Chapter 39 Ambrose
AMbrOSE
As far as dungeons go, I suppose I’ve seen worse.
Before that… the golden cage of Versailles.
My breath stutters with longing for that simpler time.
Well, perhaps not simple, given the politicking and scheming and manipulations…
but the innocence, perhaps, is what I truly miss—of debating the finer philosophical points of justice and governance at the salons until the early hours of the morning.
Before Reinette swept her old childhood friend with more money than sense along with her to Versailles. Before my maker—
No. I refuse to relive that part of my past.
I survived it, that’s all that matters.
And I’ll survive this, too.
I will claw and rip and rend my way to freedom.
Now that he no longer claims me, I’m closer than ever before.
Close enough to taste.
Not like the hot, honeyed lifeblood of a doomed man as it pours down my throat.
More like… the full-bodied, dark berry and Hungarian oak spice of the Cabernet Sauvignon my father would import from Bordeaux. The one we’d drink in his study at our home in Le Marais after my mother and younger siblings retired for the evening, when he’d teach me about our family’s history.
Our legacy.
But then Versailles. And Paris. And St. Petersburg. Coming to America, just in time for the Great Depression. Following the summons of my maker, paying for the profits of his sins with my freedom.
Just like now.
I tug on the chains that tether my enchanted manacles to the stone wall of my prison like I have every day since he ordered me to put them on.
That was his last command before he released me from three hundred years of servitude.
But where the blood-bond between a vampire and their maker is something sacred, immutable, this magic is fallible.
It only takes one mistake, one second, and then I’m free.
It’s only a matter of time.
Until then, I just need to be patient.
Even though I can’t see the sun, my body still knows when another day dies. Later that night, the door at the top of the stairs opens, and my jailor appears in a black pantsuit, looking down at me from outside my cell.
“Ambrose.”
“Hello, Vivica.”
She sits down on the chair just out of reach of my cell and crosses her legs. “Are you ready to be civil?”
“I’m doing well, thank you for asking. A little parched though, have you brought anything to drink? Tea, perhaps? I’m partial to a nice chai, myself.”
She tsks. “I’m disappointed, Ambrose. Armand spoke so highly of you.”
I crook my eyebrow at her. “Do you usually expect your prisoners to be civil?”
“I don’t usually take prisoners.”
The manacles clink against the stone floor as I gesture vaguely. “Then allow me to educate you: until you are inclined to release me, I am disinclined to remain cordial with my captor.”
“You’re mistaken, Ambrose, I’m not your captor. I’m your owner.”
“If I recall correctly, slavery in this country was outlawed over one hundred and fifty years ago. I remember reading about it in the papers.”
“You may be older, but clearly none the wiser if you think rules ever applied to us. Don’t be so na?ve. I do make them, after all.” She smiles.
“Yes, well done on out-maneuvering the rest of the Council. Though, having met their ilk over the years, I’d hardly say that’s an accomplishment.”
“Are you quite finished?”
“Am I inconveniencing you? How rude of me, let me just—”
“Would you like to know why I’m here?”
“Since you’re not removing these illegal restraints, I’m assuming you’d like an audience to stroke your ego.”
“God, you are insufferable. It’s a marvel Armand tolerated you for this long.”
I nod my head from side to side. “‘Tolerated’ is a generous way of putting it.”
“No matter, you’ll be darkening someone else’s doorway soon enough.”
“Releasing me already? Armand warned me you were a vicious, vile shrew, but here I am, pleasantly surprised.”
“In a manner of speaking. You’ll be joining the faculty at Dreadhurst.”
“Is that what you’re calling your little school these days? It’s no Sorbonne, from what I hear, but give it another six hundred years or so and I’m sure you’ll get there. Not that you’ll live to see it.”
“Aren’t you the slightest bit interested in what you’ll be teaching?”
“‘Prison Escape 101?’”
“Blood magic.” She grins with an eerie, eager smile.
For the first time, I pause. “You found another vampire?”
Her eyes gleam in the scant light from the open door. “I found a Bloodwitch.”
I burst out laughing. “Do you truly expect me to believe you’ve managed to find the first Bloodwitch in over two thousand years?”
“She shattered the school wards during her epiphaneia. No spell, no runes, nothing but raw power, pulled from the blood-soaked earth. Even today, she managed to evade the trap I set for her Crypteia.”
I shake my head, still chuckling. “Even if it’s true, what makes you think I would ever teach your little minion?”
“You want your father’s ring back, don’t you?
” She grins in triumph when I still at her words, and she reaches into her pocket, pulling out the last piece of my family’s legacy.
The one Armand has worn ever since he pulled it off my father’s bloody corpse.
“I have little use for it, and would be willing to part with it. If you agree to instruct the Bloodwitch.”
The golden, shining metal hypnotizes me as she twists it between her fingers. “Will classes be held in the dungeon, then?”
“You will be given room and board on the campus, as well as a salary befitting your position.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes for her to master her power.”
“One term.”
“One year, and then we can renegotiate.”
“One school year.”
“Deal.” I catch the ring when she tosses it through the bars of my cage, grasping the warm metal so hard it leaves an imprint in my palm. My eyes burn with the threat of tears, but she’s already seen how affected I am, I can’t give her any more leverage.
“When do I start?” I ask, slipping it onto my finger.
Her smile widens. “You’ll need to get your teaching accreditation and complete the prerequisite faculty onboarding before the start of term.” When I look at her incredulously, she rolls her eyes. “The Headmaster insisted. But to appease the Council—”
“You mean to appease you.”
“—she’ll remain close to campus for the Summer. Fate only knows why she’s choosing to bartend,” she sneers, “though with any hope she’ll visit the estate this Summer and I can introduce you.”
“Does the Headmaster know the terms of my temporary employment agreement?”
“No, and you won’t be telling him either. Or anyone for that matter.”
“You surprise me, Vivica, I’d assume you’d want to crow about your victory from the rooftops.”
“Be that as it may, you will not breathe a word of our agreement. Or the circumstances of your arrival here.”
I smirk. “And what’s going to stop m—” my finger begins to burn beneath the ring, but it’s stuck to my skin when I try to pull it off.
Her cruel smile turns fanatical when I look up at her. “You like that? Just a little insurance policy to ensure you uphold your end.”
“What have you done,” I demand.
“It’s a crafty little spell, actually. You see, if—let’s be honest, when—you disobey my command, or even think of disobeying my command, your father’s ring will remind you why that’s a very, very stupid idea.
How apropos, don’t you think? He’s helping you mind your manners, long after his bones have turned to ash. ”
Agony shoots up my arm as I fight the spell, but the hatred that ignites in my eyes burns even hotter.
“I’m so glad you agree.” She only grins wider as she stands, brushing the lines from her suit.
“Sleep well, Ambrose. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.
” Without glancing back, she exits the dungeon and I listen to her footsteps climb the stairs until the door closes behind her, abandoning me to the darkness.
I don’t sleep that night, but I do dream.
Dream of peeling Vivica’s flesh from her bones as the symphony of her screams echo anew with every drop of blood that spills down my throat.
Dream of piercing Armand’s chest, pulling his ribs apart, and squeezing his heart until it bursts in my fist.
I dream of the little Bloodwitch who will bear the brunt of my fury so long as her mistress remains untouchable.
Of everything I’ll do to break Vivica’s little puppet.
Sleep well, witchling. Your nightmare’s just beginning.