Moonlight Prince (Vampire Girl #4)

Inside the ancient door, one can see nothing but a pit of black. But it is not empty, no. Something stirs within. When it steps forward, the earth trembles in its wake. When it breathes, the very air turns to ice. And when it roars, the mind wishes for death.

The creature emerges. As tall as a giant oak. As long as a great hall. It walks on all fours, its back legs like hooves, its front like claws. Thick hair covers its body, black and slimy and writhing like snakes. Its face twists and turns, half man, half beast. Its teeth are many, too many, some dull molars, others sharp, long fangs. On its chest, white bone pierces black skin, parts of its ribcage sticking out from its body. This beast is torture to see, and yet, something draws my gaze. Something pulls me closer.

Wisps of black smoke fall from the creature, some of them swirling around Lucian. The smoke becomes viscous, like ink, hanging heavily in the air. Lucian breathes in deeply the vile Darkness, and his veins pulse dark under pale skin, his eyes blacken into orbs of midnight. Then the blackness within him fades, returning to him a normal pallor, his eyes the same cold blue as always, and he smiles. "Finally, we are bound. I feel your power."

The creature talks, whispering in a thousand voices, layered upon each other likes echoes of the dead, cold and lifeless. "What… is your desire?"

"First, we will secure this world. And then we will retake my homeland."

Asher sits up, finally awake. "What have you done, father?"

Lucian grins. "As I said I would, my son. I have brought peace between Fae and vampire. Come. I will show you."

He waves his hand into the air, and a pool of darkness swirls above us. A portal. Like the one Marasphyr can make, but larger, far larger. It grows and grows, until it consumes us all.

For a moment, all I see is shadow.

And then I am on a stone floor, on a plaza. Hundreds of bodies mill around us. I know this place. These people. These buildings. We are at Stonehill!

"Secure the castle," says Lucian to the Darkness.

And chaos follows.

The creature leaps into the air, as high as a mountain, and lands on my castle, where the wall is still broken open. Screams erupt from within.

Around us, people yell and run. But not all. Not even half. Some stay perfectly still, their eyes white, glazed over. The Fae. The Fae do not move.

I look to Varis, to Metsi. They are the same, standing still, faces void of expression or emotion.

"What have you done to them?" Arianna's voice is loud, guttural, angry and terrified.

Asher shakes the Wind Druid, pleading. "Snap out of it. Snap out of it Varis."

Lucian laughs. "He cannot. Do you not understand, I wield the power of the Primal One."

"He…" whispers Arianna, her face sapped of color, her eyes wide in horror. "He controls the Fae. Just like the Primal One did, he controls their will."

I feel the paralysis wearing off, prickling sensation returning to limbs that slept. I push myself up to sit, willing strength back into my body, and look at Tavian. He looks back, his eyes grave, but still his. Somehow, he is not affected. Nor am I, Kayla, or Arianna. It seems only full Fae have lost their will. That must be what I felt when my body was tearing itself apart. It must have been fighting for control. Still, it does not explain Tavian.

"How did Metsi ever agree to this?" asks Kayla.

"She did not," says Lucian. "Not entirely. She knew we were summoning the Darkness. But, she never considered that I would attain power over all Fae. She thought we would destroy the vampires together. Destroy my own people? What a fool she was."

Some of my subjects, the vampires and Shade, rush for the castle, to defend it from the creature. But then Lucian tilts his head, and Varis jumps into the sky. An unnatural wind hits my soldiers, and they fall to the ground, pinned. Those too far to be affected are attacked by their very own slaves, overwhelmed and forced to submit. Metsi conjures water from the snow and waterfalls, sending a tidal wave towards the wall. It hits the guards manning their stations, knocking them out or drowning them.

"You monster," I roar, watching my people decimated and unable to stop it.

"No," says Lucian. "I simply bring peace. The vampires and Shade who surrender, who pledge their allegiance to me, will be left unharmed. And let me be clear… all vampires and Shade."

All. He means us as well. He wants us to swear fealty.

Lucian starts pacing, untouched by the chaos around him. He walks up to Asher. "Let us start with you, my son. I told you everything would be made clear. I told you you'd be freed. Join with me, and together we will conjure a portal to the heavens, and retake the Silver Gardens. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

Asher drops his head, anger and sadness clear upon his face. Then he looks up and spits at his father. "You turned my friends, my lover, into mindless slaves!"

Lucian sighs, as if he expected this. "Yes. I had to. To end your petty war. And to secure an army for the war to come. The war against my brother. So yes, I made them slaves, like the Primal One, but just like the Primal One, I can give them their will back. If you serve by my side, if you help me retake the heavens, I swear to you, Varis will have his will again."

At this, Asher pauses. His breath catches. "I… I…"

"And if you do not side with me," Lucian continues. "Then I will command Varis to slit his own throat right now as you watch. When he dies, some other Fae will inherit his powers, and you will have learned your lesson."

"I…"

"Hmm. You hesitate." Lucian looks to the sky, at Varis, and the Druid raises a dagger, places it against his own throat. "Let's see. On the count of three. One. Two. Thr—"

"Stop!" Asher yells falling forward, clutching his father's boots, crying onto the stone. "I will serve you. I will be by your side. Just keep him alive. Keep him alive!"

Lucian grins, kneeling down and taking his son's hands in his own. "Very well, my son. It will be as you ask."

I can barely watch this sick manipulation. I need to do something to stop this. Slowly, I flex and unflex my hand, testing my mobility. Most of it has returned. My sword is near, teleported along with us.

"And now, my other son, Fenris," says Lucian walking up to me. "Join me and your sister, Kayla, lives. Do not, and I kill her now, transferring her powers to some full Fae who will prove much more useful and submissive."

Kayla shakes her head. "Don't do it, Fen. I don't care if I live."

"Shut up!" roars Lucian. "You care not for your life, but he does. And of course, there is Arianna. I will keep her alive until her baby is born, but how will she live? In comfort or torture? Will she sleep on a soft bed, or on a rack, her body cut into? She can even die, you know, from the pain. I'll just bring her and the baby back. I've done so once already, while you searched for her. Imagine me doing it every day. Imagine her dying overnight, just to reawaken and die again. Can you accept that, Fenris? Can you doom her to such a fate?"

The images his words conjure tear at my heart. I know what Arianna will say. She will say let him torture her. Don't submit. But how can I throw this fate upon her? Upon my child?

I bow my head. "Father, I…"