“Why is the creature not restrained?” he demanded, contempt dripping from his words.
The female Fae in the centermost seat on that side of the dais spoke in a dry voice. “Perhaps because she is clearly too weakened to do anything, including stand up.”
I wasn’t sure if the undercurrent of amusement beneath the words irritated me or relieved me, but at least she hadn’t referred to me as an ‘it.’ I focused on her as best I could, hoping that the distraction would stop me from panicking over Caspian’s presence. She was as beautiful as Albigard and Caspian were handsome, with pale skin and threads of golden chain shaping her fiery red hair into an artful tumble of curls.
My nerves were just about at their breaking point after the last couple of days, but oddly, I didn’t seem to have the same instinctive aversion to the female Fae gathered on the right side of the platform as I did to the males I’d met.
A distant buzzing noise was overtaking my hearing again as my brief burst of adrenaline faded, rendering the conversation between Caspian and the woman a meaningless jumble of sounds. I craned around, trying to get a better read on the people seated in the lower part of the room.
The audience, I thought bitterly, picturing a bunch of seventeenth century peasants gathering to watch the casual entertainment of a witch trial. They weren’t all peasants, though—my eyes fell on Albigard sitting on one of the benches in the front row. His gaze flicked over me as though I was only of the barest interest to him.
I was way too far gone to try and figure out if there was any danger in letting the people here see us interacting, or if he just didn’t give a shit now that he’d delivered me into the Court’s hands. I stared at him fixedly for the space of several heartbeats, but his face was a smooth mask, mirror-like in its cool perfection.
I looked away when movement from the front pew on the other side of the aisle caught in my peripheral vision—a small, dark form. Distant surprise prickled at me as I recognized—of all things—the cat from the cottage where Dad was being kept. Or, at the very least, a nearly identical cat—black with a diamond-shaped patch of white on its chest, and slanted green eyes.
Of course, the presence of a cat in a courtroom might just be proof that I was finally losing it. Not really a stretch at this point, I supposed. Christ. Could this just be over soon, please?
Light flared behind me. I turned to face the dais again with a choked gasp of fear, as the glow of magic lit one of the red-haired woman’s hands. She flicked it toward me carelessly, but I was too weak to even attempt to scuttle out of its way like some pathetic insect.
The ball of light sank into my chest before I could do more than draw breath. The familiar itchiness crawled across me, but no pain followed. Instead, energy suffused my limbs. I swallowed, finally able to work up a bit of saliva—my throat clicking audibly as the buzzing, ringing noise in my ears subsided.
“—that better, demonkin?” the woman asked, raising a swept eyebrow at me.
“W-what did you do?” I rasped, climbing unsteadily to my feet.
The magic conveyed the same sense of artificial wellbeing that you sometimes got from heavy-duty painkillers—not the cheap over-the-counter stuff. The sense of your body being on borrowed time, feeling all right but not really all right.
“Nothing of import,” said the woman. “This would be a sad excuse for a Court if the subject were unable to speak and answer questions.”
“Thank you,” I said cautiously. “I think.”
Caspian narrowed his eyes. “I protest this waste of resources on a creature that should not exist in the first place.”
“Yes,” the woman replied. “You’ve made that quite clear, Caspian. However, while the Unseelie may run the overkeeps on Earth, the Seelie still have the final say on Dhuinne.”
Oh, good, I thought. Politics. Exactly what I needed today.
“So, is this like a trial, then?” I asked, trying to draw the woman out since it seemed like she was way less of a bigot than most of the other Fae I’d dealt with so far.
“No, demonkin,” she said. “What reason would we have to place you on trial? This is the meeting to determine our response to the treaty violation perpetrated by our enemies.”
“And what about me?” I tried. “I’m just as much a victim of this treaty violation as anyone else. More so, even.”
At least that got a reaction, muttering erupting around the chamber. Caspian made a derisive noise.
“You are a mistake,” he said. “One which we will take pleasure in erasing.”
Aaand, there it was. Not that I had truly held out hope of anything different.
I kept my eyes on the woman. “You’re going to kill me in cold blood, even though I’ve never done a damned thing to any of you.”
She did not break my gaze, and I imagined I caught the faintest whiff of regret in her reply. “Your life poses an existential threat to our people. The demons cannot be allowed to use humans as breeding stock, to swell their ranks and tip the balance of power.”
“Must we waste time cosseting this abomination, Magistrate?” grumbled another of the male Fae seated above me. “The question is not about the demonkin’s fate. It is about the sanctions we can apply toward those who spawned it.”
“Wait!” I said, sensing I was losing my brief connection with the red-haired Fae. “If you’re going to kill me, I have a request first! My father—”
She cut me off. “The Court will discuss the disposition of your sire in due course, child. That matter is under review, since no sign of demon taint could be found in him.”
“Beyond the taint of letting a cambion touch him!” someone jeered from the crowd behind me.
Rage and despair swirled inside me, forming a bitter slurry.
“Silence,” the Magistrate said evenly, and the undercurrent of muttering died down.
I ignored the order, since I figured they could only chop my head off once. “If my father is free of… taint—” I spit the word out as if it tasted bad. “—then let him go back to Earth! Something’s wrong with him! He needs help, the kind he can only get from other humans—”
“Must we listen to more of this bleating, Magistrate?” Caspian asked, his mouth twisting as though he’d tasted something sour. “The Court has seen for itself the truth of the creature’s nature. If you will not allow me more time to study it, then take it away to be dealt with. Letting it linger like this is cruel, would you not agree?”
He sneered, the corners of his eyes crinkling at me.
“Bastard,” I whispered, and those eyes turned hard and flat.
The Magistrate sighed. “I suppose you’re right, General. Guardsmen, take the demonkin to the execution block and ensure that she is dispatched cleanly. Have the remains taken to the healers for further study.”
Gooseflesh chased itself across my skin, and a wave of dizziness washed over me. The guards stepped forward from their positions at the corners of the room. A crazy impulse told me to run, or maybe to lunge for Caspian and try to claw his bastard eyes out with my fingernails while I still had the chance.
Before I could do more than draw in a breath—to rage, to scream, to curse every Fae in this room—the double doors at the back of the chamber slammed inward. I whirled, nearly tripping over my own feet as I fought weakness and vertigo.
Blinking rapidly, I stared open-mouthed at the dark figure striding into the court, blue eyes blazing and leather coat billowing behind him. Moss blackened and curled beneath his boots as he passed, the vines and flowers around him withering in his wake. Cries of alarm erupted around the room as several of the Fae on the dais surged to their feet.
“Actually, guardsmen,” Rans said, “I would strongly advise against that course of action.”
FIFTEEN
EITHER THE IMPOSSIBLE had just happened, or my mind had just snapped. The latter option seemed a lot more likely, somehow. I continued to stare in bewilderment, my mouth gaping like I was a particularly dull-witted fish. And okay, may
be I hadn’t lost my mind, because the guards that had been heading for me stopped in their tracks with similarly shocked expressions on their faces.
Rans didn’t slow down until he reached me, his eyes glowing and his fangs bared. Without a word, he grabbed my hand and raised my wrist to his lips.
“What is the meaning of this?” the Magistrate demanded with what I had to admit was admirable steadiness.
I was still mired in shock, wondering if Rans was about to kiss the delicate skin on my inner wrist—right up until his fangs tore into my flesh. I cried out… a stupid, pathetic squeak. What the hell? Was I hallucinating after all?
His throat worked as he swallowed, and then he was reaching into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out something small and sharp edged, like a piece of milky quartz. He slapped my still-bleeding wrist against it.
“What is that crystal?” Caspian demanded. “Guards, stop him!”
“Rans, what the hell?” I tried.
But Rans had already dropped my arm. His fangs tore into the flesh at the base of his thumb, a gout of red erupting in front of my wavering vision. He placed the bloody wound over my mouth, and I made a shocked noise as coppery liquid seeped between my open lips.
“If you want to get out of here alive, swallow,” he said in a voice too low to be heard by anyone else.
I’m sure my eyes were bugging out of my head as salty blood coated my tongue. My empty stomach tried to flip over as repulsion at the idea of someone else’s blood in my mouth warred with my body’s survival instincts… and lost. This was liquid, and I had nearly died of thirst. Suddenly, I could sympathize with desperate shipwreck victims who succumbed to the deadly lure of drinking seawater.
I swallowed.
“No!” Caspian roared, and vaulted over the long wooden desk he’d been seated behind, sending piles of papers flying in his wake.
The guards were still hesitating a few steps away. Rans smeared his blood over the mysterious crystal, mixing it with mine. The crystal glowed, turning ruby red. I watched, dumbfounded, as he tossed the thing onto the moss-covered floor and crushed it with a boot heel. The ruby-colored light exploded outward as the crystal shattered. I felt it pass through me like a power surge.
Caspian slid to a halt at the edge of the dais. Everyone in the chamber seemed to have gone very still all of the sudden. I was still gaping, queasily aware of Rans’ blood smeared across my lips.
He straightened, addressing his next words to the Magistrate. The female Fae had risen in alarm with the others, but unlike Caspian she’d made no move to approach us.
“I declare that this woman shares my life-bond,” Rans said, his voice carrying to every corner of the chamber. “Her soul is now tied to mine. Killing her kills me as well.” He lifted his hands as though baring himself to attack. “There you are, then, mates. I’ve made it easy for you. Two for one. Anyone want to have a go?”
I stared at him. What the… what?
Nobody moved.
Eventually, the Magistrate sat down again in slow motion, her green eyes raking over the rest of the Court. The others followed suit, returning to their chairs—all except for Caspian, who still stood poised on the edge of the dais, his chest rising and falling fast.
His eyes glared daggers at us.
I swallowed hard, scrubbing at my face and mouth with the back of my hand. Unfortunately, my hand was bloody, too, and all of it was starting to dry on my skin. At least that meant the wounds from Rans’ fangs were already closed over, I supposed. Beneath our feet, the circle of blackened, dying moss and flowers continued to spread slowly outward.
“No one?” Rans taunted. “Really? Last surviving member of your sworn enemies, barging right into the seat of power on Dhuinne, and none of you want a go at me?”
A tendon jerked in Caspian’s jaw.
“If anyone feels like explaining what the hell is going on, that would be freakin’ awesome as far as I’m concerned,” I said.
The Magistrate didn’t even look at me. Her eyes narrowed, her attention staying firmly on Rans.
“Your continued survival is mandated within a clause of the peace treaty, vampire,” she said slowly.
“Yeah, see, I thought it must be something like that,” Rans muttered.
“The demons have already broken the treaty!” Caspian snarled, gesturing at me. “The proof stands right in front of us!”
Rans narrowed his eyes. “Oh? Well, it sounds like the peace is over, then. What a terrible pity. I suppose you’d better come down here and stake me through the heart. Just think, Golden Boy—all of your problems solved with a single blow.”
Somehow, I couldn’t believe that antagonizing the powerful guy who seemed to hate both our guts was that great of a plan—but then again, I was the girl who’d walked into Dhuinne with every expectation that I’d be beheaded for my troubles. So maybe I didn’t have much room to talk.
“That can be arranged, parasite,” Caspian said.
I tensed as Rans drew himself up straight and pushed me behind him, but the Magistrate’s voice rang out before Caspian could jump down from the platform.
“Hold!”
Caspian stood poised, his fists clenching and unclenching in poorly suppressed rage.
“Sit down, General,” the Magistrate continued. “This body will not respond to a single criminal act from half a century ago by committing an officially sanctioned treaty violation in open Court.”
I held my breath, trying rather desperately to drag my wits together and catch up with whatever the fuck was happening around me. I still felt like a wreck, though perhaps not as much of a wreck as I should have been. I had no idea what the Magistrate had done to me with her glowy magic hands, or how long it would last. But—disgusting though it might be—it made a sort of twisted sense that if vampire blood healed human wounds, swallowing it would give your health an even bigger boost than applying it topically.
Meanwhile, Rans still seemed intent on heckling Caspian into trying to kill both of us.
“Well, Golden Boy? You heard the lady. What’s it going to be?” he pressed.
Maybe possessing two X-chromosomes trumped species differences, because the Magistrate sounded like she was even closer to the end of her tether than I was—and at this point, that was saying something.
“You presume much, vampire,” she said. “Perhaps you would do better to enjoy your strategic victory without attempting to goad members of this Court into violence. You have what you apparently wanted—though I don’t claim to understand your motives. We cannot execute the part-breed now that her life is tied to yours.”
Caspian was still hanging onto his self-control by a thread, it seemed. A slow smile stretched his features… a smile I really didn’t like.
“Perhaps not,” he said. “But nothing prevents us from imprisoning the creature here for further study, Magistrate. As long as it doesn’t die, no harm comes to the bloodsucker, and by extension, the treaty.”
An icy wave of cold shuddered through my body, and I had to stop myself from cringing at the words. Rans’ hand shot out to hold me in place.
“By all means, try to take her away from me,” he said, biting off the words. “See if you can do it without killing me during the attempt.”
“Enough!” the Magistrate snapped. “All of this is uncalled for. You may leave here with the part-breed, as long as you do so peacefully… and promptly.”
Several of the Unseelie shifted in their seats, exchanging unhappy murmurs.
“I’d love to, thanks,” Rans said. “Now, give the two of us an escort back to the gate to Earth, so none of the guards between here and there get any ideas above their station. Then we’ll be on our way.”
After the events of the past several minutes, I’d almost forgotten about Albigard’s presence here, but at those words he rose from his seat and made to step toward us. Rans turned at the movement, his body freezing into dangerous stillness.
“No,” he growled, his eyes flashing murd
er. “Not you.”
Albigard paused, green gaze locking with blue for a long moment before he consciously relaxed his spine and shrugged, as though it was nothing to him either way. After a tense few beats while the other Fae in the room looked nervously at each other, wondering if anyone else would step up, the large black cat hopped down from its perch and trotted past us toward the double doors, its tail held high.
I was already pretty much maxed out when it came to weird, but Rans just muttered, “That works, I suppose,” and headed after the animal, my bloody hand clasped in his.
I tagged along behind him, trying to decide if this was really happening or not. Was I about to surface from unconsciousness, only to find myself still lying on the hard-packed dirt floor inside the tree-cell? Or had the whole thing been a dream from the start, and I would wake up to find that I’d drifted off in Tom and Glynda’s bedroom in Chicago?
I shuddered at the idea that I might still have to face sneaking out of the house, calling Albigard and talking him into helping me after this nightmare. But… that would mean seeing my dad had been a dream, too. It would mean he wasn’t actually damaged. It would mean he hadn’t really talked to me like I was something to be tossed aside and forgotten.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
I was losing it, my feet stumbling over nothing as my mind whirled in tighter and tighter circles. Rans pulled me closer to him, tucking me against his body and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
The double doors were still open after his dramatic entrance earlier. The cat padded past the dumbfounded guards, and we followed right behind. Indeed, the whole place seemed to have come to a crashing halt after the unexpected spectacle in the courtroom, with Fae staring at us like they were afraid Rans might draw a hidden weapon and start randomly hacking away at them.
Was it an irrational fear? I had absolutely no fucking clue.
“Portal,” Rans said, once the three of us had exited the building. “She’s too weak to walk back.”
My fractured attention had been caught by the trail of dead and decomposing vines in our wake, Dhuinne’s magical plant life succumbing to Rans’ undead aura. Or something. Maybe that was why it took me longer than it should have to realize he was talking to the animal, not me.
The Last Vampire: Book Two Page 13