Rise of Midnight

by SARA FREITES

  “That’s when Rosetta and I sought out the couple who created the daggers. We’d hoped that maybe the witch could provide us with a way to destroy Arlos with her daggers, but we found her husband murdered, the witch missing. Rosetta and I were sure Arlos had something to do with it. It was several decades after Rosetta’s disappearance when Pierre found me, took me into his clan, the Yeux Nocturnes Clan. I’d wandered the world distraught before this. I’d searched coastline to coastline for Rosetta. I’d given up by the time Pierre found me.

  “After I joined his clan, Pierre stepped down from his position as leader and offered it to me. I told him after everything that happened, I didn’t want the responsibility. Instead, he left the country, appointing his ally, Thade”—Terry nodded at Thade—“who was second-in-command at the time, as the new leader. Pierre moved me into leadership to replace Thade’s old position. I haven’t seen or spoken to Pierre since. I personally believe he went in search of Bijou. He loved her. Pierre had once claimed he tried finding Bijou shortly after the Vampire Nation’s divide, but she, too, had gone missing. I always wondered if Arlos had gotten a hold of her, as well.”

  “And there you have some history of this clan,” Thade said to me.

  “From there, Thade and I sat down and talked with one another,” Terry explained. “I told him Latresma might need the assistance of the daggers when she returned. Rosetta had mentioned this to me on the offhand while studying the writings she’d found in the witch’s cottage the night we found the witch’s husband dead. Rosetta never gave me any more details on the daggers’ powers. All I knew was that together, the daggers, along with Latresma’s body, would play a part in Arlos’ demise upon Latresma’s return. The clans have searched for the daggers ever since. Even so, we wondered if Latresma was really coming back, if Arlos and the daggers were even still around.”

  Thade sat down beside Blake. “Vex and Scythe must have stolen the Soleil Dagger from Arlos decades ago, seeing how they were the ones who showed up with it when they first attacked. Autumn and Blake. But what do they want with the daggers?” Thade asked him.

  “They only want the one dagger...said something about using it to get into hell,” Blake said. “I assumed they wanted to open a hell-portal to travel through, but they said there was another way, that despite what they had believed for years, they only needed one dagger. I don’t know where they got the idea that only one of the daggers could do that for them.”

  “They’re obviously just desperate to find a way out of here,” Terry contributed. “Probably heard a rumor and went with it.”

  “They’re all chasing their own tails,” Thade confirmed. “No one can seem to get their hands on both daggers at the same time. I hope this won’t hold true for us.”

  I stared down at the tattered leather booklet again, unable to imagine the chaos that surrounded it. There were so many more people involved in this than I’d thought.

  “Then, what’s our next step from here?” I asked.

  “We get rid of the evnaut twins, then head back to London,” Thade replied in a stern voice.

  “And how do you propose we do that?” Blake asked. “Latresma’s journal failed to mention it.”

  “I know she put all of this down for a reason and wouldn’t have left us without an answer unless she, herself, didn’t know what to do,” Terry encouraged, his tone gentle but somehow stressed at the same time.

  “Maybe,” I said. “If only we had the book Rosetta gave Latresma years ago—the one on demon hybrids. I’m sure it was full of ways to dispel them. We are dealing with another type of demon here, aren’t we?”

  “Yes,” Thade answered. “But only half demon. Blake is the same as they are, but you said they were stronger. Right?” He looked to Blake to answer.

  “Yes,” Blake replied. “They can do things I can’t because they’re dark evnauts.”

  “Okay,” I began. “And you have powers they don’t. But you’re not as strong as they are, right? You mentioned that you didn’t dabble with the demon abilities that Arlos wanted you to. Vex even said something like…you haven't fully awakened the demon inside of you.”

  “Right,” Blake said with a blank stare.

  “What if you could be just as strong as they are if you awakened your demonic powers,” Thade finished my thought.

  “That’s the only way we’d have a fighting chance against them,” I encouraged Blake. “Not to mention, I can’t use my guardian form right now. I don’t have anything of my brother’s to use for the spell. I accidentally left the pocketknife at Neil’s in London.” I flipped through the pages of the Latresma’s booklet and set it on the armrest.

  “I don’t want to have to do that,” Blake said. “I don’t know what awakening those abilities would do to me psychologically.”

  I knew he was right. The evnaut brothers were much like their father—the definition of evil. They’d completely embraced the demon side of themselves. But Blake wasn’t like them. I didn’t want to take a chance of him turning into a completely different person, a sadistic one like his father and half-brothers.

  “We’re going to have to talk about it more,” Blake continued. “I mean, I’ll do it if it means getting rid of Vex and Scythe, but there’s a lot we need to make sure of first.”

  As he spoke, Harper and the haviden siblings descended the stairs ahead of us.

  “This is not good news,” Thade murmured hopelessly. “An evnaut, especially two, will prove to be formidable adversaries. We need to get ready for the clan meeting straight away.”

  “There’s got to be another way,” Terry persisted. “Latresma even said at the end of her journal that she worried one day her sons would become a problem. There’s no way she would’ve left everyone defenseless against them.”

  “Or has she?” I asked myself, my tone full of resentment.

  Chapter 20

  A Way Around

  At 5:00 AM, Thade gathered everyone on B level. He put several people, like Neil and groups of the clan that couldn’t be there, on speakerphone to discuss Latresma’s journal entry along with some of the things Rosetta told me about the daggers. This was my first official clan meeting to attend. The vampires batted ideas around the room, possible ways of destroying an evnaut that wouldn’t involve numerous casualties. There were several good ideas, but nothing held solid.

  I struggled to stay awake through the whole thing. When the meeting was over, I felt like we were right back at square one. As everyone dispersed, Blake nudged me, his hands jammed into the pockets of his hoodie. I nestled my hand into the nook of his arm, and his muscles felt stiff in my grip.

  “Are you okay?” I asked in a hushed voice.

  He replied by motioning for me to walk with him. He squeezed his arm at his side to gently trap my hand against him. His path seemed to wander at first until he led us outside. He acknowledged one of the watchmen there where I noticed the sun beginning to rise.

  On the back porch, Blake scooped me up in his arms and hurled us through the air. I withheld a scream but thought to myself that I had to get used to this if I was going to hang around an evnaut. He landed on top of the skyscraper across the way and set me down at the edge. I had to gather my stomach. I felt like it’d been left several stories below. We sat that way with our legs dangling dangerously off the ledge. I remember thinking that if Blake wasn’t sitting beside me, I wouldn’t dare sit so close to the edge. My eyes rested on the brightening horizon, and they traced the city’s outline against the early morning sky. The rising rays refracted off the skyscrapers, and the distant lights of moving cars were enough to mesmerize even someone like me who’d lived in Chicago all my life.

  “I was thinking,” Blake said. “There’s a lot of questions I wish I could have answered before I make this decision. It would put us at an advantage if I decide to do this, but at the same time, there are just too many things that could go wrong. I look at Arlos, the kind of person he is, then the havidens that follow him so loyally, and
now the two evnauts, and it’s not hard to see what we all hate about them. If through trying to awaken the demon in me, I become like one of them—”

  “You won’t,” I boldly said, but the truth was, I wasn’t really sure.

  “I don’t know, Autumn. I don’t know what will happen, what it will do to me. I’ve already told Thade if anything goes wrong that he has my permission to handle it as he sees fit, even if that means...look, I just want to have every possible situation covered to be safe. He’s even talking about getting a few samples of my blood to use to unite the daggers just in case I’m not around when—”

  “Not around?” I asked, concerned. “What do you...wait, Blake. Maybe you shouldn’t do this.”

  “We don’t have any other way.”

  I couldn’t believe how calm he was.

  “How can you talk as if you have no feelings whatsoever about this?” I pressed.

  I stared down at my shoes, ashamed of my outburst. I knew if Thade and the others had to kill Blake because of his change, I’d be heartbroken. I would lose another ally, a friend—one of the very few friends I had left. I couldn’t lose Blake.

  “I have to talk about it like that,” Blake said. “I can’t let my feelings or anyone else’s keep me from doing what’s best.”

  “I understand, but it doesn’t change how I feel about it. I don't want anything to happen to you. You’re my friend.”

  We sat quietly for a few beats while I allowed the sunrise and city to take me in all over again.

  “What if I do this and can’t control myself afterward, if I went on a killing spree?” Blake asked. “I’d almost be a bigger threat than Vex and Scythe. That would be the absolute worst-case scenario, of course, but we don’t know what’s going to happen. We need to be prepared for the worst.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “You’re right. I just...I don’t…I’ve already lost everyone else.”

  “Look at me,” he requested quietly.

  Turning my gaze to him was like trying to spin a cargo ship around in a harbor meant for a sailboat. My neck was stiff with shame. I couldn’t bear to look at him, not while on the verge of tears. I swallowed the knot in my throat and focused on the sound of traffic below, regaining my composure. My eyes found his with some delay.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t bring you here to upset you. If it works, I can take care of the evnauts with no problem, and I may even be able to stand up against Arlos if needed.”

  “You should just leave Arlos to Latresma. He is Latresma’s responsibility. She even said so in her journal. You know what, this is her fault. People have died because of her. So many people have been dragged into this, people who didn't deserve to get hurt did because of Latresma. Like you. You didn’t deserve the way you got treated. Neither did Rosetta. Latresma brought that thing into this world, and now, he’s destroying everyone else’s. If it weren’t for Latresma, Arlos wouldn’t be here.”

  “And neither would I,” he added.

  I sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I know Arlos is everyone’s problem now, especially mine, but I have to be honest. I’m growing less and less interested in this fight if it means losing anyone else. I don’t ever again want to feel the way I did last night—the way I feel now. There’s got to be another way to do this.” I felt my face flush. I looked away again, ashamed for Blake to see the frustration on my face. “You and Eden have been all I’ve had for the past two months, and after last night, all I will have for the rest of my life. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to either of you.” I shook my head and studied his black and yellow eyes longer than I intended. “I know you think I hate you. I think you need to hear me say that I don’t. I hope you know how sincere I am when I say that. I hope you’re not going to go through with this to punish yourself. I think having to go up against your own family is bad enough.”

  “I promise that’s not why I’m doing this,” he reassured me. “I have to try awakening my demonic abilities. You know it’s what I have to do.”

  “I know,” I finally gave in, but inside I knew I’d be devastated if things went wrong.

  I brought him into me by his waist. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and I let my head rest against his chest.

  “Let’s just take this one step at a time. Deal?” he suggested.

  “Deal,” I replied while tightening my hold on him.

  He rested his chin on top of my head. We stood that way, letting the wind comb through our hair and watched daylight break through the city. My eyes felt heavy.

  “I’m so tired,” I slurred my word.

  It’d been well over twenty-four hours since I’d last slept. Despite fearing another one of those hellish nightmares, I couldn’t battle my weariness any longer.

  “You need to sleep. I’ll walk you back,” he offered.

  I jumped under the covers as soon as we stepped foot in my room. I didn’t even bother changing.

  “Try to close your eyes,” Blake said to me.

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m probably not going to be able to sleep.”

  “The nightmares,” he realized and stared after me. “I want to try something. I might be able to block him from entering your dreams.”

  “Really?” I asked and sat up in astonishment.

  “Maybe I can try shielding your mind from him. I can enter dreams, but if I concentrate hard enough, I might be able to prevent them, too.”

  “That would be awesome,” I burst with relief.

  He pulled up the chair from the corner and moved it to my bedside. “I might have to get pretty close for this to work,” he warned.

  “I don’t care,” I blurted.

  He sat down and motioned for me to move to the edge of the bed by him. I rolled over with my back to him, and he leaned over me, his arms resting on my pillow and the covers around me. I felt him lightly lay his head on my shoulder.

  “Is that even comfortable for you?” I asked him, doubtful.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he ordered. “Try to sleep.”

  “I hope this works.”

  “So do I.”

  “Thank you, Blake,” I whispered.

  “Anything for you, Autumn,” he whispered back.

  I lay like that until I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I dreamt, but it wasn’t the type of dream I’d expected. To this day, I’m more sure that it was vision instead of a dream. It was incredibly vivid, and I remember every detail of it.

  In it, I woke up alone. The ground under me felt smooth as I lay there, looking up at a cloudy night sky. I sat up, nervous at first. My hands and hips sank into the ground, into the snow around me. Confused, l stood. My eyes took in the dense forest surrounding me. Snow fell in large flurries in every direction. It engulfed everything from the ground to the treetops, but oddly enough, I couldn’t feel the cold.

  The wind caressed me, putting me at ease. A crackling sound came from above. Overhead, crystal-like icicles hung from bare gray branches all around me like silent glass wind chimes. Just beyond the swaying branches, the clouds parted to reveal a sky fading through hues of pinks and oranges. Among the blending colors, the sun and the moon floated above, one on either side of me. They hung low in the sky, parallel to one another. I couldn’t tell which was rising and which was falling. Not far above the prismatic sky, night hung overhead like a dark and looming cloud. The stars were dim but visibly strewn about the curvature of the earth. And even higher above that, another celestial body adorned the sky, much larger than the moon and even the sun. The lilac, white and soft blue swirls of its surface were like silk ribbons scattered across the planet. Its faded rings were a speckled powdery white, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d thought the rings themselves were made up of countless, infinitesimal snow flurries.

  I must have admired the outrageously beautiful sky for several minutes before I heard her. And it wasn’t that I heard her…more like I felt her there, lurking around me. As I spun, a magnifi
cent black feline strolled out from behind a tree—my guardian form. It seemed to move in slow motion. I watched the muscles bulge under its sleek violet-tinted fur as it sauntered by me like I wasn’t even there. I never realized how awesome and large it was until then. I’d never seen it so vividly before. It was gorgeous, majestic even.

  “Bonjour, Autumn,” a voice greeted me.

  A petite, slender woman rested against the trunk of the nearest tree. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed her sooner. The raven color of her dress popped against the snowy scene. By her face alone, I knew it was Latresma, but not the tall, faded Latresma I remembered from behind the glass of her ice-grave. Her hair hung down in rich midnight waves, her skin radiating with a healthy, olive glow. Her very human eyes were like a hazy ocean peering through the darkness of her lashes. A familiar smile spread across her face, my smile, and the fangs I’d expected to show, didn’t. Her long and flowing lace dress hugged the gentle curves of her waist and hips. Her sleeves fell to her fingertips, nearly hiding them from view, and the bottom of the dress belled out slightly, sitting perfectly atop the snow. Looking down, I realized I wore an identical dress only in a perfect white. So busy admiring the environment, I hadn’t even noticed it.

  “Latresma!” I exclaimed. “You’re human.”

  Her eyes lit up with excitement. “It’s good to meet you, officially,” she said in French.

  “I wish I could say the same,” I uttered, hoping my French was strong enough to hold a solid conversation as this would be my first.

  “I know you blame me for everything,” she said. “You have a right to. I do take the blame for the things that have happened, and what has happened to you, as well. It seems a lot of people have hurt you lately. But I’ve dipped into your dreams tonight to change the outcome of things from here on out.”