The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of(65)

Yes, I think. Especially after you’ve trapped all your subjects inside.





Chapter Thirty-Nine




RAUL



I sit by Eleira’s bedside, watching her sleeping form.

She looks so beautiful asleep, so very peaceful. Her chest rises and falls in smooth, soft breaths. They seem delicate rather than strained, nurturing rather than concerning. Her hair falls around her face like a darkened halo, and I’m struck by the symbolism of it.

She looks like a fallen angel.

I catch my thoughts and stop them from going down that path. There are no angels in The Haven. Only murderers and slaves. Only beings of the night and our human captives.

“How is she?” Mother’s cool voice sounds from beyond me. It’s completely dispassionate.

“Same as she was an hour ago,” I say. “And the hour before that, and the day before that, and…”

I trail off. No matter how peaceful she looks, Eleira is fighting for her life right now.

I take her hand in mine. Once again, I’ve failed to protect her.

“You sound so forlorn.” Mother stops beside me and draws a hand through my hair. I stiffen at the unwanted display of affection. “Don’t worry. She’ll wake. She’s just as important to me as she is to you, you know.”

“Yes, but for entirely different reasons,” I say under my breath. I turn my head to Mother and glare at her. “You’re going to use Eleira.”

“I need her for her powers, yes. As do you. As do any who want The Haven to prosper.”

A pillar of anger comes to life inside me. “You call this prosperity?” I demand. “Your subjects are frightened. The vampires are running weak. You keep our humans trapped in an age that ended centuries ago!”

“All the easier to keep them meek.” Her hand stops in my hair and she makes a fist, forcing me to look up. “You know how much trouble they can cause if they are not. And they are truly only here for one purpose. To supply our banks with blood. To give sacrifice for The Hunt.”

I jerk away from her. “When Eleira rules…” I begin.

Mother laughs. “That is a long time coming. I assure you of that. You think, after six-hundred years, I would relinquish control so easily? So quickly? Eleira will be groomed for the throne, and shaped into a ruler of my liking. The succession will not happen overnight. Transforming her before her eighteenth birthday was important. Finding her, making her a vampire, exposing her to us and ensuring she was the right one… all of those were objectives with a deadline. Now that she’s here? We have years. We have decades.”

“Is that why you were so reckless when you attacked the demon?” I scowl. “The blast could have killed Eleira.”

“No,” Mother says. “It could not have. I aimed straight for the Narwhark. How was I to know the fool girl would leap in the way?”

My lips form a thin line of displeasure. I have to concede that Mother is right.

It still doesn’t make me feel better about any of this.

“So how did she come to be possessed? Was it the book, the contra’ torrial that took over?”

“No. The contra’ torrial is merely a device. To take possession of another’s mind requires conscious will. It was done by someone who thinks herself extraordinarily clever. Someone who, in reality, is not.”

I look at Mother. “You sound like you have a suspect.”

“Yes,” she says. “The woman you brought with you from The Crypts.

“Victoria.”





Chapter Forty




JAMES



I come to with a horrible pounding between my ears.

Groggy, I push myself up. As soon as I do, I gasp—pain envelops my body.

I groan and roll over to stare up at the sky. The stars are mocking me in their serenity. I’ve never hated the night as much as I do now.

I think back to everything that brought me here… and all that went wrong.



As soon as Father said I’d be made prisoner, a dozen of his guards ran out and apprehended me. I was dragged through the many twisting hallways of The Crypts and brought through the mess hall, where Dagan and the others were taking in their victory feast.

The scent of blood was strong all around me. All the vampires had enormous goblets of the stuff. It smelled fresh, vital, and impossibly enticing. My body ached for just one drop, after all that I’d been through.

But—such a mercy was not in the cards.

I was chained to a massive spit. A fire was started beneath me. The heat it gave off was terrible. Then, I had to endure hour after agonizing hour as the vampires of my former company came up to operate the mechanism. They spun me over the flames and laughed and laughed as my skin burned and I screamed.