor under Connor’s feet vibrate. “I have no Mistress.”
“Is that what Theodora is to you?”
“As the First Seat, she is the Clan’s leader. To call her my Mistress implies that I serve her. I do not. I follow her like the others in the Clan.”
Connor realized that he had misjudged the larger man’s intellect. He wondered how many others had done so. When Bryant re-emerged from the shadows with a heavy rope of chain, he knew that he was in trouble. Bryant’s hands were enclosed in thick gloves. Connor’s stomach rolled as he realized then that meant that the chain was made of silver.
“What do you plan to do with that, Bryant?”
Bryant stopped in front of him. “We are not on a first name basis. And while I might not call Theodora my Mistress, it’s a good idea for you to start thinking of her that way. You see, you are now a slave of the Clan. Slaves do not address Clan members by name.”
Connor straightened to his full height. Even then, he was still looking up at Bryant. Connor wasn’t used to looking up at anyone. “My allegiance is to Queen Angeline. I call no one Mistress. I am no one’s slave.”
“Soon you’ll be begging your Mistress for forgiveness. If you’re lucky, she will listen.”
Connor moved to the left just as the chain lashed out and snapped in the space he just vacated. He launched himself at Bryant’s legs, but the big man was equally quick on his feet and Connor rolled across the floor, springing back to his feet. That time, he didn’t move quickly enough though as the silver whip caught his cheek. He roared in pain as he felt his freshly healed skin sizzle.
Bryant’s gravelly laughter filled the air. Connor realized that this was exactly the type of sport the man probably lived for. Still, Monroe, the Master’s Chief Deputy and leader of the legal arm of the Master’s coven had trained Connor when it was still his duty to protect the Master. It was an elite assignment, and he had been good at it even though his heart wasn’t in it. Unfortunately for him, those skills hadn’t been put to the test in many years. He was rusty.
Connor spun to his left and dove into the shadows, whipping the torch on the wall in Bryant’s direction. He had no intention of injuring Bryant, but only to blind him until Connor could see what other treats may be lying about on the hidden side of the room.
He thought that the tide of his luck was finally turning. He found that a weapons rack covered the wall, and he had his choice of swords or spears. Whips and chains rested on shelves beneath the rack, and there were several large chests that probably contained other treasures.
Preferring to keep his ability to move about freely, Connor grabbed one of the broadswords and turned to confront his enemy. Fat fingers encircled his neck, and Connor’s body was hoisted into the air. Bryant’s face was only inches away from his.
“Trying to play with toys that don’t belong to you?”
Instead of answering, Connor drove his arm up, intending to impale Bryant on the sword. Instead, his hand was crushed in Bryant’s other hand, and he had no choice but to drop the sword. He heard the bones of his hand breaking and the pain rolling up his arm was intense.
Then his body swung to the side and Connor was shoved brutally back against the opposite wall, and he stared down at his chest in shock. A thick wooden stake erupted from his breastbone. Instead of impaling Bryant, it was Connor who was impaled. He felt it scraping against his insides, but it missed his heart.
His feet dangled a foot off the ground, and then he could feel the small wooden slivers making their way into his insides as he twisted to try to move. Then Bryant gripped his wounded hand and pulled it out to the side. Connor cried out it was slammed against another stake. He barely even noticed when the other hand followed onto a stake on the other side.
Bryant stepped back from the wall and appeared to be admiring his work. Then he picked up another length of silver chain that rested beneath the rack, and draped it over Connor’s neck and wrapped it around the stake in his chest. The pain was excruciating, and Connor thought for a moment that he was going to pass out.
“I’m glad that you decided to be stubborn and play it the hard way,” Bryant said. “If you had given in easily, I would have been disappointed, and it wouldn’t have been as much fun.”
“As long as you are entertained,” Connor spit out. His head swam with pain, but he refused to give any other outward sign of his torment.
“Your Mistress will be back soon. It would please her if you swore your allegiance to her. Then maybe I would release you.”
“Never.” Connor shook his head.
“Suit yourself.” Bryant pulled a small herb out of his pocket.
Connor felt a chill spiral down his spine. When Bryant shoved the bulb of garlic in his mouth, he couldn’t take it anymore. His mind went dark, and he was blessed with peace.
CHAPTER SIX
“Come in, Rhone,” Malin said sarcastically. Through the years, he and the Chief General had formed an uneasy partnership. It was required in Court that they at least have the appearance of getting along, even though neither one cared for the other on a personal level. It was strictly a professional working relationship. Malin refused to think about the fact that Rhone refused to let him train with the soldiers anymore saying it was a distraction. Malin felt as if the workouts kept him keen and gave him a way to work off all of his swirling emotions.
In the last several weeks, they had gotten along better, but that was because both men prioritized ensuring the smooth transition of the kingdom from Eric to Angeline as their most crucial task.
Malin had known Rhone since he came to court to study under his father when he was fifteen. It was Malin’s first time being in a place that wasn’t ruled by the ironclad fist of the Clan. The experience was thrilling. He studied alongside the soldiers almost daily, and it was something that he found he enjoyed. Rhone never trusted Malin’s father, and even though Malin knew that Rhone respected his physical prowess, he never trusted Malin either.
To that end, Malin knew that Rhone was one of the few remaining die-hard supporters of the Robart family. The grizzled old solider served the Robarts his entire life. That kind of loyalty could not be bought. Having a man like Rhone on his side was essential. Rhone trained Angeline on many forms of combat as well and doted on her like a second father even though he was far stricter than Eric. Malin had to use that knowledge carefully to his advantage.
Rhone offered no apology as he made good on his promise and went straight for Malin’s liquor stash. He poured a glass of whisky, downed it, and then poured another one. Malin was alternatively fascinated and disgusted by the man’s behavior.
“What seems to be the problem, Rhone? The Ascension Ball begins in less than an hour.”
“I know,” Rhone gurgled. “Do you think anyone will notice if we cancel it?”
“What are you talking about?” Malin snapped. “Stop with the vagaries and get to the point. I have things to do.”
“The vampires aren’t dead.”
Malin felt himself stiffen. Rhone and his soldiers had been sent out to exterminate the small squad of vampires who had descended on the capital city. Connor told them where to find the vampires and how to kill them. In addition, the children who had been kidnapped to serve as bait in a twisted bribe to Angeline had been rescued.
“What you are talking about? You killed them. You told me yourself,” Malin said.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Rhone said, slumping into a chair in front of the fire. “I told the lads to stuff their ears with cotton, but once the fire was set, it was hard to see around the smoke. It was only after we returned to the palace that I heard some of them talking.”
“What were they saying?”
“They were joking about how easy it had all been. There was something about all of it that didn’t sit right with me. So I went back to the house and looked for the bodies. There were none.”
“I’m sure the bodies burned completely away,” Malin said, but the wo
rds were hollow. Malin knew better than most that even dead, vampire bodies were notoriously difficult to get rid of.
Rhone shook his head. “The ancient texts say that after a stake is driven through the heart, the body should be wrapped in silver and dropped into a deep body of water to ensure it can never come back. I saw the bodies, Malin. I counted them, but when I went back, they were gone. I don’t think they’re dead.”
Malin cursed. He couldn’t tell Rhone that one of the vampires had been inside the palace wreaking havoc on him and Angeline while Rhone was supposed to be out killing the rest. Elvry escaped. Connor had been sure that she would head to the Master immediately, but now Malin wasn’t so sure that she had. Since the sun had gone down, she would have been able to move about freely in the open, and he wondered if she played a part in retrieving the bodies of her companions.
“We will set perimeter guards around the ballroom and post extra guards around the palace.”
“The nobles will notice this,” Rhone said.
“It is not unusual to increase security around the time of the Ascension. In the meantime, you take your best men, and see if you can pick up any kind of trail that would reveal what happened to the bodies.”
“This is madness. I don’t understand why any of this is happening. What of the Queen? I should tell her what is happening.” Rhone was on his feet immediately, but Malin stepped forward to stop him. He thought it was fortunate that Angeline was nowhere near the palace at the moment. Then he frowned. He wasn’t sure that being with the Clan was any safer place for her.
“I need you focused on finding out where these vampire bodies are and determining if they are still a threat,” Malin said. “I will update the Queen, but it is critical for her that the Ascension Ball and all of the festivities between now and up to our wedding ceremony continue on as planned. There is too much unrest in the kingdom and the Queen’s enemies would use any disruption as an opportunity to raise doubts of her ability to rule.”