“Then you are in luck, because you will soon be among the upper world of vampires again.”
“Listen,” I begin. “Beth and I came here to ask for your help in dealing with the King of The Crypts. He has one almost as strong as you feeding him blood. He has perverted his mind with blood magic. He was once leader of the greatest coven in the world. Now we fear the darkness is taking over his mind. I would not put it past him to turn on his own vampires!”
Vasile looks at me for a very long time. “You came here to beg for help?”
“If it comes to that, yes,” I reply.
“Then this is our answer, and I speak for all the vampires of this group. We do not concern ourselves with the trifling affairs of the upper world.”
A surge of anger shoots through me at being jerked around for so long. I fight to keep it down, lest it land me in hot water…
“Besides,” he continues. “We have already given you vast swaths of knowledge. You and Beth are the only ones to know the full extent of the prophecy. That is worth more than you know.”
“So the other girl is her!” I exclaim. “You all but admitted it! It is Beth.”
“I did not say anything of the kind,” he answers obliquely.
“Why give us that information otherwise? Why, if it is not her?”
“It is not your role to know ‘why’, Dagan,” he answers. “There are many currents swirling in this world that you have no conception of.”
“Except that which you’ve deemed meaningful enough to share?” I ask bitterly.
The question surprises even me. It comes off… so womanish.
“You are fighting your destiny, Dagan,” he says. “You have just seen what you are intended to do.”
“So you want me to find Beatrice. Why? What good will that do?” I give him a vicious smile. “I have orders to kill her the moment I see her, right from my King.”
“Then, presumably, you will follow those orders,” he says. “Not to do so would be a grave disservice to your King.”
“Damn the King,” I snarl. “I killed him in that other realm, wherever it is you sent me. We don’t even know if he’s yet alive.”
“Then you’ve already gotten everything you want,” he says smoothly. “The help that you requested has been bequeathed.”
Frustration threatens to boil over. “You’re provoking me.”
“I am telling you what you want to hear.”
I turn my back to him and pace to the opposite end of the room. “So you truly want me to go find Beatrice, is that it?”
“It’s not what I want, Dagan,” he says. “It is what you need.”
I shake my head. “That does not make any sense.”
“Few things in our world do. Yet you cannot deny them for such flimsy reasons.”
“You want me to just take you at your word that this torrial showed us what we need to see?”
“It is not a torrial, Dagan. A torrial requires the channeling of magic into it to have its powers unlocked.”
“Well, whatever it is,” I snarl. “You expect me to chance my entire purpose because of what it showed?”
“No,” he says. “I expect you to change your purpose because I command it so.”
Suddenly, a horrible tightening feeling comes over my body, constricting me with its strength.
In seconds it passes, but I know without a shadow of a doubt what it was: some higher manifestation of the influence being directed at me.
“I will go,” I agree, however reluctantly.
“Good,” he tells me. “You may even find there what you seek. Now, I must take you back. It is Beth’s turn to come here, and at that point our arrangement ends.”
Chapter Five
Eleira
The Haven.
Felix trots up to walk at my side.
I glance at him from the corner of my eye. “Can I help you?”
“I wanted to mention,” Felix says, “that the torrial is not infinite in its power. Nor is it indestructible. Shielding me from the first wave of Tentoria and extending its power to encompass you, may have left it…” he lowers his voice, “…a lot weaker than it was before.”
“Are you saying it could fail me?” I ask.
“That is a possibility,” Felix admits.
“Is there any way to check?” I’ve long ago learned never to probe unknown torrials, with even the slightest bit of magic—there is no telling, ever, how they will react.
“I am afraid not,” Felix says.
“So, what then? Are you saying you gave me a defective defense mechanism?”
“Not defective. Just… potentially exhausted. Used. Meaning you should not rely on it one hundred percent.”
I frown. “At least you’re honest.”
He stops short. “Eleira,” he says, so sternly that it shocks me a little.
I plant my feet in the ground and look at him. The vampires following us also stagger to a halt.
On impulse, I grab currents of Air and Earth to erect a sound-proof shield around us. I add a touch of Water and Fire to it so that it’s ringed by a white glow—signaling to the other vampires its presence.
“Now you may talk freely,” I say. “Tell me what it is you have to say.”
He takes a slow and patient tone with me, which only serves to irk me more.
“The subtle implications you keep having about my loyalty are unbecoming for a Queen. If you question my honesty, do so, but do it in private. Do not let them—” he casts an arm out to encompass the rest of the vampires, “--see your doubt.”
“Are you telling me that for your benefit,” I fire back, “or mine? I know exactly where I stand with The Haven vampires. Can you say the same about yourself?”
“Where do you think you stand?” he asks, ignoring the latter question.
“I am their Queen,” I pronounce. “You are a relic of the past.”
“I have given you no reason to doubt me,” he counters. “Of course, I understand all of this is very overwhelming. But you are letting paranoia about my intentions get the better of you. Remember the first time we met in private, in my study? I promised you that I would teach you the mannerisms befitting a Queen. And I told you I would open your eyes to the lies and intrigue of the Elite and the Royal Court.”
“Is that what you think you’re doing?” I scoff. I see the vampires outside our bubble getting impatient.
“Yes,” he says, very solemnly. “Somebody is whispering lies about me in your ear. You are falling for them.”
“How lovely that you think I am incapable of an independent opinion.” I roll my eyes. “Anything else?”
That little comment gets to Felix. He grits his teeth.
“No,” he says. “Just know that I am loyal to The Haven. Nothing else.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” I mutter and release the spell.
Then, I lead the vampires on.
But as we walk, that thing Felix ended with keeps running through my mind.
He is loyal to The Haven.
Not to me.
I eye him warily. Was that a slip of the tongue, or did he want me to catch the very obvious implication?
I don’t get more time to think about it as we reach the spot where Morgan’s tomb lies—and find it abandoned.
Panic shoots through me. Where are the guards? What happened to all of them?
Frantically, I scan the ground for any hints of what might have occurred. I see no signs of a battle. If the screechers had come, there would be marks all over the dirt.
I break away from the group and run forward. All the weaves of magic are ready to be cast in a heartbeat.
Could Morgan have awakened? I’d consider it impossible, given what I know of her condition… but nothing should surprise me about the witch.
When I’m only a few feet away the secret hatch pops open. In my haste I nearly send an obliterating spell that way, before I recognize the face as belonging to Geordam.
I cut off the spell ruthlessly and stagger to a stop.
Geordam looks at me, looks at all the vampires behind me, and slowly emerges.
He seems somewhat ashamed.
“My Queen,” he says. “We know what happened. We would have come for you, but you gave us orders—”
“You did the right thing,” I say. “You couldn’t have helped, and I would be very angry if you disobeyed. Where are the rest of the guards?”
“All down there,” he says. “Riyu ran out and told us he’d sensed a disturbance. We assumed he meant with Morgan.”