Vital looked like he
wanted to protest, but thought better of it when he saw how tired Lanca was.
“Fine,” he growled. “But I want
you to trust me.”
“Everyone wants something from me
at this point,” said Lanca tiredly. “I’m losing track.”
“Well, what I want is simple,”
said Vital as we followed Lanca toward the door. “And I am not everyone.”
“No,” said Lanca quietly. “What
you want is the most complicated thing of all.”
I didn’t look back at the door as
we left, but somehow I knew we were leaving the only safe place in this whole
mountain, which was strange, because weren’t we among friends?
Chapter Twelve
Lough showed Sip, Lisabelle, and
me to our room. None of us looked around that night. We barely had the energy
to shower, let alone explore, before we all fell into deep sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the
night to find that we were all in a cavernous room, high up on a platform. All
around the cavern were more platforms, and I was amazed to see that each
platform was completely filled. On several were the green of pixies, the glow
of the white fallen angels. Below was a sea of teaming black masses. For an odd
moment I thought that the blackness was in truth a sea of water filling the
base of the hall, but I quickly realized that it was the black of the darkness
mages. They might be out of sight, but they were there.
I gulped. Sip and Lisabelle stood
on either side of me. Sip’s darted back and forth like a caged animal’s.
“This is bad,” she murmured.
“What are we doing here? Aren’t we supposed to be in bed? This is the vampire
version of a dining hall, by the way. I think they call it a breakfast room.”
“How do you know that?”
“I read,” said Sip, nose in the
air.
It was the middle of the night
and everyone was quiet. I looked around for Keller, but the crowd of
paranormals was too dense for me to be able to pick him out. I did have a
sense, though, that something was missing from the room. Frowning, I tried to
figure out what it was.
“It’s the food,” said Lisabelle,
her eyes glinting in the dark. “We’re not smelling it.”
I nodded. We were in the
breakfast room, but we weren’t there to eat. Behind me, the tables were gone.
We were in empty space, waiting.
The sea of darkness mages parted
to reveal that one whole side of the gathering consisted of vampires. Lanca’s
Rapier sect was there, trying to keep order. It was the first time I had seen
all of them since we arrived, and I kind of wished I hadn’t.
I didn’t realize how much
vampires tried to temper their ability to intimidate when they were at Public.
Here at Locke they made no effort to hide it.
The result was terrifying.
Every one of these vampires was
larger, stronger, and faster than any I had seen before. Their black clothing
billowed around them as they floated and cast their sunken eyes around the
room. They were all very pale and some looked as if they had been crying. They
were in mourning, after all, for their murdered king.
Gasps went up around the room and
my eyes strained to pick out the reason why.
An ear-splitting howl broke the
calm as a white object went flying into the center of the room. Darkness mages
and vampires alike moved back. At first I thought it was a wet and dirty rag,
but then I saw it struggle and jerk. The thing was alive, thrashing weakly on
the ground.
My stomach rolled.
Lisabelle’s eyes flicked to Sip,
who stood nearby, her face a mask of horror.
Following the agonized white
creature into the center of the room was a vampire. He had no hair, and his
eyes were so far back in his head they looked like two black holes that had
been bored into his face. His nose was long and beaked and looked as if it had
been broken at some point, with a pronounced tilt to the left. He barely had
any lips or chin, which made it hard to tell where his voice would come from if
he spoke.
“That is Faci,” Lisabelle
murmured. “The one who is
wanted to protest, but thought better of it when he saw how tired Lanca was.
“Fine,” he growled. “But I want
you to trust me.”
“Everyone wants something from me
at this point,” said Lanca tiredly. “I’m losing track.”
“Well, what I want is simple,”
said Vital as we followed Lanca toward the door. “And I am not everyone.”
“No,” said Lanca quietly. “What
you want is the most complicated thing of all.”
I didn’t look back at the door as
we left, but somehow I knew we were leaving the only safe place in this whole
mountain, which was strange, because weren’t we among friends?
Chapter Twelve
Lough showed Sip, Lisabelle, and
me to our room. None of us looked around that night. We barely had the energy
to shower, let alone explore, before we all fell into deep sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the
night to find that we were all in a cavernous room, high up on a platform. All
around the cavern were more platforms, and I was amazed to see that each
platform was completely filled. On several were the green of pixies, the glow
of the white fallen angels. Below was a sea of teaming black masses. For an odd
moment I thought that the blackness was in truth a sea of water filling the
base of the hall, but I quickly realized that it was the black of the darkness
mages. They might be out of sight, but they were there.
I gulped. Sip and Lisabelle stood
on either side of me. Sip’s darted back and forth like a caged animal’s.
“This is bad,” she murmured.
“What are we doing here? Aren’t we supposed to be in bed? This is the vampire
version of a dining hall, by the way. I think they call it a breakfast room.”
“How do you know that?”
“I read,” said Sip, nose in the
air.
It was the middle of the night
and everyone was quiet. I looked around for Keller, but the crowd of
paranormals was too dense for me to be able to pick him out. I did have a
sense, though, that something was missing from the room. Frowning, I tried to
figure out what it was.
“It’s the food,” said Lisabelle,
her eyes glinting in the dark. “We’re not smelling it.”
I nodded. We were in the
breakfast room, but we weren’t there to eat. Behind me, the tables were gone.
We were in empty space, waiting.
The sea of darkness mages parted
to reveal that one whole side of the gathering consisted of vampires. Lanca’s
Rapier sect was there, trying to keep order. It was the first time I had seen
all of them since we arrived, and I kind of wished I hadn’t.
I didn’t realize how much
vampires tried to temper their ability to intimidate when they were at Public.
Here at Locke they made no effort to hide it.
The result was terrifying.
Every one of these vampires was
larger, stronger, and faster than any I had seen before. Their black clothing
billowed around them as they floated and cast their sunken eyes around the
room. They were all very pale and some looked as if they had been crying. They
were in mourning, after all, for their murdered king.
Gasps went up around the room and
my eyes strained to pick out the reason why.
An ear-splitting howl broke the
calm as a white object went flying into the center of the room. Darkness mages
and vampires alike moved back. At first I thought it was a wet and dirty rag,
but then I saw it struggle and jerk. The thing was alive, thrashing weakly on
the ground.
My stomach rolled.
Lisabelle’s eyes flicked to Sip,
who stood nearby, her face a mask of horror.
Following the agonized white
creature into the center of the room was a vampire. He had no hair, and his
eyes were so far back in his head they looked like two black holes that had
been bored into his face. His nose was long and beaked and looked as if it had
been broken at some point, with a pronounced tilt to the left. He barely had
any lips or chin, which made it hard to tell where his voice would come from if
he spoke.
“That is Faci,” Lisabelle
murmured. “The one who is
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