Sentinel (Vampire Conclave: Book 2)

by S. J. West

  As we pass under the portico and enter into the structure, I see the bodies of the fallen healers.

  They’re all laid out on individual white stone slabs in a staggered row within the center of the building. Each of them is covered with a fine opalescent death shroud that is transparent enough for me to clearly see the faces of my saviors.

  “Did you know them well?” I ask Shael as we stand there together in the quiet of what feels like a holy place.

  “I knew them, but I can’t claim to have been their friend,” she replies, sounding as if she regrets not being able to call these select few more than just acquaintances. “I know a little bit about each of their lives though. Would you like me to tell you what I know?”

  I nod because I suddenly can’t seem to speak. My throat is choked with emotions ranging from sadness to thankfulness. None of these people knew me, yet they gave up everything to save me.

  Shael walks up to the first body, and I follow by her side.

  The woman laying on the stone slab is quite old. She appears to be in her mid to late seventies. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that at least one of the people who saved me led a full and rich life.

  “This is Elliana Goodearth,” Shael tells me. “She had two children, a boy and a girl, who each had two children of their own. She was married for fifty-five years and lost her husband last year. Of the healers who helped you, she was the first to volunteer. I believe she was ready to enter the afterlife and rejoin those who passed before her.”

  I reach out and rest one of my hands on top of Elliana’s hands, which lay one on top of the other against her chest in a peaceful repose.

  “Thank you for saving me,” I whisper to her. I know she can’t actually hear me, but perhaps her spirit is lingering nearby and can understand my words. “I promise that I will do everything within my power to keep your family and House Moonshade safe.”

  Just before I take my hand away, I feel a tingle of electricity pass between my hand and Elliana’s clasped ones. I look up at her face and notice that her eyes are open, yet unblinking. I watch in morbid fascination as the woman’s head slowly turns in my direction to meet my gaze.

  I hear Shael gasp in shock, possibly horror and fear, as Elliana’s mouth opens and she begins to speak.

  “Why have you brought me back, Princess?” she asks in a voice that sounds as if it’s traveling through a long wind tunnel.

  I immediately snatch my hand off Elliana. Her mouth shuts and her eyes close, similar to how a child’s toy turns off when you flip a switch on its back.

  “Sarah,” Shael says in a shaky whisper. “Did you just do that? Did you bring her back from the dead?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” I admit as a vision of what happened when the shades attacked us in Destin flits through my mind. When I touched the shade that turned out to be my mother, she began to materialize right in front of my eyes. When we lost physical contact, she turned back into a shade and disappeared.

  Shael narrows her eyes at me suspiciously and says, “What exactly does ‘maybe’ mean?”

  I go on to explain what I was able to do to the shade in Destin, but I purposely neglect to tell Shael that the ghost was, in fact, my mother. I’m not exactly sure why I decide to withhold the information. It just doesn’t feel right to talk about my mom with Shael considering the fact my father chose to be with her instead of his own people. When I’m done, Shael looks justifiably frightened by my tale.

  “You must never tell anyone here what you are able to do,” she vehemently orders me.

  “Why?” I have to ask.

  “They won’t understand what you are. They will take it as a bad omen and refuse to follow you.” Shael takes a step forward, grabbing both of my hands. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone you’re a re-animator.”

  “A re-animator?” I ask, having never heard the term used before to describe a person. “Is that what I am? Are there other re-animators here in Alfheim?”

  “If there are, they keep themselves hidden, as well they should.”

  “Is reanimation a type of dark magic?”

  “That’s what everyone assumes, but no one knows for sure. Most re-animators rarely have reason to use their gift. It’s a transient power that only lasts as long as the re-animator touches the dead subject.”

  “So I won’t be able to bring something that’s dead back to life?”

  “No. You’ll only be able to re-animate their body and pull on the tether it has to their soul long enough to get whatever information you desire. In a way, the power is almost useless.”

  “No, it’s not!” I say excitedly. “Don’t you see? If I can reanimate the werewolf that tried to kill me, we might be able to get some answers!”

  “I’m afraid that won’t work,” Shael says with a great deal of regret. “He was considered a traitor, and the werewolves deal with those who betray the pack quite viciously.”

  “He was already dead,” I point out. “What else could they possibly do to him?”

  “Eat the body,” Shael answers rather bluntly.

  “You’ve got to be joking,” I say in dismay and, quite honestly, genuine disgust. “Our only concrete lead and it got chomped on by a pack of mangy mutts?” Just my freaking luck!

  “Your plan was a good one, but since the warlock incinerated himself after he attempted to kill you, I’m afraid there isn’t anyone left to interrogate.”

  “Is Alden looking for the woman from the Destin incident?” I ask. “She seems like the most likely suspect. Her plan to kill Julian and Petru fell through. Maybe she’s trying to finish the job she started.”

  “Alden was already searching for her before the first attempt on your life occurred. When Nadia called him afterwards to file her report, Alden sent men out to comb the city for any trace of the woman’s whereabouts. We haven’t found her yet, but she’s certainly at the top of the list of suspects.”

  I turn back to look at Elliana.

  “Do you think she wants to say something to us? Maybe to her relatives?” I ask Shael.

  “I have no idea, but you can’t allow her to speak directly to her family. Then they would know what you are, and as I’ve already stated, you have to keep your ability a secret from others here.”

  Great. First, I had to keep my empathic abilities a secret, and now, I have one more ability to add to the list.

  “I could ask her while we’re here alone,” I reason. “If she has something she wants to say, we can find a way to relay the message to her loved ones.”

  Shael remains silent, and I take that as her agreeing with me.

  I reach out and place my hand on top of Elliana’s clasped ones. Once again, her eyes open and she looks at me.

  “Why do you keep bringing me back?” she moans in despair.

  “I’m sorry. Are you in any pain?” I ask.

  “Not when I am dead. This world no longer belongs to me. Please, let me go.”

  “I just wanted to know if you had anything you wanted us to tell your family. Any last words?”

  “I lived my life in such a way that those I care about felt my love for them every day we were together. I have no last words for anyone because I said all I needed to during my life.”

  “Do you think the others who gave their lives for me would want me to wake them up and ask the same question I just asked you?”

  “Do not awaken them as you have awoken me,” she begs. “We are all finally at peace and will soon be rejoined with the people who preceded us in death. Reawakening them now would only cause them to relive the pain of leaving their loved ones behind. If you truly want to honor our passing and repay us for what we did for you, allow us to slumber in the arms of the afterworld. Please, let me go.”

  I take my hand off of Elliana. Her eyes close as her soul travels back to where it was before I awoke her.

  “Sarah,” Shael says, drawing my attention back to her, “promise that you will never do that to me after I’m dead, unless you have ju
st cause to do so.”

  “I promise I won’t,” I tell her. “Not unless I have to. And I also promise that I won’t tell anyone here what I’m able to do.”

  “I’m sure you will want to share this news with Julian, but I ask that you wait until you are back on Earth before doing so. That way we can be sure no one here will accidentally hear you.”

  I don’t like the fact that Shael is asking me to keep a secret from Julian, but I can understand her concern.

  “Okay,” I reluctantly agree, “I’ll wait to tell him until we’re back home.”

  “Good. Now, would you like me to continue to tell you about the lives of the other five healers?”

  I nod, placing my hands behind my back to ensure I don’t inadvertently touch any more of the corpses. I don’t want to disturb the peace they may have found in the afterlife. It was never my intention to hurt Elliana by bringing her back. In my attempt to do a good deed, it appears I simply made matters worse.

  By the time we finish, people begin to filter into the circular building and fill the stadium seating. I sit with Shael on the slightly raised dais, which directly faces the entrance. There are two throne chairs made of the same stone as the building with blue velvet cushions to sit on.

  I’ve always loved to people watch. Kaylee and I would sit in the Pecan Acres mall on Friday nights and observe the comings and goings of the shoppers. Even when you live in a small town, you quickly discover that you don’t know most of the people who live within its limits. I don’t know many people in Alfheim, so practically everyone who walks in is a stranger to me. It’s only when Julian, Alden, and Nadia walk into the structure that I begin to relax a bit.

  Julian and Alden are discussing something when they walk in side by side with Nadia following in behind them. I feel a sense of excitement stir my heart when I see Julian. He and Alden are dressed much like the rest of the men in the crowd. Each of them is wearing a long black jacket over pants of the same material. The cut and style of the suit reminds me of a sherwani outfit that men in India wear on special occasions. Julian fills out his outfit quite strikingly with his tall frame. I can’t stop my heart from beating a little bit faster as I watch him approach us.

  “Are you in love with your vampire?” Shael asks me bluntly in a low voice.

  I turn my attention away from Julian to look into her inquisitive, bluer-than-blue eyes. I could lie to her, but considering the fact that she witnessed my reunion with Julian when he first arrived in Alfheim, I think subterfuge at this point would be pointless.

  “Yes,” I tell her. “I love him.”

  Shael maintains her serene composure on the outside, but her worry betrays her true feelings about my love affair with Julian.

  “Perhaps we should discuss this later” is her only reply.

  “We can discuss it later, but there’s nothing you can say that will change my feelings for him,” I stubbornly inform her.

  “I realize that,” she says, looking slightly disappointed. “But giving your heart to one person doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t marry another, especially when such a marriage can bring about peace to your people.”

  “I’m not sure how things work in this world of yours,” I tell her. “But back home, you normally marry the person you’re in love with.”

  “As I said,” Shael replies with a tight-lipped smile, “we should discuss this at another time and in a more private setting.”

  She turns her head away from me and continues to watch the people who enter the building.

  While Julian, Alden, and Nadia continue to make their way across to us, I notice two men enter the building who are not dressed entirely in black. Even if they weren’t wearing dark red coats with some sort of gold embroidery on the left side, the pair would be hard to miss in a crowd. The older man is tall with short hair that’s a mixture of light and dark gray tones. Even from a distance, his gaze is piercing as he looks over at Shael and me. The man nods his head to my aunt in a silent greeting, and Shael reciprocates the gesture but doesn’t crack a smile.

  The younger man of the pair looks to be close to my age, perhaps a year or two older. He has short brown hair and a day’s growth of a beard on his face. Unlike the older gentleman beside him, this man doesn’t look at Shael at all. He looks directly at me and holds my gaze. An appreciative smile spreads his lips as he nods his head to me in greeting. Not to be unnecessarily rude, I nod my head also, which seems to please him a great deal, because he then proceeds to wink at me. I don’t necessarily need to ask who the men are because I already have a guess, but it’s always better to get confirmation.

  “Is that Galan and Aron Firestorm?” I ask Shael.

  “Yes. Their lands are adjacent to ours, so they arrived ahead of schedule for tomorrow night’s ball.”

  “Did they come early because they want to check me out?”

  Shael looks over at me. “Very astute, Sarah. That would be my guess as well.”

  “Are they our enemies?”

  Shael sighs. “I’m not sure I would use the term enemies. They’re more like our competition. They keep trying to woo our mages away by promising them wealth and fame.”

  “Most people would accept an offer like that.”

  “Perhaps they would on Earth, but here loyalty is what’s treasured above all else. I am loyal to my people, and they are loyal to me. We provide our mages with a reasonable income for their services, but we don’t place their needs above anyone else’s.”

  “Julian once told me it’s been a hundred years since the last war here. Do you see another one on the horizon, or is that part of your history over?”

  “I’m not a fortune-teller, Sarah. I can’t see into the future. Peace is a tenuous accord between the houses. For all I know, we could be embroiled in a war tomorrow for some reason I can’t foresee. Right now, we all get along, and I’m grateful for that small miracle.”

  “What is this talk of war?” Alden asks as he, Julian, and Nadia step into the royal box.

  Alden walks over to stand beside Shael’s chair while Julian and Nadia stand beside mine.

  I look over at Julian and am unable to prevent an admiring smile. I would tell him how dashing he looks, but considering the reason we’re all here, I don’t feel it’s appropriate.

  My attention is drawn away from Julian to the center floor where a blonde woman dressed in snow white robes seems to have appeared out of nowhere. At least I missed her entrance somehow.

  “Citizens of House Moonshade and venerable guests,” she says in a voice as sweet and smooth as honey. “I welcome you all to the farewell ceremony of these six brave souls. They will be forever missed by us all, but more so by their family and friends.” The woman walks over to Elliana’s body first, but I use the term “walk” loosely. Her movements are more fluid than that. It’s almost as if she’s gliding through the air, instead of making contact with the ground beneath her feet. “Elliana Goodearth was a pillar of your magical community. She and the others gave their lives to ensure that House Moonshade’s heir could live and provide you with the wisdom of her leadership for many years to come.”

  Wow, no pressure there. I can already feel sweat pop out across my brow at just the thought of such responsibility. It doesn’t help that almost everyone in the building is now looking in my direction, including the woman who seems to be in charge of this ceremony.

  “Elliana Goodearth,” the woman continues, thankfully drawing back everyone’s attention to herself, “left behind a legacy with not only her good works but also with her family. As is our tradition, each of the fallen’s loved ones will be given an opportunity to stand and share their fondest memories of those we say good-bye to tonight. I am told Ana Goodearth, Elliana’s eldest daughter, will be speaking on behalf of her family this evening. Please, Ana, share with us the most memorable moments you had with your mother.”

  A woman who looks to be in her late fifties rises from her seat in the stadium and walks down to stand by the body of
her mother.

  She begins to tell us her earliest memory of Elliana, and this begins the first of six farewell speeches made about the people who gave up so much to ensure that I lived. It takes about an hour for the first five families to recount the lives of their loved ones, and I have to say that I’m thankful for all that they share with us. By the end, I feel as though I know the healers a little bit better and can appreciate the legacy each of them left behind.

  The final speech is given by the son of the healer named Galather Windfree.

  Galather’s son begins his farewell speech much like all the others: with a recount of his first memory of his father. He then proceeds to tell us one of his best memories of Galather. It’s only toward the end of his speech that I begin to worry. He turns a scathing gaze toward Shael and me, and I can literally see the heat of hatred burning deeply in his eyes.

  “I never thought in all the time my father served the queen so loyally that she,” he says, pointing an accusing finger directly at Shael, “would place the value of his life beneath that of someone else’s.”

  Quite a few shocked gasps can be heard throughout the building, mine included. I’ve been shielding my empathic skills from most of the people at the funeral because I feared I might become overwhelmed by their collective sorrow. Now, I let my shield down far enough to sense exactly how dangerous the man in front of us is.

  He’s filled with an all-consuming rage that’s about to boil over into catastrophe if he doesn’t calm down soon.

  “How could you ask a man who has served you all of your life to die just so your niece could live?” he questions heatedly. “She’s a stranger! We don’t even know if she’ll accept her birthright. For all we know, she could be just as selfish and single-minded as her father was!”