Tapestry of Worlds : Part One - The White Raven Awakens

by Hadley Thorne

  Interesting, she thought, remembering her own raven Fylgjur trapped in the jar and realizing that understanding the vampire's ability to remove the Fylgjur might help her know how to free her own. She moved forward to try and get a better look only to feel Felix's energy reach out and restrain her. It made her catch her breath. He was giving her a look much like a frustrated parent dealing with a naughty child at church.

  Erika found the Queen was a vision of regal perfection with a mass of gorgeous red hair, but her dress was simple and elegant. She had expected the court to be dressed in a fashion that was more like a cross between a BDSM group and the court of Marie Antoinette, so she was a little underwhelmed to find the Queen dressed in a modern styled emerald green silk cocktail dress. However, what was incredible was Bloody Mary seemed to have the Fylgja of all her subjects tattooed on her skin. Of course, they were not visible to the naked eye, but their magic glowed to her third eye.

  Felix cued her into a curtsey as he made a deep formal bow.

  "Soul Eater. Mistress Lily," The Queen coldly addressed them, bidding them rise. Her voice was as clear as a bell with an accent that pleased Erika's ear but that she could not identify. "Tell me how such an odd pair came to be at the Vampire Court." She looked to be no more than twenty- youthful and full of promise, but the truth of her nature lay in her eyes. They were a piercing blue and pure predator. On the surface, she appeared bored, but her third eye never left Erika. Something about her gaze made Erika feel like she was suffocating. Forced to drop her gaze from the ether, Erika came fully back into her body just in time to hear Felix.

  "Your majesty, I speak for my Mistress," Felix started, but the Queen cut him off.

  "Do I know you, Mistress Lily," the great Queen asked politely, the lifelessness of her sitting there un-nerving Erika. "Something about you seems most familiar."

  "I do not believe we have met, fair Queen," Erika spoke clearly, hoping her voice did not tremble. "But I hear my soul sister, Velvet is one of your handmaids."

  "Oh," the Queen said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. The same murmur echoed throughout the undead crowd gathered in the room. A loud gasp of recognition was heard from the patio, and a flurry of noise issued forth as Velvet and Buck made their way forward.

  "Baroness, please," the Queen coolly addressed the approaching Velvet, "join us."

  Buck escorted Velvet to Erika's side before bowing and walking back to the gathered crowd. Erika could have sworn she heard him growl at Felix when he passed, but everything was happening so fast she could not be sure. She was so pleased to see her friend; it was all she could do not to throw herself at Velvet for a hug. However, she knew that was probably not the smartest thing she could do for either of them. Felix had shared with her that he wanted to make an alliance with the Vampire Queen, and after he had said all that impressive stuff about her, she really didn't want to ruin that by falling into a crying mess and hugging her friend.

  "Yes, your majesty," Velvet coldly responded. Erika met her eyes and saw they were twinkling with excitement but laced with worry.

  "Tell me who this person is," the Queen demanded as motionless as a statue. Her stillness was unnerving, and Erika wondered if the Queen did it on purpose.

  "Erika Lily is the White Raven. My soul sister and boon companion of the last three years. She was present the night my mortal coil was taken from me by the White Queen of Boucherie, Jewel Dubois," upon saying Jewel's name, Velvet spat.

  "My Queen, I thought Erika was lost to me. That she had fallen to the White Bitch's blade after Buck and I brought Roxi to you." Her blue eyes met Erika's briefly, as though saying she was sorry. "The night of the ritual, Professor Stewardsen called her Daughter of Shadow, Walker of the Grey Mists." Velvet's eyes burned red for a split second, but then she nodded her head.

  Satisfied, Queen Mary looked to Felix, "Soul-Eater with your Mistress's permission, you may speak for her."

  Seeing the Queen's eyes on her once more, Erika pulled herself together and announced formally, "Felix, speaks for me on this matter and on this occasion."

  The Queen shot Erika a pleased look. "As you say it, it is so, Mistress Lily." She waved a hand and had some men in linen kilts bring a chair beside her throne, "Join me, Soul-Eater, we will speak."

  Chapter 30

  Leaving her side, Felix shot Erika a look as though to implore her to stay out of trouble. Shooting him a look in response, she rolled her eyes and nodded yes as Velvet clasped her hand. As her friend held her hand, Erika was struck by her friend's new vampire body's corpse-like touch.

  Velvet's dark eyes searched her grey-green ones, "Does it bother you? Are you ok?" The doll-like beauty tried to keep the sting of hurt from her voice. Squeezing her friend's bone-white hand, Erika nodded with a smile, "Of course, sister. It just surprised me is all. These things will take some adjusting to. Kinda like that time Hermit cut off all his long hair," she joked. Buck joined the two women, now laughing, and handed Erika a glass of white wine. In mock horror, each of them recalled the group's reaction when their friend had shorn off his waist-length honey blonde locks. He had done it to make a wig for kids with cancer, but they were all sad to see his pretty hair go.

  Turning serious, Buck asked, "Erika, what happened that night after we left." His usual jovial self momentarily gone, "that night by the river. When that witch cut down my lady and stole Roxi's child."

  Erika did not need it clarified. She had been waiting to ask them the same thing. "I wish I knew, Buck. That night is a big blur for me. I went missing for a week. I have these weird, dream-like memories, but they do not make sense. I know from my recent encounter that Preach's power has grown. He was almost able to glamour me in a way I cannot explain. It was more than glamour. Like he was reweaving my memories. I remember something about hairy giants. Real Planet of the Apes type shit," Erika told him and Velvet as they walked her out to the patio. "Later, Hermit, Millie, and I encountered what I can only call Bigfoot in the woods there. I think it was the same thing. Anyway - I think they killed Jewel. We found a man's body in the barn too. I do not know who it belonged to or what happened. But something bad went down that night after you guys bolted. Sorry I can't be more help."

  Erika noticed that some of the vampires had human companions with them. Humans whose Fylgja looked trapped and haunted. She bit back a cry and peered at Buck's, happy to see his looked none the worse for wear. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "When I came to, I was in the forest downstream from the stone circle. I did not know until I got home that I had been missing for a week. Ethel took me to the hospital, and the only thing they could tell me was I had dissociative amnesia. When I got home, Millie came over to visit. She told me some crazy stories about that night and now I am sure that she has been glamoured to believe those things."

  The couple looked at one another, Velvet carefully considered her words, "What did Millie say happened?"

  "A bunch of stuff that never sang true,” Erika confided, "but Millie really believed it. She said Jewel had been struck by lightning and that Professor Stewardsen, Wren, Devonne, and Preacher had gone to New Orleans to bury her with her family. She believed that Roxi had gone into premature labor and was airlifted here and told me that you guys had been in a bad accident on the way to be with her. Millie was under the impression Rayne was with Roxi and that Jim Standingfoot was working offshore."

  Seeing the couple exchange another look, Erika explained how she had realized their Fylgjur were gone and how she and Millie had gone to the farm to look for clues. She told them about finding Hermit, her mom's Blood Eagle, meeting Tanna, Felix kidnapping her for Preacher, then Felix helping her escape, the things he told her about the Unmaking, and everything that led them to be here.

  "Wait - so you are willingly here with the guy who killed your mom, kidnapped you for Preach, worked with some sinister dark force that wants to destroy life as we know it, and has brought you to a den of Immortal blood drinkers to make an alliance?" Velvet mused a
loud, the sound of judgment making her voice harsh. "Way to use your best judgment, Erika."

  Frowning, Erika told her simply, "Well when you put it that way. But Vel, trust me. I know it's complicated, but I believe this guy." She did not feel like sharing everything Felix had shared with her. Some things were private, and one of those she felt sure about, was their connection. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable. It seemed crazy, but she could see the depth of what he felt for her, and right now, that was enough. Sure, part of her felt naive as hell that it had only been forty-eight hours, but the reality was it was something that to him at least had been going on many lifetimes. "I am either open-minded enough to believe in magic, vampires, and Felix, or I am not. I can't pick and choose."

  Buck snorted before adding, "I trust your judgment, Little one. It sounds like you have been through a lot. And Velvet and I are terribly sorry for the loss of your mom. We know how much she meant to you."

  Erika's eyes teared up, and she gave them both an appreciative smile. "Thanks guys, I mean it. But now it is your turn. What happened that night? And where is Roxi?"

  Now it was Velvet's turn to look uncomfortable. "You know about this," she said, running her tongue over her elongated teeth. "What you don't know is I have been one of the Queen's psychic protegees since I was sixteen. Part of our arrangement is regular blood and energy exchange. As luck would have it for me, the last exchange was a few days before the night at Papa Doc's, so when Jewel murdered me, I had enough vampire blood to make the change when I died." She looked down, studying the floor, unable to meet Erika's eyes as she continued, "I tried to change Roxi before she died but was not strong enough." She stopped for a moment, lifting her strange blue-eyed gaze to look deep into Erika, and with a click of her teeth, she added, "Yet." A blood-red tear trickling down her bone-white cheek as she went on, "Buck and I got Roxi to the Queen's personal sekhem, her healer, before it was too late. Due to the unusual circumstances that surrounded Roxi's human death and my attempt at rebirthing her." Her voice trailed off, filled with a melancholy sadness, "We would have tried to find you sooner, but Roxi's situation has made any attempt to leave her…. Challenging." Velvet took a deep breath then. It was more out of habit than necessity Erika realized. One that over time she would shed, but for the moment, it made her seem very… human.

  Velvet’s eyes had a vacant look as she said, "Well, we had to get others involved. Our Roxi is not the same…Hell, she is not even like other vampires." She rested her head against Buck's shoulder, "Her child being taken as it was must have done something to her mind. The Queen’s healer is trying to help her, but it is too soon to know anything.”

  "How is she," Erika asked gently, blinking back her tears, feeling like a jerk for being so consumed with her own problems.

  "Currently, Roxi is being kept sedated and in a locked coffin. It sounds cruel, I know, but…" Velvet's voice trailed off before she started again, speaking small and light as though saying the words would break her. "She got out shortly after we got back, and by the time we found her, she had abducted a baby after snapping the mother's neck. We think the infant's cries attracted her to the pair. She hadn't changed them yet, but we fear it is just a matter of time."

  Erika could not hide the heartbreak in her eyes, "Has anyone spoken to Roxi's husband?"

  Buck put a hand on her shoulder, "That worthless SOB was shacked up with his side piece when I tracked him down to tell him about Roxi and the baby. He can be found at the Chimneyville Lock and Dam if you are looking for him." He gave her a grim smile to which she nodded in kind. Erika had heard rumors for as long as she could remember that there were catfish and alligators the size of Cadillacs in the Chimneyville Lock and Dam, and they ate everything living and dead.

  "The question I have for you, Erika, is whether you think Wren was involved," Velvet asked her pointedly. Her jaw was set, and Erika felt the vampire her friend had become trying to get past her shields and read her mind. Her shield electrified, and Velvet took a step back and raised her hand to her temples, "Wow, Little Bird, YOU zapped me. When did you learn how to do that? More importantly, can you teach me?"

  Erika looked as surprised as Velvet at what had happened, "Things have been weird since my head injury, like it unlocked something," she admitted to her friend. "As for Wren," she sighed, closing her grey-green eyes for a moment as she considered how to answer, "I don't know. I keep having dreams of her, more like messages, but they aren't her." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "But the other night at Preach's, I overheard him refer to the seer. Preach say that Felix broke her, but I don't understand the context, and Felix has not mentioned it." She was pacing now, and abruptly she turned to them, "I don't trust him with anyone else, but I trust him with me. Hard to explain, I know. But I know he is not…. A good man… He is something else altogether… But, guys, whatever he is. I am better off with him than with him after me."

  Velvet looked at her long and hard, "Little Bird, now that I believe is the truth." The three of them stood looking at one another for a long moment.

  Taking a drink of wine, Erika was surprised when a smooth voice came from behind the three friends, "May I join you, or is this a private conversation?"

  Erika turned to set her eyes on the most devastatingly beautiful man she had ever seen. He was fair, tall, and elegant with the polished look of old money. She was caught so off guard by the sight of him standing there so at ease that she found herself holding her breath.

  "Count," Velvet said, curtseying to the man, "Please join us. You know my husband, Buck." A look of embarrassment crossed her sultry face, which death had only made more incredibly beautiful. She was falling all over herself as she rushed, "Forgive me, I mean my human consort. I am sorry, I sometimes forget, being newly reborn and all."

  Erika watched in amusement. She had never seen Velvet so unsettled by a man, especially since her friend had quite the reputation as a maneater in their little circle. Men could not help but fall all over themselves when they set eyes on her. Seeing her lose her composure told Erika two things - that this was an elder, or he was someone Velvet had no sway over.

  "Count," Buck said formally, taking the man's offered hand and shaking. The two men were the same height, but that is where the resemblance ended. Compared to the Count, the handsome Buck looked ordinary. His muscled body made him look thick and heavy while the Count looked and moved like a dancer.

  Erika was intrigued. There was something different about the Count. He was immortal but not in the same way as the vampires. They emanated cold, damning darkness while he shone with the light of the eternal sun. And his energy… It poured off him like an aphrodisiac. Against her better judgment, Erika ached to get a small taste of his aura. She was mesmerized by him as she had never been before. She needed to understand what made him different. The moment she dropped her shields, his eyes met hers.

  "And you, my dear," he said, taking her hand. She expected him to kiss it passively, but instead, he turned it over and smelled her inner wrist, "Darkfire," he breathed, taking in her scent, "Shadowborne and bred." His turquoise eyes flecked with amber and gold met hers and held.

  Erika chose that moment to push past her shield and into his. Her energy met him in an explosion of gold dust and silver. Their energies melded together, dancing to music only they could hear. Erika felt her knees go weak. His energy was pressing against hers, crashing in waves, soft and gentle, caressing. Her color was rising, heart beating madly in her chest. The night had gone silent, and the vampires had stopped talking and were watching in equal mixtures of raw lust and wanton desire.

  Suddenly an icy wall was thrown up between them. "Mistress Lily," Felix's formal and cold tone broke through the moment's magic, making her shields fly back into place. "Making new friends?" His tone was void of emotion. Ignoring him. She sought the eyes of the Count, who was still holding her wrist. The beautiful man looked deep into her eyes, stunned.

  Holding Velvet, Buck whispered, "What the hell i
s going on?"

  Shaking her head in disbelief, "The Professor and his secrets," Velvet laughed, "Erika Lily is a fucking elf, is what."

  Chapter 31

  "Count Andreas Elcmar, at your service, Lady," the golden immortal announced in a crystal-clear voice. The sound was like music and struck joy in her heart, so pure and strong Erika found herself entranced. Whoever Count Elcmar was, he was the sun, he was home, and he was everything. She drank in the sight like a pool of brilliance deep into her soul. The man's golden blonde hair was cut in such a manner it gave him a careless playboy look. On his face, he wore a beard that she imagined without, he would look boyish and forever young. Erika thought he was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

  In that moment, locked in the depth of his turquoise gaze, the only thing she was aware of was the wind's sound in the trees, the night birds, the water coursing in the river, and Count Andreas Elcmar. In his presence, Erika completely forgot about Velvet, Buck, the Queen, the Vampire Court, and even Felix. It was as though he was the sun and she the moon, two lovers cursed apart for lifetimes, finally reunited, finally together. There was no more death, no more sickness, no more chaos - only the two of them.