Chapter 34 #2
“Ok, I think this is as close as we’re going to get.”
Finn’s voice breaks me from my own thoughts, and my eyes shift to where the three vampires stand.
They look uncomfortable, and I can’t help but smile.
They look like themselves but not. It’s as though the magic has given them human imperfections and flaws.
It’s almost hard to explain. And with the clothes from a shop that Finn borrowed a few outfits from around ten minutes ago, they truly look the part.
“Let's just go before I change my mind,” Kaia spits.
We all move through the darkness, and it takes around ten minutes before we finally stop outside of an old workshop, not too dissimilar to the one that Finn runs.
We wait quietly as Finn taps a fist against the door, using a sound that is clearly some kind of code.
After a few minutes, a large guy with a bald head comes into view as the door swings open.
He eyes us suspiciously before returning his attention to Finn.
“The workshop is closed,” the man grunts, beginning to close the door in our faces.
“But open if you know where to look,” Finn says. The man pauses and draws his attention back to the group of us again. “They’re with me. I can vouch for them.”
The man pauses for a moment, and I see Kaia take the slightest step forward, readying for a fight, until he nods.
“Hurry in before one of them filthy bloodsuckers comes by.”
Ajax tenses beside me, but I place a hand on his arm, and he relaxes. We rush inside, and when he slams the door, we are cast into complete darkness. Within seconds, the glow of a ball hovers above us, and as the man moves, it follows.
“How the hell did you get your hands on starlight?” Ajax asks.
The man looks over his shoulder to glance at him.
“Easy when you know who to pay.”
He doesn’t offer anything else, and I see Ajax and Kaia pass a look between them.
I have grown to trust the vampires during my time in the palace, but a small part of me still wonders whether they can be trusted with knowledge like this.
If there is another war and we are forced onto different sides, it’s information like this that they could use to win against us.
I shake away the thoughts. It won’t come to that.
That’s why we’re here. We’ll get what Finn needs and, in the process, save Willow and every other impure who hasn’t completed the full transition.
We descend a steep set of stairs, and all I hear is our breaths echoing in the heavy silence.
I can just about make out the wooden walls that sit on either side of us as we delve deeper.
The man keeps going when we reach the bottom, leading us into what looks to be a simple bedroom.
He closes the door behind us and moves toward a wardrobe standing against the back wall.
He turns a few knobs, and a gasp leaves Piper as the wardrobe starts sliding to the side by itself.
I try to pretend to be surprised, but after what I saw when I tried to get Tori out of this place, it’s no longer so shocking.
I only wonder how many rooms like this are out there.
The man nods in the direction of the now open space, and a soft howl of wind escapes from within it to meet us in the room. The chill has me rubbing my hands together.
“You know the way from here?”
The question is directed at Finn, and he nods, taking the lead as we all follow him.
We each move quietly through the gap, and I jump at the sound of the secret doorway being slammed behind us.
Luckily, the orb of starlight is still hovering above us, keeping the small space in front of us illuminated.
“What the hell is this place? Are you humans trying to plan another war?” Kaia asks.
Finn blows out a breath.
“No. We’re just trying to survive, and that’s a little hard to do when you always have a bl—vampire up your ass, so we had to get creative.”
“This isn’t creative. It’s treason.” The words come from Ajax, but Finn doesn’t answer.
The silence is heavy between us as we trail through the tunnels that look the same as they did on the night that Tori died.
We keep going until we finally exit through a small door that leads to an abandoned street, with buildings that have missing roofs and moss growing up the side of them.
Finn moves quickly, and just as I’m about to ask how much longer, he stops in front of an empty alleyway.
“We’re here,” he whispers, and we all exchange the same confused look.
“There’s nothing here,” I tell him, but I’m only met with his smile as he steps over the threshold of the alleyway and completely disappears from sight.
“Where the hell did he go?” Piper blurts as we all look on in confusion.
Before any of us can answer, he reappears again, eying us all.
“Are you coming or what?”
He must see the confusion on our faces, and this makes his mouth curve up into a smile.
“It’s a glamor, cross the line and you’ll see.”
He points down to the floor, where the cobblestone changes to wider bricks.
I slip in behind him this time, and as the roar of chatter swells around us, my mouth falls open.
People are everywhere, people I could not see just mere seconds ago.
Market-style stalls line the two walls of the alleyway, selling everything from fresh fruit to books.
I look up and find the soft glow of starlight orbs shining down on the place, illuminating it in a yellow glow that makes it appear like it’s daytime.
This can’t be real. I look at the others and can tell that I’m not the only one stunned by what I’m seeing.
We’ve always been told that the only magic in existence is that which belongs to the vampires, but this proves that it’s simply not true.
Do the vampires even know that magic like this can exist?
From the looks on Ajax, Piper, and Kaia’s faces, I’d say no.
“I’m sure you all have plenty of questions, but right now, you're sticking out like a sore thumb when we should look the exact opposite,” Finn warns.
My eyes flit to the people moving around, their eyes sweeping over us, and I hate to admit that he is right. I have so many questions, but now is not the time.
“Come on.”
Finn leads us deeper into the fray, and I can’t help but smile at the scene before me.
People sweep by with smiles on their faces as they clutch onto the baskets hanging from their arms, filling them up with things they are purchasing from the different stalls.
My heart tightens at what it would be like to bring Cora here.
Tori would have loved it too. Things like this are how the old world is described: humans thriving and enjoying freedom, or making their own rules.
I can’t help but be angry at the vampires at this moment and remember all that they have taken from us.
“Not much further,” Finn says as we pass a stall stacked high with books.
“Fancy a good ole romance, my love, or maybe you prefer a little crime?” a lady calls out as she tries to get me to approach her, but I offer a small smile and move on, following closely behind Finn.
It’s like that everywhere we go, people selling trinkets, fruit, cakes, and jewelry, all trying to see if you’ll part with a bit of coin to experience their goods.
We take a turn as the alleyway comes to an end, making way to a slightly wider road. It’s quieter here, and we keep going until we stop outside of a thin old wooden door. Finn taps a fist against it, and a man opens it mere seconds later.
“I said we’re fucking close—”
The man’s words die on his tongue as he makes eye contact with Finn, looking down at him like he’s seen a ghost, then he quickly schools his features when he sees us.
“What’s your business here?” he spits.
“I’m here to buy something.”
The man looks down at Finn for a long while before he steps aside, making room for us to come inside. The sound of the busy marketplace dies instantly as the door closes. We move into a medium-sized living room and all take a seat next to a burning fire.
The man scuttles around, grabbing a metal jug and filling several cups with water. He brings the tray over, allowing us all to take a drink from it.
“I imagine you’ve traveled a long way to get here,” he says to us all, and Finn nods.
The man blows out a breath before sinking into a battered armchair as he faces us.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Finnian, but it’s been a long time. What exactly do you want?”
“I don’t go by that name.”
The man lets out a laugh and sinks further back into his chair as I greedily chug back the water. It’s not as fresh as that of the palace water and has a slightly strange taste, but it still does the trick.
“So, I’m not allowed to call you by the name I chose for you now?”
I almost choke on the last bit of water in my mouth.
“Wait, this is your dad?” I ask.
Finn casts his eyes down. I look back up and almost curse myself for not seeing the resemblance. The brown hair, the hazel eyes, but where Finn’s skin is a light brown, his father’s is pale white, yet their faces are almost an exact mirror now that I’m studying them.
“Yes, I’m his father, though he rarely acknowledges the fact. My son here only ever visits when he wants something.”
“That’s not true,” Finn snaps, and his father simply laughs.
“Then what are you here for today? Why have you brought your friends?”
Finn’s face twists with an emotion I have never seen before. Guilt. Unlike purebloods, those without magic running through their blood are born of their parents, raised, and get to know them. Yet Finn has never spoken of his, and I simply assumed they were dead.
Finn leans forward, looking at his father intensely.
“You found a way to siphon the magic from our blood and trap it. I need to know how you did it?”
His father watches him intensely, and it’s as if nobody in the room makes a sound.
“Why would you need to know such information?”
“You always said that you wanted me to do something to make you proud. Well, I’m trying to do that now, and to do it, I need to replicate what you did.”
Something softens in his father’s eyes, but it is gone before I can truly analyze it.
“I’ve already made it so that you will receive such information in the event of my death.”
Finn blows out a frustrated breath. “I need the information now, not when you’re dead.”
“Do you remember what happened the last time you were here?” His father tilts his head. “You double-crossed me. Your own father. Stole from me.”
Of course, he did.
“That’s not what happened.”
“No? Then all the venom I collected just vanished into thin air? Don’t lie to me.”
Finn dips his head in shame, and I close my eyes for a moment.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice!”
His father’s sharp tone causes me to flinch.
“The people who sent me didn’t give me a choice. It was your life or that venom, so I took it. I’m not proud of what I did, but I would do it again if it meant keeping you safe.”
Sadness crosses his father’s face as he looks at him.
He rises from his seat, crossing the room to stand by where the fire is still crackling.
He folds his arms across his chest as his eyes scan over each of us.
He seems to blur in and out of focus now that he is closer to the fire, and I blink my eyes to try to clear the blur, but it does little to help.
I shake my head, trying to clear the odd fog, and wonder if the long journey here has finally started to take its toll on me.
“I raised you to look out for yourself and take whatever you need from this world in order to survive, but I’m your weakness, and for me, you do foolish things. That is why I must protect you.”
“I do not need protecting.”
“If that were true, you would not have needed to steal from me the last time you were here. And you certainly wouldn’t have needed to hide the fact that you brought a bunch of bloodsuckers into my house using a glamor I taught you to make.”
I whip my head up in surprise, but the room starts spinning uncontrollably, and a pounding sounds inside the walls of my mind.
Athriel, I call out, but his reply is so distant that I can’t make out the words he’s saying.
“What did you do?” Finn asks as his eyes fall on us. I feel his hands on my face, trying to steady my now drooping head. “What have you given them?”
“Exactly what I should have given to the last set of abominations you brought here. But don’t worry, son, I never make the same mistake twice.”
I hear words leave Kaia’s mouth, her voice once again sounding like her own, but I cannot make them out clearly. Before I can try to understand what’s happening, the world starts to fade to black, and the last thing I hear is Finn shouting my name.