Shadows of Mist, page 21
part #8 of The Vampire Gift Series
“Are you saying there’s risk of a coup?”
Smithson nods. “You saw Beast. You saw his hatred for us. Paul trusts him, but I think if he found out what’s been done to Paul, he would mutiny. The Crusaders’ men would follow him.”
“Beast knows about the vampires Victoria saw,” I say. “He knows of Paul’s daughter, of what’s been done to her. He knows of the other captured vampire. Would he have let them survive so long if he was discovered?”
“He was loyal to a man, don’t forget,” Smithson reminds me. “He knew of the chain of command. He knew that when Paul died, Melvin would take over—and I do not believe he meant for Melvin to rule for long.”
“What are you saying? That all the seeds for takeover are already planted?”
“Precisely. Maybe we can keep up the charade of remote command of The Crusaders for a month, perhaps two. Paul was a tough son of a bitch as a human. He might have lasted that long. But sooner or later, it’ll become obvious to all those in The Crusaders that something is wrong—that they’re being lied to.”
“And then they’ll revolt?”
“They will revolt, and they will wrestle control of power from Paul’s hands. Never will they follow a vampire—not when the very creed they grew up on is about destroying them.”
“Cierra is the more pressing issue,” I reiterate. “We can think about the power structure of The Crusaders later. Once we’ve dealt with her.”
“But that’s what I’m saying,” he tells me. “You and I go to retrieve the obsidian. Don’t just leave the others idle. Give them a task. Tell them to rescue Sylvia. Tell them to kill Beast.”
“Why kill him,” I ask slowly, “when we can convert him instead?”
“He would never consent to that.”
“You don’t know,” I say, mind racing with all sort of possibilities. “What if we begin a transformation of their entire base? We’ve already started at the top. We show them Paul, show them what he’s become, and give them an individual choice. Join our ranks, or be killed.”
“I don’t know how many would take you up on such an offer…” he begins.
“Doesn’t matter if ninety percent refuse. One vampire is worth a hundred men. If we get just one percent of the men to become vampires… the takeover of the organization would be complete!” My eyes glaze over as I consider the wonderful possibility.
“Yes!” I exclaim. “Yes, why didn’t I think of this before? That is the only way to guarantee full compliance. And we will have complete access to everything! Government contacts, all of the independent work, everything they do, we will take over! The technology we’d possess would make us unstoppable! There would not be a force in the world powerful enough to stop us!”
I think of Father, of how he tortured me, humiliated me. I think of how badly I’d wanted revenge.
“It won’t be easy, James,” Smithson cautions. “It will have to be covert.”
“Well, of course!” I exclaim. I am teeming with excitement. “We will do it; we will grow the vampires loyal to me. We will turn The Crusaders into the greatest coven in the world! What greater vengeance, what greater success, than subverting the entire organization which has hunted our kind for generations? Who is responsible for more vampire deaths than any other group on Earth?”
“If you think you can do it…”
“Of course, I do! It must be done. It will be done. By the gods, man, I can’t believe this didn’t come to me earlier!”
“It won’t be easy,” Smithson warns. “You will run into huge complications. Their numbers are enormous, and units of their military are spread all over the world.”
“Even better!” I say. Now, I must sound hysterical from the side, I just know it. “Can you imagine, having such reach, and it all belonging to vampires? The hierarchy will ensure us perfect control.”
“You’re forgetting something very important,” he says. “The reason The Crusaders are able to maintain ties is because they are human. They can go out during the day. They can be active in the sun.”
“So, then we find those humans among them sympathetic to our cause and make them wait. We only give the gift to the leaders at the start. The soldiers will have to earn it. And we will continue recruiting. After ten, fifteen, twenty years of loyal service they will be offered the Gift and will be allowed to join the upper ranks. It will be perfect!”
“I think you are greatly overestimating the ease with which this can be done,” he tells me. “But… I will admit, if it’s possible, it has the potential to change the world.” I see a new light start to shine in his eyes. “In fact… in fact, we could recruit from The Order. That can be the feeding organization for the larger one.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” I say. “The Order will provide recruits who are already used to dealing with the supernatural. They will graduate to The Crusaders, and only humans from The Crusaders will be offered access to the vampire gifts.”
Smithson nods, deep in thought. “If you are going to do this, you must start right away. We have to tell Paul and the others of the new plan.”
“Right,” I say, and call all the vampires to gather round.
First, I announce that only Smithson and I will be going for the obsidian. Victoria protests, but I cut her off and continue with the rest of our plans.
Paul immediately takes to the idea.
“This is brilliant!” he exclaims. “We will weed out those who would not conform right away, without them causing trouble. I think at least half of my generals will be amenable to the idea. The ones who aren’t can be… persuaded, can they not? You can use the influence!”
I shake my head. “Humans can be subjected to the influence and be made suggestible in the moment, but unlike with vampires, where the hierarchy strengthens the effect, with humans it will wear off over time. They suffer horrible confusion when that happens, because they have no idea why they did what they had done. It’s enough to ruin some minds permanently, depending on the dissonance between the influenced actions and the person’s own inclinations.” I pause, thinking back. “Mother quickly forbade us from using it on the villagers, at the founding of The Haven, after we found out what effects it had.”
I grin. “Much better to keep humans in line through fear.”
“We will need to pick out the generals and leaders one by one,” Victoria says. “The others mustn’t be alerted to what’s happening.”
“And the fledglings will need blood,” April adds.
“Blood can come from those who reject the offer,” I say. “Feeding on men they’ve known for years will prove their loyalty to the new guard.”
“Not many would do that,” Paul says slowly. “The brotherhood is strong within my men.”
“They answer first to you, do they not?” I ask. “If you command it, they will do it.”
“I’ll command it,” he agrees, “but they still may not.”
“When the bloodlust takes over, for a vampire newly-made,” I say, “there is no holding back. They will feed on their friends, Paul. I guarantee it.”
He grunts, not entirely pleased with the idea. “We would get much better compliance if we gave them some other blood.”
“What blood, Paul?” Smithson asks, looming over him. “Civilian blood? You want us to kidnap a village, hold them all hostage, then murder them? You have some sway with the authorities here, I get that. But nobody will overlook so many people vanishing.”
Paul exhales through gritted teeth. “Yes, you are both right. This has to be wholly internal. We may only get one in twenty to side with us, in that case. Maybe even less.”
“It will be a great purge,” I say. “We shall dub it ‘The Culling’. All the weak humans will be left behind. The strong, granted their rightful place with us. This will begin a new era for vampires across the world. No more will they be splintered into separate, opposing covens, isolated and weak. The infiltration starts here, starts now, and we will use The Crusaders might, together with The Order’s influence, to rule the entire world!”
My voice takes on a fevered pitch. “Governments will be owned by us. The men elected will be our servants. Prophecy says Eleira is the chosen one?” I spit to the side. “I spit on that prophecy! Vampires will rule the world, but it will not be because some damn stars said so, but through our own volition, our efforts, and with me at the very head!”
I’m getting exuberant. “You will all be my closest advisors. Yes, yes, even you, April. Don’t look so shocked. You survived the shooting for a reason, and I intend to give you every chance to succeed.”
She looks at her feet and mumbles softly, “Thank you, James.”
I bite two holes in my wrist and offer it to her. “Drink. I want you stronger. We need you stronger.”
April casts a look around, appearing a little hesitant.
Then she crosses the space between us and drinks her share of my blood.
I pull away when I feel she’s had enough. I nod to Smithson. “Your turn. Give her your wrist.”
He narrows his eyes but rolls up his sleeve and offers it to April.
He lets her drink less than I did.
“Now you, Paolo,” I say. “You do the same.”
He nods and bites two marks in his forearm, giving it to April to drink from.
The circle continues as April takes blood from each of us in turn. When it’s done, she is notably stronger than before.
Feeding on vampire blood expedites the development of personal strength that comes with time. I’d estimate April just fast-forwarded about twenty years in her development.
“Now. April, stand in the middle, and offer us your neck,” I say.
A look of confusion, tinged with fear, shows on her face.
“We will only take a sip each,” I assure her. “But it will ensure the same blood is in all our veins. It is a bond that will only grow in time. We are all, now, Nocturna Animalia, and we shall be the first coven in history to subvert a human organization as large and powerful as The Crusaders!”
April steps to the middle. We ring around her. She closes her eyes and tilts her head to one side.
I order the vampires to drink from her one at a time, with me going last.
“Just a drop,” I remind them. “Nothing more.”
Victoria goes first, then Smithson, then Paolo. They do it without incident.
Then comes Paul’s turn.
He sizes her up with greedy eyes. Immediately, the change in behavior puts me on alert. He walks up to her, last to go before me, and sinks his fangs in her neck.
He drinks in one deep swallow. “Paul, enough,” I say. He keeps going. His arms lock around her in an inescapable embrace.
April starts to flail, realizing he means to take more than his share. I curse, grab him by the shoulder, and fling him off, sending him to the floor.
“And stay there!” I roar, pummeling him in place with the Mind gift. A great chasm opens within me, and power from that pounds into him. Out of nowhere, a torrent of sparks appears, hissing as it singes his clothes and skin.
Paul screams. He scrambles up, trying to escape the onslaught, but the sparks merely change direction and flow into him from the other side. He’s knocked back on the floor. His clothes incinerate, his skin is burning, each of the sparks leaving horrible black marks on his body.
“James, stop it!” Victoria screams. She grabs currents of Water from the air and uses them to douse the flames. Her weaves form a protective shield around Paul’s body, but he’s frail and weak, barely able to hold away the sparks now.
I stare helplessly, half-astounded, too stunned to move. I can feel the source of the burning sparks, and I know it is inside me, from out of that vast chasm. It feeds into the assault, and I realize, if I concentrate, I can trace the path the power takes from the chasm to the sparks.
“James!” Victoria screams.
With a start, I come to myself and realize what I’m doing. I have no idea how to close the chasm, but I know I can redirect the sparks. With a supreme effort, I force them away from the writhing vampire, forcing them to slam into one distant tank, the heat and blinding light of the sparks nearly consuming it.
The outburst of power keeps going and going, I don’t dare to close the chasm inside. I can feel it. For the first time ever I can feel where the magic is coming from, and I need as much exposure to it as I can get to understand how it works.
The power flows out from me, out from the void, and manifests itself in that shower of sparks. Form the corner of my eye I see Paul rising slowly, humbled by what happened.
I ignore all the vampires around me and focus entirely on the tank. So much heat is produced by the sparks that the metal is melting, yet there is no residual heat.
I walk toward the spot slowly, almost in a trance. My control of where the sparks are flowing is extremely tenuous. It’s almost like feeling the presence of a very weak vampire from far away and then trying to make him subject to you via the influence. Proximity to the spraying sparks does not make my connection to it any stronger.
I stop just a few feet away, the angry red flecks still raining down. I feel an affinity to them. The chasm inside me reacts to them. The chasm inside me bucks and roars, almost like a wild beast. For a few seconds, it tries to engulf me. My instincts immediately alert me to the danger. I fight it back.
The chasm rebels. It sends more power shooting out, doubling, tripling, quadrupling the strength of the sparks. I wrestle it down, willing it to be still, but it’s not so easy.
All of a sudden, it explodes, sending forth a great burst of power. The sparks converge to become a solid beam of destruction. It envelopes the tank, and in an instant, it’s gone, wiped entirely out of existence, burned from this world.
With the huge bang, the chasm closes. Magic is lost to me. I fall to my knees, gasping.
My whole body is shaking. Every part of me, from my fingertips to my toes, feels exhaustion of the sort I’ve never felt before. My eyes droop shut. The darkness is uniform. I swoon back and forth on my knees, barely able to hold my upper body upright.
Victoria skids to my side. She grasps my arms. “James!” she exclaims. “James, what happened, what did you do?”
I crack one eye open. The effort is almost more than I can bear. Victoria looks so beautiful, peering at me intently like that, concern marring her perfect features.
I bring a shaking hand up to her cheek. She clasps one of hers over it. A droopy smile plays on my lips.
“You love me,” I say dreamily. “Don’t you?”
“What?” she scowls, pulling away, as if she’s been singed.
That confirms it. “You do,” I say, and the weakness takes over, and I fall forward into her lap.
The world goes black.
Chapter Twenty-Five
James
Location Unknown.
I float in a sea of night, with nothing breaking up the monotony.
I feel my body, somewhere down there, very far away. My consciousness, my mind, is up here, calm and blissful, satiating in the absolute peace.
Slowly, I regain the feeling in my legs. My arms come next, then my torso. I feel my body calling out for me, beckoning for me to return to it and give it life.
I do not heed the call. There is a strange tranquility up here, a certain type of peace that I have never known before. The troubles of the world do not affect me. I exist in a state of perpetual nirvana, and I am in no hurry to leave.
So, time passes, my body calls out to me, and I remain happy to ignore the call. Far away in the distance, past the sea of black, I see a field of stars. I know they are too far away from me to reach. I know, somehow, instinctively, that if I go for them the connection to my physical body will be severed, perhaps will be lost, and I will be doomed to float in this realm forever.
I feel no discomfort at such an end. Everything is so nice here. No hunger, no ambitions, no pain. No thirst, no fear, no anger.
No life.
That thought startles me. With it comes a sudden torrent of despair. The despair builds, taking over, and in the dark shifts to fear. Fear becomes paranoia, and I suddenly need to get out, to escape, to rip my way out of this realm, lest I be lost here forever.
I scramble for the link to my body. But I am so weak. Desperation grips me. If I can’t find my way back…
But no, I refuse to give in to despair. Desperation is replaced by determination, and I claw my way back, little by little, forcing my spirit down to the body I know is below.
It’s difficult at first. Every time I grasp a link it seems to squirt out of my hands. But I will not give up; I will not simply fade into oblivion.
And so, little by little, I get closer and still closer, until an abrupt suction takes me and I’m suddenly throttled into my body and back to life.
I open my eyes and surge up with a gasp. My heart is racing. Adrenaline fills my veins.
I look around the room I am in, and I feel momentarily confused. I do not recognize the inside. I’m on a single bed in the middle of an oval space, all the walls made of thick, domineering concrete, with a single door across from me at the other side. The door is one giant circle, doubly reinforced with steel and God-knows-what else. It looks like the most menacing bank vault door one can imagine.
My head spins. I bring a hand to it. Where is everyone?
How long have I been here?
Then I notice the scorch marks on the walls. They alarm me. “What the hell?” I whisper.
I push the covers off of me and stagger to my feet. They are bare, and I can feel the cold floor. In fact, looking down at myself, I realize I am completely naked—and, for whatever reason, quite cold.
I wrap the blanket over my shoulders and shuffle to the nearest wall.
The burn marks are fresh. I touch a hand to them. Damn, they’re still warm!
I look around the room for a source, for anything that might have caused them.
There is nothing here but the bed. Then that means…
I shake my head, not liking the implication.
