Authors: Rachael Wade
“Mom, what …” Gavin dropped to his knees, holding her and rocking her as she cried. “How are you alive? I don’t understand. Please, please. Tell me, please …” He stroked her hair, shushing her quietly under his breath as she must have once done for him.
“Samira spared me. She killed your father but she spared me. Then she changed me, and kept me here in the castle as a servant.
Oh God, my son.
What’s become of you, my love? I hate to see you as this … this monster!”
“It’s okay, Mom, we’re going to end this. For all of us. Please don’t cry anymore. We’re together again, and that’s all that matters.”
I stared at them, heart swelling, watching their reunion, suddenly thinking of my own mother, my own family. Absentmindedly, I reached for Audrey’s hand and she squeezed hard, her other arm locked tightly in Gabe’s. Samira still hadn’t spoken. She’d simply resumed her place on her throne chair and folded her hands gracefully across her lap, her chin tilted downward, gaze fixated on the stairs.
Shouts began echoing through the castle walls, thick vibrations of marching feet, coming from the lofty foyer just outside the entryway. We all stepped back, Gavin pulling his mother to her feet and under his arm, turning to face the doors. Samira remained still, for once the sound of her tapping nails silenced. The doors flung open to reveal a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces; some of them I recognized from the meeting we’d had at Arianna’s Paris apartment. They poured into the room in packs: tight, organized formations, lining up like soldiers, blades in hand and sharp, determined faces. They piled into the throne room until there wasn’t an inch of free space left, positioned and ready to fight.
The vampires in the front lines closest to us acknowledged our group with affirming glances, jaws dropping when they noticed the woman at Gavin’s side. A few did double takes before turning their attention to Samira. The bulkiest one, front and center of the main formation, crept forward a step to whisper to Gavin.
“Care to tell us what’s going on, Gav?”
“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you, Dominique.”
“Fill us in, boss.”
“Change of plans, everyone,” Gavin raised his voice and stepped forward to address them all. “I believe Samira here has just agreed to join us. We are to destroy Gérard instead, if we wish to break the curse. Samira cannot break it, so he’s our new target.”
The resistance erupted into a wildfire of chatter, Audrey and I wincing at the reaction.
“Silence!” Samira finally spoke, using her magic to send a vicious gust of wind through the room. “There will be
silence
in my castle! You might have come here to destroy me, my pets, but this is still my home, and believe it or not, I still have power here.” Her eyes widened and she lifted her train so she could float down to meet us. “Do remember I know more about your
magic
than you do, my children. This spell of yours will not last long, so I suggest you act quickly and wisely. Time is of the essence.”
“Is it true, Gavin? How can you possibly trust her?” Dominique asked, his gaze directed at Samira.
“Yes, it’s true. We can’t overthrow her without going through Gérard. But we have something she wants. Something she’s wanted for a long time. She’ll comply, and maybe we can all come out of this alive.”
“How can you do this, my son?” Gavin’s mother reached for him, pulled his chin around to stare at him. “She murdered your father! In cold blood, my love. In front of me.”
He palmed her cheek gently, his eyes turning to mush at the sight of her pain before pulling away to face Samira. “Samira, you kept my mother alive and kept her here as your servant for a reason. Because you wanted another mother around, one who’d lost her son. You wanted her to hurt as you did. And maybe, just maybe, underneath your callused heart, you also sympathized for her. You wanted to live through her hope, hope that she’d maybe see her son again someday.”
“I had forgotten you read desires, Mr. Devereaux. My magic conceals them, you know. So I suggest you stop trying to penetrate them.” Her Russian accent was cold but soft as she locked gazes with him.
“My power can’t read your desires, Samira. But as a son, and as someone who was once human, I can.”
“Your mother is right, you know. I murdered your father in cold blood, right before her very eyes, right where you stand. Destroying Gérard means giving me freedom. Surely you will destroy me anyway, no doubt.”
“I’ll leave that decision up to Arianna.”
The resistance stood still and attentive, glancing around at each other. Gavin caught the confusion in their exchanges. “Arianna is Samira’s daughter. She came to live with my family and me many years ago. She isn’t my sister, not by blood. And we won’t give her Arianna’s location until we get what we want, is that clear?”
Gasps and murmurs broke out from his admission, a wave of whispers rushing through the crowds of vampires. Until Samira silenced them.
“I want to see my daughter.” Her voice quieted the room. “Make no mistake, I will end Gavin’s mother’s life without hesitation.”
She stepped closer to the resistance’s front line, her wicked grin reappearing as she threatened them. “I will send forces into your world to kill everyone you’ve ever loved, if need be. If you think you’ve trapped me and I’ve no say in this whatsoever, you will be sorely disappointed. I have my own motives for joining you, which do not include the silly notion of you all
gaining your freedom
, and you would be wise to keep that in mind.”
She swept her train in a circle and paced, meeting them with her sinister gaze, the maternal compassion I’d noticed early fading from her face. “I do not join you because I have forfeited. I shall never bow to you lowly fools. Remember these words.”
Turning on her heel to face Gavin, she let out one long breath. “Now, Mr. Devereaux. About my daughter. I wish to see her at once.”
“Is that so?” Arianna’s breezy voice echoed from the entryway. I gasped, peeking over the heads of the other vampires, searching for her long golden locks and angelic face. Marie appeared with her, following from behind. I glanced at the others. All our faces said the same thing:
What is she doing here? She’s not supposed to be here. This will ruin everything.
Samira’s horror emanated from her evil countenance so strongly, I felt I could reach out and grasp the projections of her distress between my fingers.
Stunned, the resistance’s formations split into two, carving a pathway for Arianna as she strolled on through with Marie. When her face appeared in the crowd, Gavin’s surprise mimicked my own, and his head slumped in disbelief.
What is she thinking, showing up like this?
She turned to face Gavin and our little group, her eyes wide when she spotted me and Gavin’s mother.
“What have you
done,
Mother?
What, it wasn’t enough you killed his father? You kept his mother from him and took his love, too? And turned her?”
Enhanced strength was suddenly of no use to me; I felt my knees try to give way when I saw Samira’s eyes fill with tears. She didn’t blink, didn’t move, just stared at her daughter in awe, paying Marie no attention.
“Arianna, I—”
“Save it, Mother. Would you care to tell me about Joel as well? What was that promise you made me, the last time I saw you?” She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.
Samira tightened her fists at her sides, looked down.
“Ah, yes, now I remember.” Arianna cleared her throat and adopted a mock Russian accent. “‘Contrary to what you believe, I’d never harm the one you love.’ Something like that, yes?” She pulled out her silver dagger and sliced it clear across the room, chucking it into Samira’s throne chair. It lodged in the velvet with a thud. “Too bad you allowed your monsters to tear him limb from limb!” she screamed, her shoulders shaking.
Marie, hearing that the woman she served had caused her son’s death, toppled over to one side in silent devastation. The vampires next to her caught her before she met the ground.
“Ari,” Gavin whispered. “Arianna, I—”
“Don’t!” She shot her hand up, tears streaming down her face. “I understand what you are trying to do, Gavin. And by the looks of it, you probably have good reason for wanting to go after my father now. He’ll have to answer for all he’s done.” She faced the resistance, putting her back to Samira. “But we will go through with our original plan, and we
will
destroy my mother. She killed Joel, and she destroyed Gavin’s family. Not to mention the unspeakable horror she’s allowed to happen here in exile—”
“She can’t be killed, sis.”
With a gasp, Arianna whirled around to face him, bewilderment on her face.
Gavin spoke quickly. “Not unless we destroy your father first. She’s protected by his magic—a security measure for his power source. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”
“How do you know she isn’t lying to you? That’s what she does Gavin, you know this.” She gestured to his mother, then to Samira. “The uprisings from the last war nearly killed her when she practically wiped out the city. She can be killed, I know she can.”
“I don’t know for sure. But she handed over my mother, and she wants you back.”
“Well, I say we take our chances and try anyway.” She turned to glare at Samira, a hungry malice dressing her face. “And if we can’t, we will set everyone free anyway and leave her here to rot. Let my father deal with her. When she’s destroyed, our curse will be broken.”
“The curse will not be broken as long as he exists, my child.”
Though I didn’t think it possible, Samira’s voice sounded not like her own, but of someone frail and shaken. “What you speak of,” she continued in a stronger voice, “the last time my kingdom was almost overthrown … I was never in danger of being destroyed. Those are stories, speculation over the centuries. My only real danger then was your father, when he came to clean up the mess. He is the author. He holds that power. It all began with him, it all ends with him. I am merely a gatekeeper, given the power to change immortals to human, to admit them into exile to feed his power. I have no need to lie about this.” She shook her head. “Not this.”
Arianna walked over to Gavin, her anger emanating so strongly it almost knocked me down. “Okay, brother. Enlighten me.”
“We need to return to Vivienne,” he said, “she might be able to help us figure this out. We don’t have much time. Scarlet’s turned against us, and it won’t be long before word spreads to Gérard of our plans here. It’s a miracle he hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Scarlet.” Arianna rubbed her temple, hissing. “That sneaky little …”
“Please, Arianna, focus. Let’s do this. This might be the only way.”
Along with the others, I waited in silence that nearly choked in its viscidity. What seemed hours passed before she replied, and when she at last did, I felt one weight lift and another take its place. The past three months had formed an elusive, toxic concoction, one that stirred until it bubbled up and over, all around us. We were left to repair the damage and make sense of it, to somehow teach ourselves to be immune to its vileness and forge on in spite of its effects. I looked around the room, at everyone who inhabited the space, person and monster, slave and master, aware we were in the madness together, swirling around in the same mess, all out to get something, a piece of our own pie. But I knew that in the midst of that noxious stew, coming to terms with our poisons was only the beginning.
Ever forward,
Cecile’s voice replayed in my mind.
Ever forward.
“When do we begin?” Arianna asked.
“Right now.” Gavin replied, voice stern, jaw set, stance ready.
EPILOGUE
The warm Louisiana breeze sent balmy gusts around the driveway and the Spanish moss rustled in the wind, the sounds defined and eerie. Aside from the whispers of the elements, the air was deathly quiet. I’d been here before.
This is a dream. Just a dream.
When did I fall asleep? Why couldn’t I wake up?
Once again, no one was around and everything felt stale and somber. I stood in front of Gavin’s plantation home, with the same strange urge to reach into my jeans pocket to retrieve the skeleton key. I surveyed the yard once more before dashing inside to run up the exhausting flight of stairs. I knew what was next. My journey to the second floor.
Making my way from doorknob to doorknob, I attempted to unlock each door with the key. Then I remembered. This trick skeleton key only worked on one door in the house. I reached the end of the hall and turned the key until that doorknob clicked, pushed the door back and let it swing open as I had the last time I’d had this dream, watching intently as it revealed Gavin’s mother’s room.
The faint, familiar perfume scent filled my nostrils, and the sliver of sunshine beaming through the drapes warmed my skin as I drew closer to the bedside. I reached around my throat to feel the necklace, knowing I’d only find bare skin. Closing my eyes, I hovered over the bed and traced the pillow with my fingers, searching, searching …
“There!” I sprang forward, shaking my head, to find myself in the passenger seat, Gavin gripping the steering wheel as he drove. We were driving out of the Breaux Bridge area, the familiar sugarcane fields passing by as we headed toward the interstate exchange.