by W. J. May
There was a long pause.
“Very well,” Petra said finally. “I’ll help you.”
Chapter 8
“Did you bring her?” James’ voice was curt.
“Yes.” Kallie raised her eyebrows slightly. “You said I needed to. So I did.”
“Good.” He strode through the clearing to a diagram scratched on the ground. He looked wary in these unfamiliar woods. He had insisted that the spell be done far from the Blues’ nest, in case the Rogue Reds caught up with them, and though she understood his caution Kallie felt uneasy as well.
“You’ve already come up with a spell?”
“It’s…not certain.” He made the admission only grudgingly.
“Then why are we here?”
“How would we test it?” He gave her a look. “This spell will summon a great deal of power, and it was an unexplained spell seen often around the time of the fall of our people’s empire.”
“So it could be a warding spell, or an attack spell, or literally anything.”
“It requires both Red and Blue blood.”
“But you don’t know what it does.”
“I know enough,” he snapped back.
“Kallie.” Liam was between them, his hands at her shoulders. “No one has studied more magic and history than James. I would trust him with my life.”
“You are trusting him with your life,” Kallie said resentfully. “We all are.”
“For good reason. This isn’t like me finding a spell in a book and trying to do it. James isn’t a witch, but he knows the old signs and symbols.” Liam’s eyes were very warm on hers, trying to reassure her. He didn’t look guilty the way he had when Kallie’s mother had just been turned.
Kallie sighed. She didn’t have a better plan, after all. “Fine. Should I go get Petra?”
“In a moment.” James held her back. “Liam, would you give us a few minutes alone?”
Liam hesitated, but at Kallie’s nod he left. James watched him go.
“You don’t like that he looked at me to see what I thought,” Kallie guessed.
“Of course not. You’re too young for him to be taking orders from you.”
“It’s not orders. He knows you don’t trust me or Petra. He knows that the last time he left us alone, you tried to kill me. And don’t say you were sure what you were going to do when the fight started, because I don’t think you were.”
“You’re very young,” James repeated. “You think I’m cold, I know. You think I’m insular. What I am going to ask of you now will only make you trust me less. But you have to understand: the last time we trusted, the last time we did not kill our enemies at once, we were slaughtered. I believe you when you say that you’re doing this for your family—think for a moment about what it cost me to see that happen to my own people.”
Kallie paused uncertainly. She hadn’t considered this, and it troubled her.
“Kallie, my maker was killed. My friends, vampires who I swear to you had never preyed on humans, were hunted down like animals and they were killed viciously. Some were left to burn alive in the sun, some were tortured. They made them drink Red blood; they left them hungry for weeks, and then brought innocent humans as prey. I saw them driven mad. It was my only chance that I escaped, and they did as much as they could to strip me of any pride in myself and my choices. When you say to trust Petra, I cannot bring myself to trust her wholly. Do you understand that?”
Kallie’s eyes had squeezed shut. She did not want to listen to this. It threatened to drive her mad, and she knew that it was all true. James’ voice did not sound like lies, and she could see it unfolding all too clearly in her mind’s eye. “I don’t doubt you,” she said finally, “but you have to be honest with me. Petra told me that you all tried to kill her first. Is that true?”
He hesitated, and she knew the answer in that moment. He looked up to meet her eyes, and to his credit he did not lie. “It’s true.”
“You would have killed her before she even became a Red?” Who was the monster now?
He paused to choose his words, and she expected some honeyed lie. The truth was more shocking. “I wasn’t sure back then. We should have killed her. I’m convinced of that now.”
“What?”
“At the time, I thought as I think you do now: that she could be redeemed. I thought that killing her was too…final. No matter what my maker said was her nature, I argued for leniency. I did not think I should take a mother from her child, and I made them promise not to kill you—I said there was no knowing your nature yet, whether or not you had your mother’s talent. That part I would argue for again, and I hope you believe me.”
“I do,” Kallie said. She wasn’t sure, really, but she wasn’t going to quibble about it now. “But it changes nothing. You’ve said—”
“Now I know what she became. I think we should have struck harder sooner. Kallie, can you look me in the eyes and tell me you think it’s right that so many people died under her rule?”
“You tried to kill her when she hadn’t even done anything yet!”
“And she displayed remarkable cruelty in striking back the way she did. But even if you don’t accept that rationale, you should know it was not only Blues. It was Reds, too, and humans. You know people have been disappearing here. Not enough for any widespread notice, but more than any other town like this one—and that’s because Petra doesn’t keep her Reds on a tight leash.”
“You don’t think they’re inherently savage?” Kallie asked bitterly. “Liam does.”
“I’m afraid I may have been overzealous in trying to get Liam to respect what Reds were capable of. It’s my own fault. He’s wrong, in any case. Once a vampire starts drinking human blood from the source, it becomes an addiction.”
“My father told me that.”
“He was right. For that reason, the leader of a nest has a great responsibility: we must find our vampires blood to drink so they never stray, and if they do…it is up to us to help them fight the addiction. In the worst cases…it is a leader’s task to kill vampires who have gone feral. Petra did not do that. Her leadership showed that she was willing to let her nest sink into any depravity they wished, and so they did.”
“You think all vampires are feral, then?” Kallie could not keep the horror from her voice. “At our core, that’s what you think we are?”
“Is anyone else any different?” James shook his head. “A human can fall into cruelty and gluttony just as easily. A kind dog can be taught to attack without mercy. Vampires are no less and no more than other animals—and it is our responsibility to keep ourselves from sliding into depravity, as it is with any human.”
“I see.” Kallie looked away. “So you might as well come out and say it, then. Whatever it is you said you were going to do that would make me not trust you.”
“Ah.” James rubbed his forehead. “I told you that this spell would take Red and Blue blood, did I not?”
“Yes…” She did not like where this was going.
“Ideally, we would have a strong Red and a strong Blue to do this, but our numbers are depleted. One of our kin has stepped forward, and will give their life for this spell.”
“What?”
“I hope this gives you some surety.” James’ smile was tight. “I would not sacrifice their life unless I felt this was certain. And it should be me…but they are stronger.”
“Liam,” Kallie whispered. Her heart squeezed.
“Not Liam.”
She swayed, her hand on the trunk of a tree. It was selfish to be happy, she told herself. The life that was being lost was as important as Liam’s, and as vibrant. But she could not keep herself from feeling relief that Liam wasn’t going to be sacrificed.
“Okay,” she managed. “So what now?”
“The spell needs power,” James told her flatly. A shout sounded in the woods and they turned, but he held her back. “Because we don’t have a Blue of extraordinary power, the Red blood needs to be stronger
to balance it.”
It took her a moment to understand.
“No,” Kallie said at once.
“This needs to be done!” He looked over to the sound of shouts and fighting. “Come. We need to help them. Someone’s discovered the spell.”
“No. Wait a moment. Wait.” Kallie dragged him to a halt. “You’re not just intending to have me talk her into it. You’re intending to have me kill her while her back is turned, aren’t you?”
“I…now isn’t the time!”
“I won’t do it. I’m not going to sacrifice people.” Her chin jutted out. “I’m not going to sacrifice your Blue, either. I’ll do it.”
“You can’t do it. Not on your own.” He tugged at her. “We have to go. Now!”
“Are you sure? I’ve got red and blue blood in me.”
“Sure enough!” He dragged himself free and took off, running to the clearing where the others stood by the cars. Two vampires lay on the ground not moving, and the others looked hurt. “What’s going on?”
“They took her.” Liam was white-faced, a gash running down the side of his head. “They took Petra.” He shook his head at them. “I was calling for you. Why didn’t you come?”
Kallie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What could she say?
James answered for her. “Kallie didn’t want to sacrifice Petra.”
Chapter 9
“How could you?” Liam’s voice hissed harsh against her ear.
“How could I—what do you even mean?” She spun around to glare at him.
“You knew we needed Petra to make this spell work. You knew. How could you just let her go?”
“I didn’t just let her go!” Kallie retorted, stung. “I didn’t.”
“You were hardly fighting to keep her,” James said smoothly. He raised an eyebrow when Kallie’s head jerked around, and lifted his shoulders. “Were you?”
“We were arguing,” Kallie reminded him. Her blood settled into a slow pound of anger. “You remember that, right?”
“Yes. You wanted me to let Petra go.”
“Kallie, you wanted to let her go?” Liam’s eyes were wide.
“No!” Kallie shook her head. “No! I didn’t!”
James said nothing, but the lazy turn of his head and his nonchalance practically breathed mistrust. Kallie swayed with the urge to bare her teeth at him, hiss, make him own up to the lies. They were lies, tiny little lies that made her seem like an accomplice, and Liam had to see that they weren’t true. He had to.
She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. Every time she got angry, James could twist her words more easily. If she could just slow down and explain this, Liam would see the truth.
“Liam. Listen to me.” She met his eyes, reaching out to take one of his hands. James snorted softly, but she could not let herself be baited by him. “What James told me was that I needed to bring Petra here to do the spell. Then he told me I had to stab her in the back when she wasn’t looking.”
“I know.” Liam shook his head.
“You knew?” Kallie felt coldness spread from her heart. “Wait. You knew that he wanted to sacrifice her?”
“We’ve been preparing the spell, drawing all the diagrams.” Liam shook his head. “Eve is sacrificing herself.” His chin jutted out stubbornly. “It’s not like we were asking anything of the Reds that we weren’t willing to give ourselves.”
“Okay, first of all? ‘The Reds’ are some of my family, and the people I am trying to make into your damned allies.”
“I thought you said you weren’t demanding that we trust them,” James said silkily. “That we didn’t have to be allies. You just said we wouldn’t need to be at war anymore.”
“What’s the goal of ending a war?” Kallie demanded. When he said nothing, she almost spat the word at him: “Peace! That’s what I wanted. And maybe—”
“It’s what we all want,” James said insincerely. “And that’s why we were willing to sacrifice one of our own for this spell.”
“See, Kallie?” Liam looked so hopeful that for a moment she wanted to smack him. He was years younger than James, but old enough and seasoned enough in fighting vampires to know better than to be taken in by this. Liam wanted it all to be the same. To be fair. And he was going to wind up dooming all of them if he wasn’t careful.
Kallie gritted her teeth. “It’s not the same,” she told Liam quietly, “and you know it.”
“A Red for a Blue,” Liam told her.
“Yes, but the Blue, Eve, knew what she was doing. She knew why.” She threw her hands up in the air. “You wanted Petra to be led in like a sheep to the slaughter. You never thought to inform me of that? I can’t even stomach that, Liam.”
“You didn’t have any words to say against it before.”
“Yes, I did! I told you that I would—” Kallie clenched her hands, trying to remember how to breathe. She looked back to Liam. “No one’s going to be sacrificed, okay? There has to be another way. And there damned well has to be a better way than stabbing someone in the back in the middle of a spell! I asked Petra to help us, not become a human sacrifice!”
“She’s not human,” Liam said flatly. “That’s the thing, Kallie. She’s not. She’s a vampire, and a witch, and one of the cruelest women in history. You saw what she did to Caleb. You saw what she did to your father. She was going to kill your mother a few nights ago. You remember all this, right?”
“I know,” Kallie said helplessly. She was glad her mother had escaped. She would have killed Petra herself that night, if it had come to it. But that had been different, part of her insisted. It had been a fight, face to face. Petra had known she was fighting.
“And yet you asked for her help,” James murmured as Kallie was still struggling to find words. “Asked. I thought you had her bound and captive. Was she simply a guest in your house?”
“No! She was bound.” Kallie could feel her temples flaring. James was instigator. A troublemaker. She could sense it.
“And very effectively.” His smile was poisonous. “So effectively that she’s now free.”
“That’s not my fault!” Kallie felt the scream building in her voice. “Liam, you have to listen to me.”
“Liam doesn’t have to listen to you,” James interjected. “Liam knows exactly what Petra is. He’s seen evidence of it over the years.”
“I know what Petra is, too,” Kallie argued.
“And yet you let her go free.” James was incredulous.
“Kallie.” Liam was shaking his head. “How could you?”
“How could you not tell me that you were planning to sacrifice her? Damn it, Liam! I was with James. I wasn’t watching Petra. How could you not inform me that you wanted Petra killed?”
“There wasn’t time! And anyway, I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“You didn’t think I’d mind?” Kallie’s voice rose. What a lousy excuse.
“Liam, Petra is Kallie’s mother,” James reminded him.
“I hardly think he’d forgotten that.” Kallie rounded on him. Her eyes narrowed. I see what you’re trying to do. And it’s not going to work. “And she may have given birth to me, but she’s not my mother.”
“The call of blood is strong,” James said, as if telling a hard truth to a child. “I suppose we can’t entirely blame you.”
“For trying to be humane about this?”
“Kallie…” Liam took her by the shoulders. “Petra is your mortal enemy.”
She’s your mortal enemy. “I know that,” Kallie said through gritted teeth. “But, Liam, it’s bad enough to make Eve offer to sacrifice herself for a future she never gets to see. Can’t you see that it’s even worse to kill someone who was here to help us? It’s just as bad as the things Petra has done. I am not her!” She glared pointedly at James.
“You really think Petra would have agreed to it?” James jeered.
“I don’t know. She wasn’t given the opportunity to have a choice. You insolent—�
� But the words stuck in Kallie’s throat, because all of a sudden she knew just who would end up sacrificing themselves on the Red side. She knew who would fight to do it. It would be between the day-walker and the Red who had never fed off a human. “No!” she whispered.
She could not bear to give either of them up. She turned away, her throat closing with the pain.
“So isn’t it better that it’s Petra?” Liam asked gently. “She atones for what she’s done, and your father and Caleb will be safe.”
“But she isn’t atoning,” Kallie said softly. She looked up and stared into Liam’s stunning blue eyes. “You would—we—we’d be murdering her in cold blood. I’m not going to pretend she wanted to be here, but she held the trump card, Liam. She could have refused to help me, and been killed for it.”
“And you would really have killed her.” James sounded so skeptical that Kallie wanted to scream. “You.”
“You want to bet I can’t?” Kallie rounded on him, one hand in a fist.
“You didn’t,” he said, as if it solved everything.
“Because she was helping!”
“And so you were never prepared to do what you knew needed to be done.”
“What, killing her?”
“Of course, killing her!” James’ hand slammed down. “You know she’s a murderer. You know that peace would have to come at the cost of her life. She needed to be made to pay for what she’d done.”
“But I—”
“You were never going to do it,” he said softly, venomously. “So you had her rescued.”
“No!” All of this had become so twisted and confusing. She wanted peace. She wanted her family together, but not at the cost of others’ lives. There had to be another way. But James was making it seem like she was on Petra’s side.
“Kallie.” Liam looked like he’d been slapped. “You didn’t…you wouldn’t.” He shook his head, looking over at James. “She wouldn’t do that, all right? And she’s right—we should have given her more time to come to terms with it.”