My throbbing head woke me up and I could immediately tell I wasn’t in Anfanasia’s room back at the White House. I stiffened in the chair, freezing when I felt my bindings. I could feel the chilly smoothness of silver against my skin where the chain held me upright in the chair and prevented any movement. The chair’s coldness told me it was made of metal and when my feet skimmed across the ground I could feel where it was bolted into the floor. I looked around the room, taking in the darkness but seeing through it and viewing plain walls and a single, heavy metal door. Then I shook my hair back and looked down at the chains. They were perfect, flawless, and sparkly clean. U squirmed in them experimentally but they only gave enough to allow me breathing room. A light bulb flickered over my head.
I called up Anfanasia’s memories. She had once gotten us out of a locked room. I knew it was a spell. Breathing in deeply, I started to sing. My voice, though soft, wove a powerful and unbearably sweet melody. I sang about treasures hidden behind locks and the glory of a new discovery behind a locked door. The locks holding together the silver chains clicked open and the bolts on the door and chair came out while the door unlocked. The door fell to the ground with a violent clang. I wiggled my way out of the loose chains and walked through the door with a victorious smile.
Immediately fangs sprang up around me. With a disdainful snort I threw my hands out. The flames lowered to little flickers that lapped at my ankles. I stepped over them easily and continued on. I ran into a wall of ice next. Pausing, I bit my lip and thought for a second. Then I manipulated the heat in the air so the ice melted into a huge puddle of water. My next obstacle was a huge chasm I navigated by changing the airflow to support me as I walked across. I was glad I had Anfanasia’s powers I would never have been able to make any of it. By then I knew what was coming next- or I thought I did. The very last room- solid walls except for the door I had come through- was almost exactly like the first.
There were two chairs tied back to back. This time the bonds were simple thick rope and there were hoods over their heads. Judging by the size and shape of the first person, the figure was a guy. He was bulky and had tan skin. The other person was tied the same way as him. They were delicate and petite, a she. And though there was a hood over her head too I could see golden ringlets spilling over her shoulders.
“Lunnette!” I gasped. Both of them stiffened, straining against their ropes. I noticed what they had felt only seconds later, the rush of air sweeping past me. The wall behind me had lost its dark sheen and opened up to us. It was a one-way mirror, now just a window. Behind it sat a group of people, but three people on ornate thrones sat at the front and were obviously their leaders.
They were Les Guerriers De Mort, the elite three that would have controlled the court while a new leader was found.
“Show us the Royal Crest.” the one in the middle slid back her hood and flashed me a smile. She had long brown hair and red eyes that were just starting to lighten. She had been my hand maiden once upon a time. Her name was Ansa. I had weaseled her into the lead space of Les Guerriers De Mort the last time I had disappeared.
I looked down to see myself in the same silky nightgown I had slid into before collapsing last night. Though most of my skin was bared to them, I couldn’t find the energy to be embarrassed. I lifted my left wrist so they could see it and notice the faint, pulsing glow that came from the crest. Ansa’s expression was priceless, pure rapture.
“Right. So now what?” I asked, lowering my hand.
“Take one and kill one.” the figure to Ansa’s left removed his hood. He had copper hair and bright red eyes. He was shorter than even Lunnette and anorexic thin.
“Zacariah. What?” I gave him a respectful nod before spreading my hands out, confused.
“There are two humans behind you. Kill one of them and turn the other.” he reiterated coldly. There was a frenzied thrashing behind me and I turned back to the humans in question. I strode forward and snatched the hoods from their heads. Steve was the boy but at this point nothing could shock me.
“I’m going to take this out of your mouth but you have to promise not to scream.” I pointed to his gag while I removed Lunnette’s. Steve nodded frantically and I pulled the gag out, clapping a hand over his mouth when he opened it to scream.
“Nobody will hear the human’s screams.” Ansa informed me, pulling on a flawless French braid.
“I know. But my ears are still tender from the battle last night. And I’m a little hung over from the glut of blood.” I lied. Truthfully I felt better than ever. Glaring at Steve I slowly removed my hand from his mouth. This time he was silent and just watched me with wide, fearful eyes.
“Shadow, just do it.” Lunnette’s voice rang out. I tuned to her. She stared back with a stiff spine and fire in her eyes. I remembered that I had told her- could it really only have been three days ago?- had promised her I would change her. It looked like right then was good enough.
“You’re first.” I told Steve. Then I drove my fangs into his throat and drained him dry as quickly and painlessly as I could. Then I turned to Lunnette. She had her eyes closed tight and her fists were tight. I put a hand on her cheek then gently swept her hair out of the way. She tipped her head back for me. I bit her more gently and in a different place, not meaning to kill her completely. I saw that dreamy smile form on her face and knew I looked equally high. Her blood was full of the power that had faded from me. It filled me again. Finally I felt her breathing stutter, almost halting. Lunnette’s heart struggled to manage even the faint, flutter beat it was maintaining.
Then I moved my lips from her throat. I liked the little wound so it would heal faster before wiping the blood off my mouth. I could feel the eyes of all the others but I ignored them, taking a manicured fingernail and running it along my wrist. The flesh parted easily and dripped blood. A single drop fell to Lunnette’s skirt before she latched onto the wound.
As it had the only other time I had done it, it hurt. Not a lot, but enough to make me clench my teeth. Lunnette drank in swift, strong pulls. I let her go longer than I had let William, hoping she would be able to drink human blood. While I was doing that, I sliced open her bondings with my other hand and laid her gently on the floor. After five minutes had passed I still wasn’t feeling any weaker. No matter how much she drank, it wasn’t harming me at all. I pulled away anyways, frowning down at my wrist. As I did I saw that the last link of the chain on my crest had finally filled in and was a dazzling yellow, the color of sunlight.
Lunnette coughed and started to seize. I held her down grimly to make sure she wouldn’t slam her head against the chair or hurt herself in any other way. This happened with relatively few changelings, and now I knew why. They had blood other than a human’s. The vampire blood was duking it out with the angel blood as they both tried to become the dominant source of her power. She was surrounded by a silver glow, and so was I. Her angel blood burned through my system. My body absorbed it quickly, drinking in its powers and adding them to mine, changing them. Lunnette stopped moving on the floor. The silver glow around us sank into our bodies. Lunnette’s eyes opened.
Her eyes were like William’s but hers had silver streaks rather than gold. Her skin was darker than mine- hard not to be- but lighter than Ansa’s mocha brown color. She opened her mouth and poked at her teeth with her fingers. They slid out slower than mine did. They were more solid, less delicate than mine. When the bloodlust hit her the silver drained from her eyes.
“Shadow? Am I… like you?” her voice had that same sweet, tentative element but it was crystalline in tone. Lunnette looked surprised by it.
“No.” blood tears were streaming from my eyes.
“Am I like them?” she sat up abruptly, eyes wide.
“Of course not! Your heart beats and you breathe. But you’ll be frozen in time, and I don’t know whether you’ll be able to drink human blood. And your eyes are like William’s but with silver instead of gold.” I told her. She stood up and we faced the others. They looked a little scared now.
“So why exactly are we here?” Lunnette asked Les Guerriers De Mort.
“We needed to test our dear Blood Queen.” the last vampire lowered his hood. I hissed angrily and would’ve run for the glass if Lunnette hadn’t tackled me. She was barely able to hold me.
“Alexander!” I howled, trying to get out from under Lunnette without hurting her. She only let go when I calmed down.
“Hello love.” he smiled at me charmingly and my stomach twisted. His eyes were almost completely transparent now. His blonde hair was long and teased like Jon Bon Jovi’s was back in the eighties. Alexander watched me carefully, tapping his long fingers against the armrest of his throne. Ansa glared at him. Alexander had been chasing after me since I first aged past fourteen. He wanted to be king and that meant he would have to marry me. It didn’t hurt that he had a thing for girls with black hair. To top the cake, even though my heart and mind told me I hated him I still felt strangely attracted to him. Probably just because he looked like Bon Jovi. At least that was what I hoped.
“Screw you Alexander.” I said calmly.
“You wish, sweetheart.” he responded, winking at me. I could feel Lunnette’s anger growing where she stood next to me. It added on to mine. I couldn’t help but realize that pissed had been my main state of mind for almost a whole week. Every time somebody made me mad it added to that never-ending stream of hatred and rage that had been building inside me and festering over the years. It was a little weird to think about.
“In your dreams.” Lunnette spat back at him. Alexander laughed. I put a hand on her shoulder and used her own powers to comfort her. She gave me a little smile and turned back to Les Guerriers De Mort.
“So did I pass?” I asked sarcastically, holding my hands to my chest.
“With flying colors.” Zacariah said.
“Oh my gosh! I passed? Lunnette, I passed!” I fake cheered. Ansa laughed and so did most of the other vampires. Zacariah remained impassive and Alexander tried, but a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
“Yes, yes. Almost.” Alexander fluttered his hand in the air. My grin slid away.
“Almost? What do you mean almost?” I asked, planting my hands on my hips and scowling.
“We do not believe you are fully emotionally committed to your future duties as liege of the vampire Court, especially as you are the Blood Queen and the future leader of Les Guerriers De Mort. We must be assured that you are willing to do anything for the good of the people under your command.” Alexander said, using the common words and inflection of the 1600s or earlier, as most vampires did when conducting formal matters. I refused.
“And how exactly are you going to do that? I hope you’re not expecting me to off myself.” I snorted.
“Of course not. That would defeat the purpose of this exchange. We have not spent so much of our time just to make your final death more thrilling.” Zacariah answered mildly.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“You must kill the man you love. Or boy, rather.” Alexander amended gleefully.
“We have been watching you carefully since you started school in Washington DC. Our surveillance ended two days ago.” Ansa said. On prom night.When? Before or after I got back together with William?
“We have decided upon whom you shall kill, although we have found no evidence of affection directed toward anyone other than Goldilocks here.” Alexander frowned. Lunnette had tuned them out, watching them with the same cold indifference Zacariah showed.
“So tell me who it is already. If I didn’t know any better I’d say I was watching some cheesy M. Night Shamylam supposedly horror movie.” I threw back my head and laughed. Finally Zacariah showed an emotion; he laughed, a rough and kind of enticing sound to be honest. Then he was back to looking blank and indifferent when Ansa turned in her seat to stare at him with amazed eyes.
“It was funny!” he protested. His usual monotone was gone and his voice was expressive and drawing. Judging by the look on Ansa’s face Zacariah wouldn’t be a solitary man- vampire- much longer.
“Yes it was. So can we get on with it now?” Lunnette asked irritably. I hushed her instantly, pushing her behind me.
“Knock it off! You’re a fresh changeling. They can kill you without any reason other than that they don’t like you!” I hissed quietly, knowing they could hear but figuring there was no reason Lunnette needed to know that. Les Guerriers De Mort looked on impassively. When I was quiet for a while, Zacariah spoke.
“Are you done?”
“Yes.”
“Can we continue?”
“Yes.”
“Will you be silent?”
“ Yes.”
“Good. As we were saying, you don’t seem to be in love with anyone. But you have had personal relationships with a member of the male persuasion in recent times. He shall die.”
“Who?” I inquired, knowing I was breaking the rules and cursing under my breath impatiently. William was the only man I had ever had ‘personal relations’ with. Then I remembered. They can’t mean…
“You shall kill Eric Pearson.” Alexander smiled at me. I tried to hide my relieved giddiness, tried to look distraught; a smile slipped through. Then I couldn’t help myself. I broke into uproarious laughter. Les Guerriers De Mort all looked at me like I was crazy. I doubled over, tears forming in my eyes because laughing so hard made my sides hurt. After a few minutes I finally settled down, standing up and scooping the tears out of my eyes the way all girls know how to do to avoid smudging their makeup.
“I don’t understand why you find this task amusing.” Zacariah looked genuinely perplexed. His expression almost set me off again.
“I was just thinking about how alike our plans are.”
“What do you mean?”
“Eric betrayed me last night. He tried to hand me over to Jacob so he could slaughter me like a pig. I owe him back for that. I may not have died, but it’s the thought that counts.”
“Really? Hm. We have a brutal, bloodthirsty queen on our hands, Alexander.”
“I expected nothing less.” Alexander replied, beaming at me with the pride of a lover when his girl reaches her dreams. I scowled at him.
“Great. So can I go now? I obviously have something I need to do.”
“Of course.” Ansa said. The glass raised and a path to the door cleared. I strode toward it smoothly, dragging Lunnette behind me. We had to go through several more doors before we hit the sunlight. I gave a little squeak as it hit my unnaturally widened pupils, blinding me for a moment. My eyes adjusted quickly and I stared around. Somehow they had flown me all the way back to my home in England without ever waking me up. I felt a twinge of regret for Steve’s parents. They would never know their son was murdered because he was taken to another country, and taken there by vampires.
“Wow. Everything looks so different.” Lunnette said, blinking still in the bright sunlight.
“Well of course it does. You’ve never been to England before.” I answered. I tilted my face up to the golden glow of the sun.
“We’re in England?”
“Yep.
“England?”
“Yes.”
“How in the world did we get here?”
“Most likely by plane last night.”
“Why didn’t we wake up?”
“They drugged you. Something normal and human.”
“What did they do to you?”
“Must’ve been a spirit drug. That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“Spirit drug?”
“Affects your energies rather than your body.”
“Oh. So what do we do now?”
“We take a plane home.” I rolled my eyes. Lunnette laughed, flushing.
“So where do we go?”
“To the airport, Lunnette.” I sighed. For such a smart girl she could be so empty-headed sometimes.
“Oh yeah.” she followed me as I led the way. The door opened behind us and a Sunlighter came out, one I recognized.
“Lumen?” I asked. In a dark suit with her blonde hair in a bun she was a far cry from the sweet southern girl I had met in Washington DC.
“Hello Shadow.” her voice was barely more than a whisper.
“What are you doing here?”
“When they called for all the Sunlighters to join the special force meant to kill you, I refused. So I got sent back here to work in admin.”
“Desk job?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Really?”
“No.” we both flinched when she held out her wrists to show the bruised bites.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. So what did they send you out here for?”
“You need a ride. I have the keys to your old car and your private jet is still in its hangar. The pilot will be waiting.” Lumen answered. She dropped a ring of keys into my quickly offered hand. Then she made a quick scrawl on her clipboard. After a sad little wave, she walked away and disappeared into the building again.
And what a building it was. It was an old castle, abandoned by its owners when the vampires showed interest. It was in almost perfect condition. It had seven stories with mostly walled in windows. I knew the third floor belonged to the Sunlighters and a few windows were unblocked. My rooms were up in one of the towers, the whole thing mine. The windows were open and had glass and window shades. Alexander was in one of my rooms, back far enough to watch me and not be burned. He blew me a kiss. I flipped him off in return. I led Lunnette around the building to my adorable little hybrid.
“Wow. A castle, a hybrid, and a private jet. Is there anything you don’t have?” Lunnette joked.
“A dog.” I answered instantly. Sadness overwhelmed me as I thought of William in wolf form playing with his adorable, spotted miniature dachshund. I shook off the memory of tiny paws and nails Samuel hated to trim, turning my attention back to the empty road. We made it to the empty airport in record time even for me. Lunnette ran for Hangar Seven and hauled open the doors. I followed her at a more moderate pace and kept my distance from the Sunlighters who were posted all around the cavernous building. Lunnette flitted through the tiny gap between the doors and was lost from my sight. I was only seconds behind.
“Afternoon Lady Shadow.” a male voice came from behind me. I spun quickly to face him. He had shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes, and a surfer’s build. I flashed back through time again to the first time I met Samuel Kane. It was then that we started our battle of the book quotes. We had never gotten to figure out who would win. I shook myself, reminding myself that my emotions had to remain in check.
“Good afternoon. And you are?” I asked gently.
“Christopher Jones.” he answered.
“Well, Christopher. I assume you’ll be our pilot.”
“Yes ma’am. Where will be headed today?”
“Across the Atlantic to Washington DC, oh-so-amazing capital of the glorious US of freaking A.” I said sourly. I didn’t want to leave. England had been my home for thousands of years and I still hated leaving. New England had been okay until William turned it sour. Now I just longed for green leaves and open skies.
I let Christopher do whatever it was that people did to make planes move and sat down. I was surprised to find a warmed bottle of blood and a stack of those old Charlaine Harris books waiting for me. With a happy sigh I sank back into one of the recliners. I cracked open the old book and breathed in that slightly musty smell of a well-loved book. I sipped from my bottle and buried my nose in the book, reading it again for the first time in quite a few years. I was glad there was a stack of them as I raced through them, smiling as I finished each one. With each page my eyelids sank lower. Finally I fell asleep with a book in one hand, a bottle in the other, and Lunnette curled up on the seat next to me.
* * * * * * *
“Shadow, sweetie. Wake up, honey.” it was William’s voice in my ears, his warm hands on my bare shoulders. I tried to scramble backwards but was blocked by the previously loving back of the chair that had turned into an brick wall preventing my progress.
“What the hell do you want?” I asked angrily, shoving him away so I could get up. He looked ready to cry as I darted out the door, determined to avoid the fight that was sure to come if we stopped to talk.
“Shadow.” William clamped a hand around my arm as we reached the door of the hangar my plane now rested in. I was yanked to a stop. Turning to face him, I was surprised by the genuine tears and fear in his eyes. I noticed he was holding me by my right arm, the one that hadn’t cut and burned somebody.
“What?” I snarled and tried to pull away. His grip tightened.
“Just hear me out.” he begged. The black mist was slowly creeping out. I knew black was leaking into my eyes as well, making them a yin yang mix of silver and black as I tried to control my powers.
“And why should I do that? Don’t say because I love you, because you’re my husband, because I should trust you. That’s not going to work. We made a blood promise that we would never make another one of us unless we were forced to.”
“Then how do you explain Lunnette?”
“You idiot! I was kidnapped by Les Guerriers De Mort last night. They were testing me to see if I was ready to be queen. They had taken Steve and Lunnette. It was either her or him. But if you don’t like it you’re welcome to take it up with them.”
“Why are you acting like this, Shadow? A day ago I was the best thing that ever happened to you and now you treat me like I’m the bane of your existence!”
“You need to reduce that giant ego of yours. The best thing that ever happened to me? You killed him last May.”
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that.” William hissed. His face was too close to mine. I reached backwards and felt for something to use as a weapon. There! My hand closed around a metal pole. I wrenched myself away from William, set my stance, and swung the steel pipe with twice the force and twice the brutal intense of a star hitter. It hit William’s head with a sickening thunk. With rage clouding my mind, both for reasons known and unknown, I beat him bloody while he struggled feebly to fight back. Then I dropped the pipe and left, glad Lunnette was already done. Where exactly she had gone… well, that I didn’t know. My phone buzzed in my pocket.
“Hello?” I asked cautiously.
“Shadow?”
“Lunnette! Where are you?”
“At the White House. I have Eric. Hurry up.” the phone clicked off and left behind a flat buzzing dial tone. I stared down at it, scowling, then ran out to where my red and blue Ferrari was parked and waiting for me.
* * * * * * *
I pulled up to the White House twenty minutes later. It was bustling with activity. The president’s people were searching for his son. My old people were searching for me- no doubt someone had already found Anfanasia dead. They wanted to find the rest of us. Apparently Agent Lovell hadn’t shown them the tapes yet. My last words on the tape had been a warning; anybody who came after me would die. My phone vibrated again.
“The house is crawling with people.” I told her.
“I know that. We got out. I have him out in a pretty little clearing out in the woods with a big pond. You know the place, right?”
“I know it.” I answered grimly. My phone snapped shut first. I ditched my slippers and headed into the woods. Even though I was running faster than any human could I never tripped, never stumbled. I burst into the clearing breathing lightly and evenly.
Eric was tied to a tree. The rope was knotted expertly and made of synthetic materials that wouldn’t burn. He was only in jeans and burn marks showed on his chest. There was a sock jammed into his mouth and duct tape over his mouth to keep him from spitting it out. His brown hair was damp with sweat. Eric stared at me, pleading with stormy gray eyes. His nostrils flared as he strained to breathe. Lunnette held a knife to his throat, but she stepped away and tossed it to me when I came closer. I sliced away Eric’s bindings and tore the gag from his mouth. He coughed and gagged, standing up shakily. There were red marks where the rope had been.
“Thank you. She’s gone crazy.” he wheezed. He took one of my hands in his and smiled at me. I watched him grovel scornfully.
“What makes you think I’m freeing you?” I asked and took my hand back. I could see my reflection in his frightened eyes.
“But you cut me free.”
“But you cut me free.” I repeated sarcastically, matching his voice exactly.
“Why?”
“You betrayed me. Twice!”
“What are you talking about?”
“First, you cheated on me with Alicia. Then you tried to give me over to Jacob and his hell-bitten Sunlighters.”
“I loved Alicia!”
“And that’s understandable, two materialistic idiots. I loved Sa… William. But you turned me over to them for execution.”
“You…” he muttered the rest, barely audible.
“Speak up!”
“You murdered her! You killed the girl I loved. Then you pretended to be her and you tricked me!”
“I killed her because she asked me to. I’ve told people this recently… not you. Anyways, she had cancer you idiot. She didn’t want to die that way. She knew I could make her death pleasant. And I did. Alicia’s last request was, and I quote- ‘Tomorrow he’ll ditch school again, without you. He’ll go to my house. Meet him there as me.’”
“She couldn’t, she wouldn’t have told!”
“I guess you didn’t know her that well then, did you?” I spat. Men like him sucked. Womanizers, cheaters, dogs who couldn’t stay in their own yards. They were the kind of men I had once killed without a thought. Tears streamed from Eric’s face as he realized he was finally getting what had been coming for a long time. In modern slang, karma is a bitch.
“So what happens now?” he asked, tone low and defeated. Lunnette was standing behind me. When I crouched down and buried the knife in the dirt at my feet she made a little gasping sound, surprised. I ignored her and prowled forward, loving the sound of Eric’s heart beating faster. I could smell his fear, but the scent of his blood no longer intoxicated me. So I was perfectly lucid when I flashed him one final sweet smile.
“Happy birthday, Eric.” I said. Then I twisted my hands into his hair, forcing his head to the side, and sought sweet relief in the gush of his blood as I tore a gaping wound in the eighteen-year-old’s neck.
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