Blood Revealed (38 page)

The woman listened gravely with her head tilted slightly to one side. “Why is this not the way it should be?”

“It is only because the Blood Stone was broken that the Summanus now flood these lands. By rights they should not be here. Their time was long ago and they lost their war. It is not right that they should live again to kill and harvest humans. They should be returned to their own time. Or at least removed from this one.”

“Why?” The Serene One asked simply.

Why
had been one of the questions everyone had workshopped, coming up with a collective answer. Now Roman fell back upon those discussions. “This is the time for humans and vampires. For the first time in human history, vampires are free to be who they really are. Humans are learning to work with us and to accept us. It is a new age. The Summanus would prevent us from finding the peace that lies just ahead of us. They would keep the world locked in war forever.”

The Serene One didn’t look around. Blythe suspected she was observing everyone at once, anyway. “It is true that seeing vampires and humans together is new. It is also the way it was supposed to be. Vampires were put upon this world to help humans, just as you are. You are to be commended for that.

“However, this is no more your time than it is humans’. All life has a right to that life, no matter where it finds itself. It would be wrong for us to intervene in this. The Stone was broken and this is the consequence. It is up to you to find a way to resolve these issues.”

And as abruptly as she had appeared, the Serene One was gone. Blythe did not see her go even though she was looking right at her.

The circle of hunters stirred and she could hear their disappointment, even though no one spoke. They were too stunned to speak. The Serene One’s judgment had been swift.

Surely that is not the end of it?
Blythe could feel her indignation rising. She stepped through the people in front of her, pushing her way into the circle. “Wait!” She looked up at the sky as Roman had done, although she had a feeling that it didn’t really matter where she looked. She would be heard anyway. “Come back! You have not given us a fair hearing!”

Roman gripped her arm. “You can’t argue with the Serene Ones,” he said softly.

“I don’t want to argue. I just want to be heard!”

“You accuse them of being unfair. Be careful!”

Blythe lifted her chin and looked up at the sky again. “Damn you stuck up deities!” she cried. “How dare you judge us! You have no fucking clue!”

Roman’s grip tightened. “Just shut up!” he hissed.

“The emotions you display and the anger you feel is understandable. However, we cannot take emotions into account when deciding such matters.”

Blythe whirled around to face behind her and so did Roman, as everyone else muttered and stirred.

The woman was back.

Blythe stepped up to her. “You sit upon your…wherever you sit and you observe and you pass judgment. Only you have no real understanding of what has been happening here, if you believe that this is the way things should be. The Summanus are unnatural to this time. So are all the Others. They had their time, just as Roman said. The Ĉiela know that and they are dying because they cannot adapt to these new times.

“The Elah are trying to learn from us. They no longer see us as an enemy to fight. They know this is not their time just as much as we do. But they’re
trying
.” Blythe lifted her hands for emphasis. “All these people hunt the Summanus at night. It is breaking up their families and their way of life. The Summanus will not change. They will not try to adapt. That is a concept that is alien to them.”

The woman’s gaze was steady upon her and Blythe suspected she was looking
through
her, too. Perhaps the woman had access to her thoughts just as Dominic did.

“We do not usually pry upon details and individuals. It is not our way,” the Serene One said. “We were not aware that the Elah have joined with you.”

“They haven’t joined with us,” Blythe said. “They’re trying to learn how to get along with us. They no longer want to fight. Neither do we. The Summanus are forcing us to it.”

Nial stepped into the center of the circle. “We only want peace and to be left alone to live our lives.”

“You only see the big movements,” Blythe said. “You see wars and battles and the death of species. You are blind to everything else and it is in the small details where peace and prosperity begin. You don’t really know anything at all.”

She heard Roman draw in a deep breath. Out of everyone here, he probably understood with the greatest clarity just how rude she was being. Blythe really didn’t care. She had lost respect for deities. Gods and godlike creatures were nothing to sneeze at anymore, when the world was filled with vampires and Ĉiela and Elah and a common enemy that would kill them all. When people could mind-read and others could heal by touch alone, when three people could love each other simultaneously and deeply, then gods lost their specialness.

The Serene One tilted her head toward Blythe, almost as if she was nodding. “You draw attention to a weakness we were not aware of,” she told Blythe. “To restore justice, we must make amends. We must learn of these things you speak of.”

Blythe held her breath. She had not believed that she would move the Serene One in any way with her protests.

“How do you propose to learn these things?” Nial asked. “It will be difficult to learn when we are at constant war with an enemy not of our choosing.”

It was a clever and subtle way of asking for peace and to be rid of the Summanus.

“It is because of the Summanus that these things you speak of are occurring. For now, we would not remove that goad from your world. Not without proper study first.”

Blythe let out her breath and heard many others do the same. Her disappointment was acute.

“We will be watching,” the Serene Ones finished.

Nial stepped forward, drawing her attention. “You don’t learn anything just by watching,” he pointed out. “You have to join in and struggle along with the rest of us, to truly understand. You have to be a part of this world, not apart from it.”

The Serene One hesitated and her focus shifted. Perhaps she was conferring?

Then she nodded and looked at Nial again. “Such wisdom is unusual. We appreciate your teaching. Justice will be held in abeyance for now and we will join with you so that we can learn.”

“You can’t walk around among us just like that,” Nial pointed out, lifting his hand to indicate the unearthly glow around her and her levitating feet. “If you can’t bleed and die, if you can’t fall in love, then you have nothing at stake. It will be meaningless to you.”

“I do not think it will be meaningless for me,” said another new voice, a man’s voice, from the other side of the circle.

It had happened again. The Serene One had appeared just where Blythe had not been looking.

This one looked human. His feet settled in the dirt, just like everyone else’s. He wore jeans and a tee shirt and a denim jacket with a fur collar, to ward off the last of the winter chill.

He stepped forward, into the very center of the circle and turned slowly on his heels, taking in everyone standing there watching him. Then he looked at Nial. “For now, I am human. I have been sent to learn.”

Nial nodded. “Do you have a name?”

The man frowned. “Names. This is not something we…use. Perhaps you can suggest a name?”

“Very well,” Nial replied. “Azarel seems like a fitting name for you.”

Blythe made a mental note to look up the name later. She wanted to know what it meant. Nial never did anything without layers of meaning behind it.

Azarel nodded and it was a regal movement.

The woman, the first Serene One, had disappeared. Blythe had not seen her go.

Nial looked around the peak at everyone gathered around him. He raised his voice. “Time to go! We have to get back down the mountain before sunset. No hunting tonight. Everyone stay home and hug their families.”

The stream of people began to wend its way back along the trail down to the parking lot that they had left at sunrise this morning.

Nial looked at Azarel. “That means you, too.”

Azarel moved forward, following the flow of people. He was watching his feet as he went, as if the very notion of walking was a novelty.

And perhaps it was. If so, Blythe reflected, as she slipped up alongside Patrick and Dominic picked up her hand, then Azarel had a lot to learn.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, six months later.

The green room was very small and there were sixteen people squeezed into it, but no one seemed to mind.

Everyone wore formal evening clothes. This was the first full-length evening gown Blythe had ever worn. Even her prom dress had been a practical knee length. However, she felt ridiculously feminine in the strapless silk and lace and Dominic and Patrick’s glances and the warm expression in their eyes told her that she looked good.

That was enough to make the evening complete for her and this was only the beginning of it.

Tall glasses of champagne had been handed out to everyone, even though most of the room could not drink it, or were not allowed to in the case of Jake, Simone and Eloise. Even they had accepted a glass after glancing at her and Blythe had whispered that they were to only sip it. Nial had been insistent upon champagne for a toast.

Nial held up his glass and looked toward Patrick. “As your producers don’t want you rocking the boat by bringing your extended family in front of the cameras, we’ll have to do this here and now.”

Extended family
. Blythe thought that was a rather nice way of referring to everyone assembled here. Even Cyneric, Ilaria and Marcus had flown in from England for the premiere of Patrick’s movie. Garrett stood with Roman and Kate, and Sebastian and Winter were holding hands, as they had been doing a lot since Sebastian had recovered from his wounds. Even Nial had a tendency to kiss him as he passed. It seemed that no one was taking life for granted anymore.

Azarel was wearing a tuxedo just like the rest of the men in the room. Once he had discovered the decorative properties and self-expression possible with clothing, he had become a dedicated clotheshorse. It had been his suggestion that everyone wear white tie.

Even Jake had dressed up, although he had kept rolling his eyes over the silliness of the stiff white tie. He had looked much older when he presented himself in the lounge room just before the limousines had picked them up, giving Blythe a glimpse of his future self.

Simone and Eloise were achingly young and beautiful in their long, simple gowns. The gowns were not the same, although they had been standing together, anyway. Blythe didn’t know if they were aware of how much they stayed within each other’s company these days.

Nial continued his toast. “I don’t know where we will be a year from now. No one does. These are dark days and there will be darker ones ahead before we see any light. That is what makes moments like these very precious. We must grasp them as they come along and take time to appreciate them.”

Dominic took Blythe’s spare hand and squeezed it. Kate leaned back against Roman and Garrett, while Ilaria slid her hand into Rick’s pocket, where he had thrust his and Marcus rested his hand on her tiny waist.

Nial was looking steadily at Sebastian, who stared back, the corners of his mouth lifting.

“If there is no hope,” Nial said, “then we must make our own hope, forged from moments like this.” He turned to face Kate. “Kate, have you found backers for your movie?”

Kate shook her head. “Unlike Patrick, I have not been able to turn the tide of public opinion. I don’t have a sword strapped to my back.” She shrugged.

“Then I will finance your movie for you,” Nial said. “Except it will not be any old movie.”

Kate studied him. “A movie about vampires, the real ones. You want to teach the world, so they understand.”

Nial nodded. “And I think you already have the lead cast.”

Patrick smiled. “Only the most important role of my life, how could I refuse?”

Nial raised his glass again. “To small moments.”

“And to love,” Patrick said.

Nial nodded. “And yes, to love.”

Everyone raised their glass, then sipped or pretended to. Dominic pulled Blythe up against him and kissed her. He was not the only one kissing someone in the room. Nial had picked Winter up and she was sandwiched between him and Sebastian as they crowded close, holding her between them.

Jake rolled his eyes. “Oh, gross!”

Patrick cuffed his shoulder gently. “Give it a couple of years. You’ll love the idea.”

“I already like the idea just fine,” Jake said firmly. “Only it’s my mother you’re kissing.”

A production assistant open the door and wound his way through everyone over to Patrick. “It’s time, Mr. Sauvage. If you’ll just follow me?”

Patrick nodded, then glanced at Nial, who gave his own small nod.

Patrick put down his glass on the side table, then picked up Blythe’s hand. He reached out and caught Dominic’s in the other and squeezed their hands gently. “Ready?”

The production assistant looked nervous. “I thought….” he began. “Isn’t it supposed to be just you?”

“There’s no such thing as ‘just me’,” Patrick told him. “There used to be, but I’m not that person, anymore.”

The production assistant looked puzzled. This was Patrick Sauvage he was dealing with, so he shrugged and gave up. “Okay, then…this way.”

Patrick led them through the door and as they stepped onto the red carpet, he drew Blythe and Dominic close to his side. “Stay right there,” he said softly.

“Always,” Dominic said.

“And forever,” Blythe finished.

They walked out into the blaze of cameras and lights, the three of them leading everyone out of the green room. Their extended family was showing their support for one of their own.

It was the small things that counted, in the end.

The next book in the Blood Stone series is
Blood Ascendant
, which will wrap up the series.
Blood Ascendant
will be released in late 2016.