by Sofia Daniel
With a creak of his burgundy leather, he stood and strolled down the left of the pool. The reflection in the water took up the entire pool. I chewed my lip, trying to work things out. If vampires cast no shadow or reflection because they were soulless, and hunters’ reflections were over huge, did it mean that they had monstrously oversized souls?
On the surface, my theory sounded right, but it didn’t make sense. Captain Tanar had explained that the hunters who followed Radu drank vampire blood to extend their lives. Did ingesting a vampire’s blood also mean taking on their soul? I shook my head. That sounded a little far-fetched.
Radu paused at the end of the pool, his gaze flickering from me and down to his reflection. I straightened and turned to look at Renée’s retreating back, acting like I’d been staring at her all along.
“Zarah, my dear,” he drawled. “Stay with Alicia. After losing her three companions, I expect she will need your support.”
She dipped into an elaborate bow. “Of course, My Lord.”
My heart sank. How was I going to sneak out and heal the boys with Zarah following me everywhere?
The hunters stepped out of the bathroom, and the door clicked shut, but I felt no relief in their absence. Not with Zarah eyeing me as though she was the new Pigtails and wanted to bite my neck.
After crossing the room, she sat on the bench and scooted up to my side. Her leather-clad arm touched mine. “Are you sure about the Stryx brothers?”
I shot out of my seat. “What are you talking about?”
“You helped them escape, didn’t you?” She stood, her eyes lingering on the top of my towel.
“I’d have to find them first.” I backed away. “And as I said to Radu, no one told me where the vampires had locked them up.”
Tilting her head to the side, she swept her gaze down my body.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” I spat.
“You’re nothing special, but you seem to fascinate all these powerful men.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. “Maybe you can leave the room while I get changed?”
“Lord Radu wants us to stick together.”
“He didn’t tell you to give me an eye-fucking.”
Heat bloomed across her cheeks. “I’m not—”
“Then turn around!” I barked.
She spun on her heel, giving me about a quarter of the privacy I needed to put on my clothes. I glowered at the girl’s narrow back. In the short time she’d joined the hunters, she had completely changed her personality.
I threw on my underwear and slipped on my uniform. It was hard to describe, but there was something predatory about her. Not in a way I found threatening, but she reminded me of a lion cub trying to hunt a prey animal that could break her in half with a kick of the hind leg.
“Have you finished?” she asked.
I walked down the right side of the pool toward the door. Radu had told her to keep an eye on me. He hadn’t told me to be her best friend.
The ballroom was a vast space at the top of which was a taller-than-average marble dais. Huge columns lined the walls, stretching up to a ceiling painted with dancing couples.
Radu had installed himself on a gold throne in the middle of the dais, with his two henchwomen standing at his sides. Kneeling in front of them were Lady Mantis and Captain Tanar, each looking pale and gaunt. The captain’s face was no longer charred, making me wonder how long it had taken Miss Margolyes to heal him.
I glanced left and right, looking for signs of the other hunters, but they weren’t around.
As the other students milled into the room, I stood by a column, counting the minutes until the lesson ended.
Once the last of the frumosi entered the ballroom, Radu stood. “Welcome, my dear children.”
Nobody replied.
Justine stepped forward. “The correct response is, ‘Thank you, Lord Radu.’”
We all chorused back our thanks. Renée leaned on the right of the throne and rolled her eyes.
Radu inclined his head. “The purpose of today’s lesson is to introduce you to the way of the Radites. We are a small and exclusive clan of hunters who have taken our frumosi magic beyond the realms of possibility.”
A second-year boy at the front raised his hand.
Radu beamed. “What is your question, young man?”
“What’s the difference between a hunter, a Radite, and a frumosi, sir?”
“Lord Radu or My Lord,” Justine growled.
The boy flinched. “My Lord?”
“You are aware that my name is Radu cel Frumos, yes?” He glanced around the room, smiling at our nods. “All you who have descended from me are called frumosi. Those of you who decide to hunt vampires will earn the rank of a hunter, and those who demonstrate exceptional talent will become Radites like Justine and Renée.”
Justine folded her arms across her chest. “Today’s lesson is to decide where you want to go.”
Silence stretched out across the ballroom. I could understand everyone’s hesitation. We had all been born human only to be abducted and told we were frumosi and that vampires existed.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the vampires had trained us to become their consorts, and then they had changed their minds and trained us to become familiars to guard them against the hunters.
I swallowed hard. And the hunters we were supposed to battle now stood here, trying to recruit us into their ranks.
The doors opened, and a quartet of hunters pushed in trolleys containing shot glasses. Radu beckoned them closer. “Thank you, my children.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
“Everyone who wishes to become a hunter will partake of the bloodroot. It will enhance your frumosi magic, so you develop the skills required to fight vampires.”
I raised my hand. “Is bloodroot anything like beetroot, My Lord?”
Lord Radu chuckled. “Clever girl! There are many roots available to open up the magic of a frumosi. I find bloodroot the most aggressive.”
“Thank you, My Lord,” I said.
Anyone reading between the lines should be able to see that Radu wanted us all the drink the bloodroot. Since he already mistrusted me, I walked to the side of the room, grabbed a shot, and downed the bitter fluid.
“Excuse me?” said Kat.
Radu beamed from his throne. “Yes, my dear child?”
“My mother, brother, and sister live in a Noble House. If I joined the hunters, wouldn’t that have repercussions on them?”
“Which one?” he asked.
“Wilhelmina.”
Radu turned to Renée. “Have we visited them yet?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Wilhelmina? They were empty.”
“What does that mean?” asked Kat.
Radu waved his hand. “They left before we could raid them.”
I glanced down at the marble floor. If the hunters had stolen all the Vampire Parliament’s census information, the wealthier members of their society would have moved home. It probably meant that Kat’s family was safe.
“Alright.” Radu clapped his hands together. “Everyone who wishes to develop their magic must drink the bloodroot.”
A few of the younger students edged toward the trolleys. Some of them gave me questioning looks, but I didn’t encourage or discourage them from drinking. If bloodroot was anything like the allium cepa magicis, we would have to work hard to reap its benefits.
“I won’t do it,” said Kat.
Radu leaned forward and gave her a kindly smile. “Why ever not?”
“I don’t want to fight vampires.”
“Even though they stole your family?” asked Justine.
“My mother, brother, and sister are still in their clutches.”
The female hunter scowled. “That doesn’t make any sense—”
“Silence, Justine,” Radu said without any bite in his words. “Let the girl have her say.”
Straightening, Kat pulled back her shoulders. “I’m tired of bei
ng a pawn. All I want is my normal life with my family and to forget about vampires, werewolves, and hunters. Zarah said you’re here to free us, but I don’t see much freeing going on.”
Radu turned to Zarah. “I didn’t come here to free the frumosi.”
Her mouth opened and closed. “But you said—”
“You wish to contradict our lord?” Justine snapped.
“No.” Zarah bowed her head.
“You see,” said Radu. “Zarah brought us here for reasons she did not discuss with me. But now that I have taken over the academy, I’m offering you the chance. Join me, or don’t.”
Kat shook her head. “I’m not fighting the vampires.”
“Very well.” Radu stood. “Those of you who wish to join my ranks, take your shot of bloodroot, and be welcome. The others should stand on the right of the ballroom.”
Kat and Annette walked to the right of the room. I chewed the inside of my cheek, wondering what Radu had planned. Both the onion woman and Captain Tanar had a healthy fear of the man, and I wasn’t about to openly defy him.
After several moments, the majority of the frumosi students wandered to the right and joined Kat. Only a handful of us took the bloodroot.
Radu gave his head a disappointed shake. “Zarah, please demonstrate what we do to frumosi who have outlived their usefulness.”
Her face dropped. “Me, My Lord?”
“You were such an eager student last week,” said Justine, sarcasm dripping from her words. “Show the others what we taught you.”
Zarah’s gaze flicked from me to the other side of the room, where Kat stood with her hands on her hips. The auburn-haired girl raised her chin and screwed up her face in a defiant expression.
I shook my head. This wasn’t going to end well. Zarah advanced on Kat with dark light the size of pennies steaming out of her fingertips.
A few students walked to my side of the room and grabbed shot glasses.
“What are you doing?” asked Kat.
Zarah’s features hardened. “You made your choice.”
“I-I’ve changed my mind.” Kat raised her palms.
“But you gave us such a complete explanation for your refusal,” said Justine, her voice laced with mockery.
“Too late,” said Radu.
Zarah flicked out both hands, and streams of black wrapped around Kat’s body like vines.
Blackness seeped through Kat’s skin, making her cry out. I closed my eyes to see the stream of magic. To the third eye, Zarah’s tendrils appeared transparent, like a clear jellyfish with only its edges visible. Then each tendril burrowed into Kat’s chakras and sucked out the light. Kat’s life-force traveled down the tendrils to Zarah, whose chakras grew brighter as they absorbed Kat’s.
My mouth gaped open. Yesterday, I had noticed Zarah’s chakras were brighter than the average frumosi. And moments ago, as Radu passed the pool, I had noticed his reflection was abnormally large. Now I knew why the hunters’ souls were huge.
A rasping scream escaped Kat’s lips, sounding as though Zarah had stolen the girl’s voice. Her body stiffened, but tiny convulsions shook beneath her skin.
The other frumosi students, including Annette, rushed to the other side of the room and snatched their shots of bloodroot. Not a single person remained where Kat had fallen, and not a single person looked at Zarah as though she was their hero.
“Very good,” said Radu. “The program for training hunters is merit-based. Those of you who excel will have the opportunity to join the ranks of the Radites. If you do not meet my exacting standards, you will become foot soldiers who will live a normal frumosi lifespan and die. If you have no potential for frumosi magic, one of my elites will absorb your essence.”
A pit of dread opened in my stomach. After today’s lesson, I knew a few things for certain.
One, I should have killed Zarah as the boys and the onion woman had advised. And two, I needed to defeat Radu and his hunters before they corrupted all the frumosi students.
Chapter 6
When I opened my eyes again, it was to find Kat standing as still as death, her face twisted in a rictus of horror. All the color had leeched from her skin, her hair, her eyes, and she was no longer breathing.
I turned to Zarah, whose cheeks glowed with health. She dipped her head, seemingly unable to look any of us in the eye.
Bile rose to the back of my throat, and tears filled my eyes. Kat had tried to help Zarah. They’d been friends, and Zarah hadn’t hesitated to kill her. I turned my gaze up to the dais, where Radu stood with his hands behind his back, beaming at Zarah as though she was a puppy who had performed a difficult trick.
Justine smirked, her single eye gleaming with malice.
After Zarah’s performance, she would never be able to tell the other frumosi she was their savior. The vampires had been evil, but at least they hadn’t forcibly taken our blood. And they hadn’t killed us for not falling into line.
Not like these hunters, who were supposed to be our own kind.
“Class dismissed,” said Radu. “We will meet for dinner at seven.”
Justine grinned. “The next person who sides with the vampires will be absorbed for the cause.”
Everyone sprinted for the door. I spun on my heel and rushed out of the room before Zarah returned to her senses and remembered she was under orders to follow me.
Swallowing the bitter taste in the back of my mouth, I blinked away my tears and picked up my pace. Kat was dead, and there hadn’t been a thing I could do to stop it.
I stepped into the hallway, inhaled a large breath, and clenched my shaking hands into fists. This was dire. Everyone, vampires, frumosi, and knockers, was at risk from these predators.
The students around me ran in silence in the direction of Frumosi Tower. I suppressed the urge to go with them and seek comfort in numbers. Zarah had implied to everyone that I had helped her escape so she could bring the hunters to our rescue.
“Stephens.” A slender hand grabbed my shoulder.
A jolt of anxiety pierced my heart. I turned around to find Annette staring up at me, her eyes red from crying. “What was that?”
“I’m not sure.”
After glancing over my shoulder for signs of Zarah or any of the other hunters, I pulled Annette into the nearest stairwell. The wall sconces colored the space the shade of diluted blood, making all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. We rushed up to the next floor, opened the door, and stood in the hallway.
Annette’s eyes bored into mine as though she could get all the answers she needed from one glance.
I swallowed hard. “It looks like Zarah stole Kat’s life-force.”
“And they’re going to do it to us if we don’t follow them into madness. What made you think these hunters were our friends?” she asked, her voice heavy with accusation.
“I didn’t bring them here,” I whispered. “Zarah did, and they’ve turned her into one of them.”
“But what do they want with us?”
My head pounded with the pressure of it all. Dante and Nero were suffering from malnutrition and what appeared to be third-degree burns, needing my help to restore them to health. The hunters already suspected me of helping them escape, and Radu seemed to think I was special enough to hunt down and interrupt in the shower. Annette seemed to be needing reassurance I couldn’t give her or anyone.
“I don’t know much about the hunters.” It was the truth. That display had been a complete shock. “But Radu made his intentions clear. If we don’t join his crusade against the vampires, we’re going to end up like Kat.”
Annette wrapped her arms around her chest and rocked back and forth on her heels. “Do you think she’s dead?”
My face twisted with anguish. “She looked dead enough to me. I don’t know.”
Annette continued to look to me for answers, her eyes pleading and wet. It was as though she’d absorbed every ugly accusation Kat had hurled about me through the months and now thought I withh
eld vital information that could save her life.
“Captain Tanar only told us that hunters drank vampire blood.” Spreading my arms wide, I added. “I don’t know anything else.”
“Right.” Annette tugged on her braids. “What do we do now?”
My heart sank. I knew what I needed to do, and none of it involved Annette. Walk the knocker passages until Gates or Raphael brought me to the lair, so I could continue healing the boys. Or find the onion woman and work out a plan of action.
I had no chance of defeating the hunters on my own and even less of a chance with Annette tagging along.
I raised a shoulder. “Do what Radu said, I suppose.”
She nodded. “Should we make our way to the dining room together?”
“Annette, I need to be alone.” My insides cringed as I said the words, but I didn’t know her well enough to reveal my plans.
Her face dropped. “What?”
“Sorry.” I opened the door to the stairwell. It clicked shut behind me, leaving her in the other hallway.
As I descended the stairs, a tight fist wrapped around my heart. Annette had just seen her best friend murdered, and I couldn’t spend the time to give her any support.
The longer I stayed in this academy, the more inhuman I became. This was a place where no one could be trusted, especially those who appeared the most helpless.
At the bottom of the flight was the door leading to the ground floor and the ballroom. Ignoring it, I continued down to the basement, which didn’t have wall sconces. Another flight lay beneath that one, and I descended until all signs of light disappeared.
“Lights, please?” I said, hoping one of the knockers standing in front of a dungeon room would oblige.
Nothing happened.
My steps faltered. Was that because knockers didn’t man this particular basement or because the hunters had done something to them? A shudder ran down my spine. Radu had wanted them awakened, but until now, I had thought he would help the knockers.
At the end of the stairs stretched a hallway too dark for me to see, but I continued underneath the academy, hoping Raphael or Gates were sneaking around close by. I activated my third eye to see who was around and found two black spots, indicating a pair of vampires.