Rising Dark (The Darkling Trilogy, Book 2) (40 page)

“
Step out of the circle,
Avery,” Lina said.

I moved Luna’s frozen hand away from
my throat, watching her eyes widen with fear and anger as I did
what her daughter commanded. I realised that up until that moment,
I had believed Lina would trap and kill both of us. Indeed, it was
difficult to move away, leaving Luna vulnerable.

I moved to Lina’s side as she said an
incantation that activated the magic and trapped Luna within the
circle. The spell to make Luna immobile wore off much quicker than
Lina had anticipated and we had no way of knowing if the magic
circle would be able to contain her until Luna tried to shimmer out
of the circle. Her image wavered and disappeared only for her to
reappear immediately, stumbling backward violently. She fell to her
knees.

Lina breathed a sigh of
relief.

“
Let me out of here,” Luna
said calmly when she got to her feet.

Lina began the incantation.

There is only one way a vampire can be
weakened, and it is the reason why the world is not overrun with
the undead.

With all things natural, and
supernatural, nature insists on a balance, a natural protection. If
creating another vampire was an easy thing to do, the world would
be overrun with our kind and the human race hunted to extinction.
The bloodletting involved in creating another weakens a vampire
considerably and it can take decades to recover. Some never do. But
our skin is almost impenetrable and heals quickly. It would also be
difficult to overcome Luna long enough to inflict a large enough
wound for our purposes.

Lina could use magic to create an
opening in Luna’s skin that would stay open long enough for large
amounts of blood to be shed. But for the magic to work, it had to
be a part of Luna’s body that had been scarred when she was mortal,
and which had deep emotional and psychological ties associated with
it.

That was our plan.

Luna moved to the outer limits of the
circle, attempting to push against it.

“
How dare you,” she
hissed. “Stupid girl! Do you think your childish little spells can
stop me?”

She focused on a sachet of herbs Lina
was holding. It disintegrated and fell through Lina’s fingers like
grains of sand. Then she focused her mental power on Lina. I made a
small movement toward the circle to enter it and try to stop
whatever it was Luna was trying to do to her own child. But Lina’s
hand came up to grip my arm. Her hold was surprisingly strong, much
stronger than that of a woman her age, and I was kept from moving
forward.

The grains of herbs that had
disintegrated a few moments before rose into the air, distracting
Luna. Her eyes widened as the herbs flew through the air like a
vengeful dark cloud and into the circle to surround her. She looked
on in amazement as it rushed at her, either dissolving on her skin
or passing through it completely.

She made to launch herself against the
circle once more, her fangs bared, but then went rigid and reeled
backward as if she had been shoved back. She cried out as she was
overcome by a spasm that rippled through her entire body, her eyes
widening in shock and pain, almost rolling into the back of her
head. She started shaking before us.

Lina’s voice rose to a deafening shout
as she continued the incantation. Luna was overcome by another
spasm.

She fell to her knees with a tortured
cry. Luna’s gaze met mine. I saw pain and confusion, intense
confusion, before her gaze was torn from mine as another spasm
rippled through her body.

She doubled over in pain, revealing
four long crimson lines of blood seeping through the back of her
gown. Another streak blossomed, and she screamed in pain again. Her
entire back was soon soaked with blood, staining the skirts of her
gown and pooling on the ground.

Her eyes were glazed over, her
features darkened with pain so intense it consumed her. Her mind
was laid bare for the first time in so long. My throat clenched as
I watched her transported to that whipping post, Master Henry
flaying her with the whip so soon after the trauma of childbirth.
She had been numb to the pain at the time, but she relived it now.
The physical pain was as fire streaking across her back and blazing
to every part of her body, her heart wrenched in two after giving
away the child—Lina—that hated child she so loved now.

I felt nausea rise up as Luna
continued to scream out in pain. My limbs felt weak as her mental
anguish overwhelmed me. I almost made a move forward and it was
only Lina’s grip on my arm that prevented me from going to
her.

Blood soaked the ground beneath Luna.
Her cries turned to whimpers and I caught one word amidst her
incoherent sobs: “Avery.”

“
That’s enough, Lina,” I
said.

Her chanting rose in the air, even
faster now. Her grip on my arm felt as if she would crush me, and
it was well beyond that of an ordinary human being.

Fearing it would be impossible to
break her grip, I reached for Lina’s hand and pulled it away from
my arm. I placed my hands on her shoulders.

“
Enough, Lina. That’s
enough!”

At last, Lina opened her eyes and fell
silent. She looked past me to Luna lying on the ground covered in
blood, her expression unflinching.

“
Take me home,” Lina
said.

“
Should we
not—”

“
Now!”

Luna was struggling to get to her
feet. “Avery?”

I saw terror in Luna’s eyes and the
crippling distress I saw every time I had to leave her on her own.
But I did not want to antagonise Lina into continuing the
assault.

“
Avery
!” Luna screamed.

I shimmered out of the grove with
Lina, leaving Luna trapped within the circle whilst the sun rose
fully to claim the land.

I took Lina home.

“
Thank you. For sparing
both our lives.”

She faced me and I saw sadness and
exhaustion written across her face.

“
Of course I did. You
really think I wanted to kill my own mama?”

“
You could have. In truth,
it is the only way to be sure the killing will end.”

“
It’ll end. You’ll see to
that. I ain’t seen it before now, but you the only hope she has.
But you in for a world of pain, that much I know.”

She entered the house and closed the
door.

I returned to the grove. Luna was
sitting along the farthest reaches of the circle, leaning against
one of the trees in an attempt to get some shade from the sun. It
offered her no protection and the sun beat down as merciless as if
it was punishing her for all those she had slaughtered. Her
thoughts were shielded from me, but her eyes told of her fury when
she glanced up at me.

I wanted to pick her up and take her
home, but Lina had warned me that under no circumstances was I to
free Luna before sunset. I was reminded again of the seemingly
unlimited nature of Luna’s strength and power, because no other
vampire could have survived that amount of blood loss and remained
coherent, let alone survive in the sun for as long as she
had.

She only spoke when I made to
leave.

“
Avery?
Avery
!” She tried to get
to her feet but fell back against the tree.

I disappeared into the ether, but
could still hear her screaming my name.

I stayed nearby, listening to the
sound of her heartbeat, a tattoo of hope I clung to. She was, and
always would be, my only reason for existing, the only reason why I
would continue to live. Without her, I had nothing.

When I returned to the grove at
sunset, I found her sprawled out beneath one of the trees. I
thought she was unconscious until I entered the circle and she
lifted her head up to glance at me. Tears were streaming down her
face.

I did what I had longed to do all day.
I gathered her in my arms and picked her up. She continued to weep
as I entered the nothingness and took her home.

When we returned to the mansion, I lay
her on the sofa and held out my wrist to her.

“
You are incredibly weak,
Luna. And you will be for some time. Drink my blood.”

Lina and I had already decided that
until Luna could be trusted not to kill another, she would have to
drink small amounts of my blood.

At first I thought she was going to
just lie there, but she eventually took my wrist and bit into it.
That first mouthful, after having had so much of her blood drained,
made her swoon and tighten her grip on my arm. She didn’t protest
when I pulled my wrist away after only a few mouthful’s, but merely
sat back on the sofa and watched me, her thoughts
shielded.

Noticing she was shivering slightly,
even though it was warm in the mansion, I got up to get her a
blanket.

She spoke when I got to the door,
causing me to come to a halt.

“
You know, I never thought
you’d do that to me again.”

“
Do what?” I said as I
faced her.

“
Leave
me.”

She looked extremely pitiful sitting
there, her clothing stiff with blood, her hair dishevelled, her
eyes filling with fresh tears.

“
I did not
leave
you, Luna,” I
said, trying to suppress my own anger. “I did what I—what
we
—had to do to save you
from yourself. And save the lives of others.”

She rose to her feet.

“
Every white person I’ve
ever known has done me wrong. God knows why I thought
you’d
be any
different.”

“
How dare you bring this
down to race?”

“
You...you attacked me,
the same way Massa Henry attacked me. At least he had the courage
to take the whip to me himself.
You
used my baby, the baby I lost because of
him!”

“
You didn’t
lose
Lina. You threw her
away!”

She stared at me stunned, tears
rolling down her cheeks. I regretted those words instantly but
could not take them back.

“
Do not compare me to your
old master ever again, Luna. I love you and I’ve put you
first—always—from the moment I saw you at that chapel. I’ve
sacrificed and sacrificed and indulged you, and your irrational
anger, over something I did for you! I gave you up and suffered so
you could live, and you hate me for it? Sometimes I wonder if Lina
was right and the woman I fell in love with died a long time
ago.”

She stared at me, aghast. I walked out
of the room only to hear her footsteps following. She was behind me
a few moments later as I mounted the stairs.

“
You have no right to
judge me. And neither does Lina! She didn’t grow up a slave. She
wasn’t treated like cattle that was only good for breeding. In all
the time I was at that plantation I never saw Massa John whip his
horse the way he used to whip us slaves. Lina never experienced a
life like that and neither did you! You tell Lina...” An anguished
sob escaped her. “You tell Lina she is no daughter of mine. I curse
the day she was born. I curse the day she walked back into my life.
But she doesn’t have to worry about me killing her. She’s old,
she’ll soon be dead and I’ll stand over her grave and
laugh!”

I spun to face her then, horrified at
what she had said. Perhaps something in my expression, or whatever
she could see of my thoughts in her weakened state, told her of the
deep anger and disgust I felt at hearing those words. She remained
silent, especially since she knew how much Onyx’s words, and what
she had possibly stolen from me when she killed Julia, had haunted
me for decades.

I stepped past her and back down the
stairs.

“
Where are you going?” she
cried, an edge of panic in her voice.

I didn’t answer. I moved to the door
and materialised outside the mansion. She pulled the front door
open moments later and ran outside.

“
I said where are you
going?
Answer me
!”

“
I need to get as far away
from you as I can before I say something—before I say anything
else—we will both regret. I will be back in the morning when I have
calmed down. But first I need you to give your word you will not
kill anyone, this night, or any other. It is the only reason Lina
let you live. So promise me.”

“
She knows I won’t kill!
You didn’t need to do that to me because I would have stopped. I
would have stopped for
you
, Avery. But if you think you can
just walk out of here after what you did—Avery?
Avery
!”

I dipped into the ether, knowing she
couldn’t follow, but the sound of her screaming my name whirled
around me for a few seconds before it disappeared.

I walked aimlessly through the woods,
deep in thought. I was no calmer when dawn came into view, but I
returned to the mansion.