The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash (16 page)

He draws his thumb along his throat in a slicing gesture.

I hold both hands up. “Say no more.”

The surrounding vampires chuckle. A chill runs down my spine.

“I owe my life to you all,” I say. “I will not do anything that shows ingratitude.”

Dagan looks me over. “We’ll see about that. Scouts!” he calls. “Ahead! The Crypts await!”

We all take off at a dead run into the woods.

JAMES

The sun starts to rise hours later. When the first tendrils of light creep into the sky, Dagan veers off and leads us into a series of underground caves.

He knows this land better than I do. I’ve never had much of an interest in exploring the area past The Haven’s boundaries.

Now, I wish I’d taken more initiative in the past.

A hundred questions buzz through my mind. Why are we traveling on foot? What is our destination?

Logic tells me there must be a plane, or maybe a set of vehicles, waiting for us in a secret clearing ahead. How else would we return to The Crypts?

The other curiosity is the strength—or lack thereof—of these vampires. None, save for Dagan, are more powerful than I. Yet if they came on Father’s orders, shouldn’t they all be as strong, at least, as the vampires I’d encountered in The Crypts?

Something about this rescue rubs me the wrong way. I feel more vulnerable in this company than I did in my cell waiting to become one of The Convicted.

Though maybe that’s because I understood the motivations behind Mother’s decision. Right now, I have no true idea if I’m being led to safety or slaughter.

“We rest here,” Dagan announces suddenly, gesturing to a small piece of flat rock. “We wait for the sun to set before moving on. That means ten hours of each other’s miserable company. I expect order—” he looks at me in a meaningful way, “—and silence. Riyu, seal us in.”

The vampire who’d freed me from the collar breaks off from the group and walks back to the exit. He mutters more words of that language I do not know. A flash of blue bursts from him. For a split second I see a phantom seal wrap across the gaping entrance to the cave.

“None will see us now.”

He turns around and quietly joins the others.

They all sit, start to unpack and stretch out. Dagan takes his spot on the largest rock. Then he starts to file his nails.

I look around. Nobody makes eye contact. I might as well be invisible for all the attention I get.

After an hour, I approach Dagan. He’s lying back with his eyes closed. I stand by him for a few moments, waiting for him to acknowledge me.

When he doesn’t, I resort to clearing my throat.

He cracks an eye open. “What do you want?” he growls. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“About quiet?” I ask. “Yes. But now that we’ve stopped, there are things I have to know—”

“The only thing you
have
to know, Prince,” Dagan sneers, “is that we are your rescue party. We’ve come to bring you back. Past that?” His eyes take on a dark gleam. “You’ll find
that
out after we reach The Crypts.”

“Except we’re going over land,” I say. I cast a glance the way we came. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but my Mother values me highly. If you think we can afford to stay still—”

“Look, little Prince.” Dagan stabs me in the chest. I grunt and narrow my eyes. “I don’t appreciate being told how to do my job. The way I see it, you got yourself caught.
We
got you out. If you cannot even take care of your own safety, why would I take your advice on this matter, or any other?”

Pompous ass,
I think. I put on my most endearing smile. “I’m not doubting your abilities. I’m simply offering a perspective you might find valuable—”

He cuts me off with a stern look. “I asked for silence. Do you see any of the other vampires testing me on that? No? Do you know why?” He brings his face close to mine. “Because
they
all know what happens to dissenters in my company. So don’t
test me.
”

That effectively ends the conversation with him.

I wander back to my spot on the ground. I cross my legs and try to think. Am I a fool for falling in blindly with this group of vampires? Then again, what choice did I have? It was either this, or remain in the cell until Mother’s sentence was executed…

I look around me once more. The niggling feeling that we’re doing something wrong won’t go away.

But until I’m in a position to do something about it… all I can do is endure.

ELEIRA

All the things Phillip warned me about roil through my mind as I walk alone over the hanging bridges connecting the vampire residences on top of The Haven.

The humans are hard at work beneath me. Their grim determination to rebuild their residence is both distressing and inspiring. I hate the inequality of this place. It’s unfair that vampires would live in such luxury while the humans toil away in a lifestyle that ceased to exist in the 1500s.

But such is Morgan’s rule. I cannot go against her now. I hardly know a tenth of what there is to know about this place. Hardly a hundredth! It’ll take time for me to find my footing, discover my strengths, understand the ebb and flow of power amongst the vampires in The Haven…

I’m mired so deep in my own thoughts that I hardly notice when I bump into somebody walking the other way.

Alarm grips me when I see who it is.
Smithson
.

“Hello, Princess,” he says in a deep, smooth voice. “What an unexpected pleasure to run into you this evening.”

Something tells me that this meeting was no mere coincidence. I shy back. He takes my arm.

“All alone?” he asks. “That might not be the smartest idea, considering what the other vampires are whispering. Let me escort you.”

I jerk my arm away. “No,” I say. “Let me pass, Smithson. Morgan told me I have full freedom to go where I please.”

“Yes…” he nods slowly. “
Morgan
.” He looks around. “You would do best to refer to her as Queen when others are in hearing.” He steps closer to me, bringing his mouth to my ear and lowering his voice. “You would not want to give them reason to hate you more. Vampires are a treacherous bunch.”

Before I can respond, he steps away. “I bid you a good night.”

I stare after his back until he turns the corner and disappears from my vantage.

What was that all about?
I wonder.

“I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.”

I jump at the sound of Raul’s voice. I twist around—and find him standing nearly nose-to-nose with me.

He smiles as he reaches up and touches my cheek. “Hi,” he says, softly.

“Hi,” I whisper back. I can’t do anything against the bloom in my chest when his voice makes goosebumps run down my back like that.

He turns aside and twines his fingers together with mine. “Walk with me?” he asks.

I nod. “That would be wonderful.”

Raul leads me to the forest. The humans don’t pay us any attention when we emerge. They keep their heads down and remain hard at work.

“What do you make of all this?” I ask, gesturing at the remains of the village. “Why don’t the vampires help? It would go so much faster if they did.”

Raul shakes his head. “The Queen forbids it. They must be self-sufficient, and they need to be kept
busy
, so they don’t have time to dwell on the truth of their lives.”

“The truth?”

“That they are slaves. They are our food supply. And nothing more.”

I shiver. “I think they know that.”

“Of course they do. But idle hands make for conspiring minds. If the humans are kept busy with their chores…” he shrugs. “It’s been this way for very long.”

I hate the cold-hearted way he can speak of them. “Do you really believe that?” I whisper.

Raul looks at me. He brings a finger to his lips. He touches the tip of his nose, then his eyes move to the left, then to the right. “Certain things, you have to believe,” he tells me. “
When others are watching
.”

I follow his gaze… and realize that he’s right.

We have an audience. Off to one side is a member of the Royal Guard. He’s staring at us openly. Across from him is a richly-dressed vampire, only slightly less obvious about the reason for his proximity.

“We must
both
be careful,” Raul says. Under his breath, he adds, “I don’t know what I would do if I were to lose you.”

Is he really so enamored with me?
I stare up into his beautiful green eyes, and am taken away by the sincerity I find in them.

“You won’t lose me,” I tell him. “I’m here, aren’t I? I came back.”

“But I wonder,” Raul says. “Would you be here now if you were given a choice?” He shakes his head. “Never mind. We mustn’t speak of such things.”

I take his hand and turn him to me. “Yes,” I say. “I
would
be here. After Phillip got me out of the caves, away from The Convicted… when I first found myself Outside… I ran. But it didn’t feel right. I knew by then I would become a vampire. I knew my home could only be here. When I realized that, I knew I had to return.

“But James caught me first.”

Raul looks at me for a long time, his expression stony and serious. “You were going to come back?”

“Yes,” I say. “I didn’t know what I could do to help, but I couldn’t just leave you and Phillip to face The Convicted alone—”

I’m cut off when Raul suddenly wraps a hand around my lower back, tugs me into him, and seals my mouth with a passionate kiss.

I’m breathless when he lets go. “What…” I stifle a giggle. “What was that for?”

“For telling me the truth,” he tells me. “For showing me how much this life means to you.”

You mean how much
you
mean to me,
I think to myself. I try—and fail—to supress another smile.

A spark of mischief lights up in his eyes. He grabs my hand. “Come,” he says. “I don’t think I ever properly showed you my rooms up in the residences.” He glances up at the treetops.

Excitement runs through me as we race to our destination. We stop in front of an enormous redwood. There’s an elevator carved into the trunk. Raul calls it down. I’m swept up by the pace of things and lose myself in the moment, excited to
finally
have some time alone with Raul…

Until the doors open, and the Queen steps out.

“Ah,” she smiles. “Eleira. Raul. Just the two vampires I most needed to see.”

RAUL

Mother is seething. Her emotions, which are usually kept under such strict control, are on display at full force.

She’d called an impromptu meeting of the Royal Court. That’s where I am now: in the anointed chambers in the castle, listening to her chastise her Court for letting James escape.

Eleira, not being yet a member of the royalty, was not allowed to join us.

The Queen slams an open hand down on the marble table. The members of the Royal Court jump.

“Is this all you are capable of?” she demands. “Is this the limit of your abilities? Is this how you repay me for all the protection I’ve given you? After all the prosperity you’ve enjoyed?”

She stops talking, and takes a moment to meet each of the vampire’s eyes. Shivers run down their backs. They know the things she is capable of with her magic. To get on Mother’s bad side now would be a grave, grave mistake.

The vampire seated directly across from me—Bradley—clears his throat. “Perhaps if you’d given us reason to be more vigilant,” he says, “you would not have the current situation on your hands.”

Mother looks at him and narrows her eyes.

Bradley has always been one of the most outspoken members of the Royal Court.

“Go on,” she says dangerously.

He clears his throat and stands to full height. “It’s no secret that you’ve neglected the Royal Court for decades,” he says. “How long has it been since our last meeting? Forty years? Fifty?”

“You want to turn the table on me?” Mother asks, her voice icy. “You
dare
suggest I bear the brunt of the blame?”

“Nothing of the sort,” Bradley tells her. “But I am expressing concern about the way things have been run. It’s no secret you’ve relied on the council of your three sons almost exclusively for this whole time.” His eyes sweep to me, and then fall on Phillip. “It was the third who betrayed you? Perhaps if you’d turned to the Court earlier, certain mistakes could have been avoided.”

“And what mistakes, pray tell,” Mother offers sweetly, “could those have been?”

“Keeping news of the succession from us!” Bradley exclaims. Around the table, the other Court members mutter their agreement? “Did you think we would react favorably to being told of Eleira’s arrival at the same time as the rest of the rabble?” The murmurs of assent pick up. “We are, as you said, your Royal Court. Our faults lie not in our negligence, but in our disuse!”

At that, almost all the other vampires start voicing their agreement.

Mother waits for the commotion to die down. She raises her hands. “All right,” she says. “I see your point. Perhaps… some of the fault does lie with me.”

I nearly gape. Mother
never
admits her flaws. Not to anyone.

Not ever.

“But,” she continues on. “That does not excuse any of you from shirking your duties. Perhaps the prosperity I’ve given you, thanks to the wards, has made you complacent. Perhaps it’s made you lazy. Fine. I accept that. I was too gracious. Many of you have lost the requisite discipline needed to serve me well. But not to worry—you will each have a chance to make it up to me. Starting
now.
”

A tension shifts through the air.

“How?” one of the vampires ventures.

“The first is a strengthening of our defenses. In case you haven’t heard, the humans nearly
began
a little uprising earlier.” She looks around. “Good thing I arrived in time to stop it.”