She couldn't kill me, even if she wanted to. But she could make my life a living hell.
Sergei came and took his sister's hand from mine. They both bowed to me, just as I had bowed to the Champion. Making all those present know where I stood in their regard. Then met my eyes for the last time and turned and left the room.
You could have heard a pin drop. I'm not sure if the Council was surprised I had let my vampires leave. Perhaps, considering how Dark most of them were, it wouldn't have occurred to them to keep their lines safe. Their own safety would have won out. I had just done something that was undoubtedly an anomaly to them. Or they were just waiting for the Champion to pounce.
It didn't take her long.
“Lucinda, thank you for attending my invitation.” I didn't think she had offered an invitation, just simply abducted my vampire and expected me to come running. Which I did. But I also didn't argue with her. What was the point? This was her game, I was just along for the ride.
She smiled sweetly at me, no doubt receiving all of my thoughts. My shields were tight and complete, but the Champion is something else. Her ability to read minds is effortless. She doesn't need a connection. She doesn't need to read what's on our thoughts at that moment. She simply delves inside the most private and intimate part of us and takes what she needs with ease.
I did have one ace up my sleeve however. She could not lie when answering a question of mine. Nut, who had made sure the Champion could not kill me and had connected us in such a way that I felt compelled to protect the woman who held my gaze right now, had also given me something in return. The Champion's honesty when needed. But I had to ask a question first.
“A pleasure as always Champion,” I replied with a small incline of my head. She could take that statement however she liked. “What would you have of me?” I asked.
The Champion's sweet smile turned knowing in a flash.
“You know what I want,” she avoided answering.
“I would like to hear you say it.” Pedantic of me perhaps, but I had to do something to hold onto any dignity that was left me and confronting her was all I had left.
“The portals are open, we need your power. You must join.” Her words were curt and harsh. They were also not the whole truth. I raised an eyebrow at her in question and held her gaze. Willing myself not to back down.
“Of course,” I answered slowly. “Then I shall make it a priority.” I wanted to ask and then I also didn't. I wanted to know who she was expecting me to join with, because I knew with a heavy heart in that instant it wasn't Michel. Why go to all this trouble if it was someone I loved and would join with in an instant? But I also didn't want to hear her answer. What if it was someone I despised?
So we stood there in silent combat. Neither of us willing to break our gazes and turn away. Petty didn't even cover it. She was an ancient vampire with way more political know-how than me and yet we had both resorted to childish tactics. I could tell a lot by her gaze. She hated me. She despised that we were connected. Part of her was jealous of what I had with Michel and therefore she would do anything to throw a spanner in the works.
I didn't back down, but I also saw the fruitlessness of the act. I could call on my Light to get us out of here. I could blast them all and simply walk out that door unhindered. They had no defence against Nut's Light. I had long ago learned how powerful it was. All I had to do was set my mind to something, believe it and it would be so. But what would it achieve? We would be fugitives and where could we hide? South America maybe. But I didn't doubt for second that the Champion would move Heaven and Earth to find us. And then what? We would be dead.
I hated that I had to do this. I hated that I had no choice. But I hated not knowing what lay in store more. So, I took a deep breath in, steadied myself and asked.
“Who is it you wish me to join with, Champion?” Surprisingly my voice was calm.
Her smile grew radiant at my question and I vaguely heard a door opening to the side of the room. I didn't want to pull my gaze away from her. I didn't want to be the one to break the hold. But I felt a pull to whoever had just entered the room. A part of me recognizing the signature of the vampire before my brain had a chance to catch on.
I turned, as if in slow motion, and met the handsome, arrogant face of Avery Rousseau.
“Ms. Monk. Long time no see.”
Oh, hell no!
Chapter 36
The Joining
I started laughing. I couldn't help it. Too much tension, too much stress and not enough blood in my veins or sleep. I also lost all pretence of trying to play by the respectful rules I was expected to adhere to. The Champion wasn't, then why should I?
“You have got to be joking,” I said with derision. “I thought Lutin left you for dead.”
Avery cringed, then quickly re-schooled his features into a faux pleasant mask. “'Left me for' being the significant part of that statement. As you can see, I wasn't dead at all.” He held his arms out in a sweeping motion of his body. Bringing my attention to his impeccable suit and commanding physique. I scoffed.
“I knew there was a reason I didn't like that fairy.” Avery's lips twitched, but he didn't allow the smile to take hold. “So,” I said returning my attention to the Champion, “you think Avery would be a suitable kindred?”
“We already know he is compatible,” she replied coolly.
“No more so than any other,” I answered shrugging. “And as it is my power I am offering up here like a sacrificial lamb to slaughter, I think I should have a say in who I tie it to. For eternity.”
“Do you?” she asked, still with that calm and oh so cool demeanour. “You have led us on a merry chase, Nosferatin. You have left us to defend ourselves against an enemy you had the power to vanquish. As such you have acted as an enemy against the Nosferatu as well.”
Now that's just splitting hairs. “I was kind of held up Champion and otherwise out of this realm. I could hardly follow through with your request to join while being held captive by the fairies you wanted protection from, now could I?”
“Avery met with you before your capture, yet you still refused to join.”
“I was in mourning,” I said through gritted teeth.
Why I was bothering to argue, I don't know. It was only digging myself a deeper hole. But I was frantically trying to think of a way out. Something I could say that would allow her to let me join with Michel instead. I hadn't dared look at him. I could feel his anger from where I stood. And his fear. For a consummate actor such as Michel was, he was letting himself down dramatically here. The entire Council would have been aware of his emotions. Hell, even I didn't need to look at him to tell.
But I was not giving up hope. Nut was with me, I was sure. And if she was here, then surely things would turn out OK in the end. I felt her presence in the room as though she stood before us all, but I could not see her. I also felt her restraining hand on my own Light, as though she knew how close I was to reaching for it and how damaging in the long term that would be.
“It had been two months, more than enough time for you to get over your crush in the face of such dire consequences.” The Champion's words cut like a knife. Not just to me, but to Michel. He stood up. His fists clenched at either side of his body. His eyes already completely awash with magenta.
“This is ridiculous!” He almost shouted the words. “What is the point of this? If she must join, then let her join with me. At least we know the parameters of a joining between us. We know how powerful it would be.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth I knew he regretted them. Michel was perhaps one of the most powerful vampires in the world, even before he had joined with me. His own Sanguis Vitam being quite formidable. The Champion would not want a return to how powerful he had been after we had joined that first time. She would not want someone she had so little control over having the upper hand. And if Michel were to join with me, he would definitely have the upper hand.
I knew then,
that there was nothing I could say to change the outcome here today. That the Champion would thwart every argument, every point I made, and simply cast them all aside. But even if I couldn't persuade her with words, I could with actions.
I felt Nut startle at the train of my thoughts. At the conviction of what I was about to do. It was wrong. So wrong. It was calling on the Dark side of myself. The side that is always there, as it is with everyone, but is so far removed from who I am everyday. I am the epitome of Light. I am Nut's emissary. I represent the Light in the battle for balance with the Dark in this world. But that does not mean I do not have Dark within me.
For where there is Light there is always Dark. And where there is Dark there is always Light. Maybe if my life hadn't been so full of shadows recently, I would have paused to consider what I was about to attempt. Maybe if I hadn't felt like Nut had abandoned me, when Michel was 'killed'. When Lutin abducted me and forced me to perform the kvángask. I wouldn't have felt like I had no other option left.
Maybe if I hadn't felt trapped and cornered like a startled animal, I wouldn't have acted like one.
Whatever reason, I chose to ignore the Light inside my soul and embraced the Dark. I chose to murder someone who although Dark themselves and who had harmed me in the past, did not deserve to die at that moment.
I pulled my stake from my jacket with smooth, swift practised hands. Palmed its familiar weight to centre myself and then spun. I would have liked to have staked the Champion, but I couldn't. My connection to her did not allow that sort of attack. Who did that leave? The vampire she intended me to join with. The one thing I could perceive as standing in my way to Michel. I spun towards Avery and pulled back my stake to strike.
Of course I had forgotten that Avery could pluck random thoughts from people's heads. He'd plucked mine right before I struck. Maybe I had given myself away. Tensed before I sprang. Drew an almost inaudible breath in preparation for my spin. Whatever I did, he knew to pluck my thoughts. And so he was prepared.
His arm came up and blocked my strike, his other free hand slammed into my chest, fracturing ribs and causing a lung to collapse. I knew instantly what damage had been performed, because I couldn't breath and my chest wall was screaming with sharp stabs of pain. But I didn't stop. I rolled over onto all fours and then managed to stumble to my feet. My hand not holding the stake cradling my chest. My breaths coming in incomplete gasps. I couldn't get enough air in and already I was starting to feel light headed.
I could no longer spin and the guards were circling, closing in to disarm me. I had one more chance. I was vaguely aware of the Keeper and the Nemesis restraining Michel up by the Council chairs, but my main focus was on Avery and remaining upright through the stabbing pain and lack of oxygen to my head. I gripped the stake tightly, cleared my head and let a blast of Light out at the guards. They dropped like stones to the marble floor. Sickening cracks sounded out as their heads hit the unforgiving surface beneath them. I used the last of my strength to run at Avery. It wasn't vampire fast. There was no blur or flash of colour. But Nosferatin's can move faster than your average humans can and no one in that room thought I had it in me to take one step, let alone sprint across the space and slide between Avery's legs, coming to stand with my stake ready to strike above his back.
It would have worked. He couldn't have spun to defend himself quickly enough. I was there, his back was unguarded and I had a clear path directly through his skin to his heart. The stake was ready and so was I.
But, the Champion is not the leader of the Iunctio's Council without some form of formidable power herself. Plus, she has access to all of the stored Nosferatu and Nosferatin power at the Iunctio's command. She simply raised her hand and a wave of power washed over me as she calmly said, “Stop!”
I did. I stopped with the stake just resting against Avery's back. So close, yet so, so far away. He spun in place and plucked the stake out of my clenched fingers then threw it to someone else I couldn't see. I couldn't see, because it was behind me and the Champion held me solidly in her invisible grasp.
“As entertaining as this has been, it was, in the end, quite foolish.” The Champion's words rang out in the room. “I would have expected more from you, Lucinda. I actually thought you possessed some intelligence. Perhaps I was wrong. Never mind, your intelligence is certainly not what we need, your power, however, is.” She released me from her hold and I collapsed to the floor at Avery's feet.
I still had another stake and knife, I was damned if I was beaten yet. But, I just sat there and waited for the game to be played out. Last innings, last chance to steal a base.
Avery crouched down in front of me and placed his fingers under my chin, making my eyes meet his. I glared at him and he chuckled. It was not a pleasant sound.
“Do it, Avery, this is growing tiresome,” the Champion instructed.
Avery pulled a knife from his pocket and sliced a line down his right palm. Blood welled to the surface immediately. He then reached over and grabbed my right hand turning it roughly over to display my palm. I clenched it into a fist. He had to place the knife on the floor in order to pry my fingers apart, but he made sure the knife was out of my reach. It didn't matter, I'd already taken my spare stake out of jacket with my left hand. Not my dominant fighting hand, but I could manage at a pinch.
Before I had made the stake connect with his body I heard a cry behind me that ripped right through my soul and heart. Avery's eyes held mine as the stake rested, unmoving, against his chest. I could continue and end it here, but that cry. So full of pain and anguish and I reluctantly admitted, defeat. I didn't need to turn around to know who had made that god awful sound that kept bouncing around in my head. I didn't need to, but I did.
The Keeper stood over a restrained Michel, the Nemesis holding him in place. As my silver stake protruded from his chest. For a moment the scene shifted. To an upper class street in London. Affluent tall houses on either side of us, late model expensive cars lining the street. And Michel and Amicus locked in battle. The swish of a sword, the flash of metal catching the light of a street lamp as it slashed towards Michel's head.
I abruptly came back to the Council chambers. Michel had vanished on that cold night in London. He hadn't vanished here. So the stake had missed his heart. On purpose? Looking at the Keeper and how he held the stake in a firm, but steady grip, I thought yes. This was the hostage. This was the warning. I refuse to join with Avery and the Keeper shifts the stake a centimetre or so into Michel's heart.
Wasn't there some rule that an Iunctio Council member could not be attacked by another? Yeah right. And I'm also quite happy to be called a Princess of Ljósálfar. Fuck. Just that, nothing else. Just fuck.
Michel's eyes met mine, so full of pain and desperate, desperate heartache.
Do not do it, ma douce. Fight. Fight and get away. Michel's words were strained inside my head. The effort required to breach my shields too great in his current compromised state. I didn't hesitate, it didn't matter what the Champion or Avery heard, I let my shields down and let Michel in.
I let him feel my anguish, my frustration, my despair. I let him feel my love, my belief that I would always be his no matter what. I let him know that this was not the end. That the Champion had made an enemy this day. That I would never rest until retribution was gained. And I let everyone in that room know that thought. I sent the emotion out in a wave of pure anger. I knew each vampire had received it loud and clear. I had just declared war on the Iunctio. Futile, hopeless war. But war nevertheless.
I fight and they will kill you. I locked my shields down and urged him to do the same. The Champion would still be able to read our minds, so I sent Michel one word. Sofiq. Nothing else, but I knew he understood, by the reaction in his eyes. Acceptance. If he died, the portals would be closed upon my forced joining and I would be called to Álfheimr. He needed to survive. I needed to survive. We had no choice.
I was about to turn back to Avery, to face my fate with shoulders b
ack and head held high, when Michel's final words reached me.
You will always be mine, no matter what.
I glanced back up at him and met his gaze. His vampire peeked out from behind those eyes. Beautiful, majestic, powerful. A dragon with such honour and such presence. And a certain amount of monster-under-the-bed scariness. I wasn't entirely sure of Michel's vampire-within, of his dragon, but it was sure of me. I was not only Michel's kindred, I was his vampire's mate. And no joining with another would break that.
I felt Nut's hand on my head and saw her Light dance over Michel's, the dragon's eyes widened in his own and then settled with an almost bliss-like calm. And as soon as Nut's Light vanished I felt a connection settle between us. Not as strong as the Bond or joining. Or maybe it was, but different. Nut had given us what she could, in light of what was about to happen in this room.
It never ceased to amaze me, the position I held in my Goddess's heart. I felt honoured and in awe of her gift and I could tell Michel did to. Because I could feel everything he was feeling, I could read every thought. Whether that was going to be a short-lived connection, or one we would hold once we left this room, I did not know. But there was something there that felt permanent, untouchable, ours. And for now it calmed me, allowed me to face what I had to face, no longer on my own. My hand came up reaching towards him, as his did towards mine. Our eyes locked together as surely as our hearts had been and now our souls were too.
Avery shifted next to me, no doubt aware that something had happened between Michel and me and was uncomfortable at whatever presence Nut had brought to the air in the room. I could tell the Diviner was studying us, but I pushed his frowning concern aside. I even tamped down on the new connection to Michel. A connection I realised was a Light in amongst the shadows of my life.
I laughed then. Hadn't it been Avery who had told me that: For there to be shadows, there must also be Light? How right he had been. I shook my head and wiped the smile from my face as I met Avery's eyes. He was studying me too.
Shadow's Light Page 41