Blood Threads: The Star Seamstress Book One

by Noella Royce

  I'd say I dreaded my next shift, and I did, but honestly, my love life was the least of my problems.

  Looking at Hal, I was suddenly oddly grateful for his presence. Maybe a sullen werewolf was better than no protection at all, although I was having trouble imaging this chill dude turning into some sort of savage creature. "Wanna order a pizza?"

  He looked fully awake for the first time since I'd arrived, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, that'd be great. Can we get all the meats?"

  My mouth was open with my reply when an earthquake hit, one so huge that I fell off my chair and all the pictures rattled off the wall. I expected it to stop shortly, as all the other quakes had done, but while it subsided, it continued, shaking everything at a low, punishing frequency. The building began to shake so violently I was worried it was going to come down around our ears.

  When it stopped, the lights went out, leaving a darkness so complete it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

  I heard movement, and the sound of the blinds at the window being opened. "Fuck," Hal swore, and as my eyes adjusted I saw his faint outline as he peered outside.

  Joining him, I was struck speechless.

  The sky was black. No clouds, no moon, no hint of light from any source—it was simply pure darkness throughout.

  "How could this happen?" I whispered.

  "I have to go back to my clan," Hal said; as he turned, I saw his eyes were a gleaming yellow, like a wolf's.

  "But—"

  "I'm sorry." He sounded it, too. "We were told if anything like this were to happen we must come home. This could be the end, and we have to be ready to fight. The truth is my job was over once we found out you had no powers, but I know Kristen likes you, and was doing her a favor." He opened the door. "Now that you can't do anything, the Ashers will probably lay off. Good luck."

  He was gone, and I was left alone in a pitch-dark room with those not-particularly-heartening words. Looking at my phone, I saw it only had 50 percent battery and no signal; whatever had killed the power had also killed the cell towers.

  I opened the window and took in the quiet of the world. There were some distant honks from cars probably struggling with the lack of streetlights, and people were leaving their houses and buildings to congregate on the sidewalk, holding their glowing phones before them like little lanterns.

  First, I tried to go to sleep, but after my long nap I was anything but tired. My mind was too awake, and I was too anxious and worried to even consider the thought.

  I didn't want to be alone.

  Deciding the outside had to be safe because of how many people were there, I grabbed my purse, light coat, and walked outside. Unfortunately, I didn't know any of the college students, and they didn't seem interested in talking to me, gathering in clumps and chatting as if an all-black sky was normal.

  Maybe they didn't notice; who knew?

  Soon, I was walking downtown, taking solace in the many souls who'd dragged chairs outside to take advantage of the crisp fall air. I wrapped my arms around myself, fell into despair, and thought about how I really should leave Maywen. I didn't belong.

  There was no saving Sun Ji and Kyle, and in a town populated by magical people, I had nothing to offer. Hell, even Amari, who was as normal as I was, had a supernatural lover to tie him into the craziness here. All I had was an old, broody vampire professor who had apparently betrayed all his friends and probably didn't give a real damn about anything.

  If things had worked out with Jordan, maybe that would have anchored me and given me something to look forward to. But I fucked that up as well.

  My mind continued to spiral down as I reached the edge of town and found the sidewalks were thronged with students and employees of the establishments chatting.

  The evening air was suddenly full of the sound of asphalt tearing and ripping, followed by screams. I whirled to see the ground buckle and move in a way that was painfully familiar.

  It was also bursting in my direction. The people on the sidewalks started panicking, and a car swerved and crashed into a streetlamp.

  I ran with everything I had.

  At first, I stayed on the sidewalk, avoiding the few cars that were driving down Fenris Street, but there were too many people, and when they saw what was after me, they began to flail and run as well. Dodging to the street, I cried out as I was smacked in the hip by the driver's side mirror of one of the cars parallel parked on the side of the road, and I could hear them jostling into each other with the horrific crunch of smashing metal as the creature tore up the road.

  "Veda!" I heard a voice call out, but there was no time to turn and see who it was.

  Running against oncoming traffic, I heard the loud crash of cars hitting each other as they were impacted by the undulations, and I had to leap back onto the sidewalk as a van almost swerved into me.

  I almost fell over as I took the corner of Fenris and University, sprinting and trying to ignore the fact my chest was about to burst and my legs burned.

  At the edge of the campus, a massive group of students had gathered underneath a collection of gas tiki torches in an impromptu outdoor party. They held drinks and there was music, and I quelled at the thought of leading this abomination through the heart of them. Taking a hard right, I ran across the street, ignoring the traffic screaming towards me, and found myself at the edge, trapped against the low steel fence that surrounded the water here downtown.

  "Fuck!" I swore, panicked, as the ground boiled towards me. I leapt up on the fence, ignoring the stab of pain in my legs as I jammed them against the metal. Crawling on the other side, I found myself staring into the water of the Agrimony River, flowing beneath me. Its depths were dark and fathomless.

  We have an end, sweetling, and it is closer than you know.

  "Please save me!" I sobbed.

  Only if you join us.

  The ground exploded on the green grass next to the river, and there was the gleaming yellow snake head, it's purple eyes glinting. I heard the mass screams of the partygoers down the block, but I was transfixed on the monster before me.

  "Isn't he beautiful?" A woman's voice asked, and a figure in a long purple robe stepped next to the head of the beast and stroked it lovingly. "It took me years and many pints of blood to summon this darling from the depths of the underworld. He's my baby." She was cooing now, and I resisted the urge to retch.

  Tend to get a bit too attached to their corpses, the dead-dancers.

  I almost giggled at that one; the river would be funny if it wasn't so damn scary.

  The hooded woman whipped around to stare at me. "What are you smiling at?"

  She probably wouldn't react well to being laughed at. "The irony that my death is going to be caused by a massive, garishly colored zombie snake."

  "Francisk is not a zombie!" Lovely, I'd offended her anyways. These Ashers were nuts. "He is a form of god, modeled after the Egyptian snake deity Apep. Also, we are here to collect you; we'd prefer you alive."

  I began inching along the fence as she talked, hoping to get to where the buildings were further down and dive behind one, but Francisk hissed at me and flicked a big tongue in my direction. "Why would you still want me? I'm useless to everyone, no risk to you or your plans." How can I escape? I asked the river.

  There is none except into our soothing bosom. Shit, I was worried that would be its answer.

  "For now you are, yes, but you won't be forever. Once Maywen is fully under our control, we must ensure none of the pesky creatures here put up too much resistance, and protective robes made by a Star Seamstress would be quite effective armor."

  I needed to keep this hooded loon distracted. I don't want to drown, or die. "Are you saying you'd turn me into a one-woman magic-robe sweatshop?"

  We do not wish to kill you.

  "If you prefer to think of it that way, sure. We'd feed you occasionally, and let you sleep every sixteen hours." The snake was apparently bored, as it started to weave a pat
tern with its massive head, it's head undulating and its gaze locked upon me.

  That doesn't sound like a promise not to. "How's the time off?" I was being a smartass in the hope of buying some time.

  Everything has risks, lovely Veda. We can only somewhat control the element of our conveyance. But at least we're not a giant poisonous zombie snake, no?

  The river had a point.

  "Sorry, dear, you're not eligible for vacation until you've completed at least ninety years of service at the 'Exceeds Expectations' level." She flicked her hand. "Enough banter. Are you coming with me willingly?" I shook my head, and she shrugged. "Suit yourself; you can spend the time needed to recover your skills healing from his bite. Francisk!"

  The snake shot towards me with blinding speed. I released the railing and fell towards the dark waters below.

  15

  My body was very cold at first; it was as if I'd been suddenly wrapped completely in a blanket of ice.

  And yet it was a blanket as opposed to a flood, for I didn't feel soaked, only engulfed. I opened my eyes and found Francisk's yellow face rushing towards me through the water, and I knew I was done for.

  At that moment, I was yanked downward deeper into the river, and the snake head disappeared as the ice thickened around me.

  Come come, let us have a look at you. This voice, as opposed to the one that usually spoke to me, was younger and sweeter.

  She's so pretty; can we keep her? This was a child's voice.

  Not yet, not yet.

  Now I noticed that there wasn't just one voice of many tones but what was a cacophony of men, women, children...some spoke, some sang, others raged. Lights and shapes zoomed and languidly floated past me, glimmering in yellows, blues, greens and even purples. They seemed somehow alive.

  Gasping at the realization, I took a bunch of water into my lungs and began to cough. A voice tsked me. Be careful—you're still underwater, you know, and keeping you breathing takes enough effort as it is.

  What are you?

  Laughter. We are Maywen, and the source of its power. Thus the Ash Order desires us, and without your help, they will get their wish.

  I closed my eyes again and would have laughed bitterly if I didn't think it'd choke me again. I've heard this so many times—you have power, we need your help, Veda, you're our only hope. I wanted to believe it, but it's bullshit. All I did was make one lousy skirt that was easily destroyed, and now I can't do anything. Let me die. At least I won't be snake food this way.

  The sound of dozens of voices sighing in unison washed over me. Human self-pity is so bitter in taste. You left your life because it became messy and you blamed yourself, not the rich and powerful who made you their target. You ran away instead of fighting. Will you do it again, give up on yourself and your potential? Decide you're useless and take the easy route?

  I am useless! I was crying, I could feel it, but my tears were lost in the frigid maelstrom of whatever surrounded me. I have no money, I have no friends, no lover, no education, no career. All my skills are facile and shallow, makeup and stupid clothes and posing in front of a camera, and I'm not strong or special or powerful. I'm... nothing.

  I'm a loser. I'm just a loser who deserves to die.

  You didn't always believe this. I opened my mouth to argue that yes, yes I did, but before I could, I was bombarded with images of myself, of my videos and images and assisting my friends with their costumes and makeup. They were looking at me with admiration, with respect.

  Damn, Veda, you made it so much better. Now I can actually wear this.

  For the first time, my mom called me beautiful after I made your dress.

  I'd been trying to make a costume I didn't hate for more than a year - because of you, I understand. I don't feel like an idiot any more.

  Thank you, Veda, you're a lifesaver. But now you don't have time to finish your costume!

  I hadn't cared when that had happened—my friend had put her heart and soul into her creation, and she'd just stepped out into the professional cosplay scene. She'd won the competition and moved on to be a scene superstar; it hadn't mattered that I'd withdrawn my own submission. I hadn't cared, because I was so proud of her.

  I liked helping people. I liked helping them feel fabulous and beautiful and special. The comments on my videos and images I cared about weren't the ones that told me I was great, or beautiful.

  No, the people that got me and made me cry were those who said I helped them feel better about themselves, or gave them a skill they'd always wanted to learn, or made them want to do more. Those were the only ones that mattered.

  You have power beyond your magic, and we will give that back to you. But you have to want it and believe. Without that, then yes, you will go on to wither in the sun of your own self-contempt, and it will be a death much worse than by drowning. Shall you live? Shall you help, regardless of the cost?

  The faces of Sun Ji and his friends, so open and excited and lovely, came before me, and I felt that desperate need to save him again. Amari and Kristen were there too, smiling at me, trying to help without betraying their obligations. They might not have been friends yet, but they could be.

  I needed to save Sun Ji and Kyle if I could. I needed to save Maywen. My skills might be facile but they were mine, and with or without my weird magic powers, I had to fight.

  Yes. I want to live. Please, help me.

  A ringing sound surrounded me, as if thousands of bells were pealing in triumph. First we heal, then we release.

  All the lights suddenly turned a bright indigo, and my eyes widened as they converged.

  When I opened my mouth to scream, several of the lights rushed inside me with the water and I was both choking and yet felt like I was being emptied of everything inside my body, turning me into a wafer-thin shell.

  The fluid one has played quite a nasty trick with their poison; in time this would have killed your soul. My mind bucked in panic; now that I wanted to live, going to the great beyond wasn't so appealing any longer. Shh, child, shh. We'll give you a new power—no poison will take you.

  Then the lights exploded out of me, and I swear they were giggling. I was no longer weightless; quite the opposite, my body felt full to bursting with sensations and tingles and itches and power.

  I suddenly felt powerful, in a way I had before my magic had disappeared, but to a lesser extent.

  Your escort has arrived.

  Escort? The water exploded above me and strong arms wrapped around my torso. I found myself rushing towards the surface of the water.

  Remember your promise, a voice whispered.

  Suddenly I was gasping air, and I opened my eyes to see Adin's glowing orbs glaring at me.

  "Hello," I said with a silly smile. "We meet again."

  Judging by his scowl, he wasn't amused by my humor. I myself couldn't explain where the need to crack jokes came from.

  No, I could. After the soul-deep cleanse I'd just received from the Agrimony, my mind and vision were clear in a way they hadn't been in years, if ever. My body and soul were both light, and that translated into an odd goofiness I had to share.

  Then my eyes snagged on him and my breath caught. He'd been wearing a white button-up shirt and dress pants that were torn, tattered, and now soaked and clung to his rounded muscles, and his thick black hair curled and fell upon his forehead. The man looked like a delicious male water spirit, and I was really tempted to towel him dry.

  Wow, my brain really was at peak unfiltered.

  His eyes had stopped somewhere below my face as well, and both of us snapped our gaze upward. "What happened?"

  "Some necro-chick with a massive yellow snake attacked me, and the only way to escape was to jump." I glanced around to make sure said duo wasn't there, but all I saw was the rubble where Francisk had busted out of the ground and large pools of blood.

  His jaw flexed. "I know that part, as I just took care of them. What happened in the water?"

  "The river rescued me," I said,
shaking water out of my hair and looking away from the distracting sight of his muscles. "It removed the poison, and told me what was important, and that I had value, and what I needed to do."

  Adin tilted his head at me. "And what did it want in return?"

  I blinked. "I think it wants me to save Maywen."

  "Too meta; the river trades in deeply personal currency. What did you promise?"

  Regardless of cost, you shall pay.

  "To give them whatever they want."

  Adin swore, which was pretty sexy, and shook his head. "That was a very, very stupid thing to do."

  "What choice did I have?" He didn't answer, and I decided to take his silence as acceptance.

  I looked at him, at his haunted expression, and my new clarity had me asking the question I most wanted to ask him. "Why won't you help the other vampires? They miss you."

  He quirked a smile. "Miss me?"

  "Miss you," I said firmly, and wrapped my arms around myself. How freezing the fall air was on my skin hit me, and the bubbling energy and lightness I'd felt after being pulled out of the water was dissipating. "It's as if their eldest sibling had just upped and said he wasn't family anymore. Why?"

  His smile disappeared. "That's a long story."

  "I-I want to h-h-hear it." My teeth were chattering, and I started to feel light-headed.

  "Not now." He stepped towards me.

  "When? Oh!" In a second, I was off the ground and in his arms.

  "Later." His voice was grim, and he began striding down the river path towards the footbridge to the other side. Keeping my eyes open became very difficult.

  "Is she okay? Where are you going?" I thought I knew that voice, but was too tired to try to remember who it belonged to. Friend? Foe?

  I gave into the darkness, hoping it would take me somewhere more peaceful than this.

  My dreams were back.

  I knew this because I found myself floating in a starry world, surrounded by equally weightless versions of me reading, sleeping, sewing, masturbating, talking, dancing... all these mes, all naked, all doing different and often strange things, as if they didn't see their doppelgangers around them.