Incarnation (12 page)

“What could have happened to him?” The being I knew in my dreams was undeniably formidable, but I also had the impression that he was trapped and weakening. If I did not find him soon, his voice would be stilled forever.

“I don’t know, but understand this,” Marco said. “As the son of King Arthur, Mordred has a better claim to rule this kingdom than any other sovereign who has ever sat on the throne. But long ago, during the time of Elizabeth, he put his royal rights of inheritance aside and struck a pact that has endured to this day. In times of greatest distress, the power of Mordred and his vampires has been placed in Britain’s service. Although the vast majority of humans are completely unaware of it, we owe him a great deal.”

Stumbling to understand an insight into history that I would never have thought possible, I said, “He has fought to protect this realm?”

Marco nodded. “More than once and decisively. We would not be what we are today without the role he has played.”

“Even so, surely that does not excuse everything he has done?”

“Perhaps not,” Marco said. “But Mordred never transformed anyone who did not want to become a vampire, and most of those who did want it, he rejected. Over the centuries, he refused vast sums of money from the highest and greatest who longed to join his court.”

“I never asked for this.”

True, yet not the entirety of truth. I had not asked, but neither had I resisted. Some hidden part of my nature had led me to Mordred. Had I understood what he intended, perhaps I would have found the strength to fight, but the fact was that I had not. Loathe though I was to admit it, I was complicit to at least some degree in what had happened to me.

“Which raises the question of why Mordred made an exception where you are concerned. Why did he violate the principles that had guided him for centuries in order to incarnate you as a vampire?”

“If you are asking me to explain it to you, I cannot. I have no more insights into why he did what he did now than I had at the first moment I returned to awareness.”

“Is that why you have come in search of him?”

“Yes . . . no, not entirely.”

“Which is it?” When I did not reply at once, Marco persisted. “Do you seek revenge, perhaps? Or do you harbor the notion that what was done to you could be undone?”

“Could it?” Until that moment, I had not allowed myself to consider the possibility that my lost humanity might be restored. I longed for my family, when I happened to think of them, and for the love and closeness I had taken too much for
granted. So, too, I yearned to feel warm again, to know the pulse of my own lifeblood and feel the beat of my own heart measuring out my allotted time. And yet the power I now possessed—and was only just beginning to explore—was a siren’s song that surpassed even the compulsion that Mordred had placed on me.

“I have never known any of your kind to give a moment’s thought to being human again, far less long for it. You are a puzzle, Miss Weston.”

“That does not answer my question.” When he remained silent, I persisted. “Do you think it is possible for a vampire to become human again?”

He hesitated, but I could see that the question had piqued his interest. Slowly, he said, “The incarnation of a vampire involves fundamental changes at the cellular level. Your greater strength and stamina, for example, are the result of more efficient energy production within the structures known as mitochondria. Your vastly increased longevity is a result, at least in part, of your heightened immune system. The changes are so profound that I don’t believe any serious thought has been given to the possibility that they could be reversed, at least not under ordinary circumstances.” A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “But as it seems that you, Miss Weston, are far from ordinary, we would be wise not to assume anything in your case.”

Despite myself, I smiled in turn, yet I harbored no illusions as to why he had replied as he did. “Whatever my reasons for seeking Mordred, you want me to help you find him, is that not so?”

“It is,” he said promptly. “Together, we have a far better chance of succeeding than either of us does alone.”

“Perhaps. . . . Who do you think is behind his disappearance?” If I were to trust this human who had such unexpected power over vampires, I would know what he knew.

“Someone deluded enough not to understand or care what the consequences will be. Or someone who does know and thinks to profit.” He hesitated a moment, then said, “You’ve already met one of the prime suspects.”

I did not have to stretch my mind very far to guess who he meant. “Lady Blanche?”

Marco nodded. “She has lived in Mordred’s shadow, so to speak, for centuries. He has kept her close but refused to grant her the power for which she yearns. With him gone, she may believe that she can step into his place.”

I thought of her wrapped in pearls, holding court in the subterranean chamber. Her chill beauty hinted at a formidable will that would not be denied.

“Could she be right?” I asked.

“If she tries, there will be a war for control among the great vampire families. Of course, that will happen anyway if Mordred doesn’t return.”

“What about humans? Are there any who might wish him gone?”

With obvious reluctance, Marco said, “There have been rumors . . .”

“Tell me.”

“Some of those in the highest levels of government take our ever-growing power over the forces of nature as proof that humans no longer need to share this world with vampires except on our own terms.”

A wave of coldness moved through me. “What terms?”

“Some would offer no terms at all. They argue that vampires
should be exterminated. Others acknowledge that vampires have been useful to humans in times of crisis when we have stood together against mutual enemies; the Spanish, for example, in the time of Elizabeth I. They argue that a way can be found to enslave vampires so they will exist only at our sufferance to serve our purposes. Neither plan is realistic because neither takes into account the vast numbers who would die on both sides if conflict broke out between us.”

“Both sides?” I asked. Admittedly, my experience was very limited, but I had the impression that a vampire was very hard to kill.

“Humans have been developing ever more powerful weapons,” Marco said. “Not even a vampire can survive being blown apart. In the end, there would be no winners, only mutual destruction.”

Far off in the recesses of the club the drumming had stopped. Perhaps whoever had been trying to expel the demons had succeeded. But other, likely far greater dangers remained.

The thought of a war between humans and vampires was horrifying. In centuries past, the struggle would have been unequal, but with the new weapons that humans possessed, such a conflict could rage on and on while the toll on both sides mounted steeply. Nor would the cost be measured in lives alone. The very fabric of civilization could be torn apart as society descended into a mad orgy of violence and bloodletting that could end only with the extermination of both races.

“If human arrogance does not bring on this war,” I said, “then the increase in the number of vampires that is already occurring will make it inevitable anyway. Isn’t that so?”

Marco nodded. “Regrettably, it is. The only hope of preventing both sides from falling upon each other is to find Mordred and restore him to his rightful place. Do that and we restore the balance between humans and vampires that has protected us all for centuries.”

Through the sudden constriction of my throat, I said, “We had best hurry.”

He looked at me closely. “I agree, but do you have a particular reason for saying so?”

I hesitated, reluctant to speak of a matter that felt so strangely intimate. Yet I could see no other choice.

“I am . . . in contact with Mordred in some manner, although I have no idea how or why. I can sense him well enough to know that he still exists, but he is growing weaker with each passing hour. If we don’t find him quickly, it will be too late.”

Marco nodded slowly. “Mordred must have realized that he was in danger. Likely he sought you out because something about you makes such a connection possible.”

“I assure you that cannot be the case. I was an entirely unremarkable young woman.” Albeit one bedeviled by a indefinable yearning for something hovering just out of sight, just beyond reach, drawing me out onto a moon-swept moor to confront a fate beyond any I could ever have imagined.

“Besides,” I continued briskly, “I don’t know where Mordred is. All I can say is that he feels closer here in London than he did in Whitby.” A sudden thought occurred to me. “If Lady Blanche is responsible for his disappearance, she may have managed to confine him somewhere within the Bagatelle. I should return there at once and search the place while the others are still at rest.”

“
We
should return,” Marco corrected. As though that settled the matter, he closed Dee’s book, put it back on the shelf, and crossed the library to open the door. Ever the gentleman, even when he was being dictatorial, he stood aside for me to exit first. Instead, I stood rooted where I was.

“If I am found wandering around the Bagatelle, I can claim to be acting out of simple curiosity. However, if we are caught there together, our presence will be regarded in a far more sinister light.”

A long moment followed during which I observed him wrestling with himself. Clearly, he did not want to agree, but neither could he escape the fact that I was indisputably right.

Even so, his acquiescence was not as graceful as I would have wished. With obvious reluctance, he said, “Very well, but I have two conditions. We will make a stop on the way back to the Bagatelle. There is something I must show you. And you will agree without fail to meet me at the griffin statue tomorrow at noon. If you do not appear, I will assume that you have either betrayed our alliance or fallen victim to it.”

The shadows near the doorway had deepened while we were in the library. I could only just make out the hard planes and angles of his face tinted darkly sanguine by the red pendant. For a moment, he looked more like a creature of the netherworld than I could ever be. Yet I had no choice but to trust him.

Quietly, I said, “I have a condition of my own: My family may be in London. Should we fail to find Mordred and prevent this war, will you try to get them to a place of safety if I am unable to do so?”

A look of surprise flitted behind his eyes. “You still care for them?”

Confused by my own feelings, but reluctant to admit as much, I said, “Apparently.”

So softly that I had to strain to hear him, he said, “You have my word.”

Thus was the bargain between us struck. I could hope only that I would not have cause to regret it.

CHAPTER 9

A
s we emerged from the club, Marco hailed a passing hackney. Handing me up into it, he said, “We should get off the street.”

I did not understand his urgency until, glancing through the narrow window on the far side of the carriage, I glimpsed half a dozen Watchers gliding toward us. Their Teslaways cut a swath through the crowd as men and women alike hastened to avoid them. Marco joined me inside, closed the door, and called instructions to the driver. The wheels were rolling as the black-uniformed guardians of public order—their visors reflecting the rapidly emptying street—bounded up the steps of the Golden Dawn.

Raids on the homes and businesses of ordinary people were becoming distressingly commonplace, but importuning gentlemen within the sanctum of a private club was another matter entirely. Something must have greatly emboldened the Watchers for them to behave in such a way.

“De Vere may have been more suspicious of you than I realized,” Marco said as he sat back beside me. “We will have to take greater care.”

“You’re suggesting that he has the ear of someone with sufficient authority to order a raid on the society?”

He nodded. Showing a disturbing ability to anticipate my train of thought, he added, “However, you should not conclude this means humans are responsible for Mordred’s disappearance. If that leads you to let down your guard around Lady Blanche—”

Before he could continue, no doubt to issue dire warnings, I broke in. “What do you know of her? You said she has existed in Mordred’s shadow for centuries. But how did she come to be a vampire in the first place?”