“Agent Lovell.” I held my hand out to him. We were in the lobby in the private section reserved for celebrities and rich people.
“Shadow? What the-” he started. I shushed him with a quick glare.
“You’ll know in due time. I’m going to give you the short story. You’ll need to type it down for a report. I’ll be going missing at the end of this mission. I’m going to disappear into the night as if I never existed. Lunnette and William are coming with me.” I told him quickly, wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible.
“Is a tape recorder okay, so I can type it up word for word later?”
“Yes. Turn it on.” I waited until he did so, waited for him to tell me when I could start telling my story.
“Shadow Viguié, code green. Identity Rose Sanford. ID number 10272004. This is the recorded account of the events of the past week and a half from the perspective of the leader of the Black Roses. You may begin.” Agent Lovell dictated. He set the recorder gently on the table between us.
“Right. Here’s what you need to know.” I spun my tale in just over two hours. When I was done I stopped the little machine and looked at Agent Lovell. He was watching me the way a child watches a tiger in the zoo. They know it’s in a cage and can’t touch them but they can’t help the instinctual fear that makes their blood pump faster and adrenaline rush through their veins and makes the whole thing just that much more entertaining.
“Interesting.” he finally said. “You say you can change appearance now? Mind if I videotape it?”
“No. Go ahead.” I agreed, knowing the evidence of my existence would disappear only days after I did. He switched out the tape recorder for a hand-held video camera. He pressed the button and pointed the lens at me.
“For more information about these proceedings please refer to tapes one through three of agent 10272004 with ID Rose Sanford real name Shadow Viguié. This is going to blow your minds. Take it away Shadow.” he finished talking, his severe façade breaking into a proud grin. I let the black mist pour out. The colors flashed within it like lightning, the same way they did in my hair. I could see my image in the view screen Agent Lovell had turned toward me. My eyes clouded and darkened, turning black again. My lips twitched into a smile. I thought for a few moments, trying to decide who to be. My gaze caught on the pretty girl at the counter.
She had dirty blonde hair cut in a silky bob, with natural lighter blonde highlights and artificial blue streaks. Her eyes were wide and wistful, a light purple-blue. She had fair skin and long, slender fingers, There was a callus on her right middle finger, the kind you find on writers who prefer to capture their thoughts with a pencil and paper. She glowed with a vibrancy and simple happiness most people refused to find even when the chance for true joy popped up right in front of them. She was bursting with energy, a hazy blue aura showing that she could see the good in everything. Her smile when she caught a boy staring at her was sweet and shy. She flushed a pretty pale pink and her dark eyes swept against her cheeks as she looked down. In seconds, I was her.
“There you have it. Could you please transform back Shadow?” Agent Lovell requested.
“My pleasure.” though I hadn’t heard her speak my voice came out sweet with a touch of a southern twang. I smiled a little then directed the black mist to mask me as it changed me back into myself. I felt a little woozy and had to gesture William forwards when it was done- he had my bag of bottles. I only had to drink one before I felt better.
“This concludes our session.” Agent Lovell said. He switched off the video camera.
“Are we finished now?” I asked, standing up carefully in honor of my dress.
“Yes. Of course. See you… well, never, I guess.” Agent Lovell smiled sadly. I gave him a small smile in return, calming the heat of my anger for a moment. I pulled him close and hugged him tightly. Surprised, he wrapped his arms around me and returned the hug fiercely.
“I’ll miss you.” I said quietly. I let go and backed away quickly.
“Ready to go? We’ve got ten minutes. We can just make it if you drive.” Lunnette said. I sighed. She nodded at Agent Lovell before leaving to get the car. I waved at Agent Lovell one last time, then walked away. As I left I heard his final words to me, so quiet only I could hear them.
“I’ll miss you too. I already do.”
* * * * * * *
“God. I will never get used to that.” Lunnette said as she stumbled out of the car. Her face had turned slightly green and not with envy. I tried to smile but it came out as a grimace. The fire that burned within me was so distracting. It took me a moment to realize William had said something to me.
“Sorry. Mind bunnies.” I said, absently quoting a book like I used to, when I had someone who could name them.
“Raised By Wolves.” William raised an eyebrow at me, like he knew exactly why I had read that book once upon a time.
“Have I turned you into a bookworm?”
“Never!”
“Are you sure about that?”
“…Yes?”
A single narrow-eyed glance.
“No. Maybe.”
“It’ll be easier for everyone if you just admit it.” I said, placing my hands on my hips and cocking my head.
“Right! Enough arguing. If anybody didn’t know you were married they’d be able to tell by your incessant bickering!” Lunnette interrupted us impatiently.
“You’re right. As I was saying, we know Jacob is here. I can smell at least thirty Sunlighters, maybe more.” William said.
“Thirty-six.”
“What?
“There’s thirty-six of them.” I repeated the number slowly for him, sniffing at the air delicately.
“Okay. There’s also a bunch of humans, us, and Lunnette. But there’s one scent I can’t identify.” William breathed in carefully, tasting the air. I followed his example, testing the air for anything out of place. Memories that weren’t quite right assaulted me. When they proved to be unreachable, my anger and frustration grew.
“I can’t identify it either.” I told him a half-truth. I knew it, I just couldn’t place it. The scent teased me, flitting at the edges of my memories but always staying just out of reach. It smelled almost woodsy, like… a werewolf. I shook my head furiously. The only werewolf I had ever know was dead.
“All seniors please report for arrangement.” one of the teachers said through the microphone.
“Go, go!” William said, giving us a gentle push toward the front of the school, which was hidden behind the curtain they had hung from the stage. I didn’t have to look back to know that he went to find himself a seat in the crowded rows of metal folding chairs arrayed on the lawns. I knew he’d get one too. All he had to do was blink those flashy black eyes at a soccer mom and her seat was his.
“Okay. Let’s go, Miss Hawthorne.” I teased, ruffling Lunnette’s perfect hair affectionately. She scowled at me and shook her head so it would fall back into place, a habit she had picked up from me.
“Whatever. Come on.” she lead the way, spirited off by cheerleaders who gave me a quick, startled look before moving on. I followed her more slowly, trying not to laugh as everybody stopped for a double take and the trademark shocked glance when they saw my silver eyes and the colored streaks in my hair. Not to mention my overly formal gown when most of the rest of them were in skirts and button-downs, but they were mostly used to that by then. Agent Downham hurried over to me. He looked at me with critical eyes.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
“I-” I prepared to lie but he waved it off.
“Forget it. I’m pretty sure I don’t actually want to know. Follow me.” he lead the way to where all the teachers and the principal were gathered, giving the lineup one more look-over.
“Ah, Miss.. Sanford. It’s nice to finally meet you.” the principal said, shaking my hand vigorously. She smiled at me with too-white teeth and shook her died-blonde hair, crossing her arms to draw attention to her boob job. I watched her with cold eyes until she looked away.
“Nice to meet you too.” I responded. The vice principal noticed our stand-off and came over to release the tension. He was much more genuine with soft brown hair and eyes; he was even slightly overweight. My anger grew, though, because it had no place to go. I was barely able to be polite, my smile strained as he shook my hand as well.
“This way Miss Sanford. As soon as the cheerleaders are done with their performance at eight we’ll get everybody ready to go. Then we’ll make all the announcements and get the boring stuff out of the way. Principal McCrailie will announce your name, and applaud. You walk out all stunning and beautiful and make your speech. Assuming nothing goes wrong, we’ll then proceed to give diplomas to the rest of the students.” the vice principal rattled it off. I could tell how frustrated he was having to explain it because I hadn’t been going to shool the whole year and I had missed all the practices.
“Okay. How in the world did I get to be valedictorian anyways?” I wondered. The vice principal smiled at me. He must have been wondering the same thing. Agent Downham answered my question.
“Everybody kept backing out. They all wanted you to be valedictorian. Eventually we just picked you.”
“How many students passed on it?”
“One hundred and thirty-nine.” Out of one hundred and forty was the unspoken finish. All of the senior population but me.
“Wow. That’s a lot of students.” the vice principal said, eyeing me with a new appreciation.
“Come on Rose. It’s almost time.” Eric was right beside me, like he had materialized from thin air. I could hear the shouting as the cheerleaders finished their routine. They came running back, heading for the school to change back into their graduation outfits. Lunnette was the first out, shooting me a smile. It was eight and fully dark by then, big floodlights lighting up the lawns. Jacob would make his move soon. I smiled with anticipation.
“Okay.” I let him pull me toward left stage, the stage being the bigh platform that had been set up. The principal went onstage. She tapped the microphone and waited more than five minutes for the excited crowd to settle down.
“Let’s have one more generous round of applause for our wonderful cheerleaders and their amazing routine!”
“Ugh, way too school spirit.” I groaned. Eric smiled at me then went back to scanning through the crowd with a little frown on his face. I suffered through the principal’s long-winded ‘aspirational speech. She told us to anticipate our futures and ‘spread our wings and fly!’
“And now please give a hearty welcome to this year’s witty valedictorian, the beautiful Rose Sanford!” huge applause. There was a sharp intake of collective breath as I went onstage. After a quick bow I took the microphone from the principal.
“Thank you. Please shut up now.” I said pleasantly. They were quiet almost immediately. “Well hi there. Quick round of applause for our oh—so-wonderful principal and her overuse of adjectives. All right, that’s enough. So I don’t really know what to say now that Mrs. McCrailie used up all the graduation clichés, but I have a feeling that this year’s graduation is going to be very exciting.” Then, feeling very Lestat in the Queen of the Damned (the movie, not the book), I said:
“But to those of you who are here for me… Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
There was a rustling as all the Sunlighters stood up, scattered in strategic places throughout the audience. Jacob was in the front row, smack dab in the middle. The Sunlighters were dressed all in black. Jacob himself was dressed in rich reds. William had been right. Jacob’s eyes were a dark ruddy brown.
“Well, well, well. The school valedictorian eh, Shadow? Congratulations.” Jacob clapped his hands slowly.
“Oh piss off Jacob.” I responded calmly, rage boiling just below the surface. I reached for the catch in the back of my altered dress. It gave way easily and most of the bottom of my dress fell away. I was left with light, flexible, loose material that went to my knees and allowed for free and easy movement. Jacob looked startled for a moment.
“I always knew you were the resourceful type, princess. So you know your deadline was up at four this afternoon, correct?” he picked at his perfect nails.
“Oh, trust me, I know.”
“Do you have an answer for me?”
“Yes.”
“So what is it?”
“Yes, you nimwad!” I responded angrily.
“Well then… wait, what did you just say?”
“I said yes. Ever hear of the Blood Queen?”
“Of course.” he said, rolling his eyes. I flashed him a devilish smile and peeled off my gloves. The Royal Crest was glowing brightly with an almost blinding light.
“I am the Blood Queen.” there was a burst of light from the crest then nothing but the faintest of glows. I raised my wrist for them all to see, taking note of the fact that the black mist had formed a complete second skin from my fingertips to my elbow.
“No!” William shouted. In a flash he was on the platform next to me with scared and pleading eyes. “You said yourself it wasn’t true.”
“I was wrong.”
“How long have you known?”
“I’ve known since the moment Anfanasia’s blood touched my lips. Cam knew and she told Anfanasia. Now I have to deal with it.” I told him. All the humans- parents, family, friends, and the students themselves- stared at us with wide eyes. That was when I noticed Jacob. He was speaking into a little walkie-talkie urgently, voice too soft for me to hear over the rest of the noise.
“I’m not at all sorry about this Shadow.” Eric said. He wrenched my arms behind my back. The Sunlighters were suddenly bristling with weapons that could hurt me; bows and arrows, wood-tipped spears, and long, sturdy stakes. A choked groan sounded from William’s direction. My anger grew to its breaking point. Did they really think they could kill me? Something inside me broke and power came gushing out of me. My body was immediately surrounded by black mist and encased in flames that scorched Eric but left me unharmed. Eric yelped and hurtled back. William took him down with a clean uppercut that knocked him out. Our excited, feral grins were complementary as the bloodlust took him and my anger swept me up.
“Well, fire!” Jacob shouted at the Sunlighters, exasperated. A barrage of arrows made its way towards us. I stepped in front of William, laughing as the arrows burnt into ash before they could reach me. There was a moment of complete inactivity. The humans had already fled, running to cars that made horrible screeching noises as they pulled away at top speed. We stared across a few feet of empty space. Then one of the Sunlighters went down. I watched peaceful, delicate Lunnette plunge my knife into the other girl’s back. Once the girl stopped moving Lunnette stood up and shook back that long mane of golden blonde hair.
“What are you waiting for?” she looked like a member of the Fae, feet planted apart and hands on her hips with bright gold and defiant eyes.
“Absolutely nothing.” I answered gleefully. I closed my eyes and concentrated. There was soon a heavy weight in each of my hands. I opened my eyes to see the two long, gleaming swords in my hands. They looked exactly like the swords in my crest. In fact they were. I looked down and the swords were missing, as well as the fire. The swords themselves were alight with dark red, almost black flames. A wicked smile replaced my scornful smirk. I held my hand out palm up and curled in my fingers, the universal sign for ‘bring it on’. Lunnette pounced on another Sunlighter and we all burst into action.
I sliced my way through the Sunlighters, pausing to drain every one I killed. My beautiful white dress was soon covered with blood spatter, grass stains, and smears of mud. One of the Sunlighters rushed me. I snapped up a somehow bare foot and gave him a solid roundhouse kick to the head. It snapped his neck cleanly. Roaring with rage and spinning toward me with spear raised was his partner. I plucked the spear out of his hand and was on him right after. My fangs drove into his neck mercilessly and his blood flowed into my body in a thick, steady stream. I dropped him and let the last few drops of precious blood spill to the ground. I stood slowly and surveyed the makeshift battleground with expert eyes.
All the Sunlighters were dead. I could tell immediately who had killed them just by first glance. The ones that I had killed had deep slashes, missing body parts, and torn and bloody throats. Lunnette’s kills, only three, had neat little wounds in their chests just over their hearts. The Sunlighters William had killed- another four- had little puncture wounds in their necks but they had bled out because drinking their blood would have made him sick. I had killed the other twenty-nine and it left me with a lethal, ecstatic satisfaction. The only member of the tiny army that was still alive was Jacob. Lunnette and William started to move toward him. With a gesture of my hands, a strong but persistent wind pushed them away.
“He’s mine.” I growled, voice cool but heavy with anger. When they made a move toward us again I flung my hands out away from my body. A ring of fire formed around me and Jacob, high and hot enough to keep out William and Lunnette but low enough to allow them to see the fight.
“Shadow!” Lunnette cried desperately. William had to hold her back as she rushed at the flames.
“Shadow! Oh, Shadow!” Jacob mocked in a high voice. He laughed, a dark sound that spoke of his madness and his willingness to do anything for power.
“Would you like to surrender now Jacob? You’re welcome to it. Though I will admit I am eager to see that tainted blood of yours spilling into the soil.” I said happily, spinning one of the heavy swords in a circle with my agile fingers.
“You wish it was that easy.”
“No, Jacob, I wish you would get a clue! Do you really think you have any chance of beating me? Look at those chubby arms and flabby thighs. Not to mention those horrible brown eyes.” I taunted him. A wordless scream came from Jacob as he rushed me. I let one of my swords dissolve so I had a free hand. Using Jacob’s momentum against him I spun him around and kicked him in the butt, sending him sprawling face first into the muddy, bloody ground. He was on his feet again quickly, bouncing on his toes. I laughed at him, an eerie and supernaturally perfect sound. The other sword was absorbed back into my crest and I put my hands up like a boxer.
I wasn’t a boxer though- I was a street fighter. While I distracted him with my hands my left foot flashed out, sweeping his feet out from underneath him. Catching himself at the last second, he moved awkwardly with his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out how to best me. He tried for a left hook but I blocked him easily, slowly. Then I landed a solid hit to his collar bone. Snap! I had broken the bone. Jacob’s eyes widened.
“Ready to give up yet?” I questioned.
“Never.” he snarled back, his collarbone healing quickly as all injuries did. The next few minutes were a flurry of Jacob’s failed attempts at attacks and my clean, languid retaliation. William and Lunnette cheered wildly whenever I blocked Jacob or hit him- they were pretty much cheering nonstop. I felt Jacob starting to wear down but I was just getting started. Scooping up a stake from where a Sunlighter had dropped it and tossing it from hand to hand, I watched Jacob panting. I lashed out with the stake, leaving a huge wound in his usually rock hard skin. Blood dripped from it steadily.
“Hm. Your blood is actually red. Very interesting. Are you old enough yet for wood to be poison? Oh, you are!” Jacob’s panicked expression told me everything I needed to know. “How long will it take you to die this way? Weeks? Months? Years? And all the while it’ll be me you can thank for putting you through the hell you’re about to go through.” Jacob laughed harshly, hacking up blood in the process.
“Hell. You know nothing of hell, Shadow. At least not yet, Blood Queen. When everyone you love starts dying around you, then come talk to me. When everybody you love is dead then you’ll understand hell.”
“Don’t presume to tell me what I know, Jacob. Do you have any idea how hard it was to be… whatever I am… in a mansion full of bitten vampires? So purist and old-fashioned. It’s no wonder you’re all dying out- or, as Charlaine Harris so aptly described, going to the sun. You’re set in the ways of civilizations in the 1600s and earlier. We need to be able to adjust. Look at me. I’m thousands of years old but I act like a modern teen. Get a little perspective!” I threw my hands in the air and the fire flared up. Lunnette and William made quiet sounds of protest and I lowered my hands quickly.
“You are so blind, Shadow! Do you really think the Court will allow you to change our way of life? For every vampire that dies a new one is made. We’re not losing numbers.”
“No. You’re losing wisdom and power. You think all those pathetic little changelings have any real power? The only changeling who’s ever shown great power when freshly changed was William.”
“That’s exactly my point. Shadow, if you take the throne they’ll use you to make new vampires. They’ll use you up, drain you dry. They don’t want you for your leadership skills. They want you for your blood.”
“No. I don’t believe you. They aren’t the ones who tried to kill me!”
“Who did you think I was talking to? If you had denied the throne, I was supposed to kill you and take William. They didn’t expect you to the Blood Queen. They’re afraid you’re too powerful to control. And there’s no way we can take William while you’re still alive. So our directives, again, are to kill you. Well, my directives. They were right, too. You’re definitely too powerful and strong-willed to control.”
“You think you’re going to take William?” I laughed.
“No. Not anymore. A confidential source told us he gets sick when he drinks human blood. The way William killed the Sunlighters proved that. He’s no use to us. Caleb, on the other hand, he’s almost exactly like a vampire. Except for the whole going out in the sunlight and he was a very powerful new changeling.”
“Caleb… Caleb Beckett? William’s adorable friend? The star pitcher of the Red Sox fifty years ago, who was human?”
“That’s the one.”
“What does he have to do with this. He was human. He’s in his seventies by now.”
“You don’t know? He didn’t tell you? Oh, this is going to be fun.” Jacob rubbed his hands together gleefully.
“Don’t do it Jacob. I swear to God I’ll rip you into pieces with my bare hands!” William shouted. I stood frozen between them.
“He didn’t tell me what?”
“Don’t listen to him Shadow. All he does is lie!”
“What didn’t he tell me Jacob?”
“Shadow!”
“Would you like to tell me then, William?” Nothing. “No, I thought not. So tell me, Jacob. What didn’t he tell me.”
“Couple hundred years ago. William was retiring from the Red Sox for the second time under the name Tristan Kane. Caleb Streicher Beckett, Josh Beckett’s famous great and then some grandson was on his death bed. He had lung cancer, but he never smoked a day in his life. But Caleb had asthma and a chain-smoking step-father with a house chalk full of secondhand smoke. So he got the deadly end of the deal.
“ Anyways, Caleb and William had gotten as close as two guys could get. Naturally William was, shall we say, distraught. They had played together for six years and gone to college together before that- though don’t ask me why William was daft enough to go through college every fifty years. The whole shebang. When William found out about Caleb’s horrible diagnosis he decided to take faith into his own hands. Risking his own life in the process, William changed Caleb.”
“No. That’s not possible.” I shook my head like I could make it go away. If that was the truth, I didn’t want to hear it.
“Oh, but it is. Caleb wants as normal a life as possible. He never shows his powers. He wears contacts. He dates but never marries. He moves between Phoenix, Boston, and D.C. every fifteen years with a new name each time. He’s become a pro at phasing into others’ lives like he was always there.”
“He was born after World War Three. That’s why he didn’t know what a cell phone was.” I shook my head again, sadly this time because I believed. After the nuclear war in WW3 sent technology sent technology back to the 1600s, we’d had to work our way back up to the top. Up until about sixty years ago cell phones had only been available to the rich.
“Shadow.” William said hoarsely.
“No! We promised we would never damn anybody else to this half-cursed crap we have to put up with!” I snapped, turning on him as anger turned my eyes red again.
“I was so lonely Shadow. What did you expect me to do?”
“Not that. You broke a promise far more sacred than our marriage vows William!”
“But I-”
“Shadow, behind you!” Lunnette shrieked. I spun around just as Jacob slammed into me, knocking me into the ground. He was taller than me and almost twice my weight but I was stronger. I flipped him off me and plunged the stake up under his ribs and into his heart. An unearthly cry of pain came from the man beneath me. He dissolved under me slowly until I was kneeling on a pile of ash with a bloody stake in my hands. I felt a hand on my shoulder and sprang up, stake poised in the air. William cringed back.
“Shadow…” he held out his hand again and I backed away, snarling at him with my fangs still out. That eternal sadness was in his eyes again.
“Shadow.” Lunnette had flitted up to me. She rested a hand on my back. I let her powers soak into me, calming and soothing me. My fangs snicked back in and I relaxed by increments.
“Thank you.” I said quietly, stretching. For all that my brain was running on fumes, my body had never been more awake.
“You’re covered in blood.” Lunnette said carefully, rubbing her fingers over the dried blood on my arms to show me.
“Ick. Let’s get back to the house so I can take a shower.” I set off with Lunnette, ignoring William as he followed us. I stopped when Lunnette did, but I didn’t follow her as she turned around to talk to William. Knowing I would be able to hear anyways, Lunnette didn’t bother to lower her voice at all.
“William, what were you thinking?” I could hear the incredulous anger in her voice.
“I don’t think I was.” he answered.
“Well you’ve really dug yourself a big hole this time. Don’t. Say. Anything! Did you really think she would never find out? You should’ve at least told her yourself. You’ve screwed yourself big time. I don’t know whether she’ll ever be able to forgive you, but I sincerely doubt it.” I heard her light footsteps, then Lunnette was beside me again. She smiled at me, a small and nervous smile, and helped me up from where I had sat down. I let her lead me to the car. I looked out the window as she drove and watched the houses flash by. Lunnette had to run inside and grab a bathrobe for me. Covering myself so I wouldn’t freak out the people inside, I made my way to the room slowly.
“The rest is all yours to do all alone. I need a shower too. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Lunnette asked quietly, opening the door to Anfanasia’s room.
“Yeah.” I shut the door behind me. I stripped quickly and shoved everything into a trash bag to be disposed of later. Then I wandered into the bathroom, feeling lost. I glanced in the mirror but looked away quickly. My skin was smeared with blood, my hair thick and sticky with the stuff. I turned the water on in the shower as hot as it would go. The water rushed over me, scalding my skin. I stayed there until the water ran clear and let the heat soothe my sore muscles. Then I scrubbed my hair over and over, emptying a whole bottle of shampoo before using another bottle of conditioner. Finally I scrubbed my skin until it was raw and red.
When I got out of the shower the cold air hit my smooth skin like a bucket of ice. Shivering, I pulled on a pair of Anfanasia’s silk pajamas and winced as even that smooth surface pulled at my skin painfully. Before I laid down to sleep I locked the doors and windows and shut the blinds. Then, finally, I slumped into Anfanasia’s bed. I fell asleep almost immediately, my mind desperate for the blank and empty relief of sleep.
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