Chapter 26 #3
“They’re what have been killing the vampires,” I say.
All eyes fall on me, and Piper confirms it with a nod.
I blow out a breath. When I saw Julian and his people fighting, I had worried what it would mean if something more powerful than vampires existed, but the thought was lost in everything that has happened since.
“What are they?” I press, but the room remains silent for a beat too long.
“It is not your concern,” Karius says.
“Fuck you!” Everyone in the room seems to be in a mix of shock and horror as the words slip from my mouth, but I don’t care. “I nearly died because you aren’t telling me what the hell is happening. I didn’t just stumble across these things; they came for me while I was alone.”
“She’s right.” I’m surprised to find that Eamon is the one to speak up. “This was a planned attack. I think the others were just a distraction so that they could get to her.”
“The others?”
Ajax nods. “We were all attacked, but only by a couple, not this many.”
Great, now these things are trying to kill me, but if Julian controls them, then surely they know that he sent me to kill the prince unless…
“Oh, gods,” I say. I wipe my hand down my face in a panic as the realization sinks in. “He knows. He knows about the bond. He must do.”
“Who knows?” Karius asks.
I drag in a breath as I deliberate whether my secret is something to hold on to, but if Julian already knows about the bond, then there is no reason for him to stick to his part of the bargain.
“Julian. The man who sent me to kill you. If they are here, then it means that he sent them, and he’s going to—oh gods, he’s going to kill her.”
“Kill who?”
“Her sister,” Ajax says as though he is just putting the pieces together. “That’s why you tried to kill Karius, isn’t it? He has her.”
My tears spill in answer, and sympathy twists his face.
“He found out what I could do with my blood, and he said that if I didn’t kill you, then he would kill her.”
Karius takes in my words, and I see anger flicker in his eyes, but oddly enough, it’s not aimed at me.
“How do you know that he sent these creatures?”
“Because I saw these things fighting with him before. They were cloaked, so I didn’t know what they were, but they moved and fought in exactly the same way. I think he controls them. After they fought, they just stopped as if they were waiting for his command again.”
Karius blows out a breath, and I watch as Iza crouches over one of the bodies, her eyes scanning the length of it.
“I think she’s right,” Iza says. “It’s the only thing that makes any sense. We’ve always believed that this is a virus that takes over the body, turning them into these creatures, but what if we’re wrong? What if magic is what’s turning them, instead?”
“That’s impossible, vampires are the only creatures with magic,” Kaia says.
“That’s not entirely true,” Iza says. She looks at Karius as if asking for permission, and I can tell that it is only to be able to speak freely in front of me.
He nods. “If we feed from humans to siphon the magic in their blood, then it is not such a stretch to believe that he somehow uses the same magic to turn them into these things.”
“Wait, humans have magic?” I ask.
Karius looks at me. “It’s dormant. It can only be accessed by an external force.”
“So, when you say a human is extremely potent?” Like me, I add silently.
He nods. “They carry an excessive amount of magic in their blood. Our powers, heightened senses, and extended lives all depend on a regular source of magic. The more potent the human, the more magic we can siphon in a single feeding.”
Wow. No wonder the nobles don’t want the sired to have too much.
“But you’re the exception. For whatever reason, you can access your own, it seems, and bend it to your will.”
I don’t mention anything about Athriel right now. That is still a secret I wish to keep to myself.
“So, these things are after Red now?”
“I think so, but I don’t understand why they’re so intent on killing Karius,” Eamon says.
“They obviously know that killing him will kill all of you.” All eyes fall on me in shock.
“Who told you about that?” Karius asks.
“It doesn’t matter, the point is that if I found out, it isn’t hard to believe that Julian knows, and now he’s trying to pick off the easier target…me.”
Karius’s jaw ticks at the sound of my words.
“Forgive my intrusion, but I believe she is right.” All our heads turn to the figure who has appeared in the library. Lady Bernice Faramond was who she was introduced as on the night of the welcoming meal. Wielder of shadow healing.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Kaia spits.
The vampire holds up her hands in surrender. “I mean no harm. I suffer from insomnia and often find myself wandering at night. I heard the commotion and came in.” She pauses, and I can see her reliving the horrors of what just happened.
“So, you just watched instead of helping?” Kaia says.
Bernice’s face fills with an apologetic smile. “Without shadows of my own, I am not much of a fighter, but I came to offer my healing abilities.”
She tilts her head in the direction of Eamon’s wing, where a gaping hole lies.
“Why?” Karius asks suspiciously.
Bernice’s gaze trails to me. “Because of her. What you did during that dinner was brave, and what we all should have done. Hira is a cruel woman who breeds nothing but hate. The kind of court she wants to build is not the kind I wish for my children or grandchildren to live in, but the kind of compassion you showed, the way you stood up for Isadora, reminds me of my wife, and that gave me hope.”
Her words surprise me. She’s speaking as if I’m an equal. One of them. She turns her attention back to Karius.
“If that is the kind of court you intend to build, then I pledge my allegiance right now. And if healing anyone that requires it tonight helps to strengthen you to be able to build it, then I will do it.”
There’s a long pause before Karius nods his head. Bernice hurries over to Eamon and makes quick work of healing his wing. My mouth falls open as I watch the tendrils of his shadow wings knit back together as she waves her hand over them.
“I’m done,” she announces once she is finished. She stands to leave, but Karius steps into her path, yet before he can say a word, she beats him to it. “I know. Not a word. Your secret…all of them are safe with me. I will honor that.”
He considers her for a minute before finally stepping aside and letting her leave. Once we hear the click of the library door, Ajax turns to him.
“You think we can trust her?” he asks.
“She was being sincere,” Piper says. “I can tell.”
“I hope you’re right. If we’re heading into a war, we’re going to need healers,” Kaia adds. She flashes a look at me, and for once, it is not filled with hate. Not even at the mention that I spoke to her mother in that way. In fact, when Bernice was speaking, she almost seemed as though she agreed.
“Firstly, we need to understand how to stop these things and figure out what to do now that they can get into the palace.” Iza says more to herself than to anyone, and as my eyes are drawn to her, they drop to where she has ripped the shirt from one of the creatures—my breath hitches.
I move to where she is hunched over the corpse and take in the scattered black veins on its chest.
I stumble back, my mind seeing the image of the same marks on Willow whenever the mixture ran out. The creature said that she is his now. Did he mean that she is becoming one of these things? Has she always been? Is that why Julian really took her? Gods, no. I can’t even think that.
“What is it?” Karius asks, pulling me from the torment of my mind.
“They didn’t get into the castle. They were already here.”
“That doesn’t make sense. There’s no way they could hide without us knowing,” Eamon says.
“They could if they can turn back into human form, just like you can after you feed,” I say. The room falls deadly silent.
“She’s right, they’re already in here. That’s why they always get away so easily, why we can never find them. They don’t just become these creatures. They can turn at will,” Iza says.
“Shit. The rest of the nobles have just turned up, and you’re saying these things could be anywhere? Anytime?” Kaia asks, and Iza nods. “Then how are we supposed to stop them? We’d need something to reverse the effects of whatever Julian has done to them.”
My eyes flicker down to the veins scattering along the creature's chest again, and then I look up.
“She’s right. And I know where we can get some.”