Chapter 31 #2
The intuition is enough to satisfy Jabir, who works alongside me with a list of cross references between Axe’s private lycan clients and the names of those he put in prison, searching for any kind of connection that could have incited active rogues to become vampire mercenaries.
He and Axe believe that they’re bound to find a lead in the intersecting databases.
I don’t doubt that Maurleen is determined to be the first to find the portal. But that wouldn’t spook her enough to torch her diary. There’s only one reason she would flee without warning. She saw something far more disturbing.
But why not tell me?
Axe’s sister grimaces as she clutches a handful of soggy brown leaves. The cart between us is packed full of rusted hand tools and buckets of spent vegetation.
As we work to restore the greenhouse back to its former glory, Demi lectures me on growing plants not just for leisure, but for sustenance.
How planting deepens the spiritual connection with nature.
I find myself leaning in close to listen, like one of the succulents potted against the window, bending towards its source of light.
Outside, Nell unveils a large statue in the quad.
She and the schoolteachers have the children crafting backdrops for my induction ceremony.
Cutouts of the moon and stars are pasted on glittering, midnight blue cardboard.
One adorable student even attempts what appears to be a luna moth, with fuzzy pipe cleaner antennae.
A group of teenagers hollers in their direction as a disc sails by, nearly colliding with the display.
As they chase it down, Nell hollers loud enough to make their shaggy hair stand on end.
The two of us chuckle. A knowing smile pulls on Demi’s lips. “My mother used to scold us just like that. Especially Axe and the older boys. Always trying to prove himself.”
“You know, for as long as I’ve been staying here, no one has really spoken of your mother. What was she like?”
Demi sets down her shears and hooks a golden lock behind her ear.
“She was cherished by everyone, especially the children. On the battlefield, she was a master spear wielder, as was Tesni’s mother.
When she wasn’t fighting or reading or entertaining the young ones, she would spend hours in prayer, mumbling to that statue.
Occasionally, I would join her. There were times when I often wondered if the goddess ever whispered back. ”
I nod, noting how the two women who brought us into this world could not be any more different. But the haunting feeling that festers in us daughters—the ache for our mothers taken from us too soon—that, undoubtedly binds us.
When the herd of boys scatters, I ogle at the alabaster figure. A maiden donning robes and a beaded headdress holds a crescent in one hand and a long, dangling ribbon in the other. At her feet rest two wolves.
Demi gulps loud enough for me to hear. “I haven’t seen that shrine in decades.”
“Your goddess, does she have a name?”
She shakes her head. “Her name was lost to the ages. It’s been said that was the price she paid for a place among the other gods.”
“Not the price for coercing a human to take her own life?”
Demi frowns. “The bride’s death was not in vain.
Had she completed the marriage ritual, the demons of Somnium would’ve swarmed our realm.
Instead of giving her blood for that purpose, she offered it to the gods, allowing Terris and the Luna goddess to close the portal indefinitely and to imbue the unsealing spell into a talisman.
Of course, that was after the goddesses bottled up Clethra’s power and hurled it back to hell. ”
A talisman? Could she mean the necklace Lyndi passed onto Maurleen?
Demi hands me a damp rag, which I take and press against the dusty windowpane. “This curse . . . I still don’t understand why she chose me. After thousands of years and countless other women in my lineage. Me. Why?”
Her eyes glimmer as she looks upon me. “Why not you, Vessa?”
Dominik’s confrontation from the other night still weighs heavily on me. Why offer to give me a way out just as I’ve made my choice? Why, unless he truly believes I have no right to be a part of this family?
I turn to Demi with a heavy heart. “Is it selfish to want this, knowing I very well could endanger your lives? Your happiness?”
Slipping off her gloves, she takes my hands. I gaze into jade eyes, scanning for any detection of resentment.
“Did you ever consider that maybe the Luna Goddess gave this fate to you, not out of spite, but because she knew that you are the only one strong enough to defy it?”
My chest throbs. She doesn’t see a woman who is cursed. Or an outsider. She sees someone worthy of her brother’s heart.
Clouds break apart for the first time all day. Sunlight spills into the greenhouse, warming my skin. It sparkles against Demi’s braid as she speaks.
“The first Luna was once like you, you know. Human. The Sponsa Noctis’s curse is not so much a punishment as it is a debt to be repaid for sparing our kind.
Perhaps she chose someone who would be willing to right her wrongs and resist the temptation of the Blood Master.
Perhaps this is a chance to end him altogether. ”
“I might be a decent shot, but I’m no vampire slayer. We don’t even know how to kill him.”
She bites her lip. “After she met a Servant of the First Moon, my mother became obsessed with finding the answer. The capital library has dozens of ancient tomes related to the curse. She devoured all of them, scouring the archives for something referred to as the ‘Final Death.’ She must’ve been close by the time the vampires showed up on our doorstep. ”
“I—I don’t know if I’m capable of finding this alleged ‘Final Death’—whatever it is—let alone using it. But if this is how I’m supposed to win the loyalty of your people, then I’ll do it. Together, we’ll finish what your mother was hoping to achieve.”
Demi runs her fingers delicately over a climbing rose that bears its first spring buds. Tears gleam in her eyes.
“Ah, that reminds me.” She stops herself. “I made something for you.”
She places a small jar of cream in my palm.
“It’s a salve, made from the combination of henbane, yew bark, and other oils extracted from plants in my greenhouse back home.
” I take a dab of it on my finger. The scent is mild.
Earthy. “Years ago, my former partner and I set out to find a way for humans to naturally repel vampires. By combining her passion for chemistry and my special interest in botanical alkaloids, we created a topical that, if absorbed into the skin regularly, would steadily build a resistance to mind compulsion.”
“Fascinating.”
“Kiersten thought so, too. She was the one who suggested we produce it on a larger scale and share it with our human allies. Just before she left the pack, we had begun the next phase of our research: searching for an alkaloid that might be safely ingested by humans so that they might poison vampires when bitten. While I wish we had found a solution that would extend to lycans, the topical isn’t an option for us.
Neither is silver. For your species, henbane works to block against mind control, but unfortunately, it only manages to inflict harm on my kind.
I always hoped to continue the project on my own, but my duties as Alpha took precedence. ”
Admiring the smooth finish of my dewy skin, I pocket the salve.
Her smile returns. “One of these days, you’ll have to come foraging with me. I’ll show you how to find the bark along with some of my other favorite remedies. Mother Terris has lots of secrets.”