by E. M. Knight
I grimace. “I didn’t mean it that way—”
Her eyes flash. “Then how did you mean it? Please, do tell me. Because from where I’m standing, you sound like a pompous brat—the Brat Prince.” She gives a quick, harsh laugh. “Oh yes. Tell James I’ve read The Vampire Lestat too. I know all of Anne Rice’s fictions. Phillip’s been giving me books—”
“So you’re cozying up to Phillip now?” I demand. I hate how petty I sound, how jealous and bitter, but there’s little I can do to stop those feelings.
“Why?” she asks. “Do you not want me to?”
“I could care less what you do in your spare time—or who you spend it with,” I snap.
Eleira gasps. For a brief second, her face falls.
And then she steels herself and marches straight for the exit.
“No, wait…!” I begin, but by then it’s too late. She’s already slammed the door on me.
“Dammit!” I curse. My fist hits the table and nearly cracks it in two.
I’m breathing hard. My body is hot all over. Why did I have to be so stupid? Why did I have to bicker with her? Now she’s gone, and angry, and I’m angry, too, and the frustration grows—
A sudden chill takes me. It washes through my body and down my leg.
I shudder and grit my teeth. I try fighting it off—
Without warning, my bad leg goes out. One moment I’m standing, the next I’m hobbled over, clinging onto the side of my desk. A spasm of horrendous pain rocks me. I clench my jaw hard to stop from crying out.
Pressure is building beneath the wound. Alternative waves of hot and cold take me. My whole body breaks out in a sweat that coats my back, my neck, my chest, and my arms…
Another jolt of sharp pain. One more all-consuming effort to stop from crying out. My vision swims. The room starts to move and warp as if underwater.
My grip on reality is fading. I lose hold of the desk and fall down. Black shadows crowd the outside of my sight. My mind drifts, and my body feels so far away, as if it’s no longer my own. Whatever happens to it does not happen to me, but a distant replica of me, a replica I cannot touch or reach or even influence…
Just before the shadows take over, I hear the door open… and a sharp, quick, female gasp.
Chapter Sixteen
ELEIRA
DEEP BENEATH THE HAVEN
I stroll briskly through the tunnel leading away from Raul’s room. The fight with Raul has put me in a sour mood. I came, just to check on him, after feeling guilty for neglecting him for the past few days. I thought he’d be happy to see me.
Instead, he was… nasty.
Maybe I should give him more leeway. But he’s not the only one dealing with problems. All the vampires of The Haven have troubles on their minds. With all the recent upheaval that surrounds us…
I’m so absorbed in my own thoughts that I barely pay attention to where I’m going—or if anyone’s around me.
That’s why I nearly jump out of my skin when I turn a corner and see a human woman walking toward me. Alone.
She spares only the briefest glance before hurrying on. But I recognize her face. She was the one I caught looking at Raul when we were searching the village for April.
And now she’s heading toward his room?
For a second, I debate following her. What is she up to…?
But I quickly decide against it. Raul can do what he wants. He’s done exactly what he wants, for a very long time, before I was around.
Besides, it’s not like he and I are even officially in a relationship.
A pang of guilt takes me at that thought. We haven’t exactly been given time to discuss such things, given everything else that has been going on around us. Discuss, or even consider…
God. I catch myself thinking those thoughts and stomp them down mercilessly. I sound like a petty teenage girl. I have more important matters to deal with!
So I put the woman out of my mind and continue on to see the Queen. After Phillip’s replacement of Smithson as Captain Commander, she’s been more willing to give me time—and patience. Maybe it was the shock of the Royal Court going against her that made her realize I really was on her side, and that she should treat me as such.
Whatever the cause, the fact of the matter is that I’ve learned more about magic in the last few days than I had in the preceding weeks.
But no sooner do I turn into the hallway leading to her room than the sound of commotion comes rippling out. A second later, a stream of vampires race out of her rooms. Phillip is leading the guard, but Morgan is right there beside him. They see me and stop just long enough to exclaim, “The Narwhark has broken through! It’s been sighted underground!”
“What?” I gasp. Morgan had put up a series of small guard spells up that would alert her to the demon’s presence. “Where?”
“Somewhere in the vicinity of Raul’s room,” the Queen answers.
I gasp. “I was just there!”
Morgan’s eyes pierce into me. She grips my arm. “Did you see anything?”
I shake my head. “I—no. I spoke to Raul. That’s it.”
She narrows her eyes. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she says.
I look down. “We had… a fight,” I admit.
The Queen searches my face. “Is that it?”
I hesitate before voicing my concern. “Raul wasn’t like himself. I think the wound is affecting him. He said some things—”
“That you undoubtedly found hurtful,” Morgan interrupts hastily. “Yes, yes. Anything else?”
I bite my lip… and shake my head.
“Mother, we have to go,” Phillip insists. “If the Narwhark is running loose underground, if it attacks anybody, madness will ensue!”
She nods and releases me. “Come with us, Eleira. If we find the demon—you will be needed.”
Chapter Seventeen
PHILLIP
DEEP BENEATH THE HAVEN
I get the first inclination that something is wrong when my brother does not answer the door.
“Raul!” I pound on it. “Raul. Open this door! Open it now!”
I try the handle, but it’s locked. He never locks his door.
“Raul!” I try again. “If you don’t open it now, we will tear it down!”
“Oh, step aside,” Mother mutters. She shoulders me away and puts one palm against the middle of the door. There’s a flash of blue, and all of a sudden, it’s torn off its hinges.
Inside I find a scene unlike I could expect.
A beautiful human woman is kneeling over Raul’s unconscious form. There’s a small slit in her wrist that leaks out blood. She holds it to Raul’s lips, trying to feed him.
At our entrance she gasps and spins away. Eleira stiffens beside me.
“You!” she exclaims.
The Queen takes one look at things and—for some reason—instantly dismisses her son. She hurries around the perimeter of the room, tracing one arm over the walls. She completes a full circle in blinding speed before returning to us.
“The Narwhark isn’t here,” she says. Still she hasn’t so much as acknowledged Raul’s miserable state. “Send the rest of the guards to sweep this quarter of the stronghold. If the Narwhark returns, they will find it—though I suspect it’s already long gone.”
“What?” I exclaim. “You said you only just felt it. You told me your guard spells were triggered—”
“Triggered, yes,” she responds soberly, keeping her voice low so that only I can hear. “But the spells aren’t specific. They could have been set off by something else.”
She casts a meaningful look at Raul and the human woman. I don’t quite understand what she means, but I order my guards out as she instructed.
They leave the room in a rush, each eager to prove his worth and loyalty to the Queen.
Then it is just Eleira, Mother, Raul, the human woman, and me.
“Close the door,” Mother tells me softly. “What happens next must not to leav
e this room.”
“Um…” I hesitate, looking at the splintered remains of the door on the floor. She mutters something under her breath. A blue light emits from her. It sweeps toward the opening and seals it in a soundproof barrier.
She looks at Eleira. “Do you think you can duplicate that?”
The younger girl nods. Her eyes, however, don’t once leave Raul. Her hands make tight fists at her sides.
“Then do it,” Morgan says. “All around the room. You have my permission to.”
Eleira takes a deep breath, focuses, and closes her eyes…
A moment later a blinding blue flash erupts from around her. This time the light sinks into every surface of the room. It does so even quicker than Mother’s had.
Eleira’s eyes open. “It’s done.”
Our attention turns to Raul… and the woman still beside him.
She’s glaring at us. Her wrist continues to leak blood.
Raul, on the ground beside her, is barely breathing.
I take a step toward them, ready to go to my brother’s aid—but Mother stops me by placing a hand on my shoulder.
“We need to be extremely careful,” she says. “Either one of them might be possessed.”
My stomach sinks on hearing those words. But then I realize why Eleira did not rush to Raul’s side right away:
She understood the same thing.
“I’m not possessed!” the woman exclaims.
“Really,” Morgan says. She does not move from her spot. “Then why are you willingly feeding this vampire your blood?”
“To save his life,” she says, both defiant and angry. “As he did mine.”
Eleira sucks in a breath. But Mother nods. “You must be the one he spared in the fires,” she says without emotion. “The one I lost Andrey for.”
The woman doesn’t respond. She only glares at the Queen.
“Step away from my son,” the Queen commands. “It is not your blood that he requires. It will do him no good—”
Raul sputters, coughs, and opens his eyes.
Eleira rushes to his side right away. She drops down and cradles his head. “I’m sorry,” she says, running her fingers through his hair, “for all those things I said. I’m truly sorry.”
Raul offers her a weak smile. “I’m the one,” he says, “who should be apologizing.”
Mother makes a nasty, sneering sound of disbelief as she approaches. She shoulders Eleira out of the way and takes Raul’s head in both hands.
“Tell me what you remember,” she demands of him. She gestures to the human. “How did this wench get here?”
“I can speak for myself, thank you very much,” the woman says. “I came to give Raul my gratitude for sparing my life. This was the first opportunity I’ve had to do so.”
Raul coughs and pulls himself up. He brings a hand to his head. “Gods, I feel awful. How am I…”
“Still alive?” Mother finishes for him.
He grimaces and nods.
“I don’t know. By all accounts, you should be dead.”
Shock runs through me. Eleira gasps.
“The disturbance I felt wasn’t the demon,” Morgan continues, undeterred. “But it did come from something dark and sinister. An external, malicious force penetrated the stronghold.”
She looks around the room. “My guess is that whoever gave you the wound created a link between you and it. Oh, don’t look so surprised, Raul. I know you know, and I know you’ve held that knowledge from me. There are few weapons in this world that can harm a vampire as you’ve been harmed. The weapons are part torrial. I’ve seen mention of them in my ancient texts.”
Raul avoids looking directly at the Queen. Eleira holds onto his shoulder tightly.
“It’s true,” he admits.
Mother nods. “I’ve been holding off the worst of the corruption. But I’ve been unable to reverse it. There is only one who can, and that is the vampire who holds the blade that made the cut. But he is an enemy, which means—”
She cuts off suddenly, and looks at the human. “I believe you’ve heard enough. It’s time for you to return to your kind. It’s safer there.”
“Cassandra stays,” Raul says firmly. “I owe her my life.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Morgan murmurs.
“What do you mean you’re not sure?” Eleira exclaims. “He’s alive now, isn’t he? He’s conscious and breathing and—”
“Eleira.” Morgan cuts her off firmly. “I know you care for him. But you must hold your emotions in check. Especially now.”
Her voice is stern yet gentle.
I eye Mother from the side. She’s the same vampire I’ve always known, and yet…
And yet I feel like she has become more capable of real empathy.
Eleira clamps her lips shut. Determination glints in her eyes. “Whatever Raul needs,” she says, “I will give.”
“An admirable sentiment,” Mother says. “One that is mirrored in him, I think. But that’s beside the point. Cassandra, if you are to stay now, you will become bound to him—” she nods at Raul, “—forever.”
Realization dawns on me about what Mother means. There’s only one way for a human to become bound to a vampire forever.
“You want him to convert her,” I breathe. “You want to make Cassandra one of us. You want to give her the Dark Gift!”
Morgan nods, considering. “It’s either that, or destroy her. She has heard too much to simply be let free.”
Raul pulls Cassandra to his side. “I won’t let you harm her,” he snarls.
Morgan spreads her hands. “The choice is hers,” she says. “Be made into a creature of the night… or die.”
The human woman stands. The blood trailing down her wrist has slowed to a trickle.
“Vampires destroyed all that I had,” she says. I admire her courage for facing the Queen without backing down. “Why would I want to be made into one of you? If you’re going to kill me, then do it now. Don’t drag out the inevitable. But if you share some gratitude for your son’s life—give me a day to say goodbye to my family.”
“Stupid woman,” Morgan says. “You don’t have a day. You think I’d release you into the midst of the stronghold, given all that you’ve witnessed? Even if we could trust you—and that’s a big if—you know nothing of the vampire hierarchy, or what things are important to be kept secret, and what things aren’t.”
“I have a brain, don’t I?” Cassandra fires back. “I’m not completely dumb!”
“And yet here we found you, feeding your blood to a vampire. Willingly.”
“She’s more than proven her worth…” Raul begins.
“Quiet,” Morgan snaps. “Unless you want to take the choice out of her hands and have me make it. For what it’s worth, I think it would be a great shame to waste a life such as hers. She’s brash but resilient. And—” Morgan’s eyes shine, “—she worships you.”
That elicits a tiny gasp from Eleira. She pulls Raul closer.
At the same time, Cassandra’s chin juts up. “I do not.”
“I see the way you look at him. We all do,” the Queen says. She casts an impatient glance around the room. “We’re wasting time.”
“Yes,” Eleira agrees. “Yes, we definitely are! We need to help Raul, to make sure this won’t happen again.”
“No,” Morgan says. “We need to figure out how it is that this woman’s blood actually saved him. I have a suspicion…”
Without warning she grabs Cassandra’s arm and jerks her toward her. Her fangs flash. Next thing I know, Mother has pierced that woman’s neck and taken the Little Drink.
Morgan is off her before Cassandra has a chance to react.
“Yes,” Mother says softly, tasting the blood. “It’s exactly as I thought.”
“What?” Cassandra exclaims.
Mother stabs a finger at Raul. “He,” she says ominously, “has given her his blood.”
Chapter Eighteen
PHILLIP
DEEP BENEATH THE HAVEN
A wave of shock rips through me. Sharing vampiric blood with a human is one of The Haven’s most grievous crimes.
But my brother does not deny it. He just stares at the Queen, eyes blazing with inequitable defiance.
“Is it true?” Eleira asks softly beside him.
Raul nods. “It was the only way I could save her life.” He glares at Morgan. “After I found her being toyed with by your guards.”
“Former guards,” Mother corrects. She looks at Cassandra in great triumph. “So,” she says. “It looks like the choice has been taken out of your hands, anyway.”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“Once your blood has been transfused with that of a vampire,” Mother explains, “the transformation will take you whether you will it or not. Now, it is not the most pleasant way of being made—in fact, it carries a high degree of risk—but before the vampiric serum was discovered, such an exchange of blood was the only way we made newborns.”
Eleira gapes at Raul. “You knew this?” she asks.
He gives a grim nod. “Yes.” He turns toward her. “But I had no choice.”
“Is that what you did to me?” Eleira asks. “When you first brought me to The Haven?”
“James fed you a small drop of his blood infused with the vampiric serum when you were taken,” Raul admits. “Just enough to prime your body for the transformation, which was expedited at The Crypts.”
“This is different. This time there was no serum injected. Vampire blood does heal humans. At first.” The Queen narrows her eyes at Cassandra. “While it is true Raul’s blood will begin to transform her, it’s more likely to kill her. Any amount of vampiric blood sloshing around in a human body will initiate the transformation, but without the serum there to aid the process, when the transformation actually hits, most humans do not survive. Except for a rare few.”