Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star (9 page)

—Oren

Slumber does not
dull my senses the way it does humans. I hear her, smell her, sense her, before she knows I'm awake.

She is of the water. She smells of salt and sea, of fish and wind. No one can sneak up on the Prince of War while he slumbers, not even a Druid.

I turn and study her, standing by my open window. Her dark skin gleams in the moonlight. Ritual tattoos cover her bald head. A green-blue snake coils around her arm.

"You have one day to free all the slaves in Inferna," she says with her lilting accent. "Or we will invade and destroy the lands here and beyond. Yours, your brothers, and the next and the next until all demons are extinguished."

I spring forward, my body leaping across the room with the speed and agility of my kind. It should have been enough to catch her, to immobilize her, but she dematerializes, turning into mist and disappearing through my window.

My hands grasp at wet air, and I grunt in frustration. Baron stands by my side, howling into the night, as frustrated as I am that our prey escaped.

The Druids have returned. But how?

I write messages for my brothers, asking for reinforcements, but disclosing nothing else, lest the papers find their way into the wrong hands. I dress in grey furs and leather boots, hand the messages to Marco at my door, and head to the library, where I know Kal will be.

He sits by candlelight, reading a thick tome with rough pages. The old Fae never sleeps.

I take the seat across from him. It doesn't take long to tell him what happened. When I'm finished, I ask the most important question first. "How is this possible?"

Kal is thoughtful, tugging on his long white beard as he considers. "There is only one way to awaken the Druids," he says in his Fae accent, which always seems thicker this late at night. "With High Fae blood."

Rage and fear flood me at his words. I know of only one source of High Fae blood in this world.

Arianna.

Since she was taken, I have warred with myself over the right course of action. Defy my brothers and search for her myself, thus abandoning my people, or trust Asher and fulfill my duties.

But in the end, if I left my people to rot, Arianna would not forgive me. She loves them too much, so I focused on my kingdom. Asher knows the consequences if he fails.

I turn my attention back to Kal. Ari is in more danger than I realized, and I am beginning to regret my choice.

Kal does not blink as he holds my gaze. And I know he knows the truth about Ari. Perhaps he knew before me. Perhaps he's always known. But I cannot be distracted by those thoughts. Arianna could be in danger. She could be dead. There is no telling what they've done with her. "Arianna, she is—"

"A High Fae," Kal says, confirming my suspicions. "But why bring her to Inferna?" he asks.

"I do not know, but that is the ultimate question, is it not? I believe my father sought to unite our bloodlines. High Fae and the Fallen, bound by blood. I believe he sought peace between our lands."

Kal frowns and pinches the edge of his nose. "If he did, he failed. This will only bring war."

I nod. Even Kal, a Fae, understands things aren't so simple as my father would have liked us to believe.

"Will you free the slaves?" Kal asks after a time.

I pace the library, my thick boots echoing off the stone floor. "I cannot let them go. I have already lost the support of many of my people. They will rebel if I do this. Something my father never understood. You cannot change everything overnight and expect your subjects to follow without revolt. Without consequence. Change does not come easy for the immortal, if it comes at all."

Kal nods.

All this talk with no solutions makes my head pound. There must be an answer without war. I must find Ari. "Are the prisoner's coherent yet?" I ask, an idea forming.

"Follow me, Your Grace."

Kal leads me out the library and to the Infirmary, a white-stoned place of little decor, dimly lit, where the prisoner's lay in their beds, well-guarded. "Though they are able to talk, they are not yet willing to," Kal says.

"They will find words tonight," I say, rage building in me. I walk into the room and find the largest, most dangerous looking prisoner of the bunch. A huge Fae with bulging muscles and a defiant face. I pull him out of bed and push him against the wall. "Where is Princess Arianna?" I ask him quietly.

The other prisoners look on with caution.

The big one glares at me, just as I expected. "I won't tell you anything—"

I kick him in the knee. Hard. So hard his bones break and his leg bends backward, unnaturally. He collapses into a heap, screaming.

The other Fae tremble in their beds. One, a young lad, pees himself, staining the white sheets yellow.

I turn to them. "Tell me where they have taken the Princess, or you will share his pain."

A young woman speaks up, the one I saved from further torture. "If we found her, we were to take her to a cave in the mountains, one with a stone door, I can show you."

"Where does the door lead?" I ask.

Her lower lip trembles and a tears fall from her eyes. "I don't know."

I cannot afford to have sympathy right now. I draw my sword and point it at her neck.

Her face fills with dread. "I swear by the Five, I do not know. I do not know."

I study her trembling, crying form. She is full of fear. Desperation. But no deceit. Why would she tell me about the cave but keep the rest a secret, at the cost of her life?

I turn to the others. "Anyone else know of the door?"

They shake their heads. The young man says, "Someone was waiting there to collect the princess, that's all we know, honest."

"There is one more thing," whimpers the woman. "I heard the commanders talking of it one night over wine. A spy. A spy in the Seven Realms."

I grip my sword tighter. "Who?"

"I heard no name. But they're in an elevated position, know all sorts of things."

I glance at Kal. It can't be him. I will not entertain the idea, but what if…

I sigh, lowering my sword and returning it to the scabbard. It seems only a few know of the door's purpose, and I've yet to find them.

I turn to Kal, whose face is impassive. "Tend to the man's knee. Have the rest fed and bathed."

He bows. "I can assure you my lord, I am not the—"

I grip his shoulder. "I trust you Kal. Be certain in this, and go about your work." Without another word, I march out of the castle.

Baron follows me, his paws leaving large prints in the snow. Wolves howl in the night, but he does not join them. He is set in his purpose like me.

We find Kayla by the forest, where a team of vampires, Shades, and slaves work to cut trees for the rebuilding of houses. A giant pine falls to the ground, shaking the earth. Kayla orders a Shade to load small logs into a wagon pulled by giant black horses. Her voice is calm, but assertive, delivering command after command.

"How are things progressing?" I ask her.

She shouts an order to tie down the logs to the wagon, then turns to me. "Well enough, despite the cold. The men are bringing up an invention Ace created. Something that should help us move the wood faster. We will have the city rebuilt soon."

"No," I say, my brain spinning with new plans forged from threats. "You must instruct everyone to build fortifications along the rivers."

Kayla stares at me, her eyes wild. "Forts? We defeated their army. Now is the time to rebuild."

"You will do as I say," I growl. "The Fae will return, and we must be prepared." I want to tell her about the Druid's threats, but she must stay focused on her task. All my people must. Telling them now will only distract them and hurt us in the end.

Thunder rumbles in the distance. It is a bad enough time to build as it is, but if it rains…. My people must be at their best.

But Kayla is not an idiot. She sees the worry in my eyes. "Have you learned anything from the prisoners?" she asks, arms crossed over her chest as she side-eyes me.

"They know of the door, but not what lies behind it."

She nods, looking lost in thought. "I wonder if…"

"What?"

"Nothing." She waves her hand in the air dismissively. "I thought I remembered something, but… it's nothing."

I nod. "Very well then. Transport the wood to the rivers. I will contact you later with further plans."

I turn with Baron at my heels and head back to the castle before she can respond. She knows something is off, but this isn't the time to question me.

Back in my room, I set to building a fire in my hearth. My servants have all been sent to aid in rebuilding, leaving me alone to tend to myself. I enjoy the silence, the peace, the solitude. Or I would, if the threat of the annihilation of my people wasn't hanging over my head, along with the loss of Arianna. 

I undress, knowing I must rest, as I've barely slept since Arianna was taken.

A screech freezes me. Loud, all-consuming. Outside.

I run for the window, my stomach coiling.

I am the Prince of War. The Prince of Death.

But when I look outside, I know fear.

A phoenix blazes through the sky. Its wings span bridges. Its claws are large enough to tear apart a house. It cries out, a high screech, full of malice and dread, and I know my entire kingdom can hear it. Tonight, they will all look upon the sky, and they will see fire.

The phoenix dives over the forest. The forest where Kayla and my people work.

It glides over the tall trees, sparking them with red flames.

Setting the forest on fire.

Men and women yell and scream and run to fetch water.

But they will not contain this raging inferno.

The world burns.

And our hope burns with it.

Chapter 7

REMEMBER ME

"Yours is the sign of Lucian."

—Kal'Hallen

We make a
sorry lot, spread throughout a barren hall. Most of the Fae left quickly after the Druids. Asher and King Lucian stand in a corner, engaged in a heated discussion. Twice I have heard them shout my name.

Madrid sits alone at a table, drinking straight from a bottle of something that glows blue. Varis is gone, not seen since the disastrous presenting, and here I am, drowning my sorrows with Durk of all people.

He's less annoying when both of us are drunk.

I hold my goblet up and tap the side. "It's empty," I say. He nods somberly and refills my wine, topping his off as well.

"At least no one tried to tear my clothes off this time," I say as I drink deeply from my cup, the flavor burning my tongue.

Durk raises a bushy red eyebrow. "You are royalty, regardless of what the other Old Ones say. No one would dare touch you in such a way."

I raise my goblet. "I'll drink to that."

Our glasses clink, and we drink. My head spins. Everything feels fuzzy and less important. Less weighty. I know this won't solve my problems, but it's nice to be out of my head for a few hours, even if I'll likely regret it in the morning.

"I'm not breaking any drinking laws here, am I? This is more like Europe, with a younger drinking age?"

He frowns at me. "I know not this Europe, but you are the law."

"Right."

We toast again. For I am the law.

I hear a hiccup and turn to see Yami lifting an entire wine bottle to his mouth. I grab it from him before he drowns himself. "You are definitely too young for that!"

He mews and drops his head, giving me big sad eyes.

"Nope. No wine for you. Come here."

Yami jumps back onto my arm and climbs up to my shoulder. I place the wine bottle a safe distance from us, noticing the dragon licking his lips and tilting over a bit. There's a stain of red on his mouth.

I sigh. "Great. My baby dragon is a lush."

Durk shakes his head. "The Midnight Star does not sound as formidable as he once was."

"He's a baby," I remind him. "He will grow out of it." I hope.

No wine bottle in site, Yami glances at a platter of meats and cheeses. He dives off my shoulder, head first into the food. His claws push aside the cheese, and his little fangs tear into a slice of pork. This must be the hunger Varis warned me about.

Durk grunts at the food—which disappears into thin air for all but me—and leaves the table abruptly, returning a few minutes later with a bottle of something that glows silver, and two small shot glasses.

He fills both and hands me one.

"What's this?" I ask.

"Magic," he says, downing his shot in one gulp. His entire body shakes, and he yells, and giggles, and then his lips curl into a pleasant smile.

I sniff at my drink, then copy him, taking it all at once. I nearly gag. It burns down my esophagus and I choke, grabbing my throat, looking for something to put out the fire inside my body. I can feel it eating away at the lining of my stomach!

Durk guffaws and slaps my back, then pours us each another.

"You've got to be kidding," I choke out, still panting and waving at my mouth.

"Only way to tame the beast," he says.

I do another shot, and my world wobbles. Durk smiles at me, and I swear it's the first time he's looked at me with something other than revulsion or disdain. "You might not be as bad as all that," he says.

"Thanks, I think."

Yami returns, the platter empty of meat, and sniffs at my drink. He makes a gagging sound, then runs back up to my neck and hides behind my hair. I giggle uncontrollably and Durk frowns.

"Do ya know why this matters?" he asks, his voice low.

I stop laughing and look at him. "Why what matters?"

"This!" He waves his arms in the air as if to encompass everything. "You. The Midnight Star."

"I know why it matters to me," I say, thinking of peace, of Fen. "Why does it matter to you?"

"I had a younger brother once. Nat was his name. I remember a time we were little, playing by the gryphons. He wanted to ride one and I didn't stop him in time. Nearly broke his neck, and our mother nearly broke my bum after that. I swore I'd never let anything bad happen to him again." Durk sighs and takes another shot, and I wait, silently. "He was taken captive long ago. Taken by the vampires. I don't even know if he's dead or living as a slave. But he is the reason I helped start this rebellion. To find my brother. To bring him home, or put him to rest once and for all."