The Vampire's Reflection (3 page)

That morning, she’d woken beside Valek in his bed, Sarah’s star bewitchments twinkling over them as they did every night. A thin beam of sunlight peeked at her through the smallest gap in one of Valek’s thick, black curtains. He still closed them out of habit when she slept, and rested beside her as she did so. He didn’t die anymore now that the coven had figured out all they needed was the magic of the light to keep themselves sustained during the daytime.

Charlotte had crept from the bed and over to the window, feeling Valek’s gaze burning into her every movement. She’d pulled the drapes apart and let the soft light wash in amber tones across her face. It was warm against the chill of the room. She’d smiled, despite the desperate throbbing pain on the side of her neck, when one of his skeletal hands lightly grasped her shoulder. It was time to leave. Valek had been very careful about counting the days when the light magic in his system would wear off and he would need to go hunting for more. It wasn’t a necessity to them, like human blood. It was more of a desire—an addiction. But it wasn’t actually the Fae or Elf
blood
that called for him. It was the light of the glorious sun.

Shaking off the memory, Charlotte relaxed for the first time in what seemed like a long while as they paid a visit to her beloved hideaway, the pond she used to frequent, in the middle of a dense thicket of trees just a few kilometers down the country road that extended from the Occult borders and ran all the way into Prague. Now that there were no laws, no consequences, there had to be something magical lurking in the forest beyond the confines of the small villages.

Snowfall danced down on the breeze that blew through the overgrown canopy of the Occult entrance, a passage formed entirely by trees that had intertwined over a long, shadowed path. Charlotte hugged herself tightly again as a new shiver shimmied down her spine. The shiny new whistle that Valek had given her for her birthday was strung around her neck, bouncing against her sternum as they walked. The tree tunnel leading into the Occult grounds was dark and filled with an icy blue sort of mist left from the fresh snowfall. It was lovely, entrapped there by the thick canopy, which had been powdered over with fine white. The forest around them was colored in varying shades of frosty cobalts and periwinkles. The branches overhead twined together like folded fingers, painted with a frost that stung at the apples of her cheeks and made her lips tremble.

Charlotte had traveled down this passage too many times to count. Her missions before, however, were much different. She’d been forced to hunt her own kind in order to satisfy the only one she ever called family, the only thing she loved in her odd, little life. Now, she crossed the newly liberated borders with him by her side.

The crescent-shaped scar burned at the side of her throat as if it recognized, somehow, that her Vampire was nearby. She vigorously ignored it, squeezing his hand tighter. He probably would have hoisted her into his arms and sped home like he usually did, but the brightness Charlotte saw in his face suggested he was enjoying the long, peaceful walk home just as much as she. It was rare to be completely alone with him. There was no need to speak of anything. It was nice enough just to enjoy the quiet tones of being together. Alone. No matter what, she would always keep her place beside him. Being at Valek’s side was too inviting and magical in its own right for her to ever want to be anywhere else. Charlotte wondered just how long the peace was going to last.

The smell of smoking meats and baked goods came up on the air as they finally reached the edge of the Southern Bohemian Occult town square—significantly transformed from how it used to be before the battle at the Regime. Ghosts from the months past seemed to fly by the forefront of her memory. It was as if she could almost hear the faded echoes of Aiden calling her name as he passed her on his way to training. The sound seemed tangible enough in her mind that her eyes darted for just a second to the far side of the street. He was not there. A sick feeling began to twist in her gut.

Aiden really could have been lurking around any one of these corners, just waiting for the right time. Nothing was stopping him from finding his revenge. He would only need to wait for the moment when he could catch her alone. That was the other shoe that seemed to be hovering in the air just above her head. She was painfully aware of how constant its presence was as she waited for the moment when it would finally drop.

Valek squeezed her hand lightly, she knew that he had been listening to her mind. Blood flooded to her cheeks and she reminded herself again not to be afraid. She was safe. Valek answered her again with a small, but affirming smile, nodding his head lightly.

Charlotte wondered how long it would be before the magic exposed itself to humankind now that there was no Regime to answer to. At least for now. How long would it be until the more daring creatures started running rampant in human cities? She mused over what form it would take. If the discovery would present itself as a massive battle of Lycanthropes and Fae attempting to take over the capitol in a bloodthirsty battle between the monsters and the military, or if a single, human child would stumble accidentally across something benevolent on an afternoon of woods-wandering, and go missing before he could run home to tell his parents. Would it appear in headlines across mortal newspapers? Would the people of the Czech Republic and outlying countries be fixated on their television sets when the news broke? And then there was the question of whether or not the mortal population would even believe it or chalk it up to being a mere hoax. How long would it be before the magic dominated and the human population perished for their ignorance? But where would that leave her?

Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte saw Valek’s face strain. She knew how he sat up, long after she fell asleep—whatever time of day that was these days—mulling over ways to protect the Order, knowing it was only a matter of time before chaos ensued.

Vladislov had been right about one thing, at least. Magic was something human beings would never have the capacity to handle. They’d try and force control over it, to dominate it—like everything else in their own world. Charlotte could only visualize how disastrous that would end up, how the human military would falter against the power of something considerably more divine. They wouldn’t be able to comprehend the insurmountable dangers of facing something as infinite as magic. Militant resources would eventually run out. Magic would not.

Charlotte took in a deep breath when she thought again about how she was the
only
one of her kind that carried this knowledge.

Valek cleared his throat, sounding annoyed.

Right
, Charlotte thought as she brought her feet back down to earth again. But magic should have never been confined either, she continued to deliberate. That was where Vladislov had made his mistake. Like the existence of Light and Dark, there needed to be balance. There hadn’t been balance for a long time.

Charlotte thought back to the day only a few months ago when she’d visited Edwin at the general store. She recalled the lightning-in-a-bottle, and how the energy behind the glass pushed and pushed until finally, it was able to break free and destroy the store. A giggle parted her lips when she remembered the electricity zapping at the ends of Edwin’s spiky hair. Valek’s mouth contorted into a smile also as he listened to her memory. But that was what happened when you confined energy so great. Inevitably, it would break through.

“This is not for you to figure out, Lottie.” Valek spoke softly beside her. “It is too much to think about.”

“I know,” she said, squinting at the snowy path ahead of her. “I just can’t help but feel like there must be an easy answer in all of this.”

“There isn’t. It is more complicated than you know so I suggest you leave it alone.”

Deciding that was probably best for now, Charlotte changed the subject in her mind.

The snowy sky looming overhead finally allowed the sun to peek through a break in the clouds. The fountain that sat in the center of the town square ceased to flow, icicles adorned like stalactites over the brim. Everything about the Occult City seemed so dead—so empty. Everything had changed. The chill succeeded in penetrating her skin and had begun to seep into her bones, and she shivered.

“Almost home.” Valek soothed her, for there was nothing he or his bloodless flesh could do to warm her.

The sliver of a scar throbbed again at the base of her throat, the only visual proof of the obstacles she had overcome only a few weeks prior. Those weeks seemed like years now. Hiding in that murky basement. The constant fighting. That world seemed much different, much more oppressive and volatile than this one, though this heavy silence seemed just as dangerous. The world she walked through now seemed as if life had fallen asleep, gone into hibernation after such an exhausting battle. Perhaps, preparing itself for the next one. Both she and Valek knew this was only the quiet before the storm. The heavy anticipation hung electric in the air.

Valek stopped, tugging her back toward him, just before they began up the footpath to their large, baroque home with the little tower just beyond the town square.

“You need to stop thinking so much, my Lottie,” he said, hugging her close and pressing his lips firmly to the top of her head. His sweet, musky smell entrapped her and she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. “You’ll go blind.”

She looked up into his eyes, the same glassy color as the winter around them. His gaze shifted along the top windows of the house, searching, though he didn’t need his sight to figure out whether they were in the house or not.

“Are they back yet?” Charlotte grumbled, not yet wanting to interact with the others. She just wanted to be alone with Valek as long as possible.

Valek’s eyes narrowed, the rest of his features hardening. She could see a thought flash in his eyes, but when he looked back down at her, whatever it was quickly dissipated. She wished so badly that she could hear what his mind was hiding from her.

“Does the scar bother you again?” His voice dropped to a low intensity she recognized as the tone it made only when he was deeply concerned about something.

Charlotte blinked at him, absently stroking the raised surface on her neck. She may have had her addiction, but the Vampires had a need for their own new drug. Sunlight.

Now that the initial magic from Elves’ blood had worn off, the rogue coven had figured out a different way to sustain themselves during the daylight. More light-magic blood. It didn’t last as long as the royal blood, but it did the trick for a time. A different need than human blood, yet they had to have it just as well. She was no longer his hunter, a duty he had bestowed upon her when she was young, to hunt her own kind to satiate him. Now, she was used as the bait, something she did not particularly like, but she acquiesced anyway. In fact, she dreaded it. Hunting was at least liberating. It used to make her feel like a hero—like she was doing something good for the sake of the life of the one she loved. At least, that’s how Charlotte perceived it, though she was sure none of her human victims would have agreed with her. Now, she felt used. Bait. Mentally, she grumbled.

“It aches a little,” she admitted, and frowned. The reality of it was, since they’d begun their journey home from the clearing, the pain had been steadily getting worse. It was intensifying, like it always did that particular time of day, when the sun hung low in the sky. She shivered.

Valek’s gaze touched the ground for a moment before he brought it back to her face. Releasing her hand, he ran his claws once through her dark red curls. “I will join you in a moment.” His smile turned tempting and dangerous in an instant.

It made Charlotte’s heart thud at the front of her chest. With the slight gush of an unnatural breeze around the hem of her dress, he was gone, and she was alone. She treaded up the cockeyed steps of her house, its spired roof lifting toward the sky, a bronze weather vane spinning atop in the freezing air. Mr. Třínožka’s giant burrow, just a few steps around the back of the house, had a new tunnel leading straight up into Valek’s office, which allowed the half-spider to come and go as he pleased. Many new bewitchments adorned the house now as well, thanks to Sarah. Vines extended from one corner of Valek’s study. Stars glittered near the ceilings in all of the bedrooms.

Charlotte entered, knowing many others now called that place home. The Rogue Coven had mockingly named themselves after being in hiding from the Regime for so long.

She noticed the new, polished quality along the staircase and the banister. Sarah must have tidied up while they were out. She was fairly sure the Witch was now busy in the kitchen, probably baking something for later on when Charlotte would need it. Jorge would be studying something fervently in the library. Dusana and Lusian…well, Charlotte was fairly sure she knew where they would be. Charlotte’s newly adopted family had changed a lot about living in that house. It used to just be she and Valek, peaceful and isolated. But she decided she liked having them there. It made everything warmer and definitely more interesting. And Valek would at least have some backup whenever Aiden finally decided to show up again.

It was strange, she thought, that the need for her to go out and hunt her own kind in order to satisfy Valek no longer existed. That used to be such a large part of her life. She thought back to something that Lusian said once in Francis’ basement, a couple months ago. The hunters have become the hunted. Yes. That was precisely how she felt now. Reaching up to her throat, she realized she’d left her red scarf hanging on the tree branch in the clearing.

Chapter Two

Mysterious Man

Eyeing the wall clock every so often, racing that second hand, Nikolai rapped his keyboard violently.
Tick. Tick. Tick
. If he didn’t finish his mythology paper by the end of class, the professor would fail him. It would be the second time. There wouldn’t be a third. It was enough to drive him insane. Nikolai glanced up over the top of his computer screen.