by Jasmine Walt
“I'm sure you can, but I just want to do a little research myself, see what the humans know and we can compare notes later.”
Koa nodded. “You big nerd,” she teased.
Ian beamed. “Thank you. I take that as a compliment.”
Koa rolled her eyes and laughed. She started up the stairs. “I’ll come back for you at sunset.”
“See you then.”
She went upstairs and closed the door behind her. The sun was rising and the house was starting to brighten. She leaned against the door and Raven was waiting there for her.
Koa sighed and took a step toward her. She prepared herself for the scolding.
Raven surprised her. “He’s a nice boy, Koa.”
Koa was taken aback. She never expected that from her mother. She expected a major scolding.
Raven tilted her head. “I always knew you’d sire someone. I am surprised you didn’t do it sooner.”
“How did you always know that? I kill vampires.”
“I can tell he’s a good person. Therefore he’ll make a good vampire.”
Koa felt relieved.
“But now you have one more person to worry about. For instance, Bund will be seeking revenge. Who do you think he will target if he can’t get one of us?”
Koa swallowed. She didn’t know what to say. She looked at the cellar door.
It was her duty to protect her family. Raven walked into the darkness of the den. Koa looked up at the sky. She did something she rarely did anymore. She prayed.
21
STRANGE THINGS HAPPENED at night. Koa was aware of most of them, but the Netherworld was new to her. She knew she’d been there once before with her father, yet she couldn’t remember it. The Netherworld remained a mystery to her, and she was determined to unlock its secrets.
Koa knew she was dreaming. It was the same dream most nights, and so she let herself explore this world. She stood in a thick white mist and felt her hair flapping around her face. Drops of dew made her face slick, and her bare feet touched cool stones.
She looked up. Someone was playing a violin. She knew the tune and started to hum along. The song grew louder and yet Koa couldn’t see who played the beautiful melody. She strained to see who played from somewhere in the clouds above, and then, she saw it.
The Gate, where the nephilim were escaping the Netherworld. Koa stared at it with wide eyes. She’d never gotten this far in the dream before. Now she looked at the stone gate and felt her skin crawl with anxiety. She knew she shouldn’t be there, and yet, she felt as though it called to her.
Koa wanted to wake up. The violin was starting to play so loudly that she had to cover her ears. Koa felt weak. The Gate started to glide closer to her and she panicked. She couldn’t move. Her feet were stuck to the ground. Koa gasped and tried to pull her feet free as the Gate continued its way toward her.
Something terrible waited inside that door, and she wanted to run from it. She knew it meant her harm and felt herself sweat with terror.
Shadows, like the ones Halston had managed to control, lunged at her. They grabbed her with their frigid hands and yet her flesh burned to the bone. Koa screamed. The hot, searing pain was unbearable and she fell to her knees. The Shadows held her steady, and she squeezed her eyes shut as they brought their faces closer to hers.
“Come back to us, Koa,” they chanted. One of the Shadows leaned in close. The black face morphed into Bund’s. Bund grinned at her. His tongue reached out to her and she screamed.
Someone shook her awake.
Koa grabbed Ian by the neck and he had to peel her fingers from around his throat.
“Koa,” he gasped. He looked at her fearfully. “It’s me!”
Realizing who he was, Koa quickly scrambled away. She was covered in sweat. “Ian! I’m sorry.”
“You’re strong!” Ian sat up and rubbed his neck.
Koa forced a smile. “Forgive me. I was dreaming.”
“You were screaming.”
Koa pulled her hair off her neck and grumbled at how heavy with sweat it was. She pushed herself up to her feet and sat on the edge of the bed. “What time is it?”
Ian put his hands in his pocket. He gave her a sheepish look. “I think it’s time to eat.”
Koa came to her feet. “Oh shit! Yes. Our appointment is tonight!”
Ian didn’t budge. “Appointment?”
Koa quickly pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to her hamper in the corner of the room. She darted into the bathroom to heat the shower. Ian avoided looking directly at her exposed body and turned away.
What a gentleman, she thought. She stood in the bathroom doorway.
“We choose our pets tonight, at Wryn Castle.”
Ian perked up then. “I get my own? Like I was to you? A pet?”
Koa nodded. “Exactly.”
“Whomever I want?”
“Whomever you want.”
Ian grinned and Koa smiled as she hopped into the shower. Once she closed the shower curtain, her smile faded. The fear from her dream still lingered. After all of those years of having the same dream of the mists and the violin, she’d never seen the Gate or the Shadows that waited for her inside of it.
Koa washed her hair and tried to forget the pain she felt when they touched her. The hot water ran down her body, and she closed her eyes. If only she could talk to Halston about things. She covered her face and sighed. She missed him so much that she felt physical pain.
She hurried and finished her shower to see that Ian had decided to wait outside. Koa didn’t mind him seeing her nude. They’d have an eternity together, such things were trivial now.
She was surprised to see Raven waiting for her on her bed.
Her big green eyes looked up at Koa.
“This is a nice little house, Koa,” Raven said.
“Perhaps.” Koa sighed and continued getting ready. “It is a bit small.”
“It is only the three of us now that you’ve increased our family,” Raven pointed out and Koa couldn’t help but smile. “We don’t need a massive house with dozens of rooms. Never did.”
“It reminds me too much of our old house in Korea.”
Raven didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
Raven purred. “It’s all right. I was just trying to remember it. It gets harder to remember things. Every day, I lose a memory.”
Koa had many memories that she feared she’d forget as well. The sound of her mother playing the piano for her father still lingered in her mind. She’d give anything to hear her mother’s music again. There was a time when Raven would cook for her every night. She let out a soft sigh. She missed those days. She grabbed her gloves.
“Going somewhere, darling?”
“Yes. I need to go and choose a new pet. Ian must do the same. Want to come?”
Raven blinked. “I don’t think so. Why were you screaming anyway?”
Koa turned away and fumbled with her wardrobe. “You heard me?”
“Yes, the entire village heard you, Koa.”
Koa shook her head. “It was just a bad dream.”
“You’ve been having those bad dreams a lot more often lately.”
“Well, consider all that I’ve been through in just the past month! Who wouldn’t be a little traumatized?”
“Was it about the Netherworld again?”
Koa sighed and nodded. She lowered her eyes and stared at her feet. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her mother. Raven was intuitive though. Koa could never keep anything from her. Even when Koa was a child, Raven always knew when something was wrong.
“Don’t drag the boy into this.”
Koa’s brows furrowed. “Into what?”
Raven was silent and Koa grew suspicious.
Koa huffed. “I was just trying to have a real talk with you. I’m sick of all of the secrets. I’m leaving.”
“Wait.”
Koa paused and glanced over her shou
lder with a frown. “What?”
Raven sat up and looked at her for a moment. “There’s something I need to tell you, Koa.”
Koa’s eyebrows lifted. She knew that, finally, her mother was going to reveal whatever secret she’d been keeping.
Raven nodded to the door that was open just a crack. Ian waited outside.
“Close the door.”
Koa did so and sat down on the chaise lounge in the corner of the room. She folded her hands across her knee and sat up straight, like an apt pupil prepared for the lesson of a lifetime.
Raven took her time. Koa could tell that she was thinking of how to say what was on her mind.
“Koa, the first thing you should know… is that your father wasn’t just another vampire. He was a Netherworld vamp. He was a king.”
Koa slumped back in her seat and watched her mother with wide eyes. She felt her palms start to sweat and rubbed them on her knees. Her throat was dry. This was one thing she never expected to hear. Maybe she was suspicious that her father was a Netherworld vamp because of the Lyrinian sword he left her, but she could never have guessed that he was a king.
“He was king of the Northern Dominance, a major kingdom in the Netherworld, and was overthrown by King Greggan. He lost his kingdom and was banished to the mortal world.”
“Wow,” Koa said as she sat back up. She couldn’t think of what else to say. All she knew of him was the difficult life without him and a privileged life with him. Still, although her time with him was short, she had grown to love and respect him. She remembered how much he loved her mother. That was a memory that stood at the forefront of her mind.
“That makes you not just half vampire, but half Netherworld vamp. You have one of the strongest strains of blood running through your veins.”
Koa sat up. “Is that why I can fly, and other vampires cannot?”
Raven shook her head. “No, Koa. Not even Netherworld vamps can fly. That brings me to… your other half.”
Koa tensed. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?” Koa stared at Raven, and all she could see were those green eyes that had glowed so brightly in Bund’s lair. Her skin started to crawl. The air in the room seemed to still with the anticipation she felt.
What are you, mother? What are you? Koa was almost too afraid to know, but she had to.
“Before I was cursed…” Raven took a deep breath. “I wasn’t human.”
Koa stood. She looked down at Raven in astonishment. She couldn’t even speak the words she was thinking. Her throat tightened.
What are you? Koa shouted in her head. The suspense was maddening.
“I don’t know what I was, Koa. But your father did, and so did Greggan, and that is why he wants us both. We are the only beings that can mate with a vampire and create day-walking spawn.”
Koa’s shoulders slumped. “What the hell are we?”
Raven’s feline eyes closed and she sighed. “I wish I knew. I was an orphan. I was abandoned, Koa. I never had a mother or father. All I had was myself and my talents—” Her voice cracked. “And I lived a hard life before I met your father. It was even harder when you were born, with no one to turn to for help, but you gave me a reason to live.”
Koa bit her lip. She had never heard her mother speak so bitterly about her past. She never knew her mother was an orphan.
“Who was Hayan then? I always called her grandmother.”
Raven sighed. “All of the children did, Koa. She was a kind woman, and she helped me from time to time. She knew there was something special about me. I returned her generosity whenever I could.”
Koa felt cheated. She never even had real grandparents.
“You see, I could do things that no one else could. I could… make people disappear. Bill collectors, enemies”—Raven cleared her throat— “abusive husbands...”
“Mother, why tell me all of this now? Why not sooner?”
Raven hissed. “How many times do I have to tell you? Do not call me that, ever again!”
Koa’s eyes widened at her mother’s tone. She looked down at the wooden floor.
“Not even in private.” Raven settled and lowered her voice. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “You never know who is listening.”
“I’m sorry.” Koa reached for her. “What are you so afraid of?”
“Koa, you don’t understand what I’ve done to protect you. There are so many creatures that want you dead, and then, there are those that wish to see you brought back for your birthright.”
Koa folded her arms across her chest and walked to the window. Her mother could make people disappear. She thought of how Bund fled when he saw her mother. She wondered what that meant. She wondered if he was still out there somewhere, ready for revenge. Then she thought about what an amazing skill that was. She began to smile. My mother is a nephilim…
“There goes every shred of my humanity,” Koa whispered, and her smile faded.
Koa pulled the heavy drapes open and looked out into the darkness. She glanced over at the neighbor’s garden a few yards away. She could see lights and candles set up as they had a party of some sort. She could even hear the music playing and the people laughing and talking. She stared out at them and pressed her forehead to the cool glass. She sighed as she watched the happy people.
They looked so content. She wished she could feel even a fraction of that kind of happiness.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Find Jax.”
Koa swirled around. Something sparked inside her mind, but she couldn’t decipher what it was. There was something familiar about the name, Jax. Something ignited both a longing and a fear within her. She felt uncomfortable. She shifted her weight onto her other leg and looked down at her mother.
She frowned. “Where have I heard that name?”
Raven stared at her. There was a long pause and Koa frowned.
“What is it?”
Raven shook her head. “Nothing.” She hopped off the bed and walked over on all fours to stand before Koa. “I don’t know why you would have heard that name.”
Koa looked at the ceiling and tapped her chin with her index finger. The name sounded so familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She hated that.
“Who is he then?”
Raven hesitated. “He is Greggan’s son.”
Koa watched Raven. She could tell that there was more. She gave Raven a look and held her hands out, expecting her to elaborate.
Raven remained silent. She was still keeping secrets.
“Out with it!”
Raven glared up at her. “He is the one responsible for my curse.”
22
KOA DROVE ALL the way to Wryn Castle in silence. Ian tried to start a conversation but she could only give him short, one-worded answers.
Jax. The name repeated itself in her head a thousand times throughout that long ride. Her face was set with anger and her hands clutched the steering wheel so tightly that the leather grooves were engrained in her palms by the time they stopped. She looked down at her reddened hands and traced the grooves.
Ian stared at her.
“Koa?” He spoke in a timid voice, as if he was afraid that she might lash out at him.
Koa turned and gave him a blank expression. Ian looked afraid of her. She didn’t care. He got out of the car and started to walk up the long stone pathway that led to the castle’s entrance without her. He glanced back once and Koa was still staring off at nothing at all, with a scowl on her face.
Jax had cursed her mother. For years Koa had missed her mother’s face. She had craved her mother’s embrace for so long that she had forgotten what it felt like, what she used to smell like, and how she used to stroke her hair.
Koa slammed her fist on the steering wheel and screamed. Her breath came in quick gasps as she tried to control her rage. She wanted him dead. Koa wanted her Lyrinian sword to feast on his blood. She repeated Raven’s words over and over again.
“Do not be hasty. Jax is Greg
gan’s son. He is a Netherworld vamp and faster than anyone you’ve ever encountered,” Raven had said. “Still, you must go to him.”
Koa had asked many questions, and still, Raven only told her that she must go to him, and she must learn for herself the secrets of her past. Only Koa could find a way to break the curse and set things right with both the Netherworld and the mortal world. Koa leaned her head back against the headrest. Even Raven knew Koa had to go to the Netherworld. Raven tried to convince Halston that it was necessary. Halston would never let her go. He would never risk it.
Koa wasn’t sure how dangerous the Netherworld was, but Halston’s reluctance was an indicator. She didn’t need his approval. Halston had abandoned her. She needed to start making her own decisions.
She hated to admit that was the reason he had left her in the first place—for making her own decisions.
She opened the door, stepped out, and slammed it closed. She lifted herself into the air and flew to the tall, black doorways that led into the castle.
Two guards with suits and slicked back hair opened the double doors for her without a second glance. Koa was a regular. She dared anyone to stand in her way on this night. Inside, she had no smiles for anyone.
Greta, one of Lexi’s sires, and main girlfriend, started to greet her. She must have seen the scowl on Koa's face, because she decided to keep her mouth shut. Greta stepped back behind the mahogany podium and nodded to the side hallway.
Without a desire to acknowledge her, Koa walked through the black archway and into the dimly lit corridor. Black candles lined the paneled walls.
Koa walked along the red carpet that led to the end of the hall, and the parlor door. Koa smelled the heavy scent of perfume, cologne, and alcohol. There were fresh humans waiting. They were probably nervous to find vampire masters.
She took off her gloves and stretched her fingers. She was amped and ready to hurt someone. Only blood would calm her down. If she couldn’t kill anyone tonight, she would stick to the plan, choose a new pet, and drink as much as she could without stealing a life.
There were guards at each door that led to a public room. They opened the door to the parlor and she stepped inside. Music thumped and vibrated the floor. She snatched a flute of champagne from a server and downed it. The server gave her an odd look as she put the empty glass back on the tray. She ignored him.