Ari wasn’t sure how many hours had passed since the Ancient’s trial. The room, still dark bar the ominous light of the hawthorn and silver prisons, gave no hint as to what time it was. It could quiet easily have been only a few minutes since they had been dragged back inside the dungeon or several hours, or perhaps many days. Time seemed to slip past them unchecked, as if it were no longer bound by the laws of nature.
Finally there was a clicking sound outside and everyone looked up expectantly at the door. It swung open, hitting the opposite side of the wall with a resounding clash, the noise dancing along the cold stone walls, dragging out the sound.
“Good morning,” said James, moving to Ari’s cell and smiling sweetly down at her as he produced a key. “Have you come to a decision?”
Slowly Ari nodded and watched as James unlocked her prison door and indicated for her to follow him. As Ari walked, she locked eyes with Ragon. He was still sitting slumped on the floor. The night in the hawthorn and silver cage seemed to have drained him of what little strength he had left, and he couldn’t even stand as she walked past.
“What about them?” Ari asked, indicating the coven and Lea.
“The Ancients wish to hear your decision,” said James, “the rest of the prisoners will stay here until you have decided their fate.”
“And they won’t be harmed?” she asked, just as the warning that Kiara had given them last night popped into her head.
“No,” said James, walking out of the dungeon. “Not if you agree to join the Ancients. There will however be guards posted on the doors, should you decide to… act out.”
Reluctantly Ari nodded and followed him outside.
This time when she walked with James, she did not speak with him. She had given up trying to understand why he had sided with the Ancients, and what it was about him that made him so different to other men. Though she was certain he was no vampire, there was something uncharacteristically human about him. But his humanity seemed to have gone sour, perhaps from a lifetime spent with in the company of evil. James had called the Ancients his family, and Ari was sure that living with the most powerful and evil creatures in the world, would have bleached the humanity out of him. Then again, perhaps it had never been there, she wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was more to him.
Again he did not restrain her, simply allowed her to walk alongside him, as if she weren’t a threat at all. And unfortunately this was true. Even if she were able to freeze him, and she wasn’t entirely certain that she could, what good would it do? The Ancients had Riley, they had the coven and they had Emily and Chris… and they would kill them all without hesitation if Ari escaped. No, Ari’s only hope was to bargain with the Ancients. Bargain with them for Riley’s life, the coven’s life and Lea’s life, if she agreed to join them. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was the only plan that involved them getting out of this mess alive.
“In here,” said James, gesturing to a door on the opposite of the dark corridor they had been walking through.
With a pang of realisation, Ari saw that she was standing before the same door that she had walked through last night; the door that would lead her to the enormous room with the stage. Holding her breath, Ari pushed the door open, brushing past James so lightly that she felt the warmth radiate from his person, just as her charm bracelet dangled against her wrist. The moment she was inside, her eyes strained to the stage below and she raced towards it.
Atop the stage were a gathering of people, all looking curiously at a metal examination table that had been placed in the centre. Riley was lying unconscious on top of it, her eyes closed and her wrists and ankles bound with thick ropes. Her skin was braceleted with bruises from where the thick binds had cut into her, but other than that she did not appear harmed. Next to her was Chris’s father. The wraith was hovering over Riley expectantly, glancing from her and back towards a large globe of the world that had been placed on a podium a few feet away. Slumped on the floor, his head against the carpet of the stage, was Chris. He had a large bruise across his cheek and his eyes were closed, though Ari saw with a pang of relief that he was still breathing. Off to the side, standing ominously near the edge of the stage, were the three Ancients.
“We trust the night in your cell has illuminated you to accepting our offer?” said Lace.
Lace was wearing a long Grecian green dress, which made her look like a Greek goddess. Next to her, in robes of black were Joseph and Virgil. Ari eyed the trio wearily. She did not fear them, rather despised them. They were evil and Ari couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to these vampires to make them so devoid of humanity? Surely they must have once been humans, just like Ragon and the rest of the vampires?
“Have you made your decision?” asked Joseph.
“I will join you,” said Ari, and all three of the Ancient’s expressions changed, making them appear almost hungry, “but only if you don’t kill Riley and my friends down in the dungeon.”
“What?” Virgil said, staring at Ari, as if she were something disgusting that he could not scrap from the bottom of his boot. “I don’t recall the waere being part of the deal.”
“Either you keep Riley alive or there is no deal,” Ari said determinately, though at her side, her hands were trembling.
Lace and Joseph turned to face each other. Their lips were pulled up at the edges, revealing gleaming white canines, and they shook their heads and muttered angrily. Finally the pair turned to face Ari again, their eyes narrowed.
“That is impossible,” said Joseph. “The waere-girl dies today, as does all of her race. We cannot allow a single one to survive.”
“But,” said Ari, her eyes darting to Riley and then back at the Ancients, not quite believing what they were saying.
“Surely you would not give up your life and that of the vampire you love and all your friends, just to protect this animal?” asked Lace, gesturing at Riley.
“If she is just an animal to you, then what does it matter if she lives?” asked Ari.
“She is an abomination,” said Joseph, “a beast that should never have come into creation. There is no place for her kind in this world.”
“Why are you like this? Were you ever human?” spat Ari, staring up at them in confusion.
“We were not made,” said Lace, her voice light. “We were never human.”
“We were born,” added Joseph. “Our mother was Sabbine… the first vampire.”
“But then,” said Ari, recalling the story she had read from the book of ‘Known Immortals’, “but then your father was Lyall and he was a waere! How can you hate them so much?”
All three of the Ancient’s mouths fell open. Even the wraith, who had been chanting something in front of Riley, stopped to stare at the Ancient’s reaction. The fact that the Ancients were the progeny of a vampire and a waere, seemed to be news to him also.
“Lyall,” said Virgil, glaring at his siblings, as if he were angry at them for bringing up the topic of their family, “was a beast. He was human once but the magic Grandor used to turn him into an immortal changed him.”
“But Grandor used the same magic to create your mother, Sabbine,” said Ari, still unable to understand their hate for waeres.
“Grandor realised that he had made a grave mistake when he had created us, his immortal companions. He thought that if he concentrated his magic down his ancestral line, that there would one day be a descendant with enough magic to right his wrong,” said Lace. “But Grandor was wrong. It was not the vampires who were the monsters… it was the waeres.”
“Lyall was plagued by his immortality,” added Joseph. “He was bound by the curse of the moon that Narsissa, our grandmother, used to bind the magic which made him. He was forced to change every new moon into the animals whose blood ran in his veins. It is from his ghastly transformations that the legend of werewolves was born.”
“One night, during the full moon, Lyall turned into a wolf and attacked our mother,�
� said Lace, and for the first time since Ari had seen the Ancient, she showed emotion; Ari thought it was sadness, but she wasn’t sure. “He tried to kill us but we escaped. We thought that the waere line would end with him but we were wrong. True, the waeres that came after Lyall had learnt to control the compulsion to shift at the full moon, but at heart, they were still beasts. When we discovered that Lyall’s progeny were capable of breeding with vampires, we knew we had to destroy them all.”
“But that’s insane,” said Ari. “Just because one waere made a mistake, it doesn’t mean that they are all like that!”
“Do not think that we took the decision of destroying an entire immortal race lightly,” said Joseph. “For a long time we assumed that without waeres, there would be no more vampires, for without them how could we reproduce? But nature it seemed, wanted the vampires to live on. We discovered that we could create fledglings… our own immortal children. With one simple bite, the venom in our blood could be shared, granting immortality to another, and so the vampires, the hunters of the night, could live on.”
“All vampires since us have been made,” said Virgil. “Perhaps if our mother had of known that, she wouldn’t have needed to mate with an animal and she might…”
But Virgil’s voice trailed off, apparently unable to finish his sentence.
“So,” said Lace, “will you still give up your life and the lives of your friends to save this creature?”
Ari made to answer; the word yes was formed on her lips but then the wraith spoke and all attention was drawn to him. Up until that moment, Ari had forgotten that Chris and his father were still there. She had been so entirely consumed by the Ancients tale that everything else in the background had faded. Now, when she looked at the wraith, her eyes widened.
“Do dare dedi datum contineo animalia,” the wraith said, moving to Riley and pricking her finger with a long silver blade.
Ari watched as the tip of the bloodied blade was placed against the globe of the world; soon it began to spin. The green and blue orb was moving so fast that the colours of the countries and oceans seemed to blur together, creating a unique turquoise colour. Reaching out a hand, the wraith placed a small glass vial above the orb and a thick red liquid dropped from it, cascading down. Ari cringed as she realised what it must be; the blood from three virgin witches. She tried not to think about which of the circle member’s blood was being used to perform this dark magic. It was hard enough trying to block out their faces, faces which she would never see again, though standing out in her memory was Briana, the witch who been first to trust Chris.
“Do dare dedi datum contineo animalia,” the wraith said again, and as he spoke, the red blood which was cascading down the spinning orb seemed to soak through it, as if were being absorbed. “It is done.”
Ari looked at the orb. It had stopped spinning and was now perfectly still. Again the globe depicted the various countries, all bright green and splashed with blue to represent the oceans, but now there were tiny red dots spread out across it.
“This is where the waeres are,” said the wraith, indicating the orb and a gathering of red dots. “As they move the blood markers will change. They won’t be able to run or hide… they won’t be able to escape you this time.”
“Excellent,” said Lace, her eyes wide and hopeful as she squinted at the tiny red dots. “Now, dispatch of that thing and you and your son may leave.”
The wraith withdrew the silver blade, holding it up so that it glimmered in the light. Ari looked at the bloodied tip, her heart screaming in her chest. Christopher’s face was grim, his expression fixed in determination as he advanced on Riley. Without hesitating Ari made to stop him, her hands ready to freeze time but before she could, someone spoke and all attention, even that of Christopher’s, shifted to the figure on the floor.
“You really are a monster,” said a feeble voice, and Ari looked down to see that Chris had woken.
Slowly Chris sat up. He was shaking his head at his father, his hand having gently reached up to caress the bruise across his cheek.
“That’s enough Chris,” said the wraith, advancing again on Riley, the pointed silver dagger still wielded above her lifeless form, “once this is done we are leaving.”
“Excuse me?” asked Chris, “What in the world makes you think I am leaving with you?”
Again the wraith paused, this time lowering the blade to his side as he stared incredulously at his son.
“You haven’t got a choice,” said the wraith. “You either come with me or you stay here and die.”
“That sounds like a choice to me,” said Chris, raising his eyebrows.
“Be careful little wraith,” hissed Lace. “We have offered your life to your father in exchange for his help. Cross us and you will regret it.”
“You’re just as crazy as him!” Chris said, indicating his father.
“Chris, you are a wraith and my son,” said the wraith. “This,” he added, waving his hands at Ari and the Ancients, “is vampire business… you do not belong here.”
“And yet you seem to be performing a spell for them. That seems strange considering this is vampire business and we shouldn’t be a part of it,” said Chris, glaring up at his father. “Only three virgin witches sacrificed, tusk, tusk; how many baby bunnies had to go into the cauldron for your spell to work? Or was it just kittens and puppies?”
“I did this to save you,” spat the wraith, his eyes momentarily straying to the blade in his hand.
“Save me?” Chris asked sarcastically, recapturing his father’s attention. “The only thing I need saving from is you. You think I am just like you because necromancy runs in my veins, but I’m not. You think I will leave here and become your protégé, but I won’t. I hate you.”
“As long as you are alive, you are free to hate me,” he said. “I would rather a son that hates me than a dead one.”
“Touching,” said Chris, “except you’re wrong! If you really loved me, even cared about me, then you wouldn’t side with the Ancients, you would side with me… and not just because I am your son, but because it’s the right thing to do.”
“It is not that simple,” said the wraith, turning to look uncomfortably at the Ancients, who were watching the blade in his hands with narrowed eyes. “I have to do this.”
Without waiting for Chris to reply, the wraith moved over to Riley, the blade swinging up high in the air before he thrust it down towards Riley’s chest. But before the sharp tip could meet her heart, the room began to darken, the light sucked out of it, leaving flickers of shadows dancing grey and ominous against the floor. Slowly the wraith turned to face his son, his eyes small and scared.
“No, Chris, don’t!” said his father, just as the blade he held dropped from his hand and clattered noisily to the floor. “I can’t protect you if-”
“-I may be a necromancer,” Chris said, and Ari watched his eyes turn black, “there may be darkness inside me, but I will not be ruled by it… I make my own choices. As a necromancer I can control the dead, and guess what vampires are… dead!”
The thick shadows in the room began to quiver, and all three of the Ancients cried out in surprise.
“What is this magic?” screamed Joseph, and Ari turned to see that he was no longer standing tall and perfect, but cowering, his shadow seeming to shiver and contort.
“Guards!” cried Lace, and immediately a sea of vampires swarmed into the room, looking up at the Ancients then across at Chris.
There were at least fifty of them. Their eyes were dark and hungry, their expression fixed in grim determination as they stood, waiting command.
“Kill the wraiths,” screamed Joseph, his pale hand outstretched to indicate Chris and his father.
Chris smiled, his dark eyes seeming to relish the addition of reinforcements. He held out his hand, pointed it at one of the advancing vampire’s shadows, and Ari watched the man crumpled to his feet, blood gushing from his eyes and ears.
James, who was sta
nding off to the side, had his mouth open in disbelief. He watched as two more vampires fell to the floor, soon lying in a pool of jet black blood that seeped through the thick carpet, staining it.
“NO!” screamed another vampire, racing at Chris, so fast that he blurred across the room, jumping from chair to chair as he scrambled closer.
Ari cried out in surprise, but everything was happening too fast. She felt her hands by her sides like dead weights. She tried to force herself to be fast enough to save Chris but before she could stop time, the vampire was already flying through the air, his fangs pointing menacingly at Chris. Chris had no chance to react. His eyes were dark, empty, not even reflecting the fear of the onslaught that was heading straight for him, ready to kill him. Just at the moment that the vampire would hit him, Chris’s dad had rushed in front of his son, blocking the attack. The vampire’s long canines slashed into the wraith’s neck, piercing his jugular vein, so that a thick fountain of blood spewed onto the floor. For a moment there was silence. Chris’s eyes had turned momentarily green and reflected in them was the body of his father, falling backwards as he hit the floor below.
Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) Page 34