Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star (15 page)

I swallow a lump in my throat. With the war, with my training, with everything going on, it's easy to forget why I'm doing this. It's all been for her. "Thank you. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

Asher throws an arm behind me and crosses a leg over one knee. "So, Pete, Arianna here tells me you read fortunes."

"Yes," he says simply.

"Do mine, won't you? I'm dying to know my future."

I elbow him in the ribs. "Don't be an ass," I hiss under my breath.

He looks offended. "What? I genuinely want to know. Can't fault a man for wanting a heads-up about what's to be, can you?"

I roll my eyes at him, but Pete is already pulling out his Tarot cards. He asks Asher to draw three cards. "For your past, your present and your future."

Asher does, and Pete lays out the past. The Ten of Pentacles. On the card, an old wise man sits comfortably on a chair, surrounded by his family. Pete studies it. "You have lived a long life, accomplished much."

Asher raises an eyebrow and leans forward, taking this much more seriously now.

Pete turns over the second card. A man and woman embrace. The Lovers. "You're suspended between two possible courses of action. Both have their risks. However, you must choose one. Indecision will only make things worse."

"Well, that's just lovely, isn't it?" Asher says.

I shush him as Pete lays out the last card. A tower struck by lightning. His eyes widen. "The Tower. You will soon face disaster. Your previous preconceptions will be washed away, but in their place you will find new truth."

Asher looks uneasy. He adjusts his collar and checks his watch. "Time to catch a plane," he says, standing and leaving Pete and me to say our goodbyes.

I hug my friend. "Take care of Es. Take care of each other."

He nods. "Take care of you," he says. He pulls away and stares at me. "There's something different about you, Ari. Are you okay?"

I almost laugh at how true his words are. "People change, Pete. Life changes us."

"Just don't lose who you are inside."

***

Asher wants to go back to the mansion and head home, but I still have some darkness with which to play, and so I make him walk with me. "It's time you see how the 99% lives," I say, dragging him down the street. A light rain sprinkles from above. Cars hum and a dog barks in the distance.

"I do not want to see how the 99% lives, thank you very much. I'd much prefer staying in my 1% of the world, whichever world I happen to be occupying."

I shake my head. "You're going to walk with me, and we'll talk and get a drink and for another few hours I'll get to be the girl I used to be before all this happened."

"Very well, Princess. If you insist."

I link my arm through his and we walk. I show him my favorite knick-knack shop, and the place I like to go for coffee. Everything is closed, of course, so we head to a bar instead, and I order us the frilliest drinks on the menu—mine's a virgin of course. Since I am clearly not the law in this world. His has an umbrella and several cherries.

We sit outside, watching mostly intoxicated people pass us on their way home from the bars.

"You know, I must admit to a bit of envy," he says suddenly, as I sip my drink.

"Of what?"

"Of you. Your friendships. Es and Pete, they're family to you."

"They are," I admit.

"It must be nice, having people mean something. To me, everyone is a piece on a board to be manipulated."

We finish our drinks and continue our walk. The weather is turning cold, and I pull my jacket closer to me. I miss the weight of my sword on my hip, but love that I get to wear jeans here.

"That's a sad way to live," I say as we walk across the street and through a park. Couples stroll together in the distance. Ducks swim through a pond, hunting for any treats left by picnickers.

We stop near the water, watching the birds.

"I suppose I learned it from my father," Asher says. "I never really thought to question it, but you have a way of making me view my life differently."

I turn to look at him. At his blue eyes and chiseled face. "Surely not everyone is a pawn in your game?"

He raises his hand to my cheek. "Not everyone."

He's not Fen. But he's Asher. Handsome, debonair, charming Asher. Someone who believes in peace, who's fighting to make that dream a reality. He might be the best choice for king. Don't I owe it to that world to see if there's a spark?

And so when he asks if he can kiss me, I nod.

Our lips come together.

And it is tender. And sweet.

And like kissing my brother.

That is, if I had a brother.

We pull away from each other.

He looks at me oddly. "Nothing?"

I shake my head. "Not really. No offense."

"None taken. It was… odd."

I laugh. "Thanks."

"You know what I mean," he says, nudging my shoulder with his.

"I do. The problem is, I don't think I'm the one you should be kissing."

He says nothing, but I know I'm right by the faraway look in his eyes. "There are many ways these things can work out," he says.

"Really? Like what?"

He turns to me and smiles in his most charming way. "Marry me. I will not insist on fidelity. You can have Fen and still be queen. Choose a king who will be best suited to rule our world."

I choke out a laugh. "So you propose to share me with Fen? Have you ever met your brother?"

Asher rubs his jaw. "You're right. That might not work out so well in reality as in theory."

"We are friends, Asher. Good friends. True friends."

"No… You're just saying—"

"No, Asher. I am being honest.  So you see, the Prince of Pride does in fact have a friend."

His eyes gleam. A touch of tears. But only for a moment. He wipes his face and smiles. "But you still must choose a prince to marry and make king. And Fen does not wish to rule."

"But those choices don't have to be made tonight," I say.

"True, but they do have to be made."

"If there's anything I've learned over the last few months, it's that the future is impossible to predict. You never know what will happen to change the circumstances."

He sighs. "That may very well be, but contracts with demons cannot be broken."

I smile and pull my coat around me. "I know."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because if there's anything else I've learned, it's that every contract has a loophole. Even a demonic one. And I'm going to find it."

Chapter 11

IN ITS WAKE

"
It is loud, all consuming, layered like a chorus. It is soft and hard at the same time. It is gentle and furious. Not female or male. Something else. It surrounds me. It embraces and engulfs me."

—Arianna Spero

When we arrive
back at Asher's castle, Seri is pacing in the front hall. The moment she sees us she runs over, straightening her silver dress. "There have been more attacks," she says. She sounds more confident since our last talk. "Wadu destroyed one of Zeb's trading ships, and Riku set fire to Niam's palace. The princes are meeting at High Castle to vote on a course of action."

Asher frowns. "When?"

"Now, my lord."

"Bloody hell. They'd better not make any decisions without me."

"Without us," I correct.

He sighs. "I suppose you better come along. After all, you're safest with a prince."

We leave the castle and step, once again, onto Asher's boat. The sun is high in the sky as we travel south. "We can't let them invade the Outlands," I say, weakly. I've been up all night, and it's taking its toll.

Asher nods. "I agree. If we head past the walls, the Druids will gather an army to meet us. It will be chaos. Both sides will suffer. And our hope of peace will be but a dream."

I fidget with my hands, thinking of alternatives. "Maybe we can offer a peace treaty."

He chuckles. "My brothers care not for peace, remember." Once again, I'm reminded why Asher would make the best king. "And if they capture one of the Druids… I pray they don't learn of the Waystones."

The stone doors. The elevators. The way into Avakiri. "Asher, how is it the vampires don't know of the doors?"

He stares out at the horizon. "When we invaded Inferna, we decimated all in our path. The Fae that could, began to flee. We thought they retreated to the Outlands. In truth, they fled to Avakiri. They sent armies back to meet us, to try and reclaim their lands. Every soldier of theirs was sworn to secrecy. They would die before revealing the purpose of the doors. When we slew the last of the High Fae on this world, we thought the war won. But then my father, through methods of torture I can hardly imagine, learned of the Waystones. He discovered the Fae still held half this world, still had armies, still had fortresses. He did not tell me or my brothers. He chose to have us believe we ruled all, had won all. In the end, he saved many lives."

I shake my head, confused by Lucian and what he told me in the cavern. Half his actions seem to breed war, the other half peace. "I understand how Lucian knew of the Waystones. But what about you?"

He looks away.

"Varis," I say, putting together the pieces. "You were friends. He told you of the doors."

He grins. "Perhaps my father told me recently?"

"No. You knew your way around the Crystal Palace. Around the Air Village. You had traveled those paths many times."

His smile grows wider. "Impressive, Princess. You know, sometimes I wonder if who you choose as king will matter at all. Sometimes I wonder if, in the end, you will rule us all."

White towers peek over the horizon. Banners of all colors flutter in the wind. High Castle.

We reach shore and make haste to the Council Chambers. They are dark, barely lit by blue torches. Grand chairs surround a round table. The banners of each prince hang behind their chairs. The brothers are already there, yelling at each other.

Asher clears his throat, quieting the room, and takes his seat before the purple eagle banner. I stand at his side.

Fen looks up and grins. Baron circumvents the table and greets Yami and me, and I pat the wolf's head.

Levi, his eyes tired, his white hair unkempt, points at me. "This is no place for the princess."

"She stays," Fen says, glaring at his brother.

Asher keeps his face emotionless. "I agree."

The princes exchange nervous glances. Ace checks the watch-gizmo on his wrist and shrugs. "She will be Queen one day. Let her witness the meeting," he says softly.

Dean scowls. "I don't see why she should be Queen of anything—"

"Enough already," Niam groans. "I vote the princess stays. Four against three. Now please, let us return to the matter at hand."

Zeb nods. "We should at least give the Druid's words serious consideration," he says calmly. "War will cost us all."

Dean scoffs. "Give serious consideration to freeing all the slaves? How would that work, exactly?"

Levi reclines in his chair, throwing his feet on the table. He runs his cold eyes across the room. "Yes, let's consider. How would it work? I suppose Dean would have to bathe himself again, and Ace would need to transport all the materials for his inventions by hand, and Zeb's nobles will need to pick their own crops. And Niam's lords—"

"Enough," says Niam. "Dean and Levi are right. From a financial point of view, this would never work. Our economy would collapse overnight. Our nobles, even the middle class, would revolt. We either fight the Fae or we fight our own kind. Seems a simple choice, to me."

"We fight the Fae," Levi says as spittle flies from his twisted mouth. "We defeated the Druids before, and we can do so again."

Zeb raises a finger in the air. "Technically, brother, we defeated the High Fae, and the Druids went into slumber. How could they have returned if the High Fae blood line was killed off centuries ago?"

My blood runs cold at their talk, and Fen looks at me, frowning.

"Someone must have survived," Levi says. "Which leaves us only one choice. We must find the High Fae and kill it, just as we did before. It will end this war before it even begins."

"I agree," Dean says. "Strike at the head and the beast will fall."

This is going too far. "What if there is another way?" I say.

Levi sneers at me. "You are not a part of this Council, girl."

Fen growls. "Let her speak."

Levi looks around for support, but Ace nods. "I too want to hear what the princess has to say."

I stand straighter, making sure to meet all their eyes at least once as I talk. "We don't know for sure the High Fae have returned, or who they might be. Maybe the Fae figured out another way of bringing the Druid's back. Instead of banking on a gamble, why not work with what you know."

"And what might that be?" Niam asks.

"You know the Fae want their people freed," I say. "That's not an unreasonable request. It's one you would be fighting for if the roles were reversed."

Levi attempts to interrupt, but Fen kicks him under the table.

I stifle a grin and continue. "What if, instead of releasing all the slaves, you turn them into paid workers instead? Give them a share of the profits, or maybe a share of the land. The economy could still function, with some tweaks, and the Fae would be free citizens. It might placate the Druids. It might be enough for a truce."

Niam taps the table with his finger. "And what if the Fae don't want to work for us once they are free? Do we force them?"

I don't have a chance to answer before Levi voices his objections. "Even if they do stay, how do we keep them in line? How do we keep them from using their magic against us?"

I clear my throat, gaining their attention. "Where I am from, there are many rules governing even free citizens. If we apply the same principles here, we can determine a few things: Citizens cannot leave their realms without very good reason and approval from their lord. They must pay for their own housing and food, so if they want to live, they must work. Fighting, or using magic without permission, is illegal, and will be punished by prison or worse."