by E. M. Knight
My stomach sinks when we stop, and I see the Queen standing triumphantly before the fire. Our eyes meet. She winks.
She addresses the crowd. “Welcome, welcome, citizens of The Haven. You know why we’re gathered today. It’s time for you to enter your names in the upcoming lottery!”
On her announcement, the fire behind her flares and roars.
Raul’s shoulders stiffen.
“You all know the procedure,” The Queen continues. “You’ll be given a clay token by my guards.” She motions them forward. Two vampires start distributing the coin-sized tokens from leather pouches. “Upon which you will press your thumb, thus marking it as your own. Remember, any who are caught cheating will instantly be sacrificed to the fire.” She laughs in delight. “And you are all being watched, so don’t think you’re protecting a loved one by standing in for them.”
The guard passes and gives me a token without looking. I cradle it in my palm.
“Does everybody have their token? Yes? Good! We will begin, oh…” she scans the crowd, and points at an elderly woman at random. “With you!”
A space instantly clears around the human, leaving her entirely on her own.
Nobody protects anybody here, I think. Are they all so cowed?
I watch as she approaches the fire. She walks by The Queen, who leans over and embraces her like an old friend. “What is your name?” she asks.
“S-Sally,” the woman answers.
“Well, Sally,” Morgan smiles. “I sincerely hope the fire does not select you.” I’ve never heard a more false proclamation in my life. “Now go on.”
The gray-haired woman nods, unsteadily, and moves closer to the flames. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, mutters a prayer… and throws the token in.
A horrible hissing sound comes when the token drops into the bonfire. A single dark, black wisp of smoke rises from where it fell.
“And it is done!” Morgan announced grandly. “You’re free to go.” She looks around the crowd. “Who’s next?”
And so the ceremony continues. Each of the humans is herded to the front one-by-one. Each is given some assurance by the Queen. Then each throws their token in.
The fire takes it and spits out a black stream of smoke every single time.
Eventually it falls on me and April. The Queen looks at us, standing together. Half the crowd has already dispersed.
April starts to approach, but I pull her back. “Let me go first,” I say.
She hesitates, then nods. “Okay.”
Morgan fixes me with a horribly predatory look. I keep my back straight and walk toward her with dignity equal to hers.
“Good luck,” she whispers as I pass.
I stop in front of the fire. I press my thumb deep into the soft underside of the token and see the mark it leaves. Then, with a quick jerk, I toss it in.
The flames cackle and hiss around it, as if the token was blown in by a great gale. For a moment the fire seems to resist touching the stone.
And then with a giant roar the flames sweep overtop, with all the anger of a tidal wave. My token burns.
But instead of giving out a black stream of smoke, this one is a hideous blue.
Gasps come from the crowd behind me. Even the Queen sucks in a breath.
“This one is cursed!” someone exclaims.
Commotion erupts all around me. Before I know what is happening, my arms are seized by the two guards. Angry screams come from the humans.
“Burn her!”
“She’s a witch!”
“Destroy her before she can ruin us!”
They’re all rallying against me, and I’ve never seen them joined in one cause before. I struggle and cry out and try to break free from the guards. But they are vampires, their strength is extraordinary, and I don’t accomplish much.
The blue stream continues to billow out from the fire, filling the air with a poisonous smog.
“Unhand her!” Raul’s voice is clear from the rest. “Don’t you know who she is? Let her go!”
The guards spin me around in time for me to see Raul trying to fight through toward me. He’s being restrained by the rest of the Queen’s personal guards. Morgan stands a safe distance away, taking it all in.
“Did you not hear me?” Raul cries out. “I said, release her!”
The villagers beyond him continue to call for my head. Somebody grabs April and pushes her forward, then shoves her down. “She’s with her!” the man who did it exclaims.
My head swivels back and forth. I can’t make sense of any of it—except that something has gone wrong. Very, very wrong.
Finally the vile cries reach such a crescendo that they force Morgan to act. She throws both hands up. “Order!” she calls. “Your Queen demands order!”
She’s ignored by the roiling, angry mass.
“I said, ORDER!” she exclaims. She emphasizes the command by clapping her hands together overhead. Sound like thunder crashing comes from her palms.
That sends the crowd into silence. “Well.” She throws her head back, trying to regain her regal air. “That was… unexpected. A blue flame comes once every dozen years. If not less.”
“It was a set up!” Raul yells. “You knew what you were doing. You set her up!”
Morgan glances at her son. She scoffs. “Please. Don’t accuse me so baselessly.”
The humans hang on the interaction between the vampires with bated breath.
“You knew this would happen,” Raul growls. “It is why you insisted on bringing her!”
“No,” the Queen says. “I insisted on bringing her, after your riveting speech in the courtroom about following the letter of the law. Well,” she shrugs. “This was it.”
I can’t take it anymore. “Can somebody tell me what’s happening!” I scream.
The Queen’s head jerks to me. “Of course.” She manages to smile. “Your token flared blue. It means on the night of the next Hunt… you will be the only prey.”
Chapter Thirty-One
RAUL
I storm into my Mother’s chambers, anger burning in my very soul.
“How could you?” I yell at her. “How could you do that? To her!”
She looks up at me, as calm as if we hadn’t nearly seen the beginning of a riot just minutes ago. “How could I what, sweetest?”
“Don’t play games with me, woman.” I slam my hand on her royal desk. “I know you rigged the lottery. You wanted to make an example of Eleira.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she censures. “Why would I want that? Eleira is the one who is supposed to succeed me, after all.”
“And yet…” I lower my tone and make it dangerous. “And yet, maybe you’re not ready to give up power. Maybe you want to rule for another six-hundred years.”
She glares at me. “Another six-hundred years of this misery? Unable to leave The Haven, unable to see the world? Always residing over the petty bickering of our people?” She scoffs. “I think not.”
“Then why did you do it?” I ask. “Why did you let Eleira’s token flare blue?”
“You say that as if I had any control—”
“You had all the control, witch!”
My temper’s running away from me. I know I need to get a rein on it. But Morgan’s false denials are driving me crazy.
I force my breathing to slow. “You had all the control,” I repeat, “because you are the one who distributed the tokens. You are the one who cast the spell on them that enables them to make their selection.”
“And once that spell is cast, do you think I have any further influence?” She chuckles. “No. Once the spells are unleashed they are out of my control. Blame the magic, if you will. Blame chance, blame fate. But do not blame me.”
“So what now? Do you just expect me to allow you to sacrifice Eleira? After what we went through to bring her here? After all the plans we’ve made? We’ve waited ages for her!”
“You speak as if I have a choice.” Morgan goes back to s
tudying her reflection in the mirror. “The law is clear. Eleira must be made an example of.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
ELEIRA
After the commotion at the fire, Morgan’s guards dragged me away to a new series of dark, underground caves. They threw me into a tiny cell, slammed the door, and left me here without a word of explanation.
I’ve been here for hours and hours and hours.
The tunnels we made our way through were pitch-black. Vampires can see in the dark. They have no need for light. Myself, on the other hand…
Well, terrified doesn’t even begin to explain my mental state.
The irony of being locked underground is not lost on me. Last time I was in a similar position, The Hunt was in full swing. I still remember the terrible screaming.
This time, I’m the one who’s to be hunted at the next full moon.
At least, that’s what my understanding of it is. There’s obviously a lot which I still don’t know. Would they really throw me to the wolves, after making me feel so… special?
Maybe all of it was a sham. Maybe all the preparations that were being made were just a way of fattening me up before the feast. Maybe, maybe…
The rattle of the lock catches my attention. I shy back. There’s nowhere to hide. Whoever’s here has definitely come for me.
The cell door creaks open. A small, flickering flame from a zippo comes to life. And then a torch is lit, and the light shows…
“Phillip!” I exclaim. I don’t think I’ve ever been more glad to see a vampire in my life.
“I’m here to rescue you,” he announces grandly. Then some of the smoke from the torch goes up his windpipe, and he starts to cough, quite violently, ruining the heroic effect.
But my joy is immediate. I fly into his arms and embrace him in a hug.
“I’m so glad to see you,” I admit.
“Yes, well…” he straightens his glasses. “I wasn’t there, but Raul told me what happened. It isn’t right.”
“Would they really do it?” I ask. “Would they make me the sole human prey in the Hunt?”
“The other vampires would have a field day with you,” Phillip says. “You can’t possibly know how sweet your blood smells. I’m afraid you’ll never know, because there’s never been another like you.”
“But why?” I insist. “What’s so special about my blood?”
“It might have something to do with The Spark,” Phillip ventures. “But the reason is irrelevant. The effect you exert on others of my kind is not.”
“What’s the plan, then?” I ask. “What do we do now? And why—” I stop to think, “—why do you go against your own Mother, for me?”
He hesitates, clearly nervous. That's another first. I didn’t think there could be such a thing as a nervous vampire.
“It was Raul’s idea,” he admits. “I’m just the accomplice. He’s causing a distraction above ground. While that’s going on, I’m supposed to whisk you to safety,” he clears his throat. “Through the belly of The Catacombs.”
“Is that bad?” I wonder.
“Oh no,” he said dryly. “Not bad at all. Unless, of course, you happen to be frightened of legions of The Convicted, who’ve been locked down there without a drop of blood for, oh, let’s say… two hundred years?”
A shiver crawls down my spine. I swallow.
Chapter Thirty-Three
RAUL
I lay down the last of the tinder, carefully hidden around the base of the final human home.
Then I straighten and walk away without so much as a glance back. I spot Jacob waiting for me in the trees. His wife Patricia is on the other side of the village, waiting for our signal.
The two vampires look greatly restored after having their share of blood. I mutter a quick thank you for the circumstance that brought them to me. Were it not for their help, this whole mission would be impossible.
I have friends among the other vampires, of course, but none whose loyalty can be as certain as that of these two. They owe their lives to me, after all.
I catch April’s eye and give her a quick nod. The girl has steely determination plastered all over her face. When the fires start, she’s the one who’s going to run into the village and raise the alarm.
I look back at the quiet village. Soon, it’ll all go up in flames. If there’s one thing certain to destroy a vampire, it’s fire. Our kind will do all that they can to avoid the deadly flames. However, once the conflagration rises, its size and scope will draw all of them to put it out.
I only hope there won’t be many human casualties in the fire. I made sure to leave them scattered escape routes throughout the village. Not too obvious, because I don’t want this linked back to me—I want to make this look as natural as possible. But not too difficult to see in the panic either.
“Are you sure about this, my Prince?” Jacob asks me when I join him in our hideout.
“Yes,” I say. There is not a shred of hesitation in my answer. “Mother started her games with the draft bonfire. Well, the best way to fight fire is with fire.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
ELEIRA
“Wait.” Phillip holds an arm out and stops me in my tracks. “Wait, I think I hear someone up ahead.”
My breath catches, and I stop. I strain my ears for any sound. I hear nothing.
“Never mind.” Phillip says after a tense moment. “It’s nothing. Maybe a bat.”
I exhale.
We’ve been navigating the underground tunnels for what feels like days. Phillip asked me if he could put the torch out. He said it hurt his eyesight more than it helped mine. I didn’t like the idea of being cast in total darkness, but I liked the idea of being discovered even less.
So I agreed.
“Let’s go,” he says. I cling to his arm. He murmurs directions under his breath.
“There’s a downslope here.”
“We’re turning left now.”
“Watch out, the ground is rocky.”
And so on and so forth.
I follow him without a single word of protest. Somehow, two of the three vampires who were responsible for my abduction have now crossed over to my side.
Who’d have thought that would happen when I woke up in the atrium?
But I can’t keep quiet forever. Uncertainty is eating me up inside.
Eventually, I whisper, “Where are we going? Where are you leading me?”
“I’m taking you out of The Haven,” Phillip says. “We have to go beneath the wards erected above us. It’s the only way to bypass them.”
For a moment I’m too stunned to offer a credible response. “You’re actually… helping me escape this place? Not just the dungeon?”
“It wouldn’t do you much good if I took you out of your cell and brought you back amongst vampires, would it?” he asks. “Besides,” he tugs me forward, “this was all Raul’s idea. Like I said.”
I can’t help the smile that comes from his words. It may have been Raul’s idea, but Phillip wouldn’t be cooperating without his consent.
“Thank you,” I say. “From the bottom of my heart… thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Phillip warns. “We still haven’t reached the most treacherous part. The Convicted are going to be our greatest challenge.”
I stop short. “You mean… I thought you were leading us around them.”
“Oh no,” Phillip gives a soft laugh. “There is no going around where they are. It’s through them, and then to the Outside. From there… Raul will meet you. You’ll go with him.”
I clear my throat. I feel Phillip look at me. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Not exactly, I think. It’s just that he and I haven’t had a proper conversation since sharing that chaste kiss. Not about us, or what the kiss meant, anyway.
If it meant anything at all. I could be reading too much into things.
“No problem,” I blurt out.
“Are you sure?” Phillip questions.
“If you prefer, we could always turn back…”
His dry tone tells me it’s another joke. Just like his previous one, it falls flat.
“So what are The Convicted, anyway?” I ask after we move on.
“If you’ve ever seen one of them, you’d know. They’re these… creatures who —”
“I have seen them,” I interrupt. “One attacked me during The Hunt. Your brother saved me from it.”
Phillip spins around. “What?” he exclaims.
“April and I were being held underground. A tall man in a red coat appeared. He had no teeth. Only fangs. And his tongue… I think his tongue was cut out.”
“Cut out and denied from growing back by Mother’s spell,” Phillip murmurs. “I had no idea that happened to you. Raul saved you? But, how could The Convicted have reached you? I know where you were kept, there’s no way…” he trails off.
“Unless,” he said, “unless, somebody released him. Well — released it. Those creatures have no gender. Another thing that Mother takes away.”
I swallow in discomfort.
“They are — were — once vampires,” Phillip says. “They were the ones found guilty of crimes against others of our kind. That is why they suffer the worst punishment. Their tongues are removed. They are given no blood. They are locked deep underground, where they can never see the moon or the stars. Even vampires have the need for freedom. Moonlight invigorates us. The Convicted are locked away underground. For life. Until they meet their end.”
“I thought vampires are immortal?” I ask.
“In a way. Our spirits linger. But our bodies can decompose. It takes years—decades, centuries, of absolute misery. We don’t do anything to their teeth—they fall out on their own to make room for their fangs… fangs which continue to grow longer and longer, because they’re starved for blood.
“They lose all of their humanity down there. They become horrible, awful, creatures, driven only by their basest instinct — the one for blood.”