The Chalice (Luna Vampire Series) (42 page)

             
"But I wanna come with you," I whined, hoping to be included in the fight.  "I've regained my strength and stopping time might..." 

             
"No, it'll be safer with you here," he assured, refusing to budge on his decision as he pecked me on the cheek and unexpectedly poofed out of my embrace. 

             
A few moments later, Adrian hurried from his closet sporting black leather body armor.  I saw that the areas surrounding his chest and neck, the two points most vulnerable for killing a vampire, were layered with metal.  Additionally, his three circled symbol was sewn into the sleeves.

             
"I love you," he murmured, approaching me to meet my gaze one last time.  Then, like normal, he disappeared without giving me an opportunity to respond.

             
In a flash, jittery energy surged through me. 
Eerily alone.  Thoughts scattered. 
And I recognized that I had to get moving or I'd go crazy.  So, with my body on autopilot, I clambered back into my clothes and sprinted to my bedroom.  Within seconds, I'd thrown on a pair of Nike's from my closet and combed my tussled hair. 

             
Shortly thereafter, Lucien joined me.  He wore a beautiful white cloak with the hood secured tightly over his head.  As I visually inspected him, my curiosity was piqued by the silver embroidery decorating the material.  The letters and symbols were strikingly similar to the writing that'd been engraved into the chalice. 
Foreign, yet familiar.
 

             
Nonetheless, I quickly grew more interested in his standoffishness.  I mean, he'd been dodging eye contact from the moment he entered my room, which was definitely out of character for him. 

             
"Lucien, what's wrong?" I finally squeaked, the tiny hairs prickling at the back of my neck. 
I knew he was hiding something from me when we spoke yesterday.  Crap. 
"Why won't you look at me?"

             
Sadly, the instant he turned in my direction, I understood. 
His poor face.
  Every inch of it contained red, bubbly burns.  It was absolutely gruesome, nowhere close to resembling the gorgeous man I'd grown to love.  His eyebrows were gone and his nose misshapen.  Accordingly, his condition awakened memories within me of a woman I'd seen on the Maury Povich show. 
She'd gotten acid poured on her face.

             
Attempting to project fortitude, he flourished a crooked half-smile. 
Clearly, it was the best he could do with his injuries. 
"No worries, girlie.  It appears worse than it really is.  The healer says she knows a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles that'll make me good as new.  They'll fly him in once the burns improve."

             
"I'm so sorry, Lucien," I sputtered, my insides twisting into shame filled knots.  "It's all my fault.  You never would've been burned if it weren't for Tsedaka's need to control me." 

             
"I'll heal," he replied, adopting an authoritative tone.  "And, if I don't, well, I'll wear it as a badge of honor.  My duty is to protect you.  Injuries or not, I was successful."

             
My heart sank. 
He was wounded because of me.
  "Yeah, but..."

             
"Listen," he cut in, restlessly holding out a ball of white velvet.  "My mother's sewing circle made these cloaks for us last night, after they heard of our arrival.  We must wear them today or it'll hurt their feelings."

             
I realized he was changing the subject, nevertheless, I sorta welcomed the diversion.  I mean, my conscience had already taken a beating and, frankly, there were more pressing concerns. 
I wasn't too convinced clothing was one of 'em, but whatever.  Sigh.

             
"It's beautiful," I beamed, plastering on a grin as he handed me the bundle.  Then, hastily, I fastened the cloak around me and tied it in the front.  Almost involuntarily, my fingers began to trail along the embroidered lettering. 

             
"It's the mother tongue," he explained.  "Essentially, the language of the vampires before they came here to Earth.  Humans aren't taught to speak it, although, my mother says these particular symbols are a safety incantation."

             
"I hope it doesn't get ruined, um, with all the blood and stuff."

             
"No worries.  We're staying here, we won't see any fighting."

             
"Actually, I thought we'd go to the main hall," I admitted.  And, when he started to object, I raised my hands in protest.  "Look, I get it.  We'd be acting against Adrian's wishes, but I refuse to sit here and let everyone die for me.  And last I heard, I was in charge so I'm gonna pitch in."

             
"Some of Tsedaka's men might penetrate our first line of defenses and access the main hall.  You can't risk yourself.  You're too important, especially now that we know you're the great queen."

             
Oh god!  More great queen nonsense.
  I rolled my eyes in exasperation.  "Well, since how we proceed is ultimately my decision, I don't see the point in arguing.  It's a waste of time.  Therefore, I command you to accompany me and that's final." 
I hated giving him orders.  Yet, I knew he wouldn't give in otherwise.  And we were literally racing the clock with Tsedaka's goons already on the property.

             
Emanating a robotic butler, Lucien bowed at the waist and drawled a disgustingly reverent, "As you wish."

             
"Jesus!" I huffed, throwing my hands on my hips.  "Everyone else kisses my ass enough.  Not you too." 

             
"Sorry," he chuckled lightly, giving me another one of his crooked half-smiles.  "And, girlie, you might wanna put your hood up.  It'll help conceal the bite mark."

             
Promptly, my cheeks flushed, turning a beet red. 
Talk about awkward.
  "Um, I..."

             
"No explanation's necessary," he chimed in, focusing his brown eyes on mine.  "I guess, I assumed you'd prefer to keep your exploits private."

             
"Thanks, you're right," I mumbled sheepishly, arranging the hood in such a way that it thoroughly hid the indentations left behind by Adrian's teeth. 

             
I felt as if I should apologize, or explain, or say something.  Although, in the end, I kept my mouth shut.  Seriously, it's not like Lucien and I were dating. 
Plus, a battle with Tsedaka definitely trumped boyfriend drama.

             
And so, we headed off to the main hall in silence, making it across the foyer unhindered.  However, as soon as we entered the tunnels, four guards poofed into protective positions flanking us.  Two in the front and two in the rear. 

             
I surveyed each of them as we walked, taking in the layers of weapons covering their bodies.  They carried guns, knives, and short swords in sheathes on their backs.  Moreover, I considered their powers, how they'd inherited them from Adrian.  And I wondered if Lucien would eventually attain my ability to manipulate time.

             
"It's certainly a possibility,"
Lucien answered mind to mind, listening in on my inner dialogue as usual.
  "My powers probably won't emerge for awhile longer, though.  We'll have to wait and see." 
As he walked, I observed several bulges beneath his cloak.  Apparently, he was packing too.

             
"So, um, where are my weapons?"

             
He laughed audibly.
  "You won't be needing any, girlie.  No way is Lord Adrian gonna allow you to fight."

Chapter
30

             
Totally irked by Lucien's comment, I stewed while we finished our trek to the main hall.  And when we made our entrance, joining the massive clutter of hysteric people scurrying around, my emotions were about to boil over. 
Nobody tells me what to do, I don't care who they are.  If I wanted to fight, I'd fight.  Plus, my powers were pretty useful.

             
"You shouldn't have brought her here," Adrian hissed, glaring at Lucien as we strode onto the platform. 

             
"Sorry, your grace," Lucien pleaded, his demeanor that of an ardent brown-noser.  "Luna didn't leave me much of a choice.  She ordered me to..."

             
"Hold on a minute," I grumped, scowling at both of them.  "I'm my own person and if I say I'm gonna be here, I'm gonna be here.  There's not a goddamn thing either of you can do about it." 

             
After several wordless moments, they eventually bowed to me in compliance.  Then Adrian motioned toward his throne.  "Would you care for a seat, my queen?"

             
Hell no.
  I was readying myself to spout off some seriously sarcastic reply, when I noticed everyone in the room and stopped short.  While a few of the onlookers were bowing in obnoxious supplication along with my men, most of them were simply staring up at us.  And their faces, although covered by a range of expressions, were mostly cloaked in fear.

             
Mentally shaking myself, I abhorred the fact that every deluded freak in this place believed I was their leader.  Yet, at the same time, a part of me refused to let them down.  Even worse, a deeply hidden sliver of my soul actually felt as if it'd been built for all this queen crap.  And, let me tell you, that realization was extremely disconcerting to say the least.

             
"Look," I called out in a voice charged with conviction.  "We have too much important stuff going on right now for you all to be bowing to me.  Please, continue with what you were doing.  Rest assured, I will be fighting at your side."  And with that, I turned and took the throne.

             
"I'm glad to see that you're beginning to accept your station," Adrian admitted, stress lines creasing the skin below his eyes.  "That said, I'm dead set against your participation in the battle.  You may stay here..."

             
"Frankly, if people are dying, we don't have time to argue about whether or not I'll be fighting.  It's more important for you to get me up to speed.  I mean, I don't even know if it's daylight, let alone anything else."

             
He chuckled halfheartedly, a hint of exasperation creeping past his strong mask.  "In short, it's midnight.  Tsedaka brought his entire regiment of guards, which exceeds three hundred warriors.  They're heavily armed and most of them inherited the use of fire..." Tilting his head to the side, his words suddenly broke off.

             
I knew he was receiving some sort of telepathic communication.  So, when he seemed to come back to reality, I anxiously asked, "What is it?  What's happened?"

             
"Tsedaka's men," he wavered, voice sounding tired.  "They set fires throughout slave housing."

             
"Oh my god!  Where are the people?  Are they..." I couldn't finish my words.  The idea of hundreds of innocents burning alive made me sick to my stomach.

             
"Don't worry, we've evacuated the above ground sections.  The children and elderly were hidden in the safe room beneath us hours ago.  And the slaves remaining topside are all capable of fighting."

             
"You mean, there are humans up there brawling with Tsedaka's superpowered lackeys?"

             
Adrian nodded in earnest.  "We need every soldier we can get."

             
I remembered how easily I'd fended off my human attacker back at high court.  A single punch had sent the guy flying into the wall hard enough to kill him on contact.
If I'd done that on accident, I'd hate to think of what trained guards could do on purpose. 
"So, um," I swallowed hard.  "Won't most of 'em die?"

             
"Probably not, since they're armed.  See that door over there?" he pointed to the far corner and, as I watched, several people walked out carrying machine guns.  "That's our weapons cache.  Bullets won't kill vampires, but they can be painfully distracting which will hopefully give us the upper hand."

             
I had to force the next question from my lips, not looking forward to the answer.  "How, um, how many of ours have died?"

             
"Fewer than you'd think," he assured, shrewdly avoiding my gaze.

             
"Just give me a number, Adrian," I insisted, hardly able to believe how calmly the words left my mouth.  On the inside, I desired nothing more than to scream at him in aggravation. 
Everybody wanted me to step up and be the stupid great queen.  Yet, the moment I started doing it, they handled me with kid gloves.
 
Fuck this shit!