A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire, #21)

“I’m confused, Jeramiah,” she said. “If you wanted to end those three—Derek, Sofia and Aiden—why did you request me to target their homes with fire while they were out? Why did I not do it in the dead of night, or some other time when you were sure that they were inside, asleep? It would have been easy—they could’ve been scorched by now.”


The vampire took a seat in the chair next to her. “The reason for that is simple,” he replied, leaning closer to her. He gazed at her thoughtfully, even reaching out to tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “You see, Amaya, I could have done that. As you say, it would have been easy. But that’s just the problem. It would have been too easy.” He shook his head. “No. When I requested you to burn down the buildings, I had already resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t have time to pull off their end the way I wanted it. I just satisfied myself with the knowledge that, once I’d gained more favors from Nuriya, I’d be able to return a second time to finish the job the way it should be done. But now that we find ourselves with more time, I need to end the trio who caused the most suffering to my father, in a way that does justice to him… And really, there’s only one way to do that.”

“What exactly are you thinking?” Amaya asked, her eyes widening.

A small smile crept across Jeramiah’s lips. The way it split his pale face made him look snakelike. “I think I’ll leave the exact details of their demise to the hunters. They’ve been incredibly patient in waiting outside the island’s boundary for so long. I think it’s about time someone threw them a bone… Don’t you?”





Chapter 16: Ben





No. No!

My mind spiraled into a panic as Jeramiah left his seat and walked over to the mantelpiece, where he picked up an old piece of parchment and a quill.

“I need ink,” he muttered, addressing the witch. He pulled up a chair and sat down at the table. Amaya manifested a bottle of black ink and planted it down on the table next to him. He dipped his quill into the ink and began to scrawl:

“Before 3 PM this afternoon, the king and queen of The Shade, along with the ex-hunter Aiden Claremont, will be waiting on the cluster of rocks southwest of your ships and outside The Shade’s boundary. Be there to capture them, or ignore this message at your own risk.

Signed,

An interested third party.”

“Before 3 PM,” Amaya murmured, reading the note over Jeramiah’s shoulder. “That doesn’t give us much time at all… And the hunters… Jeramiah, is this really the best way to do this?”

Jeramiah’s face hardened. “It was the bullet of a hunter that killed my father.”

I didn’t know how he knew about the circumstances of his father’s death—I could only assume that he had learned what had happened from the Nasiris. Somehow, he had formed the conclusion that Lucas Novak had been the victim. I didn’t understand why the jinn would lead him to believe this—or perhaps they hadn’t, and Jeramiah’s belief was borne from the pain of losing his father—but whatever had happened, my cousin was convinced that my family were wrongdoers who needed to be destroyed. I wondered if he even knew that Lucas had been shot while attempting to murder my mother.

Amaya now looked past the point of arguing, resigned to the fact that there was no budging her vampire companion from his bloodthirsty course.

“All right… well, what would you like me to do next?” she asked.

Jeramiah folded up his note and placed the parchment in the witch’s hand. “First of all, you will deliver this to the hunters,” he said. “Take it directly to the captain of any one of those ships and make sure that he sees it. Then you’ll need to return to me as fast as you can.”

Amaya frowned. “But if I leave the boundary, how will I reenter the island?”

“Good point,” Jeramiah replied, raising a hand to his chin and stroking it. “I will swim to the boundary—in a straight line from the Port. Just make sure you’re visible, and I’ll spot you. I’ll reach out and hopefully I’ll be able to pull you back through.”

“Then you will travel with me now, I assume,” the witch said. “I’ll transport us by magic and drop you off in the water near the boundary.”

“No,” Jeramiah said. “I’ll head there myself… This could be my last run through the island. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure that you’re not waiting long—if at all—for me.”

She nodded, sliding the parchment beneath her sleeve. “And after that?”

Jeramiah paused before his voice lowered. “After that, we just need to ensure that the promised guests show up on time for their party.”





Chapter 17: Ben





Amaya recast the invisibility spell and vanished with the note, leaving Jeramiah and me standing alone in the room.