by Louisa Lo
“Can’t I want both? Can’t I have both?” he retorted. “Why can’t we both win for once in our lives?” Eldon banged his fist on a nearby marble table, cracking it.
“Because it’s not right.” I stood straighter. A sense of calm came over me amongst the sadness. “You’ve wanted that crown since we were toddlers. You’ve wanted it so badly that everything else comes second. A part of you is still that child, desperately wanting to be loved. You want it all and you want it for all the wrong reasons. I will not be your tool. I will not be a part of this deception. Reverse the spell, Eldon, before anyone realizes what you’re attempting. Before the stasis destabilizes. We’ll let nature take its course.”
“You’re going to go through with the celebration, knowing the high point is them dumping you back at your real family’s doorstep? A family and a world you know nothing about?” Eldon rubbed his hands over his face.
“Yes.” I refused to let him see how this was breaking my heart. One sign of weakness, and he would never let me go. I knew enough about these spells to know that without my willing consent to be a part of it, the false reality would fall apart. My will was my only bargaining chip, but by everything that was sacred to me, was I tempted to say yes.
I knew the exact moment he accepted defeat. It was in the way his shoulders sagged and his eyes grew tired as he sighed.
“Very well. I’ll ask Trust to call it off,” he said softly.
“Thank you.” They were such ironic words to utter, but I knew not what else to say.
“You insist on doing this, even after Princess Deirdre tried to kill you in the merged reality?” Trust asked me, appearing by Eldon’s side.
I nodded.
“Kill? What are you talking about?” Eldon asked sharply. “You didn’t tell me she was trying to kill Finny.”
The dragon turned to Eldon. “That’s not the only thing I lied to you about. All these years, I have had a hidden agenda in helping you.”
“What are you talking about?” The look of betrayal on Eldon’s face pulled at me. Trust was one of the only beings Eldon had allowed into his life. First me choosing justice over him, now this.
“In my long years, I’ve studied the stars. Your sister is foretold to be one of the most terrifying queens in Dualsingian history. I thought by helping you gain the throne, I could prevent many tragedies from happening. I didn’t count on Lady Serafina’s integrity.” The dragon shook his head, his soft beard swaying with the motion. “Maybe I wasn’t meant to stop it.”
Trust started fading away. “I’ll leave you two be. The spell will be broken soon. When it is, everyone will lose the memory of the last day, except the three of us. Take care to hide your power until the Crossover, m’lady, or they will try to extract it from you.”
I thanked him for the warning.
After Trust was gone, Eldon took out a handkerchief and bent down to retrieve the iron dagger I’d dropped. Carefully, he put the wrapped knife in his vest pocket, in a tentativeness that mirrored his twin sister’s when she too had to handle the blade.
I looked at him questioningly.
“I won’t lie and say I’m taking this to avoid people raising alarm when they find it. I’m taking it because it was yours, and I want something to remember you by.”
“But it’s not mine—” I started to correct him.
“I don’t care. The blade was no more yours than you were mine.” He touched my cheek. “It’s apt, isn’t it?”
I closed my eyes to keep from weakening my resolve at the sorrow in his eyes. Or maybe I just didn’t want him to see the same emotions reflected in my own. But his next words had me opening them wide.
“I might as well take the Trip at first light as the queen has commanded, even though she won’t remember commanding it. I couldn’t stand the next two weeks, seeing you and knowing you’re already lost to me.”
I disagreed. I would rather have another two weeks of being with him, memorizing his beloved face, every stolen moment, even if it would only serve to mock what I would never have.
I wrapped my arms around Eldon and kissed him. He kissed me back, holding me tight.
When we finally broke apart and I tasted salt on my lips, I wasn’t sure if the tears were mine or Eldon’s.
“As a prince of Dualsing, I’m giving you two boons,” he whispered in my ear. “One. You can call on me for help. All you have to do is say my name. Do not hesitate to call when you need it.”
Once and once only. That was the unspoken part of the offer. After the Trip, every Dualsingian had in them the tolerance for only one more cross-dimensional round trip. I knew then that I would never call for his help, never say his name aloud ever again. As long as I never called, I would always have the hope to see him again. To look forward to that moment. Maybe I would do it when I was an old woman, so I could see him one last time right before I passed on.
“And what is the second boon?” I forced the words past the lump in my throat, all around us the world had started to unfreeze. The wings of a jade-crowned crane began to flip down, propelling its body to fly upward as surely as Eldon’s exit from my life.
“I’ll make sure that a switch will never be performed on your future children,” Eldon said fiercely. “They will never go through what you went through. That’s a promise.”
Epilogue
Serafina
A Year Later…
“BEFORE EXACTING YOUR ASSIGNED vengeance, reconnaissance within reason is allowed under Article 4.3, section E of the IICVD handbook…” Professor Mando continued to talk, but I couldn’t take a single word in.
Clang…clang-clang-clang…clang-clang…
Madeleine Abrianna Lex tapped her heels on the stone floor in front of her seat at the lecture room at the University of Demonic Studies. The popular girl had embedded a pair of miniature horseshoes in her heels, and with each tap, she hammered out a wave of vibration. Judging from the smug smile she sent my way, she thought the vibration would be unnerving for me.
Everybody knew of my Dualsingian—no, Changeling—background. Madeleine probably figured that since I was raised by a people who feared iron, I would be conditioned to think in the same way. A new girl to a new way of life. Easy target.
There would always be bullies no matter what plane one was on.
It had been a year since I’d landed on the front lawn of the Advocatus Mansion, my birth family’s primary residence, and I’d found myself no more accepted on the vengeance plane than I was at Dualsing. The prominent Advocatus family, publicly humiliated by being fooled into raising a changeling and having a family member killed by her, was single-mindedly determined to act as if the switch had never happened. Unfortunately, that line of thinking had also bred the expectation that I ought to catch up on all things vengeance in a very short period of time. I barely spent two months with around-the-clock private tutors before being enrolled at the university, competing with peers who had spent their entire lives gaining the vengeance education.
Ironically, I’d simply traded parents who were indifferent with ones who cared too much for the wrong reasons.
The new confidence I gained when I first discovered my vengeance demon destiny eroded over time, the shock of adjusting to my new world had left me skittish and closed up. Worse, whenever I did vengeance practice sessions, I kept identifying my targets with Eldon, and found myself trying to help them rather than punish them.
If I couldn’t get through to Eldon, if I couldn’t afford to be soft in light of what he did, then maybe I could make it up by giving my targets a second chance.
The result was failing grades and even more sneers from my classmates.
I hugged myself tightly, feeling cold inside. I wasn’t terrified by the onslaught of pulsation from Madeleine’s heel; I was overwhelmed by the hardship of my transition that her action symbolized.
When would I be accepted? Would I ever be? I had been thrown into a world of skyscrapers and systemic vengeance training, with a rightf
ul place in an old and prestigious family, yet I had not made a single friend. Not even the pixies on this plane liked me, as they too despised the Dualsingians for making servants of their kind.
I faced animosity every day. I didn’t know why it was hitting me especially hard today. But it was. Maybe the stress was accumulating and I’d just had enough of dirty looks, nasty whispers and outright intimidation.
Finny, are you all right?
I couldn’t breathe. That was Eldon’s voice in my head, soft and faint yet distinctively his.
Trust has allowed me to tune in to your mood. To make sure you’re all right.
I was touched by his concern at the same time I was disturbed by having my mood monitored without my knowledge. What was that term the humans used—invasion of privacy?
Unfortunately the communication is not two-way, and I could only pick up the huge spikes. You’re upset. A pause. Maybe I should come to you.
He hesitated because he was afraid of making the wrong call, knowing he only got one shot. Ever. If I didn’t calm myself down right away, he would assume I was in serious trouble and come to this plane. If so, I’d never see him again after today.
Finny. More urgent now. What is happening? You’re even more agitated than a moment ago. He must’ve picked up on my dismay at the thought of never laying eyes on him again. Hang in there. I’m coming.
There was more at stake than wasted chances. He would come and he would kill Madeleine. I knew that not only because he was protective of me, but because he had it in him.
He didn’t show his own sister any mercy.
I might not like my arrogant classmate, but I didn’t want her death on my conscience.
I took a breath, then released it slowly. I repeated, each breath more deliberate than the last, forcing my heart rate to decline. Projecting a mental picture of tranquility when I felt anything but was straining, and I folded my body in a near-fetal position on the classroom chair, my muscles shaking from the orchestrated effort.
The tapping from Madeleine’s heel continued.
“Now, I’m going to pass around my own vengeance dagger for you to see. You youngsters will get yours when you graduate from this program. Notice the carving on the left side, which originated in the eleventh century…” I couldn’t see the commemorative dagger Professor Mando was referring to from my angle, but I didn’t have to. I knew it would be the same as the iron one Anastasia, or Deirdre, had stolen from Cousin Gabriella.
Ding.
“Ouch!” someone screamed.
The dagger hit the ground right after I felt a protective shield encompassed me, neutralizing my volatile bio-readings more effectively than mere deep breathing and controlled heart rate.
I knew the moment Eldon eased up. It wasn’t what he said, but the impression of him being relieved.
It looks like whatever it was, it’s resolved. A long pause. Take care, Finny.
Then he was gone, leaving me feeling relieved and disappointed at the same time.
I uncurled myself from my fetal position, looked up and around the class, dazed at the turn of events and wondering where that perfectly timed shield came from.
“Oops,” Megan Aequitas, a vengeance demon and trickster hybrid, said with just a little too much regret in her voice. She glanced at me with mischievous eyes, and my gut told me the shield was sent by her.
“What’s wrong, Miss Lex? Why did you scream?” Professor Mando frowned at Madeleine. Her scream hadn’t even registered with me at the time, but now that I thought about it, I would bet that the dropped dagger had sent a resonating feedback straight to Madeleine’s iron-centered heels, ricocheting through her head like a shrieking banshee.
“Nothing, sir. I was caught off guard by the sound of the drop, that’s all.” Madeleine smiled weakly at our lecturer, then gave Megan a look of pure hatred.
“Remember, a vengeance demon should never be so easily startled. It’s our job to startle them.”
The snobbish girl’s face flushed, and Megan squared her shoulders. She’d stopped Madeleine’s bullying, knowing there would be consequences.
Right then and there, I made up my mind to befriend Megan Aequitas. I was too wrapped up in my own misery and readjustment to connect with anyone before, but I was ready now.
THE END
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VENGEANCE
UNCLAIMED
VENGEANCE DEMONS
BOOK 2
A Novelette
Louisa Lo
There’s no rest for the wicked—or the wickedly vengeful.
Megan Aequitas should have known something was up when her mother insisted that the entire family go on a sudden vacation. But with a major holiday for both vengeance demons and tricksters clashing for the first time in a millennium, leaving town might not be such a bad idea.
Trouble soon follows them to paradise, in the form of a video gone viral with the potential to alter human history. The anonymous prank has all the fingerprints of a trickster, yet somehow manages to address long-standing injustices that the vengeance demons have failed to. To say it’s a PR nightmare for the vengeance governing body is an understatement.
As Megan investigates the unclaimed vengeance, she realizes that the culprit might be closer to home than she thinks…
Note: The events in VENGEANCE UNCLAIMED take place between VENGEANCE BE MINE and A GOOD VENGEANCE.
Copyright © 2016, Louisa Lo
Published by Tin Can Press
All Rights Reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without expressed written permission in writing from the author.
Cover Design: Jacqueline Sweet
Cover Photo: Pedro Alfaro Campos
Editing: Help Me Edit
Beta Read: Wendy See
Interior Design: Tina Moss
Vengeance Unclaimed/Louisa Lo—1st edition
ISBN: 978-0-9939396-9-3
Dedication
To my family at Ngau Tau Kok.
I WAS IN THE MIDDLE of stuffing my face with my roommate’s truly awesome blueberry muffins when the phone rang, which led to two very unhappy discoveries.
One, I’d been sleeping, which meant those yummy muffins weren’t real. Damn.
Two, I’d been sleeping. And now I was not. On a Saturday morning, a day without classes. Double damn.
I reached over to grab the phone on the bedside table and spoke groggily into the receiver. “Hello.”
“Megan, sweetie. How are you?” Mom asked. Did her cheerful tone sound just a little too forced? I was too sluggish to tell.
A quick check on my cell showed it was four-thirty in the morning. It was late, even by the standards of my night owl mom.
“I’m good. What’s up?” I yawned and snaked my tongue around my molars in a futile attempt to taste the blueberry muffins again, until I realized there was nothing but silence on the receiver end for far too long.
“Er, Mom? You still there?” Now I was fully awake, my heart galloping. What the heck was she calling me this early for? Did something happen? My dad, an arch vengeance demon, wasn’t exactly in a desk job line of work. Not that he was that killable, but still. Please don’t let it be bad news. Please don’t let it be bad news.
Hawaii? I released the breath I was holding. Here I was worrying that it was something dire, and she wanted to talk about vacation spots.
“On the human or the vengeance plane?” The two planes were parallel universes, with vengeance demons being responsible for the justice of the human world and beyond.
“The vengeance side, of course. We want to be able to perform magic openly during our vacation.”
“For next summer? Sure.” With everyone so busy with their own careers, we’d saved the date for the family trip almost a year in advance. “Listen, can we talk about this tomorrow morning—”
“No, I mean Hawaii for this weekend,” Mom clarified.
“Wait, what?”
“We’re doing a spur-of-the-moment vacation in Hawaii as a family.” Mom laughed in an aren’t-we-just-a-spontaneous-bunch kind of way. I wasn’t buying it. “This is a long weekend for you anyway, isn’t it?”
“Of course.” The coming Monday was the Day of Contemplation, a statutory holiday for vengeance demons. All classes at the University of Demonic Studies were cancelled.
“Perfect. I’ll text you the name of the beach resort we’ve just booked—”
“Hold on.” Something was not right. Mom was well aware of my original plan to stay in and study. As a hybrid with a vengeance demon father and a trickster mother, I had to work hard to keep up with the rest of my vengeance class. “Why do you want us to leave town so suddenly? What’s going on?”
“Nothing. It’s just been a while since we spent quality family time together, and I don’t want to wait until next summer, that’s all.”