A Dance in Blood Velvet (55 page)

“God sent three angels to bring her back to Adam. Strange names, the meanings of which are unclear: Senoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof. Lilith refused to go with them, preferring to consort with demons.

“When Lilith saw Adam with Eve, she was reminded of God’s glory and flew up to join the cherubim, but God cast her down.” Josef paused, his finger on the text. “This is connected, according to the Zohar, to the moon’s argument with the sun; the moon demanded equality and was punished by God by being diminished and set to rule over the night. But after the Fall, Lilith is connected in sin to Eve. God brought Lilith out of the depths and gave her power over all children who are liable to punishment for the sins of their fathers... Whenever men sin, Lilith is charged to rule over them. She is the woman of severe judgment; the flashing revolving sword of God.”

A chilling thought thudded like a spear into Charlotte:
That sounds so like Kristian! He thought he was God’s vengeance... Oh, don’t let Violette be like him!

“Is anything wrong?” Josef said.

“No, go on.”

“She also becomes the bride of Samael, the Devil. The Kabbalists call her Harlot, Tortuous Serpent, Alien and Impure Female. She is seductive and nightmarish, murdering the men she has seduced. She is equated with the Greek Lamia, who sucks the blood of sleeping men. Sometimes she is the Serpent who tempted Eve, thus sharing Eve’s guilt for the Fall.”

Charlotte put in, “Do you have nothing good to say for her?”

Josef smiled softly. “The men who wrote these books did not.”

“God diminished her, because she refused to obey Adam?”

“So it says. But she disobeyed because she is unruly, jealous, angry, ungovernable, destructive, murderous. The female counterbalance to God’s goodness and maleness.”

“You don’t believe all this?”

“I am a Jew, my dear. That does not mean I literally believe every word, but I have respect for these writings.” He went on turning pages. “She is the owl in the night, whose screeching drowns out the prayers of the righteous... Might I know why you are so interested in this?”

Seconds passed before Charlotte could answer. “Someone I know has got the idea into her head that she is Lilith.”

“Oh?” Josef looked at her over the top of his spectacles. “Then you want a psychoanalyst, not books.”

“That might be a little awkward. She’s a vampire.”

“Ah.” He paused, frowning. Then he exhaled and said softly, “Oh, dear Lord in heaven. They also call Lilith the Mother of Vampires, of course... I don’t know what to say, because I understand so little of what you are. Has she held this belief for long?”

Charlotte shook her head.
So easy to tell Josef,
she thought;
Why can’t I be having this conversation with Karl?
“She’s only just become... one of our kind. It happened during her transformation. She knew little about Lilith before, yet afterwards she suddenly knew many of the things you’ve told me, facts only a scholar would know.”

“Is she dangerous?”

“She might be. She’s in great distress.”

Josef put his fingertips together. He thought for a minute, then said quietly, “Perhaps you should destroy her. Would it not be a merciful release?”

Charlotte sat motionless, but a chill crept over her. “Are you telling me she’s unredeemable?”

His lips narrowed, and he shook his head. “I am telling you nothing, Charlotte. Is she Lilith, or does she only
think
she is? The latter is more likely, is it not? I try to answer your questions, that’s all. I can’t tell you what to do. A human could be helped, but a vampire - I don’t know where one would start.”

“I love her,” said Charlotte. “It’s my fault she’s suffering like this. If killing her was the only way - but no, I won’t consider it! The more I understand about the creature she thinks she is, the better I can help her, do you see?”

“Of course.” He took her hand, light and cautious. “What we learn is that Lilith is many things, all of them destructive. You are a companion and daughter of Lilith, and yet you are compassionate... Is it compassion, when vampires care for each other?”

“Don’t torture me with philosophy. I’m too tired. I must go.”

He stood up as she did, still holding her hand. “Come to me again,” he said. “I wish to see you again before I die.”

“You’re not an old man.”

“No, but not young. No one knows how long they have left. I’m not being morbid; only realistic. There may come a time when I need you, as did my sister... Or will I look at you and wonder how it is to live forever?”

The image held her rigid. Yes, Josef would die; but she had the power to change that; to restore his vigour, bestow immortality... then she saw Violette’s anguish, and she knew she couldn’t take the risk.

Everything Stefan had said was coming true.
“What you’re doing to Violette is what Karl did to Ilona, and he thinks you’ll live to regret it. Then next time the desire comes to transform someone, you’ll fight it and it will be agony, one way or another, whatever you decide.

“I couldn’t,” she whispered, looking into his kind face.

“Is it so terrible?”

“You’ll never know.” She lifted her face to his and Josef wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently, with a longing that wrung her heart. And she dissolved into the Crystal Ring even as he held her, leaving him alone with the image of a ghost; to meditate forever on the kindness of demons.

* * *

On her way back, Charlotte had a premonition that Violette would have vanished by the time she reached London; or worse, found a way to kill herself. So she was relieved to find her still there, Stefan looking after her. She sat curled in a chair, hands around her knees, her slim form half-hidden under a shower of sable hair.

Charlotte realised with astonishment that she was asking Stefan a question.

“But who is Niklas? Why doesn’t he speak?”

“He can’t.” Stefan glanced at Charlotte, greeting her with a nod. “He’s an example of the extraordinary things that can happen to us. The only way we can reliably be killed is by beheading. Even that need not be final. Feed the head with blood, and a new body will grow, as perfect as the old. But there’s another trick. Feed the old body and it will grow a new head. A
doppelgänger
of the first, you see? A near-perfect replica, but with barely the intelligence of a cat.” He waved a hand at Niklas, who sat impassively at the dining table. “He echoes what I do, but has no motivation of his own. Who knows what goes on in his mind?”

Violette looked up, momentarily shocked out of her misery. “How did this happen?”

“We were an experiment by Kristian. A sword-happy soldier decapitated me. Kristian kindly brought me back to life in duplicate.”

“Why didn’t you destroy the other one?”

“Because he’s my brother,” said Stefan, with an odd smile. “Because he’s
me
.”

“You’re all mad,” said Violette. She glanced at Charlotte then disregarded her.

“How are you?” asked Charlotte. No reply.

Stefan sighed. “She hasn’t fed. But she’s been asking questions; I’ve been telling her a little about the bad crowd she’s fallen in with.”

Questions. That was a hopeful sign. Charlotte knelt down by the chair and touched Violette’s arm; at least she didn’t pull away. How gaunt she was with lack of blood! A vampire’s blood was better than nothing. A start; if she got the taste, she would want more.

“Drink mine. It won’t hurt me.”

Violette only stared at her with dead eyes.

Charlotte bit into her own wrist, held the oozing wound to Violette’s chin. “Taste it.” The dancer shut her eyes, wincing with revulsion. “Darling, you’ll starve! You won’t die but you’ll wish you could! But if you feed you’ll feel better in every way, I promise. Please.”

“Stop it,” Violette said in a low voice. “Don’t try to force me. I won’t do it. Don’t look at me with those hopeful eyes. Nothing’s changed!”

Charlotte let her go in despair. “I love you. I thought you loved me. Does that mean nothing?”

“I don’t know what you mean by love! It’s blasphemy, it’s the excuse for everything, it’s the cheapest threat there is!
Leave me alone
!”

Charlotte backed off. Devastated as she was by Violette’s state of mind, she knew that to help her, she must detach herself from human emotion, as other vampires could. She looked sideways at Stefan.

“We may have to force her,” he said.

“No,” said Charlotte. “It would be disastrous. Stefan, why don’t you go to Karl? I’ll stay with her.”

“Are you sure? I should perhaps go and see what he wants with me.”

He took his twin’s hand, and they vanished. Charlotte sat on a dining chair, watching Violette. She resembled a Lalique glass figure, knees drawn up, ankles crossed, head bowed. Dumb as stone, closed in on herself. Misery and physical pain flowed from her.

“I asked a scholar about Lilith,” Charlotte began. “He told me the myths and they correspond with everything you say. He couldn’t explain why this has happened to you, Violette, but I’m sure of one thing: this is important. Lilith wasn’t a simple being; she had many aspects. If you’d stop fighting, we could face this together. You are more than human. You don’t have to be ruled by pain!”

“If I drink blood, she will rule me.”

“No.”

“How do you know?”

“If I tell you that the Crystal Ring is a creation of mankind’s subconscious, that vampires come into being through those subconscious fears and desires, and that Lilith too is a product of human imagination... then perhaps it’s possible that you truly believe you are her. You’ve taken on her persona, and now she’s real to you, subjectively real -”

“Oh, you are so clever! Perhaps you’re right and I’m crazy -”

“I didn’t say that.”

“- but if I am crazy, it changes nothing. This
is
real. And I think I always knew it would happen, but that doesn’t mean I want it. I’d rather die. I’m so frightened of the angels.”

“Angels?”

“God’s envoys, they call themselves. Sent by God to hunt me down. I don’t know why I’m afraid of them but I am. I’m so cold, Charlotte. I hurt all over.”

“Tell me their names,” Charlotte said softly.

“I can’t remember. Sibilant names all beginning with S. One was Senoy, yes...”

That was close to one of the names Josef had told her. Charlotte thought,
If my theory’s correct and she has absorbed some myth from the Ring, does that make it any less true, less terrible? I would give my life to help her, but what if there is nothing I can do?

She felt the atmosphere tearing, a vampire stepping from the unseen realm. She looked up, expecting to see Stefan and Niklas. Instead, three strange figures appeared that reminded her bizarrely of the chess pieces at Lady Tremayne’s party. One was black, one white, one scarlet. They were as beautiful as saints and they gazed at her with the same beatific sadness that Kristian had once shown her.

Violette screamed.

Charlotte sprang to her feet, dazzled by terror.

“Who are you?”

The next thing Charlotte knew, the pale one was at her throat. She felt the stinging pain almost before she saw it move; bony hands held hers in a vice, milk-white hair brushed her face as its fangs tore her flesh... and her strength was draining away at horrifying speed with her blood...

A blur of darkness in the background, a brief struggle, voices that echoed and made no sense -

Then Charlotte was lying on the floor, too weak to move. The room tipped in duplicate around her. The eerie attackers had gone... and Violette had vanished with them.

“I’m so frightened of the angels...”

* * *

“Charlotte!”

The room tilted and Charlotte went dizzy. Hours must have passed. It was daylight. Someone was pulling her upright; she blinked hard and found herself looking into Katerina’s distraught face.

“Katti... what are you...”

Katerina shook her. “What happened to you?” she demanded.

Charlotte hurt all over, and burning hunger pinned her stomach to her spine. She needed blood, as a drowning man needed air. “They took Violette,” she said in a raw whisper.

“Who took her?” Katerina’s face was white, her eyes too big. Her obvious terror inflamed Charlotte’s fear.

“Don’t know. Three of them. Vampires, I think, but like none I’ve seen before...” The effort of speech exhausted her. She rubbed her throat. The wound was healing but sore. “Fed on me... I’m making no sense, sorry...”

“No, you’ve made perfect sense.” Katerina dragged Charlotte to her feet and they stood unsteadily. “I’ve seen them too. Come with me.”

She pulled Charlotte towards the door.

“Where are you taking me? Can’t move...”

“You must! You need to feed. Where’s Stefan?”

“He went to Karl.”

“Well, we haven’t seen him, but he’ll find the message we left.”

“But why are you here?”

“Because those monsters have taken Karl as well.”

Alarm seized her. She stumbled as Katerina hustled her through the front door, onto the landing. The stairs heaved under her feet. “Taken him -?”

“They attacked him in the Crystal Ring. I went after them and fought with all my strength.” Katerina’s lips drew back to show her fangs. “I’m strong. Almost no one gets the better of me; in the past I feared no one but Kristian. But these creatures are so powerful! They fed on me and threw me away like a child skimming a stone. I sailed through the Ring with no control. When I fell back to Earth, I hit trees and landed heavily on grass. It hurt, but I was more furious than in pain; some human saw me, but it didn’t matter. I fed on him. Then I walked until my head cleared and found I was in a park in London. I’m too weak to reenter the Ring, so I came here. Thank goodness I did.”

“Why would they want Violette and Karl?”

“I’ve no idea,” said Katerina, “but Karl needs us. We must help each other.”

“Oh God, where is he?”

“They may have taken him to some house of Lancelyn’s in Derbyshire.”

“But that’s miles away! And neither of us can enter the Ring.”

“Then we’ll steal a car, take a train, anything!”