AMARANTHINE:
Goddess of Night
Joleene Naylor
www.joleenenaylor.com
[email protected]
First Edition 2017
Copyright 2017 by Joleene Naylor
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part (beyond that copying permitted by U.S. Copyright Law, Section 107, “fair use” in teaching or research. Section 108, certain library copying, or in published media by reviewers in limited excerpt), without written permission from the publisher.
Cover art & interior art copyright Joleene Naylor 2017. All rights reserved.
This book is available in print
Ramblings from the Darkness at www.joleenenaylor.com
You never know what you’ll find in the shadows…..
**********
Other books by Joleene Naylor:
Amaranthine:
0: Brothers of Darkness
1: Shades of Gray
2: Legacy of Ghosts
3: Ties of Blood
4: Ashes of Deceit
5: Heart of the Raven
6: Children of Shadows
7. Clash of Legends
8. Masque of the Vampire
9: Goddess of Night
Also:
Vampire Morsels Collection: 17 Short Stories
101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire by Joleene Naylor
Heart of the Raven Mini Prologue Collection
Tales from the Island: Six Short Stories
Thirteen Guests: A Masque of the Vampire companion
Road to Darkness: A short story companion to Brothers of Darkness
COMING SOON:
Tales of the Executioners
**********
Goddess of Night: The final in the Amaranthine Series
A war four-thousand years in the making.
In the mists of time, Lilith sealed her immortal lover away. Awakened, Samael has only one plan: revenge.
Linked to Samael and caught in the middle, Katelina watched as Lilith took both her best friend Sarah and a child vampire hostage. Now, it’s up to her and Jorick to get them back. Joined by a group more foe than friend, they search for the ancient vampiress, never dreaming the fight will come to them.
A horrific attack leaves Katelina’s hometown in ruins. Sightings say Sarah may have escaped, but with her mother in a coma, should Katelina go? Or should she stay? Will more destruction follow when Samael catches Lilith’s scent?
The final installment of the Amaranthine series raises the stakes. No longer the cringing, terrified woman she was, Katelina will have to step up or lose everything she’s ever cared about.
**********
To Christine Connolly for all she’s done, for her friendship, and for being so amazingly supportive.
To Maegan Provan and Tricia Drammeh for their friendship, support, and encouragement. Y’all rock.
**********
Prologue
The memory of the Canadian ball was seared in Katelina’s mind. When she closed her eyes she could see it again; live it again.
The decorations had been lavish. A fairytale castle, an island for the orchestra, even a fake magic forest. Servants fluttered and guests danced. Sarah had been dressed as a warrioress, with a cursed short sword on her hip. She was supposed to be Katelina’s best friend but, after their fight, she wouldn’t even look at her. She attended the ball with Kali, an ancient vampiress whose presence filled Katelina with dread.
Verchiel had been kind enough to go as Katelina’s date, though he wasn’t her boyfriend. Jorick was; Jorick who was busy. He and Jamie had been sent by The Guild, the vampires’ government, to provide security for Andrei and Annabelle’s two-week long party: a party that culminated in the masquerade ball.
Only, the ball didn’t go the way they planned.
The double doors had exploded in a shower of wood shards, revealing a figure in the gaping doorway. Dressed in black, long dark hair flowed over his shoulders. Topaz eyes burned like stars.
It was Samael, an ancient vampire. He sought to destroy Lilith, his ex-lover who had imprisoned him for more than four-thousand years.
He’d stepped inside and shouted, “Come forth!”
Kali had answered, “So it’s true. It has been so long I scarcely recall your face, but I would know that anger anywhere. Have you no greeting for me, after years uncounted?”
The fight followed. Kali—or Lilith, as she was once called—used Sarah as a shield. The memories were a jumble of blood, screams, and exploding plaster in Katelina’s mind. But she remembered what happened when she met Lilith’s eyes. The chaos of the room disappeared, replaced with a dark shining prison.
Though Samael had forced Lilith to let go, she warned, “Next time, I’ll keep her.”
Then the ceiling collapsed. Lilith had stood among the rubble, holding Sarah in one arm, her attention at her feet. As the dust settled, Katelina had seen a tattered purple fairy wing.
Estrilda. Annabelle’s daughter, adopted by Andrei. A child vampire, dressed for a ball she wasn’t allowed to attend.
Lilith had hauled the girl up by the back of her dress. With a shriek, Annabelle had lunged, but was knocked aside. Splattered with the gore of battle, Andrei had roared, “Release her.”
“I don’t think so. The blood of children is the sweetest, and what would be sweeter than one who has been a child for centuries? William!”
A vampire had appeared at Lilith’s feet. She’d tossed Estrilda into his arms. Jorick and Andrei had sprung in unison, but William was gone before they reached him.
Samael readied to attack. “Now you die, foul demon!” As he’d raised his hands, Lilith used Sarah as a shield. Samael had sworn not to hurt anyone Katelina cared for. She’d felt his indecision. When he’d reached a conclusion, her heart stopped.
“I am sorry.”
Sarah’s death had been written on his face. With a cry, Katelina had grabbed a fallen shield and flung it at him. The force of impact sent his shot wide. With a laugh, Lilith had evaporated.
That was when Samael met Katelina’s eyes. She’d felt the spark of his disappointment before he also disappeared.
And that was it. No matter how many times Katelina went through the memories, looking for a way to fix things, she couldn’t find one. She couldn’t change what had happened, any more than she could change the chaos of the next day.
Lilith had taken one of her new recruits’ planes. No one could find it. Canadian Executioners, the vampires’ version of police, arrived and locked down the scene. Dead were examined and carted out to be burned in a pyre of choking black smoke. Damage was measured and cataloged. Staff and guests alike were trapped until the Executioners dismissed them.
While interviews were conducted with party guests, Annabelle called Katelina to her secret rooms; the rooms where Estrilda had been concealed for so long. Through the hidden panel in the wall and up the stairs, Katelina’s heart sunk the closer she got. She could feel Annabelle’s pain and misery.
The sitting room was empty, but the door in the back wall was open. Katelina hesitated and tried to push down the hurt. Not mine, she told herself. Not mine. But it was. She was as distraught as Annabelle.
She forced herself through the door and into the pink bedroom. Annabelle was curled up on the floor among her daughter’s abandoned toys. Her long auburn hair fell over her face, hiding her tears and her half mask. Her shoulders shook with heavy, gulping sobs.
“My baby. My poor baby.”
Katelina’s eyes prickled with tears that weren’t hers. Her chest ached. “I’m-I’m sure she’s all right.”
It was
useless; they both knew she was lying. Lilith’s words echoed in her memory: The blood of children is the sweetest, and what would be sweeter than one who has been a child for centuries? Honestly, Katelina wasn’t sure Estrilda was still alive.
“Why would she take her?” Annabelle whispered. “She’s only a child. Why would Kali take her?”
It was a question Katelina couldn’t answer; didn’t want to answer, so she tried to steer the conversation away. “She’s not Kali, but Lilith.”
“You said that last night, but…Lilith, from the legends? The vampires’ mother, the oldest of our kind? How can that be?”
Katelina shifted uncomfortably. “She isn’t the oldest. Samael—”
“I know the legends, how he stole her heart, and left her body hidden.”
Katelina shook her head. “Those were just stories. Lilith drained Samael and imprisoned him for four thousand years. I…I woke him. Not on purpose. Sorino tricked me into it. He planned to command Samael, but it doesn’t work that way. Now Samael is hunting Lilith, to kill her for what she did to him.”
“So he came here?” Annabelle cried. “Kali—or Lilith—we’ve known her so long. She’d been our guest, party after party, welcomed into our home. To fight Samael, I understand this, but to take my child…Estrilda, she’s innocent, full of love and life…” Annabelle’s voice took on a hysterical pitch. “What will we do? We can’t report her kidnapping! And Andrei can’t go, can’t make The Guild suspicious. If the Executioners find out she exists, they’ll…they’ll kill her.”
And they would, because children vampires were illegal. The penalty was death for the child and its master.
“I don’t know what to do,” Annabelle whispered. “I wanted to go myself. Andrei said that would seem peculiar, especially while the Executioners are here. But who knows when they’ll leave? There will be days of paperwork, and interviews, and questions. Every day that passes…”
Though she left it hanging, Katelina knew the rest: Every day that passed was another that Estrilda could be murdered.
Katelina repeated the promise she’d already made herself, “We’ll find her.”
Annabelle clutched Katelina’s hands and turned her face up, desperation in her eyes. “Please. Please save her. Please bring my baby home. She’s survived so much, for so long that this…” Annabelle let go to sink among the toys again.
Katelina nudged a stuffed bear with her toe. His embroidered smile seemed wrong at a time like this, but it was better than looking at Annabelle, than seeing the broken heart of a mother shining in her eyes.
“Estrilda…she’s strong. She survived her childhood, despite being…” Annabelle touched her head. Katelina knew what she meant. At ten, Estrilda had the mind of a five-year-old and a diminutive body.
Annabelle’s voice grew stronger. “She survived. And when her father…that monster…when he tried to kill her, she survived the fire, the burns and, thanks to Andrei, the horrible infection, the fever, the sickness. Since then, she has survived all these centuries…” Annabelle broke off and swept a doll into her arms. “Hidden, safe, protected, loved. Now Kali—Lilith…”
“Yes,” Katelina murmured. “Estrilda is a survivor.”
“But is she strong enough for this?” Annabelle cried. “Lilith means to kill her, doesn’t she? That’s why she took her.”
Katelina cringed. They were back to this again. “Maybe she took her as a hostage, like Sarah.”
Annabelle set the doll carefully in a chair and smoothed its skirt. “Was that the reason she took Sarah, or was it that cursed sword she bore?”
The cursed sword. The blade of Nu-Gua, a legendary weapon. Prophecy foretold that it would kill either Lilith or Samael. Whether Andrei knew that when it came into his possession was debatable, but he knew enough— knew that the blade’s owners were rumored to die early deaths —and shove it off on Sarah as part of a bizarre business deal. When Lilith took Sarah, she’d also taken the dagger.
Katelina chose her words carefully. “I don’t know for sure. Samael swore he wouldn’t hurt anyone I care about. That’s why Lilith used Sarah as a shield. Lilith might have taken her so she could keep doing that.”
“Perhaps.” Annabelle didn’t look convinced. “I’m sorry Andrei forced that weapon on her. When I found out he had it, I told him to get rid of it, to pass the curse on.” She stopped to wipe her eyes and take a shuddering breath. “It was selfish to demand the curse go to someone else.”
“Anyone would have done the same thing.” Katelina had told Sarah to pass it on as well, only her friend had refused.
“Would they?” Annabelle asked, though Katelina knew she wasn’t looking for an answer. “It will be you and your mate, yes? And the redhead?”
It took Katelina a moment to switch topics. “You mean who will look for Sarah and Estrilda? Verchiel went back to The Guild today.”
“So only you and your mate?”
“I’m not sure yet,” she admitted.
“Sarah is your sister?”
Katelina didn’t understand the leap of logic. “Not by blood. We’ve been friends since grade school. She’s like a sister, but...”
“I meant that you share a master,” Annabelle said.
“No.”
Annabelle deflated. “I see. I had hoped that your master might be trustworthy enough to help. Perhaps, her master?”
Katelina tried to quash the bitterness. “Her master isn’t fit for anything. Sarah…” She broke off and took a breath around the knot of guilt. “I met Jorick because a coven of vampires was hunting me. After I left with him, they mistook Sarah for me, and kidnapped her. When they figured out she was the wrong woman, they killed her.”
Annabelle’s hand fluttered to her throat. “Killed her? I don’t understand.”
“That’s what everyone thought, even Jorick and I. But the one in charge of killing her didn’t finish the job. He tortured her almost to death, then took her to a secret place and turned her. He was planning to raise an army and take over his coven. He never got the chance because we killed him, but we didn’t know about Sarah or the others.”
Katelina swallowed down the memories. She’d read Sarah’s mind more than once, connected with the dark recesses. She’d seen Sarah and her fellows locked in the cage, watched as Kurt, the alpha of the group, raped and molested her. She’d seen their master throw two teen girls inside, enough blood to keep them alive but not enough to give them strength. When he’d never come back, they’d been left with no food and the rotting bodies of their victims.
Sarah’s memories flickered in Katelina’s mind.
Across from her, one of her cell mates drank from his own arm. His skin was pockmarked with scabs from previous attempts, some by him, some by the others. Just like her legs. But it did no good. The blood was cold and dead, and did nothing to quench the burning in their throats.
Sarah squinted through the bars. Most of the girls’ remains were scattered from the cage to the stairs. Back when they still had strength, they’d tossed them out. Even the busted skulls had been chucked, globs of meat hanging from them…
She felt the tickle of hair on her arm, but she didn’t have the strength to shake it off. It did no good, anyway. The girls’ hair was everywhere, stuck to them, scattered on the floor, balled in the corner. It clung like guilt with nothing to wash it away. Except Sarah’s guilt was long gone. She was too numb to care.
The constant slow banging echoed in her ears and she looked to Kurt. He sat hunched on the floor, his face like a skull, hammering at the metal bars with a chunk of bone. They’d gotten part of it loose weeks ago, and they’d all taken turns working on the rest for a while. One by one they fell away, either too weak or hopeless to bother. But not Kurt. Chisel, chisel, chisel.
Kurt had gotten it open. They’d crawled out, and eventually gone to a farm house where they’d glutted on the family. Afterwards, in the barn, Kurt attacked Sarah while the others pretended not to see, as they always had. Full of bloo
d, she was strong. She’d killed Kurt and the rest of them, then set out for home, for her boyfriend, and her best friend, the people who would love her and help her…
Annabelle’s voice brought Katelina out of Sarah’s memories and back to the bedroom. “How did you find out she was alive?”
Katelina drew a cleansing breath, as if air could wash the visions away. “After they got free, she came home, but I was gone with Jorick and her boyfriend had moved on.” She stopped from saying, “moved on with my mother.”
“That’s why you brought her here,” Annabelle said softly.
Katelina nodded. “I wanted to show her that being a vampire wasn’t all cages and suffering and murder, but…”
Annabelle laid a hand on Katelina. “You wanted to help her. I sensed that when I first met the two of you. It’s the reason Estrilda was drawn to you.” She swallowed a sob. “Estrilda also wanted to help Sarah. She felt her loneliness, her fear, and she wanted to be her friend.”
“I know. And we’ll get them back. Both of them.”
With a nod, Anabelle picked up the smiling teddy bear and stroked its fur. “Rodney. He was a present two birthdays ago because the last Rodney had fallen to pieces. I don’t know where she got the name, but she always calls them that. And they dance together.” She hugged the bear to her. “Have you seen them dance?”
“No, I didn’t get the chance.”
“You should. Once she’s home. It’s her favorite thing to do. She spins and sways like an angel. My poor, beautiful angel. When we’re in the cottage in England, and it’s just us, she gets to go out in the garden and dance in the moonlight. She loves that, especially in the summer when the lilacs bloom. And the roses. She chases the fireflies and dances to music only she can hear.”
Katelina wasn’t sure what to say. She felt the pain of the memories, but also the warmth. Should she try to steer Annabelle away from them, or indulge her?
Goddess of Night (Amaranthine Book 9) Page 1