Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star (16 page)

Niam and Zeb raise their eyebrows, impressed. Have they not considered this before? These concepts seem so simple to me…

But then, I remember the curse. The curse that prevents them from learning things from Earth. The curse that keeps them stuck in their ways. And for the first time, I realize, I am not bound by such things, and this gives me power.

Dean frowns. "This won't work. You can't change a system that's been in place for centuries overnight without war."

Asher shrugs. "I don't see a better way. Given none of our options are optimal, let us vote on Ari's idea."

Levi scowls.

Niam nods. "Let us vote then." He glances at me, sympathy in his eyes. "The idea does have merit, Arianna, but it would cause upheaval. And if the Fae decide to invade despite what we do, we will be undone. I vote against freeing the slaves."

Dean leans forward. "The things slaves do in my realm, the pleasures and entertainment they provide… I find it hard imagining free men doing such things. I must vote against."

Levi nods. "I vote against as well."

Asher clears his throat. "Ari's plan could result in the least amount of bloodshed amongst our people. I give it my support."

Fen nods. "I am never one to shy from war, but I do not relish death if it can be avoided. I vote in favor of Ari's plan as well."

Zeb deliberates a moment, chewing on his lip. "If they will stay and work with us, for us, then I also vote in favor of freeing the slaves."

All eyes turn to Ace. His vote will determine the future. So much rests with what he is about to say. If we go to war, I might never be able to make peace with the Fae, and the slaves will never be freed. And if they follow Levi's idea of hunting the High Fae, my own life will be in peril.

I hold my breath and wait.

Ace sighs. "Perhaps, it is time the Fae were free. Perhaps—"

The castle trembles with a loud rumble. I grab the table, steadying myself. The brothers stand. Ace jumps up and turns to the windows behind him.

They burn with light.

The glass shatters. The wall tears open. And there, in the night sky, I see fire.

The phoenix.

Riku.

Everything happens in a heartbeat.

The spirit strikes with a flaming claw, smashing into Ace, sending him flying across the room. He hits the far wall with a deep thud, his burned flesh torn open across his chest and legs.

Sparks of fire catch on the wall banners, setting them ablaze.

I don't think. I just run to Ace, to help him, to pull him away from the fire now spreading in the room.

Fen yells at me to stop, but it's too late. The phoenix strikes again through the open wall, hitting a pillar in the center, causing the ceiling to fall around us. I jump forward, evading the falling rocks and scraping my knees hard on the stone floor.

The room is in shambles. A wall of debris separates Ace and me from the other princes. Fortunately, it has blocked the ruined wall as well, keeping the phoenix away. Through the stone, smoke and dust, I hear the spirit screech and the princes yell.

I worry for Fen, for Asher, for Baron, but I can't do anything to help them right now. Yami trembles on my shoulder as I inch closer to Ace. The fire has spread throughout the room, a raging inferno around us. "Ace, we have to get out of here before we choke on the smoke or burn alive."

His eyes open slowly, and he nods. "Help me stand," he says, his voice cracked and fading. His body is burned and bleeding. His flesh smells cooked. Images of Daison fill my mind. I push them away.

I lift his body as gently as I can, but the man is heavier than he looks, and has very little strength for standing on his own. I sag under his weight. As we stumble forward, I realize I will not be able to do this much longer.

"Yami, can you help?" I whisper, hoping Ace is too out of it to wonder why I'm talking to myself.

Yami jumps on my arm and breathes a burst of blue flame at my skin. It burns and I yelp, nearly dropping Ace, who groans from pain. I look back down at my arm and see a dark blue mark forming there, a tattoo, like the kind the Druid's have. I whisper the incantation for illusion and it disappears from sight, but I feel the effects of the mark. My body is stronger, filled with new power. I lift Ace higher, and we move forward easier than before, entering a long hallway.

"How do we get out of here?" I ask.

"There's no way down to the exit from here. We must cross a bridge to the other half of the castle," he says. He points to the left, and I follow his directions until we reach a silver archway leading outside. A bridge spans the two sides of the castle, from one tower to another. It is dark, the stars are bright. The ground is far below. The wind is strong.

I look down, over the edge, shaking from fear and adrenaline. If we run into the phoenix, we will not make it across this bridge. But the skies look clear. Riku must be preoccupied with the other princes. I try not to think about what that means for Fen and Asher. I have to focus on helping Ace, who fades more and more with each step.

I mumble an incantation under my breath, hoping to turn us invisible. I look at Ace. He's not invisible, but translucent. So am I. By the Spirits, this is difficult. Well, at least we'll be harder to see from a distance.

I take a step forward, propping Ace up against my body as I do.

Another step.

A gust of wind almost knocks me over, but I keep my feet planted. Deep breaths.
One step at a time. One step at a time, Ari.
It's slow going, but we make it halfway across. Just a little more. Once we're down, I can find healers for Ace. I can save him.

"I see you, girl." A voice roars above. Oren. The Fire Druid.

I scan the skies. The phoenix erupts from behind a tower, circling us like prey. Oren's voice booms from within the spirit. "Leave the prince, and I will cause you no harm."

"No!"

"So be it."

The phoenix dives, and the ground trembles.

I fall to my knees, dropping Ace.

The spirit stands before me, huge, wreathed in flame. When it breathes, the very air burns with its breath.

The light from its wings turns night to day, blinding my eyes. But from within the shape of the bird I see the shadow of a man. Oren. He is there. Merged with his spirit.

His voice is low, powerful, reverberating through me. "Leave the prince, or you too will pay."

I stand, placing myself between Ace and the spirit, and raise my sword. I will fight. I do not know how I will win. But I will not abandon Ace, who speaks kindly, who thinks of freedom, to this creature of war.

The phoenix steps forward, shaking the bridge. "Very well, then." He raises a claw.

And then Yami makes a sound I've never heard before.

A roar so loud the winds seem to stop in its wake.

He leaps off my shoulder and into the air.

And he turns to dust.

Oren laughs within the phoenix. "Even Yami has abandoned you. Now, there is no reason for you to live,
Princess
." He spits the title like a slur.

My eyes burn with tears. I know I will die, and Ace as well. But I will not go down softly. I will fight. I will fight until I cannot lift my sword. Until I cannot open my eyes. I will fight until the end.

Dum spiro spero.

While I breathe, I hope.

And I still breathe. 

Something catches my eye. Up above, amongst the stars, a giant shape emerges. I have seen it before. I have seen it in the Darkness.

It blasts down toward us.

It lands behind me like thunder. And the bridge nearly falls at the weight, tearing apart with cracks. I glimpse the beast at my back. Eyes like stars. Skin like midnight.

Yami.

The dragon roars.

And everything fades.

The heat.

The wind.

The fear.

There is nothing but that sound. Nothing but the Darkness.

The dragon charges. Over me. Straight into the phoenix. It tears into the bird's neck with its jaws. Oren howls in pain. And the two beasts fall off the bridge. They twist in the sky. Fire and darkness, ripping each other apart.

I whisper a prayer for my sweet, little Yami.
Please be okay. Please.

And I lift Ace up and pull him across the bridge.

This side of the castle has not been touched by fire, and I ask Ace where we go next. He says nothing, and I realize he has gone unconscious. He's too pale, too listless. He's lost too much blood. I need to find him a place to rest.

I scramble through the halls until we reach what looks like the servant quarters. The kitchen is empty, and I lift Ace's body to the large table in the center and examine his wounds. They are bad, worse than I'd realized. I tear some of his clothes into pieces to form tourniquets for the still-bleeding wounds, then I look for a knife, and cut my wrist, allowing my blood to dribble into his mouth. I lift his head to help him swallow.

He chokes, then drinks. I let him feed until I feel dizzy and know I must stop before I pass out as well. I pull my hand away. The blood should help, but he has not awoken, so I do my best with the small amount of knowledge and supplies I have access to.

I search the kitchen for herbs and creams and find crushed lavender used for tea. Perfect. I turn the lavender into a salve as quickly as I can and rub it over his burns, then find another herb, Moonleaf, unique to this world, which will numb his wounds and put him to sleep.

I feed him the herb, and he stirs, opening his eyes. "I saw something, there, on the bridge," he says through fever. "Stars. Midnight. I have seen it before—"

"Shh… You're tired and weak. Seeing things," I whisper. There is fear in my voice. If he knows what I am, who I am, he will be a danger to me.

Ace's eyes clear for a moment, and he reaches for my hand, smiling. "Do not worry, Princess. I owe you my life. Besides, it is you who scares me… " His smile fades, and he falls into a restless sleep.

Chapter 12

THE TRUTH

"One goblet contained poisoned wine. And how my father answered my questions would determine which goblet he received."

—Fenris Vane

I use a
bit of blood from my wrist to draw Fen's mark onto the floor. Hopefully, he will find us soon.

I wish I had a way to call Yami back to me as easily. I know he can't die as long as I live, but that doesn't mean he can't be hurt.

I close my eyes and try to meditate, try to reach out to Yami, but I'm too tired, sore and distracted to focus. Ace groans in his sleep, and I hurry to his side to check on him, but my medical skills are rudimentary at best. He needs a real healer, not a wanna be.

While I wait for the cavalry to arrive, I add wood to the hearth and stoke the fire back into life. We may have just nearly burned to death, but this room is cold. Ace is still breathing erratically, and I consider giving him more of my blood when Fen walks in, looking crisp around the edges but very much alive.

"I felt the mark calling me," he says, pulling me into an embrace. He is bloody, burned, and covered in smoke, but I don't care. I pull away just enough to kiss him. He pauses, startled for a moment, and then his hands tighten around me, one dipping to my lower back and the other rising to the base of my neck to pull me closer.

He tastes of smoke and that woodsy flavor that is all Fen, and as the kiss deepens I lose myself in it.

It ends too soon. There are bigger things that demand our attention, but as the space between us grows and the heat of his lips leaves me, I miss it. I miss him.

"What happened after the room collapsed?" I ask.

"We fought off the phoenix," he says. "It flew behind the castle. Next time I saw it, it was falling through the sky, out of control. After a moment, it seemed to catch itself, then it flew away, one of its legs twisted."

I breathe a sigh of relief, glad Yami stayed invisible to everyone, glad he won the battle with Riku and Oren.

Fen drops my hand and walks over to Ace, studying his wounds.

"He needs healers," I say. "I gave him blood and did the best I could with what I know, but it isn't much."

Fen looks up. "Your blood?"

"No," I say sarcastically. "I gave him the blood I carry around in my purse for special occasions. Yes, my blood. What else?"

Fen shakes his head. "He'll know who you are now."

I nod. "He does, but he won't say anything. I trust him."

Fen raises an eyebrow. He begins to speak, when Seri arrives. She wears the tight silver dress Asher picked out, but her feet are bare. She left the shoes behind to make haste. A leather bag full of herbs and potions hangs from her hip, and she immediately sets to working on Ace.

A few moments later, the remaining princes barge into the room. They argue amongst themselves, about the slaves, about the phoenix, their gruff voices carrying throughout the kitchen. Fen whistles loudly to shut them up.

They don't.

But when they see Ace lying on the table looking near death, they quiet. Levi, in particular, looks grief stricken. He walks over to Ace and caresses his forehead. "How is he?"

The keeper looks up, a strand of blue hair falling into her eyes. "Not good. He is alive, but his wounds are great, even for a Fallen. Only time will tell. Right now, I need to get him to the Infirmary."

Levi leans down and whispers into Ace's ear so softly I cannot hear the words. Then he kisses his brother on the forehead and turns to the others. "We must not let this go unpunished."

Zeb, Niam, Dean, and even Fen nod in agreement. Asher looks cautious. "The plan to free the slaves is still a fine one," he says.

"No," Fen says, rage burning in his eyes. "We go to war. The time for peace has passed."

My heart drops. Fen knows who I am. How can he want to attack the Fae? But then I look down at the lifeless Ace. And I remember, the Prince of War will fight and die for those he loves.

***

Ace is transported to the Infirmary at High Castle and left in the care of Seri, while the rest of us regroup in the throne room: a giant hall of white stone, barren, and full of echoes. The brothers make a plan. All of us will travel north, stopping at each realm, gathering forces. When the vampires hear of what befell Prince Ace, they join the army eagerly. Those who hesitate still owe allegiance to their lords. Our numbers grow. Hundreds. Thousands. After three days, we arrive at Stonehill, the castle closest to the Outlands. The castle from where the princes of hell will wage war.