She Dies at the End (November Snow #1) (25 page)

“How so?” he asked, trying not to sound too interested.

“It was such a jumble.  Disparate visions bleeding into one another.  Some I’ve already seen, cut into new ones.  I couldn’t make any sense of it, but I had this sense that I needed to.  There was something frantic and scary about it.  It’s going to take some work to try to tease everything apart.  And then there was that weird thing with the wolf-sheep.”

“You said there were three of them and that they would strike the shepherd.  Any idea what that means?”  All his attention was focused on her as though she was the most important person in the world.  It was a little overwhelming.

She began thinking out loud.  “The shepherd is the leader and protector, right?  You’re a king, which is similar.  If you’re the shepherd, maybe there are three traitors among your people?”

“Vampires don’t usually think of themselves as the sheep.  We’re the predators, and humans are the poorly guarded lambs,” he replied.  “But your interpretation does make some sense.  Have you ever seen that image before?”

“I’ve seen sheep, scattered and bleeding.  Last month, some time.  It should be in the newest binder,” she replied.  The king found it and flipped through, holding up the page for her to see.  “That’s the one.  Maybe the sheep are humans, and the three wolves represent the three kinds of supernatural creatures?”

“Interesting . . .”  He looked toward the shuttered window.  “What else did you see?”

She thought back.  “You, wounded.  A knife.  The late queen.  Luka giving someone a package.  Willow, when she was little.  Merchants with the plague.  A funeral for a child.  Zinnia throwing a flower in my grave.  Savita and Lord William and Luka hiding in a ship.  My dad, dying in the street. I think that’s it.”

He raised his eyebrows.  “Well, that is quite a lot.  We must discuss this more later.  William and I have a great deal of work to do this evening.”  He drained his mug and rose to leave.

“Thank you for taking care of me before you asked about what I saw,” she blurted out as he moved toward the door.

“It was rather the least I could do,” he replied.  And then he smiled a real smile, the first she had ever seen on him.  It changed his whole face.  Millennia of life’s sorrows fell away for a split second.  And then it was gone, and so was he.

“Oh,” she said, jumping up.  “You left your pipe.”  He was already long gone, however, so she walked out into the hallway.  She held it up to Pine.  “Should we go down and return it?”

“Why not?  I could stretch my legs,” he replied.

“Sorry I’m so boring to guard,” she said as they walked together.

“Boring is a lot better than the alternative,” he answered with a grin.  “His grace’ll probably be in Lord William’s office, since he already ate.”

“Why is it ‘his grace’ instead of ‘his majesty,’ by the way?”

“Apparently the whole ‘majesty’ thing is a pretty recent innovation.  I think the Tudors made it popular or something.  He thinks it's pretentious.”

“The nouveau riche,” she replied, amused.

“Vampires and fairies can be very reluctant to change traditions, in case you hadn’t noticed.  Plus, I think he got used to ‘your grace’ back when he was a bishop.”

“A bishop?  Really?”

“Yep.  Then a cardinal.  Allegedly came this close to getting elected pope.”  Pine held his fingers an inch apart.

While crossing the foyer to the office wing, the pair looked up from their conversation and into the highly unpleasant face of Lilith.  The Grocer’s eyes fell upon the pipe in November’s hand.  Pine quickly stepped between them as Lilith’s fangs dropped.  The vampire made a visible effort to regain control of herself, but there was no way to hide the murderous rage in her eyes.

November forced herself to stand her ground and not look away.  “Excuse me, ma’am, do you know where I might find his grace so I could return this?  He seems to have misplaced it.”  Her voice was respectful and sickly sweet, betraying not an iota of her fear.  She smiled, all innocence.  This, of course, only made the vampire angrier.

They were spared an escalating confrontation by the timely arrival of the monarch in question.  With the look of an absent-minded professor, he wandered into the foyer.  “Ah, November, dear, thank you.  It seems I have too much on my mind to keep track of my possessions.”  He took the pipe and kissed her on the top of her head.  Only then did he seem to notice the presence of his most senior servant.  “All going smoothly, Lil?”

Her face rearranged itself.  “Of course, your grace,” she replied with a smile.

“Come with me, I need you to help me arrange some conference calls . . .” And with that, the vampires disappeared into the office wing.

November took a deep breath and tried to settle herself.  “That woman really hates me.”

“Seems to,” Pine concurred, leading her back toward the residence.  “You’re wise to try to stay away from her.”

“What did I do to provoke her?”

“With her, I doubt it takes much.  You are important.  You have captured the king’s interest, and, evidently, his affection.  You are the first to do so in centuries: vampire, fairy, or human.  His isolation is part of what keeps her powerful, and she feels that the rise of someone new threatens her.  If she were smart, she’d seize upon you, endear herself to you and co-opt you for her own purposes.  But she is not as smart as she thinks she is.”  He shook his head.  “That one will not go down easily, but sooner or later, the king will see her for what she is.  She will take people down with her, too, mark my words.”

Guests for the New Year’s Eve party began arriving in town, in numbers far too large for even Lord William’s domicile.  Several luxury hotels in the area were owned by fairies or vampires, and they were soon packed with out-of-state lords and their entourages.  Rose was in a tizzy, and even November was drafted to assist.

November then passed a lovely afternoon visiting with Birch, Zinnia, and her mother in the garden.  Lady Amandier was as cheerful as her daughter, if quite a lot more level-headed.  She was a staunch ally to William and Ilyn, asking Birch numerous questions about the latest developments before heading off with the rest of the fairies to feed before the celebration began.

Getting ready for the ball was certainly more fun with Zinnia around.  They helped each other with curling irons and eye liner and zippers, and both came out looking like princesses.  November, true to her nature, was dressed more modestly than her harder-partying friend.  All she showed off was collarbone.  Even her arms were mostly covered by her opera-length gloves, and only a few scant inches of back were revealed by cutouts.

Thankfully, there would be no grand entrance with the king this evening.  His grace was greeting dignitaries in the foyer as they arrived and would sneak into the party after things were in full swing.  Pine said that word about the king’s claim on her had been spread, so she should have no problem with unwanted advances from the out-of-towners.

The ballroom was not large enough to contain this party, so it was to be an outdoor affair.  The girls gasped as they peeked out a picture window when Pine escorted them downstairs.  The grounds had been transformed into a wonderland.  The trees were lit beautifully.  Fountains glowed in Technicolor with some fairy magic no one could seem to explain.  Every flower from every season was in bloom.  A half dozen dance floors were scattered about, with discreet speakers bringing music to every nook and cranny.  And November had been assured that the fairies had ways to keep the temperature balmy for the sake of the human “guests.”  Additionally, rumor had it that there would be some extremely elegant porta-potties as well as exquisitely catered refreshments for the human element.  She hoped that she would be able to handle the crowd.  

“My mom did pretty good, huh?” Pine commented.  November grinned and nodded.

Zinnia stuck by her friend for awhile until the November told her she was free to give in to her obvious urge to hit the dance floor.  The king and his children were circulating, talking up the various lords.

Lady Esther decided to hang out with November the wallflower, confined as she was to her wheelchair.  November found her gossip and cutting observations about everyone both informative and hilarious, and she was thoroughly enjoying watching the dancing and listening to the music.  The fairy DJ, who was evidently quite famous in EDM circles, gave the party enormous energy.

Zinnia managed to coax her onto the dance floor a few times, and November enjoyed it in spite of herself.  She danced awkwardly with Zinnia and Pine, who stared aggressively at every vampire or fairy that approached her.

At one point, Savita came to fetch her, telling her mysteriously that there was someone who very much wanted to make her acquaintance.  November found herself meeting Milton, Lord of Texas, who was determined to express his gratitude for her instrumental role in preventing the planned attack against him.  He was not quite what November had expected for a Texas vampire.  Short, portly, and incredibly nerdy would be putting it charitably.  Still, it was a pleasant enough conversation, and it was always nice to be appreciated.

She caught Savita examining her closely on the walk back to the terrace.  “Is something wrong?” November asked.  Savita just shook her head.

Moments later, they ran into the king, who was hiding behind some shrubbery smoking his pipe.  He looked terribly handsome in his obviously expensive tuxedo, a different one than he’d worn Christmas Eve.  She wondered idly how many of them he had.  Savita made a discreet exit. “No dancing, sir?” November asked him, smiling.

“Perhaps if they were playing actual music,” he replied a bit haughtily.

“Yeah, the club music is not exactly my scene, either,” she admitted.  “The fairies seem to like it.  I’m sure you could ask them to play something else, being the monarch and all,” she teased.

“Yes, but why ruin their fun?  You look lovely, by the way,” he commented.  “Fairy necklace?”

“Thanks.  Yes, Zinnia made it for me, for my birthday.”

“Clever girl, that one.”

They were then interrupted, of course, by Lilith, with one of the lords in tow.  November and Pine made a quick escape before Lilith’s eyes could burn holes in their heads.

Just before the countdown to midnight, November made a quick trip to the restroom.  As she emerged, she saw the fangs beginning to come out as the vampires prepared to feast, so she began to move quickly toward the house without bothering to put her gloves back on.  She caught a glimpse of William near a pretty blonde.  Ilyn stood close to his redhead, willing to feed in public tonight, apparently.  November swallowed her unexpected jealousy.  

As she hurried along with Pine, one of the enthralled humans tripped in front of them.  November reached out her bare hands to catch the girl and fell into a vision as soon as they touched.  
A line of dressed-up humans, enthralled into zombies.  Lilith with a tray of syringes, injecting each one, most not aware enough to even wince.  One protests feebly.  Lilith reassures her in her most controlling voice, “Hush now, it’s just colloidal silver.  It’s good for you.”  The girl acquiesces with no further fuss.

November awoke on the ground, leaping up to scream as loudly as she could, “Silver!  Don’t feed!  They’re poisoned with silver!”

Even as she opened her mouth, some of the more impatient vampires were already falling to the ground, clawing at their throats.  She caught a glimpse of Amy writhing in the grass, Josue looking frantic by her side.  Greg was spitting blood out onto the ground, smoke coming out of his mouth, but he did not fall.  It seemed he had heard the warning just in time.  Those who had not yet tasted blood shoved their human companions away.  Most of the humans were too enthralled to realize that something was wrong, but a few had the presence of mind to begin screaming.

Just after November had finished uttering the last word, Lilith flew at her with impossible speed from the other side of the garden, knife in hand.  November froze, eyes wide.  Pine yanked her to the ground as an unseen force grabbed Lilith and tossed her in the air, an instant after the knife had left her hand.

Ilyn grabbed the dagger from where it had lodged in the grass and examined it, and a profound sadness came over his face for a moment.  The wind knocked out of her, November lay stunned on the ground, her arm stinging.  Zinnia appeared at her side and squeezed her hand, asking if she was alright.  November managed a nod.

“Silence!” Ilyn ordered as he looked up at his former confidante dangling in the air.  The crowd hushed, the only noise the cries of pain continuing to issue from the poisoned.  He looked for November, his eyes softening with relief when he saw she was unharmed.  When his gaze moved on, his rage grew as he surveyed the damage.  Among them were scattered at least a dozen injured vampires, one already turned to a pile of ash.  Those who still lived were in obvious agony.  Rose had already dashed into the house and was returning with bags of clean blood.  She distributed it to those caring for the afflicted.  Those not busy dying or attending the suffering gathered around their king.

“Humans, sleep,” Ilyn cried.  The procured women all fell to the ground as one.

Lilith didn’t even try to hide her guilt.  “You worthless animal,” she screamed at November.  “You’re ruining everything!  For years I’ve waited for this chance –“  Ilyn used his gift to clamp her mouth shut.