by ERIN BEDFORD
This time it was Mara who answered me back. “Clara, I think I speak for most of us when I say” - she nodded to the others - “we’re doing what we must to survive.”
The laugh that came out of me wasn’t pleasant. “You call this surviving? We have how many deaths a month? If not from starvation, then from infection or sickness? I cut my face, and they healed it within a matter of seconds.” I snapped, my head swiveling between them making sure I caught all their gazes. “How is that fair?”
There was a mumbled answer from a small thin man. Nex, I believed it was.
“What was that?” I asked, arching my ear to hear him. He had said it too low for even my vampire hearing to pick up.
Clearing his throat, Nex met my eyes. “I said, isn’t that life though? It’s never fair.”
“Right.” Dale gestured to Nex. “And besides, what do you expect us to do? Rise up and revolt? What would that accomplish? We don’t have weapons to fight with. Those blasters guarding the entrance to the Glade would stop us before we got anywhere.”
There was a collective agreement that made Dale cross his arms with a smug look on his face. He turned to my father before I could counter him. “Richard, I respect you and your authority, but I’m sorry, I can’t put my family or our people at risk because of your daughter’s flights of fancy.”
Flights of fancy? Flights of fancy! My teeth ground together, and I knew I was close to losing my grip on my temper. Ripping Dale’s throat out was looking better and better by the minute.
“Dale,” my father said, finally stepping in. “Please, just listen to her.”
“I am,” Dale snapped. “Are you? This is a bunch of crap. We don’t need another uprising. Don’t you remember the last one?” He raised a brow, making my father frown.
“This is not like it was back then. This isn’t just the poor wanting what the rich have,” my father tried to reassure him.
“Isn’t it?” Dale scoffed. “Because that’s what it sounds like to me.” His eyes landed on me and glowered. “You know what happens when we get too greedy.”
This was getting ridiculous. I had tried to ease them into this. To make them see how wrong the way we were set up was without bringing the whole vampire thing up yet. Apparently, that wasn’t working. I didn’t know much about the last uprising. It was before my time, but this wasn’t anything like then. Back then, they had a bunch of idiots thinking they can beat the system with pitchforks and their righteousness.
I exchanged a look with my father, and I could tell he wasn’t happy about what I was about to do, but we both knew it was the only way to get them to listen. Before I could make my grand reveal, Dale pushed away from the table and started for the door.
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to this nonsense. I have work to do.” He stopped and pointed back at the table. “And I suggest the rest of you get back to work as well before she drags us all down to an early grave.”
Enough was enough. As Dale turned back around, I moved. In what must have looked like a blur to Dale, I appeared in front of him, making him back up, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
“How ... how did you do that?” He glanced behind him and back to me. The others at the table sans my father was just as astonished.
“Like I was trying to tell you,” I grinned, flashing my fangs. “You don’t know what the hell you are talking about.”
Dale backed away from me in a hurry, scurrying back to the table. I sauntered back to them, making sure to put my fangs away as I approached them. All except my father stared at me in wonder and fear.
Good. Hopefully, they would listen now.
“Mara,” I began and hated that she flinched away from me. “You know me, would I ever hurt someone on purpose?”
“N ... no. Never.” She shook her head.
“Do you think I was hiding this?” I gestured to myself. “Hiding for the last seventeen years? Do you?” I glared at them, daring them to say something stupid. “This was done to me by the Crimson Fold, and they have done this to countless others. How do you think Patrick Blordril looks the same as his predecessor, and him the one that came before? I’ll give you a hint. He’s the same person.”
Realization began to fill their faces. It wasn’t hard to figure out if you really thought about it. It only took someone putting the thought in their minds. I was just happy I finally had them listening. Now, if I could just bring it home.
“The election they have every year?” I continued, scanning the table. “They aren’t held to gift us with a new life. The election is to fill their palace with workers who will keep quiet and to make brainless meat sacks to feed on. They have a whole dungeon full of them.” The image of Tillie sitting on her cot with a blank look on her face filled my mind. The very thought of it made my throat clot with emotion. “They have been playing us this whole time, using us to give them a never-ending food supply.”
There was silence in the room, and then all at once, they started talking over each other. There was a mixture of questions and fears. One of the men, a large man with a mean look in his eye, wanted to kill me right there.
“We can’t do that!” Mara argued with him. “She’s trying to help us. Why would we kill someone who might be our only chance at survival?”
“But she’s one of them,” he growled, his teeth gnashing at me. “How do we know this isn’t some trick? Maybe the others are waiting for us to come storming in so they can do exactly what she said.”
I shook my head, impatience in my voice. “That would be pointless. Especially since they don’t know I’m here. They want me dead more than you right now.”
“Why?” Dale glared. “Why do they want you dead?”
I glowered at him. “The same reason you do. I’m different.”
“What exactly are you?” Nex asked, his voice shaking. “What kind of monster are we dealing with?”
I flashed a fang with an unhappy grin. “I’m a vampire, and we’re going to take back Alban.”
Chapter 11
“Well, that went well.” My father plopped back down in his seat as soon as the other leaders left. I couldn’t say that he wasn’t right.
After my big reveal, the leaders couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We’d decided to keep things hush-hush until we could reconvene and decide on our next move. I just hoped they kept their word. It would suck to wind up on the receiving end of an angry mob.
“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?” I asked him, taking a seat next to him. “Should I have even told them about me being a vampire?”
My father raised his brow. “Are you worried about what they might do to you?” I nodded. Placing his hand on top of mine, he gave me a sympathetic look. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
I smiled gently at him though I was pretty sure he was wrong. He couldn’t save me. If anything, I’d be lucky to protect myself and any of my friends still in the Core.
“So, what now?” I asked after a moment, breaking up the moment. “I told the leaders, and now they’re believers, but what next? I line up the rest of the Glade to see the big bad vampire?” Sarcasm dripped from my voice in waves.
My father opened his mouth and then closed it before opening it again. “No, that’s probably not a good idea. The fewer people who know about you, the better. If we can get them to follow us just based on what you have told us, I think it’d be best to leave out what you are.”
“Yeah.” I let out a heavy breath. “That’d be good.”
He laced his fingers in front of him on the table. “There’s something I have to ask you though.”
“What is it?” I leaned my elbows on the table.
“Dale had a good point.” He sighed and shook his head. “If we even get the people to rally, how are we going to get into the Core or even the other sections to tell them about it?” He made a noise in the back of his throat. “I mean, I can get in during deliveries, but I can’t take that many people. Not enough to do any g
ood.”
“Well,” I said with a frown, my brows scrunched together, “if you could pass the information along on your deliveries, that would take care of that part.”
“Okay.” He moved his head to the side and then looked back at me. “What about getting past the guards?”
I thought about it for a moment, and then I had a duh moment. I knew a way to get in and out of the Core and any other section without detection, the way I’d just used not over an hour ago.
“There’s a tunnel,” I began, staring down at my hands. Even as I was saying it, I felt guilty. Patrick had told me about the tunnel in confidence, and here I was turning around and giving the information over to those who would hurt him.
“A tunnel?”
I cleared my throat and rubbed my nose, like that would make my guilt go away. “It goes underneath all of Alban. Probably how the Fold gets around without being seen.”
“How did we not know about this?” my father scoffed, his fingers playing with the stubble on his chin.
“The entrance is hidden by the graveyard, or at least one of them is. There’s another north of the marketplace in the Inner Circle. I’d imagine there is another one in Middleton. And while I don’t know where it is, I know there’s one in the Core.”
“Well, that’s ...” He trailed off with a slight chuckle. “Convenient.”
“Yeah.”
“How did you find out about it?” He looked at me expectantly, and I couldn’t find the words.
I couldn’t tell him that Patrick told me. I didn’t know why. Okay, that was a lie. I understood why. I didn’t want Patrick to be on their radar. I wanted to keep him out of it, as if somehow I could save him by not talking about him. Not that I was sure it would help. Still, I had to try.
“In a book,” I said finally. “They have a lot of books in the Core. Dang vampires document everything.” I sniffed and smiled, the words tasted like acid in my mouth.
“Huh.” That’s all my father had to say about it. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not, but if he didn’t, he wasn’t saying so. Which was fine by me. I had enough to deal with.
A wave of exhaustion fell over me at that. Not surprising, since I’d been up all night and most of the morning. I needed to sleep soon. I pushed up from the table and started for the door.
“Where are you going?” my father asked, standing as well.
“I need to get some sleep,” I explained. “I’ll be in the shack.” I reached for the door handle and then stopped, my hand dropping. “Uh, actually that might not be a good idea. Everyone saw me come up here. If I went back to the shack, there might be questions.”
“I guess you’re right.” He hummed and then came around the table to stand beside me. “I guess that just means you’ll have to stay here.”
I looked at him wryly. “Are you sure?”
“Of course.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “You’re my daughter. Plus, your room is just sitting there, not being used. Might as well use it while you can.”
I swallowed back my gratitude and nodded. I didn’t want to think about what he meant by those words. It could have meant I’d be living again in the Core or the worst-case scenario that I would be dead. Either way, I didn’t want to think about it.
My room looked exactly how I left it. To one side of the room sat a low cot with a threadbare sheet and a wooden box at the end of the bed. I didn’t have many clothes, not like back at the Core where they had a vast wardrobe and too many choices. Just out of curiosity, I moved over to the box and popped the top.
I didn’t know what I expected to find. I’d moved all my stuff except for the furniture to my stepmother’s house. There were a button and a handful of drawings I’d drawn as a child, except for one which I recognized as a doodle I’d done last year.
Smirking, I looked down at my crappy picture of what I thought was a girl riding a horse. As I laid down on the bed, I realized it looked more like a donkey than a horse. It was funny that when I had drawn this picture, I’d been more worried about getting stuck late for a meeting than starting a revolt.
I didn’t know when I drifted off to sleep, but I was jolted awake by the feeling of someone watching me. I shot up in bed, my hand still clutching the picture from the box. The sun had set, and the moon sat high in the sky, the light pouring through my little window. My father had probably gone to sleep already.
I scanned the room, but there was no one there. Still, the nagging feeling of someone watching me didn’t go away. Slipping out of bed, I moved across the room and then spun in place. My brow furrowed, I tried to figure out what had woken me up.
Turning to the door, I reached for the doorknob. There it was. The feeling. Before I could overthink about it, I twisted the handle and whipped the door open. There, standing on the other side, was Patrick in all his vampiric splendor.
“What, do you just have a never-ending supply of white suits?” I leaned against the doorway looking him over like he wasn’t making my insides jump all over the place.
Glancing down at himself, he frowned before meeting my eyes. “I happen to like these suits. They fit well.”
“But they make you look like an albino.” I moved out of the doorway and gestured for him to come in. I didn’t bother with stupid questions like how he found me or how even how he got in there. He’s a vampire, locks really didn’t have any meaning to super strength.
“I’m not sure what you mean but alright. I’ll make a note of it.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked so sincere that I had to pick on him.
“You’ll make a note of it?” I laughed and sat on my bed. “Just like that? Why are you being so accommodating?”
“Well,” Patrick murmured as he strolled across the room, stopping at the foot of the bed, his eyes scanning the paltry surroundings. “You’re my wife. I would want to make sure you are pleased with my appearance.”
I blanched. “Your ... your wife?”
Patrick arched a brow. “Did you forget? Your friends and family gathered. You walked down the aisle. We said some words.”
“Oh, I remember.” I held my hand up to stop him from going further. “I just didn’t expect you to think it meant anything.”
“It didn’t to you?” He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, confusion covering his face. “I thought those kinds of things were important to your kind.”
“Well, technically, I’m more your kind now.” I huffed and adjusted on the bed. “But most of us, yes, do take marriage seriously, but seeing as it was a forced arrangement, I didn’t think you were going to hold me to it.” I stared up at him expectantly, and then a horrible thought crossed my mind. “You aren’t, are you?”
Patrick pressed his lips into a thin line as he made a disgusted sound. “Don’t look at me that way, Clarabelle. I might be a vampire, but I’m no monster. I am not here to take you against your will. I am a gentleman.”
I couldn’t help but snort. “Like that’s ever stopped you before.”
His pale eyes narrowed, and I wished I hadn’t said anything. “It was either change you or kill you and your family. Which would you have preferred?”
I couldn’t hold his stare and dropped my eyes to the floor. Shame filled me.
“As I thought.” Patrick shifted, and then the bed dipped beside me. “Stop trying to make me the villain in this. Haven’t I proved to you yet that I’m on your side?”
“Yes,” I said lowly, emotion clogging my throat. Turning my head away from him, I coughed a few times to clear it. Using a finger, I brushed the tear that tried to fall away before he could see it. “So, if you’re not here to take advantage of me, then what are you doing here?”
A hand took hold of my chin and turned my face to him. He frowned at me as his thumb traced underneath my eyes where I’d wiped away my tear. My lips trembled beneath his gaze, the brave face I’d been forcing to the front starting to weaken.
“You needn’t be so strong in front of me, Clarabelle.”
His words were low and did nothing to stop me from breaking.
“I have to be brave, or I’ll fall apart.” My voice broke, and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. It was all just too much for me. The marriage, the change, losing Marsha, and now saving everyone in Alban from the very thing I’d become. I was surprised I’d held on this long under all that crushing weight on my shoulders.
“It’s alright if you fall,” Patrick reassured me, his thumb brushing along the bottom of my lip. “Because I will always be there to catch you.” He pressed his mouth against mine, and this time, I didn’t hesitate. I pushed into him hard, a sort of desperation filling me and only his touch would calm it.
Patrick stroked my face and pulled back from me to whisper sweet nothings in my ear before taking my mouth once more. This continued until I wasn’t feeling like my heart was going to explode out of my chest and my tears had dried.
Sniffling, I withdrew from him and started trying to make up some excuse for letting him kiss me, but before it could leave my mouth, my bedroom door opened.
“Clara, I heard something and wanted to see if you were alright.” My father froze in the doorway, his mouth dropped as he took in the scene before him. When his eyes fell on Patrick, his face scrunched up, his teeth gnashing. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Chapter 12
I jumped to my feet, getting some distance between Patrick and myself as I headed over to my raging father. Patrick didn’t so much as flinch and seemed far too at ease for my comfort.
“Oh, hey, Father. I’m fine. That sound was just Patrick and me having a disagreement.” I tried to block my father’s view of Patrick but wasn’t having much luck.