Eternal (12 page)

I must have looked surprised by this, because she smiled, arching an auburn brow. “Yes, there’s another kind,
chérie
. Perhaps Luc can answer your questions about the
Krsnik
later. Luc is, after all, the most knowledgeable of our kind where slayer legend is concerned.”

I remembered the ancient, dusty book tucked away in my dorm room. It had been Luc who’d given the book to Aidan, who’d translated the page about
Sâbbats
and the
Megvédio
. Did they know the truth about Matthew? Or did I still have one secret left to keep?

“Anyway”—she waved one hand—“there’s much, much more, but I won’t bore you with the details. The most important thing is that the
Dauphin
’s power usurps all others, even that
of the Eldest. He will take control of the Tribunal, and all will bow to him. He can bring peace, you see. Safety to the human race. With the
Sâbbat
and the
Krsnik
under his control, he can ensure that those who refuse to follow the law will be summarily destroyed.”

“And you think Aidan is the
Dauphin
,” I said, stating the obvious.

She nodded. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he is. It would appear that Blackwell figured it out before I did. He was a clever one, that Augustus Blackwell—clever and ambitious. I should have known that, with his vast knowledge of legend and lore, he might eventually stumble upon something, a hint of some sort.

“But it was Goran Petrovi
ć
who ultimately betrayed us all, giving Blackwell the specific information he needed about the prophecy, information that no one save the Tribunal was privy to. The Propagators made him promises he couldn’t refuse—he would eventually rule all, they bargained, both vampire and subjugated mortal alike. All he had to do was destroy the
Dauphin
. Or have
you
destroy him, Miss McKenna, since a vampire cannot.”

I looked over at Aidan, waiting for him to speak, to say something about that awful day last spring. But he didn’t—he just sat
there, as silent and still as a statue. “Bu-but Blackwell sent Jenna in to save us,” I stammered, completely unnerved by Aidan’s haggard, haunted expression.

Mrs. Girard shrugged. “That I cannot explain. A last-minute change of heart, perhaps? I suppose we’ll never know.”

I digested that in silence.

“So, you must see my dilemma. We need a leader. We need someone to restore the peace, to end the war and ensure the safety of both mortals and vampires alike. I couldn’t very well have Aidan cure himself, no matter how sympathetic I might be to that cause. I didn’t mean for the tampered serum to affect him the way it did—those attacks were an entirely unexpected consequence. But once they were discovered . . . well, I couldn’t tip my hand and show him preferential treatment. He had to be punished. The outbreak of war and ensuing chaos provided the necessary opportunity to release him, and so here we are.”

My heart was thudding in my chest now, anger racing through my veins. I still couldn’t believe she’d done that to Aidan—turned him into a killer. I struggled to rein it in, to keep my voice calm and controlled. “So . . . why do you need
my
help?”

“Simply to help me persuade Aidan to do what he was created
to do—to assume the role of the
Dauphin
and take his rightful place by my side on the newly formed Tribunal.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “And if I don’t?”

Her smile turned my blood to ice. “Well, then I suppose I’ll just have to make you destroy him, won’t I?”

I
nstinctively, I reached for my stake. I stopped myself just short of pulling it from its sheath.

“I assure you there’s no need for that, Miss McKenna,” Mrs. Girard said quickly, rising from her seat, both palms pressed against the desk. “We’re all friends here, on the side of right.”

Straightening, I glanced over at Luc, expecting him to look as if he were ready to pounce. Instead, his attention was focused on Aidan. For a moment, I studied Luc closely, prodding the invisible barrier that protected his mind. Immediately, I felt the wall crumble, the thoughts tumbling out.

He must agree. We need him too badly—he’s our only hope.

Other thoughts, mostly jumbled, took over my consciousness.
I barely had time to make heads or tails of them, but the message was clear. I could sense Luc’s desperation, his panic. I had to press my fingers against my temples to break the connection, hoping that I looked as if I were massaging away a headache or something.

“I think you two need some time alone.” Mrs. Girard walked briskly around her desk, stopping at Aidan’s side. She laid a hand on his shoulder, her touch surprisingly gentle. “Is there somewhere you can go,
mon chou
? Somewhere you can talk without fear of interruption?”

He nodded, a muscle in his jaw flexing.

“But . . . but what about sixth period?” I stammered nonsensically.

Mrs. Girard returned to her desk and reached for the phone. “Fencing, correct?” When I nodded, she continued on. “I’ll call Coach Gibson and let him know that you’re excused. Luc, can you escort them?”

“Of course, madam,” he answered. His voice was deep, heavily accented.

He strode over to Aidan and looped an arm under his right shoulder, offering himself as a crutch as Aidan struggled awkwardly to his feet. If not for Luc, I’m pretty sure Aidan would have collapsed to the floor.

Oh my God.
My stomach plummeted. Whatever they’d done to him, it’d been bad. Really, really bad.

I hurried to Aidan’s side, wrapping an arm around his waist. Together we moved toward the door, Luc and me supporting Aidan as he shuffled toward it.

“Where are we going?” Luc asked, and I looked to Aidan for the answer, realizing I had no idea.

My room
, he answered inside my head.

“I’ll show you,” I said to Luc.

As soon as we stepped out into the hallway, Matthew’s head snapped up, his eyes wide with surprise. “What the hell?” he whispered harshly as we passed. “Is he okay?”

“I have no idea,” I answered without turning around. There was no way I could stop and explain what was going on, not with Mrs. Girard there on the other side of the door. He would just have to trust that I was safe, that I could take care of myself for the time being.

We set off at a lumbering pace. Luckily, it was still sixth period, so the halls were empty. I was moving on autopilot, trying to wrap my brain around everything I’d just learned—and wondering what exactly I was up against in convincing Aidan to go along with Mrs. Girard’s plan.

“This way,” I said, tipping my head toward the stairwell on our right. “Down the stairs and to the right.”

In Aidan’s absence, I had memorized the route to his underground room. It had taken me several tries to find it without him. But still, I found some comfort in retracing my steps there and back. Now I felt only fear.

As if sensing it, Luc turned toward me, meeting my gaze over Aidan’s bowed head. “She’s not likely to force you to destroy him,” he said. “A bluff, I think. Despite what she says, I don’t think she could bear it. She’ll simply lock him back in the dungeon, hoping that he’ll eventually change his mind.”

I just nodded, swallowing hard. I hoped he was right, though it didn’t matter, not really. As far as I was concerned, neither was acceptable.

We walked on in silence. Another flight of stairs and two turns later, we finally reached the nondescript door, locked tight.

“Can you . . . ?” I tilted my head toward the door.

“Of course,” Luc said. There was an audible click, and the door swung open.

Moving in tandem, we led Aidan to the daybed against the wall and helped him to sit on the edge of the mattress.

“I’ll be just outside,” Luc said, hooking a thumb toward the hallway. “Take all the time you need.”

And then he was gone. Even though I knew it was pointless, I turned the lock anyway.

“Violet,” Aidan whispered, his voice a gravelly rasp. It was the first word he’d spoken aloud, I realized with a start.

“Oh my God, Aidan.” I rushed back to his side and knelt on the ground before him. “What did they do to you?” I gathered his cold hands in mine as I peered up at him, trying not to wince at the sight of his red-rimmed eyes, his hollow, gaunt cheeks. “Have they . . . did you feed before you came here?”

He nodded, bowing his head and pressing his lips against my knuckles. “This isn’t real—it can’t be. It’s an illusion, like all the others.”

I slipped one hand from his grasp and reached up to run it through his hair. “It’s real, Aidan. I’m here. See? And I’m not leaving—not till they drag me out.”

He reached for my hand and drew it down against his cheek. We sat like that for several minutes, the room entirely silent but for the beating of our hearts. “It’s really you,” he said at last. “Not a trick.”

I shook my head. “Nope, not a trick.”

“Can you . . . will you just . . . hold me?”

I sat beside him, drawing him down till we lay side by side. “God, I’ve missed you,” I said, breathing in his familiar scent as he wrapped one arm around me, my head resting on his shoulder now.

“I’ve thought of you every minute of every day,” he answered. As we lay there, he combed his fingers through my hair, our hearts beating in perfect unison. Fifteen minutes passed. A half hour, maybe more. Eventually his fingers stilled in my hair, and I wondered if he’d fallen asleep. But then he shifted, drawing me closer.

I scooted down, moving my cheek to his chest. “Please tell me you’re going to be okay.”

“I’m not the same, Vi,” he said, his voice catching. “I’ll never be the same. Not after what I did.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You know that. You heard what Mrs. Girard said. It was Jack—she made him tamper with the serum. She threatened his brother,” I added, hoping to lessen the sting of betrayal.

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t do it. That I’m not capable of doing it again.”

I took a deep breath. “What did they do to you, Aidan? I felt . . . heat. Burning heat. And my shoulders—there was this awful, tearing pain. Like my skin was being ripped open.”
Absently, I rubbed a hand over my shoulder, remembering the horrific sensations.

“You felt that?” he asked, his voice laced with incredulity. “But . . . how?”

“I don’t know. It’s like I somehow got inside your head. At least, I assume it was your head. And that I was feeling some of what you were feeling.”

He closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling with a ragged breath. “I am so very sorry, Violet.”

I rose up on one elbow, gazing down at him with a scowl. “Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one they were torturing. God, how could Mrs. Girard allow them to do that to you? When she knew what happened—knew it was
her
fault!”

“She never should have let me out.”

“What are you talking about? You didn’t deserve to be in there in the first place!”

“—and now to drag you into this, into her plot. It’s unconscionable.”

I sat up sharply. “You’ve got to snap out of this, Aidan. I mean it. You’ve got to get yourself together and do what she’s asking. Become her
Dauphin
, or however the hell you say it. It’s the only way she’s going to let you go free. Besides, it sounds like it’s the right thing to do.”

“I’d rather be destroyed.”

My face blanched. “How can you say that?”

“You don’t realize what you’re asking of me. To join them, to lead their war . . .” He shook his head. “It’s not what I want, Violet. I’m done. Finished. I’ve made peace with that.”

“Done? What do you mean, done? You’ve got a second chance now.
We’ve
got a second chance.” Now that I had him back, there was no way I was letting him go, not like this.

“I’ve brought enough trouble into your life already, don’t you think? Besides, what chance do
we
have if I agree to their plan? I won’t have my cure. If I accept this role, it’s a lifetime sentence. In my case, that’s an eternity. I can’t be destroyed, remember? Except by you.”

“I’m not destroying you.”

“We’re at a stalemate, then, aren’t we?”

“If you just do what they’re asking, you’ll stay alive. Don’t you get that?” My voice rose a pitch, my breath coming faster now. “Whatever the cost, it’s worth it.”

“Not to me. Don’t
you
get that? I’d come so close—so very close—to finding the cure. To having it all, everything I’d ever hoped and dreamed and wished for. The darkness lifted. My humanity restored. And you, Violet.” He brushed the back of one hand down the side of my face, eliciting a shiver that racked my entire body.

“Especially you,” he continued. “It was within my grasp, and now it’s gone, all of it. I can’t go back, not now. Don’t you see? All I had, all I lived for, was that hope. And now—now I have nothing. Nothing to live for, to hope for. Would you really wish that existence on me?”

The pain in his voice ripped my heart in two, and yet . . . call me selfish, but yes. Yes, I’d wish that on him. I couldn’t bear the thought of the alternative.

“There’s got to be some other way,” I said in desperation. “We just . . . go along with it for now. Do whatever they need you to do to win the war and secure peace, and then we can renegotiate.”

“The Vampire Tribunal doesn’t negotiate, Vi. Surely you must know that by now.”

“Bu-but you’ll be their leader,” I stammered. “They’ll have to do whatever you say.”

“My guess is that I’ll be their leader in the same fashion that the Eldest is now—in name only. A puppet, nothing more. You heard what Mrs. Girard said—she wants me to take my place
by her side
. By putting me there,
she
becomes the most powerful vampire alive, not me.”

I digested that in silence. He was probably right, I realized. It made sense, especially with what I knew about female vampires.
They were far more powerful, more aggressive than males. Still, it was our only hope. And I wasn’t ready to give up, even if he was.