15. Chapter 15
15
“ O kay, wow,” Micah said, rubbing his hands over his clean-shaven face as he processed everything I had just dumped on him. He combed his fingers through his short, slightly unkempt dark brown curls and slumped back in his armchair.
I perched on the edge of the sofa, hunched forward, my elbows resting on my knees. Beside me, Gavin sat with his knees spread wide, one arm extended behind me along the top of the couch back.
“So, you’re both vampires ,” Micah repeated back to me, his use of the v-word clearly uncertain. “But if you’re a living vampire, does that mean that he, ” he glanced at Gavin, “is a dead vampire?” Micah’s brows bunched together, and he sat bolt upright. “Wait, am I a vampire?”
I shook my head but second-guessed myself and glanced at Gavin sidelong. I didn’t think so, but I didn’t exactly have the sturdiest knowledge base where my people were concerned.
Gavin shifted his head from left to right and back ever so slightly.
I returned my attention to Micah, feeling much more confident in my answer. “No, it doesn’t pass on to male children,” I explained. “And while Gavin technically died when a queen changed him into a vampire, undead is the more appropriate term.”
“And you’re a vampire queen?” Micah clarified.
I nodded. “But not in the sense that I’m in charge of anything,” I added. “It’s just a term for living female vampires because we’re the only ones who can make new vampires.”
“So, I’m not a vampire,” Micah said, processing out loud, “but you could turn me into one.” His focus flicked to Gavin. “But he couldn’t.”
“Yes, technically that’s correct, but I wouldn’t.” I raised my hands, holding them palm out toward Micah, and shook my head vehemently. “I won’t do that to you. I won’t change you. At least, not until you’re fully grown.”
“But yes,” Gavin added. “She could change you, and as the child of a queen, you are marked by the goddess—as I was—which means you would be a powerful undead vampire.”
I looked at Gavin, my eyebrows hitching up my forehead. Did that mean his mother was a queen? Had she been killed during the Sun uprising? Or had she already transitioned from living to undead vampire by then?
Gavin clenched and unclenched his jaw, and I wondered if he was frustrated with himself for letting something so personal slip out.
“And because you might be the last vampire queen in existence,” Micah said, oblivious to this new tension, “the werewolves—”
“Shifters,” I corrected, looking at him once more. “Not just wolves. They can change into all kinds of creatures.”
“The shifters ,” Micah said, adjusting his wording, “want to kill you.” He looked from me to Gavin and back. “But why ?”
I shrugged, frowning. I honestly didn’t know.
Gavin exhaled a sigh. “Many thousands of years ago, the earth was under attack by demons from the shadow realm. Three of the gods—Selene, Helios, and Eos—banded together to fight the demon scourge.”
I angled my knees toward Gavin as I eagerly listened to a history I only vaguely recalled from my childhood. Javier had always been more focused on teaching me things that would help me stay alive now , like how to defend myself and how to integrate into the human world.
“Each of the three deities poured some of their magic into their chosen humans, creating three races of immortal warriors,” Gavin explained. He spoke to Micah, though I had the impression that this little history lesson was just as much for my benefit. “Selene created the vampires who make up the House of the Moon, Helios created the shifters who make up the House of the Sun, and Eos created the elementals—you would consider them witches—who make up the House of the Stars.”
Micah’s mouth fell open. “There are witches , too?”
Gavin held up a hand, silently telling Micah to save his questions until the end. “Together, the immortal houses beat back the invading demons, sealing them out of this realm, and for a time, peace returned to the earth. But as the millennia passed, the shifters gave in to their baser animal instincts and ravaged the lands. High Queen Mene and High Priestess Circe beseeched Selene and Eos to speak with Helios and rein in his creation. When he refused, Selene and Eos took matters into their own hands, merging their power to curse the House of the Sun, limiting the shifter’s ability to change to the three days surrounding the full moon and making them mortal in their human form.”
Gavin leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “Over the next two and a half millennia, the shifter population dwindled and their powers waned, while the House of the Moon and the House of the Stars only grew stronger. Then, twenty-five years ago, King Veris, the leader of the House of the Sun, demanded that High Queen Diana—Sophie’s mother—and High Priestess Cassandra remove the curse. Cassandra was open to the idea. Diana was not.”
I stared down at my hands, my fingers knotted together. My heart tumbled in my chest. This all could have been avoided if my mother had just agreed to attempt to lift the curse. There was no saying whether such a thing was even in her power. But she had refused, and now she was dead and I was alone.
Gavin sat back, resting one hand on my lower back as though he could sense my silent unraveling. “The House of the Sun retaliated with a coordinated attack on all the queens,” he continued. “Including High Queen Diana and her daughters, Amaya and Luna.”
Micah’s eyes flicked to me.
“Almost every queen was killed,” Gavin said. “First deaths and second deaths.” As Gavin spoke, his eyes locked with mine, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something in their depths—a longing, a desperation. I could feel his conviction to protect me, no matter the cost. It was gone in an instant, replaced by his usual cool composure, but it left me wondering why he cared so deeply about me. Because of what I was, a vampire queen? Because of who I was, the Athanasiou heir? Or was there something more?
“Oh, gods,” I breathed, covering my mouth with one hand. From what I had learned during my communion with Gavin, I now understood that any immortals who shared a blood bond with the slain queens had perished as well. All our strongest, most powerful people, wiped out in a single day. I hadn’t known the true, awful toll the uprising had taken. I marveled at the restraint Gavin had shown with Bastian, the bastard son of the man responsible for the destruction of our people.
“A few of the queens were captured during the attacks, but most were slaughtered, including High Queen Diana’s eldest daughter, Amaya. We’re uncertain of the captured queens’ fates, but we’re not hopeful. And a few escaped, including Diana’s younger daughter, Luna.” Gavin’s focus shifted to me.
I narrowed my eyes, my thoughts lingering on the captured queens. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the true reason Gavin hadn’t killed Bastian outright. Was Gavin hoping to interrogate the shifter for information on the captured queens? Or did I really hold that much sway over this mysterious vampire?
“But, why?” Micah asked. “Why kill all the queens?”
“Because only a queen can make more undead vampires,” Gavin explained, his attention remaining on me. With each word, the weight of my existence quadrupled. “Their numbers were dwindling, and they wanted to even the playing field.”
“Oh,” Micah said, looking a little shell-shocked. He looked at me. “So, you’re not just, like, a vampire queen. You’re the vampire queen.”
I shook my head, tearing my focus away from Gavin. I didn’t want this responsibility. I didn’t want the future of an entire species resting on my shoulders. “I’m nobody.”
“You are not ,” Gavin snapped. “You are everything to our people. You are the only hope we have for a future. And you— ” He turned his attention back to Micah. “There is a very small chance that if you were to father a child, and if that child were to be a girl, she might be a living vampire. Another queen.”
“Whoa,” Micah said, raising his hands defensively and shaking his head. “I’m not planning on having kids anytime soon.”
“The House of the Sun will not care about your plans,” Gavin told him. “So long as you live , you will be in danger.” Gavin looked at me. “I highly recommend you consider changing him as soon as you’re strong enough. It’s the only way they’ll stop hunting him.”
“But—” I shook my head, my brow furrowing as I searched Gavin’s piercing gray eyes. He wanted me to turn Micah into an undead vampire? “He’s only seventeen,” I protested.
Gavin’s features softened. “It will take years for you to reach your full power. Only when you’ve bound your seven, uh—” He cleared his throat, thankfully stopping himself before mentioning anything about harems. “Your seven attendants— only then will you be strong enough to initiate a successful First Rite and create new undead vampires.”
“Hold up,” Micah cut in. “Don’t I get a say in whether I become a goddamn vampire ?”
“Certainly,” Gavin said. “You could choose to die instead. Change or die. Those are your options.”
I rubbed my temples. My brain was starting to hurt. I avoided looking at the sigils on the walls or studying Gavin’s sigils too closely, afraid to find them dimming again, and instead blamed stress. It couldn’t possibly be another bloodfade . It hadn’t even been two hours since that last mind-blowing communion with Gavin.
“So, I can’t go home.” Micah shook his head and shifted his thousand-yard stare to the wall of windows and the stunning view of Elliott Bay beyond. The sun was dipping lower, reflecting off the surface of the water as it closed in on the horizon. “That’s what you’re saying, right? So long as I’m still alive , I can’t go home?”
I offered Micah an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to reach you.” I stared down at my hands as I picked at my cuticles. “I should’ve just stayed out of your life.”
“No.” Micah’s sharp tone drew my attention back to him. He was shaking his head, his brows bunched together. “No, Sophie. Don’t say that.”
“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Gavin said. “The Sun assassins would have figured it out, eventually. At least, this way, you can protect him.”
My chin trembled, tears welling anew.
“It’ll be all right.” Micah leaned forward and reached for my hands. His touch was strong and sure, steadying the tremors shaking my hands. “So, who is he to you?” Micah glanced at Gavin. “Your boyfriend?” There was a faint but noticeably sharp edge to his tone.
A quiet guffaw erupted from my chest. “No,” I said, shaking my head vehemently. “He’s my—” But my explanation cut off abruptly before I could tell my son that Gavin was the first member of my harem , and heat suffused my neck and cheeks.
“I’m her guard,” Gavin offered.
I glanced his way, flashing him a quick but grateful smile.
Micah released my hands and narrowed his eyes. “And the other guys?” He nodded the back of his head toward the loft’s front door. “Are they Sophie’s guards, too?”
“They are,” Gavin drawled.
I choked on a nervous laugh, knowing the two mountains of men posted on the other side of the door were destined to be far more than guards to me. My apparently prophetic dream from the other night pretty much guaranteed that.
Micah gripped his knees through his jeans. “And you’re all undead vampires .”
“We are.”
“I need a drink,” I said, popping up to my feet. I hustled into the kitchen and opened every cabinet around the aisle, disappointed when I found nothing but cookware. I moved on to the cabinets above the countertop.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Gavin stand and approach the sideboard tucked against the wall on the other side of the dining table. He opened a door in the middle cupboard and pulled out a bottle of what appeared to be very expensive Scotch. I was more of a wine girl, but in my current state of near panic, I wouldn’t be picky.
Glass clinked as Gavin withdrew a couple of short glasses and set them on top of the sideboard. He looked at Micah over his shoulder, his eyebrows raising as he held the bottle higher.
“No, thanks,” Micah said with a shake of his head. “I don’t drink.”
I rounded the kitchen island as Gavin uncorked the bottle, and by the time I reached him, he was holding out my drink. I tossed back half of what he poured in a single gulp. “Holy shit,” I said, exhaling a choking cough. It tasted like liquefied wood smoke and burned like fire going down. “That’s awful.”
Gavin poured some of the brown liquor into a glass for himself, the edge of his mouth tensing as he watched me down the rest of the Scotch.
Eyes watering, I held out my glass for more. Gavin obliged, his expression unreadable. The glowing markings on his face and neck had faded until they were barely visible, and I was afraid of what that meant. My hand trembled as I raised the refilled glass to my lips, sipping this time. I carried my glass of Scotch back to the couch and sat, setting my drink on the edge of the coffee table.
“So, what now?” Micah asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck. The ache in my skull was getting worse. I could feel Gavin’s stare on the side of my face as he approached the sofa, and though I barely knew the man, I could easily guess what he was thinking. I was thinking it too.
As impossible as it seemed, I was entering another bloodfade , which meant I would need another communion . At this rate, I would never stop having sex, which sounded great in theory, but less awesome when one considered that I actually liked to do other things. Like wearing clothes and living my life.
A flush crept up my neck to my cheeks. How was a communion going to work with Micah in the loft? He would hear everything, and I would die of mortification.
“ Now , you settle in while we wait for our transport to arrive,” Gavin said, but I was so caught up in my anxiety spiral that I had lost track of the conversation. He reclaimed his place beside me on the sofa. “You’ll come with us to the Moon Sanctuary, where you will be safe for the time being.”
“For how long?” Micah asked, but his wary tone told me he suspected the same answer as me.
“Until Sophie is strong enough to usher you into your second life,” Gavin told him.
Micah exploded out of his chair. “But you said that wouldn’t happen for years !” He paced alongside the coffee table, the reality of this fucked-up situation finally hitting home. “What about my parents and school?” He shook his head. “I can’t just leave .”
“You can,” Gavin countered. “You just don’t want to.”
“Micah,” I said, standing. “I’m sure we can—” I swayed on unsteady legs, the alcohol apparently having gone straight to my head. “We can find a way to—” I held out an arm to steady myself and blinked to dispel the dark spots dancing around the edges of my vision.
I felt Gavin’s firm grip on my elbow before I realized he was standing beside me.
“Sophie?” Micah rushed to me, taking hold of my hand and searching my face. “What’s wrong?” He looked at Gavin. “What’s happening to her?”
“She needs to feed,” Gavin told him.
Micah paled, horror twisting his youthful features. “Like, on blood ?”
“Yes,” Gavin hissed. “Now move, so I can attend to her.”
Micah backpedaled out from the gap between the armchair and the coffee table, making room for Gavin to guide me past him.
“Can I do anything to help?” Micah asked.
“No!” I gasped, horrified at the thought.
“You cannot,” Gavin said, ushering me toward the hallway to the bedrooms. “Take this time to consider your options. We can discuss your future further when she’s sated.”
My head swam as I peered back at Micah, standing forlornly in the living room, watching us go. “I’m so sorry,” I mouthed.