by Michelle Fox
If I had to, I drove on the berm. Anything to get as far away from the Council Guard as fast as I could.
Chapter Fifteen
When full dark came, I stopped the car and let Vitor out of the trunk.
"That took longer than I thought," he said with a dry quirk of his mouth.
"What? Isn't traveling in a trunk like first class for a dead guy?"
He sat up and stretched his arms up overhead, leaning into one side and then the other. "It pains me to admit this, but I think I would have preferred your antiquated hearse."
"You'd know about antiquated, wouldn't ya?" I rolled my eyes. Goddess save me from prissy vamps. "You heard what happened, right?"
He swung his legs around to hop out of the trunk. "Yes. I heard. You were betrayed." He stretched his arms overhead, and once again I was struck by the sleek musculature of his body.
I gave him a hard stare. "What do you know about the First Witch relic?"
"More than you do." He looked around "Where are we?"
"That's not an answer."
"No. It's not," he said in placid agreement.
"I need to find it." A note of desperation crept into my voice.
"Yes, you do, but not for the reasons you think."
"Either tell me where it is, or I'll leave you here."
"Better yet, let me show you what it is. You will understand better then." He reached out and touched my arm and just that light pressure was enough to cast me into another time and place. Everything went black for a moment, and then the world came back, but it wasn't the one I knew...
***
I was in a cave and wearing a loose flowing gown with an empire waist. I sat in front of a small fire with Vitor at my side. Something hard and smooth registered in my hands, and I looked down to see the moonstone necklace I'd worn in the vision with the Sun King.
I peered into the milky stone, watching the sparks of light that flickered in their depths. A large moonstone the size of my thumb made up the centerpiece with matching cabochons alongside it. "What is this thing?"
"Shh, let her speak," Vitor said.
An unseen force pulled me back until I was outside the woman watching the scene unfold like a play.
The woman held up the necklace. "It's done."
"Are you sure?" Vitor asked.
"It's the only way to keep the portals closed." She put it against her chest, holding the ends of the chain behind her. "Do you mind?"
Vitor moved and took the ends of the chain from her, fastening them at the back of her neck.
"When I die, this necklace will catch my soul. It is up to you to guard it and find me when I am born again to restore my power to me."
Vitor closed his eyes and swallowed. "I cannot imagine the world without you."
The woman reached out and gripped his hand in hers. "I will come back."
"How will I find you?"
"There is a piece of my soul in you. You'll know me when you see me."
"But the world is so big."
"Go where you are led. Listen to the small voice inside you. That's me, guiding you."
"Can you not become immortal like me?"
"No. I can't be what you are, love. It's not the way my magic works. I am born of life, not death." She fingered the necklace at her throat. "Don't be sour, Vitor. We have many years left to enjoy each other."
"All my life, I searched for something bigger, for a sign of something more, and in you I have found the end of my quest."
"More importantly, we have made this world safe for those who live in it."
"That too."
"Do not forget your sworn duty. Both you and Sheridon. The day either of you fail is the day we all die."
Things went black again and when the world next revealed itself, I was back in my body on the side of the road. Vitor's arms were wrapped around me, supporting me.
I jumped away from him. "You have to stop doing that to me."
"It's part of the process."
"What process?" I shot him a wary look.
"Of remembering who you really are."
"And who is that?"
"Don't you see?"
I blinked. "See what?"
He gave an impatient wave. "Come. We should go. I'll drive. The explanations can wait until we are safe."
"Where are we going?" I crossed my arms and didn't move, but that reminded me of an important detail I'd missed—I still had Jane's tracking charm on me. A flutter of panic convulsed in my stomach. Well, shifter shit. I'd forgotten all about that. We needed to keep moving or we'd lose the lead we had.
"To get the relic."
My jaw dropped. "You know where it is?"
"I can feel it here." He thumped his chest with a fist. "Where my heart used to beat."
I shook my head. "I need an explanation now, before we go any further. Who are you? Why the detour to Chicago if you knew the relic was back here? Why are you in all these dreams and visions? What is going on?"
"Get in the car and I'll tell you. It's not safe to stay in one place. You know that."
I bit my bottom lip and glared at him. He was right, doubly so given the charm, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it. "I don't know whether to trust you or turn you over to the High Priestess."
He frowned. "I've rescued you."
"So? I've rescued you, too."
"True, but because you wanted something from me. What could I have possibly wanted from you?"
"You seemed pretty interested in my blood."
He gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. "To taste you is to know you."
"I bet you say that to all the girls."
"No. Just you, Sylvie." He held his hands palm up, a pleading expression on his face. "I want no harm to come to you. In fact, you are the most important thing in this world."
"How? Why?"
"Have you ever heard of magic's karma?"
I shrugged. "Yeah. Karma aka magic backlash? I'm familiar. So?"
"Karma has found you, Sylvie. I am here to deliver it." His gaze searched my face, looking for something from me.
I backed up a step. "That sounds...ominous." I didn't have a good history with backlash.
He shook his head and a smile flickered across his lips. "No. It is your rightful birthright that I bring to you. The weakness of your magic, that is not you. It is not the real you."
"What do you know of my magic?"
"You are only one spark of the fire now. I can make your flame whole."
"What are you saying? You should like a bunch of Tarot woo-woo."
"I'll explain everything, but it's not safe to stay in one place." He looked at the road behind us, watching as a car passed. Turning back to me, he said, "Just come with me. Trust me to save you again." He held out his hands for the keys. "Please."
We stared at each other for several long seconds.
He thrust his hand out farther. "Remember, I know where the relic is."
"Well, how can I argue with that?" I rolled my eyes but gave him the keys. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I do. You'll see." He flashed a quick smile and headed for the driver's seat.
The engine roared to life and he rolled down the window as I remained outside. "I do not want to leave you, but I cannot risk being caught again, and truthfully, neither can you. We have shown them how sloppy they are. They will not make the same mistakes next time."
I went to his window and bent down to look into his eyes. "You'd let them take me?"
His dark gaze held mine. "Only if I had no other choice."
"What happened to saving me?"
"You have to want to save yourself first."
"Okay. Hang on. I'm coming over." I walked around the front of the car and slipped into the passenger seat. "I'm here. You're driving. Happy?"
"It is an improvement." He started to put the car in gear, but I put a hand over his and kept him from shifting into drive.
"By the way, we are on a very fast clock." I held up
my wrist. "I'm being tracked."
He eyed the tracking charm. "When did that happen?"
"Chicago."
He gave me a blank look.
I sighed. He was going to make me say it. "I enlisted some help and this was the price. They can track us. They've probably been tracking us. Meaning our little break here cost us."
"Let me see." He extended his hand, and after a moment of hesitation, I gave him mine. He peered at the bracelet and slipped his fingers under the chain. Muttering a word I didn't quite catch, one that sent a flare of power over me, he gave a sharp yank and the bracelet broke.
Just like that.
"Was that magic? It sounded like you were doing magic." I rolled down the window and chucked the chain onto the berm. I hoped Jane lost her shit when she found it.
"What do you think?"
"I think you'd better start explaining yourself or I'm gone." I snorted. First Thorne, now Vitor. What did the world even need witches for if everyone could throw spells around like confetti?
Vitor gave a slight nod. "I have some limited but extra abilities. I'm not like the other vampires."
I snorted. "If you say so. Why don't you talk while you drive?" I gestured to the steering wheel. "I'm tired of waiting for answers. I want to know everything you do. Now. But like you said, we're not safe. We need to keep moving."
"Fine." Vitor angled the car onto the road and floored the accelerator causing the car to buck. "Where should I start?"
"How about telling me who the hell you are?"
"I'm Vitor Volikov." He accelerated and switched lanes to pass a semi.
"That's lame, Vitor. Really lame." I glared at him over my milkshake. "How about what are you?"
"You know the history of the first ones, yes?"
"The First Witch, the First Vampire and the First Shifter?"
"Yes."
"I'm aware." History had never been my strong suit, but I had the gist of things. It was hard not to pick up the big picture. Humans had Christmas, supernaturals had our First Day. Christ wasn't the only fan of December, the First Witch had discovered her power and made all the supernaturals at the beginning of the same month.
"I am the First Vampire."
My jaw didn't drop so much as fall off my face. "No. No way."
"Yes. It is true."
"But you're so...normal." I narrowed my eyes, studying him for signs of first-ness, but he just looked like the same pain-in-the-ass-but-also-handsome vampire I'd always known. "You should be some hardass master telling all the other vampires when to jump."
"Perhaps if things had happened differently, I might have turned out that way. But I have a greater mission in this world than to concern myself with other vampires."
"But you're their sire's sire's sire's sire..." I trailed off, confused by the number of possessive sires I needed. I tried another approach."Like, you're the reason why any vampire exists. They all trace back to you, right?"
"True."
"And that's why you have magic?"
"The First Witch gave me some extras, yes."
I shook my head and then shook it again. "This can't be real."
"There is nothing in any of the historical texts to suggest I died. And I've been showing you who I am and who..." He gave me a nervous look.
"What?" I prompted.
"Who you are."
"You mean..." I couldn't say it. The air froze in my throat.
He nodded. "I have been trying to tell you this, but you do not want to see it."
I nodded back, too shocked to say anything.
There'd been whispers all my life of 'what if the First Vampire was out there?' There were entire conspiracy theories around the First Vampire. That he hid himself and controlled the vampires through proxies. That he had connections with various High Priestesses. That he'd died and turned to dust, and if you found that dust, it would allow you to cure almost any illness.
There was a witch who did a whole TV show about searching for the First Vampire's remains. She had worked out a testing methodology that would prove whether dust came from a vampire or not. My only interest in that had been how she'd obtained her vampire dust to run the tests.
Every December there were articles and television specials rehashing all the unproven possibilities. I'd never paid much attention to them. They'd been an endless litany since my first memory of the holidays and they'd become stale as a result. It was always the same conspiracy theories trotted out with new internet memes every year.
"I was very careful when I wrote the Book of Firsts," he continued, "to leave little clues for those who read closely."
"You...you wrote the Book of Firsts?" I just sat there and blinked for a second. This was like finding out...I couldn't come up with a comparison. For human Christians, it would be like learning Jesus had never died and had been a TV preacher this whole time. The Book of Firsts was part history, part grimoire, and it was sacred. Every supernatural studied it in school.
"Most of it. Sheridon helped."
"Sheridon." The name came out in a gasp. Sheridon was a common shifter name, but... I looked at Vitor, my eyes so wide my eyelids hurt. "Is this Sheridon that Sheridon?"
Vitor gave a slow nod. "Just like you, he comes back. Except this time was different."
Just like me...Goddess. I couldn't even fathom the abyss Vitor was trying to throw me into. "Right, he stole a bunch of stuff, not the least of which is the relic."
"He took the necklace after I awakened his memories."
"He knew he was a first, and he still stole the necklace? Wow." I used one hand to mime my head exploding. Then my stomach clenched as dots connected. The High Priestess... I couldn't breathe for a second.
"Sylvie? Are you all right?"
I nodded, then shook my head. Yes. No. What the duck? "The High Priestess told me he was working for her."
Vitor did a double take. "What? You didn't tell me that before."
"Things happened so fast, I didn't get a chance. Apparently, he stole the relic for her, but then he ran off with it."
Vitor's expression darkened. "He betrayed us."
"He betrayed the High Priestess, too." I laughed. It was all I could do. If I didn't, the anger might set me on fire. Thorne had screwed everyone over. "What do you think he's planning?"
"I don't know. He has always been a scoundrel." Vitor's entire face pinched like he smelled some really bad memories. "But he has never betrayed us before. Never consorted with the untrustworthy."
"How many times have the Firsts come back?" How often had Sheridon, the First Shifter, been faithful? I had a hard time believing he'd even managed it once. The guy had sucker punched me and left me in a ditch.
"Every generation."
"Does he know about...me?" I pointed to myself.
"I had not told him yet. The way I do it is, I awaken the First Shifter and then the First Witch."
"But he snatched the relic and took off."
"Correct."
"This can't be real." I rubbed my eyes, trying to get them to stop bugging out. "He can't be...what you say he is. I can't be the...you know." This was like the F word. I didn't want to say it in case it multiplied whatever bullshit my life was crapping out.
"It is true. He is the First Shifter. I am the First Vampire. And you, you are—"
I held up a hand and looked away. "Don't say it. I'm serious. Do not say it."
He gave me an aggrieved look. "You wanted an explanation."
"This isn't an explanation. This is waking up, and finding out your whole existence is a ducking conspiracy theory. You could be crazy, Vitor. Ever think about that? Maybe you're just a vampire who sees things that aren't there."
"Once you hold the relic, you will have no doubt."
"What's the relic? Will someone please tell me what the big deal is about that damn thing?"
"It is you."
"What do you mean it's me?" I mimicked his fancy accent.
"The First Witch knew she would someday di
e, but her work was not done. So she found a way to come back."
"Why didn't you just bite her and make her immortal?"
"Do you not remember the vision?"
"Because magic is for the living. Except here you are using magic, so that's all bullshit, isn't it?" The First Witch had made the rules and I'd thought they were set in stone, but I didn't know if that was true anymore. I put a hand to my forehead, trying to rub off everything Vitor had said so far.
"I'm no witch, Sylvie. She did not give me that much power."
"Fine whatever." Quibbling over his power was not the issue. "So, say you're right, that this is all true. How am I supposed to be...what you say I am?"
His dark gaze locked with mine for a second that felt like an eternity. "Because the other artifact is the missing part of your soul. Once you are reunited with it, you will know everything. Why do you think your magic is so weak? Because you were not born whole."
I sat back in my seat, gobsmacked. My brain tried to think, but ended up just stuttering. I couldn't form a complete picture. It was all too insane. Me? The worst witch ever was really the most powerful one in disguise? I didn't have the kind of life that would get mixed up with Firsts.
"You know, my familiar has no magic and he farts. Like, a lot."
Vitor's lips thinned and he looked pained. "I am...not sure how to respond to that."
"Shouldn't my familiar be, I don't know, like a legion of rainbow unicorns or something?"
"The First Witch never used a familiar." He sniffed. "She had us. Familiars are a modern construct. They are not the original magic."
"What the hell is Blart then?"
Vitor shrugged. "A dog with a gastrointestinal problem? Whom you somehow decided to give shelter to?"
"So he's not my familiar?"
"I doubt it."
"Huh." I giggled. "Oh, Goddess. I have a farting dog as a pet. He did show up kind of randomly too, you know. Since there weren't any other volunteers, I assumed he was the one." I covered my mouth as my laughter got really loud. "What if...what if," I had to speak between spasms of laughter, "he was someone's lost pet? And I basically stole someone's dog?" My giggles ran scales up and down and my stomach started to hurt.
"I am not sure this is as funny as you think it is." Vitor shot me an unamused glance.