45. It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
45
It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
Aliza
T he moon hanging high over the Emrallt Sea was little more than a slice of white, curving against the darkness. Clouds, slightly lighter than the deep black of the sky, drifted across its surface, periodically hiding it from view.
Sage and I each held a lantern, holding the night at bay, and, with any luck, drawing the attention of some creatures of darkness.
“Do you mind telling me why I’m being dragged through the grounds when I have a coven to rule?” Sage grumbled.
“You said everything was in hand. And yeah, I do mind. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Hopefully.
Jacques had only ever shown up when it suited him, and only once when I had company. If a berghest hadn’t been about to eat Pansy and me, he would not have revealed himself to her. My best hope was to return to the place where I’d last seen him, which was why I waited atop the cliffs, nursing a potent cocktail of equal parts hope and dread in my stomach.
What if he didn’t come? Would I still have the nerve to roll out my half-mad plan tomorrow night, or the night after, or whenever he made his next appearance? Probably not, so it had to be tonight. Now. It had to be.
I revolved on the spot, holding my lantern aloft and peering through the dark grounds. I saw nothing. Nobody. Just me and Sage, shivering slightly in the brisk sea breeze.
“Come on, Jacques,” I muttered, quietly enough that Sage couldn’t hear me over the wind, but a vampire would. “Don’t be shy.”
My ears strained in expectation of his silky voice calling me mon cherie or anything other than my name, but there was only the gust of the wind and crash of waves against the cliff. Only me and the witch. My shoulders slumped, disappointment washing over me like a cold shower. Typical, the one night I actually wanted a stalker, and he was nowhere to be found.
“Do you expect me to stand out here all night, girl?” Sage demanded. “My predecessor’s body grows cold within the castle, and mine grows cold out here.”
I rolled my eyes, opening my mouth to answer.
“Not cold enough, sorcière.”
My face broke into a wide smile despite the venom in my friend’s voice.
Jacques had, as per usual, materialised out of thin air. Shadows clung below his cheekbones and in the hollows of his eye sockets, while starlit irises glinted from the depths. I’d grown used to him, but I was struck anew by how utterly terrifying he really was. Beside me, Sage stiffened, her back poker straight as she and Jacques glared at each other. The vampire didn’t take his eyes off her as he said, “Bonsoir, Aliza. ”
“Hello.” I beamed at him, even though he hadn’t looked to see. “I have a favour to ask.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Aliza!” Sage snapped, her words firing out like a panicked spray of bullets. “Whatever you’re planning, it’s a bad idea. Abandon it.”
I squeezed her tense shoulder. Which would she hate more, being touched by me, or setting aside her prejudice? “No. Jacques, I need your help, and you need mine.”
Finally, those gleaming eyes slid to me.
“As Queen of Neath, I would like you to take me and the new High Priestess of Nairsgarth to treat with your king.”
A wide grin split Jacques’ face, revealing neat rows of dazzling teeth. “Oh, très bien, mon amie.”
Walking the dark caverns of the mountains with a vampire guide was entirely different to the time Idris had led me. For one thing, Jacques took a different route through the caves, avoiding the Blood Gate altogether. For another, his fellow vampires were unafraid. They crowded us, men and women of all ages and colours, dressed in an eclectic mishmash of eras, but all with the same eerie black eyes and glowing white irises. By the glow of our lanterns, those eyes were extra terrifying. I’d accepted them on my friend, but seeing them in the faces of strangers was a stark reminder that they were something other, something deadly, and we were in their domain .
The vast majority of the vampires were as painfully thin as Jacques had once been, and though I repeated the knowledge that, as fae, I was no longer a tempting dish, it didn’t keep the prickle of fear at bay every time one drew close enough to breathe deep my scent. Nor did it stop me from being weirdly offended when they inevitably recoiled, hissing and gagging subtly.
Sage maintained a stony silence, her chin high. Disapproval and fear rolled off her in prickly waves. The latter was almost as unnerving as our undead observers; during our quest to break the curse, Sage had never once given the impression of being afraid. Was it because tonight’s mission was much worse, or was it down to my fae body? Some new sensitivity that allowed me to read emotion easier? Either way, her fear had me doubting the wisdom of my idea.
It would work, wouldn’t it? Vampire and fae may be old enemies, they may recoil at the mere scent of one another, but that could be overcome, couldn’t it? They could move on from the past for the sake of their combined futures, couldn’t they?
What if they couldn’t? What if the vampire king laughed his evil laugh right in my face before throwing me into a lightless dungeon in the bowels of the mountain? What if he ordered his people to rip me limb from limb? I was stronger now, but not that strong, plus, I had no idea how to throw a punch. If shit hit the fan, it was all over for me. I glanced over my shoulder at the grim-faced witch. Hopefully, her first act as High Priestess had been to name her own successor. Her glare offered no reassurance, and I turned my attention back to our path.
The light of our lanterns bobbed and flickered over the wide, high-roofed tunnel, which sloped down at a gentle decline. It was dry and surprisingly warm. As much as I regretted coming on this mission, I dreaded my return trip. Hiking up this never-ending slope was going to be gruelling in the heat.
Jacques strolled at my side, his features thrown into relief by the orange glow of my lantern. I rarely saw him in anything but darkness, and though he was undoubtedly unnerving, my fondness allowed me to see through the spooky shit and down to the human he’d once been. Since he’d fed from me, his face had filled out dramatically, but he still sported sharp angles along his jaw and cheekbones. He’d been a handsome human, and his dark, shoulder-length waves combined with the lip piercing to give him an edgy, eighties rock star vibe.
“Did you originally come from my world or this one?” I asked, keeping my voice low in the hopes of avoiding too much attention from the vampires clinging to the walls.
Jacques’ gleaming eyes flickered to me, warmed to a faint gold by the lantern light. “Ours. I was born in a little town in France, five hundred and seventy-nine years ago.”
Five hundred and… I gulped, my eyes growing wide. Jacques grinned. “I know what you will say. But Jacques! You don’t look a day over twenty-eight!”
I was a baby. A child amongst ancient beings. Who did I think I was, attempting to play their game? “Something like that,” I muttered.
Jacques’ smile faded. “I fought and almost died in the Lancastrian war. I suppose you might say I did die, for this poor, old heart no longer beats,” he shrugged, “and yet here I am, walking and talking with you. My sire brought me to England, and later, Neath.”
“I’ve never been to France. Did you have family there?”
Jacques’ throat bobbed and his eyes grew distant. “Unfortunately, yes. ”
His tone lacked its usual flirtatiousness. Maybe it was none of my business, but we were friends, and talking distracted me from the many bright eyes trained on me. “Unfortunately?”
“Blood lust is not an easy thing to manage as a newborn vampire.”
Oh. Oh . God. My skin iced over and my brain helpfully concocted images of a newly-turned Jacques, driven by insatiable hunger, creeping through his sleeping house, room by room, and draining his loved ones, just as he’d almost drained me.
“That’s terrible, Jacques.” I looped my arm through his and laid my head on his shoulder. Several drawn-out hisses crept from the shadows as I touched him, the undead watchers shifting in agitation. I ignored them. They would not stop me from offering comfort where it was needed. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
His arm tensed, and he was silent for several, long seconds. When he finally spoke, his voice was choked. “You do not see me as a monster?”
I snapped my head up, glaring at him. “You’re a person, Jacques, and a good one at that. You’re not a monster.”
“But my family… I killed them. I have killed thousands of people. I almost killed you .”
While I disapproved of the killing thousands of people part, I could no sooner judge a vampire for feeding than I could judge a lion for hunting.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “That doesn’t change the fact that I’m right, though. You loved your family, and I’m egotistical enough to believe you quite like me. I know you didn’t mean to hurt us.” I gave his arm a squeeze. “Like I said, you’re a good person, and maybe you’re a bit scary, but you’re definitely not a monster. ”
His smile was small and pained, but it was a smile, at least. “Merci, ma cherie. For what it is worth, I do quite like you.”
“Good, because I get the feeling your friends don’t.”
Jacques’ chuckle skittered over my bones.
“Whilst this warms my heart,” Sage snarled behind me, making me jump, “I do have a coven to run. How much longer will this take?”
“Never fear, sorcière,” the vampire tossed over his shoulder. “We have arrived. Welcome to Fjallar.”
We rounded a twist in the tunnel, and I staggered to a halt as my mouth fell open.
The dark passage opened up into an enormous cavern, but not of the bleak, lightless variety. Enormous raw crystals sprouted from the rock, glowing softly with a rainbow of colours that illuminated the ornately carved pillars and walls rising to a ceiling lost in darkness. Wide, zig-zagging walkways of carved stone hugged the glittering, gem-strewn walls, which were dotted with beautiful archways and glassless windows.
“Wow,” I breathed. “When you said you lived in caves, I wasn’t expecting this.”
Sage stepped to my side, her eyes wide with awe. For once, she had no crisp remarks or thinly veiled insults to dole out. The gem light reflected in her eyes, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was tempted to fill her pockets. I was yet to witness witch magic that wasn’t fuelled by crystals.
“Come along,” Jacques said, setting off between pillars as wide as ancient tree trunks. “I do not warrant an audience with the king, but the two of you might. ”
I couldn’t decide what to stare at first as we followed him through the centre of the cavern, and my eyes darted feverishly from one thing to the next. Glowing mushrooms sprouted at the base of the pillars and crystal cluster. Each pillar revealed a different carving as we passed, from what looked suspiciously like Adam and Eve, complete with a snake draped over her naked shoulders, to an elephant in circus garb, to an underwater scene featuring fish and mermaids.
Glowing eyes peered from carved windows. Skeletal figures paused to watch us pass. My stomach lurched when I spotted a young, starved girl, no older than eight in human years, clinging to the underside of a walkway, her black hair dangling from her head in a sheet. She grinned when she caught me looking, then scuttled higher, out of sight.
“There are children here?” I whispered to Jacques.
He shrugged. “Some. It is not unheard of for a vampire to mourn their human offspring and turn them, though, of course, they never grow up.”
I caught Sage’s eye. The look she gave me told me she’d decided I was clinically insane. Maybe she was right. Oh well, it was too late to do anything about it now.
At the far end of the cavern, we came across another tunnel guarded by a gem-encrusted arch. This one was as smooth as the inside of a pipe and sloped deeper still into the darkness. We had to be miles below the surface. How much deeper did it go? Was it safe? The thought of all that rock over my head had the impossibly high ceiling closing in. I gulped.
Two men stepped from the deep shadows, tall and clearly well-fed, judging by their broad shoulders and bullish necks. One curled his lip in distaste at the sight of us, and with a thrill of fear, my gaze caught on his mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
“What is the meaning of this?” The other hissed, waving a clawed hand over Sage and me.
I slid a step closer to the witch. I might not know how to fight, but it was my fault she was here. If anyone was going to get hurt, it would be me.
Jacques stepped forward, bowing, but it didn’t escape my notice that he placed himself between us and his fellows.
“This is the High Priestess of the Nairsgarth witch coven,” he explained, “And the Human Queen of Neath.”
“Doesn’t look like a human to me.” The man who’d bared his teeth side-stepped Jacques and stalked closer. He moved as though his feet didn’t touch the floor, gliding and silent. He came close enough that the cold emanated from him, chilling my skin. I fought to keep my face impassive as he pressed an icy finger to my lip, and lifted. “It’s got fangs, and it stinks.”
As though to drive home his point, he buried his nose in the hair hung at my neck and sniffed.
“I don’t stink,” I squeaked, trying and failing to give the impression that I was unperturbed by a living corpse sizing me up.
Cold breath fluttered through my hair. “Yes, you do, fae scum.”
Maybe this had been the worst idea in the history of terrible, stupid, reckless ideas. Who was I kidding? There was no ‘maybe’ about it. I was an idiot. I was going to die down here, and so was Sage. Seeing the beautiful, underground city hadn’t been worth it .
“They’ve come to see the king.” Jacques’ voice rose, tinged with panic, and I gulped. If he thought it was bad, it was bad . “You cannot harm them without his command.”
“Shut it, frenchie,” the second vampire snapped as he marched to a white-faced Sage, who recoiled slightly, and seized her arm. “We’ll decide what’s to be done. Demetrius!”
The first vampire, now fiddling with strands of my hair and glaring at my ears, pressed his lips together. Reluctantly, he dropped my locks, but if I’d hoped for a reprieve, it didn’t come. Instead, he slid behind me, and death-cold hands snaked around my wrists like inescapable manacles. His grip tightened as his nose came back to my neck. “I can hear your heart racing. Do you know what we do to lonely, lost fae who wander down here?”
I was beginning to get an idea, but I held my tongue, hoping this was nothing but highly effective intimidation tactics.
“There’s a hint of human mingling with the magic filth,” he hissed in my ear.
Something cold and wet slithered up the column of my neck, and I shivered, goosebumps dousing my skin. My captor groaned, and something sharp pressed against my delicate skin, barely a centimetre from where Jacques’ fangs had once pierced. My heart, unhelpfully, leapt to my throat, jackhammering. Would he hear it? Smell the rush of my blood? Would it tip him over the edge?
His teeth pinched, and I whimpered, flinching at the white-hot sting. Any second now those fangs would sink deep, flooding me with paralysing venom. I wouldn’t be able to fight back. I wouldn’t be able to run.
“Demetrius! ”
The mouth jerked away and something warm and sticky ran down my collarbone. Sage’s captor glared at mine, teeth bared. “Take her to the king.”
The hands at my wrists tightened like boa constrictors, and a knee collided with the back of mine. My leg buckled, sending me stumbling into a walk. The tunnel mouth yawned before me.
Did I still want to see the king? Did I have a choice anymore?
I twisted my head, earning a sharp throb in my new wounds, searching for Jacques. The panic in his eyes did nothing to reassure me. He set off, hurrying to catch up, but my captor hissed; a vicious, bone-chilling sound.
“You stay here.”
“What?” I dug my heels in. “No! Jacques is with us. He’s our guide. Jacques!”
“I’m your guide now.” The vampire’s knee collided with the back of my leg again. If not for the frigid vice of his hands, I would have fallen.
Jacques hissed, stalking us like a big cat, but made no move to approach.
“Is this how you treat visiting dignitaries?” Sage barked with all her usual brisk condescension. “Is it any wonder this feud has lasted as long as it has?”
As much as I admired her bravery, I couldn’t see how it would improve our situation. I threw her a warning look, only to find her already staring pointedly at me. She mouthed something, but with my heart flooding my body with adrenalin, and with a hostile vampire quite literally breathing down my neck, I couldn’t make out the words. I scrunched my brow up questioningly as I was marched relentlessly into the tunnel.
Sage tutted. How she found the fine motor control to roll her eyes, I had no idea, but she pulled it off admirably and said, “Mabli.”
Mabli? What did the fae have to do with anything? If she had any sense, she was miles away, tucked up in her bed at Nairsgarth, sleeping off her—oh!
Fire. Mabli had fire! I had fire. I just had to gather the wits to use it. Never mind that neither of my lessons had resulted in my successfully summoning flames; I had burnt down an ice palace. That had to count for something, didn’t it?
All I had to do was get angry at Idris again. Easy. He’d dumped me. Fucked me like I’d never been fucked before, then dumped me. But then he’d saved my life, again, and left me the sweetest little note.
As long as life endures.
My life would quit its enduring very soon if I didn’t get a grip of my power. I’d become supper for this undead brute. I’d die without ever telling Idris the truth. I’d never see him again. I was out of time. He’d never know what had happened. He’d think… He’d think…
Every pore on my body blazed to life. My captor shrieked as searing, shimmering heat engulfed me. At last, my hands were free.
Still burning, I spun.
The vampire had fallen back, cradling his sizzled forearms. His fangs were bared in fury. Even Jacques looked wary. He retreated a step, his face pale. Though Sage was dragged several paces away by her horror-struck captor, a small smile played at her lips, and her eyes glowed with approval .
“Release her,” I snarled through my flames, and the vampire obeyed at once. Sage adjusted her sleeves, brushing away imaginary dirt with an expression of distaste, and strolled to my side, heedless of the crackling heat billowing around me.
“Jacques is our guide. He stays with us.”
My friend chuckled, giving his kin a smug smirk as he passed them.
I turned my attention to the vampire who’d manhandled me. “You go first, where I can keep an eye on you. Be a good boy and keep your hands to yourself, or I’ll burn you to fucking ash. Now, take me to your king.”
Hissing and snarling unintelligibly, the vampires skulked down the tunnel, leaving me crackling merrily. My bravado failed. Now I had to figure out how to put myself out. I gulped, sifting through Mabli’s lessons. With a deep breath, I stacked my emotions into neat piles. It was regret that burnt through me, eating me alive.
I wriggled my toes in my boots. I was here. I was alive. Everything was fine, or soon would be, and in a few days, I would see Idris again. I’d tell him everything. We’d put things right.
My magic relaxed, settling like a sleepy cat, and my flames dimmed, then died. I blew out a breath of relief.
“Most impressive, ma cherie,” Jacques threw me a grin, “for a fae.”
“Yes, well done, girl,” Sage said, as brisk as ever. “Next time, try to keep on top of the situation.”
I laughed. However well she hid it, Sage had been well and truly shitting herself. She couldn’t fool me. My amusement shrivelled in the face of the long, dark tunnel, waiting to swallow us whole. At the retreating back of the vampires, and their gleaming eyes as they glanced back at us .
Would we ever see the sun again, or would we end our lives buried beneath the mountain?