Echoes & Silence Part 1

by Angela M Hudson

  “Their father was called, and Mayor Turney was arrested but never charged.”

  David wiped the back of his wrist across his mouth, shaking his head, his eyes so bright with amusement. “My father never looked at us the same again. He refused to have us examined but I know he believed we’d been assaulted.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, I guess it is pretty bad,” David said.

  While they continued laughing and reminiscing, I only half-listened, taking the moment to digest everything else I’d heard tonight, then thinking about all the times I’d talked with Petey and how he’d somehow made me feel like everything would be okay. I’d wanted my dad here, so many times it hurt to think about now but, in truth, he’d really been here all along.

  I thought back to that first day after I met Arthur on the park bench across from my house, when I turned and saw the white fluffball behind me—thought about how good it felt to see him. “The conferences,” I said out of the blue.

  Dad stopped laughing and smiled at me. “Yes.”

  “That’s how you got away with being Petey?”

  “Yes,” he said again.

  “But…” I frowned at his human form, trying to imagine a smaller dog in place. “How can you change size and shape?”

  He slid forward on the seat, cupping his hands and resting his elbows on his knees. “You have that ability, too.”

  “How?”

  He turned his hand and showed me a shining red stone set into a ring on his pinkie—one I’d never ever seen before. “Blood Garnet.”

  “Where do you get that?”

  “It must be created through a kind of magic Nature offers. This was forged on the Stone by my blood and the blood of my mother, the first Auress of the realm.”

  “And how does it work?”

  “It allows the body to use the energy of Nature to reveal its spirit form.”

  “So, we can just change into a dog?”

  “For those whose spirit guide is a dog, yes.”

  “Where does your body go? Your human body?”

  He looked at the ring, tilting it into the light. “How does a bone grow from infancy to adulthood? What makes a caterpillar change to a butterfly?”

  I was about to answer his rhetorical question when he cut in.

  “We don’t see the action nature takes. We don’t see the caterpillar transform before the naked eye, we only see it once it’s changed.”

  “So, you don’t know where the body goes?”

  He shook his head. “I do not seek to understand the mysteries of the world. Only to marvel at what I can see with my own two eyes.”

  “Can all vampires change like that—or is it just Originals?”

  “All vampires that possess a Garnet, yes.”

  I turned back and grinned at David. “Where can we get one?”

  Dad shook his head. “They must be made by an Auress under a full moon. And I would not recommend making them for just anyone.”

  “What about David?”

  “That would be fine. But a mask can only hide you from those who do not possess the knowledge of such.”

  “Right.” I nodded. “So, keep this Blood Garnet thing a secret?”

  “As well as your ability to age.”

  I held my hand out in front of me, taking in the youthful skin. “I never thought I’d see myself old.”

  “And you won’t,” Dad said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t recommend hiding yourself the way I did.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it requires long periods of blood denial. Ara, anyone who’s been near you first thing in the morning knows that’s a bad idea. You can’t go without breakfast, let alone blood.”

  David laughed. “If you attempted to age, Ara, I’d leave the country.”

  I punched him softly in the arm.

  He laughed again, inching away as if that hurt.

  “The other issue we’ll need to address is Emily Pierce and Nathan Rossi,” Dad added.

  “Oh my God.” I covered my mouth. “Dad, Emily is going to freak.”

  Dad smiled softly. “I know.”

  “Then you know she has a—”

  “I know all about Emily’s feelings toward me,” he stated. “But they will no longer be an issue, Ara. She’s fallen for Blade now.”

  I wiped an imaginary smear of sweat from my brow.

  “She liked the old man anyway,” David added. “She has daddy issues coming out of her ears.”

  Dad and I laughed.

  “Poor Em.”

  “And Nathan,” Dad said, his smiling eyes then moving to David. “You took a great risk turning him, son.”

  “I know.”

  “Had you been caught—”

  “I know,” David said again. “But I had to take a chance.”

  “I’m glad you did. I didn’t know it at the time—that you’d turned him—but I remember thinking there was not a more tragic waste of youth than Mr. Rossi’s. I look forward to seeing him.”

  “How will you keep what you are a secret from them, Dad? They’ll know as soon as they look at you.”

  “I won’t,” he said simply. “I’ll ask them to swear a vow of secrecy. As I did with Arthur just now.”

  I nodded, knowing both of them would more than happily do that. “And Mike?”

  “I’ve already seen Mike.”

  “When?”

  “I met with him yesterday, in town—asked his advice about how best to break the truth to you.”

  Which explained now what Mike meant about leaving me in good hands. Bastard! He knew all this time. “And… what did he say?”

  Dad laughed. “He was rather amused—after the initial shock and upset subsided. He basically just said good luck, but also confirmed what I already knew.”

  “Which is?”

  “That you’re a strong girl. And you can handle much more than any of us give you credit for.” He looked especially at David then, who sat a little taller.

  “So what now?” I asked. “I mean, are you staying for good or—”

  “I’ll be here for good. Well”—he sat back comfortably—“until you no longer need me.”

  “So, you’ll be here forever then?” I hinted cheekily.

  “I guess I will,” he said softly, as though that would be more than fine by him.

  “Then, I guess we need to organize a room for you,” I said. “We’re pretty full but—”

  “Arrangements are being made as we speak.”

  “Oh.” I slowed the game of Vampire Tetris going on in my head and frowned. “Who organized it?”

  “Arthur. At my request.”

  “Okay. Great. Did he say which room he’d put you in?”

  “The only room suitable enough for a member of the Original Family.” His lip formed a smile on one side as he looked at David. “The Master Suite at the east end of the manor.”

  “What?” I nearly fell out of my chair. “Where will David sleep?”

  “In the chamber he shares with his wife.”

  “But—”

  “No buts.” Dad put both hands up. “You two have slept apart long enough. No matter what your intentions are toward each other at this time, they are inconsequential. The king and queen share a chamber, and that’s all there is to it.”

  Secretly, I was beaming. But David looked pale and breathless.

  “Son?” Dad said, waiting until David looked at him. “Thus far you two have escaped the suspicions of the House and the people. But you know what they will do to my daughter if they learn the truth about your separation.”

  David gave a slight nod.

  “Don’t downplay this, son,” Dad said sharply. “I know nothing of your reasons for refusing to acknowledge that you care about her, or the child, but I have known you since you were born, and I am sure you would not see her harmed. In fact, were anyone to try, I imagine you’d be the first at her defense.”

  I knew David couldn’t admit that out in the open—
there’s no way he would. He just cleared his throat instead, avoiding an obvious movement of his head to indicate his feelings either way.

  “Now”—Dad stood—“I will formally announce my arrival and intentions tonight at dinner, and the rest of the kingdom will be notified with an official address at the festival tomorrow night.”

  David and I stood too.

  “You’re going to the festival?” I asked with a bit of secret dread, thinking about the rather revealing dress Magda made for me.

  “Of course.” Dad put his arm out for a hug. “Even packed my tuxedo.”

  I shuffled over and graciously tucked my head under his chin, squeezing him tight. “I’m so glad you’re here, Dad.”

  “Me too, honey.” He rubbed my back.

  “It must have been so hard leaving Sam, though.”

  “It was.” His throat shifted with a hard lump. “More than I can say.”

  “Then why not…”

  “I can’t. I know what you’re going to ask, but I can’t bring him into this world. He needs a human life until his body is ready for that change.”

  “The change?”

  “Immortality.”

  My eyes ballooned into round blobs of excitement and surprise. “He can be like me?”

  “Yes, the first male born Lilithian.”

  “That’s really cool,” I beamed, just imagining that day and how happy I’d be to see my little brother here too, then imagined how he’d react to know his dad was alive all that time and never told him. But another, darker thought cast a bit of gloom on the spotlight of joyous reunions. “What about Vicki? Will you ever—”

  “No. It saddened me to leave her behind. I had hoped to spend a lifetime with her, but our love was not great enough to span eternity, and if I bring her into my world, that is exactly what she’d expect.”

  My jaw dropped. “You don’t love her enough?”

  He shook his head once. “Eternal love and lifetime love are two very different things, as you would know.”

  “How would I know?”

  “Just think about the difference between your love for Jason and your love for David.”

  I understood then. And I thought David would too, but when I turned my head to smile at him, his sad eyes were on the floor—avoiding mine.

  “David?” Dad said.

  He looked up, snapping away from his train of thought. “Yes, sir?”

  “Give us a minute, please?”

  David bowed and exited the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

  “What was that all about?” I asked.

  “He assumed we both meant that the love you have for Jason is eternal, while—”

  “Oh no.” I looked at the door, half a step away from running after him.

  “Leave it.” Dad steadied me by the arm. “You can deal with him later. But I need you to go find Jason now, please, and send him to speak with me.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.” I took a step away but stopped. “Hey, Dad?”

  “Mm?”

  “You shook Jason’s hand at my wedding—”

  “Yes,” he said with a glint in his eye.

  “Did you know why he was there that day?”

  “I knew he was there to take you to safety. That was all I knew.”

  “You didn’t think it might be a good idea then to step in and do something yourself?”

  “And what would I have done—how would I have disguised a sudden need to steal you away?” he said. “Not to mention, I trusted Jason, and were it not for Arthur’s pretend loyalty to the king, he would never have handed his phone to Drake, and Jason would never have answered if it had been any other number than Arthur’s. Without that call and the Compulsion Act that followed, he’d have taken you to safety and kept you there.”

  I sighed, the air coming out through my nose. “You’d think if Drake didn’t want me hurt, he’d have just let Jason escape with me.”

  “Not while David was in custody, no. He needed you together and did not, by any means, want to risk you falling for Jason and having a child with the wrong Knight.”

  “What if I had? I mean, when I… when Jason and I…”

  “It would have been as you suspect,” Dad said. “She would have been born soulless and the curse on your womb would not be broken. Any children you had subsequent to that would also be female and soulless.”

  I shrugged and nodded, satisfied, until another question popped into my mind as it flashed back to my wedding day—when all the world seemed to be at my feet, possibilities endless. “You knew then, right? On my wedding day? That Jason was the one who’d kidnapped me at the masquerade.”

  “I knew on the night he did it.”

  “How did you not tear him to shreds the second you shook his hand?” I cupped my belly protectively. “If that had been my daughter and some punk did that to her, I’d kill him.”

  Dad laughed. “Well, for one, it was your wedding day, and we had appearances to keep up.”

  There’s no way that would have stopped me.

  “And, two,” he added sadly.

  “Dad?” I took a gentle step closer. “What is it?”

  “Like I said, Ara, I planted the seed of revenge in him and I blame myself entirely for what he did to you.”

  “That’s a heavy burden to carry, Dad. We’re all responsible for our own actions and—”

  “In some cases, yes,” he cut in. “But he is one of the kindest, purest souls I know, and from the moment I came to find him in his chamber, covered in your blood that night, I felt nothing but pity for him.”

  “Pity?”

  “You must remember, those boys are like sons to me. I watched them grow from infancy—guided them through every rough patch in their lives. And when I set out to hunt him down, in my dog form, hell-bent on my own act of revenge, I found only a small boy again—huddled up on the floor by his bed, hysterical, because he couldn’t make sense of his feelings—this sudden compassion he’d felt for you, like waking from a dream in the middle of nowhere, the anger, the hurt, the need for revenge so diluted now that he could find no motive in his intentions anymore, no rational reason he’d wanted to hurt you in the first place.” He looked down. “I won’t go into detail because I feel this part of his past is best left there, but I had to sit by, many times, while he punished himself for what he did to you, Ara—knowing all along that I was the reason. That I altered his intentions and caused an otherwise healing anger to fester, evolving it, in the end, into a compulsive need for vengeance.”

  “Damn.”

  Dad laughed lightly. “I know you’ve brought him peace in his heart, though—with your compassion and patience.”

  “He’s okay,” I said with a nod. “I know he’ll always regret it, but he’s not so hell-bent on finding a way to die anymore.”

  “Good,” Dad said, but his eyes didn’t believe it. “I’ve waited an awfully long time to tell him he was not to blame. I hope he comes to see me before we’re called to dinner.”

  I checked my watch. “I can ask Chef to push it back an hour if you like.”

  “That might be best.”

  I nodded. “I’ll go tell him now.”

  He bowed his head.

  “See ya later, dad.”

  “Oh, and Amara?”

  “Yeah?” I turned to his insistent tone.

  “I’m not your father here. I love you as my daughter, I always will, but your father is dead and must remain so.”

  “But—”

  He put his hand up. “People will ask questions if they hear you call me Dad.”

  “Then let them ask, because you are my dad. I mean, what else am I supposed to call you?”

  “You will address me as your Lord and superior. In my time here as Lilith’s father, I was known as Vampirie, Lord of Eden, but I fear my Christian name is somewhat outdated now. You will address me as Lord Eden.”

  “Eden?”

  “So
named for the lands I inherited.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You’ve been to—”

  “Another time.” He held his index finger up, making a stern point that none of this was open for discussion right now.

  “Okay. Lord Eden,” I said to myself. “It’s gonna take some time getting used to that.”

  “You have about five seconds.” He cupped my shoulder and turned me toward the door. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

  * * *

  David may be done with me, may never want me back again, but that didn’t change the fact that I’d still seen clear and absolute proof of pain in his eyes when he thought I was referring to Jason as my eternal love. No matter where things would go between us, no matter what happened in the future or what he felt now, I needed him to know that I didn’t feel for Jason the way he thought I did.

  “Knock-knock,” I said, walking through David’s open bedroom door. My eyes went straight to the bustling servants prancing around packing and shifting things like elves on some invisible assembly line. “Moving already?”

  “Your father has given me little choice.” He laid a stack of papers at the foot of his bed and unzipped a black duffel bag. “What do you want, Ara?”

  “I came to tell you something.”

  “Make it quick,” he said, tossing a pile of clothes into the bag. “I’ve things to do.”

  “I just spoke to Jason.”

  “And?”

  “And… he was packing, too.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s leaving tomorrow—for New York.”

  He stopped packing for a second. “So?”

  “So… he’s not just going for the interview. When he leaves… he isn’t coming back.”

  “I never assumed he was.” He jammed a few items forcefully into the bag. “Did you come to say goodbye then?”

  “No.”

  “No?” he croaked. “Fine. Have a nice life.”

  “No, I mean…” I walked around an armchair and stood about a meter behind him, waiting until the last maid left before continuing. “I’m not saying goodbye because I’m not going with him.”

  He stopped stuffing but didn’t turn around. “Is this because your father returned?”