The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash (22 page)

I don’t have time for it or anything other than Eleira. I fly to her fallen form. My chest constricts in agony.

I drop to my knees beside her. She’s out cold. But at least—at least I can feel her pulse.

It’s frighteningly weak.

“Get out of my way!” Mother snarls, shoving me aside. She runs her hands over Eleira’s face, then rubs them together and brings them to her chest. She presses them into the spot her beam struck.

“What are you doing?” I scream. Anguish takes me.

“Saving her life,” she tells me. Under her breath Morgan utters the words of a new spell. Another glow surrounds her hands, tinged red this time.

Mother pushes that energy into Eleira’s body.

The girl’s eyes pop open, and she gasps. She coughs—dark blood spurts out.

Then her eyelids close and she drops back to the floor.

“Delightful,” Mother mutters, wiping her hands clean of the mix of blood and phlegm. She takes instant control of the situation. “Raul, you take her to the infirmary. No—take her to my rooms in the castle. They’re closer to the blood banks, and she will need a near-endless supply if she is to recover.”

“
If?”
I demand. “
If
?”

Phillip speaks. I was so focused on Eleira I didn’t even notice him approach. “What happened to her? Why did she throw herself in the way?”

“She was possessed,” Mother says calmly. She stands up, and glares at my brother. “You, my son, made a grave mistake when you brought out that book.”

Phillip has the grace to look crestfallen.

“I might expect such rash behavior from James, or even Raul,” she continues. “
Not
, however, out of you. I know it comes from your reawakened instincts. Learn to control them! Next time you do something like this, you will be properly punished.”

I cradle Eleira in my arms. Her breathing is so shallow it’s terrifying. “Forget about him!” I say. “Tell me, what’s going to happen to her? What do you mean, ‘possessed?’”

“And what was that thing from the book?” Phillip adds.

“I mean just what I said, Raul,” Mother says stiffly. “Somebody, or something, took control of Eleira’s mind and made her do what you witnessed.”

“How?” I gasp.

“Being a witch makes her vulnerable. I should have taught her to shield herself. But with The Haven sealed off, I did not think she’d be under threat. At least, not so soon…”

She turns to Phillip. “That
thing,
son dearest, is called a Narwhark. I’d have thought with all of your constant meddling, all of your computer systems, all of your furtive interest in my affairs, you would have come across its mention before.”

Phillip shakes his head. He looks shaken.

“Come now. You’ve only been looking at all things magic for twenty years!”

Again, Phillip shakes his head. He stares at his feet.

I think:
Phillip has an interest in magic?

“A Narwhark is a type of demon,” Mother explains. “It comes from the underworld—not the literal underworld, but a parallel dimension existing on a plane beneath ours. Narwharks are nasty, nasty things. They crave only death and destruction. The world is porous, you see, and at certain places there is an overlap between the planes. That overlap allows portals to be made between dimensions. Some say that is the key to discovering the true origin of vampires and witches alike.”

Mother walks back to pick up her staff. “But now is not the time for a history lesson. All you need to know is that the first witches had a true purpose—they sought to eliminate all such demons from the world. The different clans banded together and succeeded in closing the portals that let such creatures into the world. When that was done, they turned their attention to other things.

“Some witches, however, were not fully committed to the cause. Some witches
rebelled,
because they saw the closing of the portals as a great opportunity lost. To have access to other worlds, to new realities, to learn their secrets… it was not a gift to be discarded so rashly.”

“You were one of them,” Phillip breathes. “Weren’t you?”

“No. This was long before my time. I always have, however, shared their opinion. So, when I was given the Gift of Immortality, I took it upon myself to gather scraps of anything the dissenting witches left behind. I took it upon myself to collect as many artifacts as I could that were linked in any way to sorcery.”

“And what did you discover?” I ask.

“The ancient witches were not able to sever the connections between worlds completely. A few, they eliminated… but most, they simply masked. They did not have the raw strength required to close the portals.

“The masking spells, however, had to be maintained. So they created objects called torrials that did exactly that. But the dissenting witches… they also created objects of power. A counter to the torrials, called contra’ torrials, are used to
summon
creatures out from other worlds.

“Using a contra’ torrial requires
blood magic
. The sort that you activated when you let Eleira’s blood drip onto this book.”

Phillip has gone an even paler shade of white. “I had no idea.”

“Clearly.” Mother looks to me. “Now get Eleira to my rooms. Hurry. Don’t let any others see you—you don’t know what they might attempt if they saw Eleira like this.”

“Oh, I have a very good idea,” I say darkly.

I also know, that until Eleira wakes, I won’t leave her side… and the other vampires would be fools to try anything against me.

SMITHSON

“There’s been a complication,” my Queen informs me.

I stand with my back rigid and my arms clasped behind me. I show none of the discomfort I feel at being summoned
personally
by the Queen so soon after my little talk with April. “Yes?”

“A demon has been summoned. It’s loose in The Haven now.”

I blink, caught completely off-guard. “A demon?”

“A Narwhark, to be precise.” She peers at me. “You have experience with those, don’t you? In your… previous life?”

“You mean my time with The Order.”

“When you hunted down clan after clan of witches, yes,” she says. Her voice is flat, emotionless. “When you burned so many of my sisters.”

“I put all that behind me the day you turned me into a creature of the night,” I vow. I go to one knee. “I am eternally grateful for the gifts you have given me.”

“Hmm,” she considers. “Charming. Now get up. I don’t like to see the Captain Commander of my guard groveling.”

I hide my scowl and rise. “I’ve… only heard rumours of demons, my Queen. The Order never considered them anything more than folk stories. Meant to frighten children and old folk. Not to be taken seriously.”

“Then you don’t know about the role witches played in cleansing the world of such demons?”

I shake my head.

“Interesting. Perhaps if you had, you wouldn’t have persecuted us so.”

“That was a long time ago,” I say. “I know who I am now. If you brought me here to question my loyalty—”

She smiles a grim smile. “Whatever would give me reason to do something like that? You’re not feeling
guilty
over something, are you?”

“I have nothing to feel guilty for,” I lie.

“So you say, so you say.” She sighs and sits. “Demons are real. The Narwhark is real. And it’s loose in The Haven.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Keep order amongst the vampires. The Narwhark is unpredictable. It is much like us—a predator. But it kills without discretion. It’s wounded now and hiding. A search would be useless. Even our vampire capacities won’t help find it. Only a powerful witch has any chance of stopping it.”

“So it falls onto you.”

“It does. But we have to wait for it to reveal itself. In a few days it will go for the humans. They are weaker, there are more of them, and they make for vulnerable prey.”

“You want me to protect them?”

“Oh, no.” Her eyes shine. “All I want is for you to be vigilant. When the Narwhark strikes, I will be the first person you inform. But—” she raises a finger, “—knowledge of the demon is not to leave this room. Only you and I and my two sons know of its existence. That’s how I want things to stay. There is no use causing a panic.”

Yes,
I think.
Especially after you’ve trapped all your subjects inside.

RAUL

I sit by Eleira’s bedside, watching her sleeping form.

She looks so beautiful asleep, so very peaceful. Her chest rises and falls in smooth, soft breaths. They seem delicate rather than strained, nurturing rather than concerning. Her hair falls around her face like a darkened halo, and I’m struck by the symbolism of it.

She looks like a fallen angel.

I catch my thoughts and stop them from going down that path. There are no angels in The Haven. Only murderers and slaves. Only beings of the night and our human captives.

“How is she?” Mother’s cool voice sounds from beyond me. It’s completely dispassionate.

“Same as she was an hour ago,” I say. “And the hour before that, and the day before that, and…”

I trail off. No matter how peaceful she looks, Eleira is fighting for her life right now.

I take her hand in mine. Once again, I’ve failed to protect her.

“You sound so forlorn.” Mother stops beside me and draws a hand through my hair. I stiffen at the unwanted display of affection. “Don’t worry. She’ll wake. She’s just as important to me as she is to you, you know.”

“Yes, but for entirely different reasons,” I say under my breath. I turn my head to Mother and glare at her. “You’re going to
use
Eleira.”

“I need her for her powers, yes. As do you. As do any who want The Haven to prosper.”

A pillar of anger comes to life inside me. “You call
this
prosperity?” I demand. “Your subjects are frightened. The vampires are running weak. You keep our humans trapped in an age that ended centuries ago!”

“All the easier to keep them meek.” Her hand stops in my hair and she makes a fist, forcing me to look up. “You know how much trouble they can cause if they are not. And they are truly only here for one purpose. To supply our banks with blood. To give sacrifice for The Hunt.”

I jerk away from her. “When Eleira rules…” I begin.

Mother laughs. “That is a long time coming. I assure you of that. You think, after six-hundred years, I would relinquish control so easily? So quickly? Eleira will be groomed for the throne, and shaped into a ruler of
my
liking. The succession will not happen overnight. Transforming her before her eighteenth birthday was important. Finding her, making her a vampire, exposing her to us and ensuring she was the right one… all of those were objectives with a deadline. Now that she’s here? We have years. We have decades.”

“Is that why you were so reckless when you attacked the demon?” I scowl. “The blast could have killed Eleira.”

“No,” Mother says. “It could not have. I aimed straight for the Narwhark. How was I to know the fool girl would leap in the way?”

My lips form a thin line of displeasure. I have to concede that Mother is right.

It still doesn’t make me feel better about any of this.

“So how did she come to be possessed? Was it the book, the contra’ torrial that took over?”

“No. The contra’ torrial is merely a device. To take possession of another’s mind requires conscious will. It was done by someone who thinks herself extraordinarily clever. Someone who, in reality, is
not
.”

I look at Mother. “You sound like you have a suspect.”

“Yes,” she says. “The woman you brought with you from The Crypts.

“Victoria.”

JAMES

I come to with a horrible pounding between my ears.

Groggy, I push myself up. As soon as I do, I gasp—pain envelops my body.

I groan and roll over to stare up at the sky. The stars are mocking me in their serenity. I’ve never hated the night as much as I do now.

I think back to everything that brought me here… and all that went wrong.

As soon as Father said I’d be made prisoner, a dozen of his guards ran out and apprehended me. I was dragged through the many twisting hallways of The Crypts and brought through the mess hall, where Dagan and the others were taking in their victory feast.

The scent of blood was strong all around me. All the vampires had enormous goblets of the stuff. It smelled fresh, vital, and impossibly enticing. My body ached for just one drop, after all that I’d been through.

But—such a mercy was not in the cards.

I was chained to a massive spit. A fire was started beneath me. The heat it gave off was terrible. Then, I had to endure hour after agonizing hour as the vampires of my former company came up to operate the mechanism. They spun me over the flames and laughed and laughed as my skin burned and I screamed.

Again, the chains were silver. Obviously. They were silver so that I couldn’t get out.

When the first round of torture was done, I was cut free and dropped straight into the fire. The agony that took me then was indescribable. My skin, already blistering, charred and burned in the flames. I leapt out as fast as my weakened muscles would let me.

I was doused by a bucket of… not water, but piss.

I still shudder at the memory.

With that ordeal over, the guards grabbed my arms again and hauled me away. I had not the energy to fight. Even though I was unchained, I was exhausted, so my feet dragged against the floor all the way up to the open-roofed tower cell.

That’s where I lie now. Stinking of piss and trapped on a little island jutting out from the earth.

I have to admit, in my depravity, that this type of torture cell is brilliant. It’s a single round pillar poking out from the ground. It’s surrounded by a moat—a moat filled with molten silver.