Cat looked at her mother, a dark statue commanding human statues, and said, “Binding Mama isn’t harming her?”
“It’s necessary. When we go, I’ll free her and never restrain her again. I swear it.”
“You just use people.”
“We all use the people we love. Who can you love more than those who give you what you need?”
“You want to give me what I need?”
“With all my heart.”
“End the war between nighters and humans.” He laughed. “Done!” She blinked. “Without killing?”
“Without killing, because that pleases you.” She squinted at him, trying to feel glamour, trying to hear a trick.
“How?”
“We’ll bind their leaders, the most important priests, princes, and presidents. Through them—”
“But I want everyone free!” He shook his head sadly. “You want a world that never existed.”
“That’s kind of the point of making a better world.” He smiled. “You misunderstand. You want a better world, so we’ll make it, a healthy world of healthy humans. We’ll build schools and hospitals and parks instead of armies and prisons and palaces. We’ll feed them things that grow, and the land that was used for cattle will be forests and wetlands again. They’ll live longer, healthier lives, and we’ll have better stock to feed on. Isn’t that best for everyone?”
“And you won’t kill?”
“Some of us prefer to feed without killing. Some of us think death is a sweet dessert, but none of us kill every night. So I promise, after we save this world, only a thousand humans will be killed each year. In exchange, millions will be saved from their own madness. Isn’t paradise worth a thousand deaths?”
“Nobody kills in paradise.”
“Think, Catalina. Every year, a million humans die in cars. Millions more die from war, hunger, and disease. Their greed is destroying the earth. Their scientists say their civilization will fail in thirty years if they don’t change their ways, but their leaders don’t care. They happily destroy everything so they can die rich. What are a thousand, when millions will be saved?”
“But we don’t need to kill! Maybe we don’t even need their blood! If you don’t have to do something bad, and you do it anyway, it’s the worst bad!”
“You watch too much television.”
“Wrong is wro—”
“No.” His command seized her like being instantly shrink-wrapped.
She thought, Be free! I must be free! But she could only move her eyes. She looked at her mother. Zoraida was as much a prisoner as she. When their gaze met, she heard a whisper in her head: I can’t free you again, my fierce one. He’s forbidden it.
The whisper died as Baldomero said, “I can make you believe what I wish, but I gave you a choice. What more could anyone ask? Now you give me a choice. Free you, and the Ouroboros War continues? Or bind you and build Paradise? There’s no real choice, is there? If I free you, you’ll fight me. You may answer.”
Cat nodded. Baldomero clenched his fist. “You could have the good sense to lie!”
“Would you believe me?” He smiled like the Baldomero she could love. “No. But if you pretended and worked with me, you would learn how sweet power is. The lie would become truth.”
“Then I can’t.”
“No. And that’s part of the reason I love you.” He held his hand out. “Come here.”
Something tugged at her feet. She fought it, saying, “No.”
“Don’t fear a kiss. I love you too much to hurt you.”
“I’m free!” she insisted, thinking, Aren’t I? I must be. He said I’m strong. Be strong!
His eyes widened, then narrowed. As her feet failed her, she stepped toward him.
He nodded. “Accept it. Afterward, I’ll make you think you’re free. You won’t suffer. You’ll believe everything you do is for love. And it will be.”
“No!” She trembled as she strained to run for the door. Trying to disobey was like fighting a whirlwind. Her legs weakened, and she took another step closer to him.
“You’re all I need to be happy, Catalina. Surrender to me.”
“Still wrong! Baldomero, please. Don’t.”
“One kiss, sweet Catalina. Then we’ll be happy forever. I promise you that.” She gasped as she took the last step to him. He caressed her cheek. “Yes. You’ll be all I’ve hoped for.” She couldn’t step away. She felt the glamour grow with the touch of his cool fingers. Part of her hated him more than she ever had. Part of her wanted his kiss. She managed to glance away, knowing it was her last free act. She saw Tarika’s eyes, wide with horror, and her father’s, narrow with fury. She saw her mother’s lips tremble as if she was trying to say something, despite the command that prevented her from helping.
Baldomero said, “I love you, Catalina, as much as you shall love me. Now, come closer.”
His mouth opened. His fangs extended, long, ivory-white, and needle-sharp. His hand rested on the side of her face, drawing her into his embrace. His wrist was an inch from her lips.
She thought, Obeying now, Baldomero. Coming closer. Then she turned her head. And bit.
Chapter Sixteen:
The Queen of Shadows
As she drank deeply of sweet, tart blood, the will of its vessel crumbled beneath hers. She would drain it, then drink from the other vessels around her to learn if one was best. Knowledge is good. She would learn the limit of how much she could drink, and then she would learn how to pass that limit. She held many vessels in a web of command, humans controlled by a nighter, that nighter controlled by another nighter, who gave his blood and his life to her, proving she ruled them all. Who could resist her?
Something grabbed her arm and shouted, “Kid! Stop!” She swatted it. It skidded across the room, hit the wall, and fell. Something tried to pull her sustenance from her jaws and said, “My fury, don’t kill him!” She kicked it. It landed on the dining table. Something shoved her shoulder, trying to separate her from the thrill of the blood, and screamed in her mind, Cat, don’t be him! She grabbed its throat. The scream grew louder: Cat! Control! You got to get control— She thought, Control is easy. She tore her lips from the first vessel and stared at the beast interrupting her meal. She thought, I can make you do any— She heard, Cat? You’re talking in my head? Yes. I can do anything I— Prove it! By stopping!
Why? Because it’s wrong! And I care why? Because you’re Cat! And Cat cares because she’s Cat, no matter— She gasped and thought, Tee? Cat spat blood and jerked her hand from Tarika’s throat. Baldomero had slumped to his knees, and Zoraida was rolling off the dining room table, and Professor M was pulling himself up from the floor into his wheelchair, and Ilya and the heads of the Five Clans were lunging for weapons, and Tarika had her hand to her bruised throat as she stared at Cat.
“Everyone, stop!” Cat screamed.
They froze like a wax museum tableau. All eyes were on her. Her skull burned as she felt them fighting her will, and felt herself losing. When she failed, who would die in the fight?
Olujimi managed a step toward Zoraida. Ms. Arkan’s arm twitched. Her fingertips touched a pistol at her feet. Professor M drew himself further into his chair. And Cat’s control crumbled. Ms. Arkan raised her pistol and shot twice, once at Cat, once at Zoraida. Cat twisted her head. The dart tore through her hair. She screamed, “Mama! Stop them!”
Zoraida leaped forward. The second dart missed her as she threw Olujimi into Auntie Fong and Mr. Rahman. Cat heard a whisper in her mind, Why, my fierce one? You and I can win.
Cat thought, But I don’t want anyone to die!
Ilya stood in front of Tarika, shielding her as he looked desperately from Cat to Ms. Arkan to Zoraida. Professor M rolled forward, a sword in one hand, but Cat had no time to wonder what he was planning. Ms. Arkan was aiming a pistol toward her.
Cat thought, No! And her father, Ilya, Tarika, and Ms. Arkan stopped moving. She heard her mother’s whisper: Well done. Saeed al-Rahman thrust h
is knife at Zoraida’s heart. She caught his wrist and squeezed. The knife fell, and she said calmly, “Enough!” And Olujimi, Mr. Rahman, and Auntie Fong were still. Cat thought, What now? She heard, They’re too dangerous.
Zoraida’s jaws opened. Her fangs glistened. Cat shouted, “You said you wouldn’t kill!” Zoraida frowned. “My fury, we’ll only bite them to bind them.”
“Won’t glamming do?”
“Better to bind, with so many.”
“Mama. Just glam them, okay?” And she heard the whisper: Why? She answered, Because you love me. Zoraida raised an eyebrow, and the reply came: It’s a higher price than you know. Zoraida’s fangs retracted. She told the glamoured humans, “Wait—”
A motion behind her made Cat whirl. Baldomero was running toward a shattered window. In mid-step, he became a raven and beat his wings to fly. She screamed, “No!”
But holding a raven’s thoughts was like trying to hold grease in her fingers. She felt him slip free, saw him soar through the window, then saw her mother leap after him. A black wolf followed the raven to freedom. No! Not both— She ran to the window. The sky was empty of anything but clouds. No one was racing across the yard. She glanced back in the dining room. The humans waited, obeying their last command. She turned back to the window, thinking, I’ve lost—
Something moved below her. In the border of plants by the house, a black wolf held a struggling raven in its jaws.
Cat said, “Mama? Don’t kill him, okay?”
The wolf shook its head and jumped back inside. As it landed, it became Zoraida de la Sombra with the raven gripped firmly between her hands. Cat heard, Then make him look human.
You can’t? You bit him. So I bought him? Zoraida smiled. It’s easier for you to command one you bind. And harder for others.
Cat stared into the raven’s glittering eyes. “Baldomero. Look human again.” Her head began to throb, as if her brain was being packed in ice. She thought, Bird brains are hard.
Zoraida glanced at Professor M. Cat heard, Tell me about it. She said, “Free Dad? And Tee?” Zoraida nodded, and Tarika ran to stand by Cat, saying, “You good?” Cat nodded as Professor M said, “Zora, you should’ve just eaten the bastard.” Zoraida’s face tensed slightly. Cat thought, Baldomero’s still her sister’s son. Cat studied the raven, but she thought of the handsome man whose laugh had thrilled her. Some things Dad shouldn’t joke about. But he’s only seen the monster. He never saw any other Baldomero.
Cat shook her head. “He’s family.” Professor M said, “Give him to me.”
“No,” Zoraida said softly, and Professor M lifted his head just a fraction of an inch. Then Zoraida raised the raven before her and said, “Cat doesn’t want you dead. But it would be easier for her to love your memory than you.” She put one hand around the bird’s skull.
Cat said, “Mama!” Professor M said, “Trust her, kid.” Zoraida told the raven, “Son of my beloved sister, if you are foolish enough to think I will not kill you to protect my child—” Baldomero stood before them, jerking his head to shake off Zoraida’s hand as he gave a gentle, self-mocking smile. “Catalina, my princess, I don’t need to rule. I could serve you. Happily.”
“If you could be trusted,” said Zoraida.
“Catalina bound me. She can trust me.”
“Bound, yes. Trust, no.” Cat heard her mother’s hint and said as forcefully as she could,
“Baldomero! You can’t change into anything. You can’t use glamour. You can’t attack anyone. You can only defend yourself if someone attacks you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Death by starvation? You’re crueler than I thought.”
She had meant her commands as a temporary solution. Were her only choices to kill him quickly or slowly?
Zoraida told Baldomero, “Convince humans you deserve to live, and they’ll share their blood. Pay them, and they’ll sell it.”
“Beg for my life or buy it?” He smiled sadly. “No, thank you.” His smile disappeared. “Catalina. You have every right to hate me. But, please, don’t make me a puppet. If ever you loved me, even the tiniest bit, kill me.”
She couldn’t kill him now that he was harmless. And she couldn’t keep him harmless without feeling she was killing him.
Zoraida said, “To the night folk, death is the honorable choice.” Professor M said, “It sounds like the practical one.” Cat shook her head. “I can’t just—” Tarika said, “How long do ravens live?”
They all turned to her. Zoraida said hesitantly, “In captivity, forty years. In the wild, fourteen.”
Baldomero nodded, his face proud, his eyes pleading. “The wild. It’s little to ask.”
Cat glanced at her father. He shrugged. “Gone is gone.”
Her mother nodded. “Bound is bound. Give him a simple command, and he’ll have to obey.”
“Forever?”
“Or until you say otherwise.” She looked at Baldomero and thought, Eyes like the night, with galaxies of promise. But she said, “Be a raven. Forever.”
“Thank—” he began. Then a raven bobbed to her as if bowing and launched itself into the deep blue sky. As it flew, Cat whispered,
“Goodbye, Baldomero.” Her father said, “Cat? You okay?” S h e s h o o k h e r h e a d , t h i n k i n g , T i a Y s a b e l ‘s d e a d , C o u s i n
Baldomero’s banished, and Tarika can’t trust me because I nearly killed her twice. What do I lose next?
She heard, My fury, we should go. Now? Why?
What’s here to keep us?
Cat glanced at her father, then at the broken windows, and thought,
Plus someone might notice the excitement. Zoraida shook her head. Glamour makes all things normal. Uh, how much of my mind can you read? Only what you direct at me. And the rare thought so strong you seem to scream it. Cat looked at her father and thought, Dad? He said, “What, kid?” She thought, Do you hear me? He said, “You need to sit? Or some water?” She said, “Coping,” and thought, He can’t hear me. You never bit him. I never bit you. No. I hear you because you bit me when I was a baby! You wanted to control me. To use me against Baldomero. Yes.
But last night, you told me to be free. Yes. Mama? If you had me to use me— Her mother’s face became as mask-like as her father’s had ever been.
Cat glanced at him as she heard, That’s not why I had you. Then why—
Will you force me to answer? No. Then deal with what’s here, my fierce one. Tarika watched them warily. Cat said, “Tee? If you want to go while it’s safe—” Tarika’s eyes went wide. “And miss the end of the show? No way.”
“It could still go wrong.”
“Kind of know that.” Cat smiled, then faced the motionless forms of Uncle Olujimi,
Auntie Fong, Mr. Rahman, Ms. Arkan, and Ilya. She took Ilya’s pistol from his grip, put it on the table, and asked Zoraida, “Free him next?”
“As you wish,” Zoraida said.
Ilya stumbled forward. He stared at Zoraida, then his gun, then Cat. “You can’t trust nighters. Ever.”
“They can’t trust humans.”
“They want our blood!” Zoraida smiled widely. “Top of the food chain, young Arkan.” As Ilya glanced at his pistol, Cat said, “Mama, the not helpful.”
Zoraida shrugged. “It stays true. We all know it.”
Professor M said, “You’ve got two choices, Ilya. Trust Cat, or run like hell.”
Ilya said, “I won’t leave my mother!”
“I’m not planning for anyone to get hurt,” Cat said. “How certain,” Ilya asked with a hint of hesitation, “is this plan?”
“Not very. But I want this whole thing over.” He studied her. She thought, Brown eyes are common, but that doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful.
He nodded. “I want this over, too.”
“So help.” She began plucking pistols and knives from human hands. He frowned. “This plan is to make us defenseless?” Tarika took Auntie Fong’s gun from her fingers and told Ilya, “Like you’d be
less dead if you killed the nighter who killed you?” Cat said, “I just want everyone to think before they fight.” Ilya said, “That’s your plan? All of it?”
“Waiting to hear a better one.”
Ilya glanced at Professor M, who shrugged and said, “We tried everything else. If thinking doesn’t work, we can always go back to being stupid.”
Ilya sighed, then squinted at Zoraida. “Can I take her fangs?” Zoraida, laughing, told Cat, “I like this Arkan. He’s funny.” Ilya shook his head. “Nighters think I’m funny.” Prying Ms. Arkan’s pistol from her fingers, he said, “Sorry, Mother,” and set it on the table with the others.
Cat thought, Mama? If you said the truce was continuing, would all the nighters obey?
If I did? Yeah. Now that Baldomero’s gone, don’t you rule? No. But who—? My fury, you bit him, you bought him. And all that goes with him. Cat jerked her head back in surprise. Her mother raised an eyebrow. You don’t think I’ve been unusually helpful? I thought you loved me. That, too. So I’m, like— La Reina de la Sombra. Queen of the family? Of the nighters. The nighters? Wait. All nighters? All nighters everywhere? Not a joke? Not a joke, my fury. Baldomero was at the top of a pyramid of bindings. When you bit him, all who were his became yours. They have to obey me, just like I’d bit them? In the realm of shadow, royal power is absolute. Cat looked at the ring of the Medianoches on her father’s finger. So if I order nighters not to kill, they have to obey? Yes.
Cat’s father, Tarika, and Ilya were watching them. How long had the silent conversation with her mother taken? Five seconds? A minute? She said, “I’m the Queen of Shadows.”
Professor M glanced at Zoraida, When she nodded, he turned back to Cat. “You good with that?”
No. Not yet. Maybe never, she thought, but she said, “Kind of have to be.”
Tarika smiled. “Then you’ll be the best Queen of Shadows.”
Only a best friend would hear the hesitation in Tarika’s voice. Cat tried to grin back, and hoped no one else saw how frightened she was.
Ilya said, “What does it mean?”
Midnight Girl Page 17