A Shade of Kiev 2 (9 page)

H
elina and Erik
appeared on the beach soon after the ship disappeared from view. The three witches stood by their side.

“What the hell was that?” I bellowed.

I ran up to them and gripped Erik’s shoulders, shaking him.

“I trusted you,” I shouted, blood spraying on his face as I broke down coughing.

Helina looked down at me worriedly. Erik kept his expression stiff. Neither answered my question.

“Tell me!” I gasped, coughing still consuming my dry throat.

Their arms wrapped through mine as they lifted me up to support me. I broke away from them and fell back to my knees, refusing to move anywhere until I had answers.

“I’m sorry, Kiev,” Helina whispered, bending down to place a gentle hand on my back. “It was for your own good.”

“What?”

“You can’t have a foot on both islands. You can’t be loyal to two opposing sides.”

“What are you talking—”

“You’re either with us, or you’re with him,” Erik said. “We decided to make the decision for you. Once you’ve calmed down, you’ll realize it was easier this way. Would you choose Matteo over your brother and sister?”

“Are you two insane? Who says I have to choose either one?”

Erik and Helina exchanged glances.

“It’s the rules,” Helina muttered.

“Rules? Whose rules?” I roared.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Erik said.

“Are you not Lord and Lady of these thugs?”

They responded with more silence.

Their nonsensical speak and refusal to acknowledge their atrocious act drove me to the brink of reason. I reached out and grabbed Erik’s foot, knocking him to the floor. Climbing onto him, I brought a fist down against his face.

“No, Kiev! Stop it!” Helina cried. “Don’t take it out on your brother.”

Helina and the three witches all grabbed me at once, hauling me off Erik.

“Then who am I to take it out on?” I glared up at my sister. Had she been a man, I would have punched her too.

“I’m sorry, Kiev,” Erik said, getting back to his feet, wiping blood from his nose. “I know this is rough.”

They both bent down and attempted to lift me to my feet again. I shoved them away and staggered to my feet without their help. I raced back to
The Black Bell
and locked myself in my cabin.

I didn’t speak a word to anyone for the whole journey. Helina knocked on my door at one point, but I ignored her.

What would drive them to do this?

The question repeated over and over again in my head as I tried to make sense of their insane decision. I wondered if the witches had anything to do with it.

By the look on Celice’s face, it appeared that she hadn’t been informed of the plan beforehand. She appeared frustrated and angry that her scheme to escape alone with me had yet again been foiled. If anything, it would have been her two elder sisters behind it.

But why? What rules?

When we arrived back at The Shade, this time it was no surprise to me when my headache and coughing vanished. I raced out of the ship before I could bump into my siblings and ran straight to my room, the horrors of the night still playing fresh in my mind.

The more I thought about the events of the evening, the more unbelievable they became. Not a single one of The Shade’s vampires had fallen. And I knew that Matteo’s people were no weaklings.

Matteo
. I couldn’t get his last words out of my head.

“For being fool enough to believe my sister’s killer could ever be redeemed.”

They played over and over, like a needle piercing the same nerve each time it struck.

What is my life?

Everything I touch seems to turn to poison.

Poison.
I caught sight of a bottle of liquor on a shelf near the window. Long ago, I had made a vow never to drink alcohol. Because it made me lose the little control I had over my actions. I remembered what I used to end up doing on those nights I would get drunk to drown out the pain. I shuddered just recalling how much more blood I had on my hands the morning after. How much further I had allowed myself to sink into the darkness, if that was even possible.

It had been one of the few promises I’d managed to keep to myself.

Until now.

Now seems to be as good a time as any to break it. I would break it anyway. Because everything in my life breaks sooner or later.

I reached for the bottle, unscrewed the cap and downed a gulp. Then another. And another.

With each gulp I took, the screaming in my head dulled. The images of Matteo’s men, my comrades, strewn on the ground. Brett’s terror. Saira’s disappointment. Matteo’s words. The waste of all the years of work into building that island up into a place they could inhabit. All seemed to fade like an old painting.

I got up, walked out onto the balcony and leaned over the railing, the bottle still hanging from my hand. It was then that I noticed Julisse and Arielle sitting in the courtyard by the lily pond, deep in conversation.

Those bitches… They ruined my brother and sister.

As I stood there looking down at them, I remembered something that Clara—of all people—had once said to me when she was trying to convince me to do some kind of abominable act.

“
If you’re going to accept a dance with Darkness, dance full swing.”

I downed the last of the bottle. Then, smashing it against the floor, I ran out of my room and along the corridor until I reached the stairs. Extending my claws, I raced down them—too fast for my inebriated state. I missed a step and crashed to the bottom of the stairs. I swore as I staggered to my feet.

“Kiev?”

Celice
.

She walked toward me cautiously, eyeing me like I was some kind of animal.

“Your sisters,” I grunted, “are bitches. Heartless bitches.”

Celice’s eyes widened as she stepped back.

“You’re drunk,” she said. “Kiev Novalic, I don’t like you when you’re drunk. And I needed to talk to you about something important.”

“I don’t—”

“Kiev.”

My sister must have heard all the commotion and she came running down the stairs.

“You’re a wreck,” she said, frowning as she looked me over.

“I think it’s time,” another female voice called from the doorway across the main entrance hall. I looked up to see Julisse and Arielle standing there.

“Bitches,” I muttered again.

As soon as I said the word, Helina’s hands wrapped tightly around my mouth, choking me.

“I don’t care how lost you are to alcohol, Kiev,” she hissed into my ear. “You must never insult our witches. Do you understand?”

I refused to nod. Why shouldn’t I call them what they were? She kept her hands around my mouth. Then she blocked my nose so I couldn’t breathe at all.

“Kiev. Brother, please. Tell me that you promise.”

Her change of tone had shaken me, and even in my drunken state, I decided to heed her words. If only to not cause my sister distress. I nodded slightly and she let go.

“Never forget that, Kiev.” She looked at me, her face contorted with worry. “Never forget that.”

Barely had she finished speaking the words than Julisse and Arielle reached us from across the room.

“It’s time,” Julisse muttered to Helina, eyeing me disapprovingly. “I think he’s ready.”

“Ready for what?” I blurted out.

“To take your place as a Lord of The Shade,” Helina said, wrapping an arm around my waist to support me in standing. “As a Novalic.”

“We’ll need Erik,” Arielle said.

“I’ll get him,” replied Julisse. “In the meantime, take them to the spot.”

“I’m already Lord of The Shade,” I slurred, as Helina escorted me out of the entrance.

Helina ignored my last proclamation as she led me across the courtyard and into the woods. I asked more questions of her, and she ignored them all. In fact, she didn’t speak again until we arrived at the beach.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re almost there,” she said, pointing to the entrance of a large cave about a mile away.

As we stepped inside, several lanterns lined the jagged walls. The floor was covered with straw and in the centre of the cave was a large circular rock. Carved into it were words of some ancient-looking language I wouldn’t have been able to recognize even if I was sober, let alone drunk out of my mind.

I motioned to sit down on the rock, but Helina grabbed me and pulled me away from it.

“Sit on the floor if you have to. But don’t ever sit there unless you’re instructed to.”

A few minutes later, all three witches arrived. All three of them were dressed in long black robes.

“You need to change first,” Arielle said, eyeing me and my sister.

She handed two robes to us. Helina helped pull one of them over my head, while she donned the other.

I’d gotten past the point of asking questions since nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them. I just kept quiet and watched as the scene unfolded.

“Erik?” Helina asked.

“He’s coming,” Julisse replied.

Helina sighed and looked down at me. “Okay, Kiev. Now you can sit on the stone.”

I sat down and watched as all four of them gathered around me, holding hands to form a circle around me.

What the hell is going on?
My muddled brain toiled to make sense of the situation. It wasn’t clear any more what was my imagination and what was reality.
I really shouldn’t have had that drink.

Erik arrived a few moments later, and with him, a human girl attached to him by a chain. Her blood agitated my senses and my first instinct was to stand up and launch myself at her. But Helina caught me and, with the help of the witches, pushed me back down.

“All in good time.” Erik smiled down at me. “You’re going to enjoy this, Kiev. Trust me.”

The gagged girl struggled more violently as he tied her to a corner of the cave. Then Erik took his place in the circle between Julisse and Helina, linking hands with both of them.

And then began the strange chant. I was surprised to see that it wasn’t only the three witches chanting in this strange tongue. My sister and brother also joined in. Each verse rhymed and grew louder by the minute. They reached a crescendo and stopped all at once. They looked down at me.

“Now,” Julisse whispered. “Turn the girl into a vampire.”

Turn her?

I had turned many a human into a vampire during my time. It wasn’t as pleasurable as just drinking their blood, but it certainly wasn’t disagreeable.

I looked over at the petrified girl. She screamed beneath her gag and kicked the ground, struggling to break free.

I looked from the witches, to my siblings, to the girl, and back again.

Clara’s taunting voice echoed in my head.

“What are you waiting for? Dance, Kiev.”

My mind was so muddied with alcohol, my conscience lost so deep in its fog, that I didn’t need to give it a second thought.

I stood up and, breaking through the circle, dug my fangs into her neck. I released the venom as soon as her blood seeped into my mouth.

“Now stop.”

I didn’t want to stop. So I carried on. Helina and Erik grabbed me and pulled me away.

We all watched as the girl twitched, her transformation under way. One she was jerking more violently, Julisse issued me another order.

“Now her blood is neither that of human nor vampire. It’s time to drink.”

I didn’t remember ever drinking the blood of a vampire in mid-transformation. It had normally become bitter from the vampire venom taking over at that point—the human blood diluted, losing its sweet taste.

Still, I did as Julisse asked and gulped deep from the girl. Although it was indeed bitter, there were still a few pockets of sweetness left. I kept sucking and let go of the girl, the corpse, once it had become dry.

Then I lifted my head and looked up at the faces surrounding me, their eyes shining against the glow of the lanterns.

Julisse smiled.

“Welcome to The Shade, Kiev.”

“
W
hen will
you return my powers to me?” I asked Rhys the following morning once he had woken.

He got out of bed and wrapped a robe around himself. Walking over to my side of the bed, he gripped my arm and pulled me up.

“Sit there.” He pointed to the center of the room. “Cross-legged.”

Not taking my eyes off of him, I did as he’d instructed.

He paused for a moment, standing still, looking down at me. His expression was blank, but he scrutinized me as if trying to decide whether I really deserved my magic back.

Eventually he took a step back, faced both of his palms toward me, and began chanting the spell.

Light shot from his palms and hit me square in the chest. My extremities felt frozen—my nose, toes and fingers—while the center of my body felt like it was on fire. The heat spread out to the rest of my body and Rhys relaxed his hands and fell silent. He walked over and pulled me up into a standing position.

“This time, use them wisely,” he muttered.

He walked into the bathroom next door.

I stretched out my body and flexed my fingers and toes. It had been so long since I’d had powers, it felt strange. As though I’d just had a limb returned to me.
A limb returned in exchange for my soul.

I walked over to the bathroom door and placed my head against it, listening to the sound of water running. I fidgeted with my fingers. I was burning to ask him the question that had been playing at the back of my mind ever since we arrived, but I was petrified that he would take it the wrong way.

I realized that the conversation would be much easier through a closed door, without his eyes boring into me.

“Rhys?” I called through the bathroom door.

The water stopped running.

“On the boat, you told me that if I came back to you, nobody I cared about would ever be harmed again. Does that rule apply from now on, or is it retrospective?”

There was a pause. Then, to my dismay, the door swung open. He stood there wearing nothing but a towel wrapped low around his chiseled torso, his wavy hair hanging loosely and framing his strong face. His stare seemed to cut right through me, as though I was transparent to him. I prayed that he hadn’t developed mind-reading capabilities since I’d been gone.

“Why would you ask such a question?” His voice was expressionless as he leaned a shoulder against the doorway, though I didn’t miss the flicker of suspicion in his eyes.

“I-I…”

“Is there somebody else?”

I bit my lip.

“Yes,” I said.

“Who?”

“I had a dolphin who was starting to fall ill. I cared for her dearly. I-I’d just like to know if she has any hope of surviving.”

Rhys continued to stare at me.

“A dolphin,” he said slowly. “You always have been a miserable liar.”

Rhys reached out and pulled me into the steam-filled bathroom. Lifting my hands above my head, he pushed me back against the wall and pressed himself against me.

“Tell me about this man,” Rhys breathed, his chest heaving. “You have my attention.”

I shut my eyes.

Memories of the vampire flashed through my mind. Standing on my porch, slamming his fists against my front door. Perched on my roof, half naked, flipping through the pages of my story. Standing before me on the boat, his dark hair wet, face stained with blood. His zealous gift-giving rampage. His emerald-green eyes looking down at me. His long fingers running through my hair. His lips pressing against mine… That crazy, erratic vampire who’d possessed my mind during those fleeting months of my life.

I smiled slightly even as tears brimmed in my eyes.

“Don’t shut me out, Mona.”

Rhys’ grip tightened, his breathing becoming more impatient.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him.

“I’m not shutting you out, Rhys,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and in danger of breaking again. “I’m saying goodbye so that I can let you in.”

He paused, then nodded, and allowed me to close my eyes again for a few more minutes of silence.

When I opened them, he didn’t ask me again who it was I’d fallen for. For that, I was grateful. I didn’t know that I could bear to say the vampire’s name out loud. I could barely say it in my head. I also didn’t know what Rhys might do to him if he ever found out. I didn’t know whether he would be able to control his jealousy.

Rhys let go of my hands. He brushed the thin straps of my nightgown away from my shoulders and slid it off my body. Letting his own towel fall, he pulled me beneath the running water with him.

“I’ve always told you I can make you happy,” he said softly, his lips caressing my ear. “I can make you want me. If you’d just give me the chance…”

My skin tingled as he ran his rough hands down my body, his right hand gripping my thigh. I felt my black rose burn against him.

There’s no point holding on to the dream of a life away from Rhys. Away from this cult. Away from this darkness. I need to accept this life, and do the best I can to let Rhys in. I’ll drive myself to insanity otherwise. Holding on will only cause endless pain.

It’s time to let go.

It’s time to finally surrender.