Nevermore, the Complete Series (69 page)

The weekend had flown by too quickly and I found myself shuffling onto the piano bench bright and early the next morning. Salem and I had visited a quaint diner the previous night that didn’t compare at all to the appearance of Varias, but the food was delicious—especially when comparing it to the blood they served here. I shivered at the idea of drinking blood. Even as a vampire, I detested the taste.

I began the day with Nevermore, which had quickly grown to be the guests’ favorite by far—and there was no doubt that I was proud of this fact. Malik often commented on how much he adored the song, and that he could remember Destiny humming a similar tune. I never gave it much thought, but perhaps that was how I discovered the song—maybe she hummed the tune to me when I was an infant.

Cassius appeared to be absent today, which was unusual for him—he almost always escorted me to the platform before the work day began. I had to admit that I missed his presence. This was completely forgotten when I noticed a cloaked figure striding quickly through the restaurant and up the spiral stairs. I waited a few minutes before I made my way up behind them, praying that Malik wouldn’t detect me somehow this time.

The floorboards creaked noisily as though someone were passing back and forth at a quick pace. I wondered if it was Malik, the mysterious figure, or perhaps even Ion.

“What is making you so anxious, Seer?” Malik asked, somewhat answering my question.

“I have seen something that may be troubling,” the voice was faintly familiar, yet at the same time I couldn’t quite place it. “She is with child.”

Malik’s feet slammed into the ground. I could picture him strewn across his chaise, comfortable until those words met his ears. “This cannot be! It would ruin my plans!”

“Yes, I understand the issues it causes. She is not yet aware of the child, but it will not be long before she realizes.”

“Then we must act quickly…”

“The faster the better,” the Seer agreed. “If she discovers she is with child, she will not be so willing to sacrifice her mortality to you. She would lose the child in the process.”

I gasped and nearly stumbled down the stairs. Malik appeared before me in mere seconds and lifted me to my feet. He looked frightened, confused and concerned all in one—it made for an interesting expression.

“Alexis, my darling…what are you doing?”

“I was on my way to visit you…but I heard you…I heard you with someone else. So I was about to head back downstairs.”

“No, please…come inside.”

The cloaked man was nowhere to be seen. Who had he been communicating with? And who were they talking about? With a quick glance, I peered down at my belly—I didn’t notice any differences, surely they had not been talking about me. Then a rush of thoughts came to mind—my reoccurring nausea, throwing up after dinner with Desmond and Salem…had all this been signs of ‘morning sickness’? How could this have happened? Salem and I had only been intimate for one night so far…

“You didn’t overhear anything, did you?” he asked as he helped me over to the chaise.

I shook my head, hoping he couldn’t see the shock and worry in my eyes. “No…all I could hear were footsteps and quiet voices.”

“Wonderful,” Malik said calmly and sat beside me. “It was just some…personal business matters. Private things, you know. It is a pleasure to see you again, Alexis.”

“You say that every time,” I replied with a subtle reddening of the cheeks.

“That is because it is true every time. I have grown very…fond of you, Alexis.”

I gulped and stared anxiously at him. “Th-thank you…”

“I know it might seem sudden…yet, I was wondering how you would feel about joining me.”

“Joining you?”

“Yes…you are already quite aware of what I am, what my business is, and I sense that you do not fear us. Do you not desire immortality?”

I froze completely, unable to comprehend what this man was asking me. Shaking my head, I made to stand up and leave the room but he leaned over me and held me down.

“Don’t run away, love. It is only an option, you do not have to,” he breathed against the side of my neck, inhaling my scent.

“I don’t want to be a vampire, Malik…not right now.”

“As I feared you might answer…there is one more thing I must ask of you, and I sincerely hope that you answer differently.”

He intertwined his hand with mine and looked me straight in the eyes. “You are so much like your mother. I admit that I have more than grown fond of you, rather I have acquired a spot in my heart that aches for you.”

“You…what?”
I moved to pull away but he was too strong.

“I want you, Alexis, to call my own,” he whispered softly and pressed his cold lips to mine. I couldn’t pull away, and part of me relaxed against his touch despite my mind telling me to stop.

“Malik-wait,” I tried to talk when we parted lips, but the pause was only brief. He climbed on top of me, running his cold hand up my blouse and tenderly caressing my side. His eyes stared deeply into mine and I lost control of myself, as though pulled into a dream where every move I made was decided for me. My hands ran through his short hair as he kissed the nape of my neck. I was overcome with desires that I had never felt before, trapped in a world where my mind was convinced that this was right—there was no Salem, only me and Malik, intertwined together on this couch.

The very essence of this man was seductive—his touch, his voice, and I
was enslaved by it all.

“Wed me, Alexis,” he whispered into my ear. “Share an eternal bond with me like no other…there does not have to be an official ceremony, simply take this ring, and be my Queen.”

“Yes…” I agreed in a voice that sounded much unlike my own. “I will.”

He released me and I felt dizzy, uncertain of where I was. I knew I had agreed to something, but I couldn’t recall what it was. There was an unfamiliar weight on my hand that I immediately inspected.

“…What have you done, Malik?”

“It is more of a question of what have we done, my love.”

“No, no, no…this isn’t happening! I am already married, and you know that!” I shrieked and tugged on the silver wedding band but it wouldn’t budge.

“There is no sense in trying, Alexis. It will not come off. You have given yourself to me.”

“No, I haven’t!” I felt my eyes grow wet with tears. “I don’t belong to you.”

“You do, you and your child…we shall raise it together and it shall be the heir of our castle, if ever we shall cease to be.”

“...the man in the cloak…he was talking about me…”

Malik smirked and touched his hand to my cheek. “For someone who said they heard nothing, you seem to know an awful lot.”

“I can’t be here…I need to leave…Salem needs me, I need him…I can’t be yours. You can’t just claim me!”

“You can come and go as you please,” Malik said, “as long as you always return to me…and we both know you will.”

With one final glance at him, I ran from the room.

My hands were shaking fiercely as I gripped the steering wheel and drove home. I burst through the door and was immediately greeted by Salem. His arms were around me instantly and I felt almost completely comforted by his embrace, but it wouldn’t last.

“What is it, Alex?” he asked soothingly as he held me firmly, ignoring the moisture of my tears soaking into his shirt.

“Malik…I don’t know what happened…he tricked me…he claims I am his now…”

“What are you implying?” he pushed me away from him slowly and looked me over. “What did he do to you?”

I raised my hand up for him to see the ring that lay in front of my wedding ring. There was anger written all over his face when he grasped my hand and attempted to pluck the jewelry off.

“It won’t come off, I’ve tried.”

“Regardless what this ring stands for, you are still my wife—do not fall for anything he does or says.”

“What do you mean?”

“If a vampire lord chooses you to be theirs…” he shook his head sorrowfully. “It isn’t something you can turn away from; you are marked until his death. Therefore, unless we kill Malik…”

“I am his.”

“No. You are not his. He might think you are, but you aren’t. You must be stronger than him, do not fall for anything he does. Vampire Lords are stronger than ordinary vampires. He is capable of things no mere vampire is.”

“Such as hypnosis?”

“Most likely…among other things, but please, don’t let yourself get carried away by this…you’re not his, and you never will be—unless you allow him to take you.”

“I could never!”

“I know,” he pulled me against him again as my tears continued to pour.

“There is something else, Salem…” this time it was I that pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. “There was someone talking to Malik today…he called him a Seer.”

“A vampire who can see visions…similarly to Hannah,” Salem explained. “What did he see?”

“You may want to sit down.”

“I am fine standing, I assure you. What could be more stressful than you telling me another man has claimed you as their bride?”

I wanted to laugh at that comment, but I couldn’t find it in me to do so. “You…we…” I fumbled with my words and placed his hand against my stomach. “Salem…I am pregnant.”

Naturally, Desmond would have been the first to hear the news of my pregnancy—but it was decided that we wouldn’t tell anyone until I had an actual test done and we were completely positive. There were other things on my mind, however, and I completely drove past the store and zipped over to the Vanatori hideout.

“Where are you going, Alex?” Salem asked. “The store was right there…”

“I don’t have time to stop at a store right now, Salem. I need to talk to the other hunters and get their ideas on where to go from here.”

He swore under his breath and cast an unpleasant look in my direction. “Do you not realize what you are saying? You are going to risk not only your life—but the life of our child—in order to kill this man, when there are several other hunters in this place that could do it without you!”

“Hannah will be here soon, and I need to warn them before they go after her.”

“That is all this is about, then? You aren’t going to question them about Malik or gather ideas to kill him; it is solely related to her?”

I couldn’t answer him. The door to the Vanatori building was wide open, slowly wavering in the wind. I pulled the car into the driveway and climbed out, ignoring Salem’s shouting for me to return. Something wasn’t right.

“Hello?” I called out as I approached the doorway.
“Mikael? Camellia? …anybody?”

“Pl-please…” Octavian’s voice reached my ears and I ran inside. Salem was right at my heel.

“What happened?!” I yelled as I examined the room. The table was strewn across the floor, as were most of the chairs. The filing cabinets had been opened and there were papers tossed everywhere. Octavian lay on his stomach on the floor, a dark pool of blood forming beneath him. “Oh, no…”

“A man…a vampire…in a cloak…” he said hoarsely, his body shaking as he coughed.

“Where is everyone else?” Salem asked and helped Octavian sit up. There was a wide gash along his abdomen and Salem quickly summoned a thick cloth and held it against the wound with as much pressure as he could manage.

“They’re…they’re all out…hunting. They said that
there’s a couple of new vampires in town…I…I stayed behind…like always.”

“New vampires?”
I looked over at Salem and without a word knew he was thinking the same thing. “One male, one female?”

“Y-yes.
They were seen on your side of town…Mikael went to check on you because we haven’t heard from you…they all went.”

“Damn it!” I shrieked and slammed my fist against the nearest wall. “We need to get there fast!”

“I cannot leave him here like this…” Salem said. “The wound is deep, he could bleed to death!”

“I’ll call an ambulance. He’ll be fine. You can stay here and keep putting pressure on that until they get here. I have to go before anything happens to Hannah.”

“Do what you need to, just make sure Camellia knows…that I…I…”

I stared in horror as Octavian’s eyes rolled back in their sockets and a stream of blood drizzled from the side of his mouth. He writhed in Salem’s arms until he gave in, succumbing to the darkness that enveloped him.

“…he’s gone,” Salem whispered and laid his body on the floor.

I fell to my knees, bawling at the sight and loss of a man I scarcely knew. He finally knew his answer about the truth behind the undead, only long enough to be taken from our world by their hands.

“Come on, Alexis…we need to go,” Salem said and helped me up.

It felt wrong leaving him there, but we had little choice. Hannah and Ezra were in trouble, and there was little time to spare. We were back in the car and on the road in no time, and I admittedly went well over the speed limit. Salem attempted to get a hold of Hannah repeatedly with no luck, making me want to drive even faster but I wasn’t about to get us in a car wreck. She was strong and capable of taking care of herself, but I wasn’t sure how she would handle six hunters at once—even if Ezra was accompanying her.

Passing the store again, we made our way toward home. There would be plenty of time for pregnancy tests later. The IQ was tucked into a parking place quickly and we both scrambled out of the car. There were no bodies present outside the apartment, and no sign of conflict. Had Octavian been mistaken about them coming to check on us? Before I had further time to question this, I heard a scream from the other side of the apartment complex.

“Go!” I yelled to Salem and he ran toward the sound. I followed after him, worrying with each step that he could get hurt. I never stopped to bother considering my own safety, as throughout the majority of my hunting career I had been a mortal, risking my life to save the world. He had been immortal, only having to worry about hunters—now he had everything in the world to worry about and I couldn’t afford to let him forget it.

We came upon a ditch dividing the complex from a vast field. Salem quickly bounded over the ditch and I stumbled through it, ignoring the sludge that seeped through my sneakers. Ordinarily, this would have bothered me, but there was so much on my mind that I wouldn’t have cared if I was covered head-to-toe in the mud. There were at least five silhouettes in the distance, three of them on one side, two of them on the other.

“We don’t want to hurt any of you,” I instantly recognized Hannah’s voice, “but if you don’t put down your damn weapons, it will be your own fault that you die.”

“You expect us to believe a couple of vampires?” Mikael asked, raising his crossbow—I was somewhat surprised to see that this method of slaying was used here, too.

“Stop!”
I shouted and ran in between the feuding vampires and hunters. “Please…”

“Alex?” Camellia spoke and I instantly felt overwhelmed with grief. This wasn’t the time to tell her, it would have to wait.

“She’s my sister-in-law…yes, I know, she’s a vampire…but please, you have to trust us.”

Mikael lowered his weapon and whistled. The rest of the Vanatori emerged from the shadows, each of them wielding a weapon held at their sides. Remus stood in the back, shrouding himself behind the others.

“There is so much I need to explain to you all, could we just go back to my place and talk?”

Everyone nodded in agreement though I could still see the tension on the hunter’s faces. Before we began to walk I noticed Ezra’s hand clasped onto Hannah’s. Salem did not appear to see this and bounded over to his younger sister, giving her a huge hug which she hesitantly returned. I caught a glimpse of Hannah’s face over Salem’s shoulder and could have sworn she was glaring at me. I tried to ignore it the best I could, turned, and began to lead the group to my tiny home.

I felt immediately cramped inside the studio apartment. It had definitely not been constructed to hold eight people. Hannah and Ezra sat at the small kitchen table, Mikael and Camellia sat on the couch, Sebastian made himself comfortable on the carpet, Remus scooted into the corner, while Luca and Nicolai stood in the center of the room.

Leaving Salem to explain to them in great detail about his past, my own, and Hannah’s, I took Camellia out onto the front porch to tell with her what happened at their hideout.

“What’s going on?” she asked as I placed my hands unsteadily on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

“There was an accident at the headquarters…” that was all it took for her to know something happened to Octavian.

“Is he okay?!”

I shook my head and pulled her tightly against me. “He’s gone, Camellia…I am so sorry…there was nothing we could have done to save him.”

Her body quaked as she cried hysterically onto my shoulder, and I felt helpless. After what felt like a long while, she pulled away and I saw a look of pure anger in her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me!” she screeched as the tears began streaming again. She lifted her hand in the air and for a brief moment I thought she was going to hit me but instead collapsed back into my embrace.

“His last words were to tell you that he loves you,” I whispered, and her sobbing amplified. Without any further word she pulled away and began to run off, undoubtedly heading for Octavian.

As I entered the house, everyone questioned Camellia’s absence and were shocked by my response.

“Do you know who did it?” Luca asked.

“No…whoever it was, they were gone by the time we showed up.”

“We have come to a decision that we shall trust these two, so long as they continue their lack of feasting on human blood,” Mikael explained, showing mild grief at the loss of Octavian—I noticed he was one to get straight to business, but he still had a heart, he felt remorse for the loss of his friend.

“There is more that I need to tell you all,” I said and slumped down onto the sofa beside the Vanatori leader. “Malik…claimed me as his Queen.”

“We should have seen this coming,” Nicolai grumbled. “The bastard is a Manipulator, don’t blame yourself.”

“A Manipulator?”

“A vampire capable of control over others, he can make most people do whatever he wants—within reason.”

I nodded in understanding. “There is more. He has a Seer. I’ve heard them talking…talking about me.”

“You must fall into some sort of plan of theirs,” Sebastian stated. “Whatever it is, we need to be wary. It is up to you if you wish to continue working under his roof and keeping tabs on him, as it has become a matter of risking your safety…but I advise that we keep him under our watch.”

“I will stay…there is nothing I want more right now than his death.”

“Then, it is settled…we shall leave these two alone, and Alexis will remain employed at the restaurant, gathering information.”

“Just how much information does she need?” Salem butted in, obviously upset I had come to this decision without his approval.

“We need to discover his weakness.”

“I am his weakness,” I muttered.

“Then we must use this to our advantage somehow. Learn who the Seer is, make Malik feel safe around you, and in due time, he shall be ours.”

“And this Seer…is…is everything he says true?” I asked.

Remus, who had been quiet up to this point, answered. “Whether what he says is the same as what he sees is a better question. There is a path for all of us, Alexis.
A Destiny of grand design. Do not fear the future, for there is nothing any of us can do to change it.”