A few of the others came over and introduced themselves, but mostly they seemed to stay in whatever groups they had formed long before we arrived.
Tom and I participated as needed but made sure not to be too friendly with each other. We decided we’d have to appear to become friends eventually, so nobody would be suspicious if they caught us talking. Of course, we were both hoping we would be out of here well before we had to worry about a long-term plan.
“Excuse me,” said a soft voice.
We all turned to see one of the witches standing at the end of our table. Like the others, she had on a plain brown dress and wore her hair in a simple braid. Her hands were folded submissively in front of her and her eyes were down, as if she wasn’t even supposed to make eye contact. She looked vaguely familiar and I tried to think if she had brought food or something.
“Lord Reave wishes to meet you at last,” she said.
Now I recognized her: she was the witch who had been standing with Reave and Victor before the fights.
“When you are finished eating, please come with me,” she murmured. She gave a small bow and walked away, stopping near one of the doors to wait.
It seemed everyone was eager to go meet Reave; we finished quickly and joined the witch. She led us through a maddening maze of stairs and hallways until we reached a door at the end of a long tunnel.
The door opened as we approached, revealing a wizard who bowed low as we passed. The room wasn’t nearly as large as I expected it to be. Then again, Reave wasn’t exactly what I expected either; he and Victor were sitting in comfortable looking chairs and Reave was fixing us with a smile as friendly as Victor’s was sinister.
“Thank you, Adaira,” Reave said. He extended a hand; our witch escort crossed the room to him and kissed him on the cheek, before sitting down at his feet. “My friends,” he said, giving the rest of us a wide smile. “I’m so pleased you decided to stay here at our sanctuary. You are most welcome for as long as you wish.”
I bit back a laugh; if they knew Tom and I knew the truth, we’d end up like Connor.
“I am Reave,” he said, eyes scanning us. “This place is the realization of my vision; a place where vampires and other non-humans can come together away from humans. A place where we can be ourselves, without concern of being misunderstood or feared. While here, you are welcome to move about the castle freely. All I ask is you respect each other’s private rooms, unless the occupant wishes you to be there.”
“Can we go outside?” Kiana asked.
“Yes, we have a courtyard and a small hunting ground. However, unless you shift you’ll want to dress warmly.” Reave turned his gaze to me. “You may wish to stay indoors.” He smiled, then gestured around him. “Here, you will all find many amenities. Should you have a hobby or a desire we have not fulfilled, you need only ask. There are some who wish to participate in the fights…” He paused and his brow furrowed in thought.
“I have already spoken with them about the fights,” Victor said softly.
“Yes, very good.” Reave nodded, then frowned. “Where was I?” Victor started to answer, but Reave waved a hand at him dismissively. “Ah, yes. As I said, you may stay as long as you wish. If you have nowhere else to go, you are welcome here for as long as you need a home. Should you decide to leave, I ask only that you keep our location and our… beliefs, a secret. Unless, of course, you encounter others who are in need of a place to escape for a time. Then, by all means, direct them to Victor.” He paused and nodded in Victor’s direction. “My right hand man.” Reave abruptly turned his attention to us. “You, what is your name?”
“Olivia.”
Adaira cleared her throat. “Address him as Lord Reave or My Lord,” she said, glancing up at Reave as if she expected approval.
“Olivia, Lord Reave.” I couldn’t see her expression, but the sneer was obvious in her voice.
“Are you registered to feed with MES or did you inform them you are on vacation?” Reave asked.
I silently blew out a breath of relief; having Ember set up fake MES accounts for us had been an afterthought. She put the finishing touches on profiles for Joe and Delta just hours before we left for Cavaliers. I assumed the fake IDs would be enough, but now I was glad we decided to be thorough.
“I…” Olivia sounded taken aback.
“The truth, please,” Reave said. “If you need your feeding record removed so that MES is not alerted to your absence, you need only request it.”
I glanced over at Tom, who met my gaze with wide eyes. The vampires in our files printed from people who visited CVLR and went missing all had deleted information in their accounts.
“I’m not registered,” Olivia said proudly and with just a hint of a challenge.
Reave studied her a minute, but then nodded. “Very well. And you?”
“I’m uh, Joe.”
“Are you on the MES feeding schedule?”
“No.” Tom cleared his throat and added, “I was, but I may have… missed a few feedings… I don’t think they’re very happy with me.”
I heard a soft chuckle from Olivia.
Reave nodded again. “Then you, especially, are welcome here. You are safe from MES and their unfair restrictions here.”
“Thanks…”
Reave looked us over again, frowning. “I thought there were three vampires,” he said to Victor.
“I’m afraid Connor left us this morning,” Victor said.
Yeah, he sure as hell did leave us.
“A pity,” Reave said. “But then, this life is not for everyone.” He paused thoughtfully, then nodded his head. “If there is nothing else, you may go. Please enjoy yourselves and consider this your home.”
He gestured at us and Adaira stood, bowed to him, then headed for the door.
“Please come with me,” she said.
Somewhat surprised by the abrupt dismissal, we all followed.
“Do you really want to be turned into a vampire?” Tom asked Adaira as we walked.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I long for the day I have proven myself worthy.”
Olivia laughed derisively. “When will that be?”
“I don’t know,” Adaira said, sounding unperturbed. “When the time comes, Lord Reave will.”
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Six years.”
Olivia laughed again. “You’ve seriously been here for six years playing servant to Reave? And he hasn’t turned you yet?”
“It is an honor to serve him,” Adaira said firmly. “I trust he will turn me when the time is right.”
“So, never,” Olivia muttered with a chuckle.
Adaira pursed her lips but did not reply.
She left us back near the dining hall, wished us well, and went on her way.
Tom and I exchanged a glance and a sigh. Hopefully we’d get out of here quickly.
~~~***~~~
Life, if you wanted to call it that, in Reave’s freaky castle was weird. There were some days where, if you stopped thinking about it, it was hard to remember that anyone who wanted to leave was mercilessly slaughtered and every week they hosted violent arena battles.
The lavish breakfasts turned out to just be a post-fight morning thing, the rest of the time there was a massive, although equally decadent, buffet that was open all day long. They served all manner of human food and plenty of other things for non-humans, including a variety of water that practically made the days bearable, especially one day when they served Ionian Sea.
When we weren’t eating, we were free to play a million different games, watch movies, hang out. We could even join teams for the weird ball game they liked to play. To my surprise the art room was actually heavily utilized and I discovered that some of the paintings and sculptures around the castle were the works of the people here. Our first night was the only one where we were locked in and we were, so they claimed, free to go anywhere in the castle.
It was sort of like being in a really strange
resort. Although, considering this place, and the stupid pink monstrosity on Mystic Cay, and that abandoned ski lodge where I kind of died a few years back, I was getting pretty sick of resorts. I wasn't sure what Charlie was thinking about doing for our honeymoon, but he was going to be sorely disappointed if a resort of any kind was part of the plan.
Time passed strangely, especially since we didn’t even know what day we arrived. Half of the people here weren’t even sure what month it was. It seemed everyone measured time by counting fights. Even though fight nights were a week apart, it seemed that people lost track of how many weeks they had been here, so counting didn’t matter anyway.
Everything was much less theatrical when they weren’t hosting a group on their first night. A week after our arrival we were all tracked down and ushered to the arena for dinner. Once again, the five of us were separated from the others and everyone was served food, but there was no ball game; we ate in silence with a strange tension hanging in the air.
“Is everyone ready?” Victor suddenly yelled.
Most of his audience began to shout and cheer. Grinning widely, Victor waved his hands for silence.
“I trust everyone knows what to expect tonight?”
There were more cheers and some unsettling laughter.
Victor jumped easily over the side of the arena and walked slowly to the middle, eyes locked onto us. I exchanged a nervous look with Thomas. His expression made it clear he had reached the same conclusion.
“My new friends,” Victor said, spreading his arms. “You were able to watch the fights last time. Tonight, you will participate! Olivia, Joe, come join me.”
Oh shit.
Olivia jumped eagerly to her feet. Tom’s eyes met mine as he slowly stood. I shook my head slightly, he shrugged helplessly in return. I thought of our conversation a few nights ago.
“What do we do when it’s our turn to fight?”
“Play their game, I guess. I don’t think it’s something we can get out of. If we give them any reason to suspect us…”
“Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.”
“Honestly, I’m more worried about the fact we won’t be able to help each other if… I mean…”
“One of us has to get out of here alive. This whole operation has to be shut down.”
“Yeah.”
“I have to say, I kind of miss the blood casters. At least they were just trying to kill us outright.”
“I think I actually agree with you.”
“Clearly, this place is going to your head.”
I swallowed hard and nodded to him. “Good luck,” I mouthed.
Thomas and Olivia joined Victor in the center of the arena, where he quietly spoke to them while the witches and wizards dragged the racks of weapons to either side. I watched nervously as Victor left the arena, leaving the other vampires to walk to opposite sides.
With a savage grin, Olivia selected a pair of nasty-looking stakes. I clenched my fists in frustration; she was obviously more than happy to fight to kill. Tom grabbed a stake too, but also opted for a knife, which I thought was a much better choice.
“Begin,” Victor said.
The crowd began chanting their names, clearly having chosen who they were rooting for.
The fight was mostly a blur; Olivia wasn’t holding back, forcing Tom to go all-out from the start. Now and again they slowed, circling each other warily, before lunging.
It was hard to see clearly, but it looked like Olivia was sticking to the typical vampire style of fighting: relying on her speed and strength. The method was effective against pretty much every other kind of magic, but left her even with another vampire and, better yet, at a disadvantage against one who knew how to use her technique against her.
My breath hitched and the entire audience gasped as Olivia managed to knock Thomas to the ground. She raised her stake above him; I couldn’t tell if she was going for his hearts or just trying to wound him. Up in his little private section, Victor watched wordlessly.
At the last second, Thomas rolled to the side. Olivia’s stake slammed into the dirt where he had been.
He struck.
Naturally, Olivia was expecting the attack to be aimed at her chest, but Thomas wasn’t fighting to kill, not if he could avoid it. Instead, he plunged the knife into the back of one of her knees. She screeched and dropped to the ground, clutching her leg. Tom backed warily away, watching her. Olivia staggered to her feet, took one step, then collapsed again with a curse. She tried again, but her leg wouldn’t hold her.
“That’s enough,” Victor called lazily. “The fight is over.”
It was clear that Olivia wasn't thrilled the fight had already ended and even less pleased she had lost. I hoped this didn't mean we were going to have to spend the rest of our, hopefully brief, time here looking over our shoulders for her. A couple of wizards went out to assist Olivia, she tried to throw them off and stumbled again, before allowing one to help support her as they left the arena. Anthony, the dhampir, was waiting for them near the tunnel where they brought the weapons in, he said something to Thomas, and they all left the arena.
After a moment I looked around at all the other doors, waiting for them to emerge and come back to sit with us. Suddenly, the thought that they wouldn't be coming back, ever, struck me and I quickly told myself that there was no way they were leading them away to be killed. I scanned the audience on the other side of the arena, looking for the people who fought last time. I was pretty sure I had seen a couple of them around, but admittedly hadn't been paying much attention. Surely all of the people cheering wildly wouldn't be so excited if the fighters all disappeared after each fight. While maybe they were fond of culling the losers, I didn't see how eliminating the winners worked at all in Victor and Reave’s weird plan to have the best fighters in charge of things.
“That’s you,” Kiana said.
I turned to her, confused, lost in my own thoughts. “What?” I asked. Luckily after a week the New Zealand accent came easily.
“Victor just called you,” she said.
I turned my attention toward the arena in alarm, just in time to see Flint drop out of sight over the wall to the floor. Victor was back in the center, hands clasped in front of him, looking in my direction.
“Delta,” he repeated firmly. “It's not a request.”
Well, shit.
I got up and hurried down toward the edge, then hopped over the railing, catching up to Flint just as he joined Victor in the center.
“Greetings,” Victor said with a sinister smile. “As this is your first fight, I want to share a few reminders with you. This fight will continue until one of you is incapacitated. If you show mercy or hold back, there will be consequences.”
I really wanted to ask him what consequences specifically but had a feeling the sass would not be appreciated; contrary to what some people believed, I knew when to keep my mouth shut. Instead I nodded solemnly.
“If you are injured,” Victor continued, “and you attempt to yield while you are still physically able to fight, there will be consequences. Now, while I would prefer you both alive when the dust settles I understand that accidents happen, especially seeing as you are both elementals.” His grin widened, exposing his fangs. “Lastly, fights within our arena are intended as training opportunities. They are designed to help us discover who among us are the strongest, so that those select individuals may be granted positions of importance and power in our future utopia. That being said, we do not tolerate taking these fights out of the arena. If there are hard feelings after a lost fight, you may sort it out the next time you are matched against each other, should that happen. If you attempt to fight outside of the arena there will be consequences for both of you.” His cruel smile widened even more.” If one of you should end up dead, so will the other. Am I clear?
We both nodded.
“Very good.” Victor gestured for us to take our places on opposite sides of the arena. We obeyed, each stopping near one of t
he racks filled with weapons
“Begin!” Victor called, voice echoing throughout the chamber.
I started scanning the weapons, trying to figure out which would be best against a stone elemental. I pocketed a trio of small throwing knives, knowing full well they would do jack shit against a stone elemental, then grabbed a much larger, heavier duty knife. I turned to see that Flint. just like the stone elemental at the last fight, had chosen a club. What was it with stone elementals and clubs? That was going to be painful if I screwed up. Then again, I vividly remembered getting smashed by the minotaur and decided that Flint couldn't even come close to how much that hurt.
I took a deep breath and headed for the middle of the arena to wait for Flint. He took his time, obviously hoping that I would give up what little advantage I had by rushing him, but I wasn't planning on being that stupid or impatient. I could stay here all night if I had to. Standing around was certainly better than trying to beat the crap out of someone for Victor's entertainment, even though I usually enjoyed a good spar.
Flint stopped close to the middle and we both stood still. Unfortunately, I knew that sooner or later I was going to have to make the first move. There was no possible way that I'd be able to wait out a stone elemental. We could stand here for days and he wouldn't move before I did. Nevertheless, I gave him a couple of minutes to stew, hoping that maybe I would be lucky enough to have found the only stone elemental in the world who wasn't patient. But as he watched me calmly, motionlessly, I knew I was not going to be that lucky.
Something flew through the air toward him; I was so distracted by it I almost didn't notice one coming at me. Luckily, it was deliberately aimed to miss. I jumped back as an arrow embedded itself in the ground at my feet. We both turned in surprise to see Anthony and Victor both lowering bows.
“In case you were confused,” Victor said, his voice so low and threatening I almost couldn't hear him. “You will fight. If you do not…” He drew another arrow and set it against his bowstring.
“Let me guess, there will be consequences,” I muttered.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 44