Light of Dawn

by Angela Colsin

  Charlotte couldn't fight their strength, finding her arms locked behind her back before being shoved hard enough to make her fall onto her side in the middle of the room.

  “Our spies did some digging,” the blond started, “and we went through your things in Orange Falls where we found a picture of your friend.”

  He tugged it out of his pocket and flipped the image at Charlotte, which landed on the floor nearby—the same one missing from her album.

  “We could've taken her,” he added, “but simply tricking you saved time.”

  Charlotte glared as the blond smirked. “So where's Lillian? Shouldn't she be here to collect?”

  Without warning, he knelt and grabbed her throat, lifting her upper body from the floor until her face was close to his, making her gasp for breath against his tight hold.

  “That's an interesting question, Human,” he started. “The truth is, we don't know where Lilllian's gone, but we do know she hasn't forgotten about you. Let me explain. Lillian's been looking for you, but she never gave us a thorough explanation as to why, and actually killed some of our own when our lairs were destroyed by a couple of draconians last week. So I'm wondering what it is about such an ordinary mortal that she's so interested in.”

  He finally released Charlotte's throat, demanding while she tried to catch her breath, “Now tell me why Lillian's after you.”

  This exchange made it obvious that Lillian didn't want to share her plans with her faction whatsoever. But Charlotte surely wasn't going to spill the beans either, otherwise she'd probably be dead in five seconds flat, if not worse.

  But she might be dead anyway if the pendant didn't work, and now seemed like a really good time to make her wish.

  “I wish to be back at my room in the Spire.”

  Charlotte closed her eyes, waiting to be teleported or otherwise taken in some magical fashion. Then she waited a little longer.

  Nothing happened.

  She pried a single eye open only to see the blond vampire giving an amused, if not confused look. “I'm sure you do, but you haven't answered me. Why is Lillian after you?”

  He wanted to know that, and Charlotte wanted to know why the pendant hadn't worked. Did she have to hold it in her hand to make the wish? Or maybe wear it? If that's the case, I'm screwed as long as my hands are cuffed.

  “Hell if I know,” she retorted quickly. “Lillian's just been a pain in my ass, and I don't—”

  Charlotte abruptly stopped speaking when she was backhanded hard, blood flying from the corner of her mouth as her teeth split the skin of her inner cheek.

  “Don't be coy,” the blond sighed. “Just answer.”

  “Make her a daywalker and see what she's hiding,” the other male suggested, and the twins grinned excitedly.

  Charlotte remembered Ulric's explanation of a daywalker, that they were humans who'd been bitten and taken blood from their sire. She had no idea how this vampire would learn anything from making her one, but he bore his sharpened fangs as if he thought it was a good idea.

  “Okay! I'll tell you,” Charlotte rushed out, unwilling to find out the hard way. “The reason Lillian's after me is in my pocket. I thought she'd be here, and I could just give it up and get this over with.”

  Charlotte rolled onto her back, motioning at her right side with her head. “So take it, but then let me go.”

  The blond looked curious, reaching over to slip his thumb and forefinger into her pocket, grasping the chain of the pendant as he told her, “We'll see.” But the moment he touched the cursed item, he recoiled so quickly that he fell backwards on the floor, leaving a section of the chain dangling from her jeans.

  “Morgan?” the bald vampire asked. “What's wrong?”

  Morgan, as his name turned out to be, was now hunched over, groaning lowly with blackened veins streaking across his face. Charlotte had to fight to hide her grin. Hope you rot for eternity, asshole.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Morgan didn't answer, too shocked to speak, but his state of being was enough to piss off the bald vampire, who suddenly snatched Charlotte's throat and lifted her up.

  With her air supply cut off, she found herself slammed into the wall painfully, the vampire baring his fangs.

  “What did you do?”

  He grasped her upper arms so she could speak, holding her in place with her feet dangling above the floor. Angrily, Charlotte retorted, “Reach in my pocket and find out for yourself, asshole!”

  In retaliation to her resistance, he grasped her hair and painfully jerked her head to the side, leaning in to savagely sink his fangs into her neck.

  Charlotte screamed at the top of her lungs, unable to move aside from kicking her legs as her blood was drawn. Though, instead of diluted fear and a sense of euphoria like she'd felt the last time she was bitten, now there was only anger boiling inside of her—a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach.

  And she directed it at the vampires. Target practice? I hope they choke on it.

  “I said … ,” she started, feeling a release of energy from deep within, “let me go!”

  Charlotte wasn't entirely sure what happened, but as a bright light encompassed her vision, she knew she was releasing a lot of energy that would be damaging to the vampires.

  A blaze set off from her skin, scorching her captor with burning light. He released her neck to attempt ducking back, and Charlotte fell to the floor in the process, but the fires continued to burn.

  Sunlight nearly engulfed the medium sized room, and the vampires burst into flame, thrashing and writhing in agony until they were nothing more than ash statues where they lay or stood, unmoving and completely lifeless.

  Charlotte gasped for breath as the sun burst faded away, leaving her utterly drained while she looked around at the vampires she'd just killed. Only Morgan remained, having pulled himself into a corner and out of range, though the exposure to the light left his skin red and peeling on top of decaying.

  Had she tapped into some ability and transitioned? Her hands were shackled, so she couldn't check her ears, and there wasn't a mirror very close by. But her suspicions were confirmed with Morgan's next question.

  “You're a fucking sun fae?”

  As surprising as it was, Charlotte couldn't think about it when she needed to escape before this vampire tried to kill her. Still, her entire body felt so bogged down that she collapsed onto a knee with just one step, consumed by dizziness.

  Already, Morgan was working his way to her. Charlotte tried to fight to stay conscious, but it was a loosing battle.

  Her last thought before passing out was at least I took some of them with me.

  Chapter 26

  Ulric pulled into his brother's estate in the late afternoon, parking haphazardly in front of the large manor where he exited his car and rushed inside.

  The first floor of the home was contemporary in style, with a medium gray marble floor and the walls painted an off-white. Two old tapestries were draped on opposing sides of the room displaying the emblem of House Dra'Kai, and a crystal chandelier hung overhead in the foyer.

  Ulric was in stark contrast with the lavish surroundings when half of his shirt was covered in blood from a wound he'd sustained the previous evening which had since healed, and ash marred him in several places. But he was in too much of a hurry to think about it, heading through the hallway behind two winding stairs and taking a left to the study.

  Walking in without bothering to knock, he found Dalris sitting behind his desk with a book in hand.

  Wasting no time, he requested, “Tell me what happened to Charlotte.”

  On the way home from his hunt with Garrick, Ulric called to find out if Charlotte made it to the estate safely, only to learn that something had happened to her last night. Dalris wouldn't explain it over the phone, merely reassuring Ulric that she was fine and they should speak before he saw her again.

  From the way it sounded, he had the feeling that Charlotte transitioned in his abse
nce, and rushed all the way back from Virginia without making a single pit stop.

  The lead he'd pursued on Lillian was a dead end anyway. He and Garrick were set up for an ambush—and not even at Lillian's behest. They fought their way out, and spent most of the day interrogating two of the vampires involved for information.

  As it turned out, the Rymid only ambushed them because they wanted to know why Charlotte was so important, and weren't even sure where Lillian was anymore. So it was apparent that she wasn't interested in sharing her plans with anyone, or maybe she had been, but the more vampires Ulric killed, the more greedy she became.

  Whatever the case, he just wanted to know if she'd disappeared because she was planning to make a move soon, or if she'd given up on Charlotte altogether. Seems unlikely.

  Now, Dalris turned and set his book down, giving Ulric his full attention. The brothers looked very similar, though Dalris lacked facial markings and had much longer hair and a more refined demeanor.

  Motioning to a seat, which Ulric took, his brother said, “Charlotte's fine, and yes, she's fully fae now.”

  Ulric's heart suddenly leapt into his throat as Dalris went on, “I had Isadora come to make sure she was well because she wasn't in good condition when we found her.”

  “Found her?” He nearly demanded to know where she was so he could go to her right then, gripping the arms of his seat in wait of an explanation.

  “When I arrived at the Spire last night, this note was in her room.” Dalris handed the paper over, which was brief, but to the point, explaining that vampires would kill Edith if Charlotte didn't go to Foxy's alone in an hour.

  As Ulric read, his brother went on, “I asked Liam to go keep an eye on her friend and bring her here for safe keeping if something should happen.”

  Ulric almost crumbled the note in his hands, growling, “Please tell me you killed them.”

  “She killed them,” Dalris countered. “Isadora said her transition started last week during one of their meditations, and last night, Charlotte finalized the process by burning three of her attackers to death with a burst of sunlight. She tricked the other into cursing himself with Heliger's Pendant.”

  Ulric felt a sense of pride hearing this, listening as Dalris further explained that he hadn't made it to the nightclub in time, but thankfully, Isaac came by and learned from Foxy—the succubus owner of the club—that a mortal with Charlotte's description had entered at random and went to the red room to see some vampires.

  “So Isaac checked it out, eavesdropped on them, and realized Charlotte was already under attack. By the time he got inside, she'd killed all but one, and her attack drained her energy to the point of passing out. So he finished off the last and brought her here. Thankfully, all she needed was some sun and a little fresh air to recover, and she explained this morning that they'd lured her from the Spire for the same reason you and Garrick were ambushed.”

  Ulric sighed, supplying, “They want to know why she's so important, and Lillian's disappeared.”

  “Right,” Dalris confirmed, then revealed something a little more surprising. “You should also know that Isaac, unfortunately, was cursed by that pendant.”

  “What? How?”

  “The chain was hanging from Charlotte's pocket when he found her, and he inadvertently touched it after bringing her here. Charlotte said Chandra admitted to knowing how to break the curse, but Isaac won't accept her help. So I was hoping you might be able to talk some sense into him.”

  Ulric grumbled. “I'll try, but he probably doesn't want it because Chandra would make a demand he won't like. So start looking for another mage just in case.”

  Dalris shook his head. “At least he seems fine. Isaac's exact response to learning he's cursed to rot away was here I thought it was something serious.”

  “Sounds like Isaac,” Ulric mentioned. Isaac never really complained about anything, even when it seemed dire.

  But his thoughts returned to Charlotte, and knowing she was fine relieved him, though Ulric felt as if he'd failed her by not being there.

  Wanting to see her now, he almost stood up when Dalris stopped him.

  “Ulric, I'm taking over the hunt for Lillian. Charlotte's immortal now, and if you recognize her as your mate for certain, you'll need to focus on her and the changes she's going through.”

  Uncertainty over why Dalris would say such a thing swept over Ulric. “Do you think I'd ignore her to pursue this?”

  “No, but it seems that where vampires are concerned, you sometimes make decisions impulsively.”

  He had no inclination of impulsively chasing Lillian. Did he want her dead? Certainly. But not at the expense of Charlotte or her well being, and even if it was actually meant to say that Charlotte's welfare was important, to Ulric, hearing Dalris would take up the torch in tracking Lillian was the same as saying I'll handle it because I don't have any faith in you.

  “I didn't simply follow this lead without thought,” he grated.

  “No, you didn't. She should've been safe in the Spire,” Dalris agreed. “Lillian poses a real threat, and you were taking care of it. I simply feared, given your track record with vampires, that you may continue searching her out.”

  “It's insulting to know you think so little of my—”

  He was stopped when Dalris stood from his seat and leaned on his desk, eyes glowing briefly as he explicitly proclaimed, “I do not look down on any of my siblings, including you, Ulric. You also seem to hold little faith in me when you continually disbelieve that.”

  Ulric took a deep breath to quell his growing frustration in the face of his brother's anger. The insinuation was true enough, but he couldn't help his response, all because of the abuse he'd never actually explained. The mere thought that vampires had so thoroughly injured his relationship with the head of their family was yet another reason for him to hate them.

  He should've been grateful his brother was taking over the hunt and freeing Ulric's time to focus on Charlotte's situation, not upset by paranoia.

  “I'm sorry, Dal, you're right, I shouldn't have taken it so personally.”

  Dalris exhaled, settling back in his seat. Though placated, he pointed out, “I want this ill blood between us to run dry. Can you not name the faction? This is all I need to know.”

  He knew vampires were to blame for his youngest brother's disappearance after gathering clues over time, but Ulric had never named his captors, unwilling to let Dalris take this to Dragon's Brood when everyone would learn of his humiliation as a result.

  But now, he honestly didn't feel as reluctant about answering as he usually did, and wasn't entirely sure why. Still, at that moment, Ulric merely stated, “Maybe later. Just tell me if we're done now, because I need to see Charlotte.”

  Dalris hesitated, but conceded. “We're almost done. I still need to inform you that your payment for the box was delivered yesterday.”

  “What? I didn't finish the job successfully.”

  “Anyone here?” Isadora's voice prevented Dalris from responding just before she stepped into the study when the door was still open. Seeing Ulric, she added, “Oh, sorry to interrupt.”

  “It's fine, Isadora,” Dalris started. “I was just explaining that Ulric's employer knew it wasn't his fault the intermediary was intercepted before he could complete the transaction, so the payment is rightfully his to keep.”

  That was surprising. Ulric hadn't given the box a second thought ever since Charlotte accidentally opened it, but he wasn't complaining about being paid either. Isadora was right after all.

  As if reading his mind, the fae leaned on the back of his chair and announced, “You're welcome!”

  Ulric smirked as Dalris inquired, “Would you like to convert the platinum?”

  “Yes, convert it and give it to Charlotte.” he directed. “She needs something to show for everything she's been through.”

  Dalris nodded his approval. “Very well.”

  With things wrapped up for the time being,
Ulric stood and asked, “Isadora, do you know where she is?”

  “Out rediscovering the world,” the fae answered dramatically. “You'll find her in the woods, and she seems fine, just … distracted. We were having a picnic, and I volunteered to come see if you'd arrived yet. Besides that, tell her to call me if she needs anything, I'm heading out of town for a while.”

  “Thank you,” Ulric replied, and left the study to go to his room where he could clean up and change clothes.

  The whole time, eagerness to finally know the truth churned in the pit of his stomach as he hurried through his tasks. A sense of dread that he might've been wrong was also present, but it only served to strengthen his confidence, otherwise he wouldn't fear a negative outcome.

  It almost seemed surreal that he wanted Charlotte over the idea of a destined mate, but there it was.

  After donning a clean pair of jeans and forgoing a shirt, Ulric left the manor to look for her. She'd definitely been wandering the grounds surrounding the home recently, her scent lingering in the air, growing stronger the further into the trees he moved.

  With it came a certainty he'd yet to experience.

  After half a mile, he stopped abruptly in noticing an area where the grass looked thicker, the leaves full in vibrant autumn shades. Wildflowers had sprung from the ground that weren't found anywhere else, and the scene was painted golden beneath the blazing orange of the evening sky.

  Among it was Charlotte, sitting quietly on a tree stump with a blanket laid out on the ground at her feet from her picnic with Isadora.

  She looked like a goddess of nature with flowering vines wrapped around her arms and legs. The only thing saying otherwise was the light blue sundress she wore, but it didn't detract from the image whatsoever. Her strawberry blonde locks were more of a pale orange in the setting sun, her pointed ears clearly visible when those strands were tucked back.