Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star (10 page)

I think of all those Fae held captive by the vampires. By Fen. I reach over and place my hand on Durk's. "I'm so sorry."

He nods. "So you see, this is why you are important to me, Midnight Star. I do not want war. I want peace, a world where I do not have to fear for my family. And you are the only way I see."

I force a grin, though inside I do not know how I will ever succeed. Yami will not listen to me. The Druids will not follow me. And Lucian… I still fear what the king will do if he decides my worth is gone.

I look over at Madrid, who is still drinking alone, her silver gown dirty with specks of dust and wine. "What about her? Why is she so sad?"

Durk pours me another shot. "Long ago, Madrid and Oren, the Fire Druid you met tonight, were Karasi—spirit of the heart. She has waited for his return for many, many years. But Oren made her choose: You—the Midnight Star—or him. She chose you."

Maybe it's the liquor, or the disaster of an evening, but his words break me. She sacrificed her heart to do what she thought was right. I can't even imagine the strength it took.

I stand, excusing myself from Durk, and walk over to Madrid. I sit across from her, at a table full of uneaten food, stained with spilled wine.

"Hello, Ari," she says, forcing a flat smile onto her tired face. "I'm sorry tonight didn't go as we'd hoped."

"Don't worry about that," I say. "Are
you
okay?"

She looks about to answer with a polite yes, but then her face collapses into grief. Her eyes well with tears and she takes a sip of her glowing blue drink. "I apologize for showing so much emotion. It's unseemly."

I hold open my hands, an idea forming in my mind. Yami hops into them. "I think we can help her, Yami, what do you think?"

Yami looks over at Madrid, then back at me. Hoping he understands, I focus my intent on what I want him to do. "Let's give her some love."

Yami hops off my hand and walks slowly over to Madrid. He studies her face. He glows brighter, his body more clear.

And I know he has shown himself.

Her eyes widen and all the pain and sadness is erased from her face. "I… I can see him!"

Yami reaches for her hand and licks her fingers. He climbs onto her shoulder and purrs in her ear. Madrid's face is euphoric. Tears fall from her eyes, but they are tears of joy as she gently pets Yami's back. "Thank you. Thank you, Yami." She looks up to me, her eyes full of wonder. "And thank you, Princess Arianna."

***

The next day, my training begins with the world's worst hangover. I blame the glowing silver stuff Durk served me. Or maybe it was the glowing blue drink I shared with Madrid. Either way, lesson learned. Don't consume beverages that glow.

Since we are no longer in the Air Village, we have a new training location: a bridge of black stone spanning an underground chasm. Deep below us, magma floats in a river of red.

Varis sits across from me in lotus, drawing symbols into the dirt with a stick. "You look tired. Go back to your room, rest."

"I'll be fine," I say mid-yawn.

"Leave. I have no time to train someone unprepared."

I straighten my back, crossing my legs into lotus. As much as I would like to sleep, I would like to learn Illusion more. I need to before I can return to the Seven Realms. "I'm not going."

I expect Varis to bark more commands, but instead he grins. "I am glad to see you are committed." He whispers something, and the symbols he drew between us turn into a pool of water.

I gasp, seeing my reflection in what was just dirt a moment ago. "How?"

"You will learn in time. First, the illusion. Do you remember the incantation?"

I nod, closing my eyes and focusing. With my thoughts clear, my senses heighten. I hear Yami licking his claws, hear the magma groaning below. And I feel the aches in my body. My head pounds. My limbs are tender. I am not strong enough to do what Varis asks. And if I fail… I remember Lucian, how he sneered at me last night. I haven't seen him since—

Zyra swats my face with her wing. "What the—"

"She wants you to focus," says Varis. "And so do I. Clear your mind."

I sigh, take a deep breath, and speak with conviction. "
Celare
!"

Nothing happens.

"Concentrate," Varis says.

"
Celare
!"

Nothing.

"
Celare
!
Celare
!
Celare
!"

Nothing changes. I groan. Varis insists I keep trying. We spend the next hour practicing, but all it accomplishes is a sore throat.

The Druid paces at my side, his brow furrowed. "I am missing something…" he mumbles under his breath.

Zyra frowns, shaking her head.

I feel like an utter failure.

"Yes…" Varis mumbles. "Perhaps…" He sits beside me. "Let us try something different. Why do you wish to hide your Fae features?"

I think about it a moment. "Because the vampires don't like Fae."

He shakes his head. "You don't care about their opinion of the Fae."

"The contract," I say. "I have to fulfill my contract. I must hide my knowledge of the Fae."

"Only because the contract forces you. Go deeper."

I nod and focus inward the way he taught me, closing my eyes, shifting through my thoughts. Yami perches on my shoulder, his breathing calm. He seems to understand that we have to make this work. We are running out of time. Asher has told me Fen is growing more and more desperate to find me. If we do not return soon, he will find Avakiri and bring war upon these lands.

I must go back for the Fae.

For Fen.

I don't know how far his betrayal spans, if at all, but I owe him a chance to explain. And I miss him. I miss him more than I can think about.

"
Celare
," I whisper.

I open my eyes and suck in my breath.

My reflection has changed. My ears look human and my hair is black. I touch the tip of my ear, and it doesn't even feel pointed. Amazing.

Varis smiles. "What did you think of?"

I look to the distance, where an opening in the stone leads outside, where snow and wind dance. "Someone I care about. He is on Inferna, and if I can bring peace between our two lands, then I can keep him safe."

***

I walk through a dark cavern, heading to my room, Yami perched on my shoulder. A cold draft blows past my dress, the chill seeping into my bones. And I feel that sense of dread again.

Someone is following me.

I walk faster, my heart drumming, my palms sweaty.

The blue torches flicker and cast a twisted shadow. The shadow of a man.

Lucian emerges from the darkness. "I like you better this way," he says, studying my black hair. "Less Fae. More vampire. More like my wife." He raises an arm, reaching for me.

I step back, my hands curl in fists, my nails digging into my skin. "What do you want?"

His arm falls. His face goes cold. "To tell you I am leaving. Because of your failure during the presenting, I have other matters to attend to. Matters that will take me far from here."

"Good."

He smirks. "Have you considered why I did not make you my bride?"

My eyes go wide. If marrying him was the only way to save my mother, I don't know what I would have done.

He chuckles. "Do not fear. It is too late for that. I was so pre-occupied with securing my lineage, my legacy, I failed to consider what a… beauty, you would become." His words drip like poison. He strides over to me, touching my chin with his finger.

I push his hand away. "You disgust me."

"I understand," he says coldly. "You're so beautiful, so young and fresh, but when I remember what you are…" he raises his hand, holding it over my head like a claw. He shakes with a rage. His eyes gleam with dark desires. "When I remember what you are, my entire being fills with hate. I want to rip off your face. I want to imagine you are an insect, and when I step on you, I kill your entire race."

I shuffle backwards. "But I thought you wanted peace."

He laughs, and runs a long nail down the wall, and the eerie sound it makes echoes. "I will tell you something, Princess. Something I have told no one else." He turns to me. "I have no interest in peace. No. There is something else I am after. Something much more precious."

I step back. "What?"

His eyes flash to my shoulder, where Yami bats at my hair. "The Spirits."

I clutch the dragon close. He shakes in my grip. Lucian is more dangerous than I feared. I lean against the wall and prick my hand on a sharp rock. My fingers trace the rough stone. "Why?"

"For that, you will have to wait. But I assure you, in the end, it will be glorious." His eyes stare into the distance, into a vision only he can see.

"Why tell me this?" I ask.

He grins, humorlessly. "Because the High Fae once took something very precious from me."

A moment. "Your wife."

"Yes. And I want you to know, that one day, I will take something special from you as well." He looks again in the general direction of Yami, a hunger in his eyes.

"I'll tell Asher. I'll tell everyone."

"Try. Try to call out."

"Asher, I—" Pain grips my throat. It burns my lungs. I fall to my knees, choking.

Lucian steps forward, his shadow a giant over me. "Remember, Princess. You signed a contract. You may not share what you know of me." He smiles. "You may not speak of anything I do."

I tremble, the magnitude of my mistake crushing me. "I—"

Lucian grabs my hair, yanking me up against his armor. His face is close, his breath heavy on my face. He runs a hand down my cheek. "Now Princess, perhaps I will take what I desire—"

"Is something wrong?" Asher appears beside us, his eyes serious.

Lucian lets me go. His eyes glimpse what I drew on the wall with blood. Asher's mark. "Nothing, my son. I was just saying goodbye." He turns to leave. "Remember me, Princess. In the end, when you think everything you set out to do is done, remember me."

He fades into the darkness, and I fall to my knees and weep for the fool I was.

Chapter 8

HOME

"You can look now, Princess. Welcome to hell."

—Asher

Asher holds me
. For what feels like hours, he holds me. When my crying stops, he finally speaks. "What happened?"

"Your father—" my throat burns, my mouth snaps shut.

Asher trembles. "What did he do?"

"He—" The pain is too great. I bite down on my tongue.

Asher falls back, his eyes wide with realization. "I was a fool. I proposed that contract, and now…"

"Dissolve the contract," I say. "Do it."

"No. Lucian will feel it. He will know something is wrong, and he will return. No. We must wait. We must get you back to Fen. Perhaps one day, I can dissolve it, but… we must be careful. My father, my father is a dark and devious man. He has played this game of deceit and lies far longer than I."

I manage to stand, the pain fading. "So we do nothing?"

"No." Asher stands and grabs my hands. "We unite Inferna and Avakiri. Unite the Fae and vampires. Then nothing can stop us."

I pull back my hands, trembling, a new realization filling me. "If I marry you… this can really happen. We can really have peace. But…" My thoughts drift to Fen, to his arms around me.

Asher grins, and does something I will be forever grateful for. "Now, now, Princess, don't get too hasty," he says. "We must get to know each other first, after all. I do believe it is my month to spend with you." He offers me his arm. "Ready to go back to hell?"

I wipe my eyes, smile, and take his arm. "Definitely."

He guides me through the cavern and into a small cave lit by blue torches. This is not the path I first traveled to reach Avakiri. "How many secret elevators to hell are there?" I ask.

He chuckles. "Enough. Before Inferna was hell, it was simply the other half of the Fae kingdom. The Four Tribes were spread over both sides of the world, Avakiri and Inferna, and these elevators connected them easily."

"There must have been a lot of Fae back then."

Asher frowns. "There were. And we slaughtered them." His eyes go dark. "My people were thrown to this land like wolves thrown upon sheep. We did not understand our own carnage, our own bloodlust, until it was too late. One day, I will find the one who sent us here. And I will make him pay."

I touch his hand. "Your uncle."

He nods. "He stripped us of our wings, cursed us with a lust for blood, turned us into beasts, and unleashed us upon a peaceful people whose blood was an addiction to us. He doomed the Fae. He doomed us all."

"You had wings?"

"Once, yes."

"You… Fen… you were angels?" It fits the mythology, but it's hard to picture the vampires flying.

"All of us who were banished here—those of us who are the Fallen—once had wings." He smiles mischievously. "But we were never angels."

We arrive at a stone door covered in markings. I stick my hand on the spiked imprint in the center, and my blood fills the ancient runes. The earth shakes and the door slides open, groaning in the dark. Dust falls from the ceiling as we enter.

Yami chirps on my shoulder and begins flapping his wings. He floats into the air, staying near. Aw. My little baby is learning to fly.

He lands back on my shoulder, grinning.

I dig into my pocket and pull out a cheesecloth holding bits of meat and feed him small slices. The Fae weren't happy about preparing meat, but when Madrid convinced them it was for my invisible dragon, they relented. Or rather, they found a Fire Fae to do it.

Asher looks at me calmly. I think he is used to me interacting with thin air now. He warns me when we are about to flip in the center of the world. I put away the meat and grab Yami, holding him close. "Steady now, buddy."

We float in the air, and I twist so that when gravity returns I don't land on my head. My stomach wobbles and Yami shrieks, but we land down fine. I don't vomit this time.