20. Rise Again
RISE AGAIN
Alex
Raven Hall was lost, engulfed by the mysterious fog and bloody giant snakes that were growing teeth, spikes, and hard muscles.
Carabosse was who-knew-where, and my fears had returned.
I’d made things worse for no reason. On top of that, I was worried about the witch.
What the hell happened to her? Was she alive?
Had I killed her? I had no idea if my bite had been dangerous to her.
What if she’d died? I didn’t want to have killed someone else, as much as Cara and I weren’t friends.
But she was part of the Dark Court, hence my responsibility.
Hell, the whole bloody thing was my responsibility.
Irene, Darius, and I had found accommodation in a small townhouse in London, one of the properties attached to my title, for what it was worth.
It’d taken a few hours to relocate all the servants and make sure they were safe in Crowsbury. Not even my butler had chosen to follow me, which I understood. The man was terrified of me. At least the fog hadn’t harmed anyone yet.
And I was a frightened little man again, incapable of holding Irene.
After I washed with lukewarm water, because the lavatory wasn’t provided with a modern water boiler, and changed into clean clothes, I sat next to the fire, wondering where I should start to repair the damage I’d done before Esmeralda jumped at my throat.
The bedroom was claustrophobic compared to the one at the mansion. There was barely enough space for a single bed, a wardrobe, and a washstand. But the scent of beeswax and wood polish was a nice change from that of blood on my clothes.
My powers had diminished and returned to normal, and the sunlight didn’t weaken me more than usual. I supposed I should be grateful for that.
I glanced at the mirror; it was so small that only my face fit in it. My reflection was back, not as neat or well-defined as I would like, but it was there. Another thing to be grateful for.
The sense of impotence was back as well. Now more than ever.
Cara had tricked me. She’d waited for her first spell to consume me before blackmailing me.
She might not have known the price required by the spell, but she’d been sure I would have been devastated by it.
She’d known I would have struck a second bargain with her, when I was desperate.
Because the first time, I would never have agreed to change her if she had asked.
But I didn’t blame her. It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have asked her for anything. I should have been patient. Darius had been right.
Gathering the courage to leave my bedroom to see Irene and talk to her required a few minutes. I hadn’t seen Darius and Irene since we’d arrived here. We’d headed in different directions to clean up and rest.
The floorboards in the corridor creaked under my weight, and the sound shot a tingle to my skin as if an army of ants were crawling up my legs.
I found Irene in her bedroom, brushing her hair in front of the warm hearth.
I’d given her the bigger room in the house.
It wasn’t much, but it was the least I could do.
“May I?” I remained on the threshold.
She gave a curt nod but stiffened when I entered. Even the bond tightened.
“Where’s Darius?” I wanted to talk to her, but procrastinating seemed better.
“In the dining room, having his third lunch or first dinner. He’s quite shaken. I believe what shocked him the most was the fact he didn’t know what to do.”
I chuckled nervously. “Yes, Darius values his knowledge more than his silk pillows, and he can’t read his magic book, which frightens him.”
She tilted her head, and the light from the flames danced in her golden hair.
I scrubbed the back of my neck. “I apologise for having frightened you. I wasn’t myself.”
She nodded. “No, you weren’t.”
What else should I say? I’m sorry? Please don’t leave me? I’m desperate without you?
“You’re right to be angry or disgusted. I’m angry and disgusted with myself too.”
“I am angry, but not because of what happened in your bedroom when you commanded me.” She folded her hands in her lap.
“Well, it’s that in part, but mostly I don’t understand how you could make a deal with Cara without discussing it with me.
Something so important, and you didn’t come to me.
Sharing everything is the whole point of being together, of building a life together.
You excluded me from such an important decision. That hurt me more than your behaviour.”
Hell. “I wanted to be the man you need.”
“You already are.” She frowned. “But I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not disappointed.”
That bloody hurt. Deservedly so.
She was about to say something else when loud voices came from downstairs.
“What now?” I gritted my teeth and headed for the stairs.
Irene followed me. Her hair fell to her waist, and I wanted to stroke it and run my fingers through it.
In the entrance hall, Darius was holding a crying Myrtha and patting her back, which was another shock. The queen of the wilis, who hated all men on Earth, was letting Darius hold her.
“What happened?” Irene touched her shoulder.
“Lucy is dead.” Myrtha wiped her cheeks, putting some distance between herself and Darius.
Irene clamped a hand over her mouth. “What?”
“Why? What happened?” I couldn’t remove the quiver from my voice. “Lucy was improving.”
Myrtha shook her head. “Her disease took a turn for the worse quickly. She started to convulse and shiver. Her temperature rose in a moment. She said that she was thirsty. Knight’s men were convinced she was turning into a vampire.”
“How is that possible?” Irene asked Darius. “The symptoms of a vampire bite don’t get better. Why did her condition worsen so quickly? The transformation doesn’t work like that, does it?”
Darius chewed his lower lip. “No, it doesn’t.”
Myrtha wrung her handkerchief. “One of Knight’s werewolves came and stabbed Lucy with a blessed stake.
He said that if she died, it would be proof she was a vampire, and I told that oaf that a stake through the heart would kill anyone.
I tried to turn her into a wili, but it didn’t work.
She wasn’t betrayed and killed by a man she trusted. ”
Or Myrtha’s power wasn’t strong enough. But that wasn’t the moment to say it.
“Did Knight agree to the killing?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so, but Lucy’s worsening condition started a hysteria in Whitechapel.
The werewolves who visited her regularly panicked.
They didn’t listen to anything I said. I sent a footman to Raven Hall to search for you, and he returned to inform me you were here. He looked terrified.”
Glittering lights flickered around Darius, a sign that his magic was slowly returning. “I would agree with the werewolves.”
“What?” Myrtha glowered.
He held up a hand. “The return of Lucy’s fever and shivers might be the sign of the beginning of the transformation. One thing I know.” He didn’t sound pleased. “Stabbing Lucy is going to be pointless if she’s supposed to rise as a vampire.”
“Really?” Myrtha brightened. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s say that poor Lucy was truly going to turn into a vampire. Killing her with a stake through the heart before her transformation, when she was still human, wouldn’t kill the vampire inside her. It would kill only her human part.”
I frowned. “How is that possible? A blessed stake through the heart is the most effective weapon to kill a vampire.”
More light glowed around him. “Before you turned, you had to die. Usually, it’s the transformation that kills you the moment it begins, but vampirism isn’t finicky.
If a human destined to turn dies of other causes, vampirism will simply take that to its advantage and proceed with the transformation.
Had the werewolf waited for Lucy to become a vampire, if that were the case, the stake would have truly killed her. ”
“Can she rise again?” Irene asked.
He seemed happy to finally know something and have everyone’s attention. “Yes, if she is meant to, if Bethlen bit her three times and she drank his blood.”
“I should have asked Bethlen if he’d meant to turn Lucy,” I said. “He said he fed from her.”
I’d been too focused on the thirst to think clearly.
“When is she going to rise if she’s meant to?” Myrtha fixed her gaze on him.
He opened a notebook and flipped through the pages. His notes made no sense. Too many arrows and doodles.
“It’s difficult to say. Everyone is different.
Vampirism is like a disease. Some people succumb to it quickly.
Others are more resistant. In your case, Alex, the transformation was quick, exacerbated by Rothbart beating you.
You died, you turned. There are cases of people who turned after hours, weeks, or even months after they died.
Sometimes they have to claw their way out of a coffin and six feet of soil.
And Lucy’s parents were werewolves. Even if she’d never shown any signs of shape shifting, she wasn’t human, which explains her strange improvement.
She might turn even without the three bites.
Who knows? But…” He lifted a finger. “If you kill your sire now, Lucy won’t rise, no matter what. She’ll remain dead.”
Irene nodded. “Because by killing Bethlen, we will break the curse he spread upon the people he’d turned. Lucy will return human and dead. And Alex?”
Darius shook his head. “He won’t die. He wasn’t killed when he was human.”
I was sorry for Lucy, but there was a rogue at large, and I’d made the mistake of not taking him seriously. “Are we going to let Bethlen prowl through London without stopping him?”
Irene clenched a fist. “Are we going to let Lucy die?”
“If the choice is between one person and thousands, yes.”
Our bond grew tight. Apparently, everything I did was wrong, even when I tried to save thousands of people.
“Can’t we restrain Bethlen? Catch him and lock him up in Raven Hall?” She gave me a challenging look.
“If it were that easy, yes.” I kept my tone down.
“Listen.” Darius stepped between Irene and me. “Let’s do things properly. First, we need to retrieve Lucy’s body. Then we’ll find Bethlen and ask him what he did to Lucy. The only thing we know is that he fed from her and didn’t mean to kill her.”
“He has the power to vanish, and the last time we just talked to him, he killed two people.” The idea of facing my sire didn’t thrill me, not only because he was infinitely stronger than I was, but also because I didn’t want to be tempted to embrace my darkness.
“He’s the fastest, strongest creature I’ve ever seen.
How are we going to catch him? And even if we do, where are we going to lock him up? ”
Myrtha lifted her chin. “I have never faced a rogue vampire, but if we can save a poor woman from a horrible fate, we will.”
Of course, she would say that. For her, it was a simple matter.
“Turning into a vampire is better than dying, isn’t it?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’ve changed your tune. I thought you found vampires revolting. And we don’t know how we can catch a four-hundred-year-old vampire.”
She didn’t flinch. “I’m sure Darius will find a solution. He’s the most powerful wizard in the kingdom, after all.”
First the hug and now praise. We fell silent, showing matching expressions of shock.
“Well.” Darius coughed into his fist, flushing red. “Let’s start by carrying Lucy’s body here.”
“Here?” Myrtha knit her eyebrows. “Why not Raven Hall? It’s more suitable. By the way, why was the footman frightened?”
“Carabosse performed a spell,” Darius said, “and now the mansion is surrounded by giant snakes and pea-soup fog that squeezes you.”
Myrtha shot her gaze towards the ceiling. “What did I tell you, Irene? It’s always up to us women to sort out the mess created by men.”
I scowled although she was right about this particular matter. “We’d better leave for the Moon Court now.”