Nevermore, the Complete Series (75 page)

I was awoken by the scent of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of Salem gagging. He loathed the bitter smell and when I opened my eyes I found him covering his face with his hand and looking glumly at the stairs.

“It smells good,” I said. “And it reminds me of Janet…she always made a pot of coffee before leaving for work.”

He hugged me gently, knowing that the mere idea of Janet made me upset. “Similarly to how blackberries remind me of my mother.”

“Right…and you don’t see my scrunching my nose at that smell!” I said jokingly, scrunched my nose and nudged him.

When we emerged from the basement, I was immediately immersed in the heavy scent of coffee and pipe smoke. I coughed and turned to glare in Mikael’s direction.

“I apologize, let me put this out,” he said and removed the pipe from his mouth.

“It’s a bad habit of his,” Luca said. “But if you’ll be hanging around here, he’s going to need to do it outside.”

“That would be appreciated,” Salem said and sat in one of the empty chairs. “What is on the agenda for today?”

“We need to have Alexis further test her ability, if she feels up to it…then establish our attack plan.”

Salem stared across the table at Mikael, whose pipe had returned to his mouth yet remained unlit, and seemed to be deep in thought. I went to question him, but he began speaking before I had the opportunity. “Has it ever occurred to you that there is an incredibly simple way to put an end to Malik and his minions?”

Mikael glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow. “What have you in mind?”

Salem had gathered everyone’s attention, and he cleared his throat. “There is more than one way to kill a vampire—while fire is generally avoided, I think in this situation it may be ideal. We could rid the world of hundreds of vampires at once. Seal the place off at night and burn it to the ground. Even use explosives if you can acquire them…whatever it takes.”

The leader of the Vanatori sighed heavily, his pipe nearly loosening from his mouth but he caught hold of it. “There is something that we haven’t shared with you yet…”

I immediately sat down opposite Salem, giving him a look of uncertainty before glancing at my sister-in-law and her husband—she looked just as wary as I did. Nicolai joined Mikael on the other end of the table and I could tell that he was nervous.

“I haven’t told you everything, and for that, I do apologize…however, it isn’t anything as awful as you might think,” Nicolai began, “When we told you that my brother was lost to a vampire…I failed to mention the fact that he not only was claimed as a victim but he also became a vampire.”

Salem struggled to reply, I noticed that he appeared mildly angered by their deceit yet also sympathized with his loss. “Do not take this the wrong way, but I do believe that it would be wisest to follow through with my plan of torching the building—Malik’s restaurant as well as his mansion—given the fact that your brother is not only a vampire now, but he may very well be corrupted and care not for your well-being anymore. Chances are that he doesn’t even know who you are.”

Nicolai clenched his fist tightly and took in a deep breath. “What would you have done had your sister been in this situation?”

The man I devoted my heart to hung his head and grimaced. “I would feel the same as you and do whatever it took to protect her, regardless what she had become.”

“Precisely. And now that you have told us that there is at least one cure in this world, I want to preserve his life even more.”

“The fountain is buried. These geniuses here thought it was the best idea,” Hannah butted in, taking none of the blame.

“It could be gotten to easily enough, for those who know where it is—like you. And if there is one such fountain in this world, my gut tells me there must be more.”

“I have to wonder…” I blurted out as a train of thought developed in my mind. “Your brother was a member of the group too, right?”

“Yes,” Nicolai confirmed. “He was only taken a few years ago…during a conflict between him and a couple of undead. He was alone, damn him. He knew better.”

“We all would have risked our lives to save Traian, had we known what he was up to,” Camellia spoke up. “It was stupid and childish…”

“What happened, exactly?” Salem asked, eying Nicolai suspiciously.

“My brother and Octavian had a bit of a feud. Traian had fallen for Camellia during his stay with us, and Octavian found out—he discovered love letters that my brother failed to deliver, he was often ogling at her—and they brawled over the matter. Octavian decided that if Traian thought he was man enough to take her from him, that he should prove it,” he shook his head in disgust. “He offered up the idea of a competition—whoever could slay the most vampires in a month’s time could have her heart.”

Camellia gaped at her fellow hunter and shook visibly with anger. “He did what?!” she shrieked.

Nicolai frowned in her direction. “Octavian loved you, we all know that—so don’t you dare consider otherwise. He was being foolish.”

“I thought this was all Traian’s doing to show off! I had no idea Octavian was involved!”

“Relax,” Remus murmured from the shadows.

“Octavian confided in me after my brother’s death, claiming it was somehow his fault, but I refused to let him carry on with such grief.”

Thinking it through, a select few words from Nicolai’s prior speech caught my attention and I gasped. “You said that Octavian’s rules were whoever killed the most vampires won…yet…he didn’t even believe in them!”

Camellia gagged and stood from the table. “This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening,” she muttered to herself, holding back from throwing up. “Octavian wouldn’t have…”

“I never put two and two together,” Nicolai confessed. “It was his fault. He didn’t even participate…Octavian knew Traian would likely go out and
get himself killed! Damn him!”

He slammed his fist into the table, making a visible dent and stormed out of the hideout. A thick layer of tension hung in the air, followed by a waft of silence.

“Am I the only one considering the fact that Traian is the vampire that killed Octavian…?” I asked suddenly and Mikael shot me a look of distraught.

“Unfortunately not…I had my hopes, I suppose you might say, that it was the Seer…as we have talked about with you before…yet, the more I dwell on it, the more it makes sense. Traian must have repressed some memories from his mortal life and retained his vengeance toward Octavian.” He quickly turned to Camellia, stood and embraced her. “I am so sorry.”

“I still believe we should blow the whole place up. Didn’t you all say you would sacrifice all your lives to stop Malik? Would you not sacrifice Traian’s life for the same?” Salem asked.

“We would each sacrifice our own, and that is our choice to give. Traian wouldn’t get that choice, and no man should choose for him. Besides lad, we aren’t suicide bombers. It is true we will fight to the end for what needs to be done, but we hope to all come out of it alive and well to see the world without Malik. And regardless what has become of Traian, he is still Nicolai’s brother—just as Hannah is your sister. You already said you would do whatever necessary to keep Hannah alive—therefore, you must relate to Nicolai on this matter. We shall stick to our original plan.”

I could tell Salem’s mind was racing, trying to find a fallacy in Mikael’s argument. He suddenly sat back with a defeated look on his face and I grasped his hand tightly. “I’m sorry to say this, Salem, but I agree with Mikael.”

“You are far too eager to continue putting yourself and our child in danger! Can you not see this from my point of view? Do you not realize everything I lost in the past, and now I could lose you and have no chance to even attempt to save you anymore?! I would sacrifice anything to ensure that does not happen.”

I barely noticed the other people in the room staring at the two of us. My hand had quickly fallen from its place and I stared in shock at Salem. “Have faith in me, Salem…just last night you were on my side…and now you’re fighting against it again. Can’t you just at least let me try?”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt—or worse.”

“You’ve seen me get hurt and worse before.”

“And I thought that once we were mortal, that would be the end to it.”

“I’m a hunter, Salem…why can’t you realize that? This is who and what I am—I cannot help it.”

“We all know what Alexis is capable of, Salem. I have witnessed it and so have you. She is a big girl, Salem, not a kid. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that she can do this. You just have to trust her and her abilities.”

I was surprised when I heard these words flowing through Hannah’s lips—of all the people to defend me and support me; I never imagined it would be her.

“I can’t…” his voice was barely audible.

This time it was I that stormed out of the building, slamming the door shut behind me. My body instantly burst into a whirlwind of dark feathers and I could feel my limbs creaking and cracking as I took form. I narrowly missed scraping my talons across Nicolai’s scalp as I flew overhead. His shouts of awe and confusion were blurred out by the rushing wind that swept by me.

Perched upon the windowsill outside Malik’s chambers, I contemplated pecking against the glass to gain his attention but knew at once that this was a stupid idea. He had given orders to slaves and other workers to kill any raven on sight if it came anywhere near the mansion after Cassius warned him of his possible death. Instead, I silently observed him as he sat at a wooden desk holding a slender piece of paper between his pale fingers. I cocked my head sideways in order to get a view of the front of the paper and discovered it to be an image of my mother. There was a part of this man that was still madly in love with her, and even my presence in his life wasn’t going to replace that.

A sudden sound from below startled me from my thoughts and I swooped down from the sill. Hovering several feet overhead, I peered downward and spotted one of the newer slaves walking toward a portion of the courtyard I hadn’t ventured to before. Malik failed to ever take me there, and when I was free of accompanying him I was usually too occupied with work to care about exploring…then again, it was part of my mission to find a way for the Vanatori to gain entrance to the mansion without being caught.

Without hesitation, I flew several yards up and behind the young vampire as she turned her head to ensure no one was following her. Her eyes were locked on me but she didn’t give my appearance a second thought—to her, I was just a bird. There were probably very few vampires that were aware of Waldron’s, and those who were aware of the ability probably knew it was so rare that it was unlikely that you’d ever encounter one. She turned and began walking into the unknown, pausing momentarily at a rose bush and picking one of the crimson flowers.

Her short blonde hair was ruffled by the wind that tickled at my feathers as she passed through a slim alley between the side wall of the mansion and the surrounding brick fence—it would easily have gone unnoticed to someone that was not aware of its existence. She crossed over a pile of rubble and through a thicket of thorny briars, uncaring of the scratches marring her legs. My beak fell open at the sight of further rubble—a pile of smashed bricks pushed to the side of a gaping hole in the fencing. It wouldn’t have taken much effort for a vampire to climb the fence, but clearly whoever had created this hole had decided this was an easier route.

I followed her with my eyes as she crouched down and crawled through the crevice. Once she was through to the other side, I quickly flew over the fence and caught sight of her standing up and wiping dirt from her long skirt. She adjusted her top and flattened her hair and glanced upward in my direction again.

“Why are you following me?” she asked, and I wasn’t sure if she seriously expected a response.

I perched myself on top of the brick wall, pecked at it momentarily as though I had discovered an insect to feast upon and then flew out of her sight, back behind the wall. Transforming back into my regular form wasn’t difficult, but as always it was painful and the sound never failed to sicken me. I walked up to the crevice and grimaced—there was no way I was going to make it through there with my bulging belly.

“Ugh…” I sighed and leaned against the wall.

“Excuse me?” I heard a voice from behind the fence. “Were you following me…?”

“I-no…” I mumbled and peered through the crevice at the vampire. “Well, sort of.”

“Oh, my…Queen Alexis…” she gasped and stepped back. “Please, please don’t tell Malik! He…he won’t understand. I meant nothing by it, honest!”

“Why would I report you to him? Report you for what?” Had I caught this girl in the middle of something strange and frowned upon?

“We’re not supposed to leave the vicinity unless we’re gathering ‘food’.” From the sounds of it, she was unhappy with her position as a slave, for more reason than being in charge of doing someone else’s dirty work. “I don’t want whipped again, please…I…I just can’t stay there all the time.”

The memory of my mother having flesh torn away by the leather whips returned momentarily and I shuddered. “I won’t tell Malik anything. I don’t agree with the use of slaves, and…I could sort of use your help, anyway.”

“You need my help?” she laughed and stepped closer again. “Oh…” she ogled at my stomach. “You-you’re a mortal!”

“How recently were you Sired?” I asked.

“It’s all a blur, really. A week…two? I am really not sure, I’m sorry,” she said, staring at her feet. “Malik was surprised at how quickly I overcame the transition…he says I’m too intact with my past, though…and so he especially does not want me leaving the grounds. But I…I don’t want to hurt innocent people, I don’t want to be here at all.”

I nodded with understanding. “That isn’t common for a vampire—but I am familiar with it, my husband was the same way.”

“Malik?” she blinked.

My laughter came unexpectedly and I shook my head. “Malik and I…wow. Look, if you can help me through this hole and tell me what all this sneaking around of yours is really about, I’ll explain everything to you. And I won’t tell Malik.”

“Step back.”

Obliging, I stepped as far from the fence as I could and covered my face to protect myself from the flying shards of shattering brick. She offered her hand through the widened hole and I grasped onto it.

“I’m Tiffany,” she said and glanced over me. “How are you pregnant? You’re a mortal, right? How is it that when I see you around the restaurant or the mansion you’re…not so pregnant?”

“Tiffany.” I let my mind register the name and I briefly recalled a few times where other slaves had mentioned someone of the same name missing from ‘work’, failing to do whatever chore Malik had assigned her to. Where was she running off to all of this
time, and just what possessed her to return? “I am a mortal, and Malik has a Shielder that protects my mortality from being known by your kind. There has been a huge mix up between me and Malik…he was married to my mother, who is dead now…and he manipulated me into binding with him.”

“What is that?”

“I guess it’s a form of marriage between the undead,” I said and shrugged. “Either way, it happened without my consent. I remind him so much of my mom, that he has taken a liking to me—yet, I’m legally married to someone else, and there is a lot more that I could tell you but I really shouldn’t. Now, tell me what you’re doing out here.”

Once Tiffany had absorbed the information provided by me, she spoke up. “I sneak out every chance I get…to see Owen. He is—was—my boyfriend, before I was turned. As far as he is aware, I’m either missing or dead.”

“You don’t speak with him?”

“No! How could I? If he knew…if he knew what has become of me, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me. He’d think I was a monster. I…I am a monster…”

“You are only what you believe yourself to be. And you don’t know what he might think,” I insisted. “My husband, Salem, was a vampire when we met. He was completely different from Malik and his henchman—sort of like you. He didn’t want to feed on the blood of humans, so he fed on animals instead. I didn’t believe him at first when he revealed what he was—I didn’t want to believe it!—But in the end, I accepted it. Maybe Owen would do the same for you.”

Tiffany looked toward the surrounding hills and shook her head in doubt. “He leaves Transylvania in less than a week. There isn’t enough time to try to convince him that I’m not insane.”

“You aren’t from around here?”

“We came to visit from California. It’s kind of ironic,” she laughed but there was no humor behind it. “Owen is a horror movie fanatic; he loves the darker side of life, the mystery behind the supernatural. Dracula has always been one of his favorites, and so here we came to visit…and look what happened. He doesn’t believe in vampires, though.”

“Well...judging by his interests, I can almost guarantee he wouldn’t be that stunned if you revealed the truth to him. He may think you are pulling a joke on him at first, I know that’s how I felt originally, but, Tiffany…if you love him, and you believe that he loves you—I really think you should give it a chance...no matter what happens. You’re risking your life by leaving here just to get a mere glimpse at this boy, what else have you got to lose?”

“You’re right,” she said with a satisfied smile. “I’m going to tell him…”

“I have a question for you, before you go find him. Why do you come back?”

“Fear.”

Her answer was simple yet I knew exactly what she meant. Malik had control over most of this town—there was no telling what might happen to a renegade vampire if
she was caught. My stomach began to quake at the memory of Viola being torn apart by Malik. I couldn’t stand the thought of something similar happening to this innocent, love-struck girl who had simply visited the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Find Owen and whether he accepts you for what you are or turns his back on you—do not come back here. Find a way to leave the city…no…the entire country. Resume your life somewhere else, and never come back. However, as hard as it might be, I do not recommend returning to California. Go someplace you’ve always wanted to visit but never had the chance to, explore and experience the world. Treat your immortality as a gift, not a curse.”

“Thank you so much, Queen Alexis…how could I ever repay you?”

“I only ask one thing—never harm a human or feed on their blood. It may take getting used to, but animal blood is more than enough to live off of.”

“You have my word!” she exclaimed with excitement, and I knew I could trust her to keep the promise.

With the excitement of having discovered a way for the hunters to enter Malik’s compound unseen, and meeting Tiffany, I had spaced out the reason I had flown out here to begin with. The thoughts came flooding back slowly as I watched the blonde-haired vampire run into the distance. With or without Salem’s approval, I had something that I needed to do and I would see to it that it was done. No more innocent people like Tiffany would suffer at the hands of Malik.