Diadem of Blood and Bones

by Ripley Proserpina

  Gross. Her vampire curled her lip and wrinkled her nose. Apparently, her vampire only liked gore when she was tearing heads off of other vampires.

  A shuddering breath left her body. Her vampire hurt as much as she did. She ached for Hudson and Valen.

  Briar turned her focus inward, bracing her hands on the tiled wall. When she’d died and turned, this vampire had been born. Her presence was both familiar and separate. It was like her soul had split, but instead of forming an identical Briar, it had become this stripped down version of herself. Her vampire didn’t care about manners or image.

  Like Briar, her vampire had claimed Hudson, Valen, Sylvain and Marcus. And also like Briar, her vampire put their survival and happiness above her own.

  But where Briar struggled to recognize what steps would ensure their safety, her vampire knew exactly what to do.

  Instinct. Yes, that was right. Humanity didn’t work the way her vampire did. They’d tamped down their baser selves because the world had changed. It wasn’t necessary to hunt for food or safety.

  Humans built houses, walls, and fences to keep out predators.

  Vampires couldn’t do that. The deadliest predators were other vampires, and no stone wall would keep them out if they were set on destruction. They still had to use their teeth and strength.

  Yesterday, her vampire had been as shocked as Briar by Hudson’s attack. She shouldn’t have been. But if any lingering doubts of Theia’s power and influence had remained, now they’d been blasted apart.

  Work together.

  Briar’s experience with Asher should help her figure out what Theia had done and how to stop her. In order to do that, however, she’d have to get better at listening to this new part of her.

  She just didn’t know how to do that.

  Marcus and Sylvain were seated in the living room when Briar got downstairs. They seemed awkward in each other’s presence.

  Seating herself in a leather armchair, she shivered at the cold surface and curled her bare feet beneath her. “Sometimes I have a hard time believing three months have passed, and not a lifetime—like the girl who moved to Boston doesn’t even exist.”

  Sylvain moved to the edge of the couch. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

  “I didn’t mean that.” Briar shook her head. “If I knew you guys existed, I’d have hurried my butt up and gotten to Boston faster. It’s just strange, the way life works.”

  “It is,” Marcus said.

  “And I think about Valen and Hudson being gone, and how you only just got them back.” It was hard to say those words while they watched her, so she stared at the arm of her chair.

  “It’s not your fault,” Marcus said.

  She knew that, but it didn’t take away her guilt. “I want them back.”

  She was suddenly lifted into the air, and she squeaked in surprise. Sylvain plopped her on his lap as he took her place in the chair. “I know. And we’ll get them back. Marcus. Phone.”

  Marcus rolled his eyes but removed his phone from his pocket and gave it to Sylvain. He pressed a button then handed it to her.

  “Marcus?” Valen’s voice sounded in her ear. The relief was so profound and so instantaneous that a sob welled from her throat. “Briar? What happened?”

  She shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. “I’m okay. I’m just relieved to hear your voice.” Glancing at Sylvain, who watched her closely, she smiled. “I didn’t think it would be so easy.”

  “Hold on.” There was a sound like he was covering the phone with his hand, and then he spoke again. “I’m sorry, little one. I would have called earlier. Sylvain said you were asleep and healing.” He stopped and started again. “Are you all right? Truly?”

  “I miss you. I’m worried. But I’m healed. If you come back, you can see.” Her voice lifted in pitch, hopeful.

  “Hudson and I have a task to complete before we can come back. But believe me, I want to be with you more than anything.” She could see his face, lips downturned and blue eyes sad.

  “I know,” she said. It would be easy enough for all of them to leave Boston and find Valen and Hudson. But the only thing standing between the humans and a power-hungry vampire right now were her and Marcus and Sylvain. They couldn’t leave. “We’ll be here when you get back.”

  “I love you,” he said. “Listen to my brothers. And listen to your vampire. Let her lead when you’re unsure.”

  Inside, her vampire sat up and smiled. “You’ll give her a big head,” Briar replied.

  “Well deserved,” Valen countered.

  Briar rested her head against Sylvain’s chest. His heart thumped once as she listened. “I love you, too,” she said. “Will—” She waited for Sylvain’s heart to beat again as she steeled herself to ask the next question. “Will you ask Hudson to talk to me?”

  “Briar…” Valen drew out her name and then— “Hudson.”

  She imagined him holding out the phone and Hudson shaking his head. Please. Finally, Valen spoke again. “Not right now.”

  Covering her mouth with her hand, she tried to hide the way her breath caught. “Okay,” she replied. Her voice was tiny and quiet. “When he’s ready, I’m here. Can you put me on speaker?”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “Hudson, I love you,” she said. Sylvain squeezed her tightly, giving her the strength to go on. “I love you and nothing will change that. However long it takes you to come back to me, I’ll wait.” Sylvain’s lips touched her head, and she shut her eyes. “But please, don’t take too long, okay?”

  The other end of the line was silent until Valen came back on. “Goodbye, Briar.”

  “Bye, Valen,” she replied. “Miss you.”

  “I miss you, too,” he said and hung up.

  Briar stared out the window, watching rain pelt the glass. It turned the street into an orange, yellow, and brown blur. “He wouldn’t talk to me.”

  From her position, she couldn’t see Sylvain’s face, but Marcus’s showed no surprise. She supposed they’d heard most of the conversation anyway. Funny, Hudson hadn’t uttered a word, even when she thought Valen muffled the phone. Why had he done that? It seemed needlessly cruel.

  He wasn’t doing it to hurt you.

  Briar didn’t totally agree with her vampire. He didn’t trust himself around her, fine. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t talk to her. Did he not ache for her, too?

  Of course he does.

  Oh! It became clear. It hurt Hudson too much to talk to her. That was why he’d declined to speak with her.

  Briar groaned and shut her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Sylvain asked.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I need a distraction. It’s too early to hunt vampires, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Sylvain replied. “Most will be sleeping. We got lucky yesterday, in more ways than one.” He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, stubble tickling her skin.

  Marcus smiled at her, but it was tight and she caught a wave of worry. Hudson. Hudson. His mind was focused on his brother.

  That was what they could do today. “Hey, Marcus,” she said. “Do you have an EEG at Harvard?”

  Some of the tension left him and his green eyes sparked. “We have everything at Harvard.”

  Briar

  Briar felt Marcus’s gaze on her, watching her reaction as they walked down the brick sidewalk toward the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Technology.

  “What do you think?” he asked, tucking her hand in the crook of his elbow. He pulled her to the side as a truck went by. It hit a puddle and splashed the sidewalk with dirty water.

  Divinity Avenue had the types of buildings she’d imagined at Harvard. Classic red brick facades outlined in white marble. Twelve over twelve windows.

  Marcus’s department, however, was much more modern—if the 1970s was modern.

  “Your face is judgy,” Marcus said. His eyes narrowed.

  “I’m not judging.”

  Touching
her shoulder, Sylvain stopped her. “You do look judgy.”

  “You all!” Briar said seriously. “I’m not judging. I just thought…”

  “What?” Marcus asked.

  She shrugged. “I thought it would be older. More Harvard-y.”

  Sylvain snorted. “Marcus is the oldest thing at Harvard. Does that count?” He sidestepped another puddle.

  “For your information”—he tugged her toward the building—“this building was renovated in 2009.” As he opened the door, Briar’s eyes widened. “So don’t judge a book by its cover.”

  She should have known better. The outside did not give any indication of what was inside. Despite the rainy day, the interior was open and bright.

  “Wow!” Briar was impressed.

  “I can’t believe you doubted the magnificence of Harvard,” Marcus scoffed.

  Sylvain grabbed her hand, dragging her away from Marcus. He must have been here before because he led her to a set of stairs. “I thought this would cool his Harvard brag, but you might only encourage him.”

  She leaned her head against his arm before he began to descend the stairs. They emerged onto a ground floor. Some labs had two large glass walls, one open to the hall and the other to the outside. “Wow,” she said again.

  A flash in her periphery had her turning. Marcus held his phone up, glanced at the screen and smiled widely. “I got it.” He lowered it and chuckled. “Sent.”

  “Which one is your office?” she asked.

  “These are the labs,” Marcus said. “My office is upstairs. Now. What do you say we look at some blood and brains?” He rubbed his hands together.

  “Only you could make that sound lame,” Sylvain intoned. “Way to ruin my two favorite things.”

  “I thought you were a vampire,” Briar said. Sylvain’s eyes went wide, and he clapped a hand over her mouth. She licked it, and he jerked it back. “Not a zombie.”

  “Careful, Briar. Hell. You can’t go announcing things like that.” He wiped his hand on his jeans and glared.

  “No one is here, Sylvain,” she said. “Ours are the only heartbeats on the entire floor.” She’d noticed it as soon as they’d left the stairwell. Like birds in the spring or crickets on a summer night, heartbeats were background noise to Briar’s life. It was only the absence of the sound that had made her realize she’d become used to it.

  Sylvain canted his head, listening closely. “Oh. Huh.”

  “Harvard is full of smarty-pants…” Marcus stuttered. “Smarty-pantses. Pantses? Whatever. They’re not going to risk life and limb by coming to work right now.”

  “And we’re going to take advantage of their absence by using all their cool toys.” Briar peered through the glass of one lab. She recognized some of the same instruments Hudson had. Thinking about his lab, which had become one of her favorite places in the world, made her stomach hurt. “How about we look at my DNA?” she said. It was something she was familiar with, and she knew how to use the tools. “Let’s see what Chromosome 18 looks like these days.”

  Marcus didn’t reply right away, and Briar glanced over to see if he hadn’t heard her.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I—” He looked around, as if he’d forgotten where they were. “Sorry. Here. This one will have what we need.”

  Holding the door open for her, Marcus stared out the glass window toward the courtyard. “Did you see something?” she asked.

  He shook his head and let the door close behind them. “No. I’m just thinking.” A rolling chair sat in front of a computer, and he plopped himself down. With a few keystrokes, he accessed his files. “Hudson shared the data he collected.” Clicking through folders, he opened a file and expanded it so Briar could see over his shoulder. “There you are.”

  Chromosome 18. The reason why she hadn’t been able to walk in sunlight. It was beyond weird to think about it in the past tense. That chromosome right there had dictated the direction of her life for so long.

  “And here—” Marcus called up Hudson, Sylvain, Valen, and his own chromosomes. “We are.”

  “I expect once we separate my DNA, we’ll find my Chromosome 18 looks like yours.”

  “Maybe,” Marcus said. He stood and walked to a counter, pulling out vials, test tubes, rubber hosing, and a syringe. “Except you can walk in daylight. My hypothesis is your Chromosome 18 looks nothing like ours.”

  Briar considered it. “I have other genes that may be affected, though. I sleep and you don’t. I drink your blood, but I don’t know if there’s a drinks-blood gene.”

  Marcus shook his head as he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and indicated she should hold out her arm. “I have to do this fast. Before your healing takes over.”

  Briar hated getting her blood drawn, but she nodded. Clenching her teeth, she held out her arm and waited. A gleam of silver caught her eye and she gasped. “What’s that for?”

  Marcus held out a scalpel. “It’s titanium. It should be strong enough to cut your skin so I can insert the needle. Otherwise, it’ll just accordion against your skin.”

  “So rapid healing, that’s another gene.” She tried to distract herself with science. A slice against her inner elbow made her gasp and hiss.

  “Sorry,” Marcus said as he stabbed the needle into her vein. “Done.” He moved quickly, drawing her blood into the tube. “Dammit.” He untied the rubber hose with one hand. “You healed around the needle. This might hurt.” It was all the warning he gave her before he yanked the needle out of her arm.

  “Son of a biscuit eater!” Briar yelled. It felt like the needle took her vein with it. “That hurt!”

  Sylvain began to laugh. Briar glared at him, and he covered his face with his hand. “I’m sorry. I know. It’s not funny,” he said before laughing out loud again.

  Briar stared at her arm, watching in fascination as the skin knitted back together. The only sign she was hurt was the blood, still wet, on her skin.

  “Here.” Marcus handed her a paper towel, and she used it to wipe off the blood. “This lab has everything we need to separate DNA.”

  “What kind of gel are you using?” Briar asked.

  “I feel like this is a trick question.” Marcus lifted the side of his mouth. “Well. Since our goal is to separate DNA, I’m using polyacrylamide.”

  “What about a buffer solution?” she asked, standing on her tiptoes to see over his shoulder.

  “Do you want to do this?” he asked testily.

  “Sure!” she replied. Boy, it had taken him a while to get the hint. But when he grinned at her, she realized he’d been deliberately obtuse. She laughed and began to list the things she needed.

  Soon, everything was set up. The electric charge was applied and all they had to do was wait.

  “I wish we could look at a specific gene to see if my ability to heal was improved,” Briar said, tapping her fingers on the counter. She was tempted to go looking through the lab, but since it wasn’t hers, or Marcus’s, she didn’t. It was one thing to use the materials they needed; it was another thing to snoop.

  “I know,” Marcus replied. “So many genes are involved in healing. I don’t suppose you read the article about the gene in mice that allows them to regrow limbs?”

  “I did!” Briar replied. “The Wolverine gene.” It had been named after the comic character who healed almost as soon as he was wounded.

  “I’ve been investigating LIN28A as well because they may influence stem cell regeneration.”

  “Is this going to be what it’s like all day?” Sylvain asked. He spun in a chair nearby. “Because this is so boring. Can you at least speak English?” Coming to a stop, he wobbled for a moment and gripped the edge of the counter.

  “Sorry,” Briar said. “Stem cells are cells that can become anything. It’s like, they’re just sitting there, waiting for something to happen so they can become what they’re destined to be. They could be skin, or muscle, bones. Anything… everything.”

  “Cool.” Sylvain was not nearly as
impressed as he should be. “Is there anything in here that explodes?” he asked Marcus.

  “You’re a child,” Marcus replied. “Here.” He gave Sylvain his cell phone. “Find something to watch. Or play a game.”

  Sylvain smiled and accepted the phone. Soon, he was happily engaged in an online game.

  While they waited, Briar thought about Hudson and what had happened at BC. Absentmindedly, she rubbed the spot on her chest where she’d been injured. “Theia was at BC,” she said.

  Marcus glanced up from what he was doing. “Yeah.”

  “But I didn’t see her.”

  “None of us did,” Sylvain said, not looking up from his game. “But that’s not a surprise because she didn’t want us to know she was there.”

  “Why?” Marcus pondered. “I’m surprised, honestly. Why not just fight us? The crawlers and soldiers who were there must have been under her control. Given what she did to Hudson, she certainly had a chance at beating us.”

  “Don’t know,” Sylvain said. “Shit! Now I can’t play for another ten minutes. I hate these games.” He slid Marcus’s phone across the counter and crossed his arms.

  “Because she doesn’t want you dead,” Briar explained. “She just wants you and to be your new general. It’s me she wants gone.”

  “Dead.” Sylvain stared at her hard. “Don’t tiptoe around it, blossom. She wants you dead, and she’ll do anything to make it happen.”

  “If I’m going to live forever, I’m going to do fun things. Not war and murder.”

  Sylvain smiled, but tried to hide it. “Yeah? What fun things do you have planned?”

  “Well…” She sat on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her there. “Lots of science.”

  He groaned.

  “And art! I can be a Doctor of Biology as well as a Doctor of Fine Arts. I mean, if we’re talking eternity, I have time to work on a thesis.” She laid her head on his shoulder and considered whether or not to say the next part. His arms were loose around her, and he was at ease. What would it do to voice the desire she had? Children, her vampire whispered for her. She wanted it, too. A family.