Chapter 5
Chapter Five
DARK FORCES
‘The Challenge?’
‘It’s a vampire ritual. You most likely won’t have heard about it.’
‘And why wouldn’t I have heard about it?’ I don’t bother hiding my annoyance.
‘Your father and I both admit we’ve made mistakes, Emelia.’ My mother’s tone sharpens. ‘We should have taught you more, when you were younger, about the ways of the vampire world.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
It’s old ground. We’ve been over it before. I know I shouldn’t do this, know they both want me to be Raven and believe in my right to be so. But old habits, as I say, die hard.
‘You know why!’ My mother blinks, looking away.
‘When you were born… God and darkness, we were terrified. I didn’t leave your side for the first few years of your life.
Keeping you safe was our first and only priority.
And then … we wanted you to forge your own path.
Be free to choose. You are unique, Emelia, and I knew you were special the moment I laid eyes on you.
Blood-borne, yet human. And with the potential for infinite change.
Even though I know you didn’t feel that way. ’
I get it, I guess. If they hadn’t been so strict, I probably wouldn’t have made it past my first birthday. And it didn’t stop me running away, anyway. I reach for my mother’s hand, playing with her long cool fingers. ‘Tell me about the Challenge.’
‘It’s an old custom, and—’
‘They do tend to be.’
My mother shoots me a look. ‘As I say, an old custom. Your great-grandfather was the last to be challenged so, and that was centuries ago. He won, of course.’
‘But what is it?’
‘A fight. To the death. The winner becomes, or remains, Raven.’
Darkness. ‘Are you kidding me?’ Every vampire ritual I’ve ever come across is like this.
Whether it’s Jaguar mocking human religion, drugging them to drink their blood in his stone temples, or Scorpion with their literal blood baths, it’s all the same.
A game of pain and darkness leading to one thing. Death.
It’s what I ran away from, the brutality and power of my parents’ world.
And it’s what I’m trying to change. I don’t want to be a ruler who kills for sport or punishment, upholding arcane traditions from another time.
Humans also used to fight to the death, centuries ago, to settle scores.
But years of war were replaced by diplomacy, a desire to build a better world for their children.
Vampires, though, seem to still live in that brutal past. Why change something that works for them, I guess. But it’s not going to work for me.
‘You have to understand, among vampires, such things are considered—’
‘Normal?’ I shake my head. ‘There’s nothing normal about this.’
My mother’s dark brows draw together. ‘Nonetheless, it is serious. A threat to our family name. And with everything else going on, your father wants to be ready.’
‘But you’re Raven, not Father. Shouldn’t they be fighting you?’
‘Your father is not just my husband. He’s also my champion. It’s how we met, you know.’
‘It is?’
‘Well, yes. You know I was with Mistral, of course.’
I wrinkle my nose. Mistral was very handsome, but also a terrible person. I still have no idea what my mother saw in him.
‘He was my lieutenant and champion, as well as my lover.’ She shakes her head as though she can’t believe it either.
‘Then your father arrived one night, offering his fealty. Armour-clad, sword in hand, that look in his eyes.’ She rests her chin on her hand, a smile curving her lips.
‘He laid his sword at my feet and looked up at me, and that was it. There was no one else for either of us. He said it was love at first sight.’
I try not to roll my eyes. ‘So, Oliver and Jacques are challenging for the title of Raven? Like father like son, I guess.’ Mistral’s two other sons are both vampires, blond and handsome and full of themselves.
And not above nipping at the human daughter of their Raven rulers, either.
I’ve never told my mother what happened at the one Gathering I attended as a teenager.
I was told to stay on my throne beneath the canopy, anti-feed so thick around me I could barely breathe.
I stared out at the bustling throng, everything painted grey and silver by the full moon, and wondered what the hell I was doing there.
My parents were somewhere in the crowd, a line of Raven guards standing between me and the rest of the Gathering.
Then I heard a hiss. I ignored it. But then it came again. I turned my head. The billowing silk surrounding me moved strangely, and a handsome smiling face appeared between the folds of fabric, a boy about my age with long blond hair.
‘Hey, Raven. You want to have some fun?’ The words were whispered.
Did I? Anything was better than sitting there, bored out of my mind. I glanced at the guards, all with their backs to me. Fuck it. I spritzed myself with anti-feed, then slid quietly from the throne, taking the beckoning hand that reached through the gap in the silks.
Once through, I was surprised to see another blond vampire, almost as handsome as the first. They introduced themselves as the sons of Mistral.
Even better. He was my mother’s lieutenant; even though I didn’t like him much, I figured I could trust his sons.
So I went with them. And it was fun, at first. They took turns whirling me around the dancefloor, so fast at times I could barely see.
Then they each took my hand and pulled me through the crowd, blocking me from sight with their tall, powerful bodies.
I laughed and went along with it, enjoying myself for the first time that evening.
Then somehow it was just the three of us, among the tumbled boulders that bounded the meadow. I tried to go back, but they held on to me. Not too hard, but hard enough. Moving too fast as I tried to get away, blocking my path.
‘Your mother used to be with our father,’ Oliver said, smiling. His fangs were dropped, though, and he was too close to me.
‘Imagine that,’ Jacques said, again too close, his cool breath sliding across the back of my neck. ‘We could be siblings.’
‘Though that might make this awkward.’ Oliver moved closer, his teeth grazing my neck while Jacques pushed at me from behind.
‘Let me go!’ I struggled, but Oliver held me in place, effortless, all the while both of them touching me, their hands roaming across my body.
‘I suggest you do as my lady asks.’ The voice came from behind us, calm and quiet. ‘I would hate to have to get her parents involved.’
Oliver snarled, but pulled away, his hands finally leaving me. Jacques did the same. And then I was in strong arms, being borne back through the crowd.
‘Bertrand.’ I clung to him, shaking, horror threading through me at my narrow escape. ‘Oh, thank darkness you—’
‘You should not have left your seat, my lady. Those boys are much older than you, despite how they look.’ Vampire adolescence lasts far longer than it does for humans.
I should have known, but how could I? I never got to meet anyone my age.
I huddled against Bertrand, my cheeks burning at my stupidity.
He returned me to the silver-grey canopy, entering the way I left. The guards still stood there, their backs to us. And I was never so glad to be behind that wall of silver and black once more.
Bertrand sat me gently on the throne, then knelt in front of me. His hand came to mine. ‘Do you need a drink, or to feed?’
‘No.’ What I wanted, more than anything, was to go home. ‘Thank you,’ I breathed, tears filling my eyes despite my efforts.
Bertrand frowned, then bit his finger, releasing a drop of blood. ‘If I may, my lady.’ He bent forward and pressed it to my throat, and I felt the faint tingle of healing. Then he wiped the remnants of blood from me. ‘Now you are perfect once more.’
I found it so hard not to cry at the gentle concern on his face. ‘Please don’t tell them.’
He studied me for a moment, then his mouth curved. ‘I think that wise, my lady.’
As far as I know, he never did. Dear Bertrand.
‘So, Father is practising because he thinks Oliver and Jacques are better fighters than he is?’ I scoff, lightly. My father is a legendary swordsman. I hope he kills them both.
‘Oliver is the one making the Challenge. He holds the Mistral title now. After what happened to their father, they feel justified, I suppose.’
‘You mean how he started a rebellion, tried to kill Father, kidnapped me and would have had me killed if I hadn’t escaped? I think he got off lightly.’
My mother grins, a brief flash of light. ‘I thought you weren’t bloodthirsty.’
‘Motherrrr. Tell me what this means.’
‘Mistral was also a fine swordsman and trained his sons well. Your father is making sure there’s no margin for error, if the challenge proceeds.’
‘If?’
‘There is … you have to understand, when we sent Mistral into the light, even though the family heads outwardly supported our right to do so, not everyone agreed with that decision. There are also those who are not sure a human should rule Raven. His sons are trying to build on that dissent.’
I feel sick. My humanity, once again, is a fucking liability. ‘Shouldn’t I have been told about this sooner?’
‘It’s not really been a problem until this week, when the Challenge was made. They need the approval of six noble families for it to go ahead.’
‘How many do they have?’
‘Four.’
Four? God and darkness. ‘No wonder Father was having me go over the twelve families and their armies. Let me guess. Ravenna is one of them?’
My mother nods.
‘And the others?’ Anger flares in me, white-hot.
‘Vindhof and Ravenko.’
Shit. The two largest armies under our banner. Vindhof and Ravenko are close, their territories bordering each other. I suppose it makes sense, if any of this can be said to do so. ‘Who else?’
‘Darkwing.’
‘Darkwing? But they’re in North America.
They don’t even know me!’ There are two Raven families in North America, each holding their own territories; Karanlik in the north, and Darkwing in the south.
I’ve never met any of them. But with Mistral, that’s five noble families.
Perilously close to the majority of seven they need for the Challenge to proceed.
My mother shrugs, elegant as always. ‘They don’t need to know you, Emelia. They just know what they’re told.’
‘That I’m human. And we killed Mistral.’
She nods, her perfect red lips pursed.
‘So, even though Mistral started a literal rebellion against vampires, the families feel like having a human ruler is somehow worse?’
My mother looks pained. ‘Not all the families. Only those involved in the Challenge.’
Like that makes it any better. ‘Do you think they’ll get the majority they need?’
‘We don’t know.’
I stare into space, thinking. ‘And if it goes ahead and father loses, does that mean…?’
‘At best, it means Oliver becomes Raven. You and I will be relegated to one of the lesser estates. And your father, of course, will be dead.’ She blinks, looking away.
‘That’s the best outcome? What’s the worst?’
My mother’s gaze comes back to me, red lining her onyx eyes. ‘It means civil war. And, with things as they are outside our borders, the fall of the House of Raven.’
Well, that sounds like a fun time.