The Dark Arts of Blood (38 page)

She glimpsed him approaching Godric Reiniger on the far end of the salon. People milled around her, blocking her view. For a few moments she had a flashback to her human horror of socialising: the panic of suffocating in a hostile mass of strangers… When the feeling dropped away, Karl and Reiniger had disappeared.

“Charlotte, at last.” Violette broke away from the knot of people who’d cornered her, greeted Charlotte with an embrace. “I think the novelty’s finally worn off: they might let me alone for a while now.”

“What it is to be popular!”

Violette narrowed her eyes. “A good thing Emil’s not here. They might have ravished him where he stood. What news?”

“Not promising,” said Charlotte. “Fadiya hasn’t turned up. Karl and Godric have vanished together. I don’t know what that means, but it can’t be good. And the man I threw off the balcony, Wolfgang, is here with Godric Reiniger.”

“Did he recognise you?”

“I don’t know. I’m more concerned about Karl.”

“Oh, Karl can look after himself. But – no Fadiya? Are you sure?”

“Amy told me she isn’t with them. She also said, er… that Fadiya took Emil to meet Herr Reiniger a few days ago.”

“What?” said Violette, as Charlotte related Amy’s tale. “Reiniger tried to poach my dancer from me?”

“Without success. Emil has a mind of his own, even under Fadiya’s spell.”

“He does, but how dare she try to lure him away? Now it’s all the more vital that I stop this, so where the hell is she?”

“I keep looking around, but there’s no sign of her.”

“Damn.” Violette’s expression went dark. “Well, if she won’t come to us, we’ll have to find her. Come on, slip away with me.”

* * *

Fadiya was not hard to find after all. She was in the first place they tried, Hotel Blauensee. Charlotte went in alone and observed her from the foggy veil of the Crystal Ring.

The hotel room was dim, lit by the glow of a bedside lamp. Fadiya was at the window, in a silky slip, as if waiting for her lover to appear on the street below. Then she stretched luxuriously, put on an olive-green dress, shoes and coat, brushed the tangles from her hair. The shiny, wavy bob fell into place without effort.

She was preparing to hunt.

Charlotte watched, hidden in the edge of Raqia, holding herself as rigid as a statue in hope that Fadiya would not sense her presence. Once Fadiya paused and looked around the room, frowning. Charlotte even held her breath, as if that would make any difference, but she returned to brushing her hair.

She was a beauty, with her burnished skin and graceful bearing. Why could she not have been human, and made Emil happy? No – nothing could be that simple.

And vampires tended to attract others, because where one or two vampires were, there was likely to be a pool of luscious humans.

Five years ago, Karl had inadvertently placed Charlotte’s family in danger when other vampires followed him. Even Stefan and Niklas, relatively benign, drew trouble after them. Charlotte knew full well why Violette was ever-vigilant about her dancers’ safety. Disaster had come close, more than once.

And now an immortal predator had latched on to Emil.

This could not be coincidence.

Fadiya stepped into the Crystal Ring, causing Charlotte to retreat through the ether before she was caught out. Fadiya’s human form changed, becoming slim and greenish-black like an exotic sea creature. She melted through the cobwebby hotel walls and emerged in the street outside, human-shaped again, strolling uphill.

Did Reiniger know what she was? How could he not?

All these questions made Charlotte horribly aware that vampires had no divine right to know life’s secrets. Layers of events lay around her, impenetrable, like the smoke that rose from a burning letter. Ash and smoke would never reveal that lost knowledge. She shuddered, wondering if Karl felt like this when she’d dragged him to watch horror films.

In a narrow lane – the one where Charlotte had first met Amy – she let herself emerge into the solid world and fell into step beside Fadiya. Fadiya caught her breath and glared at her without breaking her stride.

Then Violette appeared on her other side. Fadiya’s face went still but her eyes widened. They walked slightly behind her so she had to keep glancing back at them.

“What’s this?” she said, her accented voice soft and nervous. “Hello? Ladies, do I know you?”

“I suspect you do,” said Violette. “We know you, Fadiya.”

“I’m Charlotte. My friend is Violette. Even if you never attend the ballet, you know of her.”

“Yes. You’re Madame Lenoir.” Fadiya studied the dancer for several strides. “So you’re the one… What is this?”

“Can’t you guess?” As Charlotte spoke, she had a horrible, familiar feeling of dislocation, as if she’d split in two and was watching herself from a distance. The lamia was there again, not exactly visible but all around her like fog. She felt she was in several places at once, had no idea which was the real Charlotte and which one a mindless replica.

And if the lamia wanted to attack Fadiya, there was nothing she could do to stop it. Charlotte tried to maintain a cool, menacing front while engaged in a frantic private battle to join her two selves together. Impossible.

“We know what you are,” Violette said softly, oblivious to Charlotte’s plight. “You’re like us. You may be older than us, I don’t know, but we are stronger. You would not like to find out what I’ve been known to do to vampires who upset me.”

“Oh, but I’ve heard.” Fadiya looked straight ahead. She pulled off her gloves and fidgeted with them, stretching the thin suede between her hands. “Tales of madness and destruction, and heads torn off with your bare hands.”

“I’m kinder these days.” Violette touched Fadiya’s back. She flinched. “But I still have my moments. For example, if any vampire goes near my dancers.”

Fadiya said nothing. She seemed vulnerable, Charlotte thought, and easily intimidated. If only she could merge with the lamia, or wish it away… Until then, she was forced to observe the situation as if through frosted glass.

“What do you want with Emil?” said Violette.

Fadiya’s lips parted. She twisted the gloves. Finally she said, “I love him.”

Violette laughed. The sound was sharp, heartless: Lilith’s voice. “Don’t be ridiculous. You barely know him. There’s only one reason…”

“I don’t need his blood. Are you going to tell him? Well, that may work both ways – I can tell him what
you
are. Unless he already knows. Do you know that he’s terrified of you? How am I doing him any greater harm than you?”

Violette froze, as if Fadiya’s words had pierced their mark.

Charlotte remembered how Emil had fled from her, and how he’d recoiled from Karl, as if he knew exactly what they all were. Why wasn’t he equally afraid of Fadiya? If he was in thrall to her, he must not have seen through her facade. She’d soothed him into believing he was safe with her.

“I don’t wish to argue with you,” said Violette. “I’ll try again. What do you want with him?”

“My answer’s the same. I love him.”

“We will stay at your side until you tell us the truth,” said Violette. “You are being watched, my dear. Every moment. Who are you?”

“No one.” Fadiya sprang into a sudden run, half in the Crystal Ring. Charlotte watched the lamia spring after her, pinion her arms and bite into her neck, all in one swift motion.

“Charlotte, no!”

Violette seized hold of them both, trying to prise them apart, Fadiya uttering a horrible moan of pain.

With all her will, Charlotte tried to feel the edges of her true self, the membrane that separated her from the false reflection. She
was
the lamia, feeding on Fadiya… and she was two beings at once. If only she could tell which was which, she might be able to shake off the
doppelgänger
, like a snake shedding its skin…

The struggle was inside her, as if she existed in several overlapping realities at the same time. Physical strength was no help. Instead she sought the wispy boundaries of the double in her mind’s eye – a task as hopeless as trying to remove a drop of milk from a bowl of water. The spectre slid and billowed through her hands like fog.

There was a trick: stop trying to grasp the spectre. Instead push her away, gently, as if blowing dandelion seeds.
Go
, Charlotte breathed.
Let me see you. From a distance. That’s it, further and further away…

Gradually the lamia separated from her until Charlotte could see it as a whole: her moon-white, mindless reflection. Then, with all her will, she rejected the double – firmly wishing it gone, closing herself to the lamia’s smoky, persistent invasion.

And the spectre went. It diminished, clearly and swiftly, like a cloud blown away by a strong wind. Mist, illusion.

At last Charlotte mastered herself. She felt shaken, as if she’d climbed a mountain. The whole battle, apparently endless in her imagination, had only taken three heartbeats.

She recoiled from Fadiya, as if waking in violent horror from a nightmare.

“Don’t!” Violette glared at her. “What’s got into you? We’re seeking the truth, not her blood.”

“It’s nothing,” Fadiya hissed, rubbing her neck, licking her own blood from her fingers. “She only nipped me.”

“There, a taste of what may happen if you don’t listen to me,” said the dancer. As smoothly as Karl might have done, she made it appear that Charlotte’s attack was part of their plan. “My friend looks like an angel but I never could control her.”

“Will you please leave me alone?” Fadiya said stiffly. “I’m harming no one. I love Emil. That’s all there is to know.”

“She might be telling the truth,” said Charlotte.

Violette gave her a spiky, puzzled stare with a clear meaning:
You attack her one second, then you’re the voice of reason again? What…?

“She might, but she’s missing the point,” said Violette. She held Fadiya facing her, resting her forearms on the woman’s shoulders so their faces nearly touched. “If you think I’m letting you loose upon Emil, you’re wrong. He’s a fine man, but more naïve than he seems. You feed on
someone
, don’t you? Herr Reiniger’s niece?”

At that, Fadiya’s face fell. “No. I haven’t touched her.”

“But you’d like to,” said Charlotte. “She’s my friend. I won’t let you.”

“Hypocrite,” Fadiya said under her breath.

“How long can you resist Emil?” said Violette, giving her a little shake. “You may think you’re strong enough but one day, believe me, the desire will burn unbearably and you’ll succumb. I will
not
lose Emil to you.”

“You don’t want him!” Tears spilled from her dark-rimmed eyes.

“Is that what he said? It’s possible to value people for qualities greater than their desirability as a lover, husband or friend. I need him in a way you can’t possibly understand. So you are going to vanish.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Yes, you are, dear.” Violette’s mouth was close to Fadiya’s, a breath from kissing her. But it was Lilith who held Fadiya now, and she knew. Her face was slack, every angle of her body radiating terror. “Leave, vanish, never return or try to see Emil again.”

“Without a word?”

“Exactly.”

“That would break his heart.”

“How? He doesn’t love you.”

“All the same, I can’t disappear without an explanation.”

“Yes you can! Go. He’ll get over you. My dancer will be safe and one day, when he’s had his fill of all the glory he deserves, he’ll fall in love with a sweet human girl who won’t tear out his throat and end his life.”

“Or is less likely to, at least,” Charlotte added softly. Violette smiled, her grin so menacing that Fadiya recoiled.

“Let go of me! I don’t wish you any harm. Please, I’ll do as you ask.”

“I’ll let you go, on condition that you go very far from here and never return. Swear?”

“I swear. I’ll leave, I promise.”

Fadiya ducked out of Violette’s hold and backed away looking terrified, furious and helpless. Then she turned and ran, dwindling along the lane with an athlete’s speed until she melted into the night.

Violette released a sigh. “I believe she got the message. What a shame.”

“What do you mean?” Charlotte took Violette’s arm and they began to walk downhill through the lanes and squares of the Aldstadt. She pictured the lamia’s departure and wondered,
Has it really gone? Did I imagine it all?

“Fadiya seemed nice, gentle. Beautiful girl. Someone who might have been our friend and ally, in other circumstances. I was expecting more of a harpy. Someone like Ilona, all claws and cruel mockery. I thought I might have to unleash my full Lilith-self upon her, even kill her. But… I’ve severed her from Emil. What a relief.”

“Yes.” Charlotte was hesitant, unsure what to say. “We still don’t know
who
she is, though.”

“As long as we never see her again, I don’t care. But on that subject, who are you?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Charlotte, you lunged at her. You simply don’t do that sort of thing. Not without extreme provocation, anyway. What got into you?”

“I don’t know.” Charlotte lowered her head, enduring a wave of shivery dread. “Could you see two of me?”

“No. Just one. Why?”

“Ever since I was stabbed, I have flashbacks… It disturbs me even to tell you this. I keep feeling I’ve split in two, and can’t control the lamia part. It’s like a cold, clammy, mindless spectre following me. It’s unspeakably frightening. I hardly even dare kiss Karl, in case this thing infects him too.”

“Dear, I thought you were better.”

“I am… most of the time. But a few weeks ago, I found that I’d actually forgotten about the attack. How on Earth could I
forget
such a thing? Even Karl was shocked, and it takes a lot to shock him. I feel ashamed.”

“Whatever for?”

“Because I’m strong. I don’t doubt that, especially since the three of us… since we saw through the veil of the dark goddess. So I should be strong enough to dismiss this apparition, but I’m not. Or am I? Just now, I
forced
her away… but has she really gone? Am I going mad?”

“That’s how I felt with Lilith, until I learned to accept that side of myself,” Violette said gently. She was warm and kind now, nothing like the goddess who’d terrified Fadiya.