The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash

by E. M. Knight

  Or so she’s been led to believe.

  I am grateful for the gift she’s given me. Without her… without her, I’d have long been a corpse in the dirt. The Order I once belonged to would be nothing but a lost speck in the great shadow of time, gone forever to the world.

  Instead, The Vorcellian Order is one of the most powerful secret organizations in existence. If Morgan had any idea of its survival…

  But of course she doesn’t. Few vampires do. Besides, she’s been trapped within the boundaries of The Haven for six centuries, boundaries that are entirely of her own making.

  She brought me here under guise of needing my help protecting her kingdom. In truth, I suspect her motivations are more sinister than that. She’s restless, I can tell, and aching to get out.

  But while she rules, she cannot leave The Haven’s protective realm. Such is the cost of being a Great Witch.

  I glance at her. Morgan is a picture of icy calm. She knows the vampire her son brought is stronger than she is—but she also knows that the magic she wields and the loyalty she commands amongst The Haven’s residents makes her untouchable.

  It’s the second vampire, the one still on the plane, who truly concerns me.

  That one is even stronger than the first.

  Raul and his captive stop twenty feet before us. It’s a respectful distance, but the Queen’s son has no qualms showing his disdain for me.

  He and I have no love lost over the years.

  The Queen steps forward. “Who is this?” she asks, gesturing dismissively at Raul’s prisoner.

  “Mother, I present to you Victoria Clare,” he says forwardly, going to one knee. “She is the one who betrayed Father and tried to draw Eleira’s blood.”

  The short blonde vampire stares impetuously at the Queen. Without any permission being granted, she speaks.

  “So, you’re Morgan. Much less impressive than I was led to believe.” She looks over the ring of trees surrounding us, and the guards I have posted there. “This is all the ceremony I get? Pity. I thought you would have tried harder to impress a member of the Inner Circle of the world’s most powerful coven.”

  The Queen turns toward the prisoner. She walks to her. Victoria Clare stares right back,, defiant and unflinching.

  I take a step forward to stay by my Queen’s side. She motions me still with a quick flick of her wrist.

  Morgan stops half-a-step before Victoria. I feel the static potential for violence crackle through the air.

  “You don’t impress me,” the bold prisoner says.

  The Queen smiles through the increasing tension. “And you don’t frighten me, my child,” she replies sweetly. She brings a hand up to touch Victoria’s face.

  Raul watches his Mother from his spot.

  The tanned vampire doesn’t pull back. The clashing power between them makes the air feel thick, like we’re on the verge of a storm.

  “You think I don’t know the secret of your power?” the Queen continues. “Of course I do. What’s more,” she gives a soft laugh, “I have the ability to take it all away. You did not earn it. You stole it from the one who corrupted my husband’s heart. I could take it away and destroy you right now… but I think you would be a much more fascinating subject for us to study.”

  She snaps her fingers to call me to her side.

  “This is Captain Commander Smithson,” she says. “He will be escorting you to the very generous visitor quarters we’ve provided. Try not to do anything stupid on the way there. I’d hate for you to suffer an accident… and end up in a painting.”

  Victoria blinks in momentary confusion at the painting reference.

  I take her elbow and jerk her away.

  “Trust me,” I whisper, my voice soft but cruel, “you don’t want to know what that last bit means.”

  I shove the silver sack over her head and push her forward.

  Chapter Five

  PHILLIP

  April stands trembling before me. A thick tension fills the space between us. There are cuts all over her body, freshly given by the guards, obviously as a tactic to tempt me.

  “Just do it,” she whispers. “Do it. I know you have no choice.”

  Dear God, how I want to.

  “No,” I say. I stagger away until my back hits the cave wall.

  “They’ll kill Patricia if you don’t.” She takes a small step toward me. “But you don’t have to kill me. You can use the Little Drink.” Her eyes connect with mine. “You know what will happen if you resist.”

  I look at her in a mix of awe, shock, and wonder. Has she been brainwashed? Is that why she is offering herself to me like this?

  Is that why Mother left me alone with her?

  “I know what I’m saying,” she says, as if having read my thoughts. Maybe they’re so transparent that she can see them on my face. “I’m fully lucid. The Queen’s guards did things to me—” A flicker of shame crosses her face, “But they never broke my mind. That was not their intent.”

  “Then what?” I ask. I’m desperate to steer the conversation away from the choice facing me.

  “Do I have to tell you? You’re one of them. You know.”

  It’s taking all the self-control I have to not launch myself at her. Having a taste of The Convicted blood has opened my appetite for more. Mother’s taunts have not made any of it easier.

  My hands grip the rocky wall behind me.

  “Why are you delaying?” she asks. “Do it! Don’t be a coward. You can save Patricia!”

  I swallow and shake my head. No matter what choice I make, it’ll be the wrong one.

  Mother made sure of that.

  “Take the Little Drink and save her!” April commands. “That’s all the Queen wants.”

  “You don’t know what she wants,” I breathe. How can I explain that if I taste her blood, I’ll never be able to stop? How do I explain that if I give in now, nearly six hundred years of restraint, of restriction, of self-denial will all have been for naught?

  If I take her blood, I’ll lose myself. The monster whom I would emerge as on the other side would be a far cry from the Phillip who stands before her now.

  Taking Convicted blood is different. They are creatures without sustenance in their veins. But a fresh, ripe human, full of thick, viscous, hot blood…

  “She wants to get her son back,” April says, defiant and strangely confident. She was so subdued when my Mother was here—was that just an act? “I heard everything from the cell where they held me. And James told me certain things, too. Your Mother wants to strengthen the coven—that’s why she needs you.”

  April takes another step to me. “I heard how you protested against what the Queen has done. Don’t you want to save Patricia from that same fate?” She thrusts her arm out. "I do. So don’t be a coward. Drink!”

  I marvel at her. How can she be so firm and determined? The spark of something I’d long-since considered lost comes to life inside me. I’ve never felt love for a human before, but April’s bravery makes my heartbeat quicken.

  It’ll only make tasting her blood all the worse.

  “You’ll die if I do,” I say in a faint whisper.

  That makes the girl stop and blink. But then she shakes her head.

  “No,” she says. “You’re lying. James has—“

  “James has drunk human blood his whole life!” I snap. “James knows how to stop! James was your lover. I know what he promised you, and I know the sacrifices you made for him! But James is gone, and if you think you can come over to our side by latching your claws into me, you’re mistaken.”

  “So you’re going to let your Mother kill Patricia?” April asks. “Because you’re too frightened of what you are?”

  “Did you not hear me?” I snarl. “If I start now, I’ll never be able to control the thirst. It’s not just Patricia’s life that’s at stake. It’s yours. How don’t you understand that?”

  She turns her gaze downward. “Because I saw you in the village,” she tells
me. “Before you even knew I existed, I saw how you interacted with the villagers. You’re not like the other vampires, Phillip. You’re different.”

  I scoff a harsh laugh. “You think I don’t know that? And the only reason I’m ‘different’ is because I’ve rejected the feeding process that opens the gates of darkness. I’ve held the creature inside me dormant for so long that it’s not a part of who I am any more. But the second I taste your blood, it’ll be unleashed. I’ll be worse than a newborn vampire. The bloodlust will be unparalleled. I won’t be able to stop myself with you. I’ll go after others. And because I know these caves, because I know The Haven, no humans will be safe from me.”

  I ease myself away from the wall. “Is that what you want, April? Because that’s the choice you’re giving me. It’s not, ‘Drink and save Patricia’s life.’ It’s ‘Drink and kill you, and kill dozens of others.’ When the sickness takes over and I black out, there’s no going back. That is my dilemma. That is the choice you’re asking me to make.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she whispers. “You’re stronger than that.”

  I approach her. She does not move away.

  I advance until our bodies are almost touching. Her scent fills my nostrils—that tantalizing mix of mortal innocence and human blood and…

  I nearly gasp. And woman.

  I can see the emotions raging beyond her eyes. Some humans are easy to read. Not her. She keeps everything about her behind those stunning blue irises.

  “Why aren’t you frightened?” I whisper.

  “Because… because I know your heart,” she says. She hesitates, then reaches out and takes my hand. She brings it up, between our two bodies. “You’re not like the guards or the others. There is good in you.”

  “It’s tainted,” I say. “Tainted by evil.”

  “You’ve fought it off for this long,” she says. “Why would your willpower falter now?” She looks into my eyes. “I know you can do it. You can restrain yourself. Have a drink. Save Patricia’s life.”

  Still I hesitate.

  “If you think it’ll change you… it won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because all the Soren brothers possess their Father’s strength,” she says.

  I look at her as if seeing her for the first time. “What do you know about my Father?”

  “I know that he rules the most powerful coven in the world. I know that his strength on this earth is unrivalled.”

  “But you’re human.” The gears spin in my head. “You’re human, and you were brought to The Haven from the Outside. No humans know about the other covens!”

  “My memory was restored,” is all the explanation she offers.

  A noise behind us makes me snap around.

  “Quick!” she breathes. “This is your last chance! Do it, do it now, or else Patricia dies!”

  The conflict inside me rages as strong as a tempest. Do I dare do it? Do I dare fail myself and give in to Mother’s demands?

  Still the scent of this human girl calls to me. The temptation is unlike any I’ve felt or known before. It’s not just the blood that makes it appealing.

  It’s the fact that it’s hers.

  She pulls her straight blonde hair back and cranes her neck. Her eyes drift closed as she arches herself into me.

  “Drink,” she whispers. “But—” she opens one eye. “—But remember who you’re doing it to.”

  With that, the sealed door opens, and my choice is made for me.

  I sink my fangs into April’s neck and draw deep.

  Chapter Six

  SMITHSON

  I shove my captive out in front of me. The silver sack covering her head does nothing against the natural influence of power she exerts over others.

  That influence is the reason I’m taking her beneath ground alone. None of the guards I have command over in The Haven have even a tenth of the discipline my former colleagues in The Vorcellian Order possessed. Since I’m newly arrived here, I have only the most basic surface layer of understanding about the currents of power flowing through this coven.

  That is why, for now, the only person I fully trust is myself.

  Victoria walks onward without protest. It’s almost like she already knows the place. Nothing in the terrain gives her even a second’s hesitation despite having her eyes covered. She’s as sure-footed as a goat.

  So far, she hasn’t tried lashing out with the power she possesses. I know it’s only a matter of time. A vampire as strong as her does not stay captive for long.

  Not unless she wants to be here.

  That is the possibility that disturbs me the most.

  Suddenly, she stops. I prod her forward with my silver-tipped sword. Witchbane—the same sword from all those centuries ago.

  It has only strengthened with time. The moment I understood the sort of creature Morgan had turned me into, I made it my mission to never again be left helpless against vampires. Even if I had been turned into one of their kind, I knew they were still my enemy. I had to arm myself, to protect myself, to learn their strengths and weaknesses so that I could understand mine.

  It was I who discovered that silver was their weakness, for example.

  “Go on,” I grunt. “Don’t make this harder on yourself than it needs to be. You heard the Queen’s threat.”

  A mocking sort of high-pitched laughter comes from beneath the cloth. I tense, ready to plunge the blade into her heart at the slightest provocation. If she attempts to escape…

  I shift the blade into her. I apply the faintest bit of extra pressure, just to remind her that I’m here.

  Or is it to remind myself that I’m in control?

  “Your Queen is nothing compared to the ruler I served under for forty years,” she replies. “The only reason I allowed myself to be captured is so that I could be led here… to you.”

  She eases her body forward and starts to turn. She does it smoothly, slowly, with just enough grace to let me know she doesn’t mean this as a threat or a precursor to an escape attempt.

  She shocks me, though, when she brings her palms to either side of my sword and presses them onto the silver.

  “I could snap this blade in two,” she drawls, almost lazily. “Such is the power given to me by The Ancient’s blood.”

  I try to hide my surprise but the effort is wasted. A sharp intake of breath is all it takes for me to give myself away.

  “Oh, yes,” she continues, keeping her head aimed at me, as if the velvet barrier is not even there. “I know how long you sought The Ancient yourself. But you never found him, did you, Smithson?”

  “That’s enough,” I growl. My response to the initial query was all the evidence I needed of Victoria’s trickery. Usually, I’d have enough self-control to hold that intake of breath in. But she’d exerted her influence over me in the most subtle way possible, subtle enough that I didn’t notice. Had her attempt to control me been more overt, I could have barricaded my mind from it.

  But Victoria is slippery. I’m more aware of that now.

  “Is it now?” she wonders. “Look at where we are. Alone. Underground. I could kill you, hide your body, and run free in The Haven if I so wanted.”

  “There are two hundred guards watching these corridors,” I bluff. “You wouldn’t get ten feet past the exit.”

  She laughs again. “Two hundred guards? Is that supposed to impress me?” She lowers her voice. “I know it’s just you.”

  “The silver addles your senses,” I tell her. But a bead of sweat trickles down my spine. “Your sense of the other vampires is inaccurate.”

  “Are you saying that to convince me or to convince yourself?”

  “Neither,” I tell her firmly. “I am simply stating it as irrefutable fact. Now come on, princess. I don’t care who you were in your other coven. Here, you’re a prisoner of my Queen, and you’d best remember that.”

  “Or what?” she asks. “You’ll skewer me with your little sword?”

>   “Yes,” I grate, pressing it into her belly. “I’ll do exactly that.”

  “I don’t think so,” she sighs. “You wouldn’t kill me.”

  “And what makes you so confident?”

  “Because of the link I have with your Queen’s most prized possession.”

  Is she talking about…

  “Eleira,” Victoria says. “My blood was the first she drank. It wasn’t from the vein, but from a chalice infused with magic. You kill me,” she laughs, “…and you write your own death sentence. Because if my link to the girl breaks, so will her mind. And we’ll see how well Morgan’s succession works then.”

  I shake my head even though I know she cannot see me.

  “You’re wrong,” I say. “The Queen has taken precautions. Eleira is at no risk. Besides, I don’t even know why I’m entertaining this conversation with you. So I won’t. Another word, and, link or no link, my sword goes through your pretty little heart.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she hisses.

  I grab the silver layer of her sack and pull it up to see her eyes. Burning pain shoots down my arm, but I force the sensation down completely.

  “Just try me,” I snarl, so close to her that I can feel her breath on my face.

  She looks into my eyes and sees that I am serious. We clash for a strong, silent moment.

  Then she nods in final defeat.

  As I lead her the rest of the way to her prison cell, I cannot do anything to stop the triumphant smile from spreading across my face.

  Without knowing it, Victoria has just given me more information about the Queen’s succession plans than I could have hoped to discover by myself in an entire year.

  All because she thinks my loyalty lies completely with The Haven’s monarch.

  What a sweet, naïve little fool she is.

  Chapter Seven

  JAMES

  “Mother,” I say grandly, stepping off the plane and placing my foot on the safe, familiar ground of The Haven. “Are these handcuffs really necessary for the triumphant return of your eldest son?”