by Kayleigh Sky
Zev drank from his glass and set it down. “You all know about the attack. Our suspects are limited.”
The vampires said nothing, but a few shot stares at the others.
At the other end of the room, Moss rose too, and Uriah moved away from the wall to stand beside him. They exchanged a glance, and Moss smiled before turning back and staring at the table.
“Nobody will leave here until their obligation is fulfilled,” said Zev.
“Obligation,” said March. “What obligation?”
“The one I will exact,” said Zev. The vampires stared at him with blank faces and burning eyes. Zev went on. “I am a just king. A fair one, but I cannot allow disloyalty. I want your promises.”
March pushed back in his chair and stood. “What are you saying?”
“I demand a blood oath from each family.”
A blood oath? What did… Was Zev going to drink their blood? Asa’s insides twisted, and he clenched his fists. That couldn’t be what he meant. The idea of Zev drinking real blood, vampire blood—
You want him to drink yours.
God no. The contents of Asa’s stomach rushed up, and he swallowed it back down. That wasn’t what he wanted. Not in a million years. Not ever. But every time he forgot what Zev was, something happened to remind him. He was a vampire. A monster—
Mine.
No.
As though he’d been holding his breath for an hour, it burst out of him in a dizzy rush, and the noise sank in. Roars and hisses.
“Outrageous,” said March. “I will not.”
Princess Malia sat with her hand over her mouth, her eyes dancing, but Prince Jessamine was frowning. Otto had come around the table and stood at Zev’s side.
“You can’t ask that,” said one of the brothers—Morjin or Og.
One of the twins twisted in her chair, looking from face to face. “What does it mean? An oath?”
Bronwen stood beside his father and pointed at her. “No one does this. Alva doesn’t even know what it means.”
“King to successor,” said Zev. “It is done.”
“You have no successor,” Bronwen said. “It’s a relic of the past. We are beyond that.”
“Beyond loyalty?” Zev asked.
“Pledging our loyalty and demanding we prove it,” said March, “are two different things. You defile us.”
Moss hissed and let his fangs drop. “How dare you.”
“How dare us,” said Morjin or Og.
Camiel waved a hand in the air like a schoolboy asking for permission to use the boy’s room. He smiled, head tipped to the side, a glass of wine in his other hand. “Me first.”
“You traitor.” Bronwen’s lip curled over his fangs. “You must stand with us. Your family is in exile, and you offer him your free will?”
March threw his napkin onto his plate. “The oath is subjugation!”
Zev pounded the table. “Enough! You are jackals. I am your king. Pledging your obedience is an honor.”
“You are not the rightful king,” Morjin or Og said.
“I am your king, and you will obey me.”
March’s face twisted in a snarl. “You will pay for this,” he said, whirling away.
He stormed toward the door until Uriah stepped in front of him, but Zev waved his hand, and Uriah moved aside.
Bronwen, Morjin, and Og followed him. One of the brothers looked back at Camiel, who grinned at him. The brother said nothing, turned, and slipped into the hall.
Alva turned to Camiel. “What should we do, Cam?”
Camiel shrugged, still with his grin, a twinkle in the sideways look he gave Zev. “What we are commanded. Everybody loves a show.”
Zev sighed. “I was stabbed, Camiel.”
Camiel inclined his chin, then placed a palm between Yair’s shoulders and pushed him between the sisters toward the door. “We are Ellowyn, Majesty. We are born of killers.”
Asa gripped the back of Zev’s throne to hold himself up and caught Otto’s stare on him. Fixed and narrowed. He looked away. Why didn’t revulsion crawl across Otto’s face? Horror at what Zev planned to do? His prince fed on him probably. And it wasn’t as if Asa didn’t know what it was like to have fangs sink into his flesh.
But now his skin itched, and he wanted to plunge into the pristine snow. Cleanse himself of vampires. Of Zev. Of his memories of blood and dead eyes.
Princess Malia approached the throne, her brother trailing behind her. Vamps and leather. The brother’s was butterscotch, the princess’s crimson. She tapped Zev on the chest and murmured, “My, my. Aren’t you full of surprises.” Her smile faded. “I remember the last blood oath ceremony. As I recall, it didn’t turn out well. I hope you know what you’re doing, my friend. You have our support though.”
Her smile returned then, and she winked at Otto and strode off.
The prince lingered with a light and sunny smile. He tilted his head. “I don’t remember a blood oath.”
“You were three. It was on the night of the Upheaval anyway, and it never happened.”
“Rune and my father?”
Zev nodded. “That was tradition.”
“But Rune escaped it.”
Zev cocked his head too. “Is that how you think of it? Escaping?”
The prince nodded. “Be careful, sire. You are asking for free will.” He turned his sunny smile on Otto before walking away.
Free will?
Who had that? Not Asa. And why had Asa ever thought a vampire like Zeveriah Dinallah, already drenched in innocent blood, would rule without destruction and violence. He’d murdered a king and stolen his throne.
Zev turned to gaze at him with cold, black eyes. Asa said nothing, and Zev strode away.
39
Bloody Memories
The fingers clamped around Asa’s throat like steel bars. In broad daylight. He inhaled sharp, icy air before the grip tightened.
“Where are you going?”
One of the brothers, Og or Morjin. Was he Zev’s attacker? Asa’s vision narrowed, fuzzy red on the edges, and his hot blood fought against the cold. Motherfucker.
He gagged, trying to get his words out, and the fingers loosened. “Let me go,” he snarled. “I’m working.”
“Outside? The house is on lockdown.”
“You’re outside.”
The fingers tightened again, and his ears rang. “I’m a guest. And you are running out of time. I saw the way you looked at the king at dinner. You don’t have the luxury of emotion. Be prepared to kill him before the night is over.”
He gasped, but the grip on his neck forced it back in again. “I-I… The… necklaces.”
“Too late.”
“No.”
“Kill him. We cannot take the oath.”
“S-Solomon.”
“I am from Solomon.”
The vampire pushed him into a pine. They stood in a grove between the lodge and garage.
“Let me—”
“Do it tonight. You’re fucking him, and you hate him. That’s a perfect combination. Kill him. I will get you out after.”
“You stabbed him.”
The vampire laughed, breath warm against the side of Asa’s face. “No. That was another fan. Maybe Bronwen. Dinallah isn’t strong enough to rule. Isn’t weak enough to concede. So conflicted. So tortured. Almost like a human. Kill him, or the death you die will be a bloody hell. And so will your friend’s,” Morjin or Og whispered right before the forest spun when he jerked Asa’s head back and smashed him into the tree.
Asa staggered then caught himself. A few of the stars in his eyes winked out, and he turned in a circle. Only pines surrounded him now. Footprints in the snow trampling the ones he’d made coming in here.
Kill him?
Zev?
The bastard was a murderer. Power hungry. Bloodthirsty. But in Asa’s arms… In his memories…
Murder was a line he’d never crossed. Maybe in rage, but in cold blood? Vampires had stolen so much from him, and Zev…
<
br /> Well, Asa couldn’t do it. He had to get away from here. And anyway, how did he know if Morjin or Og worked for Solomon. What if he didn’t? What if he’d been Zev’s attacker? Somebody who wasn’t after the necklaces? Who had a single grudge against the king?
He continued toward the garage.
The path through the pines led to the driveway’s crumbling edge and stopped. A mottled apron stretched across the front of the building. One of the ten doors stood open, the inside dark, no car in the space. He strode in, his steps loud on the concrete. Nobody greeted him, but with the door open, he guessed Jere was near. The space was clean and orderly, as fresh and untouched as the snow. Not like the cluttered and messy garage at Dinallah Manor. Rolling toolboxes sat under the shelves and pegs on the walls. Spills on the floor had been scrubbed to faint stains, and no cobwebs clung to the small windows in the back wall.
Asa looked around, gaze locking for a moment on a cabinet hanging between two of the doors.
“Hey, Jere!”
“Be there in a sec.”
The voice came from upstairs.
Hurrying around the backs of the cars, Asa went to the cabinet and pulled on the door. Locked. Shit. A hook stuck out from the side of the cabinet, but no key hung on it. Did Jere replace it every night when he locked up? No matter. Asa hadn’t lived on the streets for so long without learning how to pick a cheap lock.
At the sound of footsteps, he hurried back to his place on the floor.
“What’s up, Emek?”
“Hopin’ to catch a ride into town or borrow a car maybe.”
“Are you kidding? Nobody’s going anywhere.”
“I have to get into town.”
“I can’t help it. I can’t even deliver a message for you. Nobody’s allowed in or out.” Jere came close, leaning in with a frown. “You have another contact I don’t know about?”
“No. What about you? Who’s your contact?”
Jere shook his head. “I get my orders from Solomon. Only what I need to know. Nobody tells me anything, and I like it that way.”
“Nobody else?”
“I just told you.”
Morjin or Og? Was one of the brothers his contact? Well, it didn’t matter. Asa would get into town somehow. And when he did, maybe he’d keep going. He’d done it before. Had for years.
What about Isaac?
Not his problem. Nobody had invited the dumb kid to glom onto him. Besides, he’d be okay.
“Has this ever happened before?”
“Assassination attempts?” Jere shrugged. “A couple times I know of.”
How did Zev live with that? Knowing his end could come from anywhere?
From the one in his bed.
“Okay,” he muttered. “I guess I can wait.”
He returned to the lodge by way of the driveway, staying in view of the house. The fire pits on the patio were lit, but nobody sat there. A golden halo of sun burned through the thin clouds in the sky, and the air bit. He basked in the warm flames for a moment and stared at the still lake. The snow cut along its shore like icing. Shadows lay across the lake’s surface, and nothing moved.
His neck tingled as though eyes followed him from the house, but when he turned, shadows fell over the windows. He let his gaze wander to a glass perched on a bench beside one of the fire pits. A brown residue stained its insides. Chocolate? Or Synelix?
Was Zev eager to drink from someone else’s veins?
The vampires who’d fed on Asa hadn’t thanked him. But why would they? They’d bought the privilege. Thought it their right. Acalliona hadn’t even gotten around to paying for it. And he’d intended to drink it all. Drain Asa deliberately. That night still stole his sleep. He had nightmares that Acalliona had bitten him and woke up gagging sometimes, scared to death he was choking on his own blood. Othertimes, he shot awake to the afterimage of Zev bending over him, his long, tattooed fangs glistening, gloriously beautiful, laughing at him. Cackling. Taunting.
But that was wrong. He had no face to put on his dad’s murderer anymore. Nowhere to look for him. It hadn’t been Zev. Somebody else had sent Asa running for his life that awful night.
Night after night, Zev had come into his room, but Asa had never really known him, and he didn’t know him now.
A blood oath.
It was always about blood and betrayal and loyalty. How many vampires had been so loyal to Zev they’d killed for him?
Had one of them killed Asa’s dad?
And now Asa was supposed to kill Zev. Was he really brave enough to tell Solomon to fuck off?
“Sometimes, I think that’s all bravery is. Going with the risk because doing nothing is riskier.”
He chewed his lip.
What if he found the necklaces?
Zev was still meeting with the families. The vows wouldn’t begin until tomorrow in a chapel Asa hadn’t known existed. If he got away, got to town and hired somebody to drive him back to the manor…
He’d have to break in.
But he could do that. He’d done it before. There’d only be a few servants, who might not come in every day anyway. Except for Adalyn maybe. They were supposed to be on vacation. The necklaces had to still be there. Why bring them here when there would be so many people coming and going? And besides, a thief might think he’d keep the necklaces close, so why not leave them where they were?
Solomon had insisted otherwise. “He has them. After all it took to get them, he’ll keep them nearby.”
So why not do the opposite of what Solomon believed? Which meant the necklaces would still be at the manor.
And anyway, Asa had to get away from Zev. Being near him was scrambling his brains.
He scurried down the back steps to his room, got another scarf and his chess set, but left the rest of his things. Maybe he’d come back…
Best to make it look like he’d never left though. He had everything he needed in his pockets. He returned to the patio, sauntered off in the direction of the lake, then veered toward the trees behind an outcropping of boulders. Several yards into the forest, he stopped and listened. No sound came from behind him.
He wrapped the scarf over his face and sped up. A half hour later he turned toward the road and kept it in sight as he headed for town. After another hour, the sun hit the middle of the sky. Nobody stopped him. He reached a house and moved onto the road, walking along the shoulder. Christmas lights that probably stayed up year-round still decorated a few of the shops, competing with the Valentine Day’s hearts painted on the window of the gift shop next door to the theater.
He passed a few of the movie-goers coming out. Nobody would be looking for him here, not with the lodge locked down. He went around a truck parked by a tank at the gas station and stepped into the office. The driver, waiting at the cash register, gave him a quick nod and pulled out his wallet. The clerk grinned, eyes lighting up. “Hey. I remember you. How you doing?”
“Pretty good. Hey, excuse me.” The driver glanced back to him. “Are you from around here?”
“Jackson. Why? Who’s asking?”
“My name’s Emek. I had a job at the lodge, but I’m leaving and need a ride down the mountain.”
“What happened?” asked the clerk.
“Nothing. The job just isn’t what I thought.”
“Isn’t everybody going home in a couple days anyway?”
Asa shrugged. “I can wait, but I know of another job if I hurry up.”
“Sorry, pal,” said the driver. “I’m not headed back until the storm’s over.”
“Storm?”
“Pretty big one,” the guy said. “If you don’t leave soon, it might be a couple days wait anyway.”
“Okay. Just thought I’d ask.” He turned back to the clerk. “How about you? Know anybody I can catch a ride with?”
“Maybe. Can you hang on a sec?”
Asa nodded and moved under the heater vent in the ceiling until the truck driver paid, and the clerk shut the register.
“If you don’t mind waiting, I can take you after I close up.”
“Really?”
“I don’t mind. With you being on foot, you either wait out the storm at the Inn, or you come with me.”
Asa frowned. “What’s in it for you though?”
“Well, for starters, a cozy bar, a couple beers, and a friendly girl or two if I get lucky. And if not, no worries. I have a place to stay.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. Name’s Carl, by the way.”
“Emek.”
“Well, Emek, you’ve got about an hour. Go ahead and pull a chair out of the office. Make yourself comfortable.”
“That’s okay. I want to check something out first. And thanks. I really appreciate this.”
“You bet. See you in a bit.”
Asa headed out and stuffed his hands in his pockets, head bent against the random kicks of wind. The shadow of the mountainside inched across Main Street. Light spilled from the window with the hearts painted on it and a gust of warmth hit him when he walked in the door. Balsam and vanilla scented the air. Two other customers were perusing the greeting cards. Asa went to the table in front of the window. A swath of blue velvet covered three stands of different heights. A chessboard sat on the center stand with Candy Land on one side and Clue on the other. But he didn’t come here for games. He reached past Candy Land and picked up the battered paperback that leaned against the middle stand.
The Immortal Game by David Shenk.
An instructional book? Asa didn’t know. But the subject was about chess, so… Interesting. Interesting to him, not Zev. He wasn’t thinking of Zev. The book was just something to read while Isaac devoured the Nero Wolff mysteries he’d found in the lodge’s library. Although, Asa wasn’t going back there, right? Occupying his time while Isaac disappeared in a book wasn’t his worry anymore. He’d be safe when Asa found the necklaces and so would Zev. That’s all that mattered.
And even if he didn’t find the necklaces, having Asa out of the picture was still safer for everybody.
Would it hurt Isaac’s feelings that Asa had left without a goodbye? Well, it was better this way.
He leafed through the book’s yellow pages. Zev probably already had it anyway. With a library in the lodge and the manor and books on the coffee table in his study, he didn’t lack for much.