Blizzard Read online

  I had yet to review the books that waited before me. I had been otherwise preoccupied with the possibilities in the moment that I was drowning in, no thanks to Piper’s elusive message.

  Eliza was late, and the worry mixed with the fantastical imaginings I had conjured after reading Piper’s letter razed my sense of calm. I had spent nearly the entire hour and a half talking myself down from the ledge I had stepped up, and in a moment I had leapt from that proverbial ledge and delved straight back into the heart of that mental hell. Then, when I had been almost fully chained to the idea one vision was the reality, Eliza opened the door. It was gentle but swift; normally her appearance was marked by nothing other than her verbal introduction. I sharply exhaled, trying to flush out the torturous thoughts. How quickly I had thrown myself back into those terrifying possibilities. I relaxed seeing Eliza’s calm expression but stiffened ever so slightly when her face betrayed her a moment to reveal a sadness lying just beyond the corner of her mouth.

  “Please forgive my tardiness, Neva. We will begin presently starting with subjects that are vital to your involvement in our world of vampires.” Eliza took her place behind the main desk within the library, a lamp illuminating the entirety of its polished oak surface. She sat upon a leather-bound chair; the aged smell of it, not lost to my heightened senses, stirred and danced across the room. Spirals of memories tickled the edge of my mind from a distant life.

  Eliza broke its entrancement. “Find the book already opened, and pull that one close. That is the law of our kind. Read and memorize it; it may save your life one day. All vampires, those we have created, are bound to these laws by a bond of blood.”

  “A bond of…blood?” As I pulled the heavy, aged book closer, the words came clearly into view, the pages yellowed from time but sturdy regardless of the apparent wear.

  “Yes, otherwise known as a blood oath. As you witnessed, vampires were born of the magic from our priestess lineage. As such, it carries unyielding and wholly binding principles, ones that cannot be undone.”

  A knock interrupted Eliza’s explanation. “You may enter.” A human girl carted in a tray with two goblets and a pitcher. I could smell the blood and feel my hunger. So much sooner than usual is my thirst. Warmth rose from the top, as its own energy that seemed to pulse with every turn of the wheels beneath. “Right there will do. You may leave us.” Eliza dismissed the young girl, no older than fifteen, I imagined.

  Each step she took sent out more pulses of energy, hers fresh and vibrant, and for a moment I felt my senses taking their leave, an urge rising in me to stop her. The moment passed and was quickly replaced with horror when Lucy’s face flashed across my mind.

  Eliza stood at the cart, both goblets already filled to their brims, watching me intently. I blinked at her stare in response, speechless at even the slightest lapse in my control. There had only been a twitch of movement from my body, but even that had been more than should have been allowed; shame at the impulse burned within my stomach.

  “You have done well, Neva, to resist such an urge.” Carefully delivering the goblet into my hands, Eliza slowly sipped from her own, her eyes sharp to my every movement, as though I might yet burst through from beneath the stillness of the moment. “Many others before you have not been able to resist, let alone have their reaction be as slight as yours.”

  “I…” Stammering seemed to be a new skill acquired as a vampire. “I…I could have killed her, had I not—”

  “Yes, had you not. Yet here you are, and you did not. Let’s continue the lesson.” Turning her back to me, Eliza returned to her station at the desk, Zachariah’s personal journals sitting in neat stacks on the desk.

  “Of course.” The words came out though I doubted they were my own. Staring down upon the yellowed page, cursive script written across it, I read the laws of vampires.

  Vampire Blood Oath

  The laws identified within are bound by blood. Any broken will be paid in kind for the transgressions of the guilty.

  No human shall be turned vampire without the thorough review and approval of The Council

  Within the sanctuary walls All Life is precious; no blood shall be spilled between vampire or human

  Humans are the vampire’s wards; no life shall be taken as sustenance

  No vampire life shall be taken without consent from The Council or without undeniable proof and just cause

  To go against The Council is to refuse the will of all vampires alike and will be viewed as a threat and treason

  Children born of a vampire mother and father are not allowed; should a child be conceived, it must be immediately eliminated

  Should a child be born of vampire parents, both child and parents will be sought and punished duly for their crimes

  These rules are those agreed upon by The Council and vampire alike; no exceptions may be allowed beyond what has been identified.

  The Blood Oath binds all vampires who have been created and accepted with, or without, their consent. The vampire responsible for turning a human must inform the newborn of these laws, lest they too suffer the consequences of the Blood Oath.

  The cost of the Blood Oath may either be any type of suffering or ultimately the life of the vampire who has transgressed these laws.

  I sat, reviewing the words in shock. Thedryk had not introduced me to these laws quickly enough, nor had Eliza. Nobody had dared to do so upon my initial arrival but instead had ensured my physical capabilities be prepared for defense. Fear washed over me; I had quite possibly killed Zachariah, but Zachariah had undoubtedly broken many of these rules. How did he live, if he broke those which could not be undone? Had none suffered the consequences? Or had they? What did it mean any type of suffering?

  “It seems you are done reading the laws, with questions.”

  I cast my eyes upon Eliza. Though her focus remained down upon the book that was spread open before her, I knew her attention was mine.

  “You said these laws could not be undone, yet Zachariah seemingly did as he pleased.”

  Eliza nodded at the statement, seemingly unperturbed by the direction of the discussion.

  “Thedryk did not immediately teach me these laws, and neither did you, so it seems I may have broken them myself with what I did to Zachariah.”

  “Ah!” Eliza struck up one feminine, fragile finger. “There was the catch, and you fell perfectly into that.”

  “Yes, but what if I had…what if I had chosen differently? What if I had skewered him rather than dropped him into the other world? Had my intention been to end his life, would the outcome have been different?” Here betrayal was sprouting its roots. I had known much had been held from me, but this could have ended my life, if not theirs as well. Anger blossomed in my cheeks at the prospect.

  Finally, Eliza tore her gaze away from the journals to match my glare. “Zachariah is not easy to kill, even for you, our blessed savior returned. Not yet, at least.”

  “Then explain to me, how is one vampire killed, easily or not?”

  “You would have to behead Zachariah and burn his body and head separately to ensure his complete destruction.”

  I gawked at her, astounded by the calm with which she stated the most vicious of mannerisms to kill the man she had once loved. That I did not miss.

  “The older we get, the more powerful we become. Rather…like a banker, storing energy rather than money. The longer we live, the greater the amount of energy, or magic, our bodies can store. It takes quite some time, and Zachariah is as old as I, though he did wait a bit before he too drank your…Kareese’s blood.”

  “What happened?” My face contorted in confusion. “You had loved one another so fiercely. One could envy the passion between you two, the strength and support. When you just spoke of how to…murder him, it was with such terrible ease and calm. How, Eliza, how can you be as such?” My heart ached, the part of me that was Kareese had loved each as parents for all her short life. I found a renewed connection to that first life, far strong
er than even the most recent.

  “I understand your trepidation, your disbelief in my behavior, no, my attitude. Too much time has passed, and time changes everything. Even we, those called immortal, do not go unscathed by its voracious appetite. It eats up all that crosses its path, and when it regurgitates us we are reborn, changed ourselves. No different than with any human; sometimes it is for the better, and other times, well, there is Zachariah.” For the first time Eliza did not hold back her emotions in front of me. The pain tipped over the rims of her lower lids and coursed along her cheeks, puddling upon the skirts of her rouge-colored gown.

  “You and Thedryk took such great risks as well. Why? It doesn’t make sense to me, when all it would have taken was just a few minutes to review this—”

  “Yes, but how would you have proceeded then? Honestly, the time we spent on training you was necessary. If we had not, you would not have been as prepared for Zachariah’s attacks as you were. We knew full and well the risk. Drink up, Neva. The thirst you felt earlier will only grow stronger if you do not work on strengthening your body now.”

  Looking down into the darkened depths of the goblet, which had cooled considerably in such a short time, I felt the rise of my ire once more. I drank steadily, nearly emptying the goblet in one round; the tissue lining my esophagus absorbed the warm liquid and siphoned it directly to my heart, which pumped rapid successions that coursed the fresh blood through my veins. Setting the goblet down, only a near fourth of the bloodied drink left, I looked back up to Eliza, once more engrossed in the journals.

  “It was wrong.” My statement was flat in tone but firm in its delivery.

  Eliza spread her hands out across the journal. “Perhaps,” she mused, a strange smile spread across her face.

  “Not perhaps.” My temper snapped, something about her smile reminding me of the woman from my dreams. “Since I have been changed, I was taken from my family, taken from my lands and forced to remain here. I didn’t ask questions; I didn’t doubt the cause because deep down I believed and knew there to be truth. But I should have! I should have asked more questions, pushed back, not been so…so damned accommodating. Maybe if I had been more of myself I could have saved my family.” I stood, tossing the heavy book of laws and other vampire knowledge across the table, listening to it slide and watching Eliza’s shocked expression shoot up to see me in my fit of rage.

  “Don’t you sit there and smile in that way, as though ‘perhaps’ is a perfectly valid response. It’s not! None of this was!” My rage sent tremors throughout my body. I could taste my own blood in my mouth as I bit down. It took a moment to realize my fangs, those I had barely noticed before, had fully descended and were pressing firmly into my lips. I had bitten my bottom lip, as I was prone to do in the rare moments of fitfulness I experienced in my life. Gasping pulled apart the teeth from my lips and facial tissue. Though I knew it wouldn’t take long to heal, I still stood in surprise of my reaction. “I think we are done with today’s lessons, Eliza. Unless, you have some other hidden truths you would like to share presently.” Quickly composing myself from the increasing volume of my voice, I quieted, waiting for her response. For a moment I prayed she would have the courage to tell me what I felt she was hiding.

  “Yes, I believe it is time we close out the lesson for today. Take some time for yourself. We may be pushing you too hard.” Eliza was eyeing me, watching my moves as prey to predator. She feared me, what I might do—the thought stunned me at its reality.

  “I see.” I left the library without any further conversations, the door shutting heavily behind me. I found figures disappearing into the dark corners of the hallways. Human and vampire alike had come out to the commotion I had caused.

  “Well,” I said under my breath. “I shall find my own answers, no matter how painful the method.” Hastily I made my way to the meeting point Piper had identified; if anyone would give me answers, Piper would not hold the truth from me, no matter how painful.

  One full meal, several goblets later, I stood waiting as patiently as I could manage just before the doors leading to the garden. Curtains were being drawn to keep out the impending sunlight, and the smell of a fresh wash was drifting in through the remaining doors waiting to be closed. The light, which I missed so dearly, would mark that something had not gone as planned. The humans changing their rounds exchanged nervous glances as they passed me, and I wondered what they must think. Did my dreams reach them as well? The answer to that I feared most, that my dreams might indeed be imprinting upon their lives, though they were far more fragile than a vampire. I reconsidered my methods of finding out the truth when observing the humans as they came upon me. Nervous, afraid, aware. Finally, seating myself upon a small chair and table that had been set just beside the doors, I tried to relax and focus on my options as I waited.

  Do I stay here, under Eliza’s tutelage? My dreams are reaching everyone, it appears, and I have no control. This is unfair to these people; what nightmares they may be having could very well kill them. Where would I go? How would I know where to start for my answers? I was stirred from my ruminations when the young girl, fifteen, hair as dark as crow feathers and brown eyes large and skittish, met my eyes, an envelope in her extended hand. “For you, miss.” Her voice was sweet, and she tried to be firm and unafraid, but the quiver beneath could not be hidden.

  “Thank you.” Reaching out to take the sealed envelope, I felt the warmth of her skin, smelled cinnamon and the slightest hint of clover, but the desire to drink her blood did not rise again. At least Eliza told me how to avoid that terrible desire. With my nod she left, inconspicuously hurried.

  Opening the envelope, I found Piper’s handwriting within, a much longer letter penned this time, though no less frustrating in its obliqueness:

  Neva,

  I pray your forgiveness that neither I, nor Jonah, can meet you as planned. We have been given direction for an assignment that cannot be ignored. However, I will not leave you empty handed, my dear friend. Helsing has led his group back west and then north of the halfway cabin. He is following a league of those creatures who are believed to lead to the person holding your niece. They have been misdirected all over these lands, but I know this to be where you will find him. Use your abilities to find exactly where he is, both in your dreams and in the waking world. Should we meet again, it is with my deepest desire that we may help one another.

  With sincerest concern,

  P.

  I jostled the letter, re-reading the contents for accuracy in her words. Lowering the paper, I felt the first true spark of hope in finding Lucy come alive; though a dim flame, it had livened from the smoldering ashes.

  “I can do this.” I whispered the words, a slight hysteria of laughter trilling out afterwards.

  “Do what?” Thedryk’s voice shocked me, causing me to cry out in my surprise.

  I had not heard his approach nor smelled him as usual. So engrossed I had been in the letter I had missed protecting myself, let alone keeping my mouth shut. Oh well, I thought, no point in hiding my plans. No more accommodating everyone else. “I am going to find Helsing and help to find Lucy.”

  Thedryk’s face broke from its querying raised eyebrow to full-blown shock. “How do you plan on doing just that?” His doubt was plain, but I ignored it and him.

  Standing, I headed out of the room, and two servants rushed from their stations to close the doors just as sunlight trickled in upon the marbled flooring. Through the cold breeze that shifted and crept in between the closing doors, I could feel the sunlight in its presence. My resolve was set, no less than Thedryk’s.

  “Neva?” Thedryk followed after me, gently grabbing at my elbow. “What has happened?”

  I slowed only to turn and regard him as I continued on. “I don’t know what else you and Eliza, and all the others, have hidden from me, what it is you so fear to reveal to me, but I will find out.”

  “Hidden from you? By now you know all that we know, Neva. I swear that
.”

  I stopped, my intuition sparking out, crying liar to his claim. “It’s time I returned to the woman I was before, both as my most recent human life and as Kareese. I may have been foolhardy and naïve, but at least I did not doubt what had to be done, even as a child.”

  “Neva, what do you mean?”

  I let his words fall where he stood as I made my way back to my room. Thedryk continued to follow, no more questions, no statements or words to spare in his lost state. What stopped me was watching him grab his own satchel and begin to pack his own bag.

  “What are you doing?” Now the questions were mine to be asked.

  Thedryk breathed a slow and steady breath, his jaw tight as he turned his green eyes upon me in a stern fashion. “Though you may not be telling me what has driven you to this decision, I will not let you go, not again. Certainly not alone. I won’t lose you again. Wherever you go, I now go; no refusal is accepted.” He stood, staring at me with his determined resolve.

  I stood astounded, blushing to the deepest levels imaginable. “That’s…quite a proclamation.” I returned to packing my bag more hastily, embarrassed by the revelation.

  Thedryk stepped towards me, unabashedly wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me tight against him, the familiar smell of patchouli intoxicating my senses. “I have much more to say to you, but now is not the time. I wanted you to know that I have always been, and always will be, on your side.” Reaching his hands to my face, he cupped my cheeks and jawline, forcing me to look at him directly. “Always.”

  The finality of his statement left me breathless as he gently pulled away. The image of his eyes, shining and brilliant, full of life and truth, shook my doubts. As Thedryk returned to his packing I followed suit, taking only one more glance at him before we both left the room, heading for the arsenal below. We gathered our weapons and returned to the room for one last night within the sanctuary.

  “I take it we won’t be telling anyone of our departure?” Thedryk inquired as he lay next to me on the bed, he atop the covers and I beneath.