A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21) (17 page)

The witch still appeared to be in a state of shock and disbelief. “What could have happened?” she breathed.

“I can’t be sure,” he replied in a voice as quiet as hers. “But it doesn’t matter. We are no longer bound to them. We are free.”

“But—”

Amaya’s response was cut short as the front door of the Great Dome rattled. Jeramiah swooped toward the memorial slab and the instrument so fast he was a blur. The next thing I knew, he and the witch had vanished.

Still in a daze of confusion myself, I turned to face the door to see my father striding in. He was followed closely by my mother, Xavier, and Vivienne, who was carrying her new baby wrapped in a blanket. Then entered Eli, Yuri, a heavily pregnant Claudia, Kiev, Mona, and dozens of other familiar faces. The only notably absent member of my father’s council was my grandfather. Each of their expressions was leaden and somber.

By now, the smoke had completely cleared from the room, and if it had left behind any scent, none of them seemed to notice it. Nobody made the slightest comment as they all took seats around the long meeting table.

I would’ve stayed to listen to what they’d all gathered to discuss, but my mind was tied to Jeramiah and his witch companion. I had to know what they were going to do next. I guessed that there was only one place that Amaya would’ve vanished Jeramiah back to—the old farmhouse.

I hurried out of the Dome. Passing through its solid walls, I raced back into the thick of the woods. I didn’t let up my speed until I had arrived back at Jeramiah’s hideout. I didn’t even bother to glance at the crowd of ghosts who were still waiting expectantly around the building. Passing through the old wooden door of the house, I found both he and the witch were in the living room again. Jeramiah was prowling the room like a panther, while Amaya was slumped in a chair, still appearing lost in a daze of relief and confusion. The memorial stone had been replaced in its former position, leaning against the wall.

“Something obviously happened to the jinn back in The Oasis,” she murmured, “but can we really be certain that just because the tattoo is gone, our connection to them has also been severed?”

Jeramiah didn’t stop pacing as he replied. “The absence of our tattoos doesn’t necessarily equate to the absence of their hold on us… but why would the marks vanish so suddenly? Think about it, Amaya. What possible reason could the jinn have for revoking them? There is no reason.” He shook his head emphatically. “No. I suspect that something serious has happened… Something that has weakened them, and caused them to recall their powers over others in order to reserve them for self-defense.”

“But what could have happened?” the witch asked. “Do you think the Drizans found them?”

Jeramiah shot her a curious glare. “How do you know about the Drizans?”

“Oh, I’ve had an inkling about the Nasiris’ adversaries for a few years now,” Amaya replied. “I overheard a conversation that I shouldn’t have between that little squirt of a niece Nuriya has and her mother.”

“Interesting,” Jeramiah said, momentarily distracted. “That loose-lipped jinni was the way I found out about them too.…” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, if I have any theory at all, it’s as you’ve described. I’m not sure who else would pose a threat to the Nasiris other than the Drizans. Yes, it is only a theory, but even if I’m wrong, I think we ought to take any risk that could come with staying away… I mean, would you really willingly venture back into their lair to verify our assumption?”

She shook her head. “Of course not.”

Jeramiah nodded curtly. “Then, given the circumstances, I would like to propose that our stay on this island be… a little prolonged.”

J
eramiah
once again drew out the wind instrument from beneath his robe. Holding it, he raised it in the air and in one abrupt motion, brought it crashing down against his knee. The wood cracked and the instrument broke into two. He discarded both pieces unceremoniously, dropping them to the floor and kicking them to the wall.

“Why did you do that?” Amaya asked, furrowing her brows in disdain.

“My father is gone,” he replied, his voice baritone. “I have no further use for it.”

The vampire’s face had become stony again, almost unreadable, though a storm was brewing behind his eyes.

“So we will remain away from The Oasis,” Amaya said, shifting her eyes away from the shattered instrument to Jeramiah. “That much we have decided on. But why stay here longer? I don’t understand what more you’d want to put these people through. You’ve done more than enough.”

Jeramiah’s jaw tensed. “Maybe you’re right,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “Perhaps, wherever my father’s soul might be now, he might have appreciated the gesture and been satisfied with my efforts so far…” He paused and walked over to the table upon which the witch’s magic knife rested. He picked it up and tilted it slowly from side to side, staring at the blade, his eyes glazing over. “But you see, Amaya…
my
soul is not satisfied. It still burns. My hunger for vengeance still disturbs my mind, and until I feel I’ve had it, I’m not sure I will ever be able to find peace.”

Amaya let out a breath. “But Jeramiah—”

His gaze intensified. “You do realize that, had it not been for the people who inhabit this island—my own flesh and blood—my father would still be alive? I would have been able to meet him face to face, and he would be ruling over this place. I would be the prince, and my life would be full. I wouldn’t have had to struggle for years trying to discover who I was… I would have an identity.”

Amaya didn’t argue further. She pursed her lips and fell quiet as Jeramiah resumed his prowl around the room.

When he spoke again, his voice was calmer. “Now that it appears Nuriya no longer has a hold over us, and I find myself still in The Shade—the legendary island of the Novaks—I cannot bring myself to leave now. Not yet.” He gestured with a hand toward the witch. “Of course, I cannot make you stay. You’ve returned your favor to me already with all that you have done to help me up until now, and I could not expect you to stay longer…. Though, of course, if for old times’ sake you decided to remain even for another day, I would be indebted to you.”

Amaya pursed her lips as though she was seriously considering his proposal. “Well,” she began slowly, “if it’s just for another day or so, I will stay with you… for old times’ sake.” Then her eyes narrowed on the vampire. “But exactly what more do you wish to do to these people?”

Jeramiah took his time in answering. He roamed slowly back over to the table and replaced the blade. His back still turned to the witch, he replied in a whisper, “I need to end the lives of three people. Derek and Sofia Novak, and Aiden Claremont. If I can see these leaders fall, I will be able to move on. I believe that I would be able to relieve my mind from the burden of revenge, and stop living in the past.”

He looked disconcertingly calm as his eyes searched Amaya’s face for a response. Her complexion had paled, though she was showing no signs of faltering or withdrawing her offer of help.

“I’m confused, Jeramiah,” she said. “If you wanted to end those three—Derek, Sofia and Aiden—why did you request me to target their homes with fire while they were out? Why did I not do it in the dead of night, or some other time when you were sure that they were inside, asleep? It would have been easy—they could’ve been scorched by now.”

The vampire took a seat in the chair next to her. “The reason for that is simple,” he replied, leaning closer to her. He gazed at her thoughtfully, even reaching out to tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “You see, Amaya, I could have done that. As you say, it would have been easy. But that’s just the problem. It would have been too easy.” He shook his head. “No. When I requested you to burn down the buildings, I had already resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t have time to pull off their end the way I wanted it. I just satisfied myself with the knowledge that, once I’d gained more favors from Nuriya, I’d be able to return a second time to finish the job the way it should be done. But now that we find ourselves with more time, I need to end the trio who caused the most suffering to my father, in a way that does justice to him… And really, there’s only one way to do that.”

“What exactly are you thinking?” Amaya asked, her eyes widening.

A small smile crept across Jeramiah’s lips. The way it split his pale face made him look snakelike. “I think I’ll leave the exact details of their demise to the hunters. They’ve been incredibly patient in waiting outside the island’s boundary for so long. I think it’s about time someone threw them a bone… Don’t you?”

N
o
. No!

My mind spiraled into a panic as Jeramiah left his seat and walked over to the mantelpiece, where he picked up an old piece of parchment and a quill.

“I need ink,” he muttered, addressing the witch. He pulled up a chair and sat down at the table. Amaya manifested a bottle of black ink and planted it down on the table next to him. He dipped his quill into the ink and began to scrawl:

“Before 3 PM this afternoon, the king and queen of The Shade, along with the ex-hunter Aiden Claremont, will be waiting on the cluster of rocks southwest of your ships and outside The Shade’s boundary. Be there to capture them, or ignore this message at your own risk.

Signed,

An interested third party.”

“Before 3 PM,” Amaya murmured, reading the note over Jeramiah’s shoulder. “That doesn’t give us much time at all… And the hunters… Jeramiah, is this really the best way to do this?”

Jeramiah’s face hardened. “It was the bullet of a hunter that killed my father.”

I didn’t know how he knew about the circumstances of his father’s death—I could only assume that he had learned what had happened from the Nasiris. Somehow, he had formed the conclusion that Lucas Novak had been the victim. I didn’t understand why the jinn would lead him to believe this—or perhaps they hadn’t, and Jeramiah’s belief was borne from the pain of losing his father—but whatever had happened, my cousin was convinced that my family were wrongdoers who needed to be destroyed. I wondered if he even knew that Lucas had been shot while attempting to murder my mother.

Amaya now looked past the point of arguing, resigned to the fact that there was no budging her vampire companion from his bloodthirsty course.

“All right… well, what would you like me to do next?” she asked.

Jeramiah folded up his note and placed the parchment in the witch’s hand. “First of all, you will deliver this to the hunters,” he said. “Take it directly to the captain of any one of those ships and make sure that he sees it. Then you’ll need to return to me as fast as you can.”

Amaya frowned. “But if I leave the boundary, how will I reenter the island?”

“Good point,” Jeramiah replied, raising a hand to his chin and stroking it. “I will swim to the boundary—in a straight line from the Port. Just make sure you’re visible, and I’ll spot you. I’ll reach out and hopefully I’ll be able to pull you back through.”

“Then you will travel with me now, I assume,” the witch said. “I’ll transport us by magic and drop you off in the water near the boundary.”

“No,” Jeramiah said. “I’ll head there myself… This could be my last run through the island. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure that you’re not waiting long—if at all—for me.”

She nodded, sliding the parchment beneath her sleeve. “And after that?”

Jeramiah paused before his voice lowered. “After that, we just need to ensure that the promised guests show up on time for their party.”

A
maya recast
the invisibility spell and vanished with the note, leaving Jeramiah and me standing alone in the room.

My eyes turned on the vampire. Anger welled within me. He moved to the duo of candles sitting on the ledge by the shuttered window and snuffed them both out, plunging the room into darkness. Then he left the living area and let himself out of the front door. I hurried after him, my eyes boring into the back of his head as he stepped outside and paused briefly, drawing in a deep breath of fresh air. He gazed around the dark, empty field—at least, it was empty for him.

The moment he stepped out, the crowd of ghosts’ attention shot toward him. They began to approach, keeping a distance of about five feet as they circled around him, and gazed at him expectantly. I guessed that they were all waiting for the “man with the pipe” to start playing again. As shrill as that tune sounded up close, they seemed to genuinely get pleasure from it. Perhaps I would too if I’d been a ghost as long as them.

Jeramiah ventured forward, away from the farmhouse and out onto the soil. He picked up speed and began sprinting toward the woods.

“Bastard,” I cursed, running in his wake.

“Hey! What are you doing?” one of the ghosts called to me—the air stewardess, Lucinda—as I caught up with Jeramiah, but I ignored her.

My arms outstretched, I motioned to grip Jeramiah by the neck. My fingers passed through him like air. I balled up my hands into fists and tried to punch him, push him, make him stumble, do anything to slow him in his deadly race, but I was as useless as vapor.

“You’re just the snake your father was,” I spat, wishing to God that he could hear me.

I leveled with him as he continued running at breakneck speed. He’d now entered the woods and was whipping through the redwood trees.

I didn’t know exactly how he was planning to drag my parents and grandfather out of the island. He would make the witch do it somehow. I guessed they’d catch my family when there were no other witches around. Amaya would swoop in and…
I need to warn them! But how?

My entire being swelled with aggravation.
What is the point of this damned existence? I would be just as useful to my family if I really were dead.
The thought that I had the knowledge to prevent my parents and grandfather from becoming victims of Jeramiah’s deadly plan, while being utterly unable to warn them about it, was leading me toward the brink of insanity.

3 PM.
Even that time was uncertain. Jeramiah had said that my family would be taken to the rocks
before
3 PM.
What time is it now?
I didn’t even know. How long would Amaya take in delivering the message to the hunters? When would she be back, and when exactly was she going to attempt to steal away my parents and grandfather?

I attempted to bring some order to my frenzied mind, but being about two feet away from Jeramiah as he continued hurtling forward wasn’t helping. His presence was only aggravating me further and making it more difficult to think clearly. I hung back and let him continue without me. It wasn’t like I could do anything by following him anyway.

I had heard and seen enough. Now I had to rack my brain as to what I could possibly do. I kept moving forward, though at a slower pace as I tried to clear my mind of panic and make way for logic. But my thoughts were frozen on where Jeramiah and Amaya were right now and what they might be doing.
Could Amaya have delivered the note already?

Then, as I passed by the Great Dome, a light switched on and blasted through my foggy mind.

I recalled what Jeramiah had tried to do in there less than an hour ago, before my parents and their council had caused an interruption. He had asked the witch to put him into a dreamful slumber, and he had been convinced that, if Lucas still roamed the earth as a ghost, he would be able to sense his presence.

A dreamful slumber.
My cousin’s request played over in my head.

Thanks to my encounter with Ernest back in The Tavern, I already knew that ghosts could intercept others’ dreams. They could peer into the living’s bubbles of sleep as though they were peering through a window…
But could that really be a two-way window?
Was it really possible for a living, breathing person to communicate with a ghost via a dream? It seemed unbelievable but, as I reminded myself with a grimace, I wasn’t exactly a stranger to fantastical occurrences. Besides, I didn’t know how else Jeramiah had been expecting to be aware of Lucas’s presence.

But now, I didn’t have time for doubts. Time was slipping through my fingers like sand. For all I knew, Amaya could have finished her first task already and be on her way back to the boundary of the island, where Jeramiah would be waiting…

This was the only glimmer of hope I had and, as faint as it was, in my present state, trying was the only thing that I could do.