The Vampire Gift 3: Throne of Dust

by E. M. Knight

  “I don’t feel like there’s any bond,” I offer.

  “There is,” Morgan stresses. “There must be. It’s the only way—”

  “And what if there’s not?” Raul interrupts. “If Eleira says she doesn’t feel another bond, maybe it’s because none such exists.”

  “Don’t be a fool,” Morgan says dismissively. “You know nothing of magic. How can you have an opinion?”

  “Raul might be right,” Phillip interjects. “I’ve been reading about this type of thing, and—”

  “So now you’re the expert here, too?” Morgan demands. “I’m the one who’s practiced magic for centuries, let us not forget.”

  She sounds petty and insecure and entirely unlike herself. She must truly be shaken.

  “We’re not doubting any of that, Mother,” Phillip says thinly. “It’s just—”

  “Enough of this!” she cries out. “We’ll discover the truth in due time. Switch subjects. We have to consider what we say next to the Royal Court. We must present a united front, and—”

  “Hold on,” I say. “You said there’s a connection between me and you?”

  “Yes, yes,” Morgan says impatiently. “It links you to me in such a manner that you cannot channel magic without my consent. Moving on…”

  “What!” I exclaim. “No, wait, you can’t just gloss over something like that! What do you mean, I need your consent?”

  The Queen sighs. “Don’t fault me. It was the only way to protect you. Before, you drew on the magical energies latent in this world yourself. Now, that ability is linked to me. The reason for it is that magic exposes you to possession. If you cannot access it, you cannot be possessed. It’s that simple.”

  “But it’s not simple!” I cry. “You can’t just—you can’t just take the ability away from me!”

  “It’s the only way I could protect you,” she says. “If somebody were to attempt taking hold of your mind again, I would know—and I would stop them, because the core of your magical abilities are now controlled by me.”

  Indignation races through me. “No, you can’t do that!”

  “I told you she wouldn’t like it,” Raul says.

  I surge up. “I don’t need you to shield me as if I’m some doll! I need you to teach me, Morgan! Give me guidance that will let me protect myself!”

  “Sadly, the world does not revolve around you, Eleira,” the Queen replies. “I did what I had to do. That is the end of this discussion. The only reason I am entertaining you with this explanation is because your little showing before the Royal Court brought the powers back to my hands. The coven vampires realized that it is I, not Smithson, who can protect them. You were a threat from which I saved them. We couldn’t have staged it any better.

  “But now? It’s beyond time for us to return to the assembly.”

  Chapter Seven

  RAUL

  ASSEMBLY ROOM BENEATH THE HAVEN

  The pain in my leg is nearly unbearable, but I hide the discomfort as best as I can. Now is no time to show weakness. Now, it’s time for all The Haven vampires to see my strength.

  I sit to my Mother’s right at the head of the table. Eleira’s possession and subsequent fight with Mother forced the assembled vampires to shift their focus away from petty politics and onto more important things.

  Namely, restoring the safety of The Haven.

  We’ve already been here for hours. Most of the points discussed have been beaten to death: the destruction of the blood banks, the failure of the wards, the imminent risk of another attack.

  At least the showdown between Mother and Eleira restored the vampires’ faith in their Queen. They see her as ruler, and me—rightfully—as her second. Now it’s up to her to undo the damage that was done in the days Smithson took control.

  Plans and strategies are set out and discussed with a lot more civility than the first time we were here. But all of them reek of desperation to me.

  “How will we feed if so many of our humans are dead?” A vampire asks from the sidelines. “Who will supply the blood for the next Hunt?”

  The casualties from the fight with The Convicted are awful: forty vampires dead—a staggering number—and countless humans. We’ve never suffered losses that great.

  All The Convicted are, of course, eliminated.

  “Where are the surviving humans now?” I ask.

  One of the guards steps up. “They have been relocated to holding cells nearby.”

  My hands tighten on the edge of the table. “You locked them away as you did us?”

  “It was,” Smithson says smoothly, “for their own protection. In the mayhem that followed, many of our kind needed to feed. I took it upon myself to ensure the humans be escorted to a safe location, where they could not be made prey until decisions about their future were properly made.”

  I eye the Captain Commander warily. I could almost—almost­—take him at face value when he claims to have kept me, Mother, Eleira, and Phillip locked away as a means of “protection.”

  Almost…but not quite. While we were there, he’d riled the Royal Court against us. Even if he stepped aside as soon as Mother returned, something about the whole turn of events seems very suspect in my mind.

  Phillip, as if reading my thoughts, lays a hand on my shoulder and whispers, “He has the whole of the Royal Court eating from his palm. Be careful. He’s gained more power in The Haven faster than anyone ever has before.”

  I give a solemn nod.

  “Thank you, Captain Commander,” Mother addresses him formally. “You are right, of course. How many humans still remain?”

  “The precise count,” Smithson says, “is two-hundred and eighty-four.”

  A murmur of shock ripples through the assembled vampires. That puts the vampire-human ratio at nearly one-to-one.

  “So few cannot sustain us!” a voice cries out.

  “We will starve if we remain here!” another echoes.

  Mother’s head snaps to the dissenter. “Nobody is keeping you,” she snarls viciously. “If you want to leave, you know the way.”

  That proclamation is met with abrupt silence.

  And I know why.

  So many of The Haven’s vampires have grown comfortable under the Queen’s rule. The attack jarred them, but none can imagine living without protection of our sanctuary, or the familiarity of the coven.

  Vampires are not nomadic creatures. They need a home base, they need a tribe. That’s why Smithson is such an oddity. Moreover, that’s why, despite all their huffing and puffing, The Haven vampires do want their Queen back. They want their lives restored. They want comfort and shelter, not uncertainty and upheaval.

  That is the great irony about our race. Despite the darkness lurking within each and every one of us, we are, at our core, fragile creatures.

  My eyes go to Eleira. Knowledge of that fact is what makes me believe that not all the good has been extinguished from our kind. And every time I look at the woman I love, I’m reminded of the fact that with a little perseverance, maybe that good can defeat the dark.

  But when I catch myself thinking those thoughts, I almost laugh. I sound a bigger idiot than any of the fools who tried to go against Mother.

  At least my advantage is that I can keep such romanticized notions to myself.

  “Just as I thought,” the Queen says into the quiet. “Now, then. The first priority is supplying The Haven with fresh blood.” She inclines her head oh-so-slightly to Phillip. “My son has some ideas in that regard.”

  My brother steps forward. “You are right, of course,” he begins, addressing the vampires in the crowd. “The number of humans cannot sustain us all. Not if we are to restore the bloodbanks with their blood. So, from now on, there will be no feedings on The Haven’s humans. None are to be touched.”

  His announcement meets with an uproar of angry voices.

  “We can’t live without blood!”

  “What about the Hunt?”

  “We are starved alread
y. Victoria’s blood wasn’t enough!”

  “Quiet!” the Queen commands. “Let Phillip finish.”

  “The bloodbanks provide the lifeline of The Haven,” Phillip goes on. “Without them, we have nothing to fall back on in case calamity strikes.”

  “But this is a catastrophe!” someone protests.

  “Yes, and in times like this, our most precious resource must be secured. The humans we have will only be used to fill the bloodbanks. They will not be fed on directly, ever.”

  “That’s hardly a solution!” a voice cries out.

  “Let me get to my point,” Phillip grunts. “With the humans off-limits, we must turn to alternative means. Luckily, there are other options available. The wards are down. But they were originally made to lock the humans in. How many of you remember what kept them from escaping before?” He doesn’t wait for a response. “The predators surrounding The Haven. They are all still there. And they—”

  He’s cut off by a sudden, raucous laugh. I glare at Carter, who’s making no effort to keep his mirth in.

  “Listen to this one!” he says, swinging an arm out to take Phillip in. “He would have all of us become like him, feeding on animal blood, operating at half, a third, a tenth, of our usual capacity.”

  “It would only be temporary,” Phillip stresses. “Until the bloodbanks are restored—”

  “Which will take how long, exactly?” Carter challenges. “Five years? Ten? Fifteen?” More disgruntled murmurs wash through the crowd. “Can you imagine—” he turns to the assembly, “—waiting fifteen years to taste fresh, human blood again? To be denied the most precious sustenance for a decade and a half? For one like him, who’s fasted for so many centuries, it hardly makes a difference. For the rest of us? It would be hell.”

  “Unless you’re proposing an alternative, Carter,” Mother begins.

  He turns to her. “In fact, I am. One that is so glaringly obvious that I do not see how it is not our first choice.”

  He flings a finger at Eleira. “She was brought in as a human, from the Outside. As have others, over the years, to expand the human genetic pool. Well, we are creatures of the night. We are hunters! I say, let us unleash our basal instincts. Let us run into the world and feast upon humans as we were designed to! Let us not restrain ourselves, but let us rise up, and conquer!” His gestures grow maniacal. “Let us be loosed, and let us kill!”

  Shouts of agreement rain down from the sidelines.

  “And then, when we are fully satiated, when we are fully fed—let us bring more humans here!” Carter continues. “Let us make new slaves. We will capture them and we will gather them and we will make them ours. We have two-hundred-and-eighty-four now? Let us bring the number up! Let us bring it to ten thousand! Twenty thousand!! And then, with so many humans, none of us would ever go hungry again!”

  The cries of agreement come louder and louder.

  “Why does the Queen let us feed once a month? We should have a Hunt every week! Every day! We should be unleashed and fully embrace the powers that have been given to us. Do you not agree? Do you not agree?”

  “Yes, yes, YES!” come the shouts.

  The frenzy rises until it hits a boiling point.

  Ever-so-calmly, Mother raises her hand.

  “A nice fantasy,” she tells Carter, “but one that is utterly incompatible with reality. Tell me. When was the last time you’ve been Outside?”

  At that, Carter falters. “I hardly see the relevance—”

  “It’s been two hundred years, if not more, for you,” I say softly. All heads turn to me. “The world that you know out there is gone. A whole new one exists. If you think ten thousand humans can go missing in this day and age without anybody batting an eye, you are delusional. If you think our coven’s vampires can be unleashed, and can run and feed on the men and women of California without anybody noticing, without an alarm being raised, without a war being fought…”

  I force my bad leg out in front of me and make my way to Carter one agonizing step at a time. “I have been out there, Carter. My brothers and I were the ones who found Eleira. We were the ones who brought her back. Just because vampires have extra powers does not mean we can be careless. If you start bringing more humans here, you won’t just attract attention from the other covens. The humans will notice. Their governments will notice. Their armies will notice. They will strike at us. What you are suggesting risks sparking a whole war between the two races. A war,” I finish, “that we cannot hope to win.”

  “You’re weak,” Carter snarls, standing up to challenge me. “Oh, you might have the advantage of time, being made before me, but your mentality is weak. What progress has ever been made without taking risks?”

  “There are necessary risks,” I remind him, “and there are reckless ones. It’s easy to see where yours fall on the spectrum.”

  “So you would have us crippled, like your younger brother was?”

  I’ve had enough. I grab him by the front of his shirt. “Do not,” I hiss in his face, “speak of my brother like that again.”

  I release him. He falls back in his seat, clearly shocked.

  With as much grace as I can, I hobble to my place at the front.

  “Well done,” Mother whispers to me as I pass. “That was a grand display of conviction. They needed to see that from you.”

  She turns to address everybody else.

  “Even if Carter’s ideas were feasible,” she says, “we cannot draw unnecessary attention to The Haven while the wards are down. Let’s say we bring more humans in from the Outside. Despite our best precautions, there will be a chance of their escape. With the wards up, that becomes impossible. The Haven becomes invisible to the outside world. Until then, while we are exposed and vulnerable, I do not wish to invite more uncertainty in.”

  “Then you should be working to restore the wards, not wasting time with us!” Deanna says. “Forget the bloodbanks. They are not the highest priority. Re-establishing our security is!”

  “There’s something all of you are forgetting,” Eleira says quietly. All eyes turn to her. She’s been so subdued this whole time that they’re probably surprised she would speak.

  But I know that her reservation is not a sign of meekness, but intelligence. She’s trying to take in as much of her new life as possible before voicing her opinion.

  “And what may that be, Princess?” Deanna sneers.

  “If you bring new humans in—“ Eleira fights down a grimace, “—you will be taking them from a world in which they’ve seen the sun. They won’t survive for long in eternal darkness. Depression and despair will take them.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I’m the one who was most recently human here,” she says. “I have the best understanding of their psyche.”

  “What do we care if they are depressed?” a weak vampire asks from the outskirts of the gathering. “They will be prisoners—they matter not!”

  “Besides,” Deanna scoffs, “that’s not exactly a problem. With the wards down, the sun shines on The Haven just as it does anywhere else.”

  Smithson, who’s been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, suddenly speaks.

  “The Queen and her sons are right,” he says. “Bringing in new humans is too risky. We cannot do it.”

  Just like that, he settles the debate. I’m astounded by how easily the vampires accept his advice.

  I make a mental note never to underestimate him. His influence over our coven is greater than I first thought.

  “The Haven’s strength,” Smithson continues, “lies with eternal night. It allows you to enjoy the full hours of every day. As things stand currently, half our time we are bound underground. So bringing back the wards—“ he looks at the Queen, “—must be the absolute priority.”

  She acknowledges him with the most miniscule nod.

  A new thought occurs to me. “The humans who still live,” I say, “have spent their entire lives without seeing the sun. They cannot
be allowed to now. It would only confuse them. So, until the wards are back…” I look at Eleira, and hope she can understand, “…they must be kept locked away where they are. They know we fought for them. In a way, they know we are on their side. So it falls upon us, now, to learn how to coexist with them.

  “Speak plainly!” Carter exclaims. “I know the meaning behind your words. You would cripple us with animal blood, too.” He sneers. “As expected. At a time that we need strength, our leaders make us weak on purpose. If that is the will of the council, I cannot remain.”

  He stands and makes a show of glaring at all of us. “Who’s with me?”

  None utter a single sound.

  “Fine,” he says, and storms out the room.

  A pair of guards start to follow him, but Smithson tempers them with his hand. “Let him be,” he says. He turns to the Queen. “How long until you restore the wards?”

  A flash of uncertainty crosses Mother’s face. It’s quickly hidden. “That is difficult to say,” she admits. “First, I need to assess the damage. Thanks to somebody’s orders,” she gives him a thin smile, “I have not yet had the opportunity to go above ground.”

  “Then this meeting is adjourned.” Smithson announces. “We will reconvene tomorrow, after the Queen has seen the state of The Haven for herself.

  “Of course,” he gives a nasty, predatory grin, “she will not go anywhere without a personal escort of my best guards. Unless the Royal Court objects?”

  One-by-one, the vampires at the table shake their heads.

  Smithson stands. “Night comes in an hour,” he says. “We will go above ground then.”

  Chapter Eight

  ELEIRA

  THE HAVEN

  I huddle into myself and shiver as an icy wind blows down my back. It’s not the cold that troubles me.

  It’s the absolute silence of The Haven.

  I follow Morgan around the edge of the crater where her castle once stood. The ground is still unstable. I don’t trust it. I’m reluctant to come close enough to the edge to peer all the way down.