The Journal of Vincent Du Maurier Trilogy (Books 1, 2, 3) (38 page)

I obeyed and held them up. He came forward and
looked into my eyes before taking my hands in his. When he touched me, the
charge of electricity nearly brought me to my knees. Peter saw his effect on
me, though my shaky insides were hidden from Vincent. My hands remained steady,
even as he drew his palm down the length of my index finger. “They are long,”
he said to himself. “They will do.”

I held my tongue, not wanting to break the rapture
his touch induced. We were finally reconnected, as was once natural to us. I
suppose my thoughts aroused me, for my fangs suddenly dropped. The pain of
teething had already lessened, and I barely noticed the gesture, but Vincent
caught it, and the corners of his mouth rose. He didn’t smile, but his scowl
softened. “They have a mind of their own,” he said, almost to himself.

He let my hands go, but they hung in midair,
refusing to relinquish his touch. “I have selected Huitzilli,” he said to
Peter. “He will draw it out of her.”

“Draw what out?” I asked.

Vincent looked at me and offered me the sincerest
smile, one I’d not seen in ages. “Your inner warrior, Evelina.”

“We haven’t covered that yet,” Peter said. “We’ve
been going over the basics, but I think you’re absolutely right. She’s ready
for the Hummingbird. There’s still the matter of her hands, of course, but if
any vampire can get them to come out, it’s him.”

I couldn’t begin to guess what they referred to
since the transformation they spoke of only came later, and what a surprise it
was.

When Vincent made for the door, I rushed to stop
him. Peter caught my arm and held me in place. “Don’t,” he said in Mandarin.
“You must let him go, Evelina.”

Vincent had his back to us, but before he reached
for the door, he paused for the briefest moment, as though my muted plea held
him on the cusp of a precipice. His body swayed forward and back, as he
contemplated facing me again. The anticipation of those few seconds stoked the
flames in my belly, and rage simmered inside me.

“Obey Peter,” Vincent said without turning. “And
study the Hummingbird.” With that, he left the cabin and went far enough away
for me to lose his signal. His abandonment incited my rage and I smashed my
fist into the small mirror that hung on the bulkhead.

Peter laughed. “It’s about time,” he said. “Don’t
keep that inside. You need to unleash it or it’ll stifle you.” My anger was
like stored energy, whose pressure built up until it had to be released with a
good bout of violence. “Save the rest for Huitzilli,” he said. “He’ll want to
see that.”

***

Later
—
I have chosen her trainer. After seeing the abuse she suffered at
the hands of her maker, I wanted to scalp the Empress, strip the skin from her
body and set her on a pyre. But I have stifled my anger. I must continue to
play my part, and keep Evelina safe. I have not rallied enough supporters yet,
and if I were to incite a mutiny, I would surely lose the child. Peter has been
forewarned and knows I expect him to keep a better watch on the novice, even if
he is required to break his vows to do so. Like when fog clears from the moors
and reveals the rich green grass on the knoll, I have seen what lies beneath my
haze. I must ready Evelina as quickly as I can and leave with her and the
child.

I sought out the Hummingbird, finding him a most
favorable ally. He was in the ring, whaling on a vampire who had attempted to
take his name. The ritual game amongst the crew is predictable. The weaker
fight the stronger to mark them with the reputation they sorely lack. But it
often ends badly for the weaker one. I did not think the female in the ring
would walk away unscathed—and she didn’t, though the Toltec spared her.
When he finally grabbed her by the hair and raised her up off the deck with him,
he smashed her shins with the edge of his foot, breaking the skin and
shattering the bones beneath. The female hissed at her opponent, but he laughed
and threw her on the deck. She lay there until another carried her out,
probably to the den for the drink.

Zhi had told me the Empress favored Huitzilli and I
hoped to use that to my advantage. I let the Toltec enjoy his victory and then
followed him out of the ring, back to his compartment. Zhi said he refused to
take residence in a cabin near the Empress, despite her desire to have him
close. When he reached the empty passageway at the rear of steerage, he turned
to greet me.

“I have been waiting for you, ancient one,” he said.

From that moment, I knew the Toltec was more loyal
to himself than his Empress. I explained what I wanted from him, what I needed
Evelina to learn and what I thought she could do if the right vampire showed
her.

“Why not you?” he said. “You are a fiercer warrior
than I, swift-footed Myrmidon.”

“I cannot train the novice,” I said.

He roared with a belly laugh that was contagious.
“The Shorn Ones are the greatest trainers. I have trained many warriors in my
lifetime,” he said. “I will hone her temper.”

“She has much to learn,” I said. “Her skills are
wanting and I am concerned with her talons.”

“Well, ancient one,” he said. “They can’t be rushed,
but there are things we can do to encourage the advent of her weapons.”

“Her anger should serve her,” I said. “She is
petulant and unripe, but gifted nonetheless.”

“How can she not be?” He leaned forward and put his
hand on my shoulder. “Perhaps if I do this for you,” he said, “you will do
something for me?”

I waited for his request.

“Let me sift through your scenes of war,” he said.
“The battles you’ve seen must be filled with color—and blood.” He laughed
deeply again.

“I will repay you for this favor,” I said. “Of that
you must not doubt.”

“She is brave,” he said. “This little one?”

“You will see just how brave she can be,” I said.

“You knew her before, then,” he said. I was not
surprised he knew nothing of our arrival on the ship. Huitzilli is a loner,
despite his favor with the Empress. He pays little attention to the affairs
around him. “The novice is yours?”

“She belongs to the Empress,” I said. “Perhaps you
can persuade her that it would be to her advantage if her progeny trained with
the great Hummingbird.”

He knew what I asked, but did not go in for
flattery. I realized I had overplayed my hand.

“I won’t cater to the queen,” he said. “She is my
putty, I will never be hers.”

He grunted and ran his hand across his neck like he
was coaxing down a chunk of anger. I could not have picked a better ally, for
when I realized just how much he despised the Empress, I felt I had found a
kindred spirit. “I want Evelina to learn from the best,” I said. “And that is
you, do you not agree?”

He smiled and touched my shoulder again. “For you,
ancient one,” he said. “She will get the best.”

I promised to send her to him when she had fully
healed, but he insisted she begin immediately, and so I delivered the message
to Peter when I went to check on Evelina.

It pained me to see her, Byron, though her injuries
had almost healed. While Peter described the incident in detail, she stood as
still as stone, her stoic expression making it seem as though she had checked
out. Her frequency was a dull hum, but I recognized it as though her mind had
always sent out the waves of sound. I had been too preoccupied with tasting her
blood to notice before.

“Show me your hands,” I said to her, wanting to see
why the Empress’s attack had not provoked her talons. When I took her hands in
mine to study them, I wondered if she felt the connection. She was reserved,
unaware of the destiny now forced on her. Her body showed no signs that she was
awake to our bond, even when I stroked the length of her hand, admiring her
long fingers. But when I said, “They will do,” her fangs dropped. I smiled
inwardly. “They have a mind of their own,” I said.

I turned to Peter and told him who I had selected
for her training. He knew the Toltec, of course, and agreed the warrior would
draw her out.

When I made to leave, she finally gave me the sign I
sought. Peter stopped her where she stood, but I heard her plea. She spoke it
into my mind, Byron, just as you had always done.
Please don’t go Vincent. Please
, she said. Her plea made me falter
but I recovered, telling her to obey Peter and admire the Hummingbird before
slipping out the door.

On my way back to the cabin, the strangest vampire
approached me.

“L’ancien,” she said. “Je veux parler avec toi.” Her
accent was West African, and her manner wild, despite her Chinese dress.

“Who are you?” I asked in French.

“I am Mindiss,” she said. “I am the daughter of
Takhar and hold the ear of Roog. I am the Fangool who keeps the Sine River and
is intercessor for the saints. I am come to give you this message.”

I could not tie her to any other I had met, nor
could I determine her venomline. Her frequency was offensive and she seemed
otherworldly in a way. I did not doubt she was something more than human when
she was turned.

“Who sends this message?” I asked.

“Kopé Tiatie Cac,” she said. “The blood vendor who
divvies out the plagues. Invisible to all things, he seeps through the ground
to dole out death. The novitiate is his.”

I could not contain my rage and gripped her by the
neck, lifting her off the deck. Her sepia eyes, like those of a viper, grew
wide as she clutched at my hands. “I am the messenger,” she said through grit
teeth.

Your cool head prevailed, Byron, and I released the
vampire. She backed away, repeating she was just the messenger. I warned her
not to threaten the Empress’s progeny and she said, “It is she who wants her
destroyed most of all.”

I must renew my effort to keep Evelina safe, even if
that means destroying her maker. But she must also evolve and develop the
skills she needs to survive the new world. She has barely discovered her
talents and cannot begin to use them to her advantage. I must supervise her
training, I must be certain she is in good hands. I must keep her safe, Byron.
With that, you cannot argue. It is you who placed her in my care, and it is a
commitment I will not relinquish.

20 December.
— I have seen her
train, and she is as formidable as expected at this early stage. Determined to
learn, diligent enough to fight through the worst, she rose to the Toltec’s
first challenge, getting herself up from under his weight. She must have been
exhausted and starved by the end of it, but when he forced her to spar with
him, she did not back down. Though she eventually collapsed, her tenacity is
admirable. Still no talons, however. I cannot say why. Yours came with such
ease, Byron. You were using them within hours of your awakening. I have asked
Huitzilli to push her; he seems bent on training her as he sees fit, though. I
will not stand in his way, but invent my own strategy for coaxing out her
weapons.

All of this is not as important as the incident that
took place only moments ago. She came to me, sought me out, using our connection.
She followed the signal I sent out, as I lay on my berth testing her will. I
wanted to see if she could hear my call, obey me if I sent for her. She did not
disappoint me and showed up at my door within moments of my sending out my
frequency. I awaited her, ready for the second test. When she entered without
permission and sat down on the berth next to me, I knew I had her.

She said my name as she had once said it in the
villa on the outskirts of Portero.

Evelina
, I called back. It took all
I had to rise above the harmony of our frequencies and speak into her mind. The
two sparrows were in perfect sync, calling back and forth to one another, as
their riffs looped in our minds. I heard hers and I know she heard mine.
Evelina
, I said again.

“I’m here,” she said aloud.

Evelina, you must go.

She would not move from my side, but gripped my hand
more tightly.

Evelina, you must go
, I repeated.

She hissed and growled, and I had to restrain my own
fangs.

Empress Cixi cannot find you
here
, I
said
. You must leave me.

I had not planned on giving her the warning but it
came up as though it was the most necessary message I had to relay. There is
truth to it, Byron. We cannot reveal our connection to the Empress. I have come
to realize that it is far better for Cixi to think I have renounced the girl,
and see no other way of convincing her than by making Evelina believe it too.

She fought me on it, Byron. She bared her spirit
then and there, unabashedly and willingly, when she said, “She can’t keep me
from you. I’m still yours.”

I wanted to tell her she was, but I could not. I
thought of you, Byron. When she ran her hand down the length of my arm, she
made me recall my commitment to you, my first beloved. Though I am torn, I will
bear the weight of both burdens—the admiration I still carry for you and
our life together, and the love I now bear for the counterpart I have been
given.
Byron must forgive me
, I told
her as she made for the door. She could not know what I meant, if she even
understood it was not said for her benefit.

I must see the Empress again—

***