Vampire Elite (65 page)

Dear Goddess, how much she hated him ... how much she loved him.

“Why are you here?” She whispered, but her voice sounded shockingly loud as it pierced the silence.

Tor rubbed his cheek on hers and hid his face in her hair, and Arianna could feel all his love for her in this simple gesture. “I tried to forget you, but I can’t. I love you, Arianna. You are ... you’re my life. I can’t save your life—I can’t betray my people—but I can’t live without you, either. So I’ve come here to die with you.”
 

“
What?!
” Theores and Anock shouted. Tor raised his hand for silence.

“I am still the King here,” he said, his voice clear, leaving no room for objection. “Anock, you gave me your word that you’d follow the plan. Now honor your word, my son. After we die, execute the other Keepers and choose a new King.”

A shocked silence permeated the chamber. Arianna could hear the heartbeats of everyone around her, could sense their horror. She stared at Tor, her mind refusing to process what he’d said.

Tor addressed the executioners. “I go first. I want her to know that she’s not alone.” Then he turned back to Arianna, his eyes fathomless. “I will wait for you there, my love, on the other side. Forgive me, if you can.”

Before she could say another word he lowered his head and moved his gorgeous platinum hair aside, exposing his neck. “Do it.”

The executioner raised his blade, and over the course of that one instant everything changed for Arianna. She could tell that the version of herself that watched the sword begin its upward arc was gone, transformed into a completely different being by the time the blade stopped moving.
 

Her vision was razor-sharp, her eyes drawn to the flickers of light reflecting off the blade that
dared
to be raised over the man she loved. She caught her own reflection in it and saw the glowing eyes of the Lioness, and then wild, primordial rage blinded her, roaring through her as though the Sun itself had gone supernova—and She was Arianna.

After what seemed like centuries, she stood blinking in the darkness and quiet. She stood on a mountain of rubble, dust swirling around her, the black marble statue of Sekhmet lying in explosion of chunks and shards at her feet. And Tor, covered in blood and dust, blinking back up at her. The residual energy shuddering through her was rapidly dissipating, leaving her heart steady and her mind clear.

~ End of Book One ~

Glossary

Amiti

A subspecies of immortals created 8000 years ago by the goddess Hathor as a counterbalance to the goddess Sekhmet’s creation of vampires. Like other immortals, Amiti have a long lifespan and can reproduce with each other, other humanoid supernaturals, or humans. When born, they are virtually identical to humans; their powers begin to develop when they reach complete physical maturation at around 21 years of age. At around the same age, they begin to emit a unique energy recognizable to vampires in close proximity to them (or using devices to enhance their ability to feel that energy). As a defense, Amiti learn to shield that energy, but as with all of their powers, their ability to do so can be compromised.

Amiti blood
has unique properties, including the ability to heal others and receptivity to the will of the Amiti whose body created it. Within the blood-bond, for example, Amiti can command their blood cells in a vampire partner’s body to create pleasure or pain, to heal or even bring the vampire back to life, or to kill the vampire. Amiti blood that has been “artificially” drained—via catheter or cutting, for instance—loses these unique qualities, although it retains most of the exquisite taste and scent that make it desirable to vampires. Legend holds that some Amiti have learned to control their blood even when it is removed from their bodies outside of the blood-bond.

Amiti blood also regenerates quickly after any type of blood loss, and Amitis’ bodies generate extra blood during lovemaking in order to preempt depletion when they feed their vampire partners.
 

Amiti powers.
All Amiti possess three powers: (1) shapeshifting to mimic or impersonate specific humans, living or dead; (2) shielding themselves from vampires’ ability to sense them; and (3) the blood-bond, a physical and spiritual connection between Amiti and vampire partners that activates the properties of Amiti blood in the vampire and enables enhanced communication and sharing of powers.
 

In addition to these three powers, over time each Amiti develops one or more individual powers; the number, strength, and type vary from individual to individual, and continue to develop and accumulate with age. Powers may be physical (for example, manipulating air, fire, water, earth) or mental/psychological (for example, empathic aptitude, clairvoyance). Generally, Amitis’ powers are innate—that is, Amiti are born with certain powers hidden inside them, and those powers manifest as they grow older. However, certain Amiti roles bestow additional powers: the Queen has the Gift of Ra, and the Keepers’ powers correspond to the Mysteries they keep. Moreover, some powers, such as the Mirror Skill, can be cultivated by virtually any elder, experienced Amiti.
 

Blood-bonding with vampires can serve as a catalyst for activating or strengthening Amitis’ powers. Conversely, power can be limited or extinguished through bloodletting.
 

Amiti are sensitive to a metal alloy, silver steel. Used in the environment or in constraining devices, it weakens their powers; and when introduced into the bloodstream via weapon or injection, it can completely debilitate or even kill them, depending upon the Amiti’s overall strength and health.
 

Avengers
 

The highly trained
,
highly feared Amiti assassins of the Order of Eye of Ra. The Avengers are driven by their conviction that vampires and Amiti are children of a single goddess—Hathor–Sekhmet—and that vampires’ practice of keeping bloodstock is an atrocity beyond measure because it is a crime perpetrated on their own people. (In contrast, most vampire and Amiti recognize in the abstract that Hathor and Sekhmet are two manifestations of the same goddess, but in practice view Hathor as the Mother of Amiti and Sekhmet as the Mother of vampires.)

The Avengers’ ultimate goal is to free Amiti from being bloodstock or living in terror of becoming bloodstock. During the early stages of the war between vampires and Amiti, the Avengers’ strategy involved manipulating vampires to blood-bond with them and then using the blood-bond as leverage to secure the release of those vampires’ bloodstock. However, this strategy evolved to include blood-bonding with and assassinating vampires simply to lower their population and, eventually, to exterminate them completely; it also incorporated assassinating Amiti who blood-bonded with vampires and anyone else the Avengers perceived to be a traitor to their cause. Accumulating and assassinating blood-bonds also develops and refines Avengers’ powers.
 

The Avenger’s trademark image is the Erinyes, the three Greek goddesses of revenge, represented as winged women in Greek tunics with writhing serpents emerging from their heads instead of hair.

Blood-bond

The blood-bond is a powerful physical and spiritual connection between a vampire and an Amiti, triggered when a vampire drinks from an Amiti’s vein. It is intended to take place within loving relationships of any kind, including romantic relationships but also relationships between friends or family members.

Blood-bonding opens a communication channel between the Amiti and the vampire, enabling the pair to locate each other (unless the Amiti shields from the vampire) and to sense each other’s thoughts and emotions. Moreover, if they choose, Amiti can share their powers with their vampire blood-bonds, heal them, resurrect them, or kill them, any of which can be accomplished without bodily contact. The higher-caste Sekhmi forbid Nightwalkers blood-bonding with Amiti, in part because the blood-bond also enables Nightwalkers to tolerate exposure to the sun.
 

Amiti can blood-bond with multiple vampires, and will produce as much blood as needed with no adverse effects. A vampire, in contrast, can only blood-bond with one Amiti; if another Amiti’s vein is taken, the prior blood-bond is severed. If an Amiti dies after sharing powers with a vampire blood-bond, the powers remain active in the vampire, diminishing gradually over up to two decades.

Both vampires and Amiti experience an extremely powerful urge to blood-bond. Hathor created the Amiti with the express purpose of making them complements to vampires and incorporated this attraction into their creation. Known colloquially as the
pull
of the blood-bond (or blood-bond pull), it emerges with particular potency during lovemaking, when Amitis’ blood production increases dramatically in preparation for feeding vampires.
 

The blood-bond can represent a loving, trusting relationship between vampires and Amiti (referred to by vampires as “real” or “true” blood-bonds), with practical benefits to both: for vampires, an ideal blood source and the possibility of accessing Amiti powers; and for Amiti, a catalyst for enhancing their powers. However, blood-bonding ultimately tips the balance of power in the Amiti’s favor by giving them the ability to kill the vampire. This power imbalance was part of Hathor’s plan, intended to protect Amiti from vampires, who are predators by nature. In that respect, vampires are both attracted to the prospect of blood-bonding and terrified of it.
 

Bloodstock
 

A term coined by vampires—combining
blood
and
livestock
—to describe Amiti who are captured and imprisoned for use as vampires’ blood source. Blood is extracted from the Amiti via catheter in a process similar to human blood donation, although more blood is removed. This method also depletes Amitis’ powers, enabling the vampires to maintain control over them. Bloodstock are kept locked in bloodstock cells, generally underground, and like animal livestock can be sold, traded, or killed. Vampires avoid interacting with bloodstock, hiring human
bloodstock handlers
to see to the bloodstock’s basic survival needs and perform the blood draining. Under vampire law, only members of the more powerful caste, the Vampire Elite (or Sekhmi) are allowed to keep bloodstock. The lower caste, the Nightwalkers, are forbidden to do so under penalty of death.

Code of the Confederation (The Code)

The Code was created by the Confederation to protect immortals from humans. It consists of just two laws: No-Kill (not killing humans) and No-Show (not demonstrating one’s powers in front of humans). Violation of the Code is punishable by death.
 

Confederation of Immortals
 

A governing body created in the 18
^th
century with the purpose of protecting immortals from discovery and persecution by humans. General governance of individual subspecies (e.g., vampires, fay, elves, demons, shifters, wereanimals, sorcerers, demigods, etc.) is the purview of each group, each with its own system and set of laws; the Confederation is an umbrella organization whose jurisdiction is limited to enforcing The Code, the laws of No-Kill and No-Show, and performing a small number of related functions. The Confederation is led by the Council, and its law-enforcement arm is the Legacy of Tyr.

Council

The Confederation’s governing board and judicial body. Its members include elected representatives of all immortal subspecies. The head of the Council is the Chief, who is elected by Council membership.
 

Gift of Ra
 

The unique power granted to the Amiti Queen by the God Ra. The exact nature of the Gift is hidden. It becomes activated in extreme circumstance by the strongest intent of the Queen (or a vampire with whom she has blood-bonded and shared the Gift of Ra) and can unfold in unpredictable ways (for example, creating powerful energy blasts or explosions, shifts in time and space, opening portals to other realms or dimensions).
 

Guardians of the Lioness

The vampire security
organization created four millennia ago to protect vampires from all potential enemies. The Guardians include several thousand highly trained warriors stationed in facilities worldwide. Their headquarters are in Brussels.
 

Hathor

One of the most important and popular deities in Ancient Egypt, personifying the principles of love, joy, and sexuality. In her aspect as Sekhmet, she was the warrior goddess. Hathor created the Amiti as a counterpart to vampires, to save humanity from the bloodthirsty children of Sekhmet. Hathor’s consort is the god Ra.
 

Inner Circle

The Amiti’s ruling body. The Inner Circle is composed of all of the Keepers, the Avengers and three representatives selected from among the Amiti elders.

Keepers of the Key

Five Amiti named by Hathor to be Keepers of the Key of Life, the Ankh. As the ultimate safeguard to protect the Amiti people, the Keepers may unite and turn the Key, which will unlock the powers of the Egyptian gods. There is controversy among Amiti as to whether these powers would be the Amitis’ to command, or whether turning the Key would unleash total chaos and destruction. Keepers are appointed by the Queen and can surrender their powers back to her for reassignment to new Keepers. In order for their powers to fully manifest, Keepers must complete a three-stage quest. After that, Keepers at full power can communicate to each other telepathically and can locate each other at all times.
 

Each Keeper is connected to a major Mystery of the Universe and is granted additional powers related to their particular Mystery. The Keepers and their powers are as follows:

Keeper of the Hidden
: knows undisclosed secrets and can open large portals or wormholes in space through which people or objects can travel.
 

Keeper of the Revealed
: can create illusions.