Chapter Twenty-Eight
Leonora
“You know, you're a hard man to track down.”
Rath glanced behind him and sighed when he saw me, eyes darting to either side of the corridor as if looking for an imaginary escape. “Cousin.”
“How have you been?” I linked my arm through his and fluttered my eyelashes when he looked down at me, bemused. “Haven't seen you around since the bonfire.”
“What can I say? I'm a busy vampire.”
We walked in silence for a little while and I let him stew, content to wait him out. I didn't feel the need to fill the void with endless chatter, but I'd have bet money that Rath didn't feel the same.
Sure enough, after his third side-eye, he burst out with, “Is there something I can do for you, my dear? Not that I don't enjoy your company, of course.”
I smiled, making sure it was heavily toothy. “I'm so glad you asked.” I snapped my fingers and Cal's ready-made portal popped into being on the wall to Rath's left. He gaped, looking between me and it like he was making all sorts of connections, but I just smirked and gave him a push before following him through.
Apparently done sulking, Cal had shown up at my door earlier that day—though, thankfully, not early enough to disturb Hayes and me—and we'd hatched a plan. Rath definitely seemed to know more than he was letting on when it came to the vanished monarchy. While I didn't like it, if he wouldn't give us the answers we needed, we would have to take them. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Hayes pushed Rath down into the chair in the abandoned building we'd been using to practise magick with Cal. Novalie gave the older vampire a little finger wave and Emerson wrung her hands. I got it, I didn't like this either, but he was the only lead we had.
“Suddenly, I'm seeing your resemblance to your mother much more clearly,” Rath hissed and I pressed a hand to my chest.
“Ouch.”
“Fuckin' rude ,” Novalie muttered and Rath rolled his eyes before they found Cal and he froze.
It was an interesting reaction and I moved closer to where he sat, nodding towards Cal as I leaned over him. “You recognise him?”
Rath swallowed and it was loud in the empty room. “Yes.”
“How?” He stayed quiet and I slumped, pulling away. “Look, I know you know something. Just level with us, maybe we can help each other out.”
“You wouldn't understand.” His voice was dark, heavy, and I watched him for a moment. Whatever this secret was, it was eating him alive.
“How about I give you a secret first,” I said, eyeing him shrewdly. “Then, if it's good enough, you can tell me yours.”
Rath snorted, but didn't decline, so I forged ahead.
“You knew my mother, Elowen. But Cal, here, knew her as another name before she came to court: Isabella. You told me you didn't know who my father was.”
“Nora...” Cal stepped forward and I held up a hand, halting him in place.
“But you were wrong,” I continued. “Elowen fell in love with a mage. This mage, to be precise.”
“I'm not sure love played much of a factor,” Cal muttered and I chose to ignore him, scuffing my foot along the concrete floor to regain Rath's attention. His eyes were wide and the way he looked at Cal... it was like he'd seen a ghost.
“Now when a mage and a living vampire love each other very much...” I raised my eyebrows meaningfully at him and Rath seemed to choke on the air. “You get a bouncing, baby Leonora."
“You're half-mage,” Rath whispered and I shrugged.
“So, is my secret good enough?”
Hayes pressed down on Rath's shoulder when he made to stand and I waved him away. He wasn't a prisoner... yet. He was more of an unwilling visitor.
“Everyone knew Elowen at court. She'd become an undead vampire and climbed the ranks quickly, thanks to her connection to Adrian. He was the sire for our line and several others, and she made a name for herself. Truthfully, I wasn't unaffected by her charm at first.” Rath scrubbed a hand over his jaw, his hair curling under his ears even as he tugged on the ends.
“What happened?” I was surprised that Cal was the one who asked, but there was something haunted about his expression, like he'd been cast into the past as Rath spoke it.
“She created something that killed the man I loved.” Rath squeezed his eyes shut before he focused on Cal. “You look so much like James.”
Cal staggered at the name and I was by his side instantly, catching him. “You knew him.” His words were a rasp, barely a whisper, but Rath heard them all the same.
“I was supposed to meet him that night. He was with your parents,” Rath said, nodding to Hayes before continuing, “Elowen had presented them with a new potion to try. Something that would increase their power, their speed and strength.”
Oh god. An early version of the drug she'd used on Rowan. This had been going on much earlier than we'd realised.
“But when I got to the chambers to meet him, it was too late. They were feral. James told me he had no choice but to seal the doors until they regained their senses. He gave me a gem, said it was the key to unsealing the room and that I had to get it to Adrian. I think... I think he thought Elowen had tried to kill them.”
I shared a look with Cal and he stepped closer to Hayes, a comforting presence. “Then what happened?”
Rath sat down in the wooden chair, the legs protesting at the treatment. “I did what he asked. I gave the gem to Adrian and told him what had happened.”
“And?"
“He told me he'd take care of it. I assumed he would unseal the room once they had calmed down, but...”
So had Adrian tried to unseal it and failed? Had he just left the family sealed away to starve, if the early version of the drug hadn't already killed them?
“He didn't seem surprised,” Rath said finally, shaking his head. “When I came to him and told him what had happened, it was like he'd already known.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone what Adrian had done?” I frowned, looking over the planes of Rath’s face in the hopes of seeing the truth.
“I couldn’t. A mage and a vampire… They would have killed me. Or, at least, give it a good try. I’d lose all standing at court and I needed to stay here, to try and free James.”
Cal shook his head. “I know the spell James must have used. Without the gem, there’s no way we can unseal the chambers.”
“And until the fate of the monarchs is clear, Hayes’ doesn’t have their authority,” I finished and Cal nodded.
“So what,” Novalie chipped in, frowning. “Do we think Adrian and Elowen planned it together?”
“Or they had a plan and she screwed him over by testing out her drug.” I shrugged, it seemed like the kind of duplicitous thing my mother would do. “Maybe he didn't care how they were gone, as long as they were. He wanted absolute control and, as far as he knew, the entire family was sealed inside their chambers. Of course, he didn’t count on Cal stowing away with Hayes.”
“What did he do with the gem?” Hayes' blue eyes were like chips of ice, but there was no grief in the bond, only acceptance. Maybe some vampires could survive without blood for a while, but eventually they would decay and no amount of gorging would restore them. At best, they would become mindless zombies of their former selves, a slave to the hunger of bloodlust. Either way, his parents were gone. At least he knew the truth now, there was some closure to be had in that.
“I don't know.”
“Can you describe it to us?” Cal's words were clipped, like he knew he needed to get the words out but they were a struggle. Hayes had lost his family, and Cal had lost his brother. All thanks to one woman—and Adrian, too.
Rath nodded slowly and Cal moved closer. “It was a ruby, I think. Or, at least, it was red and shiny. About the size of a pound coin by today's standards.”
“Fuck.” Hayes spun away and his shadow morphed, elongating as he struggled to contain his wolf. “Something that small could be anywhere.”
“At least we know what we're looking for now,” I soothed, following him as the bond became a muted tunnel between us. He was shutting me out, trying not to drown me in his emotions. I appreciated it, but I also wanted to help him. “Don't shut me out. I can take it.”
He held my gaze before nodding slightly and his frustration, the rage, came pouring back in between us. “We'll make them pay,” I murmured. “Both of them.”
“And when you do,” Rath said, standing once more and tilting his head in a show of subservience that surprised me, “I'd like to be there. For James.”
Hayes nodded and the room felt suddenly heavier, as if the ghosts of the past were there, watching us. “For my family.”
I gripped his hand in mine and silently echoed his vow.