by Nadia Heaton
Mirabelle stumbled around the room, pulling down jars of various ingredients. She gulped down a few sips of water, but didn’t touch the tray Amanda had left. She hadn’t showered either, and knew she needed a wash, but that could wait.
She had most of what she needed here, except for gerifian root. It was rare, though Mirabelle knew where it grew. She’d have to navigate the forest around her hut without being discovered by her nieces, but she was fairly certain she could do it.
Doesn’t work in salt water.
Even if she did get the spell working, it likely wouldn’t tell her anything, but Mirabelle wasn’t going to think about that now.
“Mirabelle? Where are you going? You’re not in any fit state to go above ground, not until you get some proper rest, at least.”
“I have to get – be right back –” Too distracted to form full sentences, Mirabelle tried to dodge past Amanda. Amanda’s face was set in concern, and she made a grab for Mirabelle’s elbow.
It was a big mistake. Mirabelle screamed in wordless frustration as she threw her hands up. Wordless magic was unreliable and never a good idea, but it came without prompting from her.
Amanda leapt back just in time to avoid a deluge of rock. The tunnel collapsed all around her as Mirabelle strode purposefully forward. She heard other witches hurrying to the source of the disturbance, but she was safe for now. It would take them time to move the rock safely, without risking further tunnel collapse.
If it had been any of her coven who had done something so reckless, Mirabelle would have reprimanded them harshly, but there was no one here to reprimand her, no one to care if she did something stupid, something that might get her killed.
Relishing the silence, at least for a moment, Mirabelle started walking up the small tunnel that led to the catacombs’ concealed entrance just outside her hut. She used magic to lever the stone that covered it aside, blinking in the bright light as she stepped out.
A shadow had Mirabelle sinking into the shadows. Her hut had always been a sanctuary, but recently, vampires and their allies had penetrated further into her defenses than ever before, and she knew that caution would likely pay off.
Mirabelle crept forward, peering from behind a tree. She almost laughed at what she saw. Fleur was standing in front of the hut, her hands glowing slightly. She was obviously trying to get through the protective enchantments, thinking Mirabelle was inside.
Fleur had the raw power to get through the enchantments eventually, but she was unpracticed, and the attempt would take her days, maybe even weeks. Assuming Mirabelle didn’t reinforce the spells, Fleur would get through only to find that Mirabelle was never in the hut. The spells guarding the catacombs were considerably more powerful.
She’d love to see her niece’s face when Fleur realized all of her hard work had been for nothing, but Mirabelle was in a hurry. She left Fleur to her fruitless task and went in the opposite direction, deeper into the forest. She had some ingredients to find. She’d try the spell as many times as she needed to. Ariana wouldn’t stay underwater forever, and when she surfaced, Mirabelle would find her.
3
Rashid paced back and forth, trying to marshal his thoughts. Everything had gone so wrong. For a while there, he’d thought that vampires and witches had a decent chance of making peace. Now, it was clear there was no chance of that.
Mirabelle would never forgive him for hiding Ariana’s existence from her. Rashid had done it to protect Mirabelle as much as he had to protect Ariana, but he didn’t expect her to understand. Knowing the whole story would undoubtedly spur Mirabelle to greater hatred for his kind. The war truly seemed unavoidable now.
Lisette was still clinging to hope of peace, but Rashid knew better. Only one side was going to survive this conflict, and he would ensure that it was the vampires. He had expected better of their queen, but if she wouldn’t step up and lead their army, Rashid would do it for her.
“Rashid?” Vince and Zan were watching him, waiting. “What would you have us do?”
There were so many things that needed doing, and not enough vampires to do them. Many were following Lisette’s orders and doing nothing to bring more conflict between vampires and witches. Those few who were on Rashid’s side couldn’t be spared for any non-essential task.
Ariana could take care of herself. Rashid figured she probably needed some time, after the emotional shock of finally finding out where she came from. Finding her wasn’t an essential task… but it was all he could think about. He had to be sure she was ok, and he wasn’t any good to the people he was supposed to be leading if he was distracted.
“Go, find her. Take one or two others, but no more than that. The rest are needed here.”
Zan clasped Rashid’s shoulder briefly in wordless acknowledgement of how hard this was. Rashid’s instinct was to send every vampire under his command after Ariana to ensure she was safe, but he knew that this wasn’t a smart instinct to follow. If the witches weren’t taken down, that would mean death for all vampires, Ariana included.
Rashid stood by the window, watching until he saw Vince and Zan leaving, both with bulky backpacks. Like all the vampires under his command, they had access to his guest account, which would get them plane tickets, but it was likely that Ariana would be deep in the wilderness of Russia, which would require some camping to get to.
He didn’t expect any visitors for a while. Most of his vampires were out on missions, so Rashid was surprised by a knock on the door several minutes later. He hid a grimace as Savion and Jermaine entered.
“Savion, Jermaine. Welcome. I didn’t know that you’d be joining me?” Rashid knew very well that they weren’t joining him or his efforts, but he kept his voice carefully light and polite.
“We need to talk, Rashid.” Savion threw himself onto a couch without invitation. Jermaine, the quieter of the two brothers, perched next to him.
“We do. I could use your help. We need to destabilize the witches before we make our final move –”
“No! Rashid, this is lunacy. What happened to making peace?”
“That was Lisette’s idea, not mine. In case you haven’t noticed, Savion, you two are in the minority, being on board with peace, or even thinking it will work.”
“She’s our queen,” Jermaine said quietly. “We elected her for a reason. Now, we have to follow.”
“Read the histories,” Rashid snapped. “Kings and queens have come and gone. The title may suggest that they’re all-powerful, but any monarch ultimately only rules by the consent of their people. If Lisette continues to move in a direction that’s likely to result in the extermination of our kind, she’s not going to keep her crown for much longer.”
Savion took a calming breath, as though trying hard to restrain himself from shouting. “You are the one who is moving in a direction that will result in the extermination of our kind. The witches are too powerful to fight, at least not without most of us dying in the battle. Peace is our only chance.”
“There is no chance of peace.” While he would normally have been angry at further talks of making peace with witches, Rashid couldn’t summon much anger right now. mostly, he felt overwhelming sadness. “It’s a wonderful dream, I’ll give you that, but I don’t think it’s possible. The hatred between our kinds runs too deep.”
Jermaine and Savion exchanged a perplexed look, clearly taken aback by his sudden melancholy. Rashid didn’t bother to explain it to them. The recent scene with Mirabelle had brought back all the old memories that Rashid had tried to bury by partying, drinking and scheming.
After all this time, he’d have thought that he would have managed to purge the last of his emotions for her, but they clung on stubbornly. By all laws of reason, he should hate her, but Rashid had never forgotten that he had once loved her, and that those feelings had refused to fade into memory.
He wondered how different things might have been if he’d never been turned. Mirabelle would have no reason to hate him, then. He wouldn’t hav
e been a vampire when Mirabelle conceived, which meant Ariana would have been born human. They could have been a family, raising their daughter together…
Rashid hated himself slightly for having these thoughts, but try as he might, they persisted, like a noxious gas intent on suffocating him with sadness and regret.
Savion’s next words brought him out of his thoughts. “There’s another reason we came. There’s a vampire in town looking for somewhere to stay. Her name is Victoria. I’m not sure if she’s interested in joining your fight, but we told her that you offer accommodation to any vampire passing through the area.”
“Fine, fine,” Rashid said distractedly, still thinking about Mirabelle. “Put her up in Ariana’s room for now. Who is she, anyway?”
“She’s originally from France, but she grew up in Africa with her family. I believe she’s here to rediscover her roots, or something of the sort.” Savion and Jermaine exchanged a glance that Rashid didn’t have the energy to interpret. They looked almost worried, but Rashid didn’t share their trepidation.
When you opened your home to all manner of guests, you had to learn to deal with the odd ones and the occasional troublemaker. If Victoria was difficult, Rashid would handle her just like he handled all wayward vampires in his estate.
“Do you want to meet her?” Jermaine was looking inquiringly at him, and Rashid had to shake himself slightly, bringing his mind back to the present. He didn’t really want to meet another guest, but Rashid was nothing if not a good host.
“Of course.”
Victoria was in the expansive lounge Rashid used as a waiting room. She had a small bag with her and was dressed simply. She looked young, but for a vampire, that didn’t say much. They stopped aging when they turned; Victoria could easily have lived for centuries.
“Rashid Asem? Thank you for agreeing to take me in. I hope it’s not any trouble.” Victoria shook his hand as Rashid stared curiously at her. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Not at all, my dear. I always welcome new guests. The house is rather full at the moment, but there’s always room for one more. I’ll put you up in one of the tower rooms, I think you’ll find it comfortable.”
“Thanks. Do you usually have this many visitors?”
“No, it’s normally only a couple at a time. We have a bit of a situation, and I’ve called in some friends to help me with it.”
Rashid watched Victoria carefully as he said this. If he could recruit another vampire to his side, that would only make their cause stronger.
“A situation? Nothing serious, I hope?”
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t get much more serious than this. But enough of that for now. You should get settled in. We have dinner just down there in the main hall. If you’re interested in hearing more about our work, you’re welcome to join us. Most of my guests attend.”
“Thank you, I will do that.” Victoria looked interested, which was exactly what Rashid had been intending. Overwhelming her with information wasn’t the way to go. He’d give her a few hours to think over what he’s said. Hopefully he’d have her on his team before the night ended.
Savion and Jermaine left shortly afterward. Rashid knew that their loyalties lay with their mates, and as infuriating as it was, he couldn’t really blame them. A person’s first responsibility was always to their mate and family; it was just infuriating that they had to choose a witch and a witch’s sister. Had they chosen vampires, he’d have much more support.
Fighting gloom and rising despair, Rashid wandered into the library. He should have spent more time with Ariana, gotten to know her better. Of course, he’d had his reasons. He’d wanted to protect her, and had been sure that too much close contact with him would be dangerous for Ariana.
Rashid knew that Mirabelle had never really stopped spying on him, as she did with any vampires in the area. He couldn’t afford for her to figure out Ariana’s true identity.
It was too late for that now, though. Mirabelle would come for him. She would never forgive him for telling her that Ariana was a stillborn. If Rashid didn’t take steps to protect himself, he was as good as dead.
He didn’t want to fight Mirabelle, and not just because he was afraid he’d lose. No, Rashid’s best option was to find a way to calm her anger, which seemed to be next to impossible, but he had to try. He certainly wasn’t willing to kill her.
Maybe if he found Ariana first and had her with him when Mirabelle finally broke through his defenses, she wouldn’t be as angry. If Rashid could present her with the daughter that he’d hidden from her all these years, maybe he had a chance of making it out of this without bloodshed on either side.
Rashid would join the search for Ariana himself, and not stop until he found her. He turned on his heel and strode out of the library. He was so distracted that he didn’t even notice the person in his path, and stumbled as he walked straight into Teo Abbadelli.
4
“Teo!” Rashid quickly steadied the man, who he had nearly knocked over. “What are you doing here?”
He and Teo were friends, of a sort, and usually, Rashid would have welcomed his company, but not now. He’d deal with whatever Teo wanted quickly, then leave.
“What am I doing here? Seriously, Rashid? I’ve come to find out why you lied to me!”
Teo looked vexed, and Rashid scrambled to think what he’d done to offend him. He usually kept very good track of things, but right now, all he could think of was Ariana and Mirabelle. “I lied to you?”
“About Lisette being dead! I saw her on the beach yesterday, with another man!”
Oh. Yes, he had lied about that. Rashid had deemed it prudent. Teo’s revenge scheme against Lisette was becoming inconvenient, so he’d decided it would be better to tell the man she wasn’t in the picture anymore.
“Teo, I think you must have been confused. You must have seen someone else who merely looked like –”
“Shut up, Rashid, you’re not fooling me! I know all your tricks – you forget I was the one who taught you some of them. You’re lying again. I want the truth.”
This was going too far. Rashid could understand why Teo was angry, but he wasn’t in the mood to be reprimanded by a mortal. “If I hadn’t told you she was dead, you’d have kept putting your life on hold and seeking revenge against her. She’s a vampire now, Teo. Do you know what that means? She could kill you in an instant if she wanted to. You’d be wise to stay away from her.”
Teo knew about vampires, but not witches, and Rashid wasn’t going to enlighten him. Lisette was a thousand times more dangerous than a normal vampire, because she had her witch powers too. For all Rashid’s talk about her losing her throne, if she wanted to keep it, she could make her removal a bloodbath if she was so inclined.
“A – a vampire? What… how did it happen?”
“I’ll have to explain it to you another time. All that matters is that you’d be unwise to mess with her. I have urgent errands to run, Teo, so if you’ll excuse me…”
Teo’s slapped his hand over Rashid’s arm before Rashid could dart away. “Oh no you don’t. You lied to me. The least you can do is tell me the full truth, here and now.”
“Later, Teo.”
“No. I say now.” Teo had a steely look in his eyes that Rashid didn’t like at all. “You forget, I know your secret. How do you think the authorities would react to knowledge of vampires? Most specifically, a certain vampire who lives in an estate by himself and offers shelter to all passing creatures of his kind?”
That was going too far. Rashid felt anger swelling within him and he didn’t fight it. Vampires seldom used magic, unlike witches, but they had a basic command of certain powers.
“Rashid, I’m a bit lost, can you show me –” He barely glanced at Victoria as she poked her head into the room. Rashid’s full attention was focused on Teo as he swelled in anger.
His voice boomed through the room, making the walls shake, and Ras
hid’s body grew huge and grotesque, until he had to bend down to prevent banging into the ceiling.
“You breathe a word to anyone, boy, and it’ll be the last thing you ever do! If you actually get someone to believe you, then it’ll be the end of your family as well, and every sorry sap you’ve ever said good morning to. Do you understand?”
Teo’s expression went at once from anger to terror. Behind him, he heard a small whimper and glanced around to see Victoria plastered against the wall, looking petrified. Rashid turned back to Teo, noting in satisfaction that the man looked like he was about to wet his pants.
“Get out of here, and if you’re smart, you won’t show your face for a very, very long time.”
Teo didn’t need to be told twice. He turned around and ran. Rashid turned to Victoria, who was still frozen in place. “What are you looking at?” he snapped.
Victoria fled too. Rashid would probably regret his poor manners toward his new guest later, but right now, his blood was still boiling with rage. How dare Teo threaten him? If Rashid didn’t have more pressing matters on his mind, he’d hunt Teo down right then and make his life a living hell.
He needed some air. Forgoing packing any kind of bag, Rashid forced himself to calm slightly, reversing the magic so that he reverted to normal size. The last thing he wanted was to go tearing up his chateau; he was very fond of this place.
Rashid was well aware that every vampire within ten miles would have heard his outburst. They were probably cowering in their rooms right now. All vampires had access to similar magic, with few personal variations, but emotion tended to get in the way, just like it did with witches.
His anger had magnified the spell’s effects far beyond what most vampires would have been capable of. Rashid didn’t blame them for being afraid. He burst out of the door and headed through the grounds for the forest beyond.