Dark Secrets Box Set

by Angela M Hudson

  “Being the fool.”

  David squeezed my hand. “What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean… everyone thinks I’m an idiot. No one trusts me, or my opinion, and I just feel like”—I looked up and shrugged—“what am I even doing here?”

  By command of a slight tug of his hand, we stood up and he wrapped his arms over my shoulders, kissing the top of my head. “My love, you just don’t see what other people see. You haven’t stopped to look back and realize what you’ve achieved.”

  “I haven’t achieved anything.”

  “Haven’t you?” He tilted my chin up. “Did you not give Eric the dream he waited decades for, did you not give hundreds of vampires a new home, did you not turn their loved ones immortal? Have you not seen the rescue and freedom of a hundred tortured Lilithians, and have you not changed the lives of those Damned so dramatically that when I went to see them, one of those kids hugged me! Actually hugged me, having remembered me from fifty years ago when I gave him an extra cup of blood?”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He smiled down at me. “And look at you, my girl in the yellow dress. You’re still her, still that same girl, but you’ve changed so many lives. Look how far we’ve come from that first day at school when I accidentally called you Ara-Rose in the library and nearly bit my own tongue off for it.” He stroked his thumb over my locket as I laughed sweetly, thinking back on those simpler times. “Don’t tell me you’re not worth anything, Ara, because you are the blessing in so many people’s lives, and you don’t even know it.”

  I bit my lips in, unable to see through my tears.

  “Come here,” he said, and pulled me in for the tightest, most loving hug I ever had. “I’m sorry I can’t be here to tell you this every day, but you know I love you, and you know I am always here for you.”

  I nodded into his shirt, letting myself feel safe for the first time in so long.

  * * *

  As the conversations died down and the candles burned to the last waxy remains under the wick, I looked over at Arthur and smiled. He shook his head, as if my mere presence annoyed the hell out of him, and I felt my gut sink.

  “Hey?” Jason landed in Mike’s empty chair. Morgaine didn’t even bother looking up this time; she just sighed and pushed her peas around her plate.

  “Hi.”

  “Don’t worry about Arthur,” he said quietly, reaching under the table to take my hand.

  I curled my fingers over his. “I don’t like it when people are mad at me.”

  We both looked up at Arthur then, who turned his head a fraction, breaking himself away from a conversation.

  Jason gave me a reassuring smile. “Hey, why don’t you come to the lighthouse with me tonight? It might cheer you up.”

  “Maybe. I have been meaning to—” I stopped then and watched Arthur stand, shaking his head, and walk away. As he passed, I looked up, hoping he’d at least make eye contact. He didn’t.

  “Stop feeling bad, Ara.” Jason slid closer in the seat, leaning his elbow on the table, his nose practically touching mine. “In human years, he’s nearly twice your age.”

  “He’s only thirty.” I frowned.

  “And you’re nineteen.”

  “That’s hardly twice my age.”

  “I know, but it sounded more repulsive that way.” He sat back in his chair. “He’s like my father. It’s disturbing to me that you’re friends with him.”

  “Jase?”

  “I’m sorry. I know that’s unfair, but it’s also that… clearly, you’re hurt by his not speaking to you, and I don’t like that. I don’t want you to be sad.”

  I stood up. “I’m going to talk to him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need to sort this out.”

  Jason folded his arms, entertained. “You just can’t leave anything alone, can you?”

  “Not when people are hurting, Jason.” I shook my head and walked from the room.

  “Wait.” He grabbed my arm. “What about the lighthouse?”

  “I’ll meet you there after.”

  He stayed put, his eyes burning into my back as I walked away.

  * * *

  Arthur offered me a seat at the large table by the cold fireplace in his room. He was stiff and distant, barely looking me in the eye as I demanded he talk with me, but he did at least let me in.

  “I really need to talk to you about something,” I said, sitting down. “But… first, I just want to say that… I know you’re hurt by what I said to you the other day, but I really didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did—”

  “It’s in the past.”

  “But it’s not. I feel bad that I hurt you.”

  Arthur sat down across from me and offered a gentle smile, closing his fingers together in front of him. “What did you want to talk about?”

  I drew a breath, letting him change the subject. He was obviously still too humiliated to forgive me. “I was thinking about some of our earlier conversations, and I remembered you said that you used the war as an excuse to turn Jason and David.”

  “Correct.”

  “And… it was their idea to go, right?”

  “Jason’s, yes. I believe David followed so as not to appear a coward.”

  “Really? I was under the impression he followed to protect Jason.”

  “What gave you that impression?”

  “David.”

  Arthur frowned. “Why do you ask, anyway?”

  “Well, when you and I first met after the… the whole kidnapping thing, you said something about the blood feud between Drake and Lilith—about it being the reason you changed the boys.”

  His shoulders slowly became straighter all the way across. “Did I?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  “And?”

  “Well, then you also said that Drake had made a deal with you that if he let the boys live here after Arietta died, you’d change them when they grew up. So, it’s connected, right? Drake wanted the boys to be immortal because he knew, even then, that they had something to do with this prophecy. And”—I wasn’t too sure about the next bit—“the prophecy has something to do with the feud?”

  “To be honest, Amara, I’m not so sure now.”

  “Why?”

  “Many things have come to light since that day, and what I knew then was only half of what I have come to learn since.” He moistened his lips. “For many centuries, I gave this prophecy or… contract little thought—”

  “So you knew about it centuries ago?”

  Arthur hesitated, because he’d also told me that this was something Morgaine had probably dreamed up or misinterpreted to build this empire. I’d caught him out in a lie. “I knew there was a scroll that apparently foretold the birth of a child and the involvement of knight blood,” he said with a nod, finally closing me into the circle of trust. “And in the back of my mind, wondered if it spoke of myself and my blood—my heir. But I never gave it much thought, and certainly didn’t believe my bloodline would be involved… until Drake strangely requested that I turn the boys.”

  “How did that change your belief?”

  “Because, for Drake to request such a thing directly contradicted the agreement he and I made in the days before I became immortal.”

  “What agreement?”

  “That if I was to be his loyal, eternal servant, I would honor the promise to my dying brother, and watch over his family and their descendants for the rest of eternity.”

  “And not turn them into vampires?”

  “Correct. My brother knew what I was about to become. He was also given the option, but he believed vampirism to be sinful. He chose to die along with many others in those years that followed.”

  “What did he die of?”

  “The Black Death.” Arthur looked down at his open palm. “In my new immortal state, free of human limitations, I was able to comfort many people as they passed. Most of them had already watched their own children wither and die. And wh
en my brother took his last breath, a part of me wished I had gone with him. But I had made my choice, and I kept my promise to watch over his bloodline, until I broke that vow for the sake of David and Jason.”

  “So, how did Drake’s request to turn them make you connect the boys to the prophecy?”

  “Drake is a man of honor; he upholds his word, no matter what. For whatever reason he needed those boys to be immortal, it must have been of great importance to him. I concluded that it had something to do with this prophecy.”

  “But you could be wrong?”

  “I could, yes.” He nodded once.

  “And, so you thought David was the Knight the prophecy spoke of then?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because he was born first?”

  “Yes.”

  “But your interpretation of the scrolls was different to Morgaine’s, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then… when Drake asked you to turn the boys, why did you suddenly think David was the Knight in the prophecy?”

  His eyes flickered. I could see he hadn’t expected me to be so alert, and I was starting to wonder if he was getting caught up in his own lies. “I have reasons for keeping my interpretations to myself all these years.”

  “What reasons?”

  “I wasn’t sure who I could trust.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Drake told Morgaine about the prophecy. He very rarely confides in a person for the sake of an eased conscience. I had no way of knowing what he had truly said or even offered her to either help fulfill the prophecy or see no one ever heard of it.”

  “You think she’s working for him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think we can trust Morgaine now?”

  “I’m still not sure. But as long as her aim is to see you safe and in power, then it seems we all have the same agenda, no matter the motive.”

  I looked down at my hands, seeing the history, the lineage, the ancient ancestral connections in all the fine lines. “Did… were you searching for a Lilithian when you found me, or did you just stumble across me?”

  “I wasn’t searching, but I believe Drake was. However, we found you purely by accident.”

  “What about Amara, who might possibly be my grandmother? Was finding her an accident when she was a baby?”

  “One of Drake’s scouts found her,” Arthur said. “So I have no way of knowing.”

  “Did you know David hadn’t really killed her?”

  “Yes. I actually went to kidnap her from the orphanage after he left her there—in the hopes that I might protect her—but she had already been adopted, and her family, when I searched for them, had disappeared.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “Back then, I suspected that Drake had discovered David’s lie and taken to kill the child and all humans who knew she existed. But David was never arrested for deceiving his king, so I had to move on with the belief that Drake was unaware, and the hope that maybe Vampirie had found the infant instead.”

  “Vampirie? Why him?”

  “Lilith was his daughter,” he said simply. “Any father would do the same for his family.”

  “Okay, none of this makes sense.” I scratched my eyebrow. “Drake knew about this prophecy, and he told Morgaine about a child that could kill him.”

  “Yes.”

  “But then he made sure the only man who was capable of fathering that child—the man in the prophecy: David—was turned into a vampire, and then he gave the only remaining Lilithian at the time to a newbie Council leader to kill.”

  “Yes.” Arthur held back a grin.

  “I thought he was trying to stop this prophecy from happening, not help it along!” I added.

  Arthur nodded to himself, then smiled. “I never quite understand why Mike has so little faith in you. You’re a very clever girl.”

  “So, I’m right? He could have just killed David when he was born if he didn’t want this to happen.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then this isn’t just about Drake being afraid of a vampire-hunting kid.”

  “My dear, it would take a lot more than a powerful child to turn Drake in fear.”

  “Why does he want me dead then—my child dead? And why did he make me kill David if he thought he was the prophecy knight?”

  “What have you concluded about David’s death, at this point?”

  “It started out as… I was told Drake killed him for committing the crime of harboring a Lilithian. And then I was told that Drake actually wanted him dead because of the prophecy, but that he couldn’t let anyone else know about it, so this war on Lilithians was all a huge coverup to protect the secrets of the prophecy. And now”—I shook my head, resting my chin on my wrist—“I have no freaking idea what the truth is.”

  Arthur breathed out softly through his nose. “The truth, my dear, is what I already told you: David broke the law. For whatever reason those laws were in place—a coverup for the prophecy, or perhaps it was truly because of a hatred for all Lilithians—that law is binding, and Drake himself could not change the outcome for him.”

  “But, if David is the prophecy knight, and Drake had actually been protecting him all these years—protected that Lilithian baby—then Drake would have done everything in his power to save David—”

  “Or perhaps he’s not the Knight from the prophecy.”

  “Then who is?”

  “There is a word in the scrolls; you saw it—saw that the entire document is written in hieroglyphics. That language has no real base. Some say the English language was based on that of the Ancients, but I see no evidence of that aside from the pattern of words. But there was one rune between ‘son of’ and ‘knight’ that may depict ‘firstborn’, however, this could also mean many things. In my own interpretation, it can mean ‘a’ son of knight, and I believe Drake also reads it this way.”

  “So, in your interpretation, the knight could even be Jason?”

  Arthur nodded.

  I wondered why he’d kept Jason away from me then, if that’s what he truly believed. He told me himself that if Jason were alive, he’d see that we were together to make this prophecy child a reality.

  “Or you… you could be the prophecy knight?” I probed to see his reaction.

  He nodded again, which led to another question.

  “Do you think there’s any possibility it could be a contract and not a prophecy?”

  Giving his stubbly chin a hard rub, he shook his head. “It’s a clever theory. And, in truth, there may be some fact there. I noticed that same filing mark and thought nothing of it. Our laws and filing systems changed so much over the centuries that it took a person who studied our society as a subject in History to point out something I should have seen. But, if we focus on that, we lose sight of what’s important, and right now killing Drake is at the top of the priority list, especially if that is, indeed, a contract.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it would mean this child is promised to him.”

  I tried to piece things together in my head. “What does he want my child for if she can’t kill him?”

  “I never said she cannot kill him, or that she will not have the power to mortalize vampires, but his true interest in your child is not known to me.”

  “You know what?” I stood up, shoving my chair back with my legs. “No more lies. I already know, Arthur. Jason told me that you’re here to steal my child and give it to Drake.”

  Arthur reacted coolly, rubbing his mouth. “So Jason knows.”

  “Yes.”

  He seemed awfully calm for a guy that was just caught out. “What else has he told you?”

  “That he doesn’t believe you’re a traitor.”

  “I’m not a traitor.”

  “How do I know that? You came here on Drake’s request.”

  Arthur appeared beside me, taking my trembling hand. “I was already planning my stay here when I was called to Drake’s bedside
—”

  “His bedside?”

  “He was dying,” Arthur said. “He had consumed the entire box of blood stores Jason took from you in order to survive that venom-tipped sword, and even then, he was struggling.”

  “So that’s how you found out about immunity?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he called you to him for what—to come get more blood from me?”

  “No. My king addressed me as his friend, not a council leader. He thanked me for all that I had done and asked that I go to Loslilian on one last mission before I took my bi-annual leave.”

  “To impregnate me and kidnap our baby?”

  “Yes, but… there was something else.”

  Arthur wandered across the room, then opened his drawer. “Loslilian is also home to this.”

  “What is that?” I asked, eyeing a box very similar to the one Nhym came in.

  “It’s the Dagger of Yahanna.”

  “Of death?”

  “Correct.” He flipped the lid and spun the box around on the table so I could see inside. Above the bone blade, the hilt was twisted silver, rising up around a red stone like snakes on a Celtic Knot. “This dagger is said to be spelled—that if Drake uses this on the Stone of Truth, forces it through the heart of your infant child, he will gain all power the child holds. Including the rumored power to reverse immortality.”

  Bingo! The truth. I tried not to grin. “But if my child can do that anyway, why would he want to take that from her? Why not just—”

  “Because it’s power. Why would anyone allow another to possess a power greater than his, when he could take it for himself?”

  “If he holds all power, he reigns supreme.” I nodded to myself, feeling numb. “And, what, he promised you mortality if you gave up my baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you agreed?”

  “Yes.”

  I felt my fingertips twitch, ready to strike him across the face.

  “But it was a lie.” He grabbed my hand.

  “Then why are you really here?” I yanked away from him.

  “Because this goes deeper than any of us can possibly imagine. I am here to protect you—protect the world from what may come.”

  “Like what?”