Unnamed Vampire Book

Love, life and family hangs in the balance - with not a minute to spare, loyalties will be tested and the argument of nature versus nature will be the difference between life and death.

☼☼☼☼☼

 

   I leaned against the far wall in the Great Hall. The Nobles had called a meeting, and as the daughter of her right hand woman, I had to be here. Or rather, I suspect they knew I’d only eavesdrop. They had meetings without me. Obviously, they’d talked to Kael without me knowing. Usually Kael tells me everything important from those such meetings. I could just listen in on them, but I’d decided to allow The Nobles some shred of power - to keep them happy.

   Kael moved away from a pair of vampires towards me. They watched him go, passing a less than friendly glance over me. I blew them a kiss.

   “Why do you antagonize them, Bryn?” Kael asked quietly, stopping beside me.

   “Keeps them on their toes,” I replied flippantly.

   “You’re going to get your throat ripped out one of these days,” Kael told me, “I won’t be able to protect you forever.”

   I scoffed. “When do you intend to start?” I demanded, glaring at him. He knew I’d kill him myself if he fought any battle for me. I will not be perceived as weak among these b******s.

   Kael opened his mouth to respond, when the double doors to the Hall opened slowly. The Hall fell silent as a small group of Vampires entered.

   At the front were two, almost identical Vampires. Both had long, silky blonde hair. Eyes the color of a ravens wings, rimmed in black coal. The shape of their faces were even symmetrical. They could have been siblings. They probably were.

   The man was wearing skin tight leather pants and a flowy black dress shirt. The woman, a floor length corseted dress. Black - how cliché. The moved towards the center of the room as one. They way they walked was eerie - not making a sound, hardly touching the ground. And with exaggerated slowness. They wanted those in the room to get a good look at them. They did look menacing as they swept the hall with their blank eyes.

   They both rested on Kael with something close to fondness and passed over me with a look of barely concealed contempt. I smiled at them. 

   “Good Night,” the woman said in a childlike voice, “How fare thee, Children?”

   There was a murmur of voices, assuring her that they were well rested, well fed.

   The group of Vampires that had come in with them moved to stand around the room. Our Mother was among them. She didn’t come to us. No, I’d forbidden her to make contact with me in public; to keep up with my reputation as well as to take suspicion off of her. Mother went to stand with the two Vamps that Kael had been conversing with earlier. I think their names were Bartland and Cheriese. Yeah, terrifying names.

   The woman, Kadence, gestured towards her mate. Marckus stepped forward, like a human child in a spelling bee, eager to do his part. When we had first arrived here, I thought that Marckus was the leader, the brains, but it turned out that Kadence led the operations. Marckus was there as muscle. A seven foot man with giant arms and menacing air about him was far more intimidating that a tiny slip of a woman with willowy limbs and a Betty Boop voice.

   “We have received word that a compound South- East of here has made the decision to rebel against our leadership.” Marckus paused as he swept his eyes across the room again. They found me and stayed as he finished his announcement, “We attack at sundown tomorrow.”

   The compound that Kael had marked on his map? Probably. I felt my hands clench at my side. I had to grind my teeth together to keep from flying at the smug b*****d in fury. I’d bet my life that the compound hadn’t rebelled. They would be sleeping in their beds, blissfully unaware of the evil that was headed their way. They’d awaken to screams of their dying neighbors, of their own families.

   The rest of the meeting passed in a blood haze, my mind still focused on the deaths to come. Thanks to Kael. If he has just said no, those people would survive the next two days. If he had said no, children wouldn’t have to see their parents murdered in front of them. The elders had no way of escaping. The Nobles killed them all, using their blood to make new Vampires. You can only Rise if you have the blood of your human sire in you. They Nobles killed them to get it. That’s an entire generation lost, for a creature that is damned.

   A hand touched my arm, a voice murmured near my ear but I couldn’t hear them. I couldn’t hear anything. And I didn’t care who was talking. Ripping away from them, I exited the room. My vision was blurry at best, blinded by rage, I was moving quickly among Vamps, but they didn’t register.

   The halls were filled with Vamps, everywhere I looked there they were. I could smell them, the cold, almost metallic scent offending my nose more than usual. I shoved past them, not caring that I was being even more rude than usual. I just needed air. Fresh air. Air they hadn't breathed, hadn't yet tainted.

   I reached the stair case and bounded down as fast as my feet could carry me. When I got to the bottom, I turned away from the heavy door that would lead me back into the public halls and instead, unlatched the thick iron door that would take me outside.

   I gulped in fresh air like I had been suffocating. And maybe I had been. I flashed back to the room, the look in Markus’s eyes when he's spoken. What they were planning is wrong, it's murder. It's exactly what they did when they took over the Haven where I had grown up. I shook my head and paced away from the compound. The farther away I walked, the more memories surfaced in my mind - memories I had done my damnedest to remove. I heard the sound of my Father laughing, the smell of Mother cooking dinner. I heard the sound of the children playing outside. And then I heard the screams, smelt the blood, remembered the feel of it on my skin.

   I rubbed my hands on my jeans, even though I knew it wasn't there now. When I walked as far as I could, when I reached the gate, I crossed my arms and stared up at the sky. I watched the stars, and the moon. As a human, if I had looked up, I would see thousands upon thousands of stars - they would have been twinkling lights in the sky. Looking up now, I can see the outline of what they are beneath the shine. I can see them move. I watched them for a while, using the silence and the surety of those stars to ground myself.

   They knew what they were doing, those stars. They have a set path. They travel it, day after day, year after year. They lose track of their course, and they could smash into something else, and destroy themselves and everything around them. Every night, I look out and I can see these stars, not in the same place, sometimes it's not even them, but others that I have come to know, but they do the same thing. They move. They glide. And I watch as they pass me by, leaving me here.

   A bell sounded over the grounds, sharp and loud. I didn't move - it's just the Seer, making another useless prophecy. Probably about how well They will do during the raid.

   Even if I went back, I wouldn't be allowed into the Hall to hear the prediction. It's above my pay grade. Mother would be there, perhaps I'll sneak into her room later and ask about it.

   Some time passed, and my muscles started to cramp at being in the same position for so long. Time to go back.

 

   When the door to my room slid open, I felt a moment of panic. Something felt off about it. I stayed on the threshold, staring into the dark, picking apart the shadows. Something moved to my right, but I faced forward, hand moving to the base of my spin.

   I flicked my wrist out, heard the zing of the blade fly through the air, and the grunt when it hit its target.

   The shadow moved, and I heard a voice grumble, "This is definitely a step in the wrong direction."

   River.

   I flicked on the light, glaring at him, "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

   He jerked the knife from his shoulder and tossed it onto my desk. He didn't press a hand to the wound, there was no point - he'd be healed in a matter of minutes. "I thought you should hear the news from a friendly face."

   My stomach knotted, but I replied, "And you think you're a friendly face?"

   He shrugged, "At least I won't gloat about it."

   I gave a long suffering sigh, "Fine. What's the big news?"

   He watched me carefully, "Your brother has been sentenced to death."

   I blinked, my heart stopped, "I beg your pardon?"

   River took a step towards me, chocolate eyes almost sympathetic, "The Seer predicted that he would bring about the Fall of the Royals. He's a threat."

   My heart started beating in over time, I clenched my fists, debating what the holy hell I was supposed to do now, "Why? What were the words?"

   He hesitated, and I snapped, "You're Their golden boy, you won't get in trouble. If you don't tell me, I'll torture it out of somebody else." I turned to leave and he grabbed my arm.

   "Listen very carefully, Brynna." he whispered to me, "If I'm seen as a threat, I'll be sent to the Tower, golden boy or not. You have given me no reason to confide in you."

   I jerked my arm, but his grip was too strong, "Fine. I said I'd get it from someone else."

   He shook his head, dark silky hair shifted against his neck, "You're not supposed to know. It was forbidden to tell you."

   I stopped, "Then why are you here?"

   He shrugged, "Maybe I felt like I wanted to be stabbed."

   I scoffed, "Masochist."

   "Martyr." He fired back.

   I scowled, "What's that supposed to mean?"

   "The second I let go, you will storm into the Hall demanding your answers. And you will be killed because you believe you have a right to know."

   "Kael is my brother. I do have a right to know."

   "It's official Noble business."

   "They can f**k themselves with their rules and regulations. My brother’s life is on the line. So if you're not going to tell me, let me go so I can go beat it out of someone who will."

   River sighed, "They have been waiting for you to make a mistake, to give Them a reason to kill you."

   "I've given Them every reason to kill me. I don't care. Now, let me go, or my other knife will meet your cold, dead heart." I snapped.

   River locked his eyes on mine, stepped closer to me. Using his grip in my arm, he held me practically against him while his free hand to grip my waist. At first he just held me still, then his hand moved around my waist, slipping under the thin material of my shirt and griped the hilt of the twin that had met his shoulder. He removed it, the blade sliding free of its sheath beneath my jeans. The tip trailed over my skin as he lifted it - I know how sharp the edge is, so it was by his will alone it did not cut me.

   Still locked onto my face, he flicked his wrist and the knife embedded itself all the way to the hilt, in my desk.

   "Be careful who you threaten, mi amor. You need me."

   My stomach flickered at that, but I hid it behind a growl, "What I need from you, is to let go and get out so I can deal with this."

   River scoffed, "It's not for you to deal with."

   "River, I swear if you don't tell me the prophecy I will kill you."

   He almost smiled. "When you put it like that, how can a man refuse." he searched his memory and then recited,

"They have no heart,

Though they feel

They present no danger,

Though the Throne, they steal

Born weak,

Bred strong,

Flit through the bottom,

On top, they belong."

 

   I took a second to let it sink in. Then nodded, "Great. Now get lost."

   "Can't. I'm staying to make sure you don't do anything stupid." 

  I scoffed, "Since when do I do anything stupid?"

  He just raised a brow.

  "Shut up." I rubbed my free hand over my face. What the hell was I supposed to do? How in the hell am I supposed to fix this? "I need to see my Mother."

   "Why?"

   "Because we need to make a plan. We need to figure this out." I finally jerked my arm away from him and grabbing my knives, left my room.

   But of course, River had to follow me. "What's to figure out?"

   I resisted stabbing him again - just barely, "How to save my brother’s life, idiot."

   "Don't be nasty to me. I'm not the one who predicted It." he defended himself.

   I couldn't stab him, and clearly I wasn't about to shake him, so I did the next best thing, and ignored him. He kept pace with me as I passed throngs of Vamps, through doors, up the stairs and down the hall to my Mother's rooms.

   We came to a door that's guarded all night, and I cursed. S**t, I forgot to sneak up. The guard eyed me with mean eyes. His nostrils flexed and I knew he was smelling River’s blood on the knife at my back. Then he registered River and stepped aside. We passed through the door without a word exchanged.

   I tossed a look over my shoulder as the guard shut the door behind us. Neat. Maybe River is useful.

   We walked in silence down the dim hall, the rug masking the sounds of our footsteps. When we reached my Mother's door, I turned to River. "Wait here."

   He raised a brow.

   "You're a Noble. You can't be trusted."

   He raised his other brow, "Even though I'm the one who told you about the prophecy - not your Mother?"

   I frowned, "It doesn't matter. She probably doesn't know how to tell me. It's a touchy subject."

   "What, death? Of course it is."

   "No, my brother."

   It was River's turn to frown, "You and your brother are like twins." he pointed out, "You're telling me that you two actually hate each other?"

   "Of course not. I'm just not speaking to him at the current moment in time." I shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Just wait here." I pricked my finger and stepped into Mother's room.