Night's Cold Kiss

by Tracey O'Hara

  Antoinette tilted her head to the side, her brow creasing with confusion.

  “My brother said you were smart. He hates you almost as much as he hates her.” Lisbet tossed her head in Antoinette’s direction.

  “Why would he hate me?” Antoinette asked.

  “Because you are the descendant of the betrayer, Nicolae. Lucian cannot understand how our uncle could hand over his own brother to the Crimson Executioner.” Her eyes pierced Christian. “Yes, I know who you are too and believe it or not, my brother understands your need for vengeance, respects it even. But what he cannot understand is why you would work for Intel and keep the treaty in place. He has been working for decades to find away to destroy that treaty and all those who supported it.”

  “If Lucian is Emil’s son, and human, how has he survived so long?” Oberon asked.

  “My blood,” Lisbet said. “My mother was attacked late in her pregnancy as retaliation on my father. Struggling through the change brought on my birth and killed her. This is the reason my father was filled with so much hatred toward the Aeternus.”

  “Embracing a pregnant woman is against the edict from the Council of Elders as there are too many risks to both the mother and child,” Christian said. “However, if it’s done early in the pregnancy, within the first trimester, and successfully turns the mother, then the baby may be born as a normal Aeternus baby. Any later, you get what you see before you.”

  Lisbet flinched at his last words.

  Antoinette’s frown deepened. “Then against all the odds, Lisbet has survived. But how has this helped Lucian?”

  Lisbet walked around the room, running her hand over the surface of the table. “Lucian was six at the time, and when our father was executed the doctor who delivered me took us in, but not out of kindness…” Lisbet paused, a tiny frown gracing her smooth pale brow. “He made Lucian his apprentice, but he was no more than a slave really. And I became a specimen…” Her troubled frown deepened. “Let’s just say, Lucian learned his craft well from the good doctor.”

  Antoinette gasped. “But you were just a baby.”

  Christian didn’t sense any hatred from Lisbet. “You don’t share your brother’s thoughts of vengeance?”

  She shook her head, her ringlets bouncing. “From my experience vengeance only begets vengeance—a perpetual cycle of destruction spiraling to uncontrollable fury, sweeping away everyone and everything in its devastating path.”

  Such profound words spilling from such an innocent mouth seemed obscene. Lisbet was a living paradox—neither child nor woman.

  “Why don’t you leave him?” Antoinette asked. “Leave here?”

  Lisbet’s childlike laugh tinkled with irony. “As the bear-man so aptly put it, animals in cages—I’m as much a prisoner as you. From my blood the doctor develop a serum he hoped would extend his life. He experimented on Lucian, and when it seemed to work he tried it on himself. He died horribly. Lucian perfected it, but it only works for him because we share the same blood. The serum must be made fresh and cannot be stored or it degrades beyond use within a couple of days. He’d never let me leave.” Lisbet turned the full force of her gaze on Christian. “Anyway, where would I go? I know what your kind would do to me.”

  “That was long ago—the Council of Elders has changed since the treaty was developed. They’ve become more influenced by human compassion.”

  “What are you talking about?” Antoinette asked.

  Lisbet sighed. “Most of those born like me don’t survive past their first birthday—because the Council of Elders has them slaughtered.”

  Christian met Antoinette’s accusing glare squarely. He wasn’t responsible for things that happened in the past, he felt no guilt.

  “A century ago the world was a different place—it’s all changed now,” Oberon said, coming to Christian’s defense.

  Lisbet’s eyes darted around the room, doubt beginning to creep into them.

  “They’re right,” Antoinette said. “The Council of Elders answers to CHaPR, just like all the other aligned parahuman ruling bodies. That’s the purpose of the treaty.”

  Lisbet’s eyes widened with surprise. “Lucian said the treaty imprisoned mankind to be nothing but slaves to the parahuman races. But you’re telling me the races are now more accountable?”

  Hector burst through the door, gesturing wildly.

  “I must go. My brother is coming and he cannot find me here. Please don’t tell him you saw me.” The girl raced from the room, her hair streaming behind her.

  Hector followed, returning seconds later with a serving cart loaded with red liquid-filled bags, plastic dinner trays, and a little fresh fruit and vegetables. Food for parahumans.

  Antoinette spotted Lisbet’s pink ribbon on the floor not far from the door—it must’ve fallen from her hair when she ran from the room. Antoinette opened her mouth to warn Hector, but Lucian came into the room. She held her breath. He walked right over it, his attention captured by Hector fumbling with the serving cart.

  “Haven’t you finished yet?” Lucian sneered.

  Hector followed his master with solemn, sunken eyes. Antoinette willed the servant to look down. Christian tilted his head to the side frowning at her, so she quickly glanced at the silk ribbon on the floor. His eyes widened and darted to Lucian.

  “When you’ve finished here, I’ll be working in my study. Bring me some coffee,” Lucian ordered as he picked up some files from the counter at the back of the room.

  He would see the hair ribbon on the way out for sure. She had to stall him. As she racked her brains for something to say, Christian came to her rescue.

  “What are you going to do with us, Moretti?”

  Lucian’s creased brow smoothed and a smile lifted the thin line of his lips. Why hadn’t she seen the cruel cast to his mouth before…surely it must have been there?

  “All in good time.” Lucian stepped closer to Christian’s bars.

  While Christian had Lucian’s interest, she gestured carefully to Hector to look down at the ribbon near his foot. When he saw it, he looked back at her then at Lucian before knocking a bag of blood from the cart. As he picked it up, he secreted the hair ribbon into his pocket.

  “How many parahumans have you killed and tortured down here?” Christian asked, keeping Lucian’s attention on him.

  “Not all are here against their will. Some of them are quite grateful for the care and shelter I’ve given them.”

  “Like Dante Rubins?” Christian shot back.

  Lucian shrugged. “Dante was special. He had his drawbacks, his little quirks, but he also had his uses.”

  “Like having him assassinate Sir Roger, giving you an alibi and a clear line to the ambassadorship in CHaPR. And you are clearly above suspicion with the injury you sustained trying to defend him in front of an unbiased witness.”

  Lucian raised an eyebrow. “Well, Laroque, you are a sharp one.”

  “But it goes back way beyond that, doesn’t it, Lucian?” Christian said.

  Lucian appeared smugly dismissive. “You’re the one telling the story.”

  “You’ve plotted and murdered your way to the top, but Marianna Petrescu was supposed to bring the great Petrescu family into disrepute when Grigore went renegade. However, you didn’t bank on him tracking down your pet and almost killing him.”

  “Dante was seriously injured and it took him over a decade to recover from the burns. But in the end it helped further my cause. A truly unexpected and delightful side effect. I had some new rules implemented in the Guild despite the objection from doom-mongers like Sergei.”

  Antoinette’s head snapped up. “The parahuman admission to the Guild.”

  “That was among one of them. As I said before what better way to study parahumans weaknesses than by letting them think they were working with us?” Lucian’s smug expression taunted her. “And being able to get back at your family was just an extremely delicious bonus. Who knew your father would come up with the same disapp
earing trick that we’d pulled on him? I was most surprised when that fool Williams let slip that he’d seen Grigore.”

  “You knew about that?” Antoinette asked.

  “Of course I did, who do you think had that fool Dushic shot? My man is quite the marksman. Wouldn’t you agree, Christian? I mean, he dispatched Andrew Williams on a busy airport in your custody.”

  Christian turned to stone, pale and deathly still. Lucian had in that one simple statement taunted Christian with the knowledge he was responsible for Viktor’s death and given him the identity of man who pulled the trigger.

  Lucian was evil—pure, utterly complete evil. In all Antoinette’s years hunting dreniacs she’d never come across such malevolence. And despite his age and reliance on his sister’s blood, Lucian was still substantively human.

  “What’ve you done to my father?” she demanded.

  He waved away her question. “You needn’t worry about that. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

  “I’m going to kill you, Moretti,” Oberon growled.

  “So you keep saying bear-man,” Lucian laughed. “But you’re still the one in a cage.”

  Hector knocked over the cart, whether on purpose or by accident, she couldn’t say, the contents spilled all over the floor. Oberon roared with laughter and Lucian’s face darkened.

  “You clumsy idiot,” he yelled at Hector. “Get this mess cleaned up and those animals fed.” He scowled around the room and focused on Antoinette, smiling with malevolence. “But nothing for these three. Let’s see how cheerful they are after a couple of days without sustenance.”

  Oberon sobered instantly. Lucian thundered out of the room in a sweeping fury as Hector bent to clean the mess.

  But Antoinette had other things on her mind. “Hector, have you seen my father?”

  The large butler gave one slow nod of his head.

  “Is he still alive?”

  Again, a single dip of his head was the only answer.

  Joy warmed an extra beat in her heart. Thank God. She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “Can you take me to him?”

  He slowly moved his head left then right and back to her.

  “But he is here?”

  A nod.

  “Can you bring him to me?” she pleaded, desperate now.

  He repeated the negative movement of his head and bowed imperceptibly before leaving with the cart. Long after he was gone Antoinette watched the doorway, hoping he’d come back with her father. But he didn’t.

  32

  Embracing Nature

  Lucian didn’t return the next day, or the day after that. Neither did Lisbet. On the third night in the cell, Antoinette lay looking at the white tiled ceiling. At least she thought it was the third night, she’d lost count of the hours.

  Oberon had grown more and more agitated over the past few hours, pacing constantly in his cage. Christian seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts, sitting in a corner with eyes closed. Antoinette wondered if their hunger grew more persistent with each passing minute, as hers did. Thirst consumed every thought—the blood, how it tasted, the sensation of it sliding down her throat and the feeling of power it gave her. A tiny groan passed her lips.

  “Don’t think about it,” Christian said.

  She jumped. “What?”

  He’d been silent for hours. “The hunger—I feel it growing in you.” He opened his eyes and met her gaze. “Don’t think about it—you’ll only make it worse.”

  “I can’t help it. I try not to and it only makes me think of it more.” It’d replaced everything, even the worry over her father, much to her disgust. She could think of nothing else but the growling hunger-beast stalking her mind. And the memory of Christian so near to the Dark Sleep haunted her.

  “You must learn to control it, or it’ll control you. Most dreniacs turn shortly after being embraced because they can’t control the bloodlust.” Christian leaned forward. “Meditation can be the best way to achieve this. Sit in the middle of the floor facing me and close your eyes.”

  This was madness, how could he possibly help from way over there?

  “Trust me,” he said, his voice low.

  She did as he said, feeling a little stupid.

  “You have to reach inside yourself and feel the beast that is hunger.”

  A beast? Her eyes flew open. She’d felt it stalking her for some time now. How did he know?

  “It lives in us all,” Christian said as if reading her thoughts. “Now—give it form, give it life—make it real.” His voice flowed over her, relaxing the tension from her shoulders.

  A darkness crept into her mind, moving with stealth just beyond her conscious thought. Antoinette stiffened and sucked back her breath. Afraid.

  “Can you feel it?” Christian’s soft and gentle tone strengthened her. “The beast wants to consume you but you mustn’t let it.”

  She nodded, keeping herself focused on the snarling beast hiding in the shadows of her mind.

  “You must stroke it, croon to it or beat it into submission—do anything you can to control it.” His voice whispered as if directly into her ear—she could almost feel his breath upon her neck.

  She didn’t want to confront it. It would be best kept hidden. She felt her hunger-beast crouch in the darkness as it prepared to pounce. She drew back, fear knotting her throat, making it difficult to swallow. She wanted to run, but the beast would cut her down from behind and consume her. She swallowed her fear and turned to meet the beast.

  How to soothe a savage beast? With music, of course. Instinctively she began to hum a French lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she’d had a bad dream. The beast stilled and purred, but she still couldn’t bring herself to look upon it.

  “Is it working? Is your beast growing quiet?” Christian asked.

  Again she nodded, not daring to speak, and continued to hum.

  “When you’re ready, you must approach the beast, acknowledge it—only then will you truly be able to control it.”

  “No…” Her eyes flew open. “I can never acknowledge it. I can never accept it.” She clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms.

  Christian’s eyes dulled. “If you can’t embrace the beast it will eventually consume you.”

  Oberon had stopped pacing and stood with his own eyes closed. When they opened again, some of the wildness had left them and he seemed a little calmer. When he saw them looking at him, he shrugged sheepishly. “Just getting in touch with my inner beast—or inner bear in my case. Neat trick, Laroque.”

  “It’s something my father taught me and it helps in times like this.” Christian leaned back and closed his eyes. “There are times when you must unleash the beast, but you must always maintain control.”

  Her heart sank. Every day would be a battle against this new nature. Every day she must fight it, lest it consume her. If only Christian hadn’t—She stopped. It was no good thinking of if only.

  The door to the lab opened and Antoinette tensed, but it was Lisbet, her eyes darting around hesitantly. Finally, she crossed the floor and touched the stone on the pedestal.

  “The others cannot hear us,” she said to Antoinette when she got closer. “The talisman has powerful magic, that’s why we are safe from those little black box things he calls CCT.”

  “You mean cameras.”

  The girl shrugged. “He has them in the house upstairs—little black boxes he uses to keep watch over things. But the talisman prevents anything from seeing or hearing what goes on in the complex. No one can find this place by magic or technology.”

  “Why did you shut them out?” She pointed her chin toward Christian and Oberon.

  The two men stood as close to the bars as they dared, their faces creased with worry.

  “Because I wanted to talk to you alone, as family.” Lisbet squared back her shoulders. “We share the same blood, yes? I need to know if everything they said is true. Would the world accept me as I am now?”

&nb
sp; The image of Katerina and Sergei taking her in with her brother when they were little flashed into Antoinette’s mind. Katerina had held her close, hugging her to her enormous motherly bosom, crooning comforting sounds. The Petrescu family would always protect one of their own. Katerina loved children, especially little girls—she had three of her own. Even though Lisbet was only a child in appearance, she was sure Katerina would adore her.

  Antoinette got down on her knees at eye level with the girl. “I’ll take you home to our family and they will accept you.” But could she be sure of that? Yes—she could. Why had she wasted all this time when she should’ve gone to them first?

  “My brother tells me he’s trying to find a cure. But I’m not sure I believe him. He says those vaccines he creates are to help people.”

  “What vaccines?” Antoinette asked.

  “He has another laboratory like this one in the other part of the complex where he develops serums and tests them on the prisoners. But I have heard them screaming and I have heard them die.” Lisbet’s leaned forward and whispered. “If I help you to escape, you will take me with you?”

  “Yes,” Antoinette said.

  Lisbet let out a breath, looking relieved. “Then be ready when Hector and I come for you.”

  “Why not now?” Antoinette asked.

  The little girl tilted her head. “Because Lucian is still here and if he catches us, he’ll kill you. We have to wait for him to leave the house.”

  “We need to contact the authorities, can you do that?”

  “Maybe Hector could.”

  The girl gave her one last confident smile and reset the talisman spell before running from the room.

  “She’s going to help us escape,” Antoinette told the other two.

  “Can we trust her?” Christian asked.

  “Yes,” Antoinette said. “I think we can.”

  The hours dragged on, with no sign of Lisbet or Hector. Antoinette paced her cell.

  “I think she was playing with us,” Oberon grumbled as he prowled his eight-by-eight cell.

  Antoinette sighed and sat down on the makeshift bed, the taste of bitter disappointment burning the back of her throat. Maybe he was right. Her eyes grew heavy and she let herself drift off into sleep.