by Lund, S. E.
Still, doubt nags me. I'm sick to think that my selfish desire for Julien and happiness has led to this. That Sarah and so many others have died because I was afraid of going with Michel – afraid of what I'd be expected to do when I was with him.
Part of me wishes I could go back to that day at the Abbey and go with Michel instead, just to see if this would still have happened.
As I walk along to the pier, lost in thought, I look up to see Michel walking toward me. I stop in my tracks at the railing overlooking the water. I didn't call him so why is he here? Did he read my mind and know I was feeling regret and fear?
This is the moment – the one I didn't believe would really happen.
Chapter 71
"A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes away the years."
Rupert Brooke
* * *
We stop on the pier and stand side by side, looking out over the ocean as the sun starts to set.
"I didn't call you," I say. Beside me, he's silent. I expect him to be all I-told-you-so, but he seems just as upset as I do.
"Did you really need to call me?"
Finally, he exhales and turns to me, leaning on the railing. He tilts his head to one side in that characteristic de Cernay way, his skin so pale, his blue eyes intense. His expression isn't judging. It’s sad.
"You saw all this?" I say, anger in my voice. "Why couldn't you have told me?"
"I saw this happen as one of many scenarios," he says. "This was the most likely, but depending on what everyone did and chose, it could have been slightly different. I knew we would meet and talk. And that you would come back to me. I already told you that if I told you exactly what I saw, you'd die. I can't have that."
"I haven't said I would come with you."
"You will," he says and reaches out, touching my cheek. "It's the only way to stop it from getting even worse."
I shake my head and pull away from his touch.
"I only have your word on that."
"Isn't this enough to convince you?" he says and points to the town and then to the dock. Down below us, the dilapidated remains of several boats and yachts float and bob on the water. Everything with any plastic component either melted or disintegrated, leaving non-plastic parts to either sink or float depending on their material. A brownish sludge coats the surface of the water.
"All this tells me is that Blackstone was successful in attacking technology. I have no way of knowing if my being with you is key to stopping them from taking more power. All that prophecy stuff is just too hard for me to accept."
"You think I made it up so I could have you as my own? I could have forced you long ago if I wanted that. Like Julien did."
"He didn't force me."
"He took you. Didn’t listen to you. Pushed you because your mind and body are torn."
"I wanted him, Michel," I say and finally look at him straight in the eye. "You've lied to me so much since I met you, either directly or by omission that I don’t know what to believe any more."
"Come with me and learn for yourself if you don't trust me. You can leave at any time."
I shake my head.
"Why would my being with you have prevented this?"
He just shakes his head. "I don’t know exactly how, but it did. Now, that's not possible. The genie's out of the bottle. We have to try to put it back in before the whole world falls."
"And my being with you does that how?"
"I said I don't know the details, just the cause and effect."
"How can I just leave Julien?"
"He'll understand."
"You think he'll just let me go to be with you as your little pet?"
"He will. All you have to do is tell him you're going with me."
I frown and turn away.
"You couldn't be more wrong. Julien's extremely jealous of you. He found your book and note before I did. It upset him so much, he's not even sleeping with me."
Michel says nothing. I imagine what Julien would say to me if I was to tell him I was going to be with Michel. I can’t imagine he'd be as accepting as Michel seems to think. "If I was to go to you, it would break his heart. He loves me."
"He does love you and he will accept it. He'll think it’s for the best," Michel says, his voice soft. "He may even suggest it."
"How can you know that?"
"He's been compelled."
"What?" I turn to him. "Soren compelled him to like the idea of me being with you?"
"Yes," Michel says, glancing away. He looks back at me, his face guarded. "Soren doesn't want his heart to break. If you were to tell him and he wasn’t compelled to accept it, he'd give up. Soren wants him in fighting mode. He has work to do. Besides, we need him to help in the end. When it comes to destroying Soren."
"No," I say, fisting my hands, digging my nails into my palms. "I won’t come to you, no matter what."
"If you don't, Julien will grow more and more distant, and finally, he'll tell you that you must come to me. He'll get angry with you. He'll kick you out, eventually. Then, he won't speak to you again unless you come to me. Soren wants Julien at his side. The other night at the party, he compelled Julien to accept you being with me."
I frown as I try to process this.
"Soren wants the three of us together as his servants," Michel says. "If Julien is too jealous, it will impede his performance. Soren plans on performing miracles to convince people he's a god. We'll help him at first, or appear to," Michel says, but then he takes my shoulder in his hand and leans closer, his lips beside my ear as if he's afraid Soren will hear us. "And then, when he's secure in our obedience, when he thinks he's ready to take power, we'll strike. We'll kill him and all the Ancients. Then we'll finally be free of them all. This is what my group in the Council has been planning for years, Eve. This is endgame. I tried to keep you out of it, to find another way, but I failed."
I stand in silence for a moment and consider. "Why do you need me as your pet?"
"He wants us to be his servants and if we don't comply, he'll kill us all. He needs your compliance, but because you can't be compelled, you must be controlled through other means. Love is the perfect lure."
I just look at him. "Has this all been a charade? Do you even love me? Or have you also been compelled?"
"Of course I love you," he says and closes his eyes, leaning in to me, his forehead against mine. "More than anything. How can you even ask that?"
"Maybe you're playing me so you can have your own endgame. Maybe Soren's compelled you to tell me all this."
"No," he says, his face so serious. "He can't compel me. Not anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"When I ascended, I became uncompellable."
"Why didn't Julien?"
"What Blackstone did to him prevented it. They needed vampires who could be compelled. When he ascended, he was still susceptible."
"So Soren wants me as your submissive so you can control me. So you can make me do his bidding when he needs me for his rise to power."
"Exactly. He fears you, and needs to be reassured that you're under my control. When he is, he'll let down his guard and then we strike."
"Why does he fear me?"
"Because he knows you can either make him a god or destroy him."
"Why does he think that?"
"It was prophesized."
I sigh, shaking my head at the nonsense these religious people believe. Dylan included.
"And Julien? How does he fit in?"
Michel sighs. "Soren gave you to him, hooked him in, and now will deploy him like a weapon. Julien will be the most powerful warlord a god could want. He'll be obedient because he thinks he'll be protecting you, even as you and I are lovers again."
"I love him," I say and turn to Michel, tears in my eyes.
"I know," Michel says, and wipes my cheek.
"I want him."
"Not now, Eve. One day if we succeed, you may have him again. But not now."
He takes me i
n his arms, wrapping them around my body, his face buried in my neck and I let him hold me, needing some contact because of all the fear and stress and loneliness I've felt since the red rain fell.
Finally, I pull away and he lets me go.
"I have to think about this."
He nods. "Don't take too long. Once vampires feel secure that humans are helpless, they'll come out from hiding. You'll have to fight to stay alive every day, Eve. People in town will start to die. Then, the enslavement will start. This is a test-run of their weapon to see how it goes and how people respond so they can adjust their strategy."
His words fill me with dread.
"Tell me how we're going to kill him or else I won't believe you. This could all be a way to reel me in, to make me obey so Soren can become this god you speak of."
"I can't tell you. Soren could find out."
"I'll block him."
"You can't be compelled, Eve. None of this would have happened if you could because I would have wiped your memory and sent you back to oblivion. But you can be tortured. He'd torture his way into your mind if he had to. This way, you don't know any details."
"I have to go," I say and walk backwards away from him, my arms around myself. "I can't go with you if you can't at least tell me what we're planning to do."
"Don’t do this Eve. This is your fate. Come to me before nightfall," he says, his voice soft. "You won't be safe after that."
* * *
I walk back to the cottage and sit in the dimness with my weapons by my side, facing the door so I can watch in case some vampire has compelled the owner to let them in. I figure I have a fighting chance so long as I see them first.
Is Michel right? Will vampires now start to claim Dominion now that Blackstone has struck?
* * *
Julien arrives home from his shift at the community center sometime later. He takes off his jacket and comes into the room. It's dark out and I can see just a bit of light in his eyes as he stands by the fire and looks around the room for me. I'm sitting in a chair in the darkened corner, my stake and gun beside me.
"Eve," he says, and comes towards me. "What are you doing?"
"Michel says that vampires will start claiming Dominion now that Blackstone has struck. He says we're not safe at night any longer."
He sighs heavily and stands in front of me.
"He's right. It's still early, but there's enough chaos despite our efforts that some may be willing to risk it."
"He also says I should come and be with him now."
He says nothing for a moment, but then he glances away, his gaze moving to the picture window looking out over the ocean as if he's fighting with himself.
"You should. Now's the time. I should go south to Boston. That's where I should be."
My heart squeezes to hear him give in so easily. "You think I should go and be with Michel?"
He nods, but doesn't look at me. "Looks like it. It's the only way to stop Dominion. It's the price we'll have to pay to preserve humanity. I'll have to set up surveillance on known Blackstone cells in Boston."
"You won't be upset if I go to Michel? Become his pet?"
"It's for the best. You have to go. You'll be safe with him. We'll be together again one day."
He looks back at me and in the low light from the fire, I can see tears in his eyes, as if his words and his emotions are at odds. Without thinking, I go to him and he's still unable to embrace me. He tries to pry my arms away, grimacing as if touching me hurts.
"Don't touch me," he says, his voice rough.
"Why? What will happen if we touch?"
I persist, pushing him, and finally, he practically throws me down onto the couch, which is covered in wool blankets, and looms over me, his hands beside my body, not touching me.
"I'll have to kill you, Eve!" he says, his eyes wet. "Don't touch me!"
Then he rises and cradles his head as if he's in pain.
"Just go!" he says, pointing to the door. "Go to Michel. Do it now. I have to get ready to go south."
I struggle to get up from the couch and wipe my eyes. "I won't go. I'm coming with you."
"You can't Eve," he says, his voice breaking. "You must stay here."
"You'll have to make me."
He stands there in silence, struggling, his breathing hard. Finally, he goes to the bedroom, hauling out a large black duffle bag from a closet, which he starts packing with what little remains of his clothes – all those that have no synthetic fibers. He pushes past me and goes to the kitchen for some food and then to the closet for his coat. After he packs up his weapons, he turns to me.
"There's a horse and cart at the stables I can use. I'm going south."
I grab my coat and a few things, the Keats book, my shells, some food, and a worn wool blanket.
"I'm coming with you."
"It's not safe for you to stay with me," he says as he goes out to the yard. "You should go to Michel."
"I'm staying with you."
He shrugs. "If you can keep up."
I follow him down the road to a farm on the outskirts of town, struggling with my heavy backpack, my weapons in a case over my shoulder. He practically ignores me.
When we arrive at the farm, I stand in the driveway and he goes to the barn. In a few moments, he brings out a horse and cart. He throws his things in the back of the cart and takes a seat on the bench, the reins in his hand.
"I suppose you've driven one of these before," I say as I throw my backpack and weapons bag in the cart beside his duffel bag.
He shrugs. "Not for most of a century, but I know my way around a horse and cart."
I climb up beside him but he doesn't even look at me.
"I'll drop you off at Soren's place."
"No, Julien!" I say. "This is my choice and I choose to stay with you!"
He says nothing, and gives the reins a shake. The cart jerks forward and I hold on to the side rail.
We ride along the darkened streets in silence, the clip clop of the horse's hooves the only sound. I stare at the trees that border the road, whose branches sway and move in the wind. A storm is brewing. I wonder if what Michel said was true – that soon, vampires would start asserting themselves. It doesn't matter. I can beat them, if I'm prepared.
"How long will it take to get to Boston?"
"Depends on how rough going the road is. I expect there'll be quite a lot of abandoned cars on the roads. It's about thirty miles to Boston.
"Shouldn’t we wait until daylight?"
"I have to get there as soon as possible."
"Why?"
"Work. Gotta provide security for Soren's estate and work on our battle plan."
I just stare at him. Where did my Julien go? It's like he's another person entirely.
Soren…
He has all of us exactly where he wants us. He has Michel at his side, he has Julien preparing to defend him against Blackstone. Blackstone succeeded in starting a technological apocalypse.
I doubt it's possible to hate Soren even more than I do now.
* * *
We make slow progress for the first hour due to the abandoned cars that block the main roads, their owners abandoning them, car doors open, hoods up. Soon, the cars thin as we reached the more rural areas along the coast with less development, but that's also a problem. The older dirt roads are clear, but they've been worn down over the years so that there are deep ruts where wheels have carved through the soft earth. A storm hits while we're on back roads, and I pull a blanket over my head to keep from being soaked by the rain. Julien doesn't seem to notice.
Then, an unanticipated problem -- the ground softens under the heavy rain and quickly turns to mud. Despite the blanket, I'm completely soaked, the blanket around my shoulders offering little cover.
Soon, the cart founders, its wheels stuck. I hold a lantern up that uses cooking oil as fuel while Julien takes the horse by its reins and tries to maneuver the cart out of the rut.
Other than the occ
asional boom of thunder in the distance, there's no sound except the rain on the leaves and in the puddles surrounding me. Then, the wind picks up and the flame falters. I shelter it, hoping to protect the flame but the wind blows it out, casting us into darkness.
"Quick," Julien calls out. "There are more matches in my bag on the seat."
I run to the wagon and find a package of safety matches, light one and rekindle the flame. Its light casts long shadows amidst the trees. I see movement at the edge of the road ahead, a dark shape moving across the path but there's nothing more.
"I saw something in the shadows."
He glances at me but shakes his head. "Nothing we can do but stay alert. If anything stops us, for any reason, keep your wits about you."
Finally, Julien's able to get the wheel out of the rut and we drive on, the lantern casting a feeble light ahead. As we make our way into the deepest part of the forest along the coast, I worry about the movement I saw earlier. Behind the cart is nothing but darkness, the light from the lantern quickly dissolving into black as we pass. I catch brief glimpses of trees and brush as we drive on when lightning flashes, but as we enter the center of the forest, the trees thicken and soon the rain falls in torrents, obscuring my vision even further.
We drive on like this for an hour, and fatigue grips me, but the wagon banging over the ruts on the road keeps me awake. A crack of thunder overhead shocks me into alertness, adrenaline coursing through me.
Then, Julien pulls up the reins, the wagon almost slamming to a halt. Ahead on the road lies a fallen tree bough, its thick branch making passage impossible. The wind is strong but I immediately feel unease at the thought that someone or something has done this deliberately to stop us.
Julien whispers. "Watch the back."
He takes the lantern and inspects the fallen tree. I join him, my nerves tingling
"Look," he says, pointing to the tree. "Lighting strike."
I examine the fallen bough. Sure enough, there by the side of the road is the tree trunk. It's blackened where lightning struck, cracking the tree in half, one half remaining and the other falling to block the path. The wood's still smoking where the lightning hit, so it must have been recent.